Many Mexicans have recovered economic ground lost during the pandemic. (Dennis Schrader/Unsplash)
The average Mexican household earned 63,695 pesos (US $3,800) each quarter in 2022, an 11% increase from 2020 that resulted in Mexicans recovering economic ground lost during the pandemic. In addition, the gap between the richest and poorest of Mexico decreased.
However, when reaching further back before the pandemic’s start in March 2020, average household income rose 4.6% compared to 2018 and 0.2% from 2016 in real terms, according to the 2022National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, prepared every two years by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
When comparing 2018 and 2022, household incomes have seen an on average 4.6% increase and more evening out of wage inequality, although the ratio between the top tenth and bottom tenth of earnings is still 15:1.
The recovery from 2021–2022’s losses was largely accounted for by income increases among the poor that resulted in a more even national income distribution than in previous years. The richest tenth of households earned 15 times more than the poorest tenth, compared to an 18:1 ratio in 2018 and a 21:1 ratio in 2016.
Large racial and gender inequalities remain. People who identify as Indigenous earned 24.5% less than the national average in 2022, while speakers of Indigenous languages earned 43.9% less. Women earned 35% less than men.
Paid labor accounted for 65.7% of Mexican household income in 2022, while transfers — such as remittances, government programs and pensions — accounted for 17.2%. Remittances increased 39.2% from 2020 while welfare payments increased 33.6%.
Average quarterly expenditure per household was 39,965 pesos (US $2,385) — 17.2% more than in 2020 but only 2.1% more than in 2018. Of this, 37.7% went to food, beverages and tobacco, 19.3% went to transport and communications, and 9.8% went to education and leisure.
Despite efforts by the government to curb inflation on basic foodstuffs, one of Mexican household’s sharpest expenditure increases have been on food. (A00232386/Wikimedia Commons)
The sharpest increases in expenditure were on food and health, while spending on education dropped 17.3% from 2018. Combined, these three areas represented 70% of household expenditures.
The results drew mixed evaluations of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s economic policies. He took office in 2018.
Alejandro Sierra Peón, president of the National Federation of Economists, told El Economista that the INEGI’s results showed that public policies have helped Mexican families recover from the effects of the pandemic. But he agreed that more must be done.
“Compared only to 2020, there is an increase of 11%, but 2020 was in the midst of the pandemic. What should be more remarkable is that people’s income is at the same level as it was in 2016,” Valerio Moy, general director of the think-tank the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) told the newspaper El Economista. “These have been lost years for the Mexican economy.”
While the numbers drew mixed reviews from some economic analysts, President Lopez Obrador said he was pleased, especially with the reduced gap between Mexico’s lowest and highest wages. (Presidencia)
President López Obrador, however, hailed decreasing income inequality as a sign that his welfare policies are working. AMLO’s government has raised the minimum wage every year since taking office and increased social programs for the poor.
In his Thursday morningpress conference, AMLO stressed that Mexico’s poorest earn 20.4% more today in real terms than they did in 2016, while increases in average income have also been seen among marginalized groups such as older workers and Indigenous people.
“These are the results that make me very happy,” he said.
Cruz has also reinterpreted classic iconography, such as the Mona Lisa, in his distinctive style (Jorge Domínguez Cruz)
When we think of surrealist art, we think of names like Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Max Ernst. Mexico welcomed Surrealist artists like Leonora Carrington, Alice Rahon, Wolfgang Paalen who were escaping war in Europe.
Surrealism waned in Mexico, but it never disappeared because something about it appeals to the country’s psyche. Although not “avant garde,” there are still artists here taking its precepts reworking them for their own purposes.
Dominguez hard at work in his studio. (Jorge Domínguez Cruz)
One such maestro is Huastec (Tenek) artist Jorge Domínguez Cruz, who combines his people’s cosmovisión, his agricultural upbringing and his own philosophical reflection to create what he calls “Indigenous surrealism.”
“I make what my heart tells me,” Domínguez says.
Through his art, Domínguez has made himself an ambassador for his people and by extension, the Huasteca in general, an ethnic/geographical region that stretches over the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí and Querétaro.
Such a destiny would have seemed impossible when he was a child.
Art by Domínguez Cruz: “San Jorge y su retorno” (Saint George’s Return). (Jorge Domínguez Cruz)
Born as the second to last of eight children to peasant farmers, Domínguez comes from a long line of people who farm the land around Mata de Otate. Approximately 70% of the town’s 450 people live in poverty. 80% are Indigenous, but it is the other 20% that control the politics and economy.
Most of his childhood was spent doing chores related to growing corn, beans and chili peppers, but “…painting came from deep within when I was a small child,” he says. “It was a force that I could not control, and it obliged me to draw and paint with what I could.”
Poverty alone might have been enough to hold him back, but another aspect was equally limiting.
According to Domínguez, children simply did not spend time drawing and painting in Mata de Otate. With no support at home, he hid his passion, teaching himself everything, including making his own paints from flowers and brushes with animal hair. Referring to himself as a “stubborn” child, Domínguez was determined to make art however he could, no matter what anyone else thought.
Untitled work — if you look closely along the bottom of the work, you can see letters spelling out “México.” (Leigh Thelmadatter)
But school encouraged him, providing him with textbooks with images of western and Mexican art. Some teachers even gave him paints. By middle school, he began to enter his work in state and national competitions. Soon afterward, he dropped to join older siblings in Mexico City.
“[Here], I discovered everything I wanted: museums, galleries, libraries. It opened a new world for me, and I discovered artists such as Salvador Dalí and … I identified very much with his way of making art.”
That way of making art includes bright colors on landscapes and scenes with multiple dreamlike elements, often with recognizable elements of northern Veracruz and Huastec culture. Figures interact not as they would in the real world but in ways that reflect Domínguez’s inner world.
Although it’s not been easy, Domínguez has been fortunate to have people discover his work and support what he does. An employer helped him get works in antique shops. This did not bring in much, but a customer encouraged him to enter a work in a competition and get himself online.
This brought more invitations to exhibit, most importantly one in 2016 by a cultural promoter in Los Angeles, where Domínguez’s work was sponsored by the Mexican consulate.
Dominguez Cruz’s art has taken him places. Here he’s seen painting in Dallas in August 2022. (Jorge Domínguez Cruz/Instagram)
“After this, so many people began to invite me to exhibit in other countries, and … my works have reached places I would have never imagined,” says Domínguez.
Those places include Canada, the U.S., Europe and Cuba. Currently, Domínguez is negotiating for a commission to paint a mural at the Texas State Fairgrounds and an exhibition at the fair.
However, national newspaper La Jornada accuses Mexico of ignoring the artist while he “triumphs” abroad, as he has been all but ignored in his own country. Domínguez wonders if it is because he is Indigenous, but I’d venture to say that the art market in Mexico City is not particularly friendly to older art styles.
But things might just be changing. One example: he received support from noted television personality Jacaranda Domínguez on her show “Debate 22,” normally reserved for political topics.
Presentation at the Centro Cultural Filogonio Naxín in Coyoacan, Mexico City, with the artists, the owners of the cultural space and a Huapango group from Domínguez’s hometown. (Leigh Thelmadatter)
Also, the Pedro and Ana Hernández Foundation (which manages the surreal Edward James Gardens) has also taken a keen interest in the artist’s career. Spokesperson Joe Ricaud says the art is one way to raise awareness of ecological and cultural issues in northern Veracruz, a region they have strong interest in.
Although he uses imagery from his native land, Domínguez believes that his art transcends that.
“In my works, there are landscapes, scenes from everyday life in the communities, but there are universal themes [too]. My intention is to communicate, share sentiment, thought, passion and creativity.”
It certainly provides an accessible window to the Huastec world for those of us on the outside.
Jorge has now returned to Mexico, to reconnect with his roots. He is hoping to build a mirador at this spot, overlooking the village. (Jorge Domínguez Cruz/Facebook)
After 18 years of living in Mexico, in 2016, Domínguez decided to move back to Mata de Otate, not only to paint but to try and make life better there. He has become both a cultural promoter and political activist, trying to change a power structure that has been in place for many generations.
It is not easy, not only because the 20% do not want to give up their privileges but also because the Indigenous residents are fractured and infighting is not uncommon, he says.
This does not deter Domínguez.
“I have a responsibility to my community to help it develop keeping the essence of who we are,” he says.
He has made one positive impact: his success has made his town and his family see art in a new light, and children are freer to draw and paint outside of school.
Domínguez remains optimistic, not only that “Indigenous surrealism” will make waves in Mexico but also that “[with] art you can make a change, you can transform, you can make prosperity.”
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.
The almost finished Copper Canyon Airport in Creel, Chihuahua. Government of Chihuahua.
The Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon) tourist destination, in the northern state of Chihuahua, will soon be easier to get to, thanks to a new airport scheduled to go online, one that’s been about 13 years in the making.
With an investment of 826 million pesos (US $49 million), the Barrancas del Cobre International Airport, located in the municipality of Creel, is set to start operations in October and will connect the region with cities in Mexico and potentially also the United States.
The canyon is famous for its scenic tourist train. (Chepe Express)
Initial destinations will include Los Cabos, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Monterrey and Mexico City, while destinations to the U.S. could include Tucson, El Paso, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston.
Mexico News Daily could not find evidence of any airlines offering flights to the airport from October onward, although in 2020, Alejandra de la Vega, then head of Chihuahua’s state Ministry of Innovation and Economic Development, publicized that the Mexican airlines TAR would be offering a flight between Puerto Vallarta and the airport. No evidence of that currently exists on TAR’s website.
During a recent trip to the state of Chihuahua, federal Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco said that this project will bring important benefits to the northern state; it is part of the federal government’s strategy to use tourism as a “tool for social reconciliation,” he said.
Located in the Sierra Tarahumara mountain range, at an average altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level, the Copper Canyon range is a group of six distinct canyons, four times as long and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the U.S.
The destination is popular for its wide array of adventure activities to be had in the wild. It is home to the world’s third longest cable car, stretching over 3 kilometers in some parts of the canyon, and has dozens of hanging bridges to take in the spectacular views. Climbing, whitewater rafting and trekking are also among the attractions.
The canyon is perhaps most famous for its scenic tourism train, the El Chepe Express, which stretches 350 km and has three overnight stops that allow passengers to disembark and experience local culture, including that of the Indigenous Rarámuri.
The products were seized from various CDMX Paradise shops on Monday. (Shutterstock)
The federal government’s health regulator has seized over 1,800 cannabis products from a chain of stores in which former president Vicente Fox has a financial interest.
The Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris) said Monday that it had confiscated 1,811 products containing CBD (cannabidiol), hemp seeds and “extracts of cannabis and other substances” from four Paradise stores in Mexico City.
“Open your franchise,” trumpet billboards showing former president Vicente Fox, a spokesman for Paradise stores selling marijuana-derived products. (Archive)
The regulator said that the seized products lacked “evidence of safety, quality or place of manufacture.”
The products were removed from stores in the Nápoles, Polanco, Santa Catarina and Historic Center neighborhoods of Mexico City. The Nápoles outlet was shut down because it hadn’t obtained approval to operate from local authorities.
Cofepris officials visited two other Paradise stores in the capital, but one was closed and no products were seized from the other.
The regulator said that the purpose of its inspections was to avoid the sale of “prohibited products” with misleading labeling and products that don’t comply with health regulations.
Protesters, seen here outside the Senate in April 2022, called on lawmakers to vote on the legalization of marijuana as the lower house of Congress did in March 2021. (Archive)
The overriding objective is to avoid such products placing the health of purchasers and other people at risk, Cofepris said.
It also said that it took 165 “samples of labels of different products” because they had a range of “irregularities in the information” they contained.
In addition, Cofepris said that it was carrying out “monitoring and legal actions” of companies that received authorization to sell products derived from cannabis “in the final days of the previous federal administration.”
President López Obrador said earlier this year that five days before the end of the 2012–18 government of former president Enrique Peña Nieto, Cofepris granted 63 permits to “commercialize products derived from cannabis,” with some being awarded to companies linked to the family of ex-president Vicente Fox, who is reportedly a part owner of the Paradise chain.
Cofepris official Bertha María Alcalde said that actions had been taken against officials who issued “irregular authorizations” with “surprising speed” in the final days of Peña Nieto’s government. Fox denied being granted any such permits.
Paradise, which also sells products such as bongs, pipes, marijuana grinders and papers, has stores in 25 of Mexico’s 32 federal entities, according to Cofepris.
The chain appears to be well-placed to sell marijuana buds once the recreational use of the drug is legalized.
The Mexican government is seeking to reopen a dismissed lawsuit over what it believes are gunmakers' negligent sales practices, which the suit says allow criminal groups to smuggle firearms to Mexico, where gun purchases are almost entirely illegal. (César Gómez/Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican government on Monday presented its case in favor of the reopening of a US $10 billion lawsuit against United States-based gun manufacturers and expressed confidence that its arguments will be “well received.”
An army official carries high-caliber weapons collected at an event for the surrender of firearms in Oaxaca in 2022. Such weapons are nearly impossible to obtain legally but are often smuggled into Mexico from the United States, where they are sold in many regions close to the border. (Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s case — championed by former foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard until he left that position last month — was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in September 2022, prompting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) to file an appeal in March.
The SRE noted in a statement on Monday that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston had “heard Mexico’s oral arguments in its lawsuit against gun manufacturers.”
“… The Mexican Government seeks to reverse the September 30, 2022, ruling in which the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed the lawsuit,” the ministry said.
The SRE noted that the federal judge who dismissed the lawsuit, F. Dennis Saylor, ruled that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) “grants immunity to the defendant companies, even if the damage caused occurs in Mexican territory.”
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was signed in 2005 by U.S. president George W. Bush. (Paul Morse/The White House)
It said that its appellate brief argued that the federal district court “erred in defining the focus of the PLCAA so broadly and in such absolute terms and thus granting immunity to the gun companies.”
The SRE said that in the appeals court on Monday, lawyers for the Mexican government made two points.
There is no provision in the PLCAA explicitly stating that it can be applied to damages caused outside the U.S. territory, therefore, it does not grant immunity to the companies for damages caused in Mexico.
Alternatively, even if the PLCAA is again held to be applicable, the actions and omissions committed by the gun companies fall under the exceptions to PLCAA immunity, so the Mexican case should be allowed to continue.
Both the U.S. and Mexican governments have agreed on the premise that violence in Mexico is often fueled by guns smuggled from the United States. At issue is whether or not the Mexican government is entitled under U.S. law to damages from U.S. firearms manufacturers. (Omar Martínez/Cuartoscuro)
“The appeals panel that heard Mexico’s arguments was made up of one female and two male judges considered to be liberal and progressive in their outlook,” the SRE said.
“The Mexican Government is confident that its arguments will be well-received by the court. Should Mexico win the appeal, the case will return to the lower court to be judged on its merits.”
Steve Shadowen, a lawyer for the Mexican government, said that a favorable ruling by the appeals court would allow Mexico to not only seek damages from gun manufacturers but also a court order that could help combat the thousands of murders perpetrated every year with weapons illegally smuggled into Mexico from the United States.
“What we want is an injunction to make these defendants start paying attention to their distribution systems,” Shadowen said. “And it’s only U.S. courts that can provide that injunctive relief.”
The Mexican government claims that some 500,000 guns are smuggled into Mexico from the United States every year. (Rebekah Zemansky via Shutterstock)
The Mexican government claims that some 500,000 guns are smuggled into Mexico from the United States every year and that over 68% of that number are manufactured by the companies it sued, which also includes Beretta USA, Colt’s Manufacturing Co. and Glock Inc.
Noel Francisco, a lawyer for Smith & Wesson, argued that Mexico’s lawsuit lacked allegations that gun sales by the accused gun manufacturers did anything that created an exception to the broad protections provided by the PLCAA.
“You have licensed manufacturers that sell to licensed distributors that sell to licensed retailers that sell to individuals who satisfy the requirements of federal law, but some of them happen to be straw purchasers,” he said.
A ruling from the Boston-based appeals court is expected in the coming months, the news agency Reuters reported. However, Alejandro Celorio Alcántara, the SRE’s legal advisor, said that a decision might not come for six to eight months. He added that the government was “optimistic” that it will receive a favorable ruling.
These weapons were seized by authorities in Nogales, Arizona, as criminals attempted to smuggle them into Mexico. (@CBPPortDirNOG/Twitter)
“The simple fact that … [people] in Mexico, in the United States and around the world are paying more attention to … [Mexico’s] legal arguments is already a victory in itself,” Celorio said.
In its 2022 lawsuit, Mexico alleged that U.S. gun companies were aware that their business practices caused illegal arms trafficking in Mexico.
The government argued that other arms manufacturers also design weapons to appeal to criminal organizations in Mexico, among which are drug cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Separately, the government filed a lawsuit against five gun stores in Arizona last October. In that case, which is ongoing, Mexico alleged that the five stores “routinely and systematically participate in the illegal trafficking of arms, including military-style ones, for criminal organizations in Mexico, through sales to straw purchasers and sales directed to arms dealers.”
Mexico's largest low-cost carrier, Volaris, is considering adding flights to the new Tulum airport. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
Head of Volaris Enrique Beltranena warned that although the new Tulum airport seems like a “good alternative” in the region, it is still too soon to make any decisions.
“I met the people of Tulum last week,” he said to reporters in a press conference when presenting Volaris’ financial results. “I think it is too early to say what we will do there, but from a market perspective, it seems to be a good alternative. We haven’t made any decisions yet.”
Buoyed by a strong financial performance, Volaris is considering adding new flights to its roster — though CEO Enrique Beltranena has questioned the need to fly directly to Tulum. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
Beltranena didn’t specify what the Tulum airport could be an alternative to, though he likely meant a good alternative to the Cancún International Airport, which consistently sees heavy traffic. The federal government has said that building the Tulum Airport is essential because the Cancún airport is “oversaturated.
The new Tulum International Airport is one of President López Obrador’s flagship projects, and together with the Maya Train, it’s slated to start operations before López Obrador leaves office in December 2024. In March, Volaris’ rival low-cost carrier VivaAerobus confirmed that it would be the first airline to operate flights from the new airport.
Brigadier Gustavo Ricardo Vallejo Suárez, head of the airport’s construction, told the newspaper El País that “it will have the capacity to serve around 5.5 million passengers per year and up to 32,000 operations annually.” According to the Defense Ministry (Sedena), 75% of arrivals will be of international origin.
Volaris’ second quarter results demonstrated a significant turnaround in its fortunes from the beginning of this year — when it started 2023 with a loss of US $49 million. According to the airline’s report, Volaris registered a profit of US $51 million in Quarter 2 despite operating expenses of US $731 million, which were 3% more than in Q2 of 2022.
A rendering of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto airport in Tulum. The airport is anticipated to begin operation before President Andres Manuel López Obrador leaves office in 2024. (Gob MX)
Earnings before financial income, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rents stood at US $212 million, 98% more than in the same period last year.
“The company’s Q2 results are in line with our expectations for the whole year, driven by lower fuel costs and a stronger Mexican peso,” Beltranena said in the quarterly report. “We will continue to focus on achieving a total operating income between US $3.2 and US $3.4 billion…” he said.
During Q2, Volaris also added 10 aircraft to its fleet of Airbus A320neos and A321neos. In the passenger category, the company registered 12.2% more reservations and served more than 8.3 million users. The number of passengers on international flights in particular grew by 34%.
Data published on Tuesday reported 32,223 homicides in Mexico last year, a decline of 3,477, or 9.7%, compared to 2021. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro)
Homicides declined almost 10% in 2022 compared to the previous year but still numbered well above 30,000, according to preliminary data from Mexico’s national statistics agency INEGI.
Data published on Tuesday showed that there were 32,223 homicides last year, a decline of 3,477 or 9.7% compared to 2021. There were 25 homicides per 100,000 people, INEGI said, down from 28 in 2021. Men were murdered at a significantly higher rate than women, with 44.4 homicides per 100,000 males and 5.8 per 100,000 females.
President López Obrador praised his security cabinet, which he credited for the improvement in homicide numbers. (Presidencia)
Last year was the least violent year since 2017 based on both the total number of homicides and the per capita murder rate. Annual homicides first exceeded 30,000 in 2017 and have remained above that level ever since.
INEGI’s data showed that Mexico’s least violent year since 2011 was 2014 with 20,010 homicides. Compared to that figure, homicides in 2022 were up 61%.
Although violence remains a major problem in Mexico, President López Obrador said Tuesday that the data showing a near 10% decline in homicides last year was “very encouraging.”
“… We estimate that since we arrived in government, homicides have declined 17%,” he said, adding that a decrease of around 20% over 2018 numbers will be achieved in 2024 if the downward trend continues.
The five states with the highest number of homicides in 2022. However, this ranking changes greatly when numbers per 100,000 residents is considered. (Source: INEGI)
“This is a great achievement, it’s the fruit of the work that the security cabinet has carried out every day. The strategy of attending to the causes of violence is starting to yield results, because from the first day of government we started improving the living and working conditions of the people of Mexico,” López Obrador told reporters at his morning news conference.
INEGI’s data showed that two-thirds of all homicides last year were committed with firearms, while almost 10% were perpetrated with knives or other bladed weapons and just over 7% were the result of hanging, strangulation or suffocation. The type of aggression was unspecified in over 13% of homicides.
Based on total homicide numbers, Guanajuato was the most violent state in Mexico last year with 4,256 murders. While still very high, that number represents a decline of 1.8% compared to 2021 and 20.7% compared to 2020.
Homicides in Guanajuato – the majority of which occur in a relatively small number of municipalities – increased significantly in the second half of last decade, after remaining below 1,000 per year between 2011 and 2015, according to INEGI data. Confrontations between organized crime groups, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, are the main cause of violence in the Bajío region state.
The top five states with the greatest number of homicides per 100,000 people in 2022. (Source: INEGI)
México state, the most populous of Mexico’s 32 federal entities, ranked as the second most violent state, with 3,226 homicides in 2022, followed by Baja California, with 2,681; Michoacán, with 2,292; and Chihuahua, with 2,016.
On a per capita basis, the small Pacific coast state of Colima was the most violent entity last year with 113 homicides per 100,000 residents. Mexico’s largest seaport, that in Manzanillo, is located in Colima, and criminal control of the port – a major entry point for fentanyl precursor chemicals from China – is highly coveted by crime groups.
Zacatecas, home to crime hotspots such as Fresnillo and Jerez, was the second most violent entity on a per capita basis with 87 homicides per 100,000 people, followed by Baja California, with 70; Guanajuato, with 68; and Sonora, with 58.
Yucatán was the least violent entity last year considering both its total homicide count and per capita murder rate. The state recorded just 54 homicides in 2022, according to INEGI, for a rate of two homicides per 100,000 residents. Data showed that Yucatán has been Mexico’s least violent state every year since 2011.
The second and third least violent states based on total homicides last year were Aguascalientes with 87 and Baja California Sur with 89.
Coahuila ranked as the second least violent based on its rate of five homicides per 100,000 people, followed by Aguascalientes, where there were six murders per 100,000 residents last year.
While conceived as a bit of a finger-wagging exercise to suggest music with more "values" to Mexico's youth, the writer finds that AMLO's choices are pretty entertaining. (Shutterstock)
The playlist started in late June, after President López Obrador casually commented on the pointlessness of having a Mercedes SUV.
“What’s the use — like some song says — that I have my Mercedes Benz, a Mercedes Benz truck? As if material objects were the most important thing,” AMLO said before recommending that young people listen instead to music like the song “Ya Supérame” (“Get Over Me Already”) by Grupo Firme.
The song that inspired AMLO’s playlist: “AMG,” by Natanael Cano, Gabito Ballesteros and Peso Pluma, is an ode to the singer’s favorite ride — the Mercedes-Benz AMG G-class SUV — and the criminal work he did to afford it. (Warner Music Latina-Los CT Records)
Observers quickly realized that the song mentioned by the president was the international hit “AMG” by Gabito Ballesteros, Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano. The song is an ode to the singer’s dream car, a Mercedes-AMG G-class SUV, and the work it took to get it, namely “moving ice” (meth) and being good with numbers.
“AMG” is what’s known as a corrido tumbado, a genre that combines traditional Mexican storytelling corridos with elements of trap, reggaeton and more. Many are narcocorridos — ballads that tell stories of drug traffickers and their lifestyles.
In “AMG,” the celebration of conspicuous consumption, along with its drug references, earned the president’s ire and inspired him to share his own playlist of youth-friendly songs as a more positive alternative to corridos tumbados.
His decidedly wholesome playlist showcases a variety of Latin American music, mostly contemporary Mexican artists. For a deeper understanding of the songs, search online for transcripts of the Spanish lyrics — called letras — or for translations.
Grupo Firme - Ya Superame - (Video Oficial)
“Ya Supérame” — Grupo Firme
Musical genres: norteña, banda sinaloense
AMLO kicked off his playlist with a corrido he has previously dedicated to his enemies. “Ya Supérame” (“Get Over Me Already”) starts with a booming tuba and the question “What part do you not understand when I tell you no? The ‘N’ or the ‘O’?”
The singer tells his toxic ex to take a hint while celebrating his own emotional liberation.
“No Se Va” — Grupo Frontera
Musical genre: norteña (cover of Columbian pop song)
If you live in Mexico, chances are you’ve heard “No Se Va” (“Don’t Leave”). Grupo Frontera started recording covers like this one, of a track by Colombian folk-pop band Morat, in 2019.
Released last April, it wasn’t until late 2022 that this song really took off, driven mostly by viewers on YouTube and TikTok.
“Te Mereces Un Amor” (“You Deserve a Love”) is an earnest tribute to healthy love, woven from a mix of poetic metaphor and plainspoken affirmations. Singer and composer Vivir Quintana is also the composer of the feminist anthem “Canción Sin Miedo.”
She describes her sound as ranchero azul, a combination of ranchera music and the blues.
“Frágil” — Yahritza y Su Esencia and Grupo Frontera
Yahritza y Su Esencia is a Washington state-based group of three siblings. Last year, Yahritza became the youngest Latin artist ever to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Despite being separated this year while oldest brother Mando regularized his immigration status, the trio released “Frágil” in collaboration with Grupo Frontera in April, and it quickly went viral on TikTok.
“Latinoamérica” — Calle 13, featuring Lila Downs
Genres: Hip hop, various
Puerto Rican alternative rap group Calle 13 once called this song “the most important track of our career.” The song is almost a hymn, celebrating the beauty, pain, history and culture that ties Latin America together.
Residente / Calle 13 & Lila Downs - Latinoamérica (En Vivo) [2016] HD
The version recommended by the president also features an appearance by celebrated Mexican singer-songwriter Lila Downs.
“América” — Los Tigres Del Norte
Genre:norteña
Another celebration of Latin American identity, “América” reclaims the word “American” as a way to refer to anyone born in the Americas. This popular version from “MTV Unplugged” also includes an extended break, with Calle 13 rapping part of “Latinoamérica.”
Los Tigres Del Norte - América (En Directo Desde Los Angeles MTV Unplugged) ft. Calle 13
“Tenías Que Ser Tú” — Silvana Estrada ft. Daniel, Me Estás Matando
Genres: pop, jazz, son jarocho
In this whimsical love song, Veracruz singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada slips between major and minor keys, accompanied by the Mexico City duo Daniel, Me Estás Matando.
Raymix, the “king of electrocumbia,” hails from México state. Before “Oye Mujer” blew up in Mexico City’s cumbia sonidero scene in 2015, Raymix studied aerospace engineering and interned for NASA, where he worked on satellite design.
“unx100to” — Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny
Genres:norteña, reggaeton
“un x100to” (“One Percent”) doesn’t really count as reggaeton. What it does have is a reggaeton-like beat with norteña instrumentation and Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, an artist credited with bringing reggaeton into the global mainstream. The song tells the tale of a breakup that the singer initiated but now regrets.
La Santa Cecilia - Monedita
“Monedita” — La Santa Cecilia
Genres: pop, cumbia and various regional Mexican styles
“Your life looks grim without the coin’s shine,” La Santa Cecilia sings in this anti-materialist manifesto. The song is obviously included on the playlist as a rebuke to the consumerism on display in many corridos tumbados, but don’t worry: the preachy premise goes over much better coming from the talented La Santa Cecilia than it does from AMLO or any other politician.
“El Poder De Tus Manos” — Intocable
Genres: pop, norteña, tejana
Intocable - El Poder De Tus Manos
In this romantic 2002 ballad, Texas’ Intocable pays tribute to the hands (of a lover, presumably) that catch the singer when he falls and heal him when he’s hurt.
AMLO’s last recommendation comes from iconic Panamanian singer Rubén Blades, the oldest artist on the list. Did AMLO get tired and toss out the name of one of his favorite songs to finish the playlist? Maybe, but it’s still worth listening to this song about the meaning of family.
Bonus songs:
“AMG” — Gabito Ballesteros, Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano
When was the last time you heard a trombone solo in a mainstream hit? “AMG,” the song that inspired AMLO’s playlist, has that and more, blending the horns of banda sinaloense with all kinds of other regional Mexican sounds into a hedonistic celebration of cars, girls, champagne and cash to spare.
Natanael Cano x Peso Pluma x Gabito Ballesteros - AMG | Video Oficial
There are corridos that don’t promote narco culture, but this isn’t one of them.
Though usually played down in Mexican historical narratives in light of the era's more dramatic events, the Pastry War was a sign of things to come in Mexico's difficult nineteenth century. (François d'Orléans, prince de Joinville, "Mexique 1838, Combat de Vera Cruz")
Though the name “Pastry War” may evoke images of bakers hurling eclairs and ganache at each other, it was actually something much more serious: the first French intervention in Mexico.
Called the Guerra de los Pasteles by Mexicans and the Guerre des Pâtisseries by the French, it was a minor episode in the long history of Mexico but one that had serious consequences.
The first fleet sent by Louis Philippe was defeated by yellow fever; it was a second, stronger fleet, led by Rear Admiral Charles Baudin, that actually attacked Veracruz in November 1838. (Théodore Gudin, Expedition of Vice-Admiral Baudin to Mexico [1839])
The Pastry War was short-lived, lasting approximately five months, from November 1838 to March 1839. But it began with an incident that occurred 10 years earlier. By 1828, Mexico had sunk into chaos following independence from Spain in 1821.
The capital had become lawless, with rioting and looting rampant. Elections were fraudulent, and the government was corrupt and in turmoil as presidents came and went abruptly, ousted by coup d’etats and executed or sent into exile.
The Mexican War of Independence was quite destructive, leaving up to half a million dead and greatly weakening the country’s productive capacity. The independence factions were also bitterly divided, making the 1820s and 1830s a time of major political upheaval and civil unrest. In Mexico’s first 20 years of independence alone, the position of head of state switched hands more than 20 times.
The treasury was in shambles, and Mexico had longstanding debts to a number of European countries, including France.
Capturing the Mexican officers Santa Anna and José Mariano Arista was one of the central goals of the French force that stormed Veracruz on the morning of December 5, 1838; they caught Arista, but Santa Anna escaped. (Petros Pharamond, “French troops assault a Mexican convent, attack on the house of Arista”)
In 1828, a man identified by history only as “Monsieur Remontel” demanded reparations from the Mexican government, claiming that drunk military officers had looted and destroyed his pastry shop in Tacubaya, at the time a quiet town on the outskirts of Mexico City.
Unable to secure compensation from the government, Remontel appealed to the French charge d’affaires, who took his case to King Louis-Philippe I in 1837, along with the grievances of other French citizens.
Although historical accounts focus mainly on the pastry shop episode, tensions were already running high between France and Mexico in the 1830s over a series of abuses committed against French citizens in Mexico, including French merchants having had their businesses destroyed in the Parián Riot of 1828, in which a mob of 5,000 attacked and looted a cluster of luxurious shops in Mexico City’s Parián market in the Zócalo main square.
The name “Pastry War,” coined by Mexican and European journalists at the time, conceals this context; historian Javier Torres Medina writes that it gives “a sense of ridiculousness and absurdity to a diplomatic conflict that was in fact very serious and complex.”
François d’Orléans, Prince of Joinville, observes the shelling of the fort of San Juan de Ulúa. (Horace Vernet, “Épisode de l’expédition du Mexique en 1838”)
The French king took the opportunity of addressing his subjects’ grievances to demand that Mexico finally repay its debt to France. Louis-Philippe issued an ultimatum to then-President Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera, demanding 600,000 pesos in reparations. Bustamante ignored the demand; Mexico could not afford to pay it anyway.
The French monarch insisted on payment and sent warships to blockade the port of Veracruz, Mexico’s main Gulf port, to force Mexico’s hand. Negotiations began, and at one point, Mexico offered to pay the 600,000 in installments, but refused France’s other demand: that France have access to retail markets in Mexico, something not allowed at the time.
After months of diplomatic efforts broke down, in November, France’s fleet began shelling the fort of San Juan de Ulúa, which guarded the entrance to Veracruz. Mexico declared war and sent troops, but the French captured the city.
This defeat created an opportunity for one of the major players of the time: Mexico’s former president Antonio López de Santa Anna. Held responsible by the Mexican public for the loss of Texas in the Texas Revolution (1835-1836), Santa Anna had been living out his retirement in disgrace. He rushed to Veracruz to lead defensive troops. The Mexicans lost the battle, but Santa Anna emerged as a national hero. The leg he lost in the fighting was buried with full military honors.
Mexico’s president during the Pastry War, Anastasio Bustamante, was leading a country highly in debt and with little in the treasury. (National Archives)
With its major port out of commission, Mexico was forced to smuggle goods out of Corpus Christi in the Republic of Texas, which hadn’t yet been incorporated into the United States. Distrustful of Mexico and wanting cordial relations with France, the United States sent the USS Woodbury — a 120-ton topsail schooner — to join the blockade.
When Mexico then sent soldiers to Corpus Christi Bay to secure their supplies, Texas raised a large militia and repelled them.
After several months of poorly funded battle, Mexico finally relented and, through British diplomatic channels, agreed to pay France’s 600,000 pesos in installments. In March of 1839, the French withdrew from Veracruz.
Soon afterward, Bustamante’s government collapsed, and Santa Anna — his prestige and prominence restored during the war — assumed the presidency in the interim before the next election could be held; it was his fifth time serving in that office.
Mexico’s former president Antonio López de Santa Anna, in a photo taken circa 1853.
Though relatively brief, the Pastry War was financially costly for Mexico. It added another 600,000 pesos to Mexico’s mounting debt with France, and the government had to fund the rebuilding of the Veracruz harbor. It had lost months of tariff revenue from its most important port, further weakening the country financially before the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). This lack of money forced the government during that war to accept a peace compromise in which it ceded half of its territory to the United States.
Mexico’s debts and diminished stature would also eventually make it a target for a second French intervention — which culminated in France installing Archduke Maximilian of Austria as the Emperor of Mexico in 1864 — giving France a foothold in the Americas and access to Latin American markets, until Mexico executed Maximilian in 1867 and drove the French out for good.
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive and professional researcher. She spent 45 years in national politics in the United States. She moved to Mazatlán in 2021 and works part-time doing freelance research and writing.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased its 2023 growth forecast for Mexico to 2.6%, a 0.8 percentage point improvement on the 1.8% growth it predicted in April.
This improved outlook reflects the positive economic results Mexico has seen over recent months. Theeconomy grew 1.1% in the first quarter of 2023, exceeding analysts’ expectations and building on six consecutive quarters of growth as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
President López Obrador poses in front of a graph showing consistent increases in the minimum wage, a factor that has positively impacted the labor market and individual purchasing power. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
Analysts attribute Mexico’s strong performance to arange of factors, including a strong labor market, government welfare spending and the growing nearshoring phenomenon. Although inflation remains above target, it has declined to itslowest level in two years, while average wages in real terms are increasing.
Mexico’s Finance Ministry has made a similar growth projection of 3.0% for this year, while Gabriel Castillas, chief economist for Latin America at Barclays, believes Mexico could even be on track to exceed that figure.
These positive forecasts keep coming despite an apparent economic slowdown in May. Although the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) predicted 0.4% growth for the month, the recently-released Global Indicator of Economic Activity showed 0% growth.
High interest rates, typically a factor of concern when looking at a country’s overall economic health, could darken the IMF’s long-term economic outlook. Even though the IMF boosted Mexico’s growth forecast for 2023, it slightly cut Mexico’s 2024 growth forecast, from 1.6% to 1.5%.
Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) must decide whether to begin lowering the interest rate of 11.25% as inflation continues to slow. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro.com)
At a regional level, the IMF increased its 2023 growth forecast for Latin America from 1.6% to 1.9%, largely due to the strong performance of large economies such as Mexico and Brazil. The 2024 prediction is slightly higher, at 2.2%.
The forecast is still significantly below 2022’s growth of 3.9%, which signaled the end of the COVID-19 recovery period. It would make Latin America the slowest-growing of the emerging market regions, but still a stronger performer than the Eurozone, which has projected growth of 0.9% for 2023, or the United States, which is projected to grow 1.8%.
Globally, the IMF predicts 3.0% growth for 2023, down from 3.5% in 2022. Its generalpolicy recommendations are that governments maintain measures to control inflation, while gradually phasing out pandemic-era fiscal supports.
Overall, it considers that the global economy has proved resilient in the face of the challenges of the last few years, but sees risks for the future: namely, in the fragmentation of the global economy into regional blocs and insufficient progress on the climate transition.
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