The peso was considered one of the best-performing global currencies in 2022 and has also strengthened rapidly so far this year against the US dollar. Depositphotos
The peso will close the week with gains against the dollar in a setting of “general optimism among investors”, as reported by Reuters. The spot rate on Friday morning was 19.20 and closed at 19.15 pesos to the dollar. The bank exchange rate stands at 19.73 per dollar, according to Citibanamex.
Based on reports published by Banco Base, the peso began Friday’s session with an appreciation of 0.28% (5.5 cents) compared to close of trading on Thursday.
This marks five consecutive days of appreciation, accumulating 1.8% gain in that period.
The gain of the peso occurs even as the dollar strengthens. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance against six currencies (including the Euro, Pound, Yen, Canadian Dollar, Swedish Korner, and Swiss Franc), rose 0.3% to 105.45, after briefly hitting a four-week high at 105.52.
The index is on track to post a weekly gain of almost 1.9%, the biggest since September.
The U.S. government reported on Friday that there was strong job growth in December and unemployment fell to 3.5%.
“The solid job creation in the United States is good news for the consumption and demand of Mexican exports,” Banco Base said in a note sent to clients.
The Bank of México (Banxico) indicated that interest rates will likely be raised again in February, but at a slower pace, following a governors’ meeting on Thursday. In December, the central bank hiked interest rates to a record 10.5%.
“The factors that have driven the appreciation of the peso against the dollar in 2022 have not deteriorated,” said Janneth Quiroz, an analyst at Monex, as quoted in El Economista newspaper. The peso closed 2022 at 19.50 to the dollar with an annual appreciation of 4.87%.
Rising home sale prices appear to be promoting increased buyer interest, especially in the public housing sector, in the centrally located Doctores neighborhood, which is slowly undergoing gentrification but still has a questionable reputation for safety. (Photo: Vivanuncios)
During 2022, housing sales prices in Mexico City surged between 9% and 10% compared to the previous year, the real estate online site Propiedades.com reported.
The average price per square meter in the capital for buyers was 31,914 pesos for a house (US $1,652) and 46,033 pesos (US $2,383) for apartments — a jump in prices that was expected by Propiedades.com but nevertheless slowed down property purchases by Mexico City’s residents.
The neighborhoods with the greater demand during 2022 were Roma Norte and Roma Sur, both of which have gained notoriety in Mexico and in the world media as a place where older properties are being bought up by developers with deep pockets to convert into rental property for digital nomads and other foreign temporary renters.
Residential touches like this farmers’ market in the Plaza Río de Janeiro make the Roma Norte neighborhood popular with home buyers who can still afford it. Others, however, are looking further to the city’s outskirts. (Photo: Carl Campbell/Unsplash)
The factors that drove regular homebuyers’ interest in the neighborhoods included their quality of life and the offered services, González said.
In the public housing sector, the Doctores neighborhood is showing a high performance, along with the neighborhoods of Del Valle, Nápoles, Extremadura and the residential Insurgentes corridor.
Heading south of Mexico City, the neighborhoods of San Jerónimo, Pedregal, Ajusco and Tlalpan show relevant growth and a consolidation process. González explained that this is part of a real estate cycle driven by new projects and increased demand.
Location was not as much a factor in 2022 as in previous years: although Mexico City is an attractive place to live, González said, it faces a continual challenge: to meet the needs of its population who are looking for housing options in other cities near the capital, like Querétaro, Puebla, and Toluca.
“This is not a new phenomenon. For the past four decades, we’ve observed that houses outside the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico have ceased to be exclusively destined for holiday purposes…” González said.
Picturesque San Jerónimo, a historic village that was absorbed into the Magdalena Contreras borough, is far from the capital center but is showing growth.
More than 1 million properties located in the center of the country and close to Mexico City are currently listed on Propiedades.com, showing a continuous trend of people looking to move out of the city.
The home office trend that arose in response to the pandemic also caused contraction in corporate corridors like Polanco, a historically sought-after neighborhood. Without the need to live close to their workplaces, the number of people looking for residential spaces in the neighborhood has dropped.
In October 2022, Propiedades.com reported that the price for a apartment in Polanco contracted 12.4% in the first months of 2022.
In the middle-range housing sector, 2022 recorded a boom in new mortgages. However, the low-income segment contracted, creating a shortage of housing units that mainly affected the population with the highest housing backlog.
Immediately after the arrest, presumed cartel members launched a series of armed attacks around Culiacán, and major travel routes around the state were blocked with burning vehicles. (Alma Fonseca / Cuartoscuro.com)
A day of violent chaos following the arrest of cartel leader Ovidio “El Ratón” Guzmán in Culiacán, Sinaloa, left 29 people dead: 10 soldiers and 19 alleged criminals, according to the Defense Ministry.
The violence broke out after Mexican security forces captured Guzmán — son of jailed capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and leader of the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel — in a town in the municipality of Culiacán, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
“[The criminals] managed to regroup with the intention of rescuing Ovidio ‘N,’” Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval explained at a press conference on Friday morning. “The aggressors used 50-caliber machine guns, so it was necessary to give fire-cover from airplanes.”
Military aircraft fire from above early Thursday morning in Jesús María, the town in the municipality of Culiacán where Guzmán was captured.
Immediately after the arrest, Guzmán’s followers launched a series of armed attacks and 19 blockades around Culiacán, terrorizing the city for around 12 hours.
Gunmen fired at one military and one commercial airplane at Culiacán International Airport, causing air traffic to the city to be suspended and the airports of Culiacán, Mazatlán and Los Mochis to be closed. Several bus lines also suspended transport through the region. Authorities ordered schools and businesses to close and local people to take shelter as the battle raged through the city.
“The authorities counted 19 dead among the lawbreakers and detained 21 people, seizing Barrett rifles, machine guns, 26 handguns, magazines, cartridges and 13 vehicles,” Cresencio said. “Ten soldiers, emphasizing their values, lost their lives in the line of duty.”
Despite the anarchy, authorities insisted that no civilians were killed, presenting this as a vindication of AMLO’s approach to the struggle against drug cartels.
“Action was taken to take care of the civilian population so that there were no innocent victims,” President López Obrador emphasized.
One of at least 19 “narco-blockades” that blocked Culiacán’s roads on Thursday. (Cuartoscuro.com)
“We didn’t come to win a war; we came to build peace,” added Rosa Icela Rodrígez, minister of security and citizen protection. “This operation demonstrated the new behavior of the government of Mexico; Human rights and well-being are prioritized.”
In October 2019, Ovidio Guzmán was captured but then swiftly released, after a similar wave of violent retribution by Sinaloa Cartel members — known as the “Culiacanazo” — sparked fears of mass civilian casualties. AMLO insisted at the time that he supported the controversial decision.
All the same, Thursday’s successful operation is a welcome boon for his government, particularly coming just days before the presidents of the United States and Canada are due to visit Mexico for the North American Leaders Summit.
By Friday morning, local authorities reported a return to relative calm in Culiacán.
“There has been no incident during the course of the night; we consider that the conditions exist to return to normal activities,” Sinaloa security secretary Cristóbal Castañeda said on Twitter. “Shops and businesses can be reopened. The authorities of the three levels of government continue in coordination and we will maintain operations and patrols in the city.”
Prefab hotels, like these at Habitas Bacalar, will be a major travel trend in 2023 according to Condé Nast. (Habitas Bacalar)
Guadalajara will open 15 hotels in the next two years
Guadalajara expects to expand capacity to 30,000 hotel rooms in the next two years with the opening of 15 hotels across the city. This would turn Guadalajara into the city with the largest number of hotel rooms after Mexico City.
According to Francisco Martínez Hermosillo, vice president of tourism promotion for the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce, the tourism industry in Guadalajara recovered faster post-pandemic than that of Monterrey or Mexico City.
Plaza de la Liberación in Guadalajara. (Roman Lopez / Unsplash)
In 2020, the tourism industry reported hotel occupancy ranging between 18% and 20%, while in 2021, it reached a hotel occupancy rate of 46%. By late December 2022, the industry estimated that the city would close the year with a hotel occupancy rate of 59%. Data on the actual number hadn’t been reported at the time of publishing this story.
Martínez Hermosillo also reported that Guadalajara has developed many tourist attractions to entice visitors from all over the country. He said that the city’s geographical location — just a five-hour drive away from 13 cities — makes it an ideal destination for both business and pleasure.
Official map of Tulum’s tourist attractions is launched
Tulum’s tourist attractions are now included on an official map, announced local tourism chief Jorge Mario Molina.
The map, written both in English and Spanish, shows 30 landmarks across downtown Tulum starting with the Archaeological Zone. It shows main roads, names of streets and the way to get to the most representative places of Tulum so that visitors can get to know the “cultural, artisanal and commercial attractions” of the city, Molina said.
Tourists can request the map at the Municipal Tourist Information and Business Assistance Center (Citaem), scan the QR code and carry it in their phones.
Tulum’s new map of tourist attractions.
Molina added that this map marks a “before and after” for Tulum, since for the first time ever, the city will have a tool to optimize tourists’ experiences in one of the most visited cities in the world.
Low prices to travel to Islas Marías
Islas Marías, the former penitentiary island in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Nayarit, opened its doors to tourism on Dec. 21. Only 13 days days after opening, discounts of up to 50% are already being offered by travel agencies and the official webpage of the islands.
When the tourist destination first opened, transfer and lodging prices were criticized for their high price tag: they range from 5,500 pesos (US $287) to just over 8,000 pesos (US $417) and include a two night lodging, buffet in the only restaurant in town and the boat transfer.
The attractions include an agroecological farm, an artisan’s shop and a church dedicated to our Lady of Guadalupe. But the main attraction is the notorious maximum-security prison, Laguna del Toro.
The whole complex is managed by the Islas Marías Integral Tourism Company under the direction of the Mexican Navy. The archipelago is not the only tourist infrastructure under the administration of the Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for the development of the Mayan Train in the Yucatán peninsula and the army oversees the Holiday Inn hotel at Mexico City’s Felipe Ángeles airport.
The entrance to Puerto Balleto, one of the main settlements in the archipelago. (Víctor Ortíz / Semarnat)
Tulum prefab hotels make Condé Nast’s 2023 list of travel trends
Prefabricated hotels are predicted to become a travel trend during 2023, according to Condé Nast magazine. These hotels are based on modular design and prefabricated architecture. Parts of the buildings are created in a factory, packed with a minimum amount of space, and shipped to the destination where they are assembled directly on the ground — and a hotel in Tulum by Habitas revolutionized the concept, according to Condé Nast.
The firm’s first prefabricated hotel opened in Tulum in 2017. The Habitas hotel is described by Condé Nast as a “conscious and sustainable refuge” that, with minimalist simplicity, managed a “perfect balance between low-impact vacations and style.”
In addition to Tulum, the firm has hotels in Bacalar, Quintana Roo; San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato and various international destinations including Saudi Arabia, Namibia and Morocco.
Habitas has also built their own factory in Mexico to accelerate the construction of more hotels in Mexico, planned for Los Cabos and Todos Santos. Hotels in Costa Rica and Bhutan are coming soon, according to the Habitas website.
Mexican beaches are recognized as sea turtle nesting sanctuaries
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) announced late in December that several beaches in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Yucatán, are now recognized as Protected Natural Areas (ANP) under the category of “sanctuaries”.
Thousands of Atlantic ridley sea turtles lay their eggs at Playa Rancho Nuevo in Tamaulipas every year, one of the highest-density sea turtle nesting events in the world according to the government. (Conamp)
According to the Semarnat, the original environments in these sanctuaries have not been significantly altered by human activity. Thus, the recognition of the 17 ANPs, which cover an area of more than 6,600 hectares, allow for those ecosystems to be preserved and restored.
Mexico’s role in sea turtle breeding is relevant since six of the world’s seven identified species spawn on Mexico’s Pacific and Caribbean beaches. All those species are in danger of extinction, with two species considered critically endangered — the leatherback turtle and hawksbill turtle.
The new sanctuaries will only allow for research, recreation and environmental education activities that are compatible with the nature and characteristics of the area.
This archaeological site, located inside the modern town by the same name, is less well-known but has a rich history. The settlement had relationships with other ancient sites as far away as Guatemala.
Many people who head to Yucatán make time to visit some archaeological sites and get a glimpse into ancient Maya life. But while tourists flock to the state’s famous sites like Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, there are several lesser-known (read: less crowded) but interesting pre-Hispanic settlements to see as well.
Acancéh, a town just 25 kilometers from Mérida, is one such location. The ancient structures there are within the modern town. You can combine a visit to Acancéh with a trip to the archaeological site of Mayapán.
Both these sites are on the Convent Route — a popular travel route through old churches, archaeological sites and other attractions that’ll give you insights into Yucatán’s long history before and after the conquest.
Acancéh is on the Convent Route, where you can see archaeological sites, historic churches and more. (Photo: Hacienda Petac)
Although the site once had a large number of pre-Hispanic structures, only three buildings are currently accessible, but it’s still worth the trip. You can see them in a couple of hours.
The entrances to the buildings are closed off, so ask the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History) official by the main pyramid to let you in. Since these buildings get few visitors, you may even have them to yourself.
Acancéh, pronounced “Akankej,” is Mayan for “moan of deer” — acan, meaning “moan,” and céh, meaning “deer.”
Acancéh had a long occupation, starting from around 700 B.C.–300 B.C. until the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. Since the town of Acancéh is occupied today, some of it has visible signs of the pre-Hispanic and colonial eras.
According to INAH, Acancéh was an important center in the northern Yucatán Peninsula.
The settlement had relationships with different regions and sites, including Guatemala’s Petén region and Mexico’s Dzibilchaltún, Mayapán, Oxkintok and Komchen sites. It may also have had ties with other places, as far as central Mexico and Belize.
The masks here are massive, and, overall, in pretty good shape.
Once you arrive at the town’s center, you will see “The Pyramid,” a large pyramidal structure with four stairways once adorned with stucco masks. Five of these masks remain to date. Some are in better condition than the others, although the nose area of each mask is destroyed.
You can climb this pyramid to get a closer look at the masks. Look out for the modern roof covering the masks so you won’t miss them.
These masks are massive — they’re 2.25–3.50 meters tall and 3.05–3.72 meters wide, according to INAH. They are thought to have features of the Maya sun god Kinich Ahau. Make time to spot their details like ears, eyes, eyebrows and tongues. You can also see hints of original red paint. If you’ve been there, they will remind you of the masks in Quintana Roo’s Kohunlich.
A burial site for two persons with offerings was discovered on this pyramid. You can also get great views of the town and the surrounding areas from the top.
Next to the main pyramid, check out the smaller pyramidal structure as well. In this section, you can see a ziricote tree. The ancient Maya are thought to have used their rough-textured leaves for cleaning.
The Palace of the Stuccos, a few blocks away from the main pyramid, is a must-visit. It has a beautiful stucco frieze with anthropomorphic characters — animals and other non-human forms with human features — on the north facade.
This smaller pyramid structure has a ziricote tree nearby. The ancient Maya are believed to have used the rough-textured leaves of this tree for cleaning.
The frieze was once painted in bright colors, and the scenes are speculated to represent important events. According to INAH, the figures reflect the style in México state’s Teotihuacán and could suggest possible ties with them.
The Palace of the Stuccos has other room-like structures that are also interesting. You can visualize how glamorous this building was in its heyday.
The Acancéh town and the cathedral are also worth seeing. Some of the modern buildings are built with materials from the ancient structures.
If you have extra time afterward and feel like swimming in a cenote, the cenotes of Cuzamá or Homún are both around 30 minutes away.
Thilini Wijesinhe, a financial professional turned writer and entrepreneur, moved to Mexico in 2019 from Australia. She writes from Mérida, Yucatán. Her website can be found athttps://momentsing.com/
A Cuban asylum seeker shows his passport to a photographer in Tapachula, Chiapas this week. (Cuartoscuro)
The Biden administration has announced a set of measures to enhance security and reduce unauthorized migration at the Mexico-US border, ahead of a planned visit by President Biden to the border next week.
The comprehensive new plan includes increased border and immigration personnel, media campaigns to counter smuggler misinformation and increased support to Mexico and Central American countries to address the humanitarian needs of refugees.
It also includes a commitment by Mexico to accept as many as 30,000 expelled asylum seekers per month.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard’s office confirmed Thursday that Mexico will be accepting 30,000 migrants from Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba expelled by the U.S. for not meeting requirements under a new humanitarian program that will allow as many as 30,000 migrants from these countries to work in the U.S. for two years. (Presidencia)
A new program announced today will as many as 30,000 Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians per month to enter the U.S. and work for two years, providing they pass all relevant checks.
However, those ineligible for the scheme — including those who attempt to cross the Panama, Mexico or U.S. borders illegally after the date of the announcement — will be immediately expelled to Mexico. These migrants will be banned from reentry into the U.S. for five years.
“My message is this,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “If you’re trying to leave Cuba, Nicaragua or Haiti, or have agreed to begin a journey to America, do not, do not just show up at the border.”
The new policy would appear to make migrants from these nations who cross illegally into Mexico via its southern border automatically ineligible to enter the United States. It was not clear if migrants given regularized migration status in Mexico after having illegally crossed into the country would be included in the ban.
Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed Thursday that it had agreed to accept the 30,000 expelled migrants per month as a partner in the new U.S. policy.
“Mexico receives with gratitude the announcement of these new actions by the U.S. to achieve orderly, safe, regularized and humane migration,” it said in a statement. “The process put in place by the U.S. to issue humanitarian permits to Venezuelans has opened the door to a new method of orderly, safe and regular entry into the U.S., while significantly reducing irregular migration in the region by up to 94%.”
Cientos de migrantes continúan atravesando la selva del Darién con el objetivo de llegar a Estados Unidos, pese a que la Corte Suprema decidió mantener la vigencia del Título 42. 🎥 @coweddlepic.twitter.com/JOYlBx74l9
Migrants making the treacherous crossing through the Darien Gap. The route, taken mainly by Venezuelan and Haitian migrants, crosses the Panama border, which would automatically disqualify them from taking advantage of a new U.S. program granting legal work status to Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians for two years.
Other measures in Biden’s border plan include:
tripling the quotas for resettlement of refugees from Latin American and Caribbean countries, to a total of 20,000 per year in 2023–2024
allocating nearly $23 million to support Mexico and Central America in responding to the humanitarian needs of refugees.
launching an online appointment portal to reduce overcrowding at U.S. ports of entry
President Biden told reporters that he intends to visit the border region in connection with next week’sNorth American Leaders Summit, at which the leaders of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. will meet in Mexico to discuss shared priorities such as trade and migration. It will be his first visit of his presidency to the border.
“I’m pleased President Biden will finally visit our southern border – which has been completely surrendered to the cartels, smugglers and human traffickers,” tweeted Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has long been a critic of Biden’s border policies.
The White House’s statement takes aim at Republican lawmakers, accusing them of exacerbating the border crisis by blocking President Biden’s immigration reforms and associated funding.
“Until and unless Congress delivers the funding as well as comprehensive immigration reform measures President Biden requested, the United States’ broken immigration system will indeed remain broken,” the statement concludes.
Over the last year, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians, and Cubans came to make up a growing proportion of U.S. asylum claims due to the fact that – unlike Central Americans – they could not be expelled to Mexico under immigration restrictions installed during the COVID-19 pandemic, known as Title 42 restrictions.
So far, Title 42 remains in place, after a legal challenge wasblocked by the Supreme Court last month. There has been growing concern about how U.S. border states will cope with the eventual lifting of the restrictions – which allow unauthorized asylum-seekers to be immediately expelled to Mexico – due to the huge backlog of refugees that has built up on the border.
In 2022, the U.S. detained a record 2.1 million persons for illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, a fact that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) blamed on Title 42 regulations allowing the U.S. to dump some Central America and Caribbean migrants over the border in Mexican border cities rather than returning them to their home countries, which CBP officials said encourages multiple reentry attempts.
An Aeroméxico plane set to take off from Culiacán was hit by a bullet before the airport closed. (Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com)
Aeroméxico announced Thursday morning that the day’s flights to the municipalities of Culiacán, Los Mochis and Mazatlán in the northern state of Sinaloa were canceled after the arrest of a cartel leader, while the Culiacán and Mazatlán International Airports both announced closures for part of the day.
The decision came after shootings, car fires and blockades were reported across the state due to the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán, son of drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The airline said that it will apply its protection policy to travelers.
Volaris and VivaAerobus also announced the cancellation of Thursday’s flights to Culiacán and Mazatlán owing to violence reported in the state. Volaris canceled the flight bound to Los Mochis.
The flight was canceled after the bullet pierced the fuselage of the airplane. (Courtesy)
The acts of violence were reported before dawn on Thursday, leading local authorities to ask all residents to stay home and avoid being out on the street. The local educational authority also ordered schools at all levels to close for the day.
At Culiacán International Airport, Reuters reported Thursday morning that the fuselage of a plane bound from Culiacán, Sinaloa to Mexico City was hit by gunfire. A video that went viral on social media showed images from inside the plane while the shooting was happening outside. No passengers or employees were injured.
Following the violent events, the Culiacán International Airport announced that for security reasons it would be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Mazatlán International Airport also announced that it would be closed from 9:20 a.m. until 8 p.m.
In October 2019, Ovidio Guzmán was captured and later released causing a violent upheaval in Culiacán. At the time, President López Obrador said he supported the cabinet’s security decision to release Ovidio.
Ernesto Alberto Piñon de la Cruz was captured after he was spotted in Ciudad Juárez by authorities and fled in a vehicle that he crashed into a gas station. He died in custody, state officials said. (Photo: FGE-Chihuahua)
Gang leader Ernesto Alberto Piñon de la Cruz, alias “El Neto,” was killed by security forces on Thursday morning, four days after he escaped from the Cereso No. 3 jail in Ciudad Juárez along with 29 other prisoners.
According toa statement by the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office (FGE), the regional gang leader of the Mexicles gang died after clashing with tactical units who had tracked him down to a block of houses in the city’s Aztecas neighborhood.
“The capture of Ernesto Piñon was registered after an exchange of gunfire in one of the houses, from where he fled in a vehicle until crashing into a gas station,” the statement read.
“There, he fired at authorities, ending up seriously wounded and later dying when he was transferred to the facilities of the Northern District Prosecutor’s Office.”
Piñon de la Cruz was serving a 224-year sentence in Cereso No. 3 prison. (Photo: SSPE Chihuahua)
An armored BMW, eight long weapons and five bulletproof vests were also seized in the operation.
Authorities said that the operation was the result of a 48-hour investigation in which several fugitives were located. A few hours earlier, the FGE released a poster with the names and faces of the 30 prisoners who escaped, offering 300,00 to 5 million pesos (US $15,500 to $258,000) to anyone who could provide “truthful, effective, efficient and useful information” leading directly to the fugitives’ capture.
TheCereso jail break occurred on Sunday morning, after a highly coordinated attack in which gunmen raided the prison in a bid to free “El Neto” and one of his lieutenants. Nineteen people died in the subsequent riot, including 10 guards. Twenty-eight other prisoners seized the opportunity to escape.
In the following days, prison director Alejandro Alvarado Téllezwas fired and put under investigation for the security failures leading up to the raid, and 200 additional troops were deployed to the city to assist in the manhunt for the missing convicts.
Cereso No. 3’s prison guards bid a final farewell to their fallen comrades who died during the raid on Sunday by armed gunmen that allowed 30 prisoners to escape. (Photo: screen capture)
Despite being in jail since 2009, serving a 224-year sentence, “El Neto” was a key leader of the Mexicles gang, a splinter group of the Sinaloa Cartel that is one of the most powerful criminal cells in Ciudad Juárez. In the hours after his death, multiple acts of violence have been reported around the city, including an armed attack on the FGE offices and the setting on fire of two stores.
Sheinbaum said she discussed steel, aluminum and auto tariffs in her call with Trump last week. (Carlos Aranda/Unsplash)
With 120,862 units sold in December, new car sales grew 24% compared to the 97,420 cars sold in the same period of the previous year, Mexico’s statistics agency INEGI reported. December’s peak even exceeds November sales by 26.5% percent.
According to newspaper El Financiero, sales in the automotive industry have shown a recovery amid complications that persist in the global supply chain caused by the pandemic, particularly the lack of inventory due to the global shortage of chips in international and national assemblers.
However, Mexico’s recovery registered an increase of 7% compared to 2021 with an overall sale of 1.08 million new units throughout 2022.
This data marks the second annual growth rate since Covid-19 but falls 17.6% behind pre-pandemic numbers, which in 2019 registered sales of 1.3 million new cars sold.
Still, sales during 2022 exceeded expectations of the Mexican Association of Car Dealers (AMDA) by 11.3%, who early in December had estimated year-end sales of 1.07 million units.
“The results for December reflect an improvement in the inventory level, which, although differentiated between brands, has resulted in an improvement over the previous lag,” AMDA President Guillermo Rosales said.
These cars have frequently been brought to Mexico for sale in poor, rural communities or by farmers as an affordable alternative to an economically inaccessible new or even a used car from a dealer. Also, many foreign residents in Mexico have ended up with “chocolate cars” due to Mexico’s regulations for importing a car on a permanent basis.
Federal and state officials say they are pursuing the amnesty program in part to document more cars on the road to prevent them being used in crimes, where they would be virtually untraceable.
AMDA has continually denounced the program (which extended its deadline to March 2023) claiming that it creates unfair competition with legally sold cars in the country. In December, they blamed the amnesty program for reducing new car sales in Mexico by 200,000 units in 2022.
But despite the difficulties in the industry’s production and logistics, the newspaper El Financiero reported that experts anticipate that the increase in rates due to inflation and consumption would stimulate greater vehicle financing, which would help to recover sales levels of new cars in the coming years.
A traditional "rosca de reyes" bread made to celebrate the feast of Epiphany on Jan. 6. (Depositphotos)
Roscatitlán returns for Día de Reyes in Mexico City
The finish line of the “Guadalupe-Reyes marathon” – the popular way Mexicans refer to the holiday period from Dec. 12 (Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe) to Jan. 6 (Three Kings Day) – is almost here.
On this holiday, Mexican families and friends give gifts to children, hold gatherings and partake in the traditional sweet bread, Rosca de Reyes. The lucky ones who get the baby Jesus figurine hidden inside the bread (a Biblical reference to when Mary and Joseph had to hide baby Jesus from King Herod) must invite the guests to a meal of tamales on Día de la Calendaria, which is celebrated on Feb. 2.
But as much as the tradition is rooted in Mexican culture, it wasn’t born here – it originated in France in the 17th century. The tradition traveled to Spain and then Mexico after the Spanish conquest.
To celebrate the occasion, Mexico City’s “Roscatitlán” will come back after a two year hiatus, with over 100 food exhibitors and 20 master bakers creating Rosca de Reyes, from traditional to vegan and gluten free. The event will take place from Jan. 5-8 at Colegio México Roma. Besides tasting the king’s bread, you can also sample the traditional Mexican winter beverage atole and tamales.
Oaxaca cheese included on food tasting “bucket list”
On Monday, the TasteAtlas “Bucket List” came out with a ranking of the 40 things to taste in 2023 – and beloved Mexican Oaxaca cheese is on the list.
Owing to its “savory, creamy, mild and buttery flavor,” the cheese made it onto a list dominated by Italian cheeses. After the Parmigiano Reggiano, Gorgonzola picante, Burrata and Grana Padano, Queso Oaxaca is suggested as the fifth best cheese to try in 2023.
The cheese, named after the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, is characterized by its stringy texture and its “great melting properties,” which make it perfect for quesadillas, empanadas and tlayudas, the ranking explains.
TasteAtlas, described as an “experiential travel guide for traditional food”, ranks everything from breads, salamis, snacks, wines, cakes and liquors, reminding readers that “life is too short not to try all the best the world has to offer.”
2 Mexicans make Rolling Stone’s list of 200 best singers of all time
Ranking in the 95th position is “Mexico’s idol”, Vicente Fernández, known for classic songs like “El Rey”, “Hermoso Cariño” and “Por tu Maldito Amor.” The magazine called him “the greatest ranchera singer of all time” while recognizing his “unmistakable tenor, intense vibrato and his hard to miss charro outfits.”
Juan Gabriel has been recognized for breaking barriers in Latin American entertainment. (Juan Gabriel Facebook)
In position 172 is Juan Gabriel, whose “flamboyant persona, colorful capes, and pompadour immediately made a splash,” said the magazine. Mixing pop with banda and ranchera music, he created “emotionally wrenching ballads” like “Adiós Amor Te Vas” and “Querida.”
The magazine remembered Juan Gabriel’s response to questions about his sexuality, which inspired the LGBTQ community of the time: “You don’t need to ask about what you can already see.”
Intermoda fashion trade fair coming to Guadalajara
Intermoda, a fashion industry trade fair, is scheduled for its 78th edition from Jan. 17-20 at Expo Guadalajara. Sustainability and the promotion of new talent will be two of the focal points of this year’s fair, which seeks to attract more than 21,000 buyers and will showcase more than 1,000 exhibiting brands.
The fair is advertised as the first sustainable fashion fair in in Latin America. Among its sustainability goals, Intermoda aims to reduce the carbon footprint in the fashion industry, as well as to establish a textile collection center for recycling.
The participating countries include Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, the United States, France, Spain, Italy and Turkey.
Most Googled Mexican public figures
Xavier López “Chabelo,” widely known among Mexicans as the host of the morning kid’s TV show “En Familia con Chabelo” (Family time with Chabelo), was the most searched Mexican during 2022 in Mexico, according to “The Year in Search” by Google Trends.
The 87-year-old TV personality started trending on social media with the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, as memes circulated about Chabelo’s longevity versus the monarch’s. His television career spanned 60 years.
A meme about the longevity of Mexican TV personality “Chabelo”.(Twitter)
Other names in the Top 10 ranking include the “princess of Mexican music”, Ángela Aguilar, former teachers union leader Elba Esther Gordillo, and Mexican leading man, Andrés García.
