Amazon México: the good, the bad and the ugly

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April 12, 2023

Amazon delivery person — E-commerce companies are the target of new taxes and import duties, which went into effect Jan. 1. (File photo)

When I first got here 17 years ago, there was no such thing as Amazon México. Mercado Libre was in its infancy, many businesses didn’t accept credit cards — especially foreign ones — and warnings circulated constantly about widespread fraud and theft if you did use a credit card at, say, a gas station or — heaven forbid — online with a Mexican company. In fact, online shopping of any sort was something to be avoided.

Well, that was then, and this is now! Amazon México offers a wealth of wonderful shopping options, with safe, secure credit transactions, (usually) speedy and reliable delivery, and an easy return process. And while prices for many imported products seem to have gone up recently — probably due to the peso’s increase in value — if you really want the item, the cost may be worth it to you.

Amazon México deliveries arrive in the familiar Amazon boxes and packaging.

The first purchases I made on Amazon México were a classic midcentury modern wooden standing lamp and a beautiful Persian-style rug for my living room. I had exhausted the local shopping options and was feeling desperate enough to try the then-new Amazon México.

I’ll admit I was skeptical: What would I find? Would delivery be as seamless as in the U.S.? And, if I didn’t like the items once they arrived, could I return them easily as well?

Well, just like on Amazon U.S. (or elsewhere), there’s a big drop-down menu on the website with categories and detailed answers to most questions. The same holds true with the description of each item. You’ll see similar items, what people are buying, any special discounts, Prime membership offers, color and size options, reviews (calificaciones), the item’s return policy (política de devoluciones), whether it’s imported, the shipping time, and more.

The tricky thing, as you might note from the translations above, is that it’s all in Spanish, and on some browsers there’s no way to change it into English (although you can search in English and results come up in Spanish, go figure). Chrome users will be able to click anywhere on the page and choose “Translate to English” in the dropdown menu.

The rest of us will need to download or bookmark Google Translate, and copy and paste whatever subject you need more information about. Or use your smartphone’s camera translation feature and point it at the page on your computer. The site is set up almost exactly like its northern cousin, so don’t be nervous.

So, if you haven’t by now, download or bookmark Google Translate, and copy and paste whatever subject you need more information about. Or use your smartphone’s camera translation feature and point it at the page on your computer. The site is set up almost exactly like its northern cousin, so don’t be nervous.

The writer was skeptical about ordering this rug, but it turned out to be perfect for her living room.

You can also buy and redeem gift cards, make lists and registries, save items for later, track orders, set up Alexa…in short, everything you can do with Amazon U.S.

And the lamp and rug? They’re exactly what I wanted. Since then, I’ve ordered many other things from Amazon México, from organic bread flour to a new TV remote.

So without further ado, here are some tips on ordering from Amazon México:

Ordering

Once you set up an account with Amazon México, you can order just like you would anywhere. Your credit card(s), shipping addresses and payment methods are all saved. When you make an order, you get a confirmation email almost immediately.

Can you order things from Amazon U.S. to be sent to a Mexican address? Yes, but you’ll pay a lot for the shipping and customs fees — much more than if you order from Amazon México. Sadly, you won’t get the same options, so you’ll have to consider how much you want whatever it is with how much it’s going to cost you.

Some products — like this high-quality Bodum electric tea kettle — are priced almost the same as in the U.S.

Imported items/customs fees

Items that are imported will be designated Importación, and there may be further alarming looking words — sometimes in red — about customs and import costs. Click on those links and you’ll see the maximum possible import fees, which won’t be charged until the item has been delivered. My experience has been that the fees were negligible (under 100 pesos) except for a tower fan (247 pesos). Since the fan itself cost close to 2,000 pesos. I was OK with paying that fee.

Breville, Bodum and Cuisinart small kitchen appliances, Lodge Dutch ovens and OXO kitchen accessories are all available on Amazon Mexico, and although the cost for some items is more than in the U.S., they’re all high-quality and will last a lifetime. I recently purchased a Bodum electric tea kettle and the cost was the same as on Amazon US.

How does Amazon Prime work in Mexico?

You must have a separate Amazon Mexico Prime account to receive the advantages of a Prime membership (free shipping, Prime video, Amazon Music, etc.) in Mexico. Your U.S. Prime account will not work. The first month is free and then the cost is $99 pesos (about $5 dollars) a month, billed automatically.

Amazon Prime truck — Amazon Prime Mexico essentially works the same as in your home country. However, be sure to create a separate Prime account — your Prime membership from back home will not work here.

Facturas

Don’t worry about this — if you don’t want a factura — a government-certified invoice mostly used in Mexico as proof of purchase for claiming tax deductions — just ignore the offers to generate one; you would need a Mexican tax identification number to do it. And if you do have a business and need one, you should know by now what you’re doing.

Returns

Let’s say you receive your order and it’s not what you want. Go back online — just like you would in the U.S. — and click on devolver o reemplazar productos. The site will walk you through the return process step-by-step, including giving you a return label to print or download to your phone.

Most — but not all — items can be returned within 30 days of delivery for a full refund; it depends on the seller’s policy, so read the fine print in the item’s description carefully before you order. Save the original packaging to use for your return; it has the order and shipping codes printed on it. You can track returns in your account just like you would in the U.S., and as soon as Amazon receives the item, your credit card will be refunded in full, usually within 15 days. If an item is defective, it must be returned with an explanation, a credit issued and another item ordered.

The first time I returned something — a wetsuit that was too big — I was leery as to whether the process would work. But it all went smoothly, from repackaging the suit in the bag it came in, to dropping it off at a local DHL office (which gave me a receipt I later checked on my account), to being able to see when it was received by Amazon and my credit card refunded. I did take photos of the package with the wetsuit peeking out, which isn’t a bad idea.

This is not to say mistakes don’t happen; I’m sure there are horror stories of lost items or refunds that never came through.

Depending on the vendor, returns are easy, but remember to save the original packaging.

Problems and getting help

Amazon tries to solve issues and problems with information online, accessed through a series of drop-down menus appearing in response to your questions and answers. That said, there is a “live chat” feature — and you can request an English-speaking rep.

Look for the link that says Ayuda, then keep following the prompts until you see the live chat option. If you are returning an item, once you start the return process, answering questions and prompts will eventually lead you to an option to request a phone call or live chat with a representative.

Ask for an English speaker.

Can’t find it? Google “Amazon Mexico Live Chat” and go from there.

Look for the link that says Ayuda, then keep following the prompts until you see the live chat option, at right.

Delivery

Depending on where in Mexico you are, delivery is more or less reliable, dependable and quick, and often deliveries arrive earlier than expected. In Mazatlán, where I live, delivery is consistently all of those things. I feel fortunate: Friends in smaller towns (Chapala, for instance) have had very different experiences with their orders. Part of this is because different vendors use different carriers. Some let you track your package; others tell you nothing.

Thankfully, unlike in the U.S., drivers won’t leave packages on the doorstep, although friends in Guanajuato say some delivery people throw packages over the high wall surrounding their house if they’re not home to receive it.

That’s not official Amazon policy, but, hey, we’re in Mexico, folks.

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. She has lived in Mexico since 2006. You can find her on Facebook.

US to return $246 million seized from former Coahuila finance minister

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MND Staff

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April 12, 2023

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Hector Villareal Hernandez, former finance minister of Coahuila, Mexico — The fortune was confiscated from Héctor Villarreal Hernández, who served as finance minister in the 2005–11 Coahuila government led by former governor Humberto Moreira (El Siglo Coahuila).

US $246 million, seized from a former Coahuila finance minister by United States authorities, will be returned to Mexico, President López Obrador said Wednesday.

López Obrador announced that the United States Department of Justice informed the Federal Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday that it would send Mexico just over 246.1 million dollars confiscated from Héctor Javier Villarreal Hernández, who served as finance minister in the 2005–11 Coahuila government led by former governor Humberto Moreira.

Ex-governor of Coahuila Humberto Moreira (left) with former president Enrique Peña Nieto. Moreira was named one of the “10 Most Corrupt Mexicans” by the publication Forbes in 2013 (Moises Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro).

Villareal was finance minister until 2010, when he became head of Coahuila’s state tax agency. He resigned in August 2011, after he was arrested on charges of corruption as it became clear that Coahuila accumulated a public debt of 35 billion pesos, the largest in state’s history.

Many considered Villarreal to be one of the architects of that debt.

Villarreal was convicted of money laundering offenses in Texas in 2015, charges involving eyebrow-raising money transfers from Mexico to the U.S. during his tenure as a state official. A Texas Observer investigative article published in 2021 cited local court documents showing that Villarreal had been moving larger and larger sums from Mexico into Chase Bank accounts in Texas via cash deposits, eventually using wire transfers to move tens of millions of dollars into eight different Chase accounts.

But he was released from prison after agreeing to cooperate with U.S. authorities. He testified at the New York trial of former federal security minister Genaro García Luna earlier this year.

López Obrador said it was not yet clear whether the Department of Justice would send the money to Mexico in one lump sum or in installments.

The president said he intends to use part of the money to fund the government’s drug addiction prevention campaign.

Villarreal also served in the Coahuila government led by Jorge Torres López, who was interim governor in 2011 after Moreira resigned to take up the presidency of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Torres was convicted of money laundering charges in the United States and sentenced to a 36-month prison sentence in 2021.

With reports from El Universal, El Sol de México, Quadratín and Expansión

Tourism sector is Mexico’s economic powerhouse, says think tank

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MND Staff

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April 12, 2023

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Tourists walk down the beach at Playa del Carmen — February 2023 has been the best month of growth for tourism since before the pandemic, according to statistics bureau INEGI. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s tourism performance continues to rise: the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported that tourism revenue had its best February since 2019 after it recorded US $2.587 billion — 22.3% higher than the figure registered in 2022.

And a new study by Anahuac University says that the tourism sector’s trade balance is outperforming many of Mexico’s other business sectors.

According to INEGI’s International Traveler Surveys, 5.7 million travelers arrived in Mexico during February, 3 million of whom were international tourists.

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur — 5.7 million tourists were recorded in 2022, with 3 million arriving in Mexico from abroad. (Shutterstock)

On average, each of these travelers spent US $450.37 in the country.

International travelers visiting the country for recreational, family, work, or cultural purposes contributed 89% to the total income, according to INEGI. The remaining 11% were travelers in transit and tourists who stayed near the northern and southern borders.

A study by the Tourism Research and Competitiveness Center (Cicotur) at Anáhuac University in Mexico City — which used INEGI data — says the tourism industry had a surplus of US $20.9 billion in 2022, 43.3% percent higher than in 2021.

According to Cicotur, this is the largest figure on record.

“It is striking that in a complicated environment [the pandemic]. the tourism sector continues to deliver very good results for the Mexican economy,” Cicotur’s head, Francisco Madrid, told the newspaper Milenio.

By comparison with other sectors, Mexico recorded a foreign trade deficit of US $26.4 billion in 2022, while the oil industry registered a negative trade balance of US $34.9 billion in the same year, Cicotur said.

Madrid said that although the manufacturing industry, for example, has also reported a surplus, the tourism industry’s performance is still seven times higher.

“Once again, this speaks to the importance of this sector for the country,” he stressed.

Cicotur’s study also revealed that 2.2 million jobs registered with the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) are in the tourism sector. This represents a 1.1% growth compared to pre-pandemic levels.

With reports from INEGI, Milenio and El Economista.

UConn’s Lou Lopez Sénéchal is WNBA’s 1st Mexican-born draft pick

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MND Staff

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April 12, 2023

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Lou Lopez Sénéchal and Cathy Engelbert, WNBA Commissioner. — Guadalajara-born Lou López Sénéchal became the first player born in Mexico to be drafted to the WNBA on Monday. (Ian Bethune / The UConn Blog)

Lou Lopez Sénéchal made history this week as the first Mexican-born player to be drafted by the WNBA.

The 24-year-old University of Connecticut wing who helped lead her previous school, Fairfield University, to a conference title was selected fifth overall by the Dallas Wings in the league draft.

The Dallas Wings' first round picks. — Four of the Dallas Wings’ six draft picks. From left: Lou Lopez Sénéchal, Stephanie Soares, Maddy Siegrist, Ashley Joens. (@DallasWings/Twitter)

“I’ve come a long way — very grateful for my journey and all the steps I’ve achieved. [I’m] very grateful to be here,” Lopez Sénéchal told ESPN reporter Holly Rowe minutes after being drafted.

Her achievement comes a year after UConn’s Evina Westbrook became the first Mexican-American player in the WNBA when the Seattle Storm selected her in the second round.

Lopez Sénéchal at the 2022 MAAC Champsionship. — Lopez Sénéchal spent four seasons playing for Fairfield University’s Division I women’s basketball team and helped win the school’s first conference title in 24 years before transferring to UConn. (@FairfieldU/Twitter)

At UConn, Lopez Sénéchal became one of the breakout stars of the 2022–23 season after she averaged 15.5 points per game and hit 44% of her 3-point attempts. She’s also ranked ninth among college basketball players with the best 3-point percentage.

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, to a Mexican father and a French mother, Lopez Sénéchal grew up in Mexico until she was 5 years old, when her parents separated and she moved to Grenoble, France with her mother.

In France, she played basketball in high school before joining North Atlantic Basketball Academy in Ireland when she turned 19. After learning that one of her friends in the academy was going to Canada to play college basketball, she decided to pursue a similar path.

According to reporter Aishwarya Kumar of ESPN, Lopez Sénéchal’s stepfather, who had lived in the United States, helped her reach out to universities. Together, they sent 280 emails to schools in Divisions I and II, with the only exceptions being the top-25-ranked programs, as they felt these were a stretch too far.

They also made a highlight reel and created an email template that all athletes at the North Atlantic Basketball Academy would eventually come to use.

After four months of chasing colleges, Lopez Sénéchal got into Fairfield University, where she helped lead the team to the school’s first conference title in 24 years. She spent four seasons in Fairfield before transferring to UConn in 2022 for the final year of her eligibility, playing for its Division I team, part of the Big East Conference during the 2022=2023 season.

In 2022, she was selected as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year and was included on four all-conference teams.

Regarding her unconventional entrance to the WNBA, Lopez Sénéchal told ESPN “I always say there’s never a perfect path, a perfect way. There’s your way.”

She will debut with her new team on May 20 in the opening game of the 2023 regular season against the Atlanta Dream.

With reports from Latinus, NBC Connecticut, NBC News and ESPN

Immigration chief to face charges over fatal detention center fire

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MND Staff

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April 12, 2023

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Director Garduño faces prosecution for his alleged failing in the fire — The federal Attorney General’s Office has announced charges against the National Migration Institute's national director Francisco Garduño, in foreground, and its commissioner in Chihuahua, Antonio González Guerrero. (@fgymexico/Twitter)

The federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced Tuesday that it has commenced criminal proceedings against Mexico’s top immigration official in connection with the March 27 fire in a Ciudad Juárez detention center that claimed the lives of 40 migrants.

National Immigration Institute (INM) director Francisco Garduño and the NM’s general director of immigration control and verification Antonio Molina Díaz will face charges that both allegedly committed “criminal conduct” by “failing to fulfill their duty to supervise, protect and provide security to the people and facilities” under their control, the FGR said in a statement.

Garduño looks on at a crying couple after the fire in Chihuahua. — Garduño, seen here in the aftermath of the fire, currently remains at the helm of the INM. (@fgymexico/Twitter)

They could be imprisoned for up to three years if found guilty on charges of improper exercise of public service.

The FGR said that Federal Auditor’s Office (ASF) reports in recent years have detailed “with complete clarity the mistakes and oversights that continue to be committed at the INM” even after a March 2020 fire at a detention center in Tenosique, Tabasco, in which one migrant died and 14 others were injured.

The National Human Rights Commission published a report in the wake of the 2020 fire that said that officials failed to follow “safety measures that are essential and obligatory” in such scenarios.

The Attorney General’s Office said that the shortcomings outlined in the ASF reports indicate an unrectified “pattern of irresponsibility” at the INM, “which has been the cause of these regrettable events.”

Emergency responders outside immigration detention center — According to reports, a migrant allegedly started the fire by setting mattresses alight after officials informed detainees that they would be deported. (Juan Ortega/Cuartoscuro)

The FGR said it has also opened criminal cases against four other public servants who are “directly linked to conduct that caused homicides and injuries” among detained migrants. It did not specify the positions they hold.

The announcement of the criminal proceedings against Garduño and the other officials comes after the arrest of three INM agents and a security guard who worked at the Ciudad Juárez detention center, as well as a Venezuelan man who allegedly started the fire by setting mattresses alight when he and other migrants were informed that they were going to be deported or moved to another immigration facility.

The five, who were arrested a few days after the fire, face charges of homicide and causing injury and are in preventive detention as they await trial.

A video posted to social media showed that the male migrants being held in Ciudad Juárez were left in a locked section of the detention center despite the fire. A security guard and an INM agent appeared to evacuate the building without unlocking the door to the section where the migrants were detained.

Garduño visits fire victims in hospital. — The aftermath of the fire left all those detained in the INM center either in hospital or dead. (@fgymexico/Twitter)

President López Obrador said Tuesday that “the person who had the key” was not at the detention center when the fire began.

In its statement, the FGR said that the INM and the private security company in question signed contracts that were awarded without the required tendering process, “generating costs double what is paid in the public sector for those same services.”

The FGR also said that the INM and the security company had not fulfilled their “training, control and supervision obligations” at the Ciudad Juárez detention center.

Garduño currently remains at the INM’s helm despite the prospect that he will stand trial in connection with last month’s deadly blaze.

López Obrador, who has pledged there will be no impunity in the case, defended his immigration chief at his morning news conference on Wednesday, saying that his performance as INM director has generally been good.

“I’ve known him for many years, he has worked with me,” he added.

Garduño, who took over as INM head in 2019 after the resignation of former chief Tonatiuh Guillén López, was Mexico City’s transport minister when López Obrador was mayor of the capital between 2000 and 2005.

The government of El Salvador demanded his resignation in the wake of the Ciudad Júarez fire, in which Salvadorean migrants, as well as detainees from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, and Colombia, died.

Huge numbers of migrants have crossed into Mexico at the country’s southern border in recent years, putting immense pressure on the INM, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance and migrant shelters.

The federal government has also faced pressure from U.S. authorities to do more to stop migrants reaching the Mexico-U.S. border. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have been detained and deported since the current federal government took office in late 2018.

The intended final destination of most migrants is the United States, but many find themselves stranded in southern Mexico as they await authorization to travel through the country legally, or in northern border cities as they wait for an opportunity to seek asylum in the U.S.

Many of the men killed or injured in the Ciudad Juárez detention center fire were reportedly detained while begging or washing car windows at traffic lights in the northern border city.

With reports from El Financiero, Reforma and El Universal

Food for thought: Mexican expressions inspired by the dinner table

By

Lee Jamison

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April 11, 2023

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Mexican food — Mexico's common expressions are often as colorful as its cuisine.

Mexico’s mouthwatering cuisine has accomplished more than just delighting our palates and swelling our waistlines; it has immensely enriched local Spanish and expanded the colorful portfolio of Mexican sayings.

Come with us as we explore five common food-related expressions and discover the real meaning behind the metaphors.

Mexican Spanish expression — Have you ever heard this expression?

In each case, we include the literal meaning, which may help you to visualize the underlying linguistic logic.

**1. Cuando tú vas por la leche, yo ya voy rodando los quesos.**

Literal meaning: When you go for the milk, I’m already rolling the cheeses.

Fancy crafting your own cheddar cheese? Hope you have oodles of time. Even mild cheddar can take two to three months to age. If you’re barely leaving to buy the milk, you haven’t even started yet.

Milk this saying for all it’s worth when your spouse or close friend suggests something you thought of long ago. It’s the equivalent of “I’m way ahead of you!”

Wife: ¿Ya pagaste la factura de la luz? (Did you pay the light bill?)

Husband: Cuando tú vas por la leche, yo ya voy rodando los quesos.

2. Echarle mucha crema a los tacos

Literal meaning: to put a lot of cream on the tacos

A little sour cream on those tacos adds a nice touch, but too much can ruin them. If your significant other has a tendency to spin tall tales, bring them back down to earth with this culinary adage.

Husband: Hoy saqué un pescado de 5 kilos. (Today I caught a 5-kilo fish)

Wife: Bájale, mi amor. Le estás echando mucha crema a los tacos. (Come on, dear, you’re exaggerating.)

3. Regar el tepache

Literal meaning: to spill the fermented pineapple drink

Are you a big talker? Eager to be the first to spread the news? If so, be careful not to spill the beans, or in this case, the tepache, a fermented drink made from pineapple or other fruits.

¡Híjole! ¡Ya regaste el tepache! Nadie más supo que mi esposa está embarazada.

Man! You spilled the beans! No one else knew my wife is pregnant.

4. No se puede chiflar y comer pinole.

Literal meaning: You can’t whistle and eat corn meal.

Multitaskers beware! There are certain activities that you can’t perform simultaneously, as this popular adage asserts. If you had pinole, a sweetened corn meal, in your mouth, it would be impossible to whistle.

Tab this corny logic when someone attempts the impossible or the inadvisable without visualizing the big picture.

Quieren acabar con el virus y abrir la economía al mismo tiempo. No se puede chiflar y comer pinole.

They want to eradicate the virus and open the economy at the same time. You can’t do two things at once.

5. Ser el ajonjolí de todos los moles

Literal meaning: to be the sesame seed of all mole sauces

Mexico’s mole sauce is internationally renowned. The bitterness of chocolate, the bite of peppers, the acidity of tomatoes, the pungency of garlic — together with any number of select ingredients — combine to make mole a gastronomic delight. But moles are like snowflakes: no two are alike.

Even so, sesame seeds are the common denominator; they’re in the majority of variations. Logically, if someone is considered the sesame seed of all sauces, they are staples of the social scene, they’re invited to every party — or they have done a little of everything. But be careful: it can also mean someone who’s at every party because they invited themselves, i.e., they’re nosy or meddlesome.

I once asked a woman her religious affiliation. Her answer will be forever burned into my memory:

Yo he sido católica, evangélica, y mormona; he sido el ajonjolí de todos los moles.

I was Catholic, Evangelical, and Mormon; I’ve been all over the place.

6. Del año del caldo

Literal meaning: from the soup year

In what year did your great-grandparents get married? Do you even know their names? If an event happened that long ago, then natives will say it happened in the year that soup was invented.

Deje de mirar esas fotos; son del año del caldo. (Stop looking at those pictures; they’re super old.)

**7. Sale más caro el caldo que las albóndigas.**

Literal meaning: The broth ends up being more expensive than the meatballs.

We live in a throwaway society. In developed countries, who gets their shoes repaired? Who pays to get a printer fixed? In many cases, the repair costs are prohibitive; it’s more feasible to buy a new item.

Order up this saying when faced with unreasonable repair costs or any other endeavor that in the long run won’t be worth the trouble.

Person A: ¿Qué te parece si llevamos el microondas a repararse? (How about getting the microwave fixed?)

Person B: No, ¿qué crees? Sale más caro el caldo que las albóndigas. (Are you kidding? The cure is worse than the disease.)

So, remember: you are what you eat. Be determined, then, to fully digest these culinary sayings. If you do, when they pop up in everyday conversation, you will find yourself as cool as a cucumber.

¡Buen provecho!

Lee Jamison has lived and worked in Latin America for more than 25 years and is a resident of Mexico. He operates the site insiderspanish.com and is the author of the book My Burning Tongue: Mexican Spanish available in paperback and Kindle formats at amazon.com. He has also written guides on the Spanish spoken in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama.

“They’re not junk”: AMLO strikes back at critics of Iberdrola sale

By

Cat Rainsford

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April 11, 2023

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Iberdrola Mexico — The purchase of the Iberdrola facilities has been criticized by some economic think tanks. (Iberdrola/Twitter)

President López Obrador has defended buying 13 electric power plants from the Spanish company Iberdrola, insisting that Mexico will see a return on the investment within ten years.

In his morning press conference, AMLO confirmed that the $6 billion deal to purchase the plants, announced on April 4, would be completed in the next 45 days.

President Lopez Obrador of Mexico — The President defended the decision to purchase the 13 power plants, noting that they were built more recently than many CFE sites. (lopezobrador.org.mx)

“This investment is profitable, it will be recovered in maximum ten years,” he said. “It is guaranteed there will be no lack of electricity, the country will continue to grow, the demand for electric energy, and we need to guarantee the energy.”

The President also hit back at critics – including some energy experts – who have suggested the price for the plants was too high, given that many have been operating for between 10 and 25 years already and may have a limited useful life ahead of them.

“They’re not junk,” AMLO insisted.

“This park of plants, 13 plants, 12 combined cycle and one wind, have an average useful life three times higher than the average useful life of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) [plants],” he said.

List of Iberdrola plants being sold to Mexico government — The list of plants in Mexico that Iberdrola is selling. Twelve of them are combined-cycle plants. La Venta III is a wind farm. (Government of Mexico)

“They are newer than the [average] CFE [plant], and for what reason? Because what they wanted was for the CFE plants to become scrap, as they did with petrochemicals, so the CFE would leave the electricity market and the entire market would be in the hands of individuals.”

AMLO has hailed the Iberdrola purchase as a “new nationalization” of Mexico’s electricity industry. It increases the state-owned CFE’s share of Mexico’s electricity generation from 39% to 55%.

The president has long pursued a energy policy that seeks to favor CFE and state-owned oil company Pemex over private energy companies. He has been particularly critical of Iberdrola, accusing the Spanish company of “looting the country.”

The 13 plants from Iberdrola are mostly located in northern Mexican states: three each in Tamaulipas and Nuevo León; two each in San Luis Potosí and in Sinaloa; and one each in Durango, Baja California and Oaxaca. They have a combined electricity generation capacity of 8,539 megawatts. The oldest plant opened in 1998. The newest opened in 2022.

An Iberdrola Electric plant at night — The new power plants are predominantly located in the north of the country. (Iberdrola)

“If we tried to build these 13 plants, it would take us ten years,” AMLO said.

He said the purchase would be complemented by two new combined cycle plants in Yucatán, the modernization of 12 existing hydroelectric plants, and investments in solar plants in Sonora.

AMLO’s nationalist energy policy was a key part of his electoral agenda, but private sector analysts argue it will be economically damaging to Mexico and slow its green energy transition.

Despite the president’s optimism, Monday saw the Center for Economic Studies of the Private Sector call the Iberdrola purchase a “bad decision” that would create future maintenance expenses and give “a negative signal towards investment.”

With reports from El Universal, Forbes and Aristegui Noticias

Mexico faces potentially high costs for failure to protect vaquita

By

Cat Rainsford

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April 11, 2023

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This dead vaquita was recovered from the Gulf of California in 2018. — A dead vaquita caught in an illegal gillnet in the Gulf of California.

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) will debate whether to sanction Mexico for failing to protect the endangered vaquita marina, potentially leading to a ban on Mexican seafood.

The U.S. market accounts for 50% of Mexico’s seafood sales, worth around $745 million in 2022.

Illegal fishing of totoabas has caused significant decline in the population of vaquitas. Environmental organizations have condemned Mexico for not doing enough to eliminate the practice. (Sea Shepherd)

In a court settlement on Friday, the DOI pledged to decide by May 19 whether to certify Mexico under the “Pelly Amendment” to the Fishermen’s Protective Act. This requires the DOI to embargo products from nations that “diminish the effectiveness” of international wildlife agreements.

The DOI was responding to a lawsuit filed in December 2022 by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council).

These U.S. conservation groups argue that Mexico’s failure to stop illegal fishing in the Gulf of California violates the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and has driven the endemic vaquita porpoise to the brink of extinction.

The move comes soon after the Secretariat to CITES announced its own sanctions against Mexico on March 27, after declaring Mexico’s proposed action plan to protect the vaquita “inadequate.” These sanctions prevent CITES member countries from trading with Mexico in more than 3,000 species of animals and plants, potentially costing Mexico US $1.5 billion in lost trade.

A 'save the vaquita' rally in the Zocalo, CDMX — Demonstrators in Mexico City’s Zócalo demanding that more be done to preserve the vaquita. Despite years of promises from the Mexican government, little has been done to prevent the vaquita’s extinction. (Diego Simón Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)

“We’re relieved the U.S. government is finally going to make this call,” said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the CBD, in a press release. “Strong U.S. sanctions will force Mexico to pull this little porpoise back from the brink.”

Vaquita often die after becoming entangled in nets used to catch totoaba fish, which are highly coveted on the Chinese black market for their supposed medicinal properties. Although Mexico formally prohibits totoaba fishing, the ban has never been effectively enforced.

The conservation groups first petitioned to ban imports from Mexico under the Pelly Amendment in 2014. After the DOI failed to respond for more than eight years, they sued to force a decision. During this time, the vaquita population declined by 90%.

“While DOI dithered, the vaquita population plunged from approximately 100 animals to fewer than 10,” said DJ Schubert, wildlife biologist at the AWI.

President López Obrador immediately sent eight officials to Geneva to attempt to appeal the sanctions. The Environment Ministry announced that it was reviewing fishery protection measures and had worked with the Navy to remove more than 4,700 meters of illegal fishing nets.

Mexican officials also protested that sanctioning Mexico for illegal totoaba fishing fails to recognize the responsibility of transit and destination countries, such as the U.S. and China.

“Mexico is not solely responsible and is not the only one that should have to spend on this,” said Blanca Alicia Mendoza Vera, Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection.

With reports from Diario El Independiente

Four soldiers charged in Nuevo Laredo civilian shooting case

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MND Staff

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April 11, 2023

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Protest in March in Oaxaca City in support of the 4 soldiers charged in the killings of five civilians in Nuevo Laredo. — Protestors in March demanded the liberation of the soldiers who were charged on Monday. (Carolina Jiménez/Cuartoscuro)

Federal prosecutors have formally accused four soldiers in the killings of five men in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in late February.

During a court hearing on Monday, the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) presented homicide and attempted homicide charges against the soldiers, who opened fire on a pickup truck in the early hours of Feb. 26.

Mexican army soldier at the Independence Day Parade, September 16, 2013 in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. — The four soldiers charged on Monday, not pictured here, have been detained at a Mexico City military base since early March. (© Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Five young men, including a United States citizen, were killed, and a sixth man was wounded. A seventh man in the pickup was unharmed but is reportedly suffering psychological distress.

Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas said last month that the victims were unarmed and not involved in a confrontation with the army. They were reportedly returning home from a night on the town when they came under attack.

Tras exhaustivas investigaciones de los hechos ocurridos el 26 de febrero en #NuevoLaredo, donde resultaron víctimas siete personas por el uso ilegítimo de armas de fuego, emitimos la #Recomendación 95VG/2023 a la @SEDENAmx.

👉🏾https://t.co/rA15qqzv4a #DefendemosAlPueblo pic.twitter.com/UanBLwUlnx

— CNDH en México (@CNDH) March 22, 2023

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission report determined that the four soldiers charged had acted against protocol and described the shooting as unjustified.

A federal judge in Reynosa ruled on Monday that the four soldiers must remain in preventive detention in a prison at a Mexico City military base. The troops, who appeared at Monday’s hearing via video link, have been held there since their arrest in early March.

Protesters called for their release at demonstrations in numerous cities on March 12.

Another hearing at which a judge is expected to order the soldiers to stand trial will be held Wednesday. The accused face prison sentences of up to 60 years for each homicide.

Lawyers for the victims’ families intend to ask prosecutors to bring charges against 17 other soldiers, including a captain, who were part of the same company as the accused troops and on the ground in Nuevo Laredo when the alleged homicides occurred. They say these 17 other members were negligent and should have prevented the shootings.

“Only four [soldiers] activated their firearms, according to ballistic reports, but the others committed willful misconduct to a greater or lesser degree against the young men who lost their lives and those who survived,” lawyer Edgar Netro Acuña told the El Universal newspaper.

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) last month described the shooting as unjustified. In a March 21 report directed to Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval, the CNDH stated that the four soldiers fired a total of 117 shots at the pickup in which the young men were traveling.

Alejandro Encinas, Mexico's Deputy Interior Minister — Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas acknowledged that the civilians were unarmed and did not pose a threat to the troops that confronted them. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)

According to the report, soldiers in four vehicles followed the pickup based on “suspicion” of criminal activity. The army didn’t follow correct procedure in engaging the vehicle, the CNDH alleged.

“Without giving verbal orders [to pull over], one soldier opened fire into the back of the private vehicle, and three other soldiers did the same to support the first one,” the report said.

In a statement issued on Feb. 28, the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) said that soldiers heard gunshots before they saw a pickup without license plates and with its lights off, traveling at high speed.

“Upon seeing the presence of the troops, they accelerated in a brusque and evasive way,” Sedena said, adding that the pickup came to a halt when it crashed into a parked vehicle.

“Upon hearing a bang, the military personnel activated their firearms,” the statement said.

Crime scene reports didn’t mention any weapons found in the pickup, and the CNDH said there was no evidence of shots fired at soldiers or their vehicles.

Located opposite the Texan city of Laredo, Nuevo Laredo is a stronghold of the Northeast Cartel, an offshoot of the Zetas crime organization. Clashes between the military and cartel henchmen occur frequently in the border city.

The military has been accused of committing other human rights violations in Nuevo Laredo, including enforced disappearances. Thirty marines were arrested in 2021 in connection with the disappearance of an unspecified number of people in the city in 2014.

Dozens of other people went missing in Nuevo Laredo in the first half of 2018 during military operations against cartels.

With reports from El Universal, Reforma, El Financiero and AP

Pre-Hispanic ball game marker disc found in Chichén Itzá

By

MND Staff

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April 11, 2023

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Mayan disc showing a ball game. — The disc is 32.5 centimeters in diameter, 9.5 centimeters thick and 40 kilograms in weight.

Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have unearthed a pre-Hispanic ballgame stone marker in the archaeological site of Chichén Itzá in Yucatán.

The limestone circle has images of Maya dignitaries in the center playing the ancient ballgame Pok Ta Pok, along with Mayan hieroglyphics along the edge. Unlike many discoveries at the archeological site, the disc presents its complete glyphic text.

The temple of Kulkulcan in Chichen Itza — Chichén Itzá is a UNESCO world heritage site, and one of the most historically significant cities of the Maya world. (Luka Peternel/Wikimedia)

“It is rare to find hieroglyphic writing in Chichén Itzá,” said archaeologist Francisco Pérez Ruiz, “let alone a complete text.”

Marco Antonio Santos Ramírez, head of Chichén Itzá’s archeological zone, told the EFE news outlet that the discovery could change the way archeologists think about Chichén Itzá, “by adding a new element that we were unaware of,” he said.

The “Piedra Juego de Pelota” (Ballgame Disc), as archeologists are referring to it, is a marker of some important event related to the Casa Colorada Ball Game played in a smaller court than that of the Great Game of Chichén Itzá.

“The character on the left wears a feathered headdress and a sash that features a flower-shaped element, probably a water lily. At the height of the face, one can distinguish a scroll, which can be interpreted as breath or voice. The opponent wears a headdress known as a “snake turban,” a representation observed multiple times in Chichén Itzá,” archeologist Santiago Alberto Sobrino Fernández detailed.

A pelota hoop in the stadium of Chichen Itaza — Pelota was ancient Maya game similar to basketball. It was often played for ritual reasons and formed an important part of the culture. (infoquintanaroo)

Santos agreed that the artifact could expand our knowledge about Mayan culture, as “it apparently contains dates, names and actions that were recorded by the ancient inhabitants of Chichén Itzá.”

The hieroglyphics depicted in the 40-kilogram stone could be some of the last ones written about the ancient culture around the Late Classic or Early Postclassic period (approximately between around A.D 800 and a short time after A.D. 900), before classical Mayan writing ceased, he added.

Pablo Alberto Mumary Farto, a professor of Mesoamerican history at the National Autonomous University (UNAM), noted that the discovery of the artifact represented a chance to understand more about the rituals and events associated with the game.

“What is interesting is that [this disc] comes from the ninth century, and it will surely provide us more information about the government [during that period], as the image appears to depict two possible governors engaged in a ritual or event,” he told Mexico News Daily.

Found by archeologist Lizbeth Beatriz Mendicuti Pérez, the disc is one of the many archeological findings unearthed as part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza), which undertakes archaeological projects along the controversial route of the Mayan Train.

“Since the creation of INAH, there has not been such an important investment in the archeology of Mexico. And now it is paying off,” Santos stressed.

Just in February, archaeologists reported yet another finding in Chichén Itzá: the tomb of a person from the city’s elite belonging to the Canules dynasty (Ah Canul). It was found in “Chichén Viejo,” an underexplored area of the archeological site which, according to INAH Yucatán, will soon open to the public.

With reports from INAH, La Jornada Maya and National Geographic.