The iconic pyramid at Chichén Itzá will be examined by scientists using state-of-the-art technology, in the hope that it will yield new data about the structure.(INAH/Cuartoscuro)
A group of international scientists — including academics from Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) — will use cutting-edge technology to search for hidden chambers inside the iconic ancient pyramid of Chichén Itzá.
The target of this investigation is “El Castillo,” a 30-meter high stepped pyramid that dominates the Chichén Itzá archaeological site in the state of Yucatán and that is also known as the Temple of Kulkulcán.
UNAM’s Arturo Menchaca Rocha and Chicago State University professor Edmundo García Solís hope to discover hidden chambers within the pyramid. (UNAM/Cuartoscuro)
The study, which is set to take place this summer, will rely on a non-invasive process that uses cosmic-ray muon radiography to peer inside sealed off structures. The process, known as Non-Invasive Archaeometry Using Muons (NAUM), was used to get a clear image of a 30-foot corridor inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza last year.
The investigators — led by Arturo Menchaca Rocha, a former head of UNAM’s Institute of Physics, and Edmundo García Solis of Chicago State University — aim to get an accurate image of the inside of the pyramid in order to determine if there are secret chambers hidden inside the sub-structure.
Scientists will first map out the two known chambers inside “El Castillo” — known as “El Jaguar” and “Chac Mool” — to confirm the viability of the NAUM system. They will then proceed to produce a detailed examination of the entire pyramid.
The process is expected to take about six months.
What is muography?
Muography is a rapidly developing and non-destructive technology that uses cosmic ray muons, naturally occurring radiation from space. It tracks the number of muons that naturally pass through a target object to determine the density of the inaccessible internal structure.
The muon is one of the fundamental subatomic particles, the most basic building blocks of the universe.
García explained that muons are charged particles similar to electrons but that weigh more than 207 times as much. Due to their greater mass, they can penetrate deeper into matter when charged with energy.
In a bulletin, UNAM explained that the investigators will be using a detector with plastic scintillator sensors that convert energy into pulses of light, with results relayed to researchers via the internet.
Archaeologists will first scan two of the temple’s known hidden chambers as a means of testing the technology. (UNAM/Cuartoscuro)
The data gathered will help the investigators identify changes in density inside the pyramid which can produce a pattern indicating a void.
This technique was previously used to explore the famed Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán.
Who is funding the study?
The investigation was approved by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH),with funding from UNAM and the United States’ National Science Foundation.
Academics from the University of Virginia and Dominican University are also participating in the study, as is Fermilab, a particle physics and accelerator laboratory in the United States.
The peso is holding steady at close to 17 to the US dollar. (Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican peso appreciated to its strongest position against the US dollar in more than a month on Tuesday morning, trading at just below 17 to the greenback before weakening slightly.
The USD:MXN exchange rate was 16.998 just before 8:30 a.m. Mexico City time, according to Bloomberg. That was the peso’s strongest position since Jan. 15.
At 10 a.m., the peso was trading at a slightly weaker 17.04 to the dollar, on par with its closing position on Monday.
The DXY index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.35% at 10 a.m.
The Monex financial group said that the peso got a boost on Tuesday morning as a result of a “weakened dollar” following a day of low trading volumes in the United States. Monday was a federal holiday in the U.S. for Presidents’ Day.
The publication on Wednesday of the United States Federal Reserve’s minutes from its monetary policy meeting in January could have an impact on the USD:MXN exchange rate as they could give some indication as to when the central bank is likely to make an initial cut to interest rates in the U.S.
When will the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates? A publication of the minutes from its January monetary policy meeting on Wednesday could give clues. (Wikimedia Commons)
Just over half of 104 economists polled by Reuters — 53 — predicted that a first cut to the current 5.25%-5.5% range will come in June, while 33 anticipated an initial cut in May. The other 18 predicted that the Fed will make a first cut sometime in the second half of 2024.
The Mexican peso benefited in 2023 from the vast difference between the Bank of Mexico’s benchmark interest rate — set at 11.25% since last March — and that of the Fed. An initial cut to the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) rate is seen as likely in the first half of the year, although inflation ticked up to almost 5% in January. Banxico will publish the minutes from its monetary policy meeting earlier this month on Thursday.
The peso had an impressive 2023, trading at just below 17 to the dollar at the end of December after beginning the year at around 19.5 to the greenback. The gain for the peso in percentage terms last year was around 13%.
In addition to the difference between interest rates in Mexico and the U.S., strong incoming flows of remittances and foreign investment also contributed to the peso’s positive performance last year.
So far in 2024, the USD:MXN exchange rate has fluctuated between a range of 16.8 and 17.4.
The consensus forecast of 33 banks, brokerages and research organizations consulted by Citibanamex in late 2023 was that the peso will weaken this year to trade at 18.65 to the dollar at the end of 2024.
The Bookmates and 311 Literacy foundations are teaming up to launch a cross-border competition for young readers, with prizes for the winners. (Shutterstock)
To combat low levels of literacy among Hispanic children in the United States and Mexico, one Harvard grad has taken on the challenge of bringing communities closer together through the power of reading.
“Beyond academic development, reading creates emotional connections and fosters positive relationships with other human beings. It is an opportunity to generate empathy and unforgettable memories,” explains Ariadna Trapote, founder and CEO of Little Bookmates and 311 Literacy. Alongside a team of experts, she has created an international bilingual reading tournament for boys and girls that will take place from March 1st to 23rd of this year.
Organizers hope the contest will bring Hispanic communities on both sides of the border closer together. (Jennifer Gates/LightSail/X)
With over 4,000 books available online, the tournament offers access to a wide variety of texts, recording the minutes that children spend reading, thanks to digital platform LightSail. This allows participants to monitor their progress and compete with each other in a fun and educational way. “We believe that if children start reading a lot, they will develop a love for reading and through that, they will be able to learn anything,” Trapote says.
But how does the tournament work? It’s simple: children read books online through the platform, accumulating reading minutes. The challenge lies in seeing which country – Mexico or the United States – accumulates the most reading minutes across the 23 days of the competition.
“We need children to create positive relationships with reading, not just academic ones, so they enjoy reading and can read to learn,” adds Trapote.
Books are categorized according to the reading level, making it easy for participants to find the texts best suited to their abilities. Although schools in the U.S. assign a reading level to each child (called Lexile), there is no such system in Mexico, so participants are placed corresponding to their school grade. The tournament is open to children in both elementary and high school in Mexico and the U.S.
The winning children will also receive new books for their school library. (Becca Tapert/Unsplash)
“It is important to note that registration must be done by the school or teacher, ensuring that participants are real children committed to reading,” says Ariadna. Anyone who wishes to register after the Feb. 20 deadline that appears on the portal will be able to do so by sending an email to organizers through the 311 Literacy platform. Entry to the tournament is free, and organizers hope more than 10,000 children will sign up.
Mexican pupils in Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, México state and Jalisco have already taken up the challenge, with U.S. schoolchildren in Chicago and Philadelphia joining the tournament too.
The contest will culminate in awards ceremonies at the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores in Mexico and at a separate venue in the United States that is yet to be confirmed. Three different prizes will be awarded in both countries: the child who has read the most minutes, the classroom that has read the most minutes (teachers will also be awarded), and the school with the highest reading average.
Individual first-place finishers will receive an Apple MacBook, with the winning teacher scooping a new MacBook of her own as well. For the winning Mexican group, participants will receive tickets to the Six Flags theme park.
Winning participants will also see their schools awarded new books for their library.
Organizers hope that this competition can greatly bring children closer to reading, in addition to fostering bonds between two countries with a closely shared heritage.
Camila Sánchez Bolaño is a journalist, feminist, bookseller, lecturer, and cultural promoter and is Editor in Chief of Newsweek en Español magazine.
On Feb. 5, the president announced a suite of sweeping constitutional reform proposals that, according to some observers, severely downgrade Mexican democracy. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
In light of President López Obrador’s presentation of 20 constitutional reforms on Feb. 5, the Mexico Institute invited Advisory Board members, fellows and experts to provide analysis and commentary on individual proposals and the broader reform package.
Constitutional Changes
Ambassador Roberta Lajous
Wilson Center Fellow; Researcher, El Colegio de México; former Mexican Ambassador to Austria, Bolivia, Cuba and Spain
From the National Palace, not Congress, President López Obrador (AMLO) announced on Feb. 5 a potpourri of 18 sweeping constitutional reforms that severely downgrade Mexican democracy. If the reforms go ahead, the Supreme Court would be debilitated by having its members openly elected, independent regulatory agencies would disappear, the electoral authority would be back under the control of the president and the ongoing militarization of the police force would be formalized. At the same time, with a clear authoritarian streak, and going against all international standards and recommendations, the instances where individuals could go to prison before being judged are broadened to include even the incorrect filing of taxes. To sweeten the deal, accompanying laws propose pie in the sky pensions, which would be raised by as much as 100% of workers’ final salaries, threatening financial disaster for the treasury. These proposed changes lack the needed majority to be approved by this Congress. Therefore, they will become the electoral platform for AMLO’s handpicked successor, Claudia Sheinbaum. Once again, the president has been successful in setting the agenda for public debate but, this time, at the cost of leaving no oxygen for Sheinbaum to voice her own views.
Since there is no possibility of presidential reelection in Mexico, AMLO is seeking to prolong his power well beyond his six-year term. Sheinbaum, if elected, will have to remain under AMLO’s control and be subjected to the threat of a recently approved poll that could revoke her mandate within two years of taking office. Given the influence AMLO holds over a significant part of the electorate through his daily press conference, it will be a real challenge for the opposition candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, to make the case against these proposed reforms. However, if anyone can successfully do it, it is her. Xóchitl is a charismatic leader who comes from poverty and discrimination but propelled herself through higher education to become a successful businesswoman and, later, a democratic politician.
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez at a campaign event in Ciudad Juárez. (@PAN_CDM_JUAREZ/X)
Mexicans need a new government respectful of checks and balances — not this new constitution that would throw Mexico back to its authoritarian past. The last chance to rectify the course taken by AMLO will be the June 2 election, the biggest Mexico has ever had, where the two full houses of Congress will be elected along with many state legislators, governors and mayors. The unified opposition platform of the three main parties — PAN, PRI and PRD — along with civil society organizations, will present an alternative project. Hopefully they will show the muscle needed for the campaign, which officially starts March 1. Provided they remain united, this coalition could stop the militarization of society and the return to an unrestrained presidential system.
AMLO’s Last-Minute Mini-Sexenio
Alejandro García Magos
Lecturer, University of Toronto
The vertigo of losing power has finally caught up with AMLO. On Feb. 5, a seven-month “mini-sexenio” commenced, during which, at the eleventh hour, AMLO will attempt to fulfill his promise of laying the groundwork for a “transformation” and securing a place in history.
Despite five years and two months having passed without achieving his promised objectives — namely, the reduction of criminal violence and the acceleration of economic growth — it is only now, mere months before relinquishing power, that 20 constitutional reforms are being proposed to finally steer the country towards peace and prosperity.
AMLO is not the first president to try to salvage his legacy at the last minute. José López Portillo tried it in 1982 when, three months before stepping down, he decreed the nationalization of the banking sector, leaving a political and economic mess for his successor, Miguel de la Madrid. Similarly, AMLO is proposing an agenda for the next government and a change of political regime for Mexico, which is, for the time being, still democratic. Indeed, his proposals seek to dismantle the independence of the judiciary, eliminate the autonomy of electoral authorities and militarize public security. AMLO has launched these proposals (that have already foundered in Congress) like a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. It would be amusing if not for the fact that the future of the country is at stake.
A protester displays sign reading “Don’t touch the INE” at during a 2023 march against AMLO’s proposed changes to the National Electoral Institute (INE). (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
This package of reforms is an implicit acknowledgment of the shortcomings of AMLO’s government and the fact that time and political capital have run out. This seven-month mini–sexenio can be seen as the tale of a president who missed his chance and now, in the twilight of his administration, seeks to leave a symbolic mark. In the absence of tangible results, laws are being proposed. Regardless of the outcome of these reforms, the quality of life for Mexicans is unlikely to change. Despite the high expectations raised by AMLO six years ago at the beginning of his government, his actual political record is underwhelming. As for the mini–sexenio, what more can be said, except that perhaps the saying about history repeating itself twice, first as tragedy and then as farce, holds true.
The Politics of AMLO’s Reform Proposals
Luis Rubio
Mexico Institute Advisory Board Member; president of México Evalúa-CIDAC and former president of the Mexican Council on International Affairs (COMEXI). He is a prolific columnist on international relations and on politics and the economy, writing weekly for Reforma newspaper, and regularly for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
There are at least three factors that led President López Obrador to send Congress a package of extremely ambitious (and deleterious) constitutional amendments. The first and most obvious one is that this puts him in a position where he can advocate for a vision of the future without violating the letter of the electoral law, even though he’s doing it precisely to circumvent it. The second reason is to provoke an opposition outcry to consolidate his base. The third, and most puzzling, is to control his candidate. While the first two can be summarized as “politics as usual,” the third is the most transcendent, for it underscores the complexity of the coming race.
The context of the president’s thrust is very clear: He has spent the last five years fully devoted to the succession process now underway. Rather than push an ambitious development project, like all his predecessors did (regardless of the project’s respective merit or soundness), President López Obrador is unique in that he is concentrated on two things and two things only: eliminating or neutralizing all or most institutional checks on presidential power in an attempt to recreate the all-powerful presidency of yesteryear. And, building and securing an electoral base to win the 2024 election.
Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum embraced the president’s `proposed reforms, though she arguably had little alternative. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
AMLO measures his success or failure by the result of the June 2 election. Now that the election looms, the question is whether he can accomplish his only objective. And the constitutional reforms are an important element in this regard.
The president has by now created a complex relationship with his anointed candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum. For AMLO to reach his goal, she must win the election; however, were she to win, she would have to alter course. The roadmap designed by AMLO will not allow her to be successful as it would only deepen the polarization in which the president thrives. AMLO cannot be repeated; nobody can duplicate his history or skills, thus making it impossible for his successor to replicate his tactics, starting with the permanent attempt to polarize and sow discord.
Sheinbaum has embraced the president’s proposed reforms, for she cannot say otherwise if she wants to win. Yet, by embracing them, she loses the support of many Mexicans who would rather seek a more harmonious government. Thus, the president’s reforms evidence the divergent interests between AMLO and his candidate, which might well create the conditions for a truly competitive presidential race.
The content of the proposed reforms is now the subject of serious analysis and debate, as they would upend not only the attempt to build a democracy over the last several decades, but also a market-based economy embodied in NAFTA/USMCA. Beyond the specifics of the proposed reforms, the politics behind them are clear: The president wants to win the coming election and will stop at nothing to guarantee that result.
This article was originally published by The Mexico Institute at The Wilson Center. A part two will follow here on Mexico News Daily.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
A Black Turtle conservation project in Jalisco has asked supports to "adopt" a nest and help fund the cost of protecting the marine species. (Campamento Mayto/Instagram)
Would you like to contribute to the long-term survival of sea turtles? Why not “adopt” a turtle nest?
A turtle camp on the coast of Jalisco launched an “Adopt a Black Turtle Nest” campaign this month, calling on wildlife lovers to donate 250 pesos (about US $15) toward the costs associated with monitoring nests before the eggs hatch.
The project will use donations to fund the cost of operations. (Campamento Mayto/Instagram)
Black turtle is another name for the Pacific green turtle, or Chelonia mydas.
The Campamento Tortugero Mayto, located about 90 kilometers south of Puerto Vallarta in the municipality of Cabo Corrientes, said in a Facebook post earlier this month that it had “recorded and protected” a record number of turtle nests this nesting season.
“For this reason we invite you to adopt one of these nests. With your economic contribution you will directly support the maintenance of the camp and sea turtle protection activities, ensuring the continuity of night patrols and monitoring of nests until the hatching of eggs,” the camp said.
It said that donors will receive an “adoption certificate with details about nest collection and how many baby turtles will be released.”
“We’ll even share an estimated hatching date so that you can accompany us at their release,” the camp added.
Anyone interested in adopting a nest should contact the Campamento Tortugero Mayto via its Facebook or Instagram page.
The vehicles were burned after the attack, possibly making it more difficult to establish who and how many people died in the attack. (via Excelsior)
The attorney general of Sonora has rejected a claim from a New York-based law firm that more than 50 migrants were killed in the northern state last Thursday.
“First of all, I want to be emphatic in pointing out that what that organization has asserted is completely false,” Sonora Attorney General Gustavo Rómulo Salas Chávez told reporters on Monday.
The law firm 1800migrante.com — which says it is also a non-government organization that provides legal advice to migrants — said in a statement on Sunday that “more than 50 migrants were victims in the massacre in Sáric,” a municipality in northern Sonora that borders the United States.
Its claim appears to be based solely on the account of a Peruvian migrant who witnessed the attack.
Salas said that only three deaths have been confirmed, those of a four-year old boy and two women. An additional 10 migrants were reportedly wounded and taken to a hospital in Caborca, another municipality that borders the United States.
The statement released by 1800migrante.com quotes a Peruvian migrant referred to as “Carlos,” whose real name was withheld for privacy. Carlos said that he and other migrants left a town in the municipality of Tubutama in three vans on Thursday night and were traveling toward the Mexico-U.S. border when a car rammed into the vehicle he was in from behind.
He said that the impact forced the van he was in off the road into a “small gully.”
Armed men got out of the car and started shooting at Carlos and approximately 24 other migrants who were traveling with him, according to the version of events published by 1800migrante.com.
“We all ran to save ourselves,” said Carlos, adding that the two other vans carrying female and child migrants subsequently came under fire when they arrived at the scene. Carlos said that armed men in another vehicle later arrived and engaged in a gun battle with “the first ones who attacked us.”
“You could tell they were opposing gangs,” Carlos said, adding that “we saw from the mountain” that the vehicles were later set on fire.
Some of the migrants — among whom were Ecuadorians, Dominicans, Hondurans, Peruvians, Brazilians and Guatemalans — were in the vehicles that were set alight, according to Red Cross personnel who responded to the attack.
“What I could see is that they were dressed in blue military uniforms, they used military weapons and grenade launchers,” Carlos said, referring to the men that attacked the migrants.
According to the statement from 1800migrante.com, Carlos escaped through the desert with five Ecuadorian migrants and managed to cross into the United States a few days later. He then contacted the law firm for assistance to locate his 28-year-old sister, Ana Vidal, who was in one of the vans traveling toward the border last Thursday.
The death of Ana Vidal, a Peruvian migrant, was one of few confirmed by authorities after the attack, according to a lawyer working with her brother. (William Murillo/X)
William Murillo, co-founder of 1800migrante.com, said in a post on the X social media site on Monday that it had been confirmed that she had been killed. In the same post, he said that two Ecuadorians, including the four-year-old boy, and a Honduran woman were also among the victims.
Salas, the Sonora attorney general, said that “first investigations” by state authorities found that between 11 and 14 migrants were traveling in three vehicles that came under attack on Thursday night. He said that three or four wounded migrants were still receiving treatment in hospitals in Caborca.
Salas also told reporters that the army had just captured “in that area” a “complete [criminal] cell of eight individuals with long weapons.”
They were detained in the municipality of General Plutarco Elías Calles, a border municipality whose administrative center Sonoyta is opposite Lukeville, Arizona. Salas didn’t explicitly say that were involved in last Thursday’s attack , although he gave that impression. He also said that three other suspected criminals had been arrested in the same area.
Before the remarks from Salas, authorities in Sonora had provided scant information about the events in Sáric last Thursday.
Murillo claimed that “the silence of Mexican authorities borders on complicity with these criminals who control a significant area of the border.”
“… We demand full transparency from the authorities in order to know the facts [and] the names of the victims and the wounded,” he said.
Migrants traveling through Mexico frequently become victims of crime, including murder.
The airport is expected to bring a surge in tourism to the already-popular region. (Mara Lezama/X)
U.S. low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has delayed the introduction of flights to the new Tulum airport, which were supposed to begin this spring.
The flights were scheduled to depart from both Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport starting on March 28.
The Spirit service to Tulum was meant to begin in March, but will now be delayed indefinitely. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
In October, Spirit unveiled plans to offer nonstop flights to Tulum’s recently opened Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport. However, the airline has since confirmed to Travel + Leisure magazine that the flights are currently on hold due to ongoing issues with engines on 26 of its aircraft.
“We are postponing the start date of our Tulum (TQO) service as we continue to manage operational constraints related to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine availability,” a spokesperson from Spirit Airlines said in a statement to T+L.
“This new issue is yet another frustrating and disappointing development,” Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie told investors, according to Reuters.
“We apologize to our guests for any inconvenience, and we’re reaching out to those with impacted travel plans to offer alternate flight options or a refund,” Spirit told T+L. “We look forward to the opportunity to serve Tulum in the future and will share more once we have an updated schedule.”
Spirit did not share a timetable for when the flights to Tulum could begin.
Tulum airport opened to domestic flights on Dec. 1, 2023, and will welcome international flights in just a few weeks.
Delta Airlines was the first U.S. airline to announce daily nonstop flights to the new airport from Atlanta International Airport (ATL), followed by Spirit Airlines, United, American Airlines, and JetBlue. In December, Air Canada also announced direct flights from Montreal and Toronto.
Emergency crews worked to rescue the occupants of both vehicles. Five of the 7 occupants of the SUV involved in the crash were killed. (Protección Civil de Solidaridad)
A frightful accident on a rain-slickened highway in the state of Quintana Roo on Sunday afternoon resulted in the death of five tourists from Argentina and a Mexican driver.
The tourists were among seven people riding in a private Suzuki SUV when it collided with the Toyota van on a section of Highway 307 about halfway between Tulum and Playa del Carmen.
The injured victims were airlifted to hospital, where one, the driver of the van, later succumbed to his injuries. (X)
While initial witness reports indicated the van lost control (driving at excessive speed) and collided with the SUV, as of Monday afternoon, a report in El Financiero newspaper said that the SUV struck the van, which was parked at the side of the road.
Wet pavement from the rain was cited by the Quintana Roo prosecutor’s office as an initial cause, though a further announcement is pending.
The driver of the van was airlifted to a local hospital, but either died along the way or shortly after arriving.
The Argentines were reportedly staying in different hotels and some were with their families, who were waiting for them to return from their outing.
Of the seven people in the SUV, five were killed in the collision, which occurred around 1 p.m. The survivors were a woman in the center back seat and a male in the front passenger seat.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador addressed the accident at his Monday morning press conference, noting that he had communicated with Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa and that the families of the dead had been notified.
“Let the people of Argentina know that we are caring for those who unfortunately lost their lives,” he said. “We are seeking to provide all the facilities to family members and we are helping.”
Shortly after the accident, news outlets and internet users began sharing videos and images of the accident, some of them grisly.
On Monday, Quintana Roo’s secretary of government, Cristina Torres, reminded the media that the dissemination of videos and photographs of victims violates their rights to privacy.
“That accident was very ugly, very ugly,” AMLO added.
The names of the victims were released Monday afternoon: Maximiliano Laviano, Hernán Ezequiel Sibella, Vanesa Paola Silva, Gerónimo Amengual and Nahuel López were the Argentine nationals, and Freddy Omar Quijano was the Mexican driver who was killed.
The bodies of the Argentines will be returned to their home country, although no timeline for this has been provided.
Scores of police and emergency services responded to the accident, forcing the complete closure of a large section of highway, about 30 km south of Playa del Carmen, for several hours. Firemen used equipment known as “the jaws of life” to free trapped occupants.
Quintana Roo’s State Attorney General (FGE) said an investigation had begun into the cause of the crash. “Experts from different specialties are working on the analysis of the evidence collected,” it said in a statement.
On Saturday, state officials had posted heavy to very heavy rain warnings for the area. Advisories were issued that highway drivers use caution.
A secluded beach in the Nayarit Riviera is home to a turtle conservation project that releases hundreds of baby turtles each night - and you can visit. (Ruth Ramírez)
For an up-close-and-personal sea turtle experience — just you, the turtles and a few biologists — you can’t beat the aptly-named Playa de las Tortugas, located 21 kilometers south of San Blas, in the state of Nayarit. On top of that, driving time to this little-known beach is only four hours and one minute from Guadalajara — two minutes on a bad day.
Las Tortugas is a virgin beach located approximately one hour from state capital Tepic. (Tortugas Villa)
But if you’re in the mood for roughing it, you can wind your way through this development all the way to the beach, which is quite rustic and covered with coconut palms. It also features good waves for surfing and an estuary with long mangrove tunnels, perfect for kayaking.
After setting up my tent under a low coconut palm, I took a dip in the ocean, whose waters in mid-December were neither hot nor cold, but the perfect temperature for swimming.
After that, I wandered south along the beach and came to a big sign reading “WHAT DO I DO IF I SEE A TURTLE COME OUT OF THE OCEAN?”
The basic message was: keep back and don’t interfere. Just beyond the sign was an open gate and beyond the gate a handsome tower with a palapa on top of it.
A turtle egg garden
A model of a turtle nest. (Ruth Ramírez)
Soon, I came upon a sign welcoming me to Campamento Platanitos Center for the Protection and Conservation of the Sea Turtle. I was now inside a clean, pleasant-looking compound with numerous buildings and two fenced-off areas that appeared to be gardens — until I looked carefully.
Neat rows of little signs described not vegetables, but clutches of turtle eggs buried there: date of arrival, number of eggs, etc. And then in the “garden,” I found not a farmer, but a biologist. This was Ruth Ramírez, who had studied biology at the University of Guadalajara.
“What did your garden produce today?” I asked her. Her eyes lit up. “Come follow me,” she said, walking over to a small museum.
100 baby turtles trying to escape
Here, on the floor in the middle of the room, was a sort of giant plastic bathtub and inside it were at least 100 hopelessly cute little turtles, their shells only about 1 inch in diameter. Ninety percent of them were making little scuffling noises as they tried to climb the walls of the bathtub. The other ten percent weren’t moving.
The egg nursery, where the turtles are able to hatch in safety. (John Pint)
“Are they dead?” I asked. “No,” Ramírez said, “just resting. In a minute they’ll be back at it, trying to reach the ocean.”
“How many days have they been in this tub?” I asked.
“What? All of these were born today and tonight we’re going to release them!” Ramírez explained to me that the job of the camp’s staff is to patrol the beach every night, collecting the turtle eggs that have been laid here and bringing them to the incubation corrals.
Threatened by extinction
“Typically,” the biologist said, “one of these turtles could produce between 60 and 180 eggs. Ramírez is referring to the olive ridley sea turtle, which is the turtle that most often comes up on these beaches in Nayarit.”
A turtle watchtower on Las Tortugas beach. (Platanitos Turtle Camp)
Ramírez explained to me that there are seven species of sea turtles in the world. One is endemic to Australia and all the others can be found in the Americas. And, she added, “All those other six species are officially listed as threatened by extinction globally.”
Ramírez led me to a display all about the olive ridley turtle. “They eat algae, sea grass, crabs and snails and when they are eight or ten years old, with a shell measuring some 70 centimeters in width, they return to the same beach where they were born to lay their eggs. Only the females come on to land, not the males.”
Ramírez says the high season for olive ridleys at Playa de las Tortugas is from May to August, “When the whole beach is full of turtles.” Now, in the winter, only one or two show up every night to lay their eggs.
The amazing belly-button recorder
In front of a model of a turtle nest, Ramírez explained that when a mother turtle arrives on the beach, she hunts for just the right place to lay her eggs, depending on information from a kind of sensor organ on the flat bottom of her shell. Then, with her back legs, she digs a tube-like hole and lays her eggs inside.
The camp offers an opportunity for the whole family to learn about wildlife conservation. (Platanitos Turtle Camp)
Incubation time varies by species. For the olive ridley sea turtle, it is 45 days from when the eggs are laid until they are hatched. At this moment, we were interrupted by visitors who, like me, were enchanted by the tubful of tiny turtles.“Can we pick them up?” they asked.
“Yes,” replied the biologist, “but be very careful not to touch the underside of their shell, called the plastron. Right in the middle of it, they have a belly button: what remains of their umbilical cord. This could provide them with nutrition for as long as ten days, keeping them alive as they enter the ocean.” Amazingly, this also acts as a highly sophisticated sensor recording all kinds of information as the baby turtle runs from its nest to the sea, sufficient information to enable it to return to the very same beach eight years later to lay its own eggs.
Bienvenidos, visitors and volunteers
The camp’s staff of four liberate turtles every evening at 5 p.m., making sure that predators such as raccoons, skunks, crabs and birds have no chance to end their run. Visitors who want to help with this are welcome to, and the same goes for the nightly beach patrols.
In spite of all their efforts, laments Ramírez, “the odds are against these little creatures. Only one in a thousand will live to return to our beach eight years from now.”
To see it all for yourself, pack up your tent, coconut machete and kayak and ask Google Maps to take you to Platanitos Turtle Camp, Nayarit.
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
Thousands gathered in Mexico City's Zócalo during Sunday's "March for Democracy." (Adolfo Vladimir / Cuartoscuro.com)
Citizens took to the streets of Mexico City and numerous other cities across Mexico on Sunday to participate in pro-democracy protests amid what they see as an attack on the nation’s democratic institutions by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
At least 90,000 people gathered in Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo, to listen to an address by former National Electoral Institute (INE) president Lorenzo Córdova at the conclusion of the “March for our Democracy” in the capital, while similar rallies drew thousands more in cities including Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Querétaro and Hermosillo.
The organizers of the protests — civil society groups that support or are affiliated with Mexico’s main opposition parties — asserted that over 700,000 people descended on the Zócalo, a figure more than seven times higher than the official count by authorities in the capital. Many of the participants wore pink and white — which feature in the INE logo — to demonstrate their support for the electoral authority, which López Obrador sought to overhaul with a sweeping electoral reform package that was struck down by the Supreme Court last year.
The demonstrations came 3 1/2 months ahead of Mexico’s presidential and congressional elections and two weeks after the president submitted 20 constitutional reform proposals to the Congress, including ones aimed at eliminating a number of autonomous government agencies, allowing citizens to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges and significantly changing Mexico’s electoral system.
In his more than five years as president, López Obrador has been a frequent and ardent critic of various autonomous government agencies, which he considers superfluous and claims were “created to legalize corruption.” He has also been highly critical of the judiciary, which he asserts is at the service of criminals and a “greedy minority” of citizens, and the INE, which he believes is bloated and which — in an earlier iteration — he accused of facilitating fraud in the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections he lost. His latest electoral reform proposal aims, among other things, to reduce the number of INE councilors and to rename the body the National Institute of Elections and Consultations.
Some protesters in the Zócalo on Sunday said they weren’t specifically demonstrating against the president, but rather wanted to show their support for the nation’s democratic institutions and advocate for clean and fair elections. But anti-AMLO chants such as “narco-presidente,” a reference to recently aired accusations that his 2006 presidential campaign received drug money, and “fuera López” — effectively a directive to “leave office now” — were a feature of the rally.
🗣️ “Hoy todo eso está bajo amenaza, pasamos más de 40 años construyendo una escalera democrática, y hoy, desde el poder, quién llegó a ese primer piso por libre voluntad de ciudadanía, pretende destruir esa escalera para que nadie más pueda transitarla”: Lorenzo Córdova durante… pic.twitter.com/1spvkhbPTG
Former INE director Lorenzo Córdova gave an impassioned speech at the Mexico City march.
In his speech in the Zócalo, Córdova didn’t explicitly mention the president or the ruling Morena party, but nevertheless made it clear that he holds them responsible for the “risks” he believes Mexico’s democracy currently faces.
“Today we are demonstrating in the streets of our country due to the risks that democracy faces, amid attempts to damage the conditions that allow us to have free and authentic elections and to dismantle the institutions that protect us from abuses,” he said.
Córdova said that the nation’s democratic institutes can only be “touched” for the purpose of “improving them.”
If the aim is to “dismantle them, tear them apart or capture them, we say loud and clear — of course they cannot be touched,” he said.
Democracy in Mexico — which for all intents and purposes is only 24 years old — “didn’t fall from above, it’s the result of the struggles of many citizens,” said Córdova, who claimed that Mexico is confronting a political “project of authoritarian regression.”
A Mexico City resident identified only as Tatiana told the EFE news agency that she decided to take part in Sunday’s march “to protest against the abuse and co-option of institutions that took a lot of work to build as a counterweight to power.”
“I believe [López Obrador] has destroyed the country and polarized the people,” she said.
Pink-clad protesters gathered in many major Mexican cities, including Aguascalientes, shown here. (Rodrigo Gómez/X)
Maritza Gómez told EFE that she believed that the government would interfere in the upcoming elections in the lead-up to, and on, election day on June 2.
“The government won’t allow [people] to vote against it. It’s going all out to try to stop [people voting for the opposition]. I’m scared, there’s going to be theft of ballot boxes and … [outside Mexico City] the narcos won’t allow people to vote or will tell them to vote for Morena,” she said.
Juan Carlos Grandío of México state expressed widespread dissatisfaction with López Obrador’s presidency.
“He promised us a lot of things that he didn’t carry out. … I voted for him, but I realized that he deceived us,” he told EFE.
“… I would ask him to stop allying himself with the narcos and not to interfere in the elections, but there are a thousand other things to improve like security or the health system,” Grandío said.
Speaking to the El País newspaper, Natalia Carrillo said, “We want our votes to count and to live in a true democracy.”
“This is not against the president, but it’s true that the line between opposing the government and defending our rights is becoming increasingly blurry,” she said.
Gerardo Villadelangel, another protester, told El País that “the defense of democracy has become an opposition struggle, especially when we’re facing a dictatorship under construction.”
López Obrador is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, but some analysts see the presentation of his constitutional reform proposals as a means to set the agenda for his likely successor, Morena party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, and thus continue to have a bearing on politics after his six-year term ends.
As protesters marched on the Zócalo, Morena party presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum officially registered her candidacy at the INE offices, and had some sharp words for those who participated in the march after having allegedly “promoted electoral fraud” in the past. (Claudia Sheinbaum / X)
Most of the proposals will likely be rejected by the Congress before the election as they require the support of two-thirds of lawmakers to pass. Consequently, Sheinbaum — who has expressed support for the proposals and is pledging to continue the “fourth transformation” of Mexico initiated by her political mentor — would be left to navigate their path through Congress, provided she wins on June 2, as poll results currently indicate she will.
Xóchitl Gálvez, presidential candidate for the three-party Strength and Heart for Mexico opposition alliance, didn’t attend any of the demonstrations held around the country on Sunday, but expressed her support for them in a video posted to social media.
“Today I want to celebrate the civic energy and citizen force that was on display this morning in various cities of our country and in other parts of the world,” she said.
“It fills me with hope and optimism to see this enormous participation of Mexican women and men. Democracy is exercised at the ballot box but also in the streets and public squares. While Mexico has citizens who go out to demonstrate to defend their democracy, who exercise their right to the free expression of ideas, there won’t be an authoritarian temptation that can send our institutions to hell,” Gálvez said.
After attending INE offices to officially register her candidacy, Sheinbaum on Sunday said it was “important” to “point out the insincerity and hypocrisy of those who speak about or march for democracy” when they previously “promoted electoral frauds” and ignored “vote-buying.”
That message was presumably directed at politicians affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and National Action Party (PAN) who participated in the protests. The PRI was a dominant and authoritarian power in Mexico for most of the 20th century, while the PAN was in power for the first 12 years of this century before the PRI returned to office under former president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012. They are aiming to return to power by banding together to form the alliance that is backing Gálvez. The Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, is the third member of the coalition.
Sheinbaum, who was part of López Obrador’s government when he was mayor of Mexico City in the early 2000s, said that Morena, or the so-called “fourth transformation” movement “defends democracy” and “the active participation of society” whereas opposition parties only feign to do so.
“It’s pertinent to mention that our constitutional change proposals seek to strengthen the electoral and participatory democracy for which the people of Mexico have always fought,” she added.
