When you're sitting in a smelly garbage truck and you can still laugh and have a great time, then you've figured out something essential. (Miguel Ángel Gómez Cabrera)
I was sitting in a micro, which is what they call the small, green buses in San Gregorio Atlapulco in Mexico City. They’re not really “micro” in the sense that they’re tiny; they’re just smaller than a full-size bus.
But they’re bigger than combis, which are the vans that also carry passengers. Why people call these buses micro but the smaller vans combis is one of those questions that sometimes keeps me up at night.
So I was sitting in this micro when a garbage truck passes us and it happens to catch my eye.
Now, garbage workers in Mexico (or “sanitation engineers” as they were called for about 10 minutes when I was a kid) tend to be fearless. They don’t usually wear gloves or any kind of protective clothing. No masks. Their clothing trends toward the filthy side. They usually cling to the side of a truck as it barrels along.
I often see them eating lunch while standing next to a truck overflowing with trash. How they’re able to stand the smell is beyond my comprehenesion. Clearly, a very tough job undertaken by some very tough people.
On this particular day, as I’m sitting in the micro and the garbage truck passes us, I notice three people sitting in the very back. As in, the very back where the garbage is stuffed. The truck is full. Of garbage. And they’re sitting right at the edge of the pile, probably on top of some of it.
I don’t know if this was a family, but it could’ve been.
They were two men and a boy: an older man in his late 50s, another man looking to be in his late 30s and a kid around 10. So, yeah, I figure it could’ve been three generations. I like to think that it was.
What really caught my attention was the kid, who was talking animatedly. He must have been telling funny stories because the other two men were laughing. Hard. This is while they’re all sitting at the edge of a pile of trash in the back of a garbage truck which, I’m certain, smelled awful.
Talking and laughing like they hadn’t a care in the world. Just having a grand old time. And it was impossible to see them and not question just what in the hell the rest of us are doing, especially us Americans who are constantly pursuing happiness.
I had the feeling that those three guys, sitting there in the back of that garbage truck, they weren’t pursuing happiness. Somehow, and I really wish I knew how, they’d caught that son-of-a-bitch.
Protesters gathered in Mexico City on Sunday to show support for the soldiers accused of murder. (Andrea Murcia / Cuartoscuro.com)
Mexicans on Sunday took to the streets in numerous cities to call for the release of four soldiers accused of murdering five young men in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, late last month.
The soldiers were detained and ordered to stand trial after opening fire on a pickup truck in the early hours of Feb. 26. Five men including a United States citizen were killed in the incident and one other man was wounded.
The victims, reported to be returning home from a party, were apparently unarmed, and there didn’t appear to be a motive for the attack.
Despite that, citizens in at least 15 cities including Mexico City, Nuevo Laredo, Oaxaca, Cuernavaca, Querétaro, Puebla, Acapulco and Veracruz participated in demonstrations to show their support for the four soldiers involved in the Nuevo Laredo incident as well as other members of the armed forces imprisoned on charges or convictions that they acted illegally in the line of duty.
The protests were promoted on social media using the hashtag #AlEjércitoNoSeToca (Don’t touch the army), a play on the #ElINENoSeToca (Don’t Touch the INE) slogan around which marches in defense of the National Electoral Institute were organized in late February.
Current and ex-soldiers and their family members were among hundreds of people who marched from the Angel of Independence monument to Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo.
An AMLO impersonator stands at the front of the crowd at the Sunday protest in Mexico City. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais / Cuartoscuro.com)
Among the messages on signs they carried through the streets of the capital were: “Release our soldiers”; “We demand more support for soldiers and fewer human rights for organized crime; and “In memory of the soldiers who died waiting for an order to shoot that never came.”
The demonstrators also shouted for “freedom” and “justice” for imprisoned military personnel and advised soldiers in a chant that “the people are with you.”
Rosalio López, a retired military man and leader of the Mexico City march, declared that protesters were “defending the ideals of the people of Mexico” and condemned President López Obrador for not doing the same.
“You are the supreme commander of the armed forces, you should be looking out for the interests of the people, of the Mexican army, but you’re not,” he said.
A group of veterans and military families protest in the port city of Veracruz. (Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)
“Give them a comb and some scissors so that they can go and cut hair. Don’t give them weapons,” he said.
López Obrador last Friday condemned the planned march in Nuevo Laredo, saying that its aims were not at all “right” or “healthy.”
“It’s supposedly to defend the army, no! Don’t anyone be fooled, it might even be promoted by [organized] crime itself,” he said before adding to his criticism by claiming that none of the organizers had identified themselves.
The president, who has relied heavily on the military for public security and a range of other non-traditional tasks, has frequently defended the conduct of the armed forces during his government, asserting that the kind of human rights abuses perpetrated in the past are no longer tolerated.
But the head of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee claimed after the Feb. 26 incident that “the Mexican army is out of control.”
“Prosecutors have to clear up what happened and the president must stop protecting [the soldiers],” added Raymundo Ramos, an alleged victim of army espionage.
The skyline of Torre Reforma, at the heart of Mexico City. (Arup)
Most of Mexico’s iconic buildings and structures are not skyscrapers: the Palace of Fine Arts and the National Palace in Mexico City; the Hospicio Cabañas, a former orphanage and hospital complex in Guadalajara; and myriad pre-Hispanic structures such as the Temple of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán.
One exception is the capital’s Torre Latinoamericana (Latin American Tower), which was Mexico’s tallest building from 1956 to 1982.
The Torre Latinoamerica, also known as the the Torre Latino, still boasts Mexico City’s most popular viewing platform even though it hasn’t been Mexico’s tallest building since 1982.
While other Mexican skyscrapers — called rascacielos in Spanish — are not as well-known as the Torre Latinoamericana, there are now close to 30 that are taller than the emblematic tower in the historic center of Mexico City.
In this edition of Mexico in Numbers, read about Mexico’s five tallest skyscrapers, located in two cities: Monterrey, capital of the economic powerhouse state of Nuevo León, and Mexico City, the nation’s capital and most populous city.
Tower 1 of the Torres Obispado is the tallest building in Latin America. (Nest)
No. 1: Torres Obispado
The Torres Obispado (Bishopric Towers) are two side-by-side skyscrapers in Monterrey.
Soaring 305 meters into the air, the loftier of the two — Torre 1 — is Mexico’s tallest rascacielos.
Built by the developers Ancore and Nest, the towers were completed in 2020 at a cost of 2 billion pesos (about US $111.3 million at the current exchange rate).
Torre 1 has 64 floors, eight of which are occupied by the Hilton Garden Inn Monterrey Obispado. The skyscraper is not only the tallest in Mexico but also the tallest in Latin America.
The Torre Koi is the second tallest skyscraper in Monterrey, NL. (Victor M. Torres)
No. 2: Torre Koi
Located next to Monterrey in the affluent municipality of San Pedro Garza García, Torre Koi is the runner-up in the national tallest building stakes. The mixed-use skyscraper is 279.5 meters high and has 64 floors.
According to Luis Fernández Ortega, a partner and design director with VFO – the firm that designed the building – Torre Koi is an architectural symbol of the economic progress of Monterrey.
The skyscraper is the 46th tallest in North America and the 303rd tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
Torre Mítikah is located in Benito Juárez borough. (Mítikah)
No. 3: Torre Mítikah
Mexico’s third highest skyscraper is one of its newest: Torre Mítikah, located in the Benito Juárez borough of Mexico City, was only completed last year.
The 267-meter-highrascacielos houses retail and office space as well as some 600 apartments and amenities for residents.
Designed by César Pelli — a deceased architect who designed notable buildings such as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the World Financial Center in New York — Torre Mítikah is the 57th tallest skyscraperin North America and the 385th tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
The Torre Reforma is the second tallest building in Mexico City. (Torre Reforma)
No. 4: Torre Reforma
The second tallest skyscraper in Mexico City and the fourth tallest in the country is the Torre Reforma, located on Paseo de la Reforma — the capital’s most emblematic boulevard.
This rascacielos is 246 meters high, making it the 92nd tallest in North America and the 641st tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
Designed by Mexican architect Benjamín Romano, it won the International High-Rise Award — a prestigious prize awarded in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, every two years — in 2018.
“The prevailing problem of earthquakes in Mexico City calls for an intelligent support structure concept, which lends the 246-meter-high office tower its striking appearance,” said the German Architecture Museum, which jointly awards the prize.
It also said that Romano had placed Mexico City “on the world map of groundbreaking high-rise architecture.”
Chapultepec Uno in Mexico City, home to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. (@porcelainwindow/Instagram)
No. 5 Chapultepec Uno
Rounding out the top five tallest skyscrapers in Mexico is Chapultepec Uno, also located on Paseo de la Reforma.
The high-rise soars 241 meters into the Mexico City sky, making it 101st tallest skyscraper in North America and the 723rd tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
Built by the real estate development company T69, the mixed-use tower is partially occupied by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
As its name suggests, the skyscraper overlooks Bosque de Chapultepec, a huge park that is home to a castle, zoo, museums and other attractions.
Meneses celebrates as he hits a second home run against the United States. (MLB/Twitter)
The Mexican national baseball team swept the United States aside in the pools stages of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, with a shock 11-5 victory in Phoenix, Arizona.
The defending champions and third-ranked U.S., boasting nearly US $2.1 billion of talent, were overcome by an aggressive display of batting, spearheaded by two home runs from Joey Meneses Ramírez.
Mexico recovered after losing to Colombia in the opening round of the World Baseball Classic.(MLB/Twitter)
The almost 47,500-strong crowd went wild when Culiacán, Sinaloa native Meneses, who only began to play Major League Baseball with the Washington Nationals in August 2022, hammered a second home-run more than 125 meters into the heart of the Mexican-dominated crowd. “I have never played in an atmosphere like that,” said Mexico pitcher Patrick Sandoval, who tightly controlled the U.S. batters throughout the confrontation, limiting them to a single run. “I’m still fired up from it.”
The two teams, who share a long history of sporting rivalry, met on the diamond for the first time in 10 years.
The Mexican team, currently ranked fifth in the world, have their eyes on the top prize — the 2023 championship. “We have the mentality of winning,” Meneses said. “We know there are teams with more stars but we have more want. We want to show everyone there’s a lot of talent in Mexico.”
Despite slipping to a 5-4 defeat against Colombia in the opening round of the tournament, Mexico is now in an excellent position to qualify from their group, which also contains Great Britain and Canada. They sit third in Group C, with an average of .500 across their two games so far.
While Mexico has been energized by their victory, the U.S. team faces a selection headache after coach Mark DeRosa used all 8 pitchers. The pitch limits, which are designed to prioritize player health and reduce injury, mean that the United States must find 27 more outs in the group, without exceeding the 65 pitch-per-player limit.
The Mexican crushing of the U.S. is not the first big shock of the tournament, as Chinese Taipei — the world’s second-ranked side, was eliminated after a 5-way tiebreaker in Group A.
The World Baseball Classic, which is being held in the United States, Japan and Taiwan, is scheduled to move onto the quarter-finals stage on March 15.
Former president Calderón described himself as a "man of the law" and decried "persecution" by political opponents. (Felipe Calderón/Twitter)
Former president Felipe Calderón has expressed doubt about the conviction of his erstwhile security minister on drug trafficking charges because the case against him was “based on testimony from confessed criminals.”
A jury in the United States last month found Genaro García Luna – security minister in the 2012-18 government led by Calderón – guilty of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Many in Mexico, particularly those in opposition parties, believe that PAN president Calderón was aware of García Luna’s cartel connections. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
In Madrid, Spain, on Monday, Calderón described himself as a “man of the law” and said he respects rulings handed down by courts as long as they “act in accordance with the law.”
However, he added that he had “a lot of doubts” about García Luna’s guilty verdict.
“I would have expected to see what the prosecutors announced [they would present]: videos, recordings, photographs, bank statements, deposits, but the truth is none of that was shown,” the former president told reporters at a tourism and aviation event in the Spanish capital.
“Everything was based on testimony from confessed criminals, the majority of whom we pursued, captured and extradited during our government,” he said.
Calderón also said that the Mexican government is using García Luna’s conviction to ramp up its “persecution” of him.
“It’s clear that in Mexico there is political and media persecution against me. They’re even trying to use the ruling to exacerbate the persecution – it’s almost personal on the part of the government,” he said.
President López Obrador claims that the conviction of García Luna – who has yet to be sentenced – is proof of the existence of a “narco-state” during the Calderón administration.
Calderón, who launched a militarized war on cartels shortly after he took office in late 2006, also claimed that he was tougher on organized crime than any other president, combating “all [groups] that threatened Mexico including the so-called Pacific Cartel,” as the Sinaloa Cartel is also known.
A memorial service was held in the Palacio de Bellas Artes to remember the legend of Mexican cinema. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Beloved Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso, who starred as the hungry peasant Macario in the 1960 film of the same name, has died at age 98, his family reported over the weekend.
López Tarso was in approximately 50 films between 1954 and 1984, and had a long career in Mexican television, including more than 10 roles after he turned 80 — with two more in his 90s.
López Tarso receives a recognition award in Mexico City in 2015. (Wikimedia Commons)
In 1973, he won an Ariel Award for best actor, the Mexican equivalent of an Academy Award, for his role in “Rosa Blanca”. This 1961 film was set in 1937, a year before national oil expropriation under Lázaro Cárdenas, and portrayed the story of a Mexican landowner’s battle with a U.S. oil company intent on acquiring his property. However, the film was banned in Mexico until 1972, apparently because the subject matter was contrary to the vision of then-president Adolfo López Mateos.
López Tarso received the Ariel de Oro lifetime achievement award in 2007 and was honored several times at the TVyNovelas Awards, which recognize the best television shows and telenovelas in Mexico. He also recorded a handful of albums on which he recited Mexican corridos, folk stories told in song, and had a long career in the theater.
He was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, which spanned from 1930 into the 1960s. He shared the silver screen with luminaries such as María Félix, Dolores del Río and Silvia Pinal and was directed by legends such as Roberto Gavaldón and Emilio Fernández.
On its Twitter account, the Mexican Ministry of Culture lamented the death of “one of the greatest actors in Mexico.”
López Tarso played the title role in ‘Macario’, a film which saw critical success at Cannes.(Azteca Films Inc.)
Citing his “enormous legacy” in a tweet expressing their “great sadness,” López Tarso’s family noted that they considered themselves “lucky” to have received his “advice, hugs, smiles, support and trust” over the years. “He died in peace and contentment,” they added.
His son Juan Ignacio Aranda, also an actor, told the media last week that his father had been hospitalized for pneumonia and an intestinal occlusion, according to the newspaper El Universal. Seven years ago, he had surgery to treat a tumor in his large intestine, reported the Latin Times.
Born in Mexico City in 1925 as Ignacio López López, he spent his childhood in several cities — including Veracruz, Hermosillo, Navojoa, Valle de Bravo and Guadalajara — because of his father’s job. As a teen, he began to train to be a priest but left the seminary at age 17 and a year later began military service. At 24, he made his debut on the stage.
López Tarso had an impressive physique and an elegant voice, which lent his characters a grandiose touch. At times moustachioed, he was regarded as having great range and versatility.
His role as the title character in “Macario,” a film regarded as a masterpiece of Mexican cinema, cemented his status as an icon. The dreamlike black-and-white movie — in which a starving peasant meets a series of mystical visitors, including Death himself — was the first Mexican feature to be nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film, and it also played at Cannes in 1960. Directed by Roberto Gavaldón, arguably the best Mexican director, “Macario” can be seen for free on YouTube with English subtitles. “Rosa Blanca,” also directed by Gavaldón, is available for free on YouTube, both dubbed in English with Spanish subtitles, or in Spanish with no subtitles.
Other award-winning and notable films he had big roles in include “La sombra del caudillo” (1960), “El hombre de papel” (1963), “Días de otoño” (1963) and “Pedro Páramo” (1967), with small roles in “Juana Gallo” (1961), starring the great María Félix, and “Nazarín” (1959), directed by the legendary Luis Buñuel.
In 1984, eight years after his final Mexican film, he starred as a town doctor in his only Hollywood film, “Under the Volcano,” the story of a British diplomat in Mexico on the eve of World War II, directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney and Jacqueline Bisset.
López Tarso was also a PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) federal deputy in Congress from 1988 to 1991 and served as a leading member of actors’ guilds and unions.
Marinated in pickle juice, this crispy, batter-dipped fried tofu sandwich rivals anything you can make with chicken.
Tofu has come far since it made its slow white way into the kitchens of the Western world.
While tofu is a mainstay in Chinese, Japanese and other Asian cooking, it wasn’t really until the 1960s that it was embraced in North America, when the hippie counterculture adopted it as a “nonviolent” protein source.
Tofu — made from soybean milk — lends itself to both savory and sweet recipes.
The stigma of tofu is pretty much gone now, especially as the medical reasons for a plant-based diet have piled up. It’s a great source of protein, relatively inexpensive and incredibly versatile in the kitchen.
Tofu — which is soybean curd — works equally well in savory or sweet recipes. The bland, white block-in-a-box is only one of its many forms, all of which have different textures, subtle flavor differences and uses. My first experience eating homemade soft tofu was mind-blowing; I had no idea how fresh it could taste, nor how melt-in-your-mouth soft and creamy it would be.
That said, in Mazatlán at least, that kind of fresh tofu is not to be found, nor are unadulterated soy milk or raw soybeans to make it myself. The best I can find are the packages, either in aseptic boxes or in refrigerated plastic containers with water. Both those varieties work OK for most recipes but are nothing like tofu that’s freshly made. Should you ever get the chance to eat that, grab it and rejoice!
One of the most basic tofu-cooking skills is how to make it crispy. The secret is that it needs to be as dry as possible before you start cooking with it. Pouring boiling water over the tofu before pressing and cooking helps to get the water out. Coating the tofu before sautéing with a thin layer of cornstarch also helps it cook up crispy.
Place whole or cut blocks of tofu in a single layer in a colander or strainer and pour boiling water over them. Let drain, then carefully place tofu on a cutting board or plate between paper towels. Press down firmly with your hand to get rid of the excess moisture (unless, of course, you have a tofu press). You may need to change the paper towels once or twice. Pat the tofu dry; cut into the desired size. Let air-dry for 30 minutes to 4 hours.
Chocolate Tofu Pudding Pie
This can also be made as pudding in small individual ramekins. Feel free to use a premade crust.
8 oz. high-quality dark chocolate or chips (at least 60% cacao), melted
1 tsp. vanilla
⅛ tsp. salt
Optional: 1½ tsp. cinnamon
Garnish: chocolate shavings, whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate or 4–5 ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.
No one will guess this decadent and rich chocolate pudding pie is made with tofu!
In food processor or blender, process graham crackers till finely ground to make about 1¼ cups crumbs. Add sugar and salt, drizzle in coconut oil and soy/almond milk, and pulse until mixture begins to clump together. Dump crumbs into pie plate. Using your fingers, press them into the sides first, working down to the bottom. Bake 8–10 minutes until firm and slightly golden. Set aside to cool.
In small pot, combine sugar with ¾ cup water; bring to boil and cook until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly. Purée tofu, sugar syrup, melted chocolate, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, if using, in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into cooled crust or ramekins; press plastic wrap directly onto top of pudding. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours and up to overnight. Garnish with chocolate shavings and whipped cream and serve.
Super-Delicious Crispy Fried Tofu Sandwich
1 (14-oz.) package extra-firm tofu, drained
1½ cups pickle juice
1 Tbsp. hot sauce (like Sriracha)
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. red-pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. neutral oil
½ cup Dijon mustard
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. EACH onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne
1 tsp. salt, plus more as needed
1 tsp. black pepper
Neutral oil for frying
For assembly: 6 soft rolls, mayonnaise and hot sauce, shredded green cabbage, dill pickles
Press and dry tofu as explained above. In large bowl, combine pickle juice, hot sauce, mustard and red pepper flakes.
Heat oil in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high heat until shimmering. Sear tofu to form a golden-brown crust, 4–5 minutes per side. Immediately drop hot tofu into pickle juice mixture. Refrigerate and marinate at least a few hours or overnight.
When ready to fry the tofu, mix mustard with ¼ cup water in a medium shallow bowl until consistency of heavy cream; set aside. In large shallow bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, spices, salt and pepper.
In Dutch oven or sturdy pot, heat 2 inches of oil over medium heat. Set a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Remove tofu from brine; pat dry. Dip tofu in mustard mixture, turning until coated all over, then the flour mixture; dip it again in the mustard then flour, until twice coated. When the oil temperature reaches 350 F, carefully place the battered tofu into the hot oil and fry, flipping as needed, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. (Don’t crowd the oil or the temperature will lower and the tofu won’t cook quickly enough.) Transfer fried tofu to wire rack; sprinkle with a little salt.
To assemble the sandwiches for serving: toast the buns, then spread them generously with mayo and dot with hot sauce, if desired. Top with fried tofu, cabbage and pickles. Eat immediately.
Makes 6 sandwiches.
Serve these deliciously spicy tofu bites with rice, on top of a salad or as a healthy snack.
Honey-Sriracha Bites
Serve with rice, in a stir-fry or as part of an Asian-inspired filling for tacos, burritos or quesadillas.
14 oz. extra firm tofu
2 Tbsp. sriracha
2 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. soy sauce, divided
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 green onions, sliced
Drain and press tofu as described above.
In small bowl, combine sriracha, honey, 1 tsp. soy sauce and red pepper. Set aside.
Cut pressed tofu into ½-inch cubes; pat dry. Whisk oil and 1 tsp. soy sauce in large bowl. Gently stir in cubed tofu until well coated. Gently stir 1 tsp. cornstarch into tofu. Repeat until all the cornstarch has been added.
In a nonstick skillet, set over medium heat, cook tofu about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown and crispy on all sides. Pour sauce over the tofu; stir and cook for 1–2 more minutes, until glaze is thick and sticky.
An 1888 8-real silver coin issued in Mexico. (Centpacrr/Wikimedia Commons)
For all the hype about “Aztec gold” in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, Mexico’s classic measure of wealth has been silver — and it may be its future.
Prized equally on both sides of the Atlantic, Tenochtitlán overlords demanded the metal as tribute from places like Taxco, Guerrero, long before the Spanish arrived.
When conquistador Hernán Cortés entered the capital, Moctezuma hoped to placate him with gifts, including large quantities of gold and silver. However, the strategy backfired, making the Spanish more determined to take over.
Although Mexico did (and does) have gold, its vast deposits of silver have been central to its history and economy since.
Mexico’s first boom in silver production ran from 1555 to 1580 as the Spanish rapidly ventured out from Mexico City to establish mines in places well-known today: Taxco, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, etc. They were often guided by the local indigenous people. A get-rich-quick mentality meant that other economic activities in Mexico would develop slower.
Lacking machinery, the Spanish pressed the indigenous people for backbreaking digging, but they did introduce more-efficient mercury refining. The Spanish crown got miners coming and going — Spain was the only reliable source of mercury, plus miners had to pay a percentage of the refined silver.
Map of the main branch of the Camino de Tierra Adentro, which linked the colony’s mines in the north to Mexico City. (U.S. National Park Service)
As Mexico produced far more silver than it could possibly use, the metal became the basis of currency here, in Spain and even some other parts of the world. The first colonial money was the real, later the peso, both originally set up as units of silver.
With the easy-to-reach deposits exhausted, mining waned but never ended through the rest of the colonial period. When reachable ore was depleted, some mining towns like Guanajuato survived, and even thrived, as commercial centers on main highways. But much of mountainous Mexico is dotted with former mining towns that still struggle today.
The silver flowing eastward over the Caribbean was a huge attraction for Europeans who either did not find precious metal outside of Spanish America or could not establish large colonies. Piracy thrived, with isolated islands and the coast providing certain Englishmen, French and Dutch refuge, which is one reason why these languages can be found in various parts of the Caribbean.
Mexico’s independence freed its mining from Spanish control but did not resolve its technological or economic issues. The century is marked by civil war and invasions, which made large-scale mining almost impossible.
Despite its serious faults, the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz in the last decades brought stability and foreign investment in heavy mining machinery. Supposedly depleted mines were reworked farther downwards, and new mines were opened. This second major boom would last into the Mexican Revolution and made its mark culturally in places like Pachuca, Hidalgo.
Silver was the country’s most important mining export until the discovery of oil, most being sold to the U.S. and Europe. Today, Mexico is still the world’s main exporter, producing over 135 million ounces of refined silver in 2022.
Most of Mexico’s mining continues to be done by foreign companies: U.S. and Canadian firms have technologies to dig even deeper and refine silver from old slag heaps. Almost all this mining is done in the northwest, in states such as Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and the main producer — Zacatecas.
These operations are not without controversy. There are longstanding complaints that foreign companies do not respect Mexican laws regarding the environment and workers’ rights. Communities near mines have clashed with both companies and the government.
Geologist Sol Pérez Jiménez of of the National Autonomous University states simply that there is no such thing as environmentally friendly mining; it negatively impacts agriculture, water supplies and community health.
Nonetheless, from 2010 to 2017, mining projects grew from 677 in 2010 to over 1,209 in 2022; 1,190 are foreign-operated.
With all this silver, it may be surprising that the peso is no longer backed by it. As late as the 1940s, 95% of money in Mexico was coins consisting of at least some silver content, but massive inflation in the 1980s prompted the government to mint and print money without it.
Asociación Cívica Mexicana Pro Plata asserts that this makes Mexico too economically dependent on the dollar, and the organization advocates a return to a silver-backed peso. Business magnate Hugo Salinas Price agrees, saying that “the dollar is on its deathbed” and that silver and gold are crucial for Mexico in a tumultuous world.
Early 20th century miners still used donkeys and large stone wheels to crush silver ore. Photo from the book “Mexico, the Wonderland of the South” (1909) (Photographer unknown)
Silver is important to Mexico in at least one other way — tourism. Many Pueblos Mágicos in the mountains of central Mexico are former mining towns. During their boom years, impressive houses, churches and other structures were built, then later abandoned. The result is man-made charms located in natural scenery. Pueblos of this type include Mineral del Monte, Real del Monte, Tlalpujahua and Mapimí.
Several tourist routes connecting old mining towns with other attractions include those in the Sierra de la Cacachila in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and Taxco and Olinala in Guerrero. But the most important of these is Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It connected major mining centers from Santa Fe, New Mexico, southward to Mexico City.
Even if the mines were good and done many years ago, there are towns that use their mining history to maintain a silverwork industry, especially in jewelry. The most famous case is Taxco, although, interestingly, their silverwork is a revival spurred by American William Spratling.
Perhaps a better, thoroughly native tradition is Mazahua silver earrings from México state, which were originally made from coins saved by prospective grooms then served as “wedding rings.”
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico over 20 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
As an expat in Mexico living off a stronger currency, it's easy to have some conflicting feelings about the rapidly increasing value of the peso. (Angy Márquez)
If you’re like me and earn your money in dollars, a position that most Mexicans see as plenty enviable, you might have conflicting worries of guilt and alarm at the improving performance of the Mexican peso this year.
Gone are the days of getting 21 pesos or more for a dollar…and coming are the days of – gulp – possibly getting 17 or so. (Don’t ask me when or for how long; most of my research turned up such wildly different predictions that anything I repeated here would be ultimately untrustworthy).
All in all, it’s still a great exchange rate; when I first came to Mexico back in 2002, the peso-to-dollar rate was roughly 10-to-one. But the peso’s recent strength has come as somewhat of a surprise, and if the peso happens to get even stronger, a lot of we dollar-earning immigrants are going to have to think very hard about how to reduce our budgets to accommodate a not-insignificant reduction in our spending power.
Why is this happening? Honestly, I don’t know, and I’m certainly not the person to explain it. Whenever I try to make sense of anything in the world of finance, which is basically a collectively agreed-on imaginary concept symbolized by pieces of paper and metal coins (and digital numbers now too, I guess?), I pretty much go brain dead from boredom.
The above article cites higher remittances, increased investment and spending from foreign countries, a weakened dollar, and high official interest rates. How those things translate to currencies being “worth” more or less is not what I’m here to discuss.
My biggest question is regarding how this will affect people “on the ground” who don’t spend their days in the world of the stock market.
I’m on the ground, and can confidently say that things have gotten mighty expensive over the past couple of years, with many food items and household goods nearly doubling in price. Over the past couple of months, it’s done so simultaneously with a reduction in the number of pesos my dollars are worth.
Though there are claims that there’s an end in sight (to inflation, anyway), I don’t think most of us are seeing it. I’m not optimistic that consumer goods will get cheaper; the best I can hope for is that prices will stop rising so quickly. That said, I’m always open to being pleasantly surprised.
Please, finance gods? The 99% of the world could really use some mercy.
But, to me, the bottom of the article on inflation that I cited two paragraphs above says it all: “’Companies’ hesitancy to cut and/or reduce the pace of recent price increases as the economy remains resilient and cost pressures abound’ … could affect the pace at which inflation declines.”
What is inflation, I suppose, if not a feverish upward-bound tornado of prices? On the one hand, the things that companies need to make and sell their products become more expensive, and that expense is most often passed on to consumers with a shrug and an “Inflation, man — we know it’s rough, but what can we do?”
Having shareholders absorb some of those blows in order to keep the same amount of food on families’ tables would simply not be playing the game of capitalism correctly, and they’ve got to have enough money for universe-sized bonuses for the corporate elite, after all!
The problem, of course, is that most of us are not big, important shareholders or CEOs of giant companies. Most of us are also not getting salary or wage increases as a result of these higher prices, and few corporate decision-makers are saying, “Gosh, I guess we’d better pay our workers more now, eh?”
There’s no “rising tide lifting all boats” here; the rising tide is simply drowning some people and keeping most others treading water really, really hard.
Is this really the best we can do, economic system-wise?
None of my Mexican friends (except the person that I personally employ) have received any pay increases as a result of rising costs, and I certainly haven’t either, though admittedly, I could tread water a lot longer than most. I suspect that a slowing inflation is more the result of getting to the top limit of what people are able to pay than it is the wizardry of raising interest rates.
As already pretty freaking privileged immigrants, we are not entitled to a special exchange rate, of course; there will be no “hazard pay” to fight the effects of a weakening dollar and out-of-control inflation. Most of us are already giving ourselves special economic treatment simply by choosing to live in a place without fully embracing the reality of its employment economy (for ourselves, anyway). We’re “gaming the system” in a way; but as many of us are learning, there’s no guarantee that the system will continue to play nice with us.
Well. As any good Buddhist will tell you, the only constant out there is change.
So we’re finally facing it. This is the risk of working in a currency that’s stronger than that of the country in which you reside: there’s no guarantee the low cost of living is going to stay that way.
All Mexicans of a certain age have lived through some pretty serious depreciations of their own currency. I imagine there might be some out there who see this weakening dollar as a bit of cosmic justice, and, hey, they might not be wrong about that.
Still, most of us non-wealthy people are in the same boat. The difference for those of us who haven’t been fully participating in the Mexican economy is that the water’s coming up to the top deck where we’ve been luxuriating; we’re not used to feeling this financially nervous.
Anyway, I’ll be having some humble pie tonight for dessert — if I can find it at a good price.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com
In this week's morning press conferences, President López Obrador addressed the kidnapping and homicide of U.S. citizens in Matamoros, the op-eds criticizing his government and army espionage. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez / Cuartoscuro.com)
Andrés Manuel López Obrador presided over his first morning press conference as president on Dec. 3, 2018, two days after he was sworn in.
On the vast majority of weekday mornings since then he has appeared before reporters to respond to questions and inform the nation – at considerable length – about the actions his government is undertaking to “transform” Mexico.
The daily weekday morning press conferences are known as “mañaneras”. (LopezObrador.org.mx)
The president and his supporters say that the mañaneras – as the pressers are colloquially known – provide the government with the opportunity to convey indubitable, unfiltered information to the public, while critics denounce them as exercises in shameless propaganda.
Monday
Ricardo Sheffield, head of the consumer protection agency Profeco, began the presser with his weekly report on gasoline prices.
The average price across Mexico for a liter of regular gasoline last week was just over 22 pesos (about US $1.20), he said, noting that Redco, Oxxo Gas and Chevron had the highest prices and Total, Windstar and Rendichicas had the lowest and were therefore “allies of consumers.”
Head of the consumer protection agency Profeco, Ricardo Sheffield. (Gob MX)
Sheffield, a former mayor of León, Guanajuato, ceded center stage to the director of the National Tourism Promotion Fund, Javier May, who declared that – despite claims to the contrary – construction of the Maya Train railroad will not damage the environment in the states through which it will run.
“Without a doubt, … the environment in southeastern Mexico will be a lot better than before,” he said after highlighting that cenotes (natural sinkholes), caverns and subterranean rivers “will be protected by the construction of viaducts and cable-stayed bridges” and fauna will have access to wildlife crossings.
May also said that the Maya Train project is “accompanied by the world’s largest reforestation program, Sembrando Vida, through which 50 million fruit and timber-yielding trees are being planted in the southeast of Mexico.”
During his engagement with reporters, López Obrador acknowledged an opinion article by former United States attorney general William Barr that was published by The Wall Street Journal last week under the headline “The U.S. must defeat Mexico’s drug cartels.”
“Barr says that I called off the [2019] arrest of the son of [Joaquín “El Chapo”] Guzmán Loera, Ovidio, because a group with 70 machine guns appeared. That’s exactly why I stopped [the operation] because there was going to be about 200 deaths and we’re not going to bet on massacres, on wars,” he said.
“That’s the mentality of hawks, of conservatives – wanting to resolve everything with the use of force. Violence can’t be combated with violence, evil can’t be confronted with evil, evil has to be confronted with good,” AMLO said.
Among subsequent remarks, López Obrador said he would leave a “list of pending reforms” for his successor as he doesn’t have enough time left as president to put forward all the legislative changes Mexico needs.
“I have to dedicate myself body and soul to finishing the [infrastructure] projects, consolidating the welfare programs and leaving the foundations well set for the transformation of the country,” López Obrador said.
“But other reforms are needed. For example, it’s clear that a reform is needed in the judicial power, but I can’t get involved in that because that power is currently a bastion of corrupt conservatism,” he said.
Toward the end of his press conference, AMLO noted that the value of the U.S. dollar dropped below 18 pesos on March 3 and reminded reporters that the government will hold an event in Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo, on March 18 to mark the 85th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico’s oil industry.
Events are also planned for International Workers’ Day on May 1 and Teachers’ Day on May 15, he said, asserting that the government’s “adversaries” won’t attend because they are “against” workers’ rights and public education.
Tuesday
Ninety minutes into the press conference, Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal Anaya broke the news that two of four United States citizens who were kidnapped in Matamoros on March 3 had been found dead.
“One person is injured and the other is alive,” he said over the telephone as AMLO held Security Minister Rosa Rodríguez’s cell phone to a microphone.
“It’s very regrettable,” López Obrador said of the news before acknowledging that the United States government had the right to “speak out” against the incident, “as they did.”
President López Obrador took a call during the press conference from Tamaulipas governor Américo Villareal. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez / Cuartoscuro.com)
“We don’t want [things like this to happen]. We’re working every day to guarantee peace and tranquility and we going to continue working,” he said.
“We very much regret that this happens in our country and we send our condolences to the families and friends of the victims, to the people of the United States and to the United States government.”
Earlier in the presser, National Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval reported that the quantity of fentanyl seized since the government took office on Dec. 1 2018 was a whopping 1,049% higher than the amount confiscated in a comparable period during the government led by former president Enrique Peña Nieto.
A total of 6,115 kilograms of the synthetic opioid has been seized, he said. The army chief also noted that the quantity of methamphetamine seized had increased 92% to 180,995 kilograms.
Back behind the mañanera lectern, López Obrador sent a message to United States Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who has proposed deploying the U.S. military to fight drug cartels in Mexico.
“He should be attending to the causes in the United States that provoke the excessive consumption of drugs, especially fentanyl, which causes … the death of so many Americans,” he said.
Asked about the United States request for consultations on Mexico’s plan to phase out genetically modified corn imports, the president said that the government was seeking to reach an agreement with its U.S. counterpart so that health regulator Cofepris and a “qualified” U.S. agency can conduct an analysis to determine whether GM corn has a negative impact on human health.
“That’s what we’re proposing. Meanwhile, we won’t allow genetically modified corn to be consumed in Mexico,” AMLO said.
“… There is this consultation request but we still have a month and if there’s no understanding [reached] we’ll go to a [dispute] panel. … It’s a very important issue for us, it’s about the health of our people,” he said, adding that Mexico’s decision to phase out imports of GM corn for human consumption doesn’t violate its commitments under the USMCA free trade pact.
“No agreement in the world allows goods that are harmful to health to be bought or sold,” López Obrador said.
“In the … [USMCA] there are clauses that protect consumers, just as the environment and workers are protected,” he explained.
Wednesday
During opening remarks on International Women’s Day, AMLO declared that his government supports “women’s fight in defense of their rights” and asserted that a lot of progress has been made in the area in Mexico.
He also said that women are making an important contribution to the “transformation” his government is carrying out.
“In the government I represent there are more women in crucial roles,” said López Obrador, who has eight women in his 19-member cabinet.
President López Obrador at an event for International Women’s Day with women cabinet members and politicians on Wednesday. (LopezObrador.org.mx)
He added that 70% of the government’s “servants of the nation” – low-ranking officials responsible for the on-the-ground implementation of social programs – are women.
“We attach importance to desk work, but a lot more importance is given to … the work that’s done house by house, work that is done in the streets, in the communities, in the towns. … The transformation we’re carrying out is from the bottom up and with the people, and the driving force of this change is women,” AMLO said.
He also extolled the virtues of social media and his own weekday press conferences.
Despite its “defects,” social media has “emerged as a blessing in recent times,” said López Obrador, who has close to 10 million followers on both Facebook and Twitter.
“It’s more open [than traditional media] and any citizen can speak out. … That didn’t exist before. It was just The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Excélsior, El Universal, Televisa, [TV] Azteca, W [Radio], Radio Fórmula and that was it,” he said.
“Now … [we have] social media and the mañanera. What would the information situation be in Mexico if the mañanera didn’t exist?”
Ana García Vilchis, the government media monitor. (Gob MX)
One of the newspapers AMLO mentioned was the target of the wrath of the government’s media monitor when she took center stage to present her “Who’s who in the lies of the week” segment. “Everything” in a Wall Street Journal published under the headline “The narco threat to Mexican democracy” is “false,” Ana García Vilchis declared.
“The journalist Mary Anastasia O’Grady warned … that the [recently-approved] electoral reform weakens the National Electoral Institute [INE], which could result in insecurity at the next elections because drug traffickers could take advantage and increase the theft of ballot boxes as well as threats and murders of candidates that don’t agree with their plans,” she sad.
“She also says, ‘Now [AMLO] wants to slay the electoral watchdog, which may be one of the last lines of defense against a narco-state.’ What do you know? Curiously this text is supported by a report drawn up by the [opposition] PRI, PAN and PRD [parties], where alleged acts of terrorism are reported. However, the scenario painted by the U.S. media outlet is part of the fake news that is circulating to attack President López Obrador,” García said.
“To the people of Mexico we reiterate: the electoral reform is limited to modifying the structure of the INE; it doesn’t affect its functionality nor limit the fulfillment of its tasks,” she added.
Thursday
“Good morning, we’re late because we got a cleansing, a good incense smoke cleansing,” López Obrador joked at the beginning of his press conference because it was being held in what he calls the “bunker” of former security minister and convicted drug trafficker Genaro García Luna.
“… National and foreign visitors came here,” he said of the erstwhile police intelligence center located near Chapultepec Park in Mexico City.
“But it was a complete sham, they weren’t working to pacify Mexico, [the bunker] was just a front. And it was very costly. You’ll see how much it cost,” AMLO said, adding that contracts for its construction were assigned directly without a competitive tendering process.
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez later reported that construction of the facility – now occupied by the National Guard – cost an estimated 3.34 billion pesos (about US $185 million at the current exchange rate).
#GarcíaLuna construyó un túnel para conectar su oficina con el #búnker, un espacio que no alcanzó su objetivo de integrar los sistemas nacionales en una sola base de datos. pic.twitter.com/ixMZVsMn6I
— Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez (@rosaicela_) March 9, 2023
A video posted to the public security ministry’s Twitter account showing the “bunker”, now occupied by the National Guard.
It was opened in November 2009 – during the presidency of Felipe Calderón – and “presented as the Federal Police Intelligence Center,” she said, noting that it has above-ground and underground sections and was “supposedly connected to more than 600 points in the country and 169 Federal Police offices and stations.
“… The reality … is that this space was mainly used by García Luna … to show off the supposed intelligence strength and work of the Federal Police. They filled this center with screens to impress people,” Rodríguez said.
“Then president Felipe Calderón publicly declared that, based on the United States police series 24, he decided to build a technological system like that he saw on television. The person in charge of fulfilling this idea was García Luna, who at that time was said to be the best police officer in Mexico but who today lies imprisoned in jail in Brooklyn, New York,” she said.
AMLO answers questions from the press inside “the bunker” on Thursday. (LopezObrador.org.mx)
Turning to non-“bunker” related matters, AMLO made it clear that his government wouldn’t allow the U.S. military to come into Mexico to combat drug cartels, as some Republican Party lawmakers have proposed.
He challenged those lawmakers to change their attitude toward Mexico, “or starting today we’ll begin an information campaign in the United States so that all the Mexicans [who live there], our compatriots, know about this treachery, this aggression from the Republicans toward Mexico,” he said.
“If they continue with this attitude we’ll insist that not one vote from Mexicans, from Hispanics, [is cast in favor of the Republican Party],” López Obrador said.
He added that Mexico could take a complaint about the military intervention proposal to the United Nations.
“[First] we want to see the reaction of other lawmakers from the Republican Party, see what they think,” AMLO said.
Friday
After previewing Mexico’s match against Colombia in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday, López Obrador was forced to turn to a much more serious issue: allegations that the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) used spyware against journalists and a human rights defender during the term of the current government.
AMLO discussed the World Baseball Classic at Friday’s morning press conference. (LopezObrador.org.mx)
A reporter informed AMLO that “official documents” were published on Tuesday “that confirm Sedena spied on civilians in your six-year term despite this being illegal.”
“The first thing I’d like to ask you, president, is whether you were informed of this and whether you authorized it,” said Nayeli Roldán of the news website Animal Político.
“Investigation must be carried out, not espionage, which is different,” López Obrador responded.
“… We maintain that carrying out investigations, doing intelligence [work] is very important in order to not use force [against alleged criminals], intelligence is better than force,” he said.
The president denied that the army had done anything illegal, saying that it had only carried out intelligence work with the National Intelligence Center in order to “know about movements and operations of organized crime.”
“… We don’t spy on anyone, it’s not the time of the neoliberal governments. We made the commitment not to spy on any opponent. The case you are mentioning of this human rights defender [Raymundo Ramos] was reported here by a colleague of yours, pointing out that he has ties, alleged ties with crime groups in Tamaulipas,” AMLO said.
Raymundo Ramos, member of the human rights committee of Nuevo Laredo, at a press conference about the “spy army” documents. (Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)
Questioned about alleged spying on two journalists, López Obrador asserted that there is “no instruction” to spy on any journalist and attributed the entire Ejército Espía (The Spy Army) investigation – carried out by media outlets and civil society organizations – to a desire to discredit his government.
“… Journalism is useful to citizens when it’s professional and objective, when it’s close to the people and far from power, but your journalism isn’t close to the people, you’re at the service of the oligarchy, of those who felt they were the owners of Mexico, those who dedicated themselves to looting Mexico,” he said during a lengthy exchange with Roldán.
In response to subsequent questions, AMLO said that school dropout rates had declined “considerably” largely due to the availability of government scholarships for students and declared that a “thorough” investigation into the Matamoros case involving four U.S. citizens was taking place.
He also said he had a “very good” meeting on Thursday with United States Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
“We addressed the fentanyl issue, [smuggling of] weapons [into Mexico] and the issue of respect for the sovereignty of our country,” AMLO said, alluding to the calls for the U.S. military to combat Mexican cartels.
“… On Monday Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard will preside over a meeting in Washington with all the consuls of Mexico in the United States to report what we’re doing to support the U.S. so that fentanyl doesn’t arrive,” the president added.
Ambassador Ken Salazar (left), U.S. Homeland Security advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, President López Obrador and Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez (far right) at Thursday’s meeting. (@lopezobrador Twitter)
“It will be reported that in our time [in government] the largest amount of fentanyl has been confiscated, six tonnes. Do the math, … each kilo of fentanyl is a million doses and what we’ve seized is six tonnes – 60,000 kilograms,” López Obrador said without acknowledging his multiplication mistake.
