The recent heat wave has increased demand for fans and other cooling devices in Mexico. (Delaney Van/Unsplash)
Mexico’s recent heat wave caused a surge in demand for cooling devices that nearly overwhelmed suppliers and caused disruption to the energy supply in some states.
Demand for fans and air conditioners jumped 18.9% in January to April compared to the same period the year before, while their manufacture only increased 14.3%, according to Mexico’s national statistics agency (INEGI). Online retailer Mercado Libre reported that demand for these devices jumped a further 18% between May 29 and June 12.
Online retailer Mercado Libre reported an 18% increase in sales of fans in early June. (@ML_Mexico/Twitter)
In the first 20 days of June, as the third heat wave of the year gripped Mexico, sales of fans, sunscreen, hats and other items to mitigate the heat in Mexico City totaled 3.2 billion pesos (US $190 million) – a 46.6% increase from the year before – according to the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Canaco).
“I have participated in the fan market for seven years and this has not happened before,” Guillermo Freyría, president of the National Association of Manufacturers of Household Appliances (ANFAD), told the El Financiero newspaper. “It is very difficult to be prepared for this,” Freyría said, stressing the “atypical conditions” of present demand.
El Financiero found that many stores have struggled to keep up with this demand, selling out of certain models of fans within hours of the products arriving. Freyría predicts that if these types of heat waves continue, the use of ventilation and air conditioning in Mexican homes will grow by at least 10%.
Several foreign companies in the sector have been relocating their manufacturing to Mexico to better access the U.S. market. These include fan motor manufacturer Taurus, which has relocated a plant from China to Tlaxcala, and Japanese company Daikin, which is investing US $300 million in two factories in San Luis Potosí.
ANFAD president Guillermo Freyría is concerned that increased electric consumption caused by the heatwave will lead to unaffordable bills for many Mexicans. (ANFAD)
“Mexico is a country with a tropical climate that depends greatly on fans; this geographical position is also an advantage to serve various export markets in an agile way,” said Luis Ángel García Pérez, vice president of the ventilators section at ANFAD.
On the other hand, the surge in use of electrical cooling devices during the heat wave increased costs for many Mexican businesses, leaving some with bills they may struggle to pay, according to Canaco president José de Jesús Rodríguez.
“We are asking the authorities that when these bills arrive, if they are very high, they give those who have less [ability to pay] some option to cover these expenses gradually,” he told the newspaper Reforma.
Increased use of cooling devices also increased demand for electricity, putting a strain on Mexico’s energy supplies.
Migrants from other countries, such as Guatemala, also reported paying smugglers to help them cross the Mexican border. (Pedro Anza / Cuartoscuro.com)
People smugglers known as coyotes or polleros are charging Mexicans close to US $7,000 on average to get them across the northern border into the United States, a 2022 survey found.
Conducted in the second half of last year, the Survey on Migration at the Northern Border of Mexico (EMIF Norte) found that Mexicans are paying an average of $6,937 to smugglers to take them into the United States.
The EMIF Norte survey included over 20,000 migrants, many of whom had been deported from the U.S. after trying to illegally cross the border. (CBP/Twitter)
At $7,839, the average price paid by Mexican women is 19% higher than the $6,565 average price paid by Mexican men.
The EMIF Norte – a joint initiative of the Mexican government, the College of the Northern Border and the International Organization for Migration – also found that 45% of surveyed Mexican migrants deported to Mexico from the U.S. used a coyote to cross the northern border.
Of more than 20,000 surveyed migrants heading to the United States, only 8.6% had guaranteed work waiting from them across the border. One-third had relatives in the U.S, while approximately eight in 10 hadn’t migrated previously.
Just over half of the surveyed Mexicans headed to the United States – 53.5% – didn’t have documents that allowed them to legally enter the U.S. or work there. Almost 60% of those surveyed were men while just over 40% were women. Their average age was 30, and only 11.9% had completed studies above high school level.
People found inside this trailer in Chiapas — mostly Guatemalan migrants — wait in line for space in migration institute transport vehicles. (Cuartoscuro.com)
The EMIF Norte’s sister survey, the Survey on Migration at the Southern Border of Mexico (EMIF Sur), found that 15.3% of 13,535 migrants from Guatemala who were deported to that country from Mexico used a coyote to facilitate their entry to and travel through the country. The average cost they paid was $3,894, according to the recently published results of the EMIF Sur, which was also conducted in the second half of last year.
The percentage of Guatemalan migrants who used a people smuggler to avoid detection by authorities as they traveled through Mexico is significantly higher than the 2% figure recorded in the second half of 2019.
Over half of the Guatemalan migrants surveyed reported suffering from extreme heat or cold while traveling in Mexico. About a quarter said they lacked food and/or water, while 2.6% said they were victims of extortion.
The period during which the EMIF Norte and EMIF Sur were conducted – July to November of last year – partially coincided with the United States 2022 fiscal year, during which undocumented immigrant crossings reached a record high of 2.76 million.
The Xalapa museum is considered the second-most significant anthropological collection in the country, after the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City. (Photo courtesy of the author)
Seeing Olmec colossal heads in photographs is one thing. But when you stand in front of one, it’s not just their size that strikes you. It’s also their presence, one that exudes both calmness and power.
The best place to experience that presence is the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa (MAX) in Xalapa, Veracruz.
On your next trip through Veracruz, make a stop at the Xalapa Anthropology Museum, where you can see an impressive collection of Olmec colossal heads. (MAX)
MAX is considered the second-most important anthropology museum in Mexico (the first being the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City). The first museum in Xalapa to exhibit pre-Hispanic artifacts to the public, MAX opened in 1943. A larger museum was opened on the current site in 1960, only to be torn down in 1985 to make way for an even larger museum.
The third iteration of the museum, designed by U.S. architect Raymond Gómez, opened on October 29, 1986. All of the 2,500 artifacts on display are from pre-Hispanic Veracruz civilizations: Olmec, Remojadas, Tajín, Zapotal and Huasteca.
The building has one long gallery that connects to nine smaller galleries on one side. Three of these are covered patios where prehispanic figures and altars sit among trees and plants. Beautifully landscaped grounds surround the museum.
Colossal Head Number 8 greets visitors at the entrance to the museum (the numbers signify the order in which the heads were found). Standing just over 7 feet tall, it has the same characteristics found on all of the heads: a flattened nose, thick lips and fleshy cheeks. All also have a helmet, which may have afforded protection in pelota, the ancient Mesoamerican ball game, or in battle.
Three heads (l to r), number 9 (with smile), number 3 (maybe female), number 4. (Photo courtesy of the author)
Believed to be the portraits of rulers, Olmec heads were carved from basalt boulders transported from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains. To date, seventeen heads have been found and seven can be viewed at the MAX. The heads range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 meters (3.8 to 11.2 feet) and weigh between 6 and 40 tons. Although it’s not known with certainty when the heads were carved, information at the museum dates them to between 1,200 and 900 B.C.
Although all of the heads share common characteristics, each one is unique. For example, Number 3, located with two others in a side room, is thought to be the portrait of a woman. To her right is Number 9, who sports a Mona Lisa-like smile, and to her left is Number 4, who looks a little grim.
Although the heads may be the most impressive of the museum’s pieces, there are many others that are also fascinating.
Near the museum’s entrance are exhibits and information about the important role women played in pre-Hispanic cultures in Veracruz.
A sculpture of a prehispanic fertility goddess is pictured with Colossal Head Number 5 gazing from behind. (Photo courtesy of the author)
With 2,500 artifacts in the museum, it’s difficult to choose favorites. But, in addition to the colossal heads, here are a few others that I found particularly interesting.
A sculpture of Tlazolteotl, the fertility goddess and one of the most important gods of all pre-Hispanic cultures, is at the entrance to the main gallery. She sits, cross-legged, gazing serenely while Colossal Head number 5 watches from behind her.
El Señor de Las Limas is a beautiful figure carved from green serpentine with an interesting backstory. It was found by two children in 1965 in Las Limas, Veracruz (hence the name) who were looking for a rock to break open coyoles, the small, hard fruits of a palm tree.
Luckily, the children found a rock sticking out of the ground and used it to break open the fruits. Fortunately, no damage was done. They brought the rock to their home where people realized it was an ancient sculpture. Originally named La Virgen de las Limas, the townspeople placed it in the local church. It was later taken to the MAX where, in 1970, it was stolen and eventually recovered in a San Antonio, Texas motel.
The figure is 55 cm (22 inches) high and depicts an adult, possibly a priest, sitting cross-legged and holding a limp baby in his arms. While it could depict a sleeping baby, it could also represent one that was sacrificed.
A sculpture of rain god Tlaloc in the Anthropology Museum of Xalapa, Veracruz. (Photo courtesy of the author)
Another favorite is the small figure of the Dios del Fuego (Fire God) who appears happy as he rubs his hands together and drops offerings into a brazier. Nearby are Xipe Tótec, the god of agriculture and human sacrifice, whose body is covered in human skin, and Tlaloc, the rain god who looks oddly like a WWI pilot.
One of the more disturbing exhibits is the gallery of deformed skulls, a practice undertaken to show kinship and status, as well as for aesthetic reasons. The deformations were typically performed on infants; the exhibit displays ceramic sculptures depicting children strapped on beds to prevent movement while bands or boards were placed to deform their skulls.
Figure on taking a couple of hours to tour the museum. After that, take advantage of what Xalapa has to offer.
The historic center has lots of restaurants and cafés to check out. A little advice: if you drive to Xalapa, park your car before heading to the city’s center and take taxis, which are reasonably priced – the traffic is brutal. Also, Señor Google kept sending us to the commercial center when we asked the app for directions to the historic center. Either ask someone for directions, or type in Parque Juárez, which is a good starting point within the historic center.
There, you’ll find people selling food, skaters on skateboarders and live music. The park has a huge statue of Quetzalcóatl with an extended tongue that children like to slide down.
For a more tranquil experience, there’s the beautiful Parque de los Tecajetes, which is a short ride from the city’s center. It has gardens and pools filled with fish and turtles and is a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city.
A waiter serves café lechero in a Veracruz café. (Eneas De Troya/Wikimedia Commons)
Lastly, do not leave Xalapa without trying a hot glass of lechero. A glass of coffee is brought to your table and then a server, in a sort of perfomance art piece, pours in hot milk. Although I prefer my coffee black, I found lechero delicious.
MAX is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. and costs 60 pesos to enter. The second floor has temporary exhibits.
Terminal 1 of the country’s busiest airport. (AICM/Twitter)
SICT is currently preparing a decree outlining the details of the handover of control of AICM to the navy. The transfer of control will officially take place 60 days after the publication of the decree in the federal government’s official gazette, which is expected to happen in the coming days.
“The Ministry of the Navy will be in charge of the Mexico City airport,” López Obrador told reporters at his morning press conference.
He noted that the navy is already in charge of security at AICM and asserted that it has a done a “very good job.”
“… There is no theft of suitcases as happened before, and care is taken so that contraband doesn’t come in, so that drugs don’t come in,” López Obrador said.
A marine supervises airport staff at a screening area. (Semar)
He asserted that the AICM was controlled by drug traffickers while previous governments were in office and Mexico was a “narco-state.”
López Obrador also announced that the navy will take control of the airports in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche; Ciudad Obregón, Sonora; and Guaymas, Sonora.
He noted that the Defense Ministry – the army – will have responsibility for the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), which opened at a location north of the capital in March 2022; the airport in Tulum, Quintana Roo, that is currently under construction; and the airports in Campeche, Puebla and the Tamaulipas border city of Nuevo Laredo.
AICM general director Carlos Velázquez Tiscareño, a former navy pilot and vice-admiral, said Tuesday that the airport will benefit from navy control in a range of ways.
There will be “greater security, certainty, adherence to rules, order and discipline,” he told reporters at an International Air Transport Association event in Mexico City.
The current government has used the military for a wide range of non-traditional tasks including public security, the construction of major infrastructure projects including AIFA and the administration of ports and customs.
Aviation sector expert Rosario Avilés said that the military should be focused on national security rather than the management of airports.
“The armed forces have a mission to fulfill in security, but their efforts are being distracted by managing infrastructure and building hotels, and that’s not their role,” she said.
As industry and manufacturing expand with nearshoring, some wonder if it will adversely affect Mexico's water supply.(Shutterstock)
It’s hard for me not to be excited about the nearshoring boom that is happening in Mexico. Significant investments in new facilities and existing plant expansions are pouring in from companies from around the globe – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India, the U.S., Canada and China.
I recently wrote about my perspective on nearshoring through previous experiences with the impact of NAFTA on this economy. Most of the investment is concentrated in Mexico’s northern states, closest to the U.S. border, and others are focused on the central “El Bajío” region. All of these states have something in common, aside from being manufacturing hubs – they have dry climates and are water-stressed regions.
Low levels of rainfall across Mexico have caused drought in many states, including in Campeche (seen here). (Michael Balam/Cuartoscuro)
How can such significant investment in industry and manufacturing, along with the massive amounts of new people moving to these areas, not create major water issues? President López Obrador even said Tesla should consider building its new factory not in Monterrey, but in the southern part of the country, “where water is plentiful.”
I have worked in the water business globally – including in Mexico and Latin America – for over 15 years. I do not consider myself a water expert, but given my years of experience in the region and in the business of solving industrial water problems, I have some perspective on assessing the risks and concerns related to water in relation to increased nearshoring development.
First of all, it’s important to remember how water is used. Although it varies by country, state and city, the general mix of water usage globally tends to be ~70% agriculture, ~20% industry and ~10% domestic.
Most people are shocked when they first hear these statistics, as they tend to assume higher amounts for industry and domestic use. Nearshoring will most impact the 20% related to industrial use, and with an influx of new residents into some municipalities, the 10% related to domestic usage will be affected as well.
Automotive manufacturing in Mexico. (Courtesy of Entrada Group)
Industry is a very broad category as many different subsegments have different water usage levels. Heavy industry segments like paper and steel mills and power plants use the most water.
That said, even these industries are investing in creative solutions to reduce their water footprint. This past week, Ternium, an Argentine steel company, announced a US $3.2 billion investment in their plant in Nuevo Léon, that will use recycled wastewater in production processes.
Lighter industry segments, like general manufacturing and assembly – the segments most likely to expand with nearshoring – tend to use significantly less water. In many of these facilities, the most significant water use can be in the restrooms or cafeteria for the employees!
Having worked in the water industry with thousands of industrial companies as clients, I have seen firsthand that almost all of these companies have sustainability goals in place in which they constantly strive to use less water and energy each year. Most of these companies share best practices across their facilities globally, even best practices between competitors, to use less water.
Many invest in tools and technologies that better control, monitor, reduce, reuse, and recycle water throughout their facilities because it’s in their best interest to save water. Why? In most parts of Mexico, water is expensive!
Many municipalities or industrial parks charge industrial customers significant amounts for clean water and even more to receive dirty water.
In almost every multinational industrial operation I have seen, long gone are the days when companies just waste water indiscriminately. It just doesn’t make financial or business sense for them to do so.
GDP growth and improved living standards bring increased water usage, that’s a fact anywhere in the world. An increasingly wealthy Mexico most certainly will need more water. Fortunately, there are societal and financial incentives for industry to use less water and there are many technologies that help companies to reduce, reuse, and recycle their water usage. The business case for companies to invest in this technology is quite compelling and in most cases quickly pays for itself.
With the rapidly changing climate and its unpredictability, I don’t think anyone can feel completely comfortable about water these days. It seems like almost everyone is either struggling with too little or too much water at any given time period.
I think that if we as a society continue to prioritize this issue it will pressure industry to invest to use as little water as possible in their operations. It will not be a completely painless process, but I believe the nearshoring boom will not have a significant direct impact on water resources in most regions.
We welcome and encourage letters to the editor to share your perspective and experience – let’s start a conversation on this important topic!
The 2022-23 school year - the first full year back since the COVID-19 pandemic, has been interrupted by heat waves and volcanic ash clouds. Here, pupils in Puebla wear masks after the eruption of Popocatépetl. (Mireya Novo/Cuartoscuro)
On Monday, the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) released its schedule for the upcoming school year. Parents, start planning your vacations for the next year!
The first day of classes will be Aug. 28 and the last will be July 16, 2024.
The 2023-24 school year calendar. (SEP)
The calendar applies to all preschools and primary and secondary schools, both public and private, that are part of the national education system. Developed by SEP and the educational authorities of each federal entity, the school year will comprise 190 days of activities.
Seasoned parents in Mexico’s education system know that the School Technical Council’s sessions take place the last Friday of every month and school activities are canceled on these days. Throughout the 2023-24 cycle, the council will have 8 ordinary sessions.
Major dates for the 2023-2024 school calendar include winter break (December 18-29) and spring break (March 25 – April 5). School will be adjourned on Nov. 2 and 20, Dec. 25, Jan. 1, Feb 5., March 18 and May 1 and 15 to observe official holidays.
Schools will also be closed for students on the “administrative workdays” days when teachers carry out certain administrative activities. In the upcoming academic year, the administrative discharge will happen on November 14, March 15 and July 12.
SEP also shared the pre-registration dates for the 2024-2025 school year for preschool, elementary school and secondary school. These will take place from February 1 to 15, 2024.
Although this year’s school calendar ends on July 26, several northern states, including Sinaloa, Coahuila and Nuevo León have decided to end mandatory classes sooner due to the high temperatures currently affecting the region.
Thieves smashed the windows of a high-end jewelry store in Polanco, escaping on motorcycles. (Screen capture)
One person has been arrested in connection with an audacious robbery of a Mexico City jewelry store in which thieves used sledgehammers and axes to smash windows before making away with luxury watches.
The robbery occurred Monday evening at the Berger jewelry store in Plaza Antara, an upscale shopping center near the affluent Polanco neighborhood.
Mexico City security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch shared a photo of one of the suspected thieves, who was detained last night. (Twitter)
Video posted to social media shows four men participating in the robbery. One apparently armed man stands guard as his accomplices bash at the store’s glass windows.
The thieves, who weren’t confronted by mall security, reportedly stole at least 15 watches before fleeing the shopping center on motorcycles. El Financiero newspaper reported that Berger sells Rolex timepieces worth hundreds of thousands of pesos and Patek Phillipe watches worth as much as 10 million pesos.
Mexico City Security Minister Omar García Harfuch Tweeted Tuesday morning that a suspect was arrested after “several operation actions” were carried out overnight.
“There are still more people to arrest,” he wrote, adding that the crime will not go unpunished and all suspects will be detained. The security minister’s post included a photograph of the detained suspect.
Asalto en Antara: cuatro ladrones roban con mazos una joyería en un centro comercial de Ciudad de México. El espectacular robo se llevó a cabo en Polanco cuando todavía había clientes. No se han registrado heridos, según el alcalde
Video footage of the robbery has gone viral on social media
A similar robbery occurred at the same jewelry store in December 2017. On that occasion, a man in a motorcycle helmet used a sledgehammer to break windows before stealing valuable watches. He was pursued by security guards but managed to escape via the mall’s main entrance before fleeing on a motorcycle with an accomplice.
The town of Candelaria becomes Campeche's third Magical Town. (Francisco Farias/Facebook)
The Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Towns) program has added 45 new towns, Tourism Ministry (Sectur) chief Miguel Torruco Marqués reported on Monday. This makes for a total of 177 designated Pueblos Mágicos in the country.
Located in 25 states, the newly added cities have been recognized for their “natural, cultural and culinary richness.”
The former mining town of Huasca del Ocampo became the first to be designated a Pueblo Mágico in 2001. (Gob. de México)
The initiative, which launched in 2001 to promote tourism as a driver for local economic growth, granted the first designation to the former mining town of Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo. San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, was a Pueblo Mágico from 2002 to 2008, until it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mexcaltitán, Nayarit was stripped of its title in 2009 after failing to uphold conservation standards.
This year’s selection process, which took place between May 8 and June 2, was carried out by a technical evaluation and verification committee. Out of 123 aspiring towns, only 45 met the requirements for the coveted designation.
“This is a very important day for tourism activity in Mexico,” said Miguel Torruco. “The new towns will attract greater tourist flow, increasing the economic revenue, investment and employment rate for the benefit of our local populations.”
Sectur will also continue to promote the “Magic Color Routes” program launched in 2022, to drive the development of Pueblos Mágicos through public art installations.
Representatives of the new Magic Towns were presented with certifications by Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco. (Gob. de México)
Juan Enrique Suárez, president of the Association of Ministries of Tourism, said that the Pueblos Mágicos are a testament that Mexico is more than a beach destination. “Mexico is much more than sun and sand, and these Pueblos Mágicos provide that,” he added.
In the first four months of the year, tourism revenue reached US $10.74 billion from international visitors – 17.5% percent higher than figures reported in 2019 and 17% more than last year.
The new Pueblos Mágicos are listed below by state:
Capital goods include heavy equipment, manufacturing machinery and tools used in industry. (Shutterstock)
As the nearshoring phenomenon grows so too does demand for goods such as manufacturing machinery, tools and heavy equipment.
The value of capital goods imported into Mexico in May exceeded US $5 billion for the first time in a single month.
In response to increased nearshoring or relocation of manufacturing, developers like Fibra Prologis are investing in expanded facilities in Mexico. (Prologis/Twitter)
The national statistics agency INEGI published preliminary data on Tuesday that showed that imports of capital goods increased 24.1% in annual terms to just over $5 billion in May.
Imports of products in that category – which also includes electronic equipment, vehicles, renewable energy equipment and oil rigs – has now increased during 28 consecutive months. All but one of those 28 increases were double-digit ones, the newspaper El Economista reported.
INEGI’s data also shows that imports of capital goods rose 22.2% in the first five months of the year to $22.61 billion.
An increase in orders and shipments of capital goods to Mexico is a sign that companies based here expect demand for their products to grow, El Economista said.
Ternium steel is set to expand its industrial facilities in Pesquería, Nuevo León. (Ternium)
Increased demand for imported heavy equipment could be related to the construction of new manufacturing plants, especially in the Bajío region and northern border states such as Nuevo León, where electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and steelmaker Ternium are among the companies currently undertaking or planning major projects.
Numerous foreign firms from countries including the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, India and China have recently announced investment plans for Mexico.
Manufacturing, as INEGI’s latest export data shows, is a major contributor to the Mexican economy, which grew 3.1% last year and continues expanding in 2023.
Mexico’s total exports increased 5.8% in annual terms last month to reach $52.86 billion, while they rose 4.6% to $240.17 billion in the first five months of the year.
General Motors is one of the leading automakers exporting from Mexico. (General Motors Mexico)
Manufacturing exports contributed to just under 90% of those totals, increasing 9.5% last month to $47.45 billion and 6.9% to $212.87 billion between May and June.
The increase in automotive exports was the driving force behind the strong results.
Automakers with plants in Mexico, including General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota and Kia, and other auto-sector companies shipped vehicles and parts worth $17.52 billion abroad in May, a 26.3% increase compared to the same month of 2022. Automotive exports increased 15.2% in the first five months of the year to $73.57 billion.
Non-automotive manufacturing exports – a broad category that includes sectors such as aerospace, medical devices and electronics – rose by a much more modest 1.5% in May to $29.93 billion and 3% in the first five months of 2023 to $139.29 billion. Within that category, the value of exports of professional and scientific equipment increased by an impressive 26.8% in May.
Agricultural exports rose by 4.9% to $2.13 billion last month and 4.1% to $10.46 billion between January and May.
The only export categories that declined in May were oil and mining, which fell by 28.2% to $2.73 billion in the former case and 29.8% to $550.1 million in the latter.
Mexico’s oil exports have declined 22.1% from January to May this year, despite increased oil refining. (Refinería Olmeca-Dos Bocas/Facebook)
Exports of oil declined 22.1% in the January-May period, while the value of mining sector shipments was down 0.2%. Although more oil is being refined here as Mexico aims to reach self-sufficiency for fuel, the main reason for the drop in the value of exports is an annual decline in the per-barrel price for Mexican crude.
INEGI data also showed that 83.2% of Mexico’s non-oil export revenue in the first five months of the year came from shipments of goods to the United States, while the remaining 16.8% came from shipments to the rest of the world. Non-oil exports to the U.S. increased 8.3% in that period while those to other countries declined 0.8%.
While total exports increased 5.8% last month and 4.6% in the January-May period, they failed to catch up with the value of imports. Mexico’s trade deficit was $74.1 million in May and $6.38 billion in the first five months of the year. Those figures were 96.7% and 27.6% lower than the deficits recorded in May 2022 and the first five months of that year, respectively.
Mexico’s total exports have been steadily increasing, but the country still has a trade deficit of US $6.38 billion in the first five months of the year. (Depositphotos)
Total imports increased 1.4% to $52.93 billion last month even as oil imports fell by just over 40%. In addition to the annual increases in imports of capital goods last month and in the January-May period, the value of inbound shipments of non-oil consumer goods and non-oil intermediate goods also rose.
Imports of non-oil consumer goods, including food, clothes and homeware, increased 28.5% to $5.99 billion in May and 21.6% to $26.41 billion in the first five months of the year.
Imports of non-oil intermediate goods such as wood and glass rose 3.3% to $37.75 billion last month and 1.6% to $173.24 billion in the January-May period.
Blocks of wood recently discovered during the construction of a new trolleybus line are believed to date back to the early colonial period. (Guillermo Hernández García / INAH)
Seven blocks of wood discovered in Chalco, México state, could be part of a boat that sailed Lake Chalco more than 400 years ago, archaeologists believe.
The blocks were found between the municipalities of Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias and Ixtapaluca, during an archaeological rescue project preceding works on the Chalco-Santa Martha trolleybus, which will connect Chalco to Mexico City via Iztapalapa.
Lake Chalco was one of five interconnected lakes, including Lake Texcoco, that occupied much of the surface of the Valley of Mexico. (Guillermo Hernández García / INAH)
The National Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH), which coordinated the project, saidin a statement that the blocks are each one meter long, 25 centimeters thick and between 30 and 40 centimeters wide.
They are curved on the outside, with a less pronounced curve on the inside edge and a straight section at the end. Based on their shape, one hypothesis is that they formed part of a brigantine-type ship that was used on Lake Chalco after the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Brigantines were first used in the Valley of Mexico during the siege of Tenochtitlan, when Tlaxcalan laborers under Spanish direction built 13 of these ships to attack the Mexica capital.
An alternative theory is that the blocks formed part of a dam or bank for docking canoes, called an acalco in Nahuatl. Fragments believed to come from a canoe and a wooden oar were also discovered nearby.
The blocks were found 2.5 meters underneath a building that will house the terminal building for the new trolleybus system. Archaeologists believe the site was once a village on the northeast shore of the ancient Lake Chalco, which was almost entirely drained in the centuries following the Spanish conquest.
The INAH speculates that these fragments probably formed the handle of an oar. (Guillermo Hernández García / INAH)
Ceramic material was also uncovered that suggests the village was occupied in the late Postclassic period (1325-1521 AD) and in the early colonial era.
Archaeologist Hervé Monterrosa Desruelles, who codirected the dig with Ricardo Arredondo Rojas, said all the remains are now in the project’s laboratory in Chalco, where they will undergo conservation and further study in collaboration with the INAH’s National Coordination for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (CNCPC).
The site of the village has been registered and will be covered again to allow construction on the Chalco-Santa Martha trolleybus, which is projected to becompleted in July.
