Mexican banks stable, analysts say in wake of US banking crisis

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March 14, 2023

Mexican Stock Exchange building — Despite the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. sparking financial panic around the world and raising concerns about possible effects on Mexico, analysts reported that banks here remained solid. (Wotancito / Wikimedia Commons).

As financial turmoil shook the United States, Mexican banks had a bad day on the stock market on Monday but are in good health overall, according to analysts and the head of an industry group.

The value of banks listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) dropped Monday in the wake of the recent failures of the California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the New York-based Signature Bank.

Santander México shares suffered the biggest slump, declining 5.38%, while Gentera stocks fell 4.66%. Among the other bank shares that took hits on Monday were those of Banco del Bajio (-3.54%), Banorte (-2.17%), and Banregio (-1.94%).

The newspaper El Economista reported that the collective value of BMV-listed banks declined 16.45 billion pesos (about US $883.7 million).

Jacobo Rodríguez, director of analysis at the investment company Black WallStreet Capital, attributed the fall in the value of bank stocks to “contagion in the mood of investors.”

In other words, U.S. investors’ negative outlook spread south of the border. However, expressing a view shared by other analysts, Rodríguez said that Mexican banks “are not in a bad situation.”

stock graph — Mexican stocks did not face a significant slump, which analysts here attributed to stricter banking regulations.

Jorge Sánchez Tello, Director of the Applied Research Program at the Foundation of Financial Studies, based at the National Autonomous Technological Institute (ITAM), stated that the Mexican banking system is solid and that the failure of SVB isn’t affecting Mexico because the bank had no business interests in Mexico.

Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base, tweeted that the collapse of SVB wasn’t expected to generate a “contagion effect to the banking system of Mexico.”

“Regulation is stricter in Mexico, which is why contagion to Mexico was avoided during the 2008 financial crisis in the United States,” she added.

Daniel Becker, president of the Association of Mexican Banks, said in a radio interview that local banks are in a strong position.

“Due to regulation and [banks’] capital levels there is no cause for concern in Mexico today,” Becker said. “We have to be attentive … but Mexicans today should be reassured that banks are in a position of strength that doesn’t put their deposits at risk.”

The news outlet Bloomberg Linea reported that Mexican banks have “adequate levels of capitalization and solvency” and noted that the analysts it consulted believe that Mexican banks are in a “solid” position.

In a report published last November, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that “Mexico has a robust financial system” that “appears resilient to severe macrofinancial shocks.”

For many years, Mexican banks “have maintained high capital and liquidity buffers,” the report stated.

The value of the Mexican peso, which traded below 18 to the U.S. dollar in early March, fell about 2.5% on Monday as investors’ appetite for risk assets waned amid the events in the U.S., but the currency recovered some of its losses on Tuesday morning.

In the early afternoon, one dollar was worth about 18.60 pesos, according to currency conversion website xe.com.

With reports from Bloomberg Linea, El Economista, El Financiero, López-Doriga Digital and Reuters

Most Mexicans do not want to relax gun control, survey finds

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MND Staff

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March 14, 2023

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Despite high levels of crime across many areas of the country, most Mexicans are not in favor of relaxing strict gun control laws, a new report by the Chamber of Deputies has revealed.

As part of a wide-ranging government study undertaken in October, almost 70% of those surveyed did not believe that easier access to guns would make their communities safer — with 67% stating that keeping a firearm in the home would make them feel less safe.

Ecatepec de Morelos, Edomex — Regions such as Ecatepec reported the highest levels of insecurity in the country. (Gzzz/Wikimedia Commons)

Only 30% of respondents felt that carrying a weapon would improve personal safety, with the overwhelming majority stating that they felt a gun would put them further at risk of violence.

This desire to restrict access to guns was strongest in municipalities that had the highest levels of violent crime.

Opposition parties have previously proposed legislation to lower barriers to gun ownership in Mexico — a suggestion which proved controversial at the time.

“People are defenseless. [Criminals] arrive at homes and businesses, and they murder women [and] men — Mexicans who can’t defend themselves because there is not a proper control and registry so that they can have access to powerful weapons,” said PRI leader Alejandro Morena last June.

An illegal smuggling tunnel between Nogales AZ, and Mexico. — Tunnels such as these are often used to smuggle weapons into Mexico, where they can be sold on the black market. (US Customs and Border Patrol)

Despite the resounding push-back against gun ownership, almost 55% of those surveyed stated that they felt “low” or “no” levels of safety in their communities — especially those in the western and central regions of the country, where cartel violence is often fiercest. This insecurity was most strongly felt by those over 35 years of age.

In regions with the highest levels of violence, just over 50% of respondents said that they had heard or experienced gunfights in the last three years. Official figures also show that 65% of all homicides in the country involved a gun.

Overall, 76% of women and 69% of men said they feared they would be likely to suffer violence at the hands of armed criminals, although only 20% of all respondents had actually been victims of such an attack.

Despite the fact that Mexico has comparatively strict gun ownership laws, firearms often cross the border from the United States, where “lax regulation … and the lack of controls on the Mexican border, create the perfect conditions for the internal market of illicit weapons to grow and continue to grow,” said the report.

The Chamber of Deputies’ findings also suggested that weapons already in Mexico should be bought back from owners and that the number of firearms made available to state security forces should be reduced. However, data from 2019 to 2021 indicate a significant decline in weapons surrendered in government buyback programs compared to the previous three-year period.

The investigation was undertaken by legislator Juanita Guerra Mena, president of the Citizen Security Commission, with assistance from the Center for Social Studies and Public Opinion of the Chamber of Deputies.

With reports from Sin Embargo

Mexican alpinist sets new climbing records

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MND Staff

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March 14, 2023

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Viridiana Alvarez summits Lhotse — Viridiana Álvarez on her climb towards the summit of Lhotse in Nepal. (Viridana Álvarez/Instagram)

Mexican mountaineer Viridiana Álvarez has become the first woman from the Americas to climb the world’s five highest mountains — Everest, K2, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu.

Álvarez rose to fame in 2019, when she was awarded the Guinness World Record for being the woman with the fastest ascent of the top three highest mountains with supplementary oxygen, taking only one year and 364 days to reach the three highest peaks.

Alvarez presents her 2019 Guinness World Record — Álvarez was awarded a Guinness World Record in 2019. (Viridiana Álvarez/Guinness)

Alpine climbing is a style of fast ascent, with little equipment to slow climbers down, and is often used by mountaineers who are looking to get to the summit as quickly as possible. This style of climbing recently allowed her to summit Everest without oxygen, making her only the 9th woman in history to achieve the feat.

Born in Aguascalientes in 1987, Álvarez wasn’t always a climber. She started as a runner, and after finishing a 10-kilometer run, decided she wanted a bigger challenge. She then ran a half marathon (21 km) before completing a full marathon (42.1 km) a few months later.

Looking for a greater challenge, she decided to do an Iron Man triathlon consisting of a series of long-distance swimming, cycling and running races. After completing the competition, she decided to move on to climbing, reaching the summit of Pico de Orizaba, Mexico’s highest mountain, at age 30.

Inspired by her success, she went on to climb the world’s highest mountain, Nepal’s Mount Everest in 2017. One year later, she climbed K2 in Pakistan, becoming the first Latin American woman to summit the second highest — and most dangerous — mountain in the world.

In May 2019, she made history when she reached the top of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak, breaking the existing record of two years and two days set by South Korean alpinist Go Mi-Sun.

Currently, Álvarez is seeking her next world record — summiting the fourteen highest mountains in under than nine years.

With reports from Guinness World Record and El Sol de Durango

Mexico sends 250 big cats to Indian conservation center

By

Cat Rainsford

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March 14, 2023

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A rescued Tiger awaits transport to India — The big cats will be re-homed at a reserve in Gujarat, India. (Twitter @azcarmx)

Around 250 rescued tigers and other felines are on their way from Mexico to India, as part of a scheme to prevent extinction in their native country.

The Association of Zoos, Breeders and Aquariums of Mexico (Azcarm) and the Ostok Sanctuary, an animal rescue center in Sinaloa, worked for months to arrange the animals’ transfer to a conservation center in the Indian state of Gujarat.

cartel tigers seized in Guerrero, Mexico — Some of the big cats faced abuse before being rescued. (FGE Guerrero)

“We undertook intense work with India’s [Greens] Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation [Kingdom] to carry out this important transfer of around 200 tigers,” Azcarm’s president, Ernesto Zazueta, said in a statement.

He added that the center had committed “to release this species into the wild so that it can repopulate areas where it has practically disappeared.”

Around 50 lions and leopards were also included in the transfer. Zazueta explained that the big cats had been abandoned, rescued, or confiscated from Mexican zoos. Mexico has seen several such cases in recent years, including the rescue of around 200 emaciated felines from Mexico City’s Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation in July 2022.

Although big cats can reproduce successfully in Mexico, thanks to the country’s climate and breeding programs, “the best place for these animals is where they are native,” Zazueta said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that there are less than 4000 tigers left in the wild. The big cats are threatened not only through loss of habitat but also by poachers who hunt them as trophies or for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Arranging the transfer was “a long and intense process,” Zazueta said, requiring documentation from national and international environmental authorities and rigorous health checks to ensure the animals were fit enough to withstand the journey.

The tigers will now undergo a quarantine period before entering an adaptation program designed to reintroduce them to the wild. Zazueta stressed that their new home is a spacious, natural conservation center, closed to the public, where the animals will be well kept.

“We already have 100 more specimens that we will move in the same way,” he added. “Here in our country, there are not many spaces to give them a home, and there is not enough private or public budget to sustain so many rescued, abandoned and seized big cats.”

With reports from El Financiero and Proceso

Charming home for sale in enchanting Pátzcuaro

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Sarah Bender

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March 14, 2023

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Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacán — Lake Pátzcuaro and Janitzio Island at sunset. (Depositphotos)

Step back in time and immerse yourself in the wonders of magical Pátzcuaro. This pueblo mágico, dating back over 400 years, is a place that welcomes you with open arms.

Located in Mexico’s central highlands, the city sits on the edge of beautiful Lake Pátzcuaro, with the dazzling island of Janitzio. As you explore the bustling markets, shop the many galleries and chat with the friendly locals, you’ll feel the undeniable pull to become a part of this dynamic community.

View of Lake Pátzcuaro from the town. (Tourism Ministry)

With its time-honored traditions, Pátzcuaro’s colonial style and Purépecha culture make it a city of soul, not just sights and one of the top tourist destinations in Mexico. Pátzcuaro is perhaps best known for its magical celebrations of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), but is also home to wonderful restaurants and a thriving music scene.

If you’re considering Pátzcuaro as your home away from home, Casa Alma might be the perfect place for you. Nestled in the heart of the town, at the end of a private gated street, just steps away from the main square, lies this charming home that seamlessly blends traditional Mexican colonial architecture with stylish modern finishes.

As you step inside this 2-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom oasis, you’ll be greeted by an open floor plan that effortlessly flows from room to room. This spacious layout is perfect for entertaining guests and flows outside to a tiled terrace with built-in B-B-Q and a relaxing waterfall with a pond. A modern built-in gas fireplace is flanked by beautiful shelves to display your favorite treasures.

Exterior of Casa Alma Pátzcuaro — Exterior of Casa Alma

The adjacent dining area is the ideal spot for entertaining friends and family. But the showstopper of the house is the fully-equipped modern kitchen, a chef’s dream, with quartz counter-tops and complemented by an Italian-tiled back-splash.

This exceptional house has two luxurious master bedrooms. The ground floor suite has a garden view and a large bank of closets. The en suite bathroom has a double vanity and a shower room with a copper soaking tub and separate water closet. Additional closets and drawers add to the ample storage that is present throughout the entire house.

Living room Casa Alma — Inviting Casa Alma living room.

The second-floor master bedroom offers views of the town and surrounding mountains from its large sliding windows. It has a single vanity, shower and separate water closet. A complete wall of closets and drawers compliment the luxurious bathroom. Both of the bedroom suites have radiant heating for those cool Pátzcuaro winter mornings.

Casa Alma kitchen — Kitchen of Casa Alma

The second floor includes an office/TV room that has expansive views of the city and lake. The stone gas fireplace will keep you cozy on cool nights. Venture up the second flight of stairs to the rooftop terrace with its panoramic views of the Centro Histórico, the lake, and the iconic Estribo. A perfect spot to sip your morning coffee or enjoy a glass of wine at sunset.

Pátzcuaro is just forty minutes from Morelia, the beautiful colonial capital of Michoacán, with its world-class restaurants, shopping, excellent healthcare and international airport. And just a little further afield you can access Pacific coast beaches, Mexico City and Guadalajara by car or bus in about 3 hours.

If you’re looking for a home that offers the perfect balance of Mexican modern with touches of colonial charm then look no further than Pátzcuaro and Casa Alma for a one-of-a-kind investment opportunity. Come and experience the magic for yourself – you won’t be disappointed.

For a virtual tour, video and more photos please visit Casa Alma.

For more information, Liliana Elena Gonzalez Castro of Mexatua is the listing agent for Casa Alma, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. The asking price is US $399,000.

Ebrard launches campaign to defend Mexico’s reputation in US

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MND Staff

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March 14, 2023

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Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, center. — "We are not going to allow Mexico to be pushed around," Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard told Mexico's diplomats in the U.S. at a ministry meeting led by Ebrard in Washington D.C. on Monday. (SRE)

Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard has instructed Mexico’s ambassador and consuls in the United States to begin a campaign in defense of Mexico in light of the “unacceptable attacks” on the country by Republican Party lawmakers and ex-officials.

Ebrard met with Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma and 52 Mexican consuls at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington D.C. on Monday.

Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Mexico's diplomats in the U.S. — Ebrard asked Mexico’s ambassador to the United States Esteban Moctezuma and all U.S. consuls to hold informative meetings with the Mexican community and political actors, and to submit a weekly report. (SRE)

“We are not going to allow Mexico to be pushed around,” the foreign minister told the diplomats, according to an English-language press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).

Ebrard, the statement said, told Moctezuma and the consuls “to begin a widespread information campaign in defense of our country after the unacceptable attacks by legislators and former officials of the Republican Party.”

“In order to prevent a narrative based on lies that harms our country … gain[ing] force,” the SRE statement said, “… Ebrard asked the ambassador and consuls to hold informative meetings with the Mexican community and political actors, and to submit a weekly report.”

“At the request of the consuls, informational materials will be made available at the consulates and provided to the local media,” it added.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is at the forefront of a group of Republicans calling for the United States to declare Mexican cartels foreign terrorist organizations, setting up justification for military attacks on cartels inside Mexico.

Ebrard’s instruction to diplomats came after Senator Lindsey Graham said he would introduce legislation to “set the stage to use military force if necessary to protect America from being poisoned by things coming out of Mexico” and former attorney general William Barr expressed support for Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s proposal for the U.S. armed forces to be used against cartels in Mexico.

“America can no longer tolerate narco-terrorist cartels. Operating from havens in Mexico, their production of deadly drugs on an industrial scale is flooding our country with this poison. The time is long past to deal with this outrage decisively,” Barr wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

Other Republicans have also advocated the use of the U.S. military to combat Mexican criminal organizations such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel.

President López Obrador threatened last week to launch an “information campaign” in the United States so that Mexican residents “know about this treachery, this aggression from the Republicans toward Mexico.”

Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard in Acapulco — At an event in Acapulco on Sunday, Ebrard told audiences that U.S. forces would only be sent to Mexico “over my dead body.” (Marcelo Ebrard/Twitter)

“If they continue with this attitude we’ll insist that not one vote from Mexicans, from Hispanics, [is cast in favor of the Republican Party],” he said.

According to the SRE statement, Ebrard and the U.S.-based diplomats “reviewed the recent attacks by several legislators and former Republican Party officials, who have sought to blame Mexico for the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. and who have in some cases gone to the extreme of proposing that the U.S. intervene in our country.”

However, Mexico has in fact been “the United States’ main ally in the fight against fentanyl”, Ebrard said.

“Proof of this is that, so far in this administration, Mexico has seized a record amount of the drug — more than six tonnes — that has prevented hundreds of thousands of potentially deadly doses of fentanyl [reaching the United States],” Ebrard said, adding that the fight against fentanyl has cost the lives of hundreds of Mexican security force members.

“With this cost in human lives, how is it that these men dare to question our commitment or, even worse, to call for intervention in our country?” the foreign minister said.

At an event in Acapulco on Sunday, Ebrard declared that U.S. forces would only be sent to Mexico “over my dead body.”

Mexican military seizing fentanyl and crystal meth — Mexico has been the U.S.’ “main ally in the fight against fentanyl,” Ebrard told the convened diplomats on Monday, and said it has prevented hundreds of thousands of potentially deadly doses of fentanyl from reaching the United States. (Cuartoscuro)

“We will never allow the force of another country, whoever it may be, to be used in our territory,” he said.

On Monday, Ebrard said that Mexico and the United States are working within the framework of the bilateral Bicentennial Framework to combat fentanyl trafficking and associated deaths as well as arms trafficking.

He also noted that Mexican and U.S. security officials would meet in Washington next month to identify additional ways to cooperate in the fight against arms and fentanyl trafficking.

Mexico News Daily

AMLO: ‘Mexico is safer than the United States’

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MND Staff

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March 13, 2023

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President Lopez Obrador of Mexico — His opponents made political hay with the recent killings of Americans in Matamoros, and a Los Angeles reporter attended his press conference to ask if Americans are safe in Mexico. But the president insisted that his country is much safer than the U.S. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico is safer than the United States, President López Obrador said Monday without citing any hard data to back up his claim.

His assertion came in response to a question from a United States-based reporter at his morning press conference.

U.S. reporter Octavio Valdez told President Lopez Obrador at a Monday press conference that after the recent kidnappings of four Americans in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, many U.S. residents are wondering if it’s safe to visit Mexico. (Twitter)

“Is traveling to Mexico safe at the moment with everything we’re seeing, with all these [travel] alerts and these very regrettable events?” asked Octavio Valdez of Los Angeles-based television station Univisión 34.

“Mexico is safer than the United States,” López Obrador responded.

“There is no problem with traveling around Mexico safely. United States citizens know that, and of course our compatriots … [in the U.S.] know that. They’re well-informed,” he said.

His remarks came 10 days after four U.S. citizens were attacked and kidnapped in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and just over two weeks after another American was killed in Nuevo Laredo in the same state when he came under fire from soldiers. Two of the foursome were found dead while one of the others was shot.

4 Americans kidnapped in Matamoros, Mexico — From left to right: Latavia McGee, Eric James Williams, Shaeed Woodward and Zindell Brown. McGee and Williams survived the attack and were returned to the U.S. Woodward and Brown were killed. The Gulf Cartel is suspected to be responsible for the attack.

Over 550 other U.S. citizens are reported as missing in Mexico, The Washington Post reported Friday, while the whereabouts of over 100,000 Mexicans is unknown.

The U.S. Department of State advises U.S. citizens to not travel to six Mexican states including Tamaulipas, to reconsider travel to seven others and to exercise caution when traveling to 17 entities, including Mexico City.

Campeche and Yucatán are the only states where “normal precautions” are advised, a fact pointed out to the president by Valdez.

If Mexico was as dangerous as the United States claims, López Obrador responded, large numbers of Americans wouldn’t be coming to live in Mexico City and other parts of the country.

“These past years is when the most Americans have come to live in Mexico. So, what’s happening? Why this paranoia?” he said.

López Obrador also noted that large numbers of tourists come to Mexico, despite warnings from the governments of the United States and other countries.

Tourists in Punta Cancun — Tourists enjoying the beach in Cancún last month. The president pointed out that many foreign tourists come to Cancún despite travel advisories issued by their governments. (Elisabeth Ruíz/Cuartoscuro)

“Do you know how many flights land and take off [in Cancún] every day? More than 700. Tourists are arriving in Cancún like never before,” he said.

United States citizens can easily be found in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas and in restaurants in trendy Mexico City neighborhoods such as Roma and Condesa, López Obrador added.

While he repeated his claim that Mexico is safer than the United States — and even added the determiner “much” — the president didn’t refer to any crime statistics to support it.

On one key measure — homicides — statistics show that Mexico is in fact significantly more dangerous than its northern neighbor.

Data published by the World Bank shows there were 28 homicides in Mexico per 100,000 people in 2020, compared to just seven per 100,000 in the United States.

In recent years, the total number of homicides has also been higher in Mexico — where there were almost 31,000 murders in 2022 — than in the United states. In terms of population, Mexico – where the 2020 census counted about 127 million residents – is about two-fifths the size of the U.S.

Homicide data for Mexico between 1990-2020.

A significant percentage of homicides in Mexico – up to 70%, according to a recent United Nations study – are related to organized crime, meaning that many of the victims are presumed criminals. Gang-related shootings in bars are relatively common, but targeted or random armed attacks in places such as malls, supermarkets and schools are rare.

While foreign tourists and residents have been murdered and abducted in Mexico, data indicates that most international visitors and residents are not affected by violent crimes such as homicide and kidnapping.

Mexico News Daily

You don’t need to pursue happiness if you’ve already caught it

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Joseph Sorrentino

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March 13, 2023

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Drawing by Miguel Angel Gomez Cabrera — When you're sitting in a smelly garbage truck and you can still laugh and have a great time, then you've figured out something essential. (Miguel Ángel Gómez Cabrera)

I was sitting in a micro, which is what they call the small, green buses in San Gregorio Atlapulco in Mexico City. They’re not really “micro” in the sense that they’re tiny; they’re just smaller than a full-size bus.

But they’re bigger than combis, which are the vans that also carry passengers. Why people call these buses micro but the smaller vans combis is one of those questions that sometimes keeps me up at night.

So I was sitting in this micro when a garbage truck passes us and it happens to catch my eye.

Now, garbage workers in Mexico (or “sanitation engineers” as they were called for about 10 minutes when I was a kid) tend to be fearless. They don’t usually wear gloves or any kind of protective clothing. No masks. Their clothing trends toward the filthy side. They usually cling to the side of a truck as it barrels along.

I often see them eating lunch while standing next to a truck overflowing with trash. How they’re able to stand the smell is beyond my comprehenesion. Clearly, a very tough job undertaken by some very tough people.

On this particular day, as I’m sitting in the micro and the garbage truck passes us, I notice three people sitting in the very back. As in, the very back where the garbage is stuffed. The truck is full. Of garbage. And they’re sitting right at the edge of the pile, probably on top of some of it.

I don’t know if this was a family, but it could’ve been.

They were two men and a boy: an older man in his late 50s, another man looking to be in his late 30s and a kid around 10. So, yeah, I figure it could’ve been three generations. I like to think that it was.

What really caught my attention was the kid, who was talking animatedly. He must have been telling funny stories because the other two men were laughing. Hard. This is while they’re all sitting at the edge of a pile of trash in the back of a garbage truck which, I’m certain, smelled awful.

Talking and laughing like they hadn’t a care in the world. Just having a grand old time. And it was impossible to see them and not question just what in the hell the rest of us are doing, especially us Americans who are constantly pursuing happiness.

I had the feeling that those three guys, sitting there in the back of that garbage truck, they weren’t pursuing happiness. Somehow, and I really wish I knew how, they’d caught that son-of-a-bitch.

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

Protesters call for release of soldiers accused of Nuevo Laredo killings

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MND Staff

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March 13, 2023

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At least 40 people in an urban setting. Many wear dark green and are waving Mexican flags or carrying hand-written signs. — Protesters gathered in Mexico City on Sunday to show support for the soldiers accused of murder. (Andrea Murcia / Cuartoscuro.com)

Mexicans on Sunday took to the streets in numerous cities to call for the release of four soldiers accused of murdering five young men in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, late last month.

The soldiers were detained and ordered to stand trial after opening fire on a pickup truck in the early hours of Feb. 26. Five men including a United States citizen were killed in the incident and one other man was wounded.

The victims, reported to be returning home from a party, were apparently unarmed, and there didn’t appear to be a motive for the attack.

Despite that, citizens in at least 15 cities including Mexico City, Nuevo Laredo, Oaxaca, Cuernavaca, Querétaro, Puebla, Acapulco and Veracruz participated in demonstrations to show their support for the four soldiers involved in the Nuevo Laredo incident as well as other members of the armed forces imprisoned on charges or convictions that they acted illegally in the line of duty.

The protests were promoted on social media using the hashtag #AlEjércitoNoSeToca (Don’t touch the army), a play on the #ElINENoSeToca (Don’t Touch the INE) slogan around which marches in defense of the National Electoral Institute were organized in late February.

Current and ex-soldiers and their family members were among hundreds of people who marched from the Angel of Independence monument to Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo.

A protester dressed satirically in a mask and suit as President López Obrador stands in front of a tricolor banner with a crowd waving Mexican flags behind. In the distance is the Mexico City Angel of Independence landmark. — An AMLO impersonator stands at the front of the crowd at the Sunday protest in Mexico City. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais / Cuartoscuro.com)

Among the messages on signs they carried through the streets of the capital were: “Release our soldiers”; “We demand more support for soldiers and fewer human rights for organized crime; and “In memory of the soldiers who died waiting for an order to shoot that never came.”

The demonstrators also shouted for “freedom” and “justice” for imprisoned military personnel and advised soldiers in a chant that “the people are with you.”

Rosalio López, a retired military man and leader of the Mexico City march, declared that protesters were “defending the ideals of the people of Mexico” and condemned President López Obrador for not doing the same.

“You are the supreme commander of the armed forces, you should be looking out for the interests of the people, of the Mexican army, but you’re not,” he said.

A group of roughly a dozen people wearing dark green hold Mexican flags and protest signs outside a colonial-style stone building. — A group of veterans and military families protest in the port city of Veracruz. (Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)

In a swipe at the federal government’s non-confrontational “hugs, not bullets” security strategy, López said that if the president doesn’t want the armed forces to protect people they shouldn’t be given weapons.

“Give them a comb and some scissors so that they can go and cut hair. Don’t give them weapons,” he said.

López Obrador last Friday condemned the planned march in Nuevo Laredo, saying that its aims were not at all “right” or “healthy.”

“It’s supposedly to defend the army, no! Don’t anyone be fooled, it might even be promoted by [organized] crime itself,” he said before adding to his criticism by claiming that none of the organizers had identified themselves.

The president, who has relied heavily on the military for public security and a range of other non-traditional tasks, has frequently defended the conduct of the armed forces during his government, asserting that the kind of human rights abuses perpetrated in the past are no longer tolerated.

But the head of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee claimed after the Feb. 26 incident that “the Mexican army is out of control.”

“Prosecutors have to clear up what happened and the president must stop protecting [the soldiers],” added Raymundo Ramos, an alleged victim of army espionage.

With reports from El Universal, Sin Embargo, El Financiero, Animal Político, Reforma, Reuters and Milenio

Mexico in Numbers: the nation’s tallest skyscrapers

By

MND Staff

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March 13, 2023

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The skyline of Reforma Avenue — The skyline of Torre Reforma, at the heart of Mexico City. (Arup)

Most of Mexico’s iconic buildings and structures are not skyscrapers: the Palace of Fine Arts and the National Palace in Mexico City; the Hospicio Cabañas, a former orphanage and hospital complex in Guadalajara; and myriad pre-Hispanic structures such as the Temple of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán.

One exception is the capital’s Torre Latinoamericana (Latin American Tower), which was Mexico’s tallest building from 1956 to 1982.

Infographic on Torre Latinoamericana — The Torre Latinoamerica, also known as the the Torre Latino, still boasts Mexico City’s most popular viewing platform even though it hasn’t been Mexico’s tallest building since 1982.

While other Mexican skyscrapers — called rascacielos in Spanish — are not as well-known as the Torre Latinoamericana, there are now close to 30 that are taller than the emblematic tower in the historic center of Mexico City.

In this edition of Mexico in Numbers, read about Mexico’s five tallest skyscrapers, located in two cities: Monterrey, capital of the economic powerhouse state of Nuevo León, and Mexico City, the nation’s capital and most populous city.

Concept art of the Torres Obispado in Monterrey, NL — Tower 1 of the Torres Obispado is the tallest building in Latin America. (Nest)

No. 1: Torres Obispado

The Torres Obispado (Bishopric Towers) are two side-by-side skyscrapers in Monterrey.

Soaring 305 meters into the air, the loftier of the two — Torre 1 — is Mexico’s tallest rascacielos.

Built by the developers Ancore and Nest, the towers were completed in 2020 at a cost of 2 billion pesos (about US $111.3 million at the current exchange rate).

Torre 1 has 64 floors, eight of which are occupied by the Hilton Garden Inn Monterrey Obispado. The skyscraper is not only the tallest in Mexico but also the tallest in Latin America.

Torre 1 is the 27th tallest skyscraper in North America and the 173rd tallest in the world, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

Torre Koi in Monterrey, NL — The Torre Koi is the second tallest skyscraper in Monterrey, NL. (Victor M. Torres)

No. 2: Torre Koi

Located next to Monterrey in the affluent municipality of San Pedro Garza García, Torre Koi is the runner-up in the national tallest building stakes. The mixed-use skyscraper is 279.5 meters high and has 64 floors.

According to Luis Fernández Ortega, a partner and design director with VFO – the firm that designed the building – Torre Koi is an architectural symbol of the economic progress of Monterrey.

The skyscraper is the 46th tallest in North America and the 303rd tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.

Torre Mitikah, Coyoacan — Torre Mítikah is located in Benito Juárez borough. (Mítikah)

No. 3: Torre Mítikah

Mexico’s third highest skyscraper is one of its newest: Torre Mítikah, located in the Benito Juárez borough of Mexico City, was only completed last year.

The 267-meter-high rascacielos houses retail and office space as well as some 600 apartments and amenities for residents.

Designed by César Pelli — a deceased architect who designed notable buildings such as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the World Financial Center in New York — Torre Mítikah is the 57th tallest skyscraper in North America and the 385th tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.

The development was — and is — opposed by many local residents, especially because of the amount of water it requires.

Torre Reforma, CDMX, the third tallest building in the capital — The Torre Reforma is the second tallest building in Mexico City. (Torre Reforma)

No. 4: Torre Reforma

The second tallest skyscraper in Mexico City and the fourth tallest in the country is the Torre Reforma, located on Paseo de la Reforma — the capital’s most emblematic boulevard.

This rascacielos is 246 meters high, making it the 92nd tallest in North America and the 641st tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.

Designed by Mexican architect Benjamín Romano, it won the International High-Rise Award — a prestigious prize awarded in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, every two years — in 2018.

“The prevailing problem of earthquakes in Mexico City calls for an intelligent support structure concept, which lends the 246-meter-high office tower its striking appearance,” said the German Architecture Museum, which jointly awards the prize.

It also said that Romano had placed Mexico City “on the world map of groundbreaking high-rise architecture.”

Chapultepec Uno, Reforma, CDMX — Chapultepec Uno in Mexico City, home to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. (@porcelainwindow/Instagram)

No. 5 Chapultepec Uno

Rounding out the top five tallest skyscrapers in Mexico is Chapultepec Uno, also located on Paseo de la Reforma.

The high-rise soars 241 meters into the Mexico City sky, making it 101st tallest skyscraper in North America and the 723rd tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.

Built by the real estate development company T69, the mixed-use tower is partially occupied by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

As its name suggests, the skyscraper overlooks Bosque de Chapultepec, a huge park that is home to a castle, zoo, museums and other attractions.

With reports from Infobae