Sunset in Tulum, Quintana Roo, a popular destination in the Yucatán Peninsula. (Darren Lawrence via Unsplash)
In November, Oaxaca and the Yucatán Peninsula made it to two of the most important must-see travel destination lists in the editorial world — The New York Times “25 Travel Experiences You Must Have,” and “The 23 Best Places to Go in 2023” from Condé Nast.
First The New York Times published a list of the most extraordinary adventures a person should have in their lifetime in mid-November. The 25 experiences line-up, which is not a ranking and is grouped geographically, was selected by two writers, a chef, an architect, and a landscape photographer.
The list covers experiences related to food, history, religion, art, and architecture. However, it excludes hotels, because as participating writer Pico Iyer said, “hotels offer luxury and comfort, but they rarely touch my soul.” As such, a culinary experience in Oaxaca was ranked as part of the exclusive list.
Oaxaca cuisine is known for its diversity and complexity, in flavors and ingredients. (Restaurante Alfonsina Facebook)
Recommending readers to “Feast on the Cuisines of Oaxaca City,” the list says that thanks to the “growing awareness of Oaxaca’s cultural wealth and diversity […] it is possible for chefs with local roots to open revelatory new businesses in spaces as simple as they are unforgettable.” From fine dining restaurants to market stalls and relaxed mezcalerías, the list highlights that both the city and its countryside are filled with “culinary jewels.”
In Condé Nast’s annual ranking of the best places to visit, the Yucatán Peninsula was picked as a favorite by the magazine’s worldwide network of editors and writers, sharing the list with places like Marrakech in Morocco and Queensland in Australia.
The “23 Best Places to Go in 2023” recommends places that share new kinds of offerings. Yucatán was recognized for its “design-forward boutique hotels amid the region’s jungle and waterways.”
Unlike The New York Time’s list, Condé Nast does name a variety of exclusive hotels in the Peninsula that are worthy of a visit in one of the world’s most “enticing areas to visit next year.”
Oaxaca and Yucatán aren’t the only places that made it to a ‘hot travel list.’ According to Forward Keys, a specialized firm on data analytics, three Mexican beach towns were among the top 10 global destinations with the highest growth: San José del Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Cancún.
These results are thanks to less strict health controls post-pandemic as well as to the proximity to the United States, with travelers from that country preferring closer destinations with fewer restrictions.
A glimpse inside Sac Actun, the largest underwater cave system in the world. (Photo: UNAM)
Sac Actun, a 368-km cave system under the Yucatán Península, is one of the world’s 100 most important geological sites according to the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).
The first-ever ranking to compile a database of geological sites of scientific value, the project had the support of UNESCO and seeks to accomplish a worldwide inventory of geological heritage of international relevance.
Sac Actun, the only site in Mexico to have made the list, is the largest underwater cave system in the world and the second largest cave after the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, United States.
According to the IUGS report, “the extensive cave systems under the Yucatán Peninsula have been a guardian of hidden and invaluable treasures to learn from our history,” and a crucial site to understand how sea level has changed over the past 800,000 years.
Sac Actun has not only contributed to the advancement of geological science but also in anthropology and paleontology: remains of Pleistocene humans and extinct prehistoric animals have been found there. (Photo: INAH)
According to the IUGS website, “a geological heritage site is a key place with geological elements and/or processes of scientific international relevance,” that have made a major contribution to the development of geological sciences throughout history.
Being underwater, the caves also have created a unique environment for the conservation of human and animal remains, which has led to changes in science’s understanding of human history on the continent. Well-preserved remains of Pleistocene humans and animals dating back thousands of years before the Maya inhabited the area have been discovered there, including the remains of a 13,000 year old adolescent girl.
The importance of the cave system also lies in its ecological value – Sac Actun provides almost all the fresh water used in the area, while also supporting the entire jungle ecosystem above it.
A meeting of minds and movements. From left to right: Surrealism founder André Breton, Muralism founding father Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky and French Surrealist Jacqueline Lamba in Mexico City.
Shortly after arriving in Mexico in 1938, André Breton, the French father of Surrealism, had proclaimed the country “…the surrealist place par excellence.” Years later, Salvador Dalí would reinforce this notion saying, “In no way will I return to … a country that is more surreal than my paintings.”
Today, the word “surreal” is still used to describe Mexico, often by us foreigners to describe aspects of its culture that are both awe-inspiring and inscrutable. But the European concept of the Surreal was not initially accepted by the Mexican elite.
Breton and the Surrealists wanted to turn away from rationalist Western thought to re embrace more “marvelous” ideas, which they found in part in (sub)cultures relatively unaffected by European Renaissance heritage.
Not surprisingly, Mexico — with its pyramids, feathered serpents, shape-shifting naguals, voladores hanging from tall poles and dancing calaca skeletons — caught their attention.
Dali found Mexico supremely surreal, but he eventually left, claiming it was more surreal than his paintings and therefore he could not stay here.
Breton wrote extensively about Mexico. It was superficial, but it brought other artists here, such as Wolfgang Paalen and Gordon Onslow Ford, who went well beyond Breton in their understanding of Mexico’s indigenous cultures.
Surrealism dominated Europe starting in the 1920s, but when European artists came to Mexico, they ran up against the other major artistic movement of the time – Muralism.
The work of Diego Rivera and others not only dominated a very nationalistic Mexico at the time but had international acclaim as well.
Artists from the two movements shared a number of common interests: a romanticization of Mexico’s indigenous past and present, Marxist and anti-fascist politics and an artistic focus on the figurative. How each approached these interests, however, reveals significantly different worldviews.
The Wounded Deer (El venado herido) by Frida Kahlo (1946). Despite acceptance of early help by Surrealists, Kahlo would eventually repudiate the movement.
But the Muralists were busy creating a new Mexican identity for a post-Revolution nation, whereas after World War I in Europe, the Surrealists were not particularly interested in nationalism. And as Marxism split into factions in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, Muralists and Surrealists found themselves supporting different factions.
Lastly, Muralists’ figurative work was more realistic, looking to portray history and indigenous heritage. The Surrealists were looking to portray dreams and other images that exist only in the mind.
In the 1930s and 1940s, many Surrealists and other European artists and intellectuals found themselves in Mexico as the Spanish Civil War and yet another world war raged. They were welcomed because of their politics and education, but they were still foreign refugees.
All of these issues led to Surrealism being marginalized in Mexico for decades until the 1950s, when Muralism’s dominance began to significantly wane. Surrealist artists such as Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Kati Horna would form semi-separate communities in places like the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods of Mexico City.
The Ship of Cranes (La barca de las grullas), a bronze work by Surrealist Leonora Carrington at the Carrington Museum in Xilitla, San Luis Potosi. Her breakthrough came when British Surrealist art patron Edward James promoted her abroad.
It is notable that Mexico’s most prominent “classic” Surrealist artists are women, whose work would not receive national recognition until the 1950s or later. One possible reason is that male Surrealists such as Paalen, Onslow Ford and later Alan Glass would abandon Surrealism and even Mexico to develop their careers.
But what about Frida Kahlo? In Mexico, she is generally not recognized as a Surrealist artist despite the many obvious similarities. She was recognized as such by Breton, who promoted her work in Europe, but eventually Kahlo would disavow Surrealism over issues of nationalism and communist ideology. Most Mexican writing about her work “respects” her insistence that her work is completely her own.
However, it would be wrong to say that Surrealism has had no effect on Mexican art. Many artists from the two movements formed professional and personal ties. Mexico’s artists and writers borrowed from Surrealists. Surrealist influence has been attributed to work by Juan Soriano, María Izquierdo and even Rufino Tamayo.
And the Surrealists and other European artists set the stage for post-Muralism.
“Rebirth” by Breakaway Generation artist Gustavo Arias Murueta.
The Breakaway Generation (Generación de la Ruptura), a movement from approximately 1950-1970, essentially was a rebellion against the nationalism and aesthetic restrictions of Muralism. Many Breakaway artists had European teachers influenced by Surrealism.
Overall, the Surrealists’ presence reminded Mexico during the height of its insular Muralism era that the outside world still existed — and now these younger artists wanted to explore. Unfortunately for Surrealism, by the time the Ruptura gained traction in the 1950s and 1960s, the art world had shifted from dreams to abstract art.
Surrealists also were responsible for sparking the beginning of internationalizing Mexican art, a process that continues to this day.
With the exception of politically charged work, such as that of Los Grupos or Neo-Mexicanismo, avant-garde art produced in Mexico is nearly indistinguishable from that produced in other Western countries.
“Len nima” by current-day Oaxacan artist and illustrator Filogonio Naxín. Mazatec words are also an important part of Naxin’s works.
This has been strengthened by the influx of globally-minded artists that have migrated to the country since the mid-century for both cultural and economic reasons.
But surrealism never completely died in Mexico. Interestingly enough, there are a number of indigenous artists who are creating canvases and more, drawing upon their native cultures, including the spiritual. French art critic Serge Fauchereau has written that the “marvelous” that the Surrealists adored appeared long before and after the movement.
Supernatural concepts find their way into the work of Jorge Domínguez Cruz of Veracruz, who draws from indigenous Huastec culture. Oaxacan Filogonio Naxin combines elements of his Mazatec culture, in particular naguals, with modern print/graffiti sensibilities to create what he calls “social surrealism.”
The word “surrealist” may turn out to be a way to make the work of at least some indigenous artists more relatable to other cultures. If this is the case, the original Surrealists’ obsession with indigenous Mexico may not have been entirely misplaced.
“The Baptism” by current Huastec artist Jorge Domínguez Cruz.
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.
Édgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "La Barbie", was arrested in 2010. (Photo: Cuartoscuro)
The U.S. government has confirmed that former Beltrán Leyva Cartel capo Édgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “La Barbie,” has been transferred out of a Florida prison, amidst heated speculation that he is collaborating as a protected witness.
On Monday, it was revealed that Valdez is no longer listed as a federal inmate by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. No further information is available on his whereabouts, and both agencies have declined to comment on his case.
“Inmates who were previously in BOP custody and who have not completed their sentences could be out of BOP custody for a period for court hearings, medical treatment or for other reasons,” said BOP spokesman Benjamin O’Cone.
Kent Schaffer, Valdez’s former lawyer, speculated that his former client’s disappearance from BOP records may indicate that he has agreed to give evidence as a protected witness.
“Often what happens, hypothetically, is that if you’re going to testify against someone, the [federal] marshals will move you to a detention center, for example Rikers Island or the MCC [jails in New York],” he told La Jornada newspaper.
Former DEA official Mike Vigil expressed a similar opinion to Milenio Television, emphasizing that Valdez’s status as a high-ranking drug trafficker meant he would have privileged information about his former criminal associates.
“Neither La Barbie nor other criminals want to die in a prison here in the United States… He was related to the Beltrán Leyva Cartel; he was in meetings with ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel, so he can testify against many people, many officials,” Vigil said.
Valdez was sentenced to 49 years in prison by an Atlanta federal judge in 2018, after pleading guilty to charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. He was captured in Mexico in 2010 and extradited to the US in 2015. At his trial, prosecutors alleged that he was a senior member of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel at a time when its leaders had close links to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Both Schaffer and Vigil pointed out that one of the cases in which Valdez could be a valuable informant was the case against Genaro García Luna, a former Mexican federal security minister who was arrested in Texas in 2019 on charges he colluded with the Sinaloa Cartel.
Genaro García Luna was Mexico’s security minister during Felipe Calderón’s administration. He is scheduled to go on trial early next year. (Cuartoscuro)
“When I represented [Valdez Villarreal] 10 years ago, [U.S. authorities] were already asking about García Luna back then,” Schaffer told La Jornada. “We had several government interrogations about García Luna. So, it might make sense that if the trial is in New York, they would move him to that city so prosecutors would have time to talk.”
Even before his extradition, Valdez had accused García Luna of receiving bribes from his cartel. From his arrest onwards, Valdez’s legal strategy has centered on attempting to expedite his extradition to the U.S. – where he was born and holds citizenship – and negotiate a reduced sentence in exchange for offering information.
For his part, President López Obrador expressed concerns about Valdez’s disappearance from BOP records and demanded that U.S. authorities clarify his whereabouts.
“We want to know where he is,” AMLO said in his Wednesday press conference. “The inquiry has been made and there is no clarity on the subject, but we will continue asking them to inform us.”
He insisted that U.S. authorities would have no justification for releasing Valdez, who would also face criminal charges in Mexico.
“There have been cases where extraditions are carried out, also with sentences of many years, they make deals over there and they don’t come back, they are released,” he said. “But even if there is a deal, we would still have to act if there are charges in Mexico.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who opened the new express passport center, said it's expected to serve 350,000 people a year, with a capacity of 1,000 per day. (SRE)
A new passport office with the capacity to attend to 1,000 people per day has opened at the Tijuana International Airport.
Accompanied by Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard formally opened the office on Tuesday.
It is located on the ground floor of the airport’s parking lot building.
“The new office will provide an express passport issuing service to those who need to replace this document,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said in a statement.
Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, who attended the opening of the new SRE office, said the express passport office will meet the unique demands of Tijuana, which she said has the “most dynamic” border in the world. (Governor —Ávila/Twitter)
“It’s estimated that it will attend to more than 350,000 people a year, with a capacity of 1,000 people per day,” Ebrard said.
The SRE said that people who need an emergency passport will be able to get one in less than an hour.
The ministry noted that the Pacific Airport Group, which operates the Tijuana airport, invested over 40 million pesos (just over US $2 million) in the new office, which will operate seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“With the commencement of operations of this office, Baja California becomes the second state of the republic … [with] three passport offices, after Mexico City,” the SRE added.
Ebrard emphasized the speed with which the new office issues passports. It’s an “express” office of a kind that “almost doesn’t exist anywhere in the world,” he said.
“It’s even quicker than the fastest [passport] office outside airports,” the foreign minister added.
Ávila, a Morena party governor who took office just over a year ago, said that the new passport office is “another example of the extraordinary projects we can complete when we … work as a team.”
A testament to how many people cross back and forth between the border daily is the existence of the Cross Border X-press, a border crossing that connects Tijuana International Airport with San Diego, California.
In opening the office, the SRE is meeting “the demands, needs and requirements” of Tijuana, she said after claiming that the city has the “most dynamic” border in the world.
One of the Mexico-U.S. border crossings in Tijuana is the Cross Border Xpress, which gives airline passengers direct access into Tijuana airport from San Diego county and vice versa.
Ávila also said that Mexico is “one of the few countries in the world” that issue passports the same day as applications are lodged.
All Mexican citizens can make appointments to get a passport at the new office at Tijuana airport, regardless of whether they are airline passengers. Click here to access the SRE’s appointments website.
Luis Chávez's scored on a free-kick goal in the second half of the match today. (Photo: FIFA World Cup Twitter)
Mexico has been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup despite beating Saudi Arabia 2-1 in Qatar on Wednesday.
El Tri finished on four points after a tie, loss and win in its three group games.
Poland also finished on four points, but with a superior goal difference to Mexico, allowing the European nation to finish in second place in Group C behind Argentina and advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Mexico dominated the match against Saudi Arabia at Lusail Stadium north of Doha, scoring two second-half goals and simultaneously raising Mexican supporters’ hopes that El Tri would get through to the round of 16.
“El Tri” played a good game in Qatar today, but needed a higher score to move on to the next round of the World Cup. (Photo: Selección Mexicana Twitter)
However, La Selección Mexicana was ultimately unable to get a third goal that would have allowed it to snatch second place in Group C from Poland.
Instead, Saudi Arabia scored a goal in injury time and thus ended Mexico’s 2022 World Cup campaign.
El Tri had several opportunities in front of goal in the first half, but failed to find the back of the Saudi net.
The team’s first goal came just after half-time in the 47th minute when forward Henry Martín scored after a deflected corner kick reached his left boot. Mexico’s second goal came via a Luis Chávez free kick in the 52nd minute.
The 26-year-old Jalisco native struck a powerful shot from well outside the 18-yard box, and the ball sailed past the Saudi goalkeeper’s outstretched arms and into the top right corner of the net.
With almost 40 minutes left to play, it seemed likely that El Tri would continue adding goals to the scoresheet, but it failed to capitalize on several other promising opportunities. Chávez came close to netting himself a second goal after another powerful free kick in the 73rd minute, but on this occasion goal keeper Mohammed Alowais was able to make a save after diving high to his right.
Mexico would have finished its three group matches with a goal difference of 0 had it maintained its 2-0 lead. However, Salem Aldawasari’s injury-time goal pegged back Mexico’s goal differential to -1, whereas that of Poland was 0.
It is the first time since 1978 that Mexico failed to get out of the group stage at a World Cup at which it played. At the seven World Cups played between 1994 and 2018, El Tri stumbled at the round of 16 stage, while it reached the quarter finals at Mexico ’86. Mexico didn’t play at the 1982 and 1990 World Cups.
At Qatar 2022, the first World Cup to be played in the Arab World, El Tri’s failure to get more than a single point from its first two matches – or even score a goal – ultimately led to its downfall.
It will be a long four years before Mexican supporters can cheer on their team at the next “mundial” – the 2026 World Cup to be played across 16 cities in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon as workers conducted a controlled burn on a Pemex pipeline. (Photo: Twitter video screenshot)
Pemex workers and Civil Protection personnel are among 19 people who were injured when a leaking pipeline exploded in southern Veracruz on Tuesday.
The Veracruz Civil Protection agency said that an explosion occurred at about 3 p.m. as workers conducted a controlled burn at the site of an ethane leak on a Pemex pipeline in the municipality of Agua Dulce, located south of Coatzacoalcos on the border with Tabasco.
The agency said in a Facebook post Tuesday night that the majority of injured persons sustained first degree burns. It said in an earlier post that one person suffered second degree burns.
Video footage shows a raging blaze and huge quantities of black smoke emanating from the leaking pipeline.
Those injured by the fire were taken to hospitals in Agua Dulce and the nearby municipality of Nanchital.
The pipeline, located next to the Coatzacoalcos-Villahermosa highway, began leaking ethane on Sunday night, prompting a deployment of Pemex workers to attend to the situation.
Approximately 170 people who live near the pipeline were transported to shelters as a precaution, the newspaper Reforma reported.
Explosions along Pemex pipelines due to leaks are relatively common as crime gangs perforate the lines to steal petroleum and gas.
The Han electric sedan will be one of two models that electric carmaker BYD will start selling in Mexico next year.
BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle maker by sales, announced on Tuesday it will launch its cars in Mexico next year.
According to the company’s country head Zhou Zou, they will start by selling the EVs across fifteen dealers in the country, hitting the market with two models: the Tang sport utility vehicle (SUV) and the Han sedan.
Neva Zhang, business manager of BYD México, told Milenio newspaper they seek to take advantage of the federal government’s incentive to promote electric mobility such as waived tariffs for electric motor imports.
BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, has positioned itself as a favorite in the EV segment. For nine consecutive years, it’s been China’s largest EV maker by sales and was also the first brand worldwide to manufacture, design, and sell EVs to use as taxis.
The BYD’s Tang SUV.
The Chinese company already sells trucks and lift trucks to private companies like Grupo Modelo, as well as vehicles to be used as taxis in Mexico’s public transportation fleet.
“BYD Mexico has more than nine years of local experience, achieving significant milestones in new energy taxis, buses, and lift trucks,” said Zhang.
Still, EV demand from Mexican consumers is low, representing only 1% of the national market. According to Mexico’s Automotive Industry Association, 4.5% of cars sold since January were hybrid, which corresponds to 31,000 of nearly 693,000 sold in total.
Zhang says that even when demand is low, they firmly believe mobility can transform to more sustainable methods. “We are happy with the new step taken by BYD in Mexico. We want to be a long-term partner to promote zero emission solutions in the country,” she said.
BYD México already sells buses, electric trucks, forklifts and other logistics vehicles here. These BYD trucks are owned by Grupo Modelo.
Although no price tag has been shared for the cars, Zou stressed on the company’s affordability. “We are the brand for everybody,” he said.
Francisco Medina, head of Grupo Fame, one of the main car dealers, foresees that prices in Mexico could be similar to those of the European market, where pre-sale prices for its Tang and Han models reached 72,000 euros (US $72,500).
The company hopes to sell 10,000 vehicles in Mexico in 2023, increasing to between 20,000 to 30,000 in 2024, adding that the firm’s ultimate goal is to reach around 10% of the total market share.
Among the 15 confirmed car dealer companies that will start selling BYD vehicles in 2023, are Dalton, Continental, Grupo Fame, Grupo Farrera and Mexican retailer store Liverpool. By selling BYD cars, Liverpool will venture into car sales for the first time.
Francisco Medina, owner of Grupo Fame, one of the 15 dealers that will sell BYD cars in Mexico, said he foresees BYD car prices being similar to prices in Europe, where they currently sell for about US $72,000.
“Liverpool is a partner. It doesn’t mean that the cars will be sold in their [conventional] stores, but they will be commercialized in spaces where the quality that the company wants is offered,” Zhang told Milenio.
David García, Liverpool’s sales representative said that they will start selling BYD cars in Mexico City with two agencies and two boutiques.
Finally, Zhang said that among BYD competitive advantages are the fact that the company produces its own batteries and semiconductors.
“We don’t have problems in the supply chain, since we have everything from raw materials to high technology and manufacturing units.”
President López Obrador's administration has prioritized protecting genetic diversity of Mexican corn. (Credit: Semillas de Vida Twitter)
The United States government has expressed “deep concerns” about Mexico’s plan to phase out genetically modified corn imports by January 2024.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with President López Obrador in Mexico City on Monday, and subsequently released a statement saying that the U.S. government could take steps to enforce its legal rights under the USMCA free trade pact if “acceptable resolution of the issue isn’t reached.”
“We appreciate the president welcoming us to Mexico and engaging in a productive dialogue. The meetings provided a venue to raise the United States Government’s and our producers’ deep concerns around President López Obrador’s 2020 decree to phase out the use and importation of biotech corn and other biotechnology products by January 2024,” Vilsack said.
“The president’s phase-out decree has the potential to substantially disrupt trade, harm farmers on both sides of the border and significantly increase costs for Mexican consumers,” he said.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar (left), U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Mexico Agriculture Secretary Victor Villalobos
“We must find a way forward soon and I emphasized in no uncertain terms that – absent acceptable resolution of the issue – the U.S. Government would be forced to consider all options, including taking formal steps to enforce our legal rights under the USMCA.”
Vilsack added that “the phase-out of biotechnology products, as outlined in the decree, could also stifle the important innovations we need to help our farmers adapt to a changing climate.”
The agriculture secretary’s meeting with López Obrador came two weeks after two Republican Party senators from Iowa wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to express concerns about the plan to ban GM corn imports.
“Iowa is the leading state for corn production, growing 2.5 billion bushels per year. Iowa corn growers export 16 million tons, or 630 million bushels, of corn to Mexico each year. Any interruption to these shipments will severely affect our farmers and the state’s economy, and have dire economic consequences for the entire Corn Belt,” Joni K. Ernst and Charles E. Grassley wrote.
López Obrador on Tuesday said that government officials were “very clear” in the meeting with Vilsack that “we can’t allow” GM corn to be imported for human consumption.
“We’re self-sufficient in white corn and we’re not going to allow the importation of yellow corn for human consumption,” he told reporters at his regular news conference.
López Obrador noted that yellow corn has mainly been imported as livestock feed, and said that its “content” would be reviewed to see “whether it’s harmful to health, even when it’s used as fodder.”
The president said that Mexico offered to extend permits allowing the importation of GM corn imports for fodder by two years as that process occurs, but was adamant that such corn won’t be allowed to brought into the country as food for humans.
“We’re looking for the way for them to understand that trade is one thing … and health is another. And if we have to decide between health and trade, we choose health. … The agriculture secretary is a responsible person, he understood us,” López Obrador said.
“There are also mechanisms to resolve these disputes in the … [USMCA], but we have evidence to defend the reasons why genetically modified corn isn’t allowed,” he said.
“We’re going to wait and see if there is an agreement. … If an agreement isn’t reached, there are [dispute resolution] panels. And we’re not afraid of going to a panel; … we can’t give in to this request [from the U.S.],” López Obrador said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Monday that the corn issue could be included on the agenda for the North American Leaders’ Summit to be held in Mexico City in January. Mexico and the United States are already engaged in dispute resolution talks over the former’s nationalistic energy policies.
In addition to phasing out GM corn imports, López Obrador decreed the elimination of the controversial herbicide glyphosate by 2024.
Published on December 31, 2020, his decree also said that biosecurity authorities would “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release of genetically modified corn seeds into the environment.”
The objective of the decision is to “contribute to food security and sovereignty” and protect “native corn, cornfields, bio-cultural wealth, farming communities, gastronomic heritage and the health of Mexicans,” the decree said.
The Washington Post editorial said that although the president portrays Mexico's National Electoral Institute as "biased, elitist and wasteful of taxpayer money," most polls show that a majority of Mexicans trust their electoral system. (Cuartoscuro)
The Washington Post newspaper has asserted that President López Obrador’s proposed electoral reform threatens the independence of Mexico’s electoral system and advised the U.S. government and public to not “remain indifferent” to his plans.
In an editorial published Monday under the headline “Mexico should stop its president’s latest antidemocratic maneuver,” the Post argued that the United States “is not the only North American democracy at risk from a president’s belief that he is a victim of election-rigging.”
It noted that AMLO, as the president is best known, “cried fraud” after he narrowly lost the 2006 presidential election to Felipe Calderón, “refused to concede even after tribunals unanimously rejected his claims” and organized disruptive protests in Mexico City.
“Though Mr. López Obrador ultimately relented and presidents from other parties governed through 2018, he remained obsessed with 2006,” the Post said.
The Post accused AMLO of being obsessed with a lost presidential bid in 2006 and said he’s bent on reforming the electoral system he still believes cheated him of his win. (Presidencia)
“Now that he is president — having won an undisputed election in 2018 — Mr. López Obrador is bent on remaking the electoral system he still blames for cheating him more than 16 years ago.”
To that alleged end, AMLO has submitted a constitutional electoral reform bill to Congress.
The bill proposes a range of measures, including replacing the National Electoral Institute (INE) and state-based electoral authorities with one centralized body, allowing citizens to directly vote for electoral officials, cutting the funding of political parties and electoral authorities and reducing the number of lawmakers in both houses of Congress.
The ruling Morena party has been waging a full-scale publicity campaign to inspire support for the reform, like this rally in the center of Cuernavaca, Morelos on Nov. 17. (Cuartoscuro)
The president’s proposals, the Post said, “threaten the [electoral] system’s independence and with it Mexico’s hard-won transition from authoritarianism to multiparty democracy.”
Although the INE ratified López Obrador’s 2018 election victory, the president portrays the institute as “biased, elitist and wasteful of taxpayer money,” the newspaper said.
“The president wants a new system whereby voters choose a seven-member [electoral] panel from 60 candidates, of whom the president, Congress and the Supreme Court would each pick about 20;they would serve for six years, the length of a presidential term in Mexico. The susceptibility to politicization of such a panel is obvious,” the Post said.
It added that “public opinion polls show that substantial majorities of Mexicans approve of the INE’s work,” although one commissioned by the INE found strong support for key proposals in the electoral reform bill.
Members of various organizations held a vigil in front of the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City the night before it was set to discuss electoral reform. (Cuartoscuro)
The newspaper also noted that the European Commission for Democracy through Law — known as the Venice Commission — concluded that AMLO’s plan “carries an inherent risk” of undermining the public’s trust in the existing electoral system.
“An increasing number of Mexicans rightly suspect that Mr. López Obrador is trying to perpetuate his party’s dominance even after his term ends in 2024, mimicking the authoritarian system that prevailed under the Institutional Revolutionary Party during the 20th century,” the Post said.
The Post said that AMLO’s rally, which he said was to celebrate the success of the government’s reforms, was “a show of force” to Congress as it considers the issue. (Presidencia)
AMLO said his march wasn’t “about the electoral reform,” but the Post charged that it was “a show of force as the country’s Congress considers the issue.”
“Though the president probably lacks the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution, he has said that he will try to achieve his objectives through legislation, which requires only a simple majority,” the editorial said.
It added that the Biden administration, the U.S. Congress and U.S. citizens shouldn’t “remain indifferent to these developments.”
The United States has many interests — trade, energy, migration, drug smuggling — in Mexico, but none is more important than ensuring democracy flourishes,” the Post said, before asserting that the upcoming North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City “provides President Biden an opportunity to deliver that message in person, and unequivocally.”
