AMLO puts diplomatic relations ‘on hold’ with Peru as crisis deepens

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December 14, 2022

Peruvians gather outside regional headquarters of the Department of Lima to protest on Wednesday after Castillo's attempt to dissolve the national legislature. (J Erick Brazzan / Shutterstock)

President López Obrador declared that diplomatic relations with Peru were “on hold,” and said Mexico still considers ousted president Pedro Castillo Terrones to be the country’s democratically elected leader.

Peruvian police arrested Castillo last week. Then on Wednesday, Peru declared a nationwide state of emergency following intensifying protests left seven people dead.

AMLO made the announcement at his morning press conference on Tuesday. The day before, he issued a joint statement with the leaders of Colombia, Argentina and Bolivia expressing “profound concern” at the treatment of Castillo, who was impeached by the Peruvian Congress last week and subsequently arrested.

“For the world it is not news that President Castillo Terrones, since the day of his election, was the victim of an antidemocratic harassment,” the joint statement read. “Our governments call on all the actors involved in the process to prioritize the will of the people expressed at the ballot box.”

Former President Pedro Castillo at a government meeting in January. (Presidencia Perú / Flickr)

“The President [Castillo] won,” AMLO insisted, when pressed by La Jornada newspaper on Tuesday. “What the agreement [the joint statement] proposes, is that the will of the people who elected him must be respected, to recognize that he won democratically and he cannot be removed.”

He stated that Mexico would continue to view Castillo as the president of Peru “until they resolve it there, in terms of legality.”

“Relations are on hold as we wait to see what happens,” he said. “Hopefully a democratic solution can be found.”

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard explained to the press on Tuesday that this does not mean a severing of relations, as Mexico will maintain its Peruvian embassy. Following the declaration of a state of emergency, Ebrard also announced coordinated efforts to “accelerate the return” of Mexican citizens currently in Peru.

President López Obardor spoke out in support of Castillo at a Tuesday morning press conference. (Presidencia de la República)

Castillo was arrested for “rebellion” on Dec. 7, after he attempted to dissolve Congress and assume emergency powers ahead of a congressional vote on his impeachment for corruption. His former vice president, Dina Boluarte, has assumed Peru’s presidency.

On Tuesday, Boluarte defended Castillo’s ouster, echoing Peru’s constitutional court in denouncing his behavior as an attempted coup. Nonetheless, she moved to ease diplomatic tensions, telling reporters she would call AMLO and other signatories to the joint statement to discuss the situation.

“Diplomatic relations remain the same with these brother nations,” she insisted.

But the tensions have already disrupted regional cooperation. A meeting of the Pacific Alliance countries of Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia, scheduled for this week, is currently postponed.

AMLO’s outspoken support for Castillo contrasts with his usual position of non-intervention in the affairs of other countries. He has long been an admirer of the leftist leader, whom he views as an ideological ally.

Following Castillo’s arrest, AMLO confirmed that the ousted leader had attempted to seek asylum in the Mexican embassy in Lima. He has repeatedly called for Castillo’s human rights to be respected and criticized what he calls Castillo’s persecution by Peru’s economic elites.

“We very much regret what is happening, especially for the suffering of the brotherly people of Peru,” AMLO told La Jornada on Tuesday. “We have always maintained that the so-called political leadership and economic interests, the media, are the ones that cause all this instability that harms the people.”

With reports from La Jornada, Reuters, Infobae and El País

For a dose of local culture (and a deal) find your Christmas tianguis

By

Leigh Thelmadatter

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December 14, 2022

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Zacatecas, Mexico, Christmas tianguis, or street market — Nativity scene supplies on sale at a Christmas *tianguis* in Zacatecas city. (Photo: Government of Zacatecas)

Love them or hate them, if you have lived in Mexico long enough, you have encountered the chaos of a tianguis, especially now during the Christmas season.

The word generally gets translated into English as “flea market” or “bazaar.” Coming from Nahuatl, it originally just meant “market,” since during the Mesoamerican era, just about all buying and selling happened in public plazas and streets.

Over time, the word’s meaning narrowed to indicate an itinerant street market that appears on certain days of the week or year.

Weekly tianguis tend to focus on people’s basic needs, but annual ones are dedicated to the special products for big holidays such as Day of the Dead and even Mexico’s Independence Day. But by far, the most important seasonal tianguis are those associated with Christmas.

A Mexico City street market in 1885 — Mexicans shopping at a *tianguis* in 1885. The open-air markets in Mexico are a tradition going back to pre-Hispanic times.

Found in just about every Mexican city, their appearance indicates that it is time to get ready for the weeks of get-togethers and other events that dominate life in Mexico from Dec. 12 — the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe) to Jan. 6 (Epiphany).

Most of these Christmas markets are set up adjacent to year-round municipal markets, extending the normal mercantile zone for blocks outwards. Larger ones will have hundreds of stands, and just about all tianguis will have more irregular stands and wandering vendors than those with official permits.

Streets and sidewalks are narrowed, even blocked, snarling traffic in the area for both cars and pedestrians. This is especially true in the days before Christmas and Epiphany, when people make last-minute purchases.

Cities often have authorized dates for the market, running from mid-November or the beginning of December until Dec. 24 or until just after Epiphany. Although supermarkets and department stores have begun to follow the United States custom of putting out Christmas decorations as early as August, this is not the case for the Christmas tianguis, which waits until the very important Day of the Dead passes.

Most of the decorative merchandise in these markets will be recognizable to Westerners.

The most traditional are small houses and accessories to set up Nativity scenes, which are still a focal point in Mexican homes at Christmas. The little houses are populated with handcrafted or mass-produced angels, the Holy Family and animals, but one unusual twist is the large, sometimes life-sized, images of the infant Jesus. These have special roles to play on Christmas Eve, Epiphany and Candlemas (Feb. 2).

Perhaps the most visible items in tianguis, especially in larger cities, are Christmas trees, lights and ornaments, which have been gaining popularity since they were introduced in the mid-20th century. Other common items include advent candle holders, poinsettias and wreaths.

Mexico does produce Christmas decorations, especially in Tlalpujahua, Michoacán, and Chignahuapan, Puebla, but imported Asian products are common too, so check the packaging.

Vendor at Mexico City tianguis — Mexico City’s Christmas *tianguis* are among the biggest in the country. (Photo: Government CDMX)

Handcrafted items are relatively hard to find; you need to look either in more rural markets or in tianguis that promote them — these items generally cost too much for most peso-conscious Mexicans.

Mexico also produces live Christmas trees, and most of the ones you see in a tianguis will be domestic since they are cheaper. Items that may seem unusual are hay and moss, which are placed around nativity scenes. I recommend avoiding the moss, as it is often unsustainably stripped from forests.

Christmas tianguis also contain a large number of stalls selling clothing, toys and much more. Vendors take advantage of the fact that people are shopping for gifts and that those with formal employment receive a Christmas bonus in the middle of December, known as the aguinaldo.

The Christmas tianguis is also a great place to try out street food. Many sell tacos to feed hungry shoppers, but there are also seasonal specialties to be found such as tamales, atole (a sweetened hot drink made from a corn flour base), ponche (a hot fruit drink) and buñelos (fried sweet bread).

Interestingly, these tianguis generally do not sell ingredients for the Christmas season’s special meals, e.g. turkeys, romeritos (a type of green, leafy vegetable) and seasonal fruits. But these items are available in the year-round market..

Christmas street market in Tlalpujahua, Michaocan, Mexico — The Christmas town of Tlalpujahua, Michoacán, becomes one big *tianguis* starting in September. (Photo: Alejandro Linares García)

Even if your city doesn’t have a dedicated Christmas tianguis, just about every year-round tianguis in Mexico sets up at least a few stalls for holiday-themed vendors.

A number of cities have notable Christmas tianguis:

In Mexico City, the huge Central de Abastos in the Itzapalapa borough and the Mercado Hidalgo in the Doctores neighborhood have popular Christmas tianguis.
The fireworks markets in Tultepec, Mexico state, north of the Mexico City metro area, also becomes a Christmas tianguis during the holidays.
Guadalajara has about 20 Christmas tianguis, including those at the San Juan de Díos market and at Refugio Park.
The city of Querétaro has a large Christmas tianguis every year downtown at the La Cruz open-air market.
La Paz, Baja California Sur’s downtown area sets up a dedicated Christmas tianguis every year at the beginning of December.
Mérida, Yucatán, has a tianguis that promotes Yucatán handcrafts.

Tianguis are still an important part of Mexico’s economy year-round, especially for the lower classes. They not only provide merchandise at lower prices, they provide needed income and employment that the formal economy cannot provide.

Unsurprisingly, Mexico’s efforts to “clean up” or eliminate them over the centuries has had mixed results at best.

Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 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.

Mexico is still the deadliest country for journalists outside of war zones

By

MND Staff

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December 14, 2022

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Margarito Martínez, Lourdes Maldonado and Luis Enrique Ramírez were three prominent Mexican journalists killed in 2022. (Presidencia de la República and Twitter)

Mexico ranks No. 2 in the world for most journalists killed so far this year, according to a press release from the International Federation of Journalists.

According to the IFJ, 11 media professionals have been killed in Mexico in 2022, one fewer than in war-torn Ukraine. Haiti is third with six journalists killed, followed by Colombia with four.

In total, 67 journalists in 21 countries and the Palestinian territories have been murdered, mostly in the line of duty, in 2022 compared to 47 last year, a reversal of the decline recorded in recent years, according to the IFJ.

In the three previous years, Mexico was at the top of the list with 10 murdered journalists in 2019, eight in 2020 and eight again in 2021.

Flowers and a photograph of Guerrero journalist Fredid Román, at his wake in Acapulco. (File photo)

“These figures make for grim reading and cast serious doubts on the political will on the part of governments to address such grave threats to media freedom,” said IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.

“The war in Ukraine accounts for 12 media fatalities,” IFJ noted in its release. “But the rule by terror of criminal organizations in Mexico, and the breakdown of law and order in Haiti, have also contributed to the surge in killings.”

Similar but slightly different figures were compiled by Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based agency that goes by the acronym RSF.

An RSF report noted that “more than 60% of journalists killed lost their lives in countries considered to be at peace in 2022” and it points out that Mexico accounts for a high percentage [16.5%] of the global total.

“Mexico’s figures [along with Haiti, Colombia and Brazil] helped turn the Americas into the world’s most dangerous region for the media, with nearly half of the total number of journalists killed worldwide in 2022.”

In 2020, a similar RSF report noted that “Mexico has tragically confirmed its position as world leader of the most dangerous countries for the media … The election of a new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, two years ago has not alleviated the scourges that plague the country. The links between drug traffickers and politicians remain, and journalists who dare to cover these or related issues continue to be the targets of barbaric murders.”

Most of the journalists on the IFJ list were “deliberately” killed, although 12 or so might not have been expressly targeted, according to one report.

The figures include professional and non-professional journalists, as well as other media workers.

Journalists from Chilpancingo, Guerrero, protest the murder of colleagues around the country in January of this year. (Dassaev Téllez Adame / Cuartoscuro.com)

“The surge in the killings of journalists and other media workers is a grave cause of concern and yet another wake up call for governments across the globe to take action in the defense of journalism, one of the key pillars of democracy,” said Bellanger of the IFJ.

“The failure to act will only embolden those who seek to suppress the free flow of information and undermine the ability of people to hold their leaders to account … It is now time for the UN General Assembly to pass the IFJ Convention on the Safety and Independence of Journalists.”

It should be noted that when Mexican journalist Fredid Román was murdered in August, several newspapers reported that he was “the 15th member of the media to be murdered in the country this year” (as opposed to the 11 tabulated by both the IFJ and RSF).

Román, 60, who ran a program called “The Reality of Guerrero,” was gunned down inside his vehicle in Chilpancingo, the capital of the state of Guerrero, according to local prosecutors. The newspaper El País reported that Román was murdered the same day he had shared a column on Facebook that criticized López Obrador’s timid response to the findings of a report on the Ayotzinapa case (in which 43 students disappeared or were killed in 2014).

El País wrote: “According to the NGO Article 19, the deadliest year to be a journalist in Mexico was 2017, when 12 reporters were killed. In just the first eight months of 2022, that figure has already been exceeded. Mexico is now considered the deadliest place to be a reporter in the world.”

With reports from International Federation of Journalists and Latinus

Nicaraguan migrants flee kidnappers to cross US border en masse

By

Cat Rainsford

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December 14, 2022

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A group of migrants crosses the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juárez to enter the U.S. in March. (Cuartoscuro.com)

The northern border cities of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, saw one of the largest migrant crossings in their history on Sunday night, after a group of mostly Nicaraguan migrants, some fleeing extortion in Mexico, crossed the border en masse.

Around 1,000 people waded across the Rio Grande and turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol authorities to claim asylum in the U.S. Some had been held hostage for several days in the northern state of Durango, after buses transporting them from Mexico City handed them over to an organized crime group.

National Guard agents had rescued the group and bused them to Ciudad Juárez, under police escort for their safety. Migrant accounts and reports from the Mexican authorities describe multiple mass kidnappings in recent weeks, including the release of 253 people who were being held at a property in Ciudad Lerdo, Durango, on Dec. 5.

“I am afraid and sad. A cartel in Durango caught us and told us they would take us to immigration [authorities]. We were kidnapped, they were armed people. It was like that for five days until the National Guard helped us,” one of the migrants, Oscar Sánchez, told the news agency EFE at a migrant center in Ciudad Juárez.

Later that evening, the group joined with other migrants to flee into El Paso, further straining facilities in a town that has already seen around 53,000 arrivals during October — the most recent month on record — and as many as 2,000 arrivals per day over last weekend. Those who cannot be expelled are usually apprehended then released on short-term parole. Many have resorted to sleeping on the streets in near-freezing temperatures.

“The numbers are like nothing I’ve seen for the last 25 years,” Blake Barrow, director of the Rescue Mission of El Paso, told The New York Times. “The whole dynamic has changed with the large numbers of people from countries like Nicaragua. … The situation is overwhelming us.”

U.S. border towns have seen a surge of migrants fleeing Nicaragua’s humanitarian crisis in recent months. Because of strained diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Nicaragua, they cannot be repatriated. And unlike Central Americans and — since October — Venezuelans, Mexico will not accept them if they are expelled from the U.S.

U.S. border authorities are braced for the crisis to escalate from Dec. 21, when Title 42 — the pandemic-era legislation that allows the US to immediately expel migrants who will be accepted in Mexico, without recourse to legal hearings — is set to expire. Thousands are currently camped in shelters along the border, waiting for their chance to claim asylum.

With reports from La Prensa Latina, Aristegui Noticias and The New York Times

PAN politicians decry proposal to ban publicly funded religious displays

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MND Staff

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December 13, 2022

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Mexican congressional deputy Améerica Rangel — PAN Deputy América Rangel made headlines after tweeting photos of herself in front of a nativity scene in Mexico City's Zócalo and protesting an upcoming Supreme Court debate about the constitutionality of religious icons being displayed in public spaces with public funds. (Photo: América Rangel/Twitter)

Politicians from the National Action Party (PAN) set up a nativity scene in Mexico City’s Zócalo to object to a Mexican Supreme Court justice’s proposal that, if adopted by the Court, would likely result in government funded nativity scenes and other religious displays in public spaces being ruled unconstitutional.

“We will not allow a few liberals to take away our religious freedom and our Mexican traditions,” PAN Deputy América Alejandra Rangel wrote in a Twitter post on her account, in which she shared a picture of herself with a group standing next to a nativity scene.

Posters reading “a birth that changed history” and the hashtags #SíALosNacimientos (“Yes to nativity scenes”) were placed in front of the display she and her companions had set up.

Rangel’s post was in reaction to a draft opinion submitted for Court debate on Nov. 6 by Justice Juan Luis González Alcántara Carrancá, concerning the Court’s hearing of a 2020 case in Yucatán filed by a local nongovernmental human rights organization, Kanan Derechos Humanos.

Supreme Court Justice Juan Luis González’s draft opinion submitted to the Court on Nov. 6, if adopted, would apply specifically to a Yucatán case but also set a precedent for the country.

The NGO filed three amparo lawsuits (a legal resource to seek protection from the government violating constitutional rights) arguing that public nativity scenes that had been installed in the three Yucatán municipalities of Mérida, Chochlá and Mocochá were personal manifestations of worship that shouldn’t have been paid for with public funds and threatened citizens’ constitutional freedom of religion.

The documents also argued that nativity scenes in public spaces discriminate against people who are atheists or non-Christians.

The Court on Nov. 9 postponed discussion of the case until next year. However, soon afterward, Kanan Derechos Humanos reported that it had received threats from people who it believes are misinformed on the matter.

Los ministros de la @SCJN quieren prohibir los nacimientos navideños en edificios públicos, así que pusimos uno afuera de Palacio Nacional.

No vamos a permitir que unos cuantos progres nos arrebaten la libertad religiosa ni nuestras tradiciones mexicanas. pic.twitter.com/BwzYSUTLEy

— América Rangel (@AmerangelLorenz) December 11, 2022

“We won’t let a few liberals steal our religious freedom and our Mexican traditions,” Rangel said in her tweet.

“We think is important to inform, since lack of clarity has led to various threats,” the organization said in a statement, in which it also maintained that the Supreme Court will not be discussing people’s right to practice their religious beliefs in hearing the organization’s case.

“That’s not a subject of debate,” the statement read.

What the Court will discuss, the NGO said, is if the use of public funds to install nativity scenes in public areas and public buildings affects the principles of a secular nation-state.

But the draft opinion has inspired much backlash: early in December, the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate issued a statement rejecting Justice González’s draft document, saying that “religious freedom is a broad right” that includes the freedom of thought, of worship.

The statement also said that agreeing or not with religious principles is also protected.

Poster by Mexican conservative organization National Front for the Family — This recent social media post by the Mexican organization National Front for the Family inaccurately states that if the Court voted in favor of González’s draft opinion, it could also ban annual pilgrimages to the Virgin of Guadalupe basilica in Mexico City. (Photo: National Front for the Family/Twitter)

Numerous social media groups and individuals have also spread fear about González’s draft opinion, stating inaccuracies such as the notion that its adoption by the Court would result in the prohibition of individual religious expression, including home nativity scenes, Catholic feast day parades and pilgrimages.

President López Obrador weighed in on the public debate during his Nov. 28 daily press conference, saying “there is no legal basis” to forbid nativity scenes in public spaces and that he considers such a prohibition a restriction of religious freedom.

A ban on displaying religious figures in public areas would mean canceling “the celebration of a man who has fought the most for the poor, because Christ was a social fighter,” he said.

With reports from Proceso, Infobae, La Jornada Maya

Pemex restricts public access to fuel theft data

By

Cat Rainsford

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December 13, 2022

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Mexico's National Guard uncovering a clandestine pipeline tap in Jalpan, Puebla. (Photo: National Guard)

The Transparency Committee of state oil company Pemex announced that it has restricted access to its database of fuel theft incidents, a move that the body said was in the interests of national security.

In response to a request for information, the Transparency Committee declared that revealing which pipelines are most targeted by oil thieves “would cause serious damage to the national security of the strategic facilities of this company and the safety of people.”

The database contains information on the states, municipalities and towns where clandestine pipeline taps have been detected by Pemex between January 2009 and August 2022.

In its ruling, the committee insisted that allowing the public access to this data “would be comparable to guiding criminal groups to detect targets where the placement of a new clandestine tap would be most accessible.”

Pemex gas station sign in Mexico City — The López Obrador administration has made strides in reducing fuel theft, with spikes in activity only occurring in times when fuel prices rise sharply, Flavio Ruiz Alarcón recently told the newspaper El Universal. (Photo: Eve Orea/Shutterstock)

“If this information fell into the hands of organized criminals, it would put personnel at risk of being attacked in person or in their vehicles … which can generate further crimes such as robbery and extortion,” the committee said.

The committee will restrict access to the database for the next five years, it said.

“[Fuel theft] has become one of the main sources of income for criminal organizations in the country,” their statement said. “The milking of Pemex pipelines has generated economic losses to this state company and its subsidiaries. For this reason, it has been necessary to develop strategies that help minimize this crime, so that the resources of the nation do not end up in the coffers of criminal organizations.”

Fuel theft has boomed in Mexico in the last 10 years, becoming a key revenue source for drug trafficking organizations like the Jalisco Cartel that branched out into other criminal activities like black market gas sales. Fuel theft has also led to the emergence of criminal groups specializing in the criminal activity, such as the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in Guanajuato.

The crime is particularly prevalent in central states such as Hidalgo, Puebla and México state.

However, some experts have raised doubts about whether Pemex is justified in restricting access to its data now, given that incidents of oil theft are currently far lower than they have been previously.

“Although the problem persists, more in times of high fuel prices, it is now of lower magnitude than in previous six-year terms, so I think [restricting access to the database] is excessive,” Flavio Ruiz Alarcón, a former Pemex consultant, told the newspaper El Universal. “Now we are talking about thousands of barrels, when before it was tens of thousands of barrels.”

Information obtained by the newspaper Milenio in May showed that fuel theft cost Pemex 2.46 billion pesos (US $123.6 million) between 2019 and 2021 — a staggering figure, but still 98% less than Pemex incurred between 2016 and 2018, during the administration of former president Enrique Peña Nieto.

Luis Miguel Labardini of Marcos & Associates Energy Consultancy — Luis Miguel Labardini of the Marcos & Associates energy consultancy has previously worked with Pemex and the Finance Ministry. He raised concerns that changing the database’s visibility now may be more about politics than the safety of employees.

But while the administration of President López Obrador appears to have had huge success in reducing fuel theft, the most recent figures suggest that increased global prices are driving the crime’s resurgence.

On Friday, the newspaper La Verdad reported that Pemex saw a 31.2% increase in clandestine oil taps during the first nine months of 2022, compared to the same period a year before. In light of this, some analysts have questioned whether Pemex could have an ulterior motive to restrict database access.

“More transparency is needed to know how much the problem of fuel theft weighs on Pemex’s finances, because I don’t think the problem is minimal,” Luis Miguel Labardini, a partner with Marcos and Associates Energy Consultancy and a former employee of Pemex and the Finance Ministry, told El Universal.

“I wouldn’t like to think that the struggle against oil theft hasn’t been as successful as presented, and one way of obscuring information is to classify it as reserved,” he said.

With reports from El Universal and La Verdad

Legislation proposed to guarantee free internet access in CDMX

By

MND Staff

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December 13, 2022

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863963_Zona WiFi Gratis-1_web_850 — Mexico City is ranked as one of the world's most connected cities thanks to its free Wi-Fi program. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico City’s government has submitted two bills to the local legislature seeking to guarantee free access to internet as a human right and to increase digital inclusion in marginalized areas.

The head of the government’s Digital Agency for Public Innovation (ADIP), José Antonio Peña Merino, told El Universal newspaper that the goal is to ensure free internet access is maintained even after the current administration leaves office. Since 2013, access to the internet has been constitutionally protected in Mexico as part of citizens’ rights to information.

According to Peña, the legislative proposal seeks an amendment to the city constitution to specify that connectivity is a right that can’t be removed.

José Merino at CDMX Congress — José Merino (center), head of the CDMX digital innovation agency, presents the bill to the local legislature. (José Merino/Twitter)

The proposal prioritizes connectivity in healthcare centers, educational centers, government offices, community centers, public transportation systems, parks, and classrooms.

In 2020, the city’s free Wi-Fi project was recognized as the world’s best connectivity initiative by the UN-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and last year, the metropolis was recognized as the most connected city on Earth by Guinness World Records. There are 29,255 access points today and Peña Merino said the goal is to reach 33,000 by the end of the current administration’s term in 2024.

To provide free Wi-Fi to both visitors and residents, the municipal government pays telecommunications provider Telmex approximately US $35.8 million annually.

Moscow is a rival for the most connected city, with over 24,000 free hot spots. However, in Moscow, users must provide personal data to log in, while the Mexican government has insisted it does not collect user data.

With reports from El Universal and Infobae

At this lavandería, getting your clothes washed takes a leap of faith

By

Joseph Sorrentino

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December 13, 2022

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Lavandería drawing — The writer's local laundromat has a few rules of operation, like don't bother the proprietor when she's eating. (Illustration: Miguel Ángel Gómez Cabrera)

All I wanted was to have my clothes washed once a week. Doesn’t sound too difficult, right?

But there are almost no self-service laundromats in Mexico like there are where I’m from in the United States, ones where you take your clothes, put some money into washers and dryers and then walk out later with clean, dry clothes.

What you do find in Mexico are lavanderías, small places (actually, almost always just the front room of someone’s home) where you bring your clothes to be washed, dried and folded for a couple of bucks.

A bargain. But a challenging one at times.

Because lavanderías aren’t exactly a business. They’re really just places where someone has cleared out a room and put in a couple of washing machines and maybe a dryer or two. I guess you could call them a family business, with the emphasis on “family.”

If the family needs a day off or is attending a local fiesta, the lavandería will be closed. Sometimes for days. Without any warning. And even when they are open, getting my clothes washed — and, equally important, returned — often requires perseverance and keeping my temper in check.

The lavandería I usually go to, which is only a couple of blocks from my apartment, has now been closed for several days. This isn’t all that unusual. They seem to need a lot of days off.

Despite this inconvenience, Angélica, the woman who runs it, is nice, and I continue to go there when she’s open. When she’s not, I go to another lavandería called Las Siete Gotas (The Seven Drops), which is about a 15-minute walk from my apartment. Having my clothes washed there’s always an adventure.

I once dropped my clothes off there and was told they’d be ready the next day in the afternoon. I know how Mexicans often estimate time and figured they’d be ready late afternoon at best.

So I stopped by the lavanderia the next day at 4 p.m. I was told they’d be ready by 6 p.m.

I wasn’t thrilled because I was almost out of clean clothes at that point, but there wasn’t a lot I could do. So I headed back to my apartment, worked a bit and, a little after 6 p.m., headed back to the lavandería.

Still not ready. And when will they be ready, I asked?

“Una hora.” (One hour.)

Another 15-minute walk back to my apartment; at least I was getting some exercise.

A little before 7 p.m, I headed back there, and as I approached, the woman gave me a little finger wag — the clothes still weren’t ready.

“They are not dry, señor.”

They were not dry because she had yet to put them in the dryer.

I decided not to point that out to her and instead asked her to give me one pair of pants. I took them and told her I’d be back the next day.

I headed back to my apartment with a damp pair of pants that I carefully draped above the space heater, hoping they wouldn’t catch fire and would be dry by morning.

Raging optimist that I am, I returned to Las Siete Gotas the next day, fully expecting to leave with clean clothes. I waited until late afternoon, figuring the more time the owner had, the greater the chance I had of getting my clothes back.

Silly me.

“Hola,” I said as cheerily as possible when I arrived.

“The clothes are not ready,” she said, “I have not folded them.”

I don’t know why I didn’t just ask her to hand them over. “When will they be ready?” I tried hard to keep a smile on my face.

“Thirty minutes.”

I waited until that evening, three hours after I’d been told they’d be ready in 30 minutes. When I arrived, she was in the back, eating. As soon as she saw me, she pointed to her food and then to her mouth.

“I am eating,” she said.

“I need my clothes.”

“They are not ready,” she replied. “They are not folded.”

“But I need them. Please just put them in a bag.”

She did this, although not without showing displeasure at having her meal interrupted. She charged me 61 pesos (about US $3). I handed her 70 pesos, a 50-peso bill and a 20.

“I do not have change,” she said.

Given that response, I actually expected her to keep the 50-peso note and hand me back the 20 pesos, but she started walking away; it was clear she was going to keep all the money.

Although we’re talking about me paying about 50 cents extra, I was annoyed enough by now. I wasn’t going to give her one peso more. “Excuse me,” I said with just a hint of annoyance creeping into my voice. “It’s 61 pesos, not 70.”

She slowly walked back, reluctantly handed over the 20-peso note and returned to her meal.

A week later, the lavandería that’s a couple of blocks from my apartment was open again. I dropped my clothes off and was told they’d be ready the next day. I told Angélica that I really needed them because I was leaving town for a couple of days. She assured me they’d be ready that afternoon.

Of course, when I went to pick them up, she was closed.

Frustrated, I decided not to go back to either place. Happily, I’d found another lavandería just a couple of blocks away. Amazingly, they were open when they said they would be, and my clothes were ready when they said they would be too. My laundry problems had finally been solved.

Then, I woke up one morning with a couple of what I assumed were mosquito bites on the back of my neck.

That night, I slathered on bug repellent but found more bites the next day. In bed that night, I felt something nibbling on my neck. I grabbed it, turned on the light and found a well-fed chinche. A bed bug.

I leapt out of bed and squashed several of them on my pillow. They had to have come from the new lavandería.

I threw out the mattress, pillows and bed frame and spent the next month boiling — yes, boiling — every sheet, bedspread and article of clothing I had. After boiling, I sealed everything made of cloth into bags and placed them in sealed containers. I sprayed the apartment several times a day for three months.

Everything I read tells me it’s damn near impossible to get rid of chinches, but after three months, I appear to be victorious.

And I’ve decided it’s time to buy a washing machine.

Joseph Sorrentino, a writer, photographer and author of the book San Gregorio Atlapulco: Cosmvisiones and of Stinky Island Tales: Some Stories from an Italian-American Childhood, is a regular contributor to Mexico News Daily. More examples of his photographs and links to other articles may be found at www.sorrentinophotography.com He currently lives in Chipilo, Puebla.

Holiday spending expected to boost small business recovery

By

MND Staff

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December 13, 2022

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Depositphotos_149374198_XL_850 — Vendors of traditional piñatas. (Depositphotos)

Small businesses in Mexico City are anticipating a more lucrative holiday season, with projected revenue of over US $855 million, Arturo Vega Martínez, president of the Chamber of Commerce for Services and Tourism (Canacope), told the newspaper El Economista.

In 2019, microbusiness and small businesses made US $650 million during the month of December, and while the sector suffered setbacks in 2020 and 2021, he said, this year is showing signs of recovery.

There’s a lot to recover from: between May 2019 and July 2021, the country saw an overall 8.17% net loss in the number of all types of businesses in the country, according to INEGI’s business demographics report (DN), which records the number of new businesses in Mexico that opened in a certain period and the number that permanently closed.

Small and medium-sized businesses took the biggest hit during this period, with a net 14.5% fewer of these types of businesses still standing across the country in 2021. Microbusinesses nationwide fared better, but still had a net loss of 7.94%.

Mexico City’s small and medium-sized businesses landscape did even worse during the same period, with an overall 17.21% net loss. Microbusinesses again did better, but still suffered a net loss of 6.04%.

The pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, which Mexico City officials announced Monday brought 11 million pilgrims to the Catholic shrine, many from outside the city, will kick-start the season. The event was expected to generate US $31 million, mostly in revenue for small local vendors in the area surrounding the church. Pilgrims spend between 1,400 and 16,000 pesos on expenses and purchases while in the city, El Economista reported.

Canacope also anticipates around 1.3 million piñatas will be sold in Mexico City alone during December, with the price of a piñata ranging from 60 to 600 pesos (US $3 to $30).

Piñata makers suffered in 2020 and 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the birthday parties and other social celebrations that were their bread and butter — particularly posadas, a Christmas social tradition where families and friends gather to recreate Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, and where the piñata is considered a staple element.

But with COVID restrictions falling away, Canacope predicts that piñata sales will make a comeback this holiday season. Tangerines, oranges, peanuts, jícama and tejocote (Mexican hawthorn), as well as lime and sugar cane are all traditional piñata fillings, which could also mean improved sales for agricultural producers of these items. The harvest of these crops generated a production value of US $855.9 million by the end of 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) reported.

While celebrations make a comeback, inflation will strain many households’ finances: the National Small Business Association (ANPEC) estimates families will spend up to 30% more this season than they did in 2021. And El Economista reported that the traditional elements of a Mexican Christmas dinner — turkey, pork leg or pork loin — have all experienced price increases of as much as 20% in recent months.

With reports from El Economista

Monterrey and Mexico City lead the country in industrial real estate demand

By

MND Staff

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December 12, 2022

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The silhouette of construction workers and a crane against a yellow sky. — The demand is driving the construction of new industrial space across the country. (Shivendu Shukla / Unsplash)

Demand for industrial real estate is on the rise across the country, with the highest demand seen in Monterrey and Mexico City, according to data from the real estate agency Solili.

From January to November, gross industrial demand across Mexico was 6.6 million square meters, a figure 13% higher than that registered in the same period in 2021, real estate agency Solili reported. At the forefront are Monterrey and Mexico City, with the former registering demand for more than 1.6 million square meters and Mexico City reporting demand for 1.4 million square meters. That means Monterrey accounts for a quarter of the national demand while Mexico City represents 22% of the total.

According to Solili’s report, just in November Mexico City registered the construction of 150,000 square meters of new industrial space, while 132,000 square meters of space were built in Monterrey.

The Bajío area, which includes the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes, has also reported an increase in industrial demand. From January to November, the region reported a gross demand of more than 1.3 million square meters, a figure 50% higher than that registered in the same period of 2021.

Triggers of the growth include factors associated with business expansions and specific large projects related to industrial-scale data centers, furniture manufacturing and the automotive sector.

Other northern markets such as Saltillo, Ciudad Juárez, Reynosa and Tijuana account for another quarter of the demand registered from January to November.

These numbers across the country reflect a 13% increase in demand for industrial space over the same period of 2021.

“2022 has been a crucial year for the Mexican industrial market, which has managed to strengthen itself amid the increase in world inflation and the restructure of supply chains,” Solili said.

Finally, in the firm’s latest report on foreign direct investment published in November, Mexico attracted US $3.1 billion of funds, a figure that already exceeds the amount registered in all of 2021.

With reports from El Economista and Solili