A forensic worker cordons off the scene of a double homicide in Morelos, in December 2021. (Margarito Pérez Retana)
Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) has approved the creation of the country’s first school of forensic science, stating that it will be a leader in advancing the field in Mexico and contribute to the delivery of justice with more robust scientific evidence.
In a statement, the UNAM explained that the National School of Forensic Sciences (ENaCiF) would strengthen the identity of its existing bachelor’s degree in forensic sciences, currently run by the Faculty of Medicine, and provide more pathways for students to enter the field.
The existing undergraduate program is currently on its seventh generation of students, of whom 92 have already graduated. They have gone on to work for a wide range of bodies in the fields of justice and human rights, including the National Commission for Missing People, the Executive Commission for Attention to Victims and the Attorney General’s Office, among others.
Alongside transferring this undergraduate program to the ENaCiF, the UNAM outlined a nine-year plan to strengthen the teaching of forensic science. This will start by doubling enrollment on the Bachelor of Forensic Sciences program and launching a job placement program to help graduates enter the field. It will also create a postgraduate program to certify forensic professionals, with a variety of remote and hybrid learning options to give greater flexibility.
Over the long term, the new school will allow students to specialize in one of three career paths. These are yet to be defined, but could include Human Identification, Public Security and Criminal Policy, and Forensic Audit. The ENaCiF will also promote collaboration with social, legal, scientific and political institutions around the country, fostering a multidisciplinary approach to forensic investigations.
In its statement, the UNAM emphasized that forensic science has become indispensable to the administration of justice and assured that the ENaCiF would help meet the growth in demand for forensic investigation professionals in Mexico.
A year ago, the federal government admitted that Mexico faced a “forensic crisis,” with an estimated 52,000 unidentified bodies in common graves and morgues and more than 95,000 missing people. The authorities’ lack of capacity to investigate the epidemic of deaths and disappearances related to organized crime has meant much of the burden falls on victims’ families, search groups and non-governmental organizations.
A report by Fundar, released last week, found that a lack of budget transparency and funding for forensic activities, particularly at state level, is a leading factor behind the forensic crisis in Mexico. However, it also highlighted a lack of trained of personnel — an issue that the UNAM’s new education program will seek to address.
OAX Original's limited edition mezcals are made from wild agave varieties grown in Oaxaca. They are made in batches of only 1,000. (Photo: Celeste Martearena for OAX Original)
OAX Original started out the way many great projects do, with a few friends bonding over a shared passion. In this case, it was mezcal and those friends were four artists and designers living in New York, each with their own personal connection to Mexican arts and architecture.
They wanted to create a mezcal brand that would not only showcase Oaxaca’s extensive diversity but also make tasting it a one-of-a-kind experience, from the moment your hand touches the bottle to the first sip landing on your tongue.
“Mezcal is incredible and has a lot to offer culturally in terms of the traditions and how it’s made,” says Laura Giraudo, founder of Bardo Industries and one of the project’s partners.
Her newfound passion for mezcal inspired her to become a sommelier.
Laura Giraudo says she has found her introduction to fine mezcal a “mind-opening experience.” (Photo: Laura Giraudo)
“It’s been mind-opening for me in many ways, for my palate particularly.”
The OAX Original brand started with three types of agave – arroqueño, tobalá and tepeztate — producing 1,000 bottles of each at the launch. They quickly sold out.
The brand is now on its third production round, each time working alongside mezcal master Enrique Hernández Zenea, whose family has lived four generations in Oaxaca.
All their mezcals are made with single-origin wild agave that Hernández is harvesting sustainably, employing local community members.
“Mezcal, especially wild agave, has an incredible complexity, comparable to incredible wine, with different qualities in the flavor that continue to be expressed at different moments during the drinking of it,” Giraudo said. “Mezcal has this depth that I think people in the United States are just beginning to understand.
“Here, the culture of tequila is strong and people are very accustomed to shots, but to say, ‘Hey wait. This is a product to sip and enjoy, almost like a good whiskey,’ — that is opening up an interesting path for mezcal.”
Artisanal mezcal uses production traditions that date back centuries. Agave hearts are first cooked for days then placed in these large wooden vats to ferment before the liquid is distilled. (Photo: courtesy of OAX Original)
There are, of course, repercussions to mezcal’s popularity, she explains. “Producers can finally charge more for their product; they can finally start to produce more; they can build better distilleries, some of whom right now are really interesting.”
But, she notes, as the world consumes more and more of the alcoholic beverage, if nothing is done, “one day [the agave] will be gone.”
“So, one of the things we wanted to do was to reforest and plant an endemic agave for every bottle sold,” she said.
This year, the team started planting tobalá agave on Hernández’s land. If any of the agaves they use for the production start to be endangered, they will immediately cease production with those varieties, Giraudo said.
But there’s more to love about this brand besides their ecological commitment: there are also OAX Original’s beautifully tactile bottles, an homage to Mexican architecture.
The former home and studio of Mexican architect Luis Barragán in Mexico City. (Photo: Government of Jalisco)
“The Spanish arrived in Mexico and tried to eradicate the culture and build on top of what was [there] and then realized that it wasn’t going to work because the culture was so strong,” she said. “So this new wave of architecture in the 20th century — [Luis] Barragán, [Frida] Escobedo, Mauricio Rojas — developed their own style, and it’s something that really inspired us because it’s very particular and unique.”
The surface of the pink, white and black bottles is rough, like earth or sand, with a triangle-shaped ribbed top third of the bottle and a rounded bottom two-thirds. Running your fingers along the top is reminiscent of the ribbed, stone washbasins found in older Mexican homes. The angles bring to mind the staircases and interior spaces of Casa Luis Barragán, the former home and studio of the architect in Mexico City.
The innovative design is turning heads and has received mentions in the publications Wallpaper*, Design Milkand Print Magazine.
“Mezcal has this depth that I think people in the United States are just beginning to understand,” says Giraudo. (Photo: Sam Ortiz for OAX Original)
“[It’s] the mix of something old, something new and something architectural at the same time,” Giraudo said. “There are tons of buildings in Mexico that are a little monochromatic, with different surfaces, where the light and the shadow are always at play, depending on the day, and that’s an idea we liked a lot because it’s also related somewhat to mezcal — a seasonal product where there is a period of intense sun, then one of intense rain, moments of the day when the sun burns the young agaves. And then at night, it’s suddenly cool. That duality, it comes from there.”
The tobalá I tried, at 48% ABV, is expertly crafted and floral, with a hint of fresh grass and mint. The sweetness of caramelized agave hearts used to make it shine through more than the smokiness that can sometimes dominate mezcal.
Not only is OAX Original’s mezcal artisanal, so are its bottles, which feel like stone and are designed in homage to 20th-century Mexican architecture. (Photo: Jill Burrow for OAX Original)
While not an inexpensive gift for yourself or someone else (the bottles cost from US $114– $194), purchasing one of these small runs means you have a libation that is exclusive to the batch and season and is irreplaceable in your collection.
OAX Original mezcal can be found most easilyon the company’s website, but if you’re in the U.S., it’s also now available in shops in California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Oregon and a selected number of bars in New York and New Jersey. Consult their website for a directory of businesses carrying it.
Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based out of Mexico City. She has been published widely both online and in print, writing about Mexico for over a decade. She lives a double life as a local tour guide and is the author of Mexico City Streets: La Roma. Follow her urban adventures on Instagram and see more of her work at www.mexicocitystreets.com.
Mexico City residents take advantage of a long weekend in April to visit the pool. (Mario Jasso / Cuartoscuro.com)
Lawmakers in the lower house of Congress have voted unanimously in favor of increasing paid vacation days for workers who have completed at least one year of service.
Put forward by legislators with the ruling Morena party and the Citizens Movement (MC) party, the bill will now be sent to the Senate, where it is likely to be approved next week. An earlier version of the same bill passed the upper house last month.
If the bill becomes law, workers will be entitled to take 12 consecutive days of paid leave after completing one year of service with the same employer, double the number they are currently entitled to.
The bill was modified in the lower house’s labor committee to reduce the number of permitted consecutive vacation days to six, with the other days to be taken separately. However, the provision allowing 12 consecutive days off was reinstated before the bill was put to a vote Thursday in the Chamber of Deputies, where all 476 lawmakers present supported it.
Workers who have completed more than one year of service with the same employer but fewer than 10 will also get six additional days of vacation time if the proposed reform to the Federal Labor Law passes the Senate. Those who have completed 10 or more years of service would get eight additional days.
An employee who has worked with the same employer for 2 years would thus get 14 days of paid vacation during their third year of service — compared to eight under the current law — while a worker who reaches five years of employment would get 20 days off, up from 14. The number of annual paid vacation days maxes out at 32 for workers with over 30 years of employment completed.
Manuel de Jesús Baldenebro, a Morena deputy and president of the lower house’s labor committee, said Thursday that increasing vacation time “is an advance in the recognition of the rights that all workers should enjoy.”
“Workers who have more than one year of service will be able to enjoy a period of paid vacations that cannot be less than 12 days,” he said.
MC Deputy Sergio Barrera said that increased vacation time “will be a reality for more than 20 million [formal sector] workers.”
The lower house of Congress in session on Thursday. (Cámara de Diputados)
“Today is a great day for Mexico. Today we settle the historic debt with the workers of this country,” he said.
Deputy Marco Antonio Natale of the Green party asserted that increasing vacation time will improve workers’ health and well-being, and also benefit employers as productivity will go up.
The labor committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have reached an agreement to complete the bill’s legislative process by Dec. 15 so that the reformed Labor Law can take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
Carlos Aceves del Olmo, a senator with the Institutional Revolutionary Party and general secretary of the Confederation of Mexican Workers, said on Twitter Thursday night that the Senate is waiting to receive the bill in order to ratify “this historic conquest of the working class, which guarantees the right to remunerated and decent rest in benefit of physical and mental health.”
Opium poppies are grown in remote areas of Guerrero and Oaxaca, the western state of Nayarit, and in the “Golden Triangle” of Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango. (Ingo Doerrie / Unsplash)
A report issued jointly this week by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the government of Mexico stated that the cultivation of poppies in Mexico had grown by 12% in the 2019-2020 season compared to the previous year.
The poppy is the flower that provides the opium gum for the manufacture of heroin, and its cultivation in Mexico is illegal.
It is grown in difficult-to-access areas in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, the western state of Nayarit, and also in an area of the northwest known as the “Golden Triangle” within the states of Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango.
The report was the fifth in the U.N.’s MEXK54 Project and was titled “Mexico, Monitoring of Illicit Poppy Plantations 2019-2020.”
In releasing the report on Thursday, the UNODC explained that between July 2019 and June 2020, poppy cultivation in Mexico was estimated at 24,100 hectares — an increase of 12% over the 21,500 hectares for the same period in 2018-19.
Despite the increase, the report noted that the latest data was below the 30,600 hectares found for the 2016-17 period. However, the downward trend that had been occurring since then has been broken.
The cultivation figures in the report are estimates obtained through the interpretation of satellite images complemented with field visits and aerial photography.
“Despite the eradication campaigns by the Mexican government, the opium gum market persists and continues to be a very profitable activity,” the report stated. “Opium gum can be stored for long periods of time, allowing it to be marketed when conditions are optimal for the farmer.”
The government is shuttering illegal heroine labs at lower rates than in the past, as the market has shifted towards synthetic drugs. Pictured: heroin seized by the National Guard in Durango in 2021. (FGR)
The price that cartels pay for opium gum has fallen due to the boom in synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, growers from the Sierra de Guerrero have indicated over the past three years, according to the digital news source Sin Embargo. But with few alternatives to make money, poor farmers continued to plant poppies.
The monitoring of illicit farms — “mainly in Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, Guerrero and to a lesser extent in Oaxaca,” the report said — is the product of a joint effort between the Ministry of National Defense, the Navy, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UNODC.
The report also included other data.
In regard to yields, for example, the report stated that the production of opium gum on a national level increased by 2%, fueled by an increase of 17% in Guerrero. But in the northern area of Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango, the yield decreased 13%.
The elimination of heroin laboratories by Mexican officials fell 33% between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the report added.
Comparing two other periods, the report noted that the seizure of opium gum by Mexican officials, during raids on fields, for example, fell from 1,694 kilograms in 2013-14 to 87 kilograms in 2019-20 — a dropoff of 95%.
The report also said that, during field work, it was observed that the farmers use fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides on their poppies, which creates higher yields.
The results of the report will be included in the next World Drug Report, published each year by UNODC.
Axolotls: they're slimy, cute and on the brink of extinction. (Depositphotos)
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has launched the international fundraising campaign called AdoptAxolotl to fund an environmental plan safeguarding the habitat of the axolotl, an endangered Mexican salamander.
The campaign was announced by Mexican biologist Luis Zambrano, who has been working on conservation projects to protect the axolotl’s natural environment for more than 20 years.
One of those projects is the maintenance of “chinampa refuges.” The chinampas are the artificial islands built on Mexico City’s freshwater lakes for agricultural purposes. The refuges consist of many protected areas within the lake that seek to maintain the original ecosystem of the axolotl while protecting the species from predators.
According to Zambrano, the AdoptAxolotl campaign is an extension of the chinampa refuge project, an initiative also promoted by UNAM.
El ajolote de Xochimilco, a punto de la extinción - UNAM Global
UNAM shared information about the conservation project, including footage of the chinampa refuges, on their YouTube channel.
To adopt an axolotl, Diana Laura Vázquez Mendoza, the campaign coordinator, explained that there are two types of donations. The first one is called “invite an axolotl to dinner” and seeks to raise funds to buy supplies for the maintenance of the colony. The other one, “tune up an axolotl’s house,” is aimed at supporting the maintenance of the chinampa refuges in Xochimilco.
Through the campaign’s website, 200 pesos (US $10) buys “dinner for an axolotl” and 1,000 pesos (US $50), “tunesup an axolotl’s house.” With larger gifts, donors can adopt a specimen or a chinampa refuge for six months to a year.
To personalize the adoption process, Vázquez Mendoza said that donors will receive informative posters and postcards with some donations allowing for the donor to name an axolotl or a chinampa refuge.
Currently, the UNAM and the chinamperos (those taking care of the chinampas) work with 48 chinampa refuges, which correspond to just over five linear kilometers of canals in which the axolotl and other species can live without threats.
Xanthic (dark) axolotls are less well known than their leucistic (pale) kin, but just as charismatic. (Nathan Guzman / Unsplash)
“We must protect the species and let it reproduce in its natural ecosystem, which is in our country,” Zambrano said regarding growing interest around the world inkeeping axolotls as pets. In fact, there are more axolotls in captivity than there are in the natural world.
This interest is attributed to Minecraft — a video game that includes — and the social media platform TikTok. Jake Pak, co-owner of a U.S. breeding sanctuary in Dallas, Texas, told the news agency NPR that nearly every kid who goes to his store to buy a pet axolotl learned about the salamander in the game.
The book depicts the reality of the axolotl’s natural habitat, which is threatened by several factors: the urbanization of Xochimilco, the quality of the water (which is full of waste from a treatment plant), and the introduction of predators — carp and tilapia — between 1970 and 1980 with the intention of a green revolution.
All these reasons have led the axolotl to be classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which estimates only 50 to 1,000 mature adults are left in the wild.
More information about how to adopt an axolotl and support the recovery of its natural habitat is available on the AdoptAxolotl project website.
Tourists swim and lounge on a Cancún beach. (David Vives/Unsplash)
Record numbers of flights in Cancún
On Saturday, Dec. 3, the Cancún International Airport registered 660 operations, surpassing the record number of operations registered on Dec. 18, 2021.
According to the Southeast Airport Group, the maximum number of operations was registered on December 18, 2021, with 648, reaching almost the record of 659 registered on March 31, 2018.
On Saturday, 129,000 passengers are expected to pass through the Cancún terminal, an unprecedented number, while Quintana Roo expects more than 27 million passengers by year end.
Most of the flights scheduled for this weekend are bound to the United States and Canada, while some transatlantic cities include London and Amsterdam.
These are the first Barrios Mágicos (Magical Neighborhoods) in México
The new Barrios Mágicos de México program aims to promote and invigorate the diversification of touristic destinations in Mexico while publicizing the spirit of the city. It also seeks to promote road trips within the country.
The first official Barrio Mágico was downtown Chetumal. (Gobierno de Quintana Roo)
Downtown Chetumal in Quintana Roo was recognized as the first Barrio Mágico in México due to its touristic potential. Neighborhoods like San Miguelito and Tlaxcala in San Luis Potosí followed.
In Mexico City, 21 neighborhoods have also been recognized as Barrios Mágicos including Xochimilco, Tepito, La Roma, La Condesa, Cuajimalpa, Coyoacán, San Ángel and Mixcoac.
One of the things all Barrios Mágicos have in common is that the title is given only to neighborhoods in capital cities.
Volaris predicts Mexico will regain aviation status by last quarter of 2023
Mexican low-cost airline Volaris expects the country to regain its aviation Category 1 rating by the end of 2023.
During a presentation on Tuesday, the airline noted that Mexican government authorities forecasted that Mexico could recover the rating as soon as April.
In May 2021, the United States Federal Aviation Administration downgraded Mexico’s aviation to Category 2 due to Mexico’s lack of regulation in accordance with minimum international standards. The current rating prevents Mexican airlines to increase routes and frequencies to the U.S.
Waldorf Astoria Cancun opens
Hilton reached 200 properties in Latin America and the Caribbean with the opening of the luxurious Waldorf Astoria Cancun resort.
The new Waldorf Astoria resort in Cancún, Quintana Roo. (Waldorf Astoria Cancun)
The resort is located 15 kilometers from Cancún International Airport on the Mexican Caribbean coast. With 173 rooms, this is the second Waldorf Astoria in Mexico — the first one opened in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur.
The resort is operated by Hilton and is owned by the American Parks Hospitality Holdings, one of the largest hotel developers in Latin America.
22-year-old flamingo detected in a flock that arrived to Cozumel
The Foundation of Parks and Museums of Cozumel (FPMC) reported the presence of a 22-year-old flamingo in the Ecotouristic Park Punta Sur, that was tagged by researchers in the year 2000 in the Reserva de la Biósfera Ría Lagartos.
A flock of flamingos in Celestún, Yucatán. (Virginie Fialon / Unsplash)
For biologists, this is an important finding since it contributes to the study of flamingos in the Yucatan peninsula as well as to the analysis of their displacement and longevity.
Héctor González Cortés, deputy director of the Punta Sur Park, said that flamingos are an important part of the biocultural heritage and an additional ingredient of the scenic beauty of Cozumel.
The president has 9.3 million followers and high levels of engagement on Twitter. (Screenshot)
With over 20 million followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, President López Obrador is no social media slouch.
But in case he needed additional affirmation of his clout in the digital world, a global communications agency has just ranked him as the world’s 14th most influential leader on Twitter.
New York-based firm BCW published its 2022 Twiplomacy World Leader Power Ranking on Wednesday, an index that shows that only 13 leaders are more influential than AMLO on the social network that was recently purchased by the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ranked No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
To measure the influence of world leaders, BCW created an algorithm that “assigns a tailored weighting to variables including mentions, tweets, retweets, reach, impressions, follower changes, likes and follower count” of world leaders.
BCW said that “engagement matters most” when it comes to influence on Twitter, which has hundreds of millions of active users.
“Online influence is no longer about how many followers a leader has or how many tweets the leader puts out – it’s about how engaged that follower base is, and how likely they are to interact with a leader’s message,” the firm said.
López Obrador is not an overly active Twitter user, but usually publishes at least one post per day to his account — which has 9.3 million followers — even if it is just video footage of his morning press conference, or mañanera.
The president also enjoys analyzing the tweets of his rivals. (Presidencia de la República)
Among the reasons why AMLO took to the microblogging site in the past two weeks were to acknowledge his meetings with Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso (No. 20 on the Twiplomacy index) and Colombia President Gustavo Petro (No. 4); lament the passing of actor Héctor Bonilla; post footage of his “counter-march” in Mexico City; congratulate Mexico’s soccer team — just after it was knocked out of the World Cup; promote the Maya Train railroad project; and offer an opinion on fellow leftist Pedro Castillo’s dismissal from his position as president of Peru.
His posts typically attract thousands of comments, and are also routinely retweeted and liked by thousands of Twitter users. AMLO’s engagement on Facebook, which he appears to favor over other social networks, is even higher.
The president has described social media as “blessed” because of the platform it provides him to communicate directly with his followers, and denounced the silencing of some users, most notably former United States president Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter and Facebook after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
While he has never used Twitter with the same frequency, forthrightness and ferocity with which Trump tweeted, López Obrador is a polarizing figure on social media (as he is offline), with ardent supporters of the president and strident critics using the so-called “digital town square” as a venue for mudslinging and name-calling in a seemingly never-ending slanging match.
President López Obrador in a 2021 meeting with former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo. (Cuartoscuro)
Pedro Castillo, the ex-president of Peru who was removed from office by that country’s Congress on Wednesday, tried to get to Mexico’s embassy in Lima to seek asylum, President López Obrador said Thursday.
He said that Castillo — who was ousted due to “moral incapacity” just hours after he attempted to dissolve the Congress by decree and establish a new emergency government — called him to tell him he was going to Mexico’s Embassy in the Peruvian capital.
“He told me he was on his way to the embassy, but surely they had already tapped his phone,” López Obrador told reporters at his regular news conference.
Pedro Castillo waits in a police office after his arrest on Wednesday. (Policía Nacional de Perú)
“He was going to seek asylum,” he said, adding that he spoke with Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard and directed him to contact Mexico’s ambassador to Peru to ensure the embassy’s doors were opened to Castillo “in accordance with our tradition of asylum.”
But police and citizens surrounded the embassy, and Castillo never arrived because he was arrested, the president said.
“We ask that his human rights be respected. That they act with true legality, that his family is protected,” López Obrador said.
Mexico’s ambassador to Peru, Pablo Monroy, visited the ex-president in prison on Thursday, according to reports by Peruvian media outlets.
Castillo, a former teacher and union leader who was sworn in as president in July last year, is being held in a police prison in Lima where another former president, Alberto Fujimori, is detained, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.
Ebrard said on Twitter Thursday afternoon that Monroy found Castillo “physically well” and in the company of his lawyer. He also posted a letter in which the lawyer formally requested asylum in Mexico for his client.
López Obrador, who has made no secret of his admiration of Castillo, said on Twitter Wednesday that the ex-president faced “an atmosphere of confrontation and hostility” from the beginning of his “legitimate presidency” due to “the interests of the economic and political elite.”
He said Thursday that he was a “victim of harassment and confrontation” and considered an uncultured “mountain-dweller” by the political and economic elite in Peru.
“He told me once that when he used to walk in Lima there were ladies who covered their noses when he went by” López Obrador said.
“… He was always harassed and they weakened him until they managed to remove him. That’s the decision these elites took. I don’t believe it’s the best thing for the people. I feel very sorry for the people of Peru, because it’s a lot of instability [to have] five presidents in six years.”
Employees of Castillo de la Esfera factory create 5 million ornaments per year, decorated, and in some cases hand-blown, individually. (Photos by Joseph Sorrentino)
With 400 stores and factories making and selling artisanal Christmas ornaments (called esferas in Mexico), Chignahuapan, Puebla is the place to go for Christmas decorations — especially artisan-designed ones. Between all the factories here, they make an estimated 70 million ornaments.
Esfera production in Chignahuapan began in 1965 with one man: Rafael Méndez Nuñez, a chemical engineer with an interest in making them who moved to Chignahuapan.
His first esferas were simple, undecorated bulbs; now there’s an almost endless variety made by several factories — from small round bulbs to elaborate designs that look like piñatas and hot-air balloons.
Almost all glass ornaments esferas have one thing in common: they start out as a simple Pyrex tube. But the process from tube to a bauble hanging from your Christmas tree is anything but simple.
Luís Rivera making a hand-blown Christmas bulb.
Castillo de la Esfera (The Ornament Castle), the largest producer of esferas in Chignahuapan, offers tours of its factory, and Arturo Amezcua Muñoz, the director of online sales, was my guide.
The first step in making an esfera is heating the glass tube until it softens and glows a bright orange. The artisan, called a globeador, then blows steadily into the open end of the tube.
“It takes about two weeks to learn the basics, “ said Luís Rivera. The large bulb he was making takes about a year to learn how to do.
Next, the bulbs are coated with a silver solution.
One of the first steps in the decorating process is laying down a base color. Jaime Romero Sánchez achieves this by dipping each ornament individually in paint.
“This is done in a chamber,” explained Amezcua. “The bulbs are transparent, and this [step] gives them higher quality and makes them shine.”
Four years ago, after decades of using glass, the company expanded into making esferas from plastic, which are better for exporting because they don’t break.
Unused plastic is white, and those bulbs are also coated with the silver solution. They also make large black bulbs from recycled plastic, which aren’t coated. Both are made using molds.
The factory also makes metal bases that are popular in Mexico for hanging one or a few ornaments as a decorative item in the home. Paul Hernández’s job requires soldering knowledge.
Rafael Romero Sánchez, in the painting workshop, was dipping silver-coated bulbs into purple paint. As he removed it, gave it a quick twist with his wrist to evenly cover it.
Nearby, his brother Jaime Romero Sánchez was coating larger bulbs with red paint. “Many employees are relatives,” Amezcua mentioned.
Once the bulbs are dry, they’re sent to the decorating workshop.
One of the last steps for this hand-blown glass ornament was precisely dipping it into glitter to color in the painted figures’ clothing.
Jimy Brian Romero was decorating a trompo (a top). “If you have the talent can learn in about a week” he said. “You must have technical skill.”
Nearby, Orlando Reyes was painting a Nacimiento (a Nativity scene) onto a trompo. While he paints 150 to 200 of these a day, Reyes said he recently made 100 Nacimientos in three days, despite the process being slow and detail-oriented.
“As you can see,” he said, “it is painted in parts, and one must let the part dry before adding more.”
Gabriella Tellez decorative glitter on a large bulb made of recycled plastic that is melted down and reformed into Christmas joy.
At another station, Gabriella Tellez coated large black plastic bulbs with glue and then poured on red diamanita (sparkles).
The Castillo also has a metal workshop where a variety of bases are made from which esferas can be hung. Paul Hernandez has worked there six months, making 120 a day.
All esferas are handmade. “The tradition is to make these by hand and to provide employment,” said Amezcua.
The company has about 200 employees who make 1,500 different styles of esferas and produce five million a year. There are tours every day and at the end, people can go to the store where there are thousands of esferas to choose from.
One of the metal bases made the factory holds a single hand-painted ornament.
If you want to tour Castillo de la Esfera yourself, Chignahuapan is about two hours north of Puebla City. Castillo de la Esfera is located at Carretera Chignahuapan-Zacatlán, Km.2. The town is also a Magical Town, so all in all it makes a charming visit, especially at Christmastime.
The Mexican national team warms up for practice on Nov. 29, the day before what turned out to be their last game in the 2022 World Cup. (Selección Nacional de México)
Last week, Mexico beat Saudi Arabia in their last game of the group stage, but it wasn’t enough to win them a spot in the round of 16. The failure to advance this year was just one in a decades-long string of so-close-you-can-taste-it losses for El Tri, as the national team is known.
By points, Mexico tied with Poland for second place in the group; each team had a win (3 points), a draw (1 point) and a loss (0 points), for a total of 4 points. But Poland beat Mexico on goal differential, the number of goals scored by the team minus the goals scored against them during the group stage of the tournament. Poland’s goal differential was 0, while Mexico let in one more goal than they scored, for a final goal differential of -1.
Thanks to this year’s performance, Mexico is now the team with the most games lost in a World Cup (28) followed by Argentina with 23 losses and Germany with 24. Mexico has also joined the exclusive club of teams that have had more than 100 goals scored against them in World Cups: Mexican goalkeepers have failed to block 103 points since the World Cup began in 1930. The only other members of this club are Germany, which has been scored on 128 times, and Brazil, with 105 goals scored against them.
These records are actually perverse reminder of the Mexican team’s many brushes with greatness: El Tri ranks with the likes of soccer superpowers like Argentina, Brazil and Germany in losses partly because all four teams routinely qualify for the the soccer’s top competition. But unlike those teams, Mexico has yet to be a World Cup champion. (For hardcore El Tri fans, the 2014 documentary “Ilusión Nacional,” or “National Hope” in English, documents the Mexican selection’s ups and downs over the years.)
The farthest Mexico has made it was to the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986, also the only two years in which Mexico has hosted the World Cup. This year, Mexico ranked 22 out of the 32 teams to qualify for the World Cup, in the middle of the pack of group stage participants who failed to qualify for the round of 16. But they’ll have another chance in 2026: as a co-host of the next World Cup (along with the US and Canada), Mexico automatically qualifies.
