Inflation has gone down since February, but the central bank isn't yet ready to end its fight against rising consumer prices. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) has voted to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a record high of 11.25% as it continues its fight against inflation.
The central bank’s key rate has now risen 725 basis points in the current tightening cycle, which began in June 2021.
Banxico has raised its benchmark rate at its last 15 monetary policy meetings. (Wikimedia Commons)
Thursday’s unanimous vote by the five members of Banxico’s governing board comes a week after the national statistics agency INEGI reported that annual headline inflation was 7.12% in the first half of March, down from 7.62% in February.
While inflation also declined in February, the headline rate, or raw inflation rate, is still well above the central bank’s target of 3%, with tolerance of one percentage point in either direction.
Banxico has raised its benchmark rate at its last 15 monetary policy meetings, with Thursday’s increase being the smallest since November 2021.
In a statement announcing the 25-basis-point hike, the bank said that global inflation “remains at high levels” and noted that most central banks, including the United States Federal Reserve, have “continued raising their reference rates.”
A Banxico table released Thursday showing the central bank’s predictions for headline and core inflation through the first quarter of 2025. (Banxico)
However, the statement said, since Banxico’s last monetary policy meeting in February – at which the bank’s board members voted unanimously for a 50-basis-point hike – annual headline inflation in Mexico “has decreased more than expected.”
That decrease led most economists to correctly predict that the central bank would only lift its key rate by 25 basis points today.
Banxico said that “inflation is still projected to converge to the 3% target in the fourth quarter of 2024” but noted that the forecast is subject to a range of risks, including persistence of core inflation at high levels, foreign exchange depreciation due to volatility in international financial markets and pressures on energy prices or on agricultural and livestock product prices.
For its next monetary policy decision on May 18, Banxico said its board members “will take into account the inflation outlook, considering the monetary policy stance already attained.”
In contrast to previous statements, the bank didn’t specifically mention the possibility of a rate hike at its next monetary policy meeting, suggesting that the 11.25% rate could remain unchanged through May.
Several banks, including Banorte and Scotiabank, predict that the benchmark rate at the end of 2023 will be 11.75%. Interest rate cuts are expected in 2024, provided that inflation is declining toward Banxico’s target rate.
The central bank is currently forecasting that annual headline inflation will decline to 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023. It predicts the headline rate will continue to fall through next year to reach 3.1% in Q4 of 2024.
Beekeepers reported combined losses of 12 million pesos. (Facebook / Colectivo Maya de los Chenes)
Beekeepers in Campeche are blaming agrochemical testing linked to Bayer-Monsanto for the deaths of more than 300,000 bees in their apiaries.
The mass bee death affected around 100 apiaries and up to 2,500 hives in San Francisco Suctuc and Crucero Oxá, in the municipality of Hopelchén. Beekeepers report combined economic losses of up to 12 million pesos (US $663,000).
#URGENTE#Pronunciamiento#apicultores#abejas
Compartimos nuestro posicionamiento ante la actual situación que enfrentan compañerxs apicultorxs de la comunidad de San Francisco, Suc-Tuc con la muerte masiva de sus colmenas por el uso excesivo de agrotóxicos. pic.twitter.com/PgLua7Hxkm
— Colectivo de Comunidades Mayas (@ColectivoMayas) March 28, 2023
The beekeepers’ collective denounced the mass bee death on Twitter.
The cause of the incident is unconfirmed until laboratory tests are concluded. But some farmers allege it is linked to aerial fumigation of corn, sorghum and soy crops at the Zenit ranch near Crucero Oxá, which they say is operated by agrochemical giant Bayer-Monsanto.
“One of Bayer’s engineers or technicians allowed us to take samples from one of their crops after the bees started to die,” José Manuel Poot Chan, one of the affected beekeepers, told the newspaper La Jornada Maya.
“We are exhausting all possible legal instances, while members of the Welfare Ministry already came to offer humanitarian social aid to cover part of the damages,” he added.
Poot Chan said that the 50-hectare Zenit ranch is on loan to Bayer Monsanto from a local businessman. The beekeepers suspect the multinational is using it to test new agrochemical products.
Beekeepers allege that their bees’ deaths were caused by aerial fumigation at the Zenit ranch, which they say is being used by Bayer-Monsanto. (Wikimedia Commons / Jenni Jones)
However, the Collective of Maya Communities of the Chenes, a nongovernmental organization in Hopelchén, has also reported chemical fumigation by local Mennonite communities. A 2016 study by the Autonomous University of Campeche (UAC) found agrochemicals in the groundwater of 17 Hopelchén communities near Mennonite fields.
The study found traces of the herbicide glyphosate – which is produced by Bayer-Monsanto – in the urine of local farmers. It also reported that Mennonite communities were illegally fumigating with the highly toxic herbicides carbofuran, imidacloprid, chlorphyrifos and atrazine.
“I see no hope; on the contrary, the use of these products has worsened while [also] affecting those of us who are dedicated to beekeeping, and [it’s] harming our bees,” Leydy Pech, a beekeeper and longtime activist leader for Maya beekeepers in Hopelchén who received the international Goldman environmental prize in 2020, told La Jornada Maya following the mass bee death.
In December 2020, President López Obrador announced that glyphosate would bephased out in Mexico by 2024. The move has been praised by many environmental groups, but resisted by Bayer-Monsanto, who argue that the product is safer than its alternatives.
Head of the Defense Ministry (Sedena), Luis Cresencio Sandoval at a January press conference. (Cuartoscuro)
An army officer has reportedly been arrested in connection with a cyberattack in which a huge trove of emails and documents was stolen from the IT system of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena).
Citing federal security cabinet sources, the El Universal newspaper reported Tuesday that Jesús “N,” a lieutenant colonel who worked in Sedena’s IT department, was detained in connection with the 2022 hack perpetrated by the Guacamaya hacking group. The federal government hasn’t publicly confirmed the arrest.
Hacker collective Guacamaya has represented itself with this artwork. (Guacamaya via Vice)
El Universal said that Jesús “N” is accused by the Military Justice Prosecutor’s Office of a “breach of military duties” – specifically the “loss of military information.”
The Military Justice Code stipulates a minimum jail sentence of one year for a breach of military duties, although a sentence of just four months imprisonment can be handed down if the breach was the result of “clumsiness or carelessness.”
The maximum jail sentence for the crime is 60 years.
López Obrador has closely aligned with the military during his presidency and has defended the Defense Ministry against allegations of misconduct. (Gob MX)
Jesús “N” is being held in a prison at a Mexico City military facility, El Universal said. The information engineer is the first military leader to be detained in connection with the Guacamaya cyberattack, but more officials are expected to be arrested, the newspaper said.
The Military Justice Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation “to detect possible omissions” by Sedena IT personnel months ago even though López Obrador ruled out a probe last October, El Universal said.
Sedena has tightened IT security to protect against future cyberattacks and strengthened checks of IT and cybersecurity employees as a safeguard against leaks of sensitive information.
National Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said in February that Mexico’s national security wasn’t compromised despite the theft of six terabytes of confidential information.
López Obrador also played down the seriousness of the hack, saying late last year that he didn’t expect any negative consequences from it.
The president has recently been questioned about leaked Sedena documents that appear to confirm that the Defense Ministry has spied on citizens during the term of his government. López Obrador denies that is the case, saying earlier this month that the army does intelligence work but doesn’t spy on anyone.
Last week he said he suspected that the Guacamaya hacking group – which has also stolen information from the Chilean and Peruvian governments – is made up of “international agencies linked to the conservative group headed by [businessman and government critic] Claudio X. González.”
Mexico's Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez called for cooperation and closer intelligence ties between Mexico and the U.S. (@rosaicela_/Twitter)
A senior official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has urged the United States to acknowledge Mexico’s efforts to seize illegal drugs, including the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
“We demand respect for the work that has been done,” Roberto Velasco, head of the SRE’s North America department, said Wednesday during the first day of the U.S.-Mexico Synthetic Drug Conference (SDC) in Mexico City.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry and U.S. politicians clashed over efforts to prevent drug trafficking. Foreign Ministry official Roberto Velasco said U.S. officials needed to acknowledge Mexico’s achievements. (@r_velascoa/Twitter)
Without referring to a specific time period, he claimed that Mexican authorities have seized enough fentanyl “to kill the population of Mexico and the United States.”
Other federal officials, including President López Obrador, have recently highlighted that authorities have seized over 6 tonnes of fentanyl since the current government took office in Dec. 2018.
In what appeared to be a veiled criticism of United States authorities, Velasco said that the fight against fentanyl must focus on reducing demand as well as supply.
“If supply was the only factor, Mexico would have an overdose death problem comparable to that of the United States. We have to deal with the entire supply chain, not just supply but also demand,” he said.
Many Mexican representatives highlighted the López Obrador administration’s work to take fentanyl off Mexico’s streets. (US CBP)
Velasco’s remarks came as some Republican Party lawmakers criticize Mexico for not doing enough to combat drug cartels and the flow of narcotics across the northern border and advocate the use of the U.S. military on Mexican soil against such criminal organizations, a proposition López Obrador has categorically rejected.
On Wednesday, six Republican senators introduced legislation to designate nine Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
“Despite what the president of Mexico says, drug cartels are in control of large parts of Mexico,” Senator Lindsey Graham said.
“They are making billions of dollars sending fentanyl and illicit drugs into the United States, where it is killing our citizens by the thousands. Designating these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations will be a game-changer. We will put the cartels in our crosshairs and go after those who provide material support to them, including the Chinese entities who send them chemicals to produce these poisons,” he said.
Some Republican politicians, including Lindsey Graham, have called for stronger action against Mexico. (@GrahamBlog/Twitter)
“The designation of Mexican drug cartels as FTOs is a first step in the major policy changes we need to combat this evil,” Graham said.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke via video link at the SDC, said last week that it was not “clear” to him that “we would get additional tools or authorities” to combat Mexican cartels by declaring them FTOs.
However, in response to a question put to him by Graham, Blinken said that the U.S. government would “certainly consider” making the designation.
In her address at the bilateral conference, Mexico’s Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said that Mexico and the United States need to work as a “single front” against synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“Both consumer and transit countries must assume the responsibility of working together to build peace,” she said.
Rodríguez stressed that the precursor chemicals used to make drugs such as fentanyl are not made in Mexico, but rather shipped here from Asia. She portrayed Mexico as merely a “transit country,” although there is evidence fentanyl pills are pressed here, a reality López Obrador acknowledged earlier this month.
Although she advocated closer bilateral cooperation to combat drugs, the security minister noted that Mexico and the U.S. already share information that enables seizures of both narcotics and weapons and the arrest of criminals.
United States Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar agreed that the fentanyl crisis is a shared problem that must be jointly addressed.
“To get results, the problem requires [the attention] of both nations,” he said at the SDC.
In his opening remarks, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Todd Robinson said that the two countries must be “more ambitious” in the fight against fentanyl.
Robinson, the State Department’s international narcotics point man, said that the production of synthetic drugs is increasing and asserted that drug overdose deaths are on the rise in Mexico. He said that the aim in the U.S. is to reduce overdose deaths by 13% by 2025.
Fentanyl poses a grave risk to us all. The United States and Mexico are updating our long-standing partnership to forge a comprehensive, agile, and effective approach to synthetic drugs like fentanyl. pic.twitter.com/UtjdVtJTJb
In his virtual conference address, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Mexico as one of his nation’s “closest partners” in the fight against synthetic drugs.
López Obrador has questioned the United States’ commitment to combating the distribution of fentanyl in that country, but Robinson highlighted that hundreds of individuals were arrested for that crime in the U.S. last year.
In his address, Blinken said that “illicit synthetic drugs” are “one of the most important challenges facing our people” and noted that over 100,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2021.
“Seventy percent of those were from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. And synthetic drugs are threatening lives around the world, including in Mexico,” he said.
Blinken described Mexico as one of the United States’ “closest partners” in the fight against synthetic drugs and said the two nations are “working to forge a comprehensive, agile, and effective approach” to combat them.
“Under President Biden and President López Obrador, the United States and Mexico are acting to disrupt illicit supply chains and curb the production and distribution of legal chemicals used to make drugs, including through exchanges of forensic scientists,” he said.
“We’re targeting organized crime and drug traffickers, and intercepting drug shipments. In the last year alone, we used U.S. technology to seize over 1.3 million fentanyl pills together, at borders, ports and other checkpoints. And that’s on top of the work our countries did individually to get drugs off our streets.”
Blinken also noted that the United States and Canada have “committed to build a new global coalition against synthetic drugs” that “will launch this summer and bring together countries from around the world to develop and implement solutions to this crisis.”
The SDC, which concludes Thursday, is an initiative of the wide-ranging Mexico-United States Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health and Safe Communities, which took effect in late 2021.
Among its objectives is to disrupt and dismantle narcotics production; reduce the capacity of transnational criminal organizations to distribute and sell controlled substances; and strengthen and expand regulatory and law enforcement capacity to address the trafficking of synthetic drugs and precursors.
In that vein, the Mexican navy announced Wednesday that in recent days, eight clandestine laboratories where synthetic drugs were made were dismantled in Sinaloa.
Despite efforts to integrate them into social security programs, domestic workers still face uncertain employment and lack of access to healthcare. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Despite high-profile increases in the minimum wage and the number of days of annual vacations for employees, 95% of domestic workers in Mexico still have not been enrolled in social security programs, according to unions.
Despite a law in 2022 mandating the enrollment of domestic staff, little has changed for workers. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Healthcare in Mexico is provided by the government, but workers must be officially enrolled and make regular contributions to the scheme via taxes in order to receive assistance. Private healthcare options are unaffordable for the majority of domestic workers.
March 30 is the National Day of Domestic Workers — but in 2023, an estimated 70% of workers are paid below minimum wage, between 239 pesos (US $13.20) and 312 (US $17.23) pesos per day (for workers on the U.S. border).
Mexico has around 2.5 million domestic workers, the vast majority (2.25 million) of them female, and usually working as cleaners and carers, according to statistics from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
So far, only around 56,000 workers in this field have been successfully enrolled in IMSS, according to the National Center for the Professional Training and Leadership of Domestic Workers. This number represents less than 2.3% of eligible workers.
The reality for many domestic workers is a lack of job security and low pay. (Magdalena Montiel/Cuartoscuro)
Many domestic workers also have multiple employers — working in three or four different homes over a week, meaning that it is unclear which employer should shoulder the cost of paying their social security contributions.
This situation is further complicated by the fact that many employers do not want to pay the cost or deal with the bureaucratic requirements of being registered as employers in the IMSS system — and many workers would rather see the extra money that would go to IMSS contributions in their pockets. They are also often paid in cash, without any receipts or official payment documentation to demonstrate that they are employed.
This has created an environment where despite some pay increases, domestic staff are still left in the cold when it comes to social security benefits.
The National Union of Domestic Workers in Mexico (Sinactraho) has been fighting hard for members, trying to enroll and assist where possible, but the informal nature of the sector means that it can be hard to measure the true scale of the problem.
Sinactraho also notes that many workers lack employment protections and contracts, meaning that their precarious situation is made worse by the fact that they can be dismissed at any time, which would eliminate their eligibility for IMSS.
There is a battle for higher pay now looming on the horizon — but before winning new concessions, it will be necessary to make sure that workers can enjoy the benefits of the battles that they have already won.
Perhaps no other neighborhood is as associated with 21st-century Mexico City as La Roma is. (Cody Copeland)
Purple is the color of spring in Mexico, thanks to the jacaranda tree.
Every spring, millions of residents in Mexico City and beyond are charmed by the purple canopies of this beloved tree. Although it has become a staple of the season for nearly a century, did you know it isn’t native to Mexico?
In fact, it is originally from South America.
Despite it’s association with Mexico City, the jacaranda is actually from Brazil! (João Medieros/Wikimedia)
1. The jacaranda tree arrived from Brazil
Jacarandas are native to a region known as Gran Chaco that spans Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. They were brought to Mexico by Japanese immigrant Tatsugoro Matsumoto in the 1930s.
Matsumoro, who worked as a gardener in the Chapultepec Castle — the former presidential residence — advised President Pascual Ortiz Rubio to plant jacarandas instead of cherry trees, as they would better adapt to the city’s climate.
Clearly, he was right!
2. Its purple flower blossoms during the spring
Blossoming from February through March, the jacaranda grows an abundance of lilac and violet flowers in bunches that completely cover the tree. Due to their vibrant purple color, they have become ornamental trees all across Mexico City (and most states in the country).
The New York Times described the jacaranda blossoming season as “an explosion of purple flowers.” When the flowers fall, “the sky blooms on the ground,” wrote Alberto Ruy Sánchez in his book “Dicen las Jacarandas” (“What the Jacarandas Say”).
Many jacarandas are found in upscale neighborhoods throughout the capital. (ANDREA MURCIA /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
3. There are more found in wealthy neighborhoods
According to an analysis by the newspaper Expansión, although the jacaranda tree can be found in most areas of Mexico City, they’re particularly prominent in the wealthiest neighborhoods.
Based on data from real estate websites like Propiedades.com and VivaAnuncios.com, the study argues that the abundance of jacarandas in these areas raises the price of neighborhoods, including the exclusive areas of Polanco, Juárez, Del Valle, Condesa, and Cuahutémoc.
4. They grow quickly
Jacarandas can vary from 6 to 25 meters and grow at an average of 1.5 meters per year. It only takes jacarandas about three to five years to become an “adult tree” and to start blossoming flowers.
5. Its name has different meanings and symbolisms
The original name is pronounced “jacarandá,” with the stress on the last syllable. It comes from the Guaraní language spoken in Brazil and Paraguay, and some experts consider it to mean “fragrant” (which is odd because the jacaranda flower doesn’t have a scent) or “strong wood.”
Since the jacaranda blossoms in spring, it is associated with rebirth and the “magic” of the season.
In the Amazon, the jacaranda is associated with the goddess of the moon and is also considered a sign of good fortune. According to legend, if a jacaranda flower falls on your head, it will bring you good luck.
So, next time you’re standing under a jacaranda tree, don’t move and you might end up a lucky fellow!
On Tuesday, President López Obrador presented a reform to Congress to shorten mining and water concessions, among other measures. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro.com)
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has proposed an overhaul of mining and water regulations, to shorten extraction concessions and provide greater oversight.
The legislation, presented on Tuesday, aims to protect the environment and prevent water shortages in nearby communities.
Mexico is the world’s fourth-largest recipient of foreign direct investment for mining. (ilozavr63/Depositphotos)
Under the new proposal, mineral exploitation rights will be reduced from 50 to 15 years. Water concessions, on the other hand, will be given a maximum of five years. According to the president, the reform seeks to “recover state leadership of the mineral and water resources in the Mexican subsoil that are the direct domain of the nation.”
Any company looking to secure exploitation rights under the new regulations will need to prove their work has no negative impact on existing water supply.
The proposal bans mining activity in protected areas and nature reserves, and further enforces the requirement of consultation with Indigenous populations.
If approved, the new legislation will require that bidding be held on a competitive basis, with the proposed aim of seeking to balance foreign business interests against the goals of the Mexican government.
Indigenous groups protest mining projects in Cuentepec, Morelos. (Margarito Perez Retana / CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Successful bidders will be required to submit a social impact study that determines the effects of mining on the daily lives of residents, and provide appropriate prevention, mitigation, and compensation measures for the population. This compensation will need to be distributed in the form of credit before work can begin.
Failure to provide appropriate evidence of consultation and environmental impact assessment would provide grounds for revocation.
In addition, AMLO’s initiative grants the government new powers to ensure that mining waste is appropriately disposed of in accordance with environmental regulations, in a move to reduce industrial pollution levels.
The current proposal is part of a clampdown on mining and water permits under this administration. Between 1988 and 2018, 65,534 permits were granted – overwhelmingly to companies from Canada and the United States. However, since the advent of the Morena government, there has been a total halt in the approval of new permits.
This strategy marks a general shift in global mineral extraction trends. In reference to the reform, López Obrador noted that minerals that were considered strategic during the drafting of the Mining Law of 1992 are now “widely available in international markets,” and that previous legislation was designed to “favor the interest of individuals, under the assumption that the massive entry of national and international capital was required for the exploitation of [Mexican] mining resources.”
The Association of Mines, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico (Aimmgm) has warned that the proposed law would undermine the industry, which could lead to the mass exit of companies and jeopardize 405,000 direct jobs in Mexico.
The Chamber of Deputies will now discuss the proposed legislation before sending it to the Senate for review.
Eric Anchisi has wonderful memories of the peaceful, quaint hometown where he grew up in Southern France. Yet as he grew older, he often found himself frustrated with what he perceived to be a lack of opportunities around him.
Eric Anchisi’s first conominium development in Tulum, Mistiq, completed in 2019. (Courtesy)
Eric always had an entrepreneurial itch; but so many things were already built up, already created, already done, and he wondered what he could do beyond simply working for someone else in a service job, as most of his friends started doing. Eric wanted adventure.
He had a desire to do something creative, something bigger, something that entailed taking risks but could also yield big rewards – and he did not see how that would be possible where he grew up. France to him was mature, majestic, and full of history, but offered limited opportunities for young entrepreneurs – especially those without an established network.
And so he left. At age 17, he moved to Monaco, where his father worked as a charter yacht captain. Eric worked on the charters, doing everything from cleaning the bathrooms to driving the boats when his father needed a little sleep. On these yachts, Eric would overhear wealthy clients talking about their businesses, their investments, their ambitious plans for growth. Eric was curious, he was hungry to learn, and not afraid to work hard.
After several seasons in Monaco, an opportunity came up for him to do similar work on charter yachts in Miami, and so he moved there. In this milieu of successful businesspeople, Eric began to realize that he wanted to go into land and property development – he just didn’t know how or where or when it would ever be possible.
Tulum has experienced rapid growth in the last decade. (Sectur)
In 2010, at age 22, a friend of Eric’s invited him on a vacation to Tulum, where Eric found a natural paradise: incredible beaches, archaeological ruins and cenotes, but also to Eric’s eyes, exciting potential for growth. Tulum at that time was still a relatively quiet and unknown place, but was starting to be discovered by people from around the world, including many Europeans.
The Municipality of Tulum already had a 20-year master plan blueprint for significant potential growth, but there was a lack of entrepreneurs willing to execute it. Most of the locals in Tulum lacked the access to capital or the experience to build, and most of the foreigners were focused on smaller businesses like restaurants or yoga or tours.
Eric saw this as his chance to begin to do something on his own.And so with his savings he started building several small homes in the area. He was able to build quickly and reinvest the proceeds into more construction and land purchases. At that time, the Tulum boom had not yet started, and so land could be acquired and homes could be built for far less than today. Eric was truly at the right place at the right time – he had worked hard to get there, and he was able to take advantage of rapidly appreciating land values and increased demand for homes.
After several years of building individual homes, Eric felt that he was ready to take on significantly more risk. He saw demand increasing so quickly that he felt he could design a large condominium complex and with pre-sales alone, fund the construction of the project. Eric thought that a game changing concept and design would result in quick sales, given the demand. He had a vision.
Mistiq Gardens in Tulum, Eric’s second 102-condo project. (Courtesy)
It was with that mindset that in late 2018 Eric designed and began pre-selling his first mega-project, Mistiq Tulum. Mistiq is a 104-unit condominium complex with elevators, underground parking, massive pools, restaurants, a spa, and a high-end gym. It was a huge risk at a time where a road was barely built to the project, and there was not yet electricity, water, or internet service available in the immediate area.
The big bet paid off, with Eric selling out most of the project in the first few months. This allowed him to move fast on construction and reduce his financial risk, completing the building in late 2019, just in time for three consecutive hurricanes to hit the area for the first time in over a decade. This knocked out power, downed many trees, flooded the pools, and set back the opening by a few weeks, but once it opened, many saw it as a game-changing development for Tulum.
Initial demand and interest were so high for the condominiums that Eric began planning and pre-selling his next mega project, Mistiq Gardens, less than 1 kilometer away. The design of the 102 condominiums was extremely well received and the building was sold out in a matter of months.
The pandemic brought an explosion of growth for Tulum. People from around the world flocked to here to “ride things out” and Mistiq’s amenities resonated with many people looking for longer term accommodations.
Eric’s latest project in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy)
In just a 12-month period in the height of the pandemic, Mistiq sold over 600 condominiums – an average of almost 2 per day.
Mistiq now has 9 projects completed or under construction in Tulum as well as 3 in Cabo San Lucas. In 2021 Eric wanted to diversify and saw opportunities in Cabo similar to those he saw in Tulum more than a decade earlier – another land of opportunity with massive potential.
As Eric reflects on his success and good fortune, he cannot help but talk about how Mexico has been a land of opportunity for him. He is extremely proud of the 1,200+ Mexicans that he currently employs. Most of his leadership team have been with him since the beginning, and Eric talks at length of how they have grown and developed over the years.
Eric and his team. (Courtesy)
Many of these workers arrived from Chiapas with little or no construction skills, and had come to Tulum in search of opportunity, just like he did years earlier. He finds it incredibly satisfying to see how many of these workers have now started a family and found a new life in Tulum.
There are many stories of Mexican immigrants leaving the country in search of a better life. Eric is an inspirational example of how Mexico can offer so much, welcoming a French immigrant who could realize his big dreams here.
A woman protests the INM at a migration station in Comitán de Domínguez in Chiapas. (Toño Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
Video footage posted to social media shows that migrants were left in a locked section of a provisional detention center in Ciudad Juárez despite the outbreak of a fire that ultimately claimed many of their lives.
The National Immigration Institute (INM) said Tuesday night that 38 men died inthe blaze on Monday night, one fewer than the institute had previously reported. The death toll rose to 39 again on Wednesday, however, after another migrant died in hospital. Close to 30 migrants were injured and taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Migrants set mattresses alight after they found out they were going to be deported or moved, President López Obrador said Tuesday.
A 32-second video shows a security guard and a man in an INM uniform walking across a room adjacent to the locked section of the detention facility, where flames and smoke are visible.
They apparently evacuated the building without unlocking the door to the section where the migrants were being held. It was unclear whether one of the men, or both, had keys to the door.
One migrant makes an unsuccessful attempt to kick the metal door down while another stands next to it and appears to say something to the security guard and INM employee. Thick smoke quickly engulfs the lockup and the adjacent room.
INM Commissioner Fernando Garduño Yáñez visits a victim of Monday’s fire in a Ciudad Júarez hospital. (Twitter/@INAMI_mx)
The migrants who died were killed either directly by the fire or due to smoke inhalation.
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, whose department oversees the INM, said in an interview that the government had been in possession of the video since shortly after the fire. However, López Obrador made no mention of it at his press conference on Tuesday, at which he only briefly discussed the events at the detention center.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry of El Salvador expressed “its strongest condemnation of the very serious actions of the personnel” at the INM facility, reporting that several Salvadorans died in the fire.
“We demand that the relevant authorities thoroughly investigate what happened and bring those responsible to justice,” the Salvadoran government said.
The INM publisheda list of the detainees but didn’t fully differentiate between those who died and those who were injured. Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that 28 of the deceased were believed to be from that country.
Fifteen women were released from the same detention center when the fire broke out, but the INM didn’t explain why the men were not. Men from six countries — Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador — were being held at the center in the Chihuahua border city located opposite El Paso, Texas.
Immigration agents detained the men on Monday, according to the Associated Press, which reported that many of them had been begging or washing car windows at stoplights in Ciudad Juárez.
One of the survivors of the fire is Venezuelan Eduard Caraballo López, who doused himself with water and pressed himself against a door when the fire broke out, according to his wife, who was waiting outside the detention center.
Viangly Infante Padrón told the Associated Press that she was initially “desperate” as she saw several dead bodies come out of the facility but didn’t see her husband.
“There was smoke everywhere. The ones they let out were the women, and those [employees] with immigration,” Infante said.
El Salvador condena acciones del personal de la Estación Migratoria de Ciudad Juárez durante el incendio que dejó múltiples fallecidos y lesionados.
Además, el Gobierno del Presidente @nayibbukele exige una investigación a fondo y que los responsables enfrenten la justicia. pic.twitter.com/TAkF73ju6l
— Cancillería de El Salvador 🇸🇻 (@cancilleriasv) March 29, 2023
The government of El Salvador released a strongly worded statement demanding an investigation into the fire and that the persons found responsible face justice.
“The men, they never took them out until the firefighters arrived. They alone had the key,” she said, referring to INM personnel.
“The responsibility was theirs to open the bar doors and save those lives, regardless of whether there were detainees, regardless of whether they would run away, regardless of everything that happened. They had to save those lives,” Infante said.
More than 200 organizations in Mexico, other Latin American countries and the United States endorsed astatement by a human rights advocacy group that blamed the federal government for Monday’s tragedy.
“The situation reflects an absence of protocols and absence of a policy … to guarantee the rights and protection of migrants and asylum seekers,” the statement said.
The organizations called on the INM to take responsibility for the incident and explain what happened on Monday night and urged Congress to legislate against the arrest of migrants except in exceptional circumstances.
Migration stations, as the government calls centers like the one where the fire occurred, are “torturous environments and their operation infringes on rights, dignity and, as is shown in this case, the lives of migrants,” the statement said.
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez listens to a question from a reporter at a Wednesday afternoon press conference about the Monday fire that killed 39 migrants. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
“The metallic blankets that covered the bodies of the deceased are symbols of an inhumane migration policy. … Said policy … supports a system of systematic arbitrary detention that violates rights. Migration policy in Mexico kills,” the statement said.
Pope Francis offered prayers on Wednesday for the migrants who died in the fire, while United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths and called for a “thorough investigation of this tragic event.”
President Lopez Obrador said at his press conference on Wednesday morning that employees of a private security company worked at the INM center in Ciudad Juárez and that he had asked federal Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero to attend directly to the case. He also mentioned that some of the employees of the detention center were under contract with a private security company.
“… We’re not going to hide anything. We’re not the same as those who fabricated crimes, hid things, tortured, so that people, some of them innocent, would blame themselves,” he said.
At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez extended condolences to the families of the victims and told the press that eight people had been identified as likely to have been responsible parties in the incident, including federal agents, a state migration agent and workers with the private security company under contract at the center. Charges forthcoming would include homicide and property damage but also possibly other charges, including abuse of authority, she said.
The case will be pursued jointly by the federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office, Rodríguez said.
The company that provided security services to the center will no longer be allowed to offer services in Mexico, she said.
The fire is among the deadliest tragedies involving migrants in Mexico in recent decades. Two incidents in which more migrants died include a 2021 tractor-trailer crash in Chiapas that claimed the lives of 55 clandestine passengers and the massacre of 72 migrants by cartel gunmen in Tamaulipas in 2010.
Migrant refugees waiting outside a Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance office in hopes of regularizing their status. COMAR has been overwhelmed throughout Mexico
The number of migrants in northern border cities has increased in recent weeks as United States authorities attempt to process asylum requests using a new U.S. government app called CBP One. The app has reportedly been overloaded by huge demand and plagued by glitches.
Mexico has come under pressure from the United States to do more to stop the movement of migrants to the two countries’ shared border. The federal government has deployed the National Guard to detain migrants, but many have still made it to the northern border, and crossings into the U.S. between official points of entry have recently surged.
Different forms of this ballgame have existed continuously in different parts of Latin America for around 3,500 years. (Courtesy of Jose Lizárraga)
In 1968 — on the first day of the Olympic Games held in Mexico City — millions of spectators from around the world watched the ancient game of Ulama, most of them for the first time.
The players are spectacular to watch. The game requires skill, endurance and athleticism — players must leap into the air with great strength, yet with the grace of a ballet dancer as they twist their bodies to hit the ball with their hip.
Members of an ulama team play a modern-day version of the game. (Courtesy of José Lizárraga)
The Mesoamerican ballgame of Ulama — the oldest continuously played team sport in the world — has existed for 3,500 years. The oldest ball court — discovered in 1974 in Paso de la Amada, Chiapas — dates back to 1400 B.C. Ulama balls have been found that are even older: dating back to 1600–1700 B.C.
Ulama was widespread in Mesoamerica, played by the Olmecs, Aztec and Maya. More than 2,500 ballcourts have been found — the most famous can be seen in Mexico’s archeological sites of Chichén Itzá, Tikal, and Monte Albán.
Ulama reflected the shared cosmological beliefs of a vast region stretching throughout much of Mesoamerica. When the Spanish saw the ritual and its religious aspects and regarded it as a threat to the Catholic Church, they banned the game, and the tradition began to disappear.
By the beginning of the 21st century, historians were concerned that Ulama was becoming extinct. In 2003, California State University and the Historical Society of Mazatlán began a 10-year interdisciplinary project to study the status of the Ulama tradition.
Ulama was documented in 1528 in this drawing by Christophe Weiditz, who was in the audience as indigenous men brought to the court of King Charles V played a version of the game for the monarch.
They found that the game continued to be played in just four communities in Sinaloa but that the practice had died out in the rest of the country, alarming them that this ancient tradition might become extinct.
Then the Lizarraga family almost single-handedly rescued Ulama from extinction.
The family had kept the Ulama tradition alive since 1900, passing down the training and rituals of the game from generation to generation. More recently, family members also became concerned by the lack of interest in the ancient game. They started reaching out to distant relatives and others to provide training and help organize teams.
Don Manuel Lizárraga taught his eight children (including a daughter) to play Ulama, and they exported it to the theme park of Xcaret near Cancún. The park built a ball court and hired players from Sinaloa — at the time, there were no players left in the Yucatán Peninsula — for exhibition games as a tourist attraction.
For the Lizárragas, Ulama is a family tradition. The clan has produced 150 Ulama ballplayers. That tradition is now being carried forward by José Lizarraga, an Ulama player and promoter.
I ask Lizárraga about the symbolism of the game.
“Historically, it was a sacred ritual related to seasonal or agricultural changes, such as marking the beginning or end of a harvesting season. It was also used to end conflicts,” he says.
There are historical records of games played between teams of two civilizations or their kings to decide the winner of a conflict; often, the losing team or king would be sacrificed to the gods.
The Aztecs made Ulama a high-stakes game. Players and team supporters would wager their home, their fields, their children and even themselves — if their team lost, they could lose everything and be forced into slavery and ultimately sacrificed.
The Lizárraga family has been a linchpin in saving knowledge of ulama from disappearing. Here, Luis Lizárraga makes a play in a match, date unknown. (David Mallin)
“There is also deep symbolism regarding the creation of the world and the continuous battle of opposites,” Lizárraga says. “Fire and water, good and evil, day and night. The ball court — called a taste (tās-tāy) — represents the portal to the underworld. The players represent the stars or celestial bodies.
Often, there were ritual offerings to the sacred energies, and the players would present themselves for purification. The game of ulama symbolizes the perpetual movement and duality of the universe.”
INAH archeologist Gibrán de la Torre tells me, “There are three different versions of Ulama: In one, you can only advance the ball by hitting it with your forearm. The second version is to advance the ball with a stick or club called a mazo — similar to the game of cricket. The most popular version is the ‘hip ulama,’ where you can only hit the ball with your hip. It is a continuation of the pre-Hispanic ullamaliztli played by the Aztecs and Mayans.”
In El Quelite, I meet with another Ulama ballplayer, Juan Carlos Osuna, to have him explain how the game is played. I quickly discover that the rules are different depending on the team and the community.
“The ball court is a long, narrow rectangle with end lines, or goal lines, at each end. In the middle is the center line (analco), which separates the two teams. The goal is to get the ball over your opponent’s endline using only your hip,” he explains.
“If you touch the ball with any other part of your body, you lose a point. If it is a low ball, you must drop to the ground and hit it with your hip. I have had many cuts and bruises, but your body gets used to it.”
Osuna raises a cloth sack he is carrying and almost reverently removes a rubber ball the size of a large cantaloupe and hands it to me. The ball is surprisingly dense — weighing almost nine pounds — but it bounces like a much lighter ball.
Example of a ulama ball on display in Sinaloa. (Sheryl Losser)
“The balls are made from the sap of a rubber tree — the arbol de hule — that grows in Tabasco. They must be constructed by special artisans. The technique is passed down from generation to generation.”
The balls are expensive, costing US $1,000 due to the amount of latex required and a scarcity of artisans who know the technique.
Each team consists of three to five players and a referee. Players wear protective gear around their hips — a loincloth, a wide leather belt that straps around their hips and a cloth belt or sash that holds it together and hangs down in front as further protection. The first team to score eight points (rayas) wins the game.
The rules and scoring are so complicated, it can take players years to fully understand them — which is why each game has one or two referees. There are three phases of the game, known as urrias, during you could lose all your points.
Due to the scoring’s complexity, games could have lasted for days — they are now limited to a certain number of hours agreed to by both sides.
Despite all this, Ulama is currently undergoing a serious comeback: through his organization FEMUC Ulama de cadera, Lizárraga has trained and organized teams and tournaments in 11 states in Mexico, as well as in California and Guatemala.
The game’s rules are complicated and in this version seen here, players drive the ball with their hips. (Courtesy of Jose Lizarraga)
He now has eight women’s teams, 12 men’s teams, four for children and four for youth.
Games can be seen regularly at the Xcaret theme park in Playa del Carmen and at the Xachikalli cultural center in Mexico City. You can even request an exhibition game by contacting Lizárraga at 984-166-8181. Or contact him on Facebook at FEMUC ullama de cadera.
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive and professional researcher. She spent 45 years in national politics in the United States. She moved to Mazatlán in 2021 and works part-time doing freelance research and writing.
