AMLO shared this photo of a sculpture at the Ek Balam site along with a blurry image of a creature in a tree that he speculated could be an "alux." (@LopezObrador/Twitter)
Little known outside the Yucatán Peninsula, the alux has captured headlines around the world the last few days after President López Obrador shared a photo he claimed was of the mythological Mayan creature on Saturday.
Although many thought it a joke, it wasn’t clear if AMLO was serious or not.
Les comparto dos fotos de nuestra supervisión a las obras del Tren Maya: una, tomada por un ingeniero hace tres días, al parecer de un aluxe; otra, de Diego Prieto de una espléndida escultura prehispánica en Ek Balam. Todo es místico. pic.twitter.com/Tr5OP2EqmU
On his social media accounts, AMLO shared two images with the post:
“I share two photos of our supervision of the Maya Train works: one, taken by an engineer three days ago, apparently of an aluxe; another, by Diego Prieto of a splendid pre-Hispanic sculpture in Ek Balam. Everything is mystical.”
Internet users quickly reacted to the alux image stating that the same photograph has circulated on the internet for at least two years now. The ongoing controversy over the environmental impact of the Maya Train also stirred up chatter online as the president’s post went viral. And it left many wondering: what is an alux?
An ancient Mayan clay figurine that may represent an alux, or elf-like mythical creature. (Wikimedia Commons)
Considered a mischievous woodland spirit in Mayan folklore, the aluxes (a-loo-shez) are small goblins or elves said to live in natural places such as jungles, caves or cenotes. According to legend, these goblins dress as people and play tricks on those who do not leave offerings when building a house or preparing soil for the milpa (corn field).
A few comments on the post even warned that AMLO should not have published the alux photo without proper protocol. That is because aluxes are said to be very helpful if treated with respect and offerings, but if scorned, they can exact revenge.
In 2010, aluxes were blamed for Elton John’s stage collapse at the ancient site of Chichén Itzá, after organizers supposedly failed to ask the mythic creatures for permission to hold the concert.
The Public Works Minister at the time, Francisco Torres Rivas, said that unlike the concerts of Plácido Domingo and Sarah Brightman, Elton John didn’t follow the sacred ritual to ask for permission.
“The aluxes are tougher (más cabrones) than INAH [National Institute of Anthropology and History],” another official commented.
One of Huamantla, Tlaxcala's famous sawdust carpets, created every August for its Noche Que Nadie Duerme (Night When No One Sleeps) festivities. Last year, the municipality attained a Guinness record for the longest sawdust carpet, at 3,939.53 meters long. (Photo: Webcams de México)
I first came upon the tiniest state in Mexico by accident two decades ago. I was hurtling down the Huamantla-Puebla highway when an incongruous castle with orange turrets appeared to our left.
My guide told me that it was some kind of hotel, giving me the perfect pretext to ask to stop and investigate. It was only at that point that I realized we were in what felt like a “no man’s land” that was called Tlaxcala.
The Hacienda Soltepec hotel was an odd mixture of cheerful and imposing, with a small chapel to the right, a pretty courtyard and an elegant wooden reception desk where I was surprised to find out that, in addition to a buzzing restaurant that was a magnet for fine families from around Mexico, there were squash and tennis courts, a gym and a sizeable heated indoor swimming pool.
There began a series of visits to the state of Tlaxcala — hosted and inspired by Javier Zamora, from an old Tlaxcalan family who bought the 17th-century hacienda in the late 1940s.
These trips included the capital city of Tlaxcala, where, in addition to the colonial churches, monastery and arches, I was enchanted by the old Xicohténcatl Theatre and a visit to a traditional maderería, where I had a mini wooden baseball bat carved and painted for my youngest child; the walking sticks of San Esteban Tizatlán are one of the state’s signature folkcrafts.
I also had a long and colorful night in August where I took my kids to soak in the annual party held for the Virgen de la Caridad in Huamantla — fireworks and funfair included —aptly known as Noche que Nadie Duerme (The Night When No One Sleeps).
A couple walks toward Tlaxcala’s misty, mysterious Malinche, or Malintzin, volcano, known before the conquest as Matlalcueitl, or “Lady of the Green Skirts.” (Photo: Barbara Kastelein)
One of my top Mexican memories of the last 30 years belongs to Tlaxcala: a 4 a.m. hot-air balloon ride of soaring beauty with my daughters and mother, with its unforgettable view of the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes at sunrise, the rolling green contours of the land below and birds fluttering under our basket as we silently drifted.
I kept going back — for a visit with an archaeologist to the vibrant murals of Cacaxtla and to the ancient site of Xochitecatl, the latter with a unique spiral pyramid and said to have had a matriarchal society.
I also went on a pulque-permeated Huamantlada, where I watched lunatic youths run in front of incensed bulls in the quaint streets of a colonial city of Otomí origin.
There was a jaunt up the Malinche, a.k.a. Malintzin, volcano — known before the conquest as Matlalcueitl, meaning “Lady of the Green Skirts”) — Tlaxcala’s highest peak at about 4,440 meters. Now one of the region’s main ecotourism destinations, it’s soon to become a magnet for mountain bikers.
I also experienced some delirious days of Carnaval, enjoying Tlaxcala’s festival of costumes, dance, feathers, masks and whips that erupts in communities throughout the state in the run up to Lent.
Barbara Kastelein with performers from the Carnaval in Tlaxcala. (Photo: Draper Shreeve)
But until the vision of Soltepec first loomed to my left on the highway, I wasn’t even sure whether Tlaxcala was a city or a state (it’s both).
My ignorance wasn’t unusual, and 10 years later, Tlaxcala state still receives less than 0.3% of Mexico’s tourists. About 95% of its visitors are nationals — most from the adjoining state of Puebla.
So last May, when attending Tianguis Turístico, Mexico’s international tourism trade fair, I strolled to Tlaxcala’s stand to find out ¿Qué onda?
I was both tickled and touched by the slogan that tourism authorities had chosen to promote their destination: Tlaxcala sí existe (Yes, Tlaxcala exists).
Don Juan Aragon, who’s been making the traditional beverage pulque for 50 years, at Tlaxcala’s Pulque Museum. (Photo: Malena Díaz)
There are many reasons why Tlaxcala has gone unnoticed for so long, the most obvious being its struggle to find an image — let alone a voice — when under the shadow of the much richer and more powerful state of Puebla, which almost envelops it, bordering its little neighbor from both the north and south.
Furthermore, in the game of superlatives, while the state is home to the oldest church in Mexico and can boast some of the earliest colonial architecture and art, overstatement isn’t really Tlaxcala’s thing.
It is the proud home to Latin America’s first and only organic golf course (at the Hacienda Soltepec), and last year it made the Guinness World Records for achieving the longest sawdust carpet (3,939.53 meters) during the Noche Que Nadie Duerme festivities. But Tlaxcala’s allure is the deeper, uncommodified culture that is too intuitive to put your finger, let alone a marketing label, on.
The rhythm here is pueblerino; people are warm, but no one is in your face. The skyline stretches in all directions, with mountains of ever-changing cobalt, white, slate, purple and jade.
This is verified by visitors from France, Germany and Switzerland who have been quietly enjoying it without telling anyone else; it was surely no accident that the most enthusiastic tourists I saw at the foot of Malintzin last fall were two Oaxacan women in their 50s, both involved in hospitality in their home state. They were so impressed that they’d already planned their return with a coachload of other “conscious travelers” to stay for workshops in the eco-hotel Hacienda Santa Barbara the following month.
I would urge readers to get Tlaxcala-bound while the going’s good.
While it’s already too late for Tlaxcala’s Carnaval festivities this year — they ended on Feb. 21 — its distinctive annual celebrations are an example of the distinctive, highly memorable traditions the state has to offer the tourist looking for something a little off the beaten path.
Among Tlaxcala’s distinctive Carnaval traditions are the ancestral dances of the huehues —named after Huehueteotl, the Mesoamerican god of fire. Blending ancient pre-Hispanic customs with the imposed Christianity of the conquerors, they provide a glimpse of the religious syncretism that enlivens several Mexican festivities (the most famous now being Día de Muertos). These dances have been protected by the state, which declared them to be part of its intangible cultural heritage in 2013.
The Hacienda Soltepec hotel is a beautiful as well as convenient place to make your home base while visiting Tlaxcala. (Photo: Barbara Kastelein)
Some activities I recommend in Tlaxcala:
The Hacienda Santa Barbara in Huamantla, which can be reached via its Facebook page or Instagram page, by emailing them at [email protected] or by calling them at +52 246 196 2570. Here you can sign up for activities like a tortilla-making class and a massage.
The Organic Craft and Farmers Market, at the Hacienda Soltepec, open Saturday and Sunday. Find out more on their Facebook page.
My bet is that this little state, which for now asks only that its existence be acknowledged, could emerge into a kind of “new Oaxaca” — with some notable advantages: Tlaxcala is unafflicted by gentrification, blissfully free of spring breakers and is easy to get to (about two hours from Mexico City). It’s also slightly uncharted, so visitors can be surprised.
Tlaxcala’s inhabitants are friendly, it’s inexpensive and, refreshingly, it’s one of the safest places in the country. For more general info, try Tlaxcala’s state tourism website (in Spanish).
Barbara Kastelein has been a travel writer since 1997 when she began her first column “Travel Talk” for the Mexico City Times. She now divides her time between England and Mexico and is completing her fourth book “Heroes of the Pacific: The Untold Story of Acapulco’s Cliff Divers” (www.barbarakastelein.com)
The Oxxo chain's first 100% digital cashierless checkout store opened in Monterrey on Feb. 10. (Femsa)
For those frustrated by long lines at Oxxo, here’s some good news: Mexico’s largest convenience chain has opened a cashierless checkout branch in Monterrey where customers simply enter the store, select their products and leave.
The first location of an Oxxo Grab & Go store is the “only one of its kind in Latin America,” according to the company, and is aimed at consumers who want to “make life easier” and save time.
Oxxo Smart Grab & Go in Monterrey, Nuevo León. (Reddit)
Here’s how the digital branch works. First, the customer must download the free mobile app “Oxxo Smart Tec Grab & Go” onto their phone, register their data, and enter account information for a credit or debit card.
After that, a QR code will be generated, which the user will scan when entering the Oxxo Grab & Go. (Remember, there is only one so far — on the main campus of the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Nuevo León.)
From there, the customer will shop as normal, gathering items from shelves, counters and refrigerated cases. But instead of taking them to a cashier, the person will simply head for the exit, and as they leave, the camera and technology system will automatically total up the products and send the customer a receipt on their phone. There is no need to scan barcodes from any of the items.
“Through Grab & Go, we seek to offer a unique shopping experience, driven by technology that is replicable and relocatable in universities, plazas and parks,” said Ricardo Leyva, director of transformation and strategic planning at Oxxo.
Grab & Go locations could also work in hospitals, apartment complexes and office buildings, Oxxo said in a statement.
“The concept is in the evaluation stage through a test in the city of Monterrey, to analyze its feasibility and performance,” Oxxo added.
The store in Monterrey that opened on Feb. 10 is part of a new format called Oxxo Smart that was launched earlier this year by Mexican company Femsa, the retail and bottling giant based in Monterrey. Among its holdings, Femsa controls the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling group in the world and operates the Oxxo chain.
Femsa has been busy in the last week or so, divesting its stake in Heineken beer, saying it’s going to continue at its current rate of opening 800 to 1,000 Oxxo stores a year in Mexico and announcing that it’s going to take another stab at opening Oxxo stores (as many as 900) in the United States.
And in a call with analysts on Friday, Femsa officials indicated that the company will ramp up its focus on its core businesses and invest US $1.7 billion in them in 2023.
“Most of that investment will be in the convenience division, as we continue to expand stores, and there will be increased investment in [the bottler],” said Eugenio Garza, Femsa’s chief financial officer.
Earlier, Femsa reported a 28% decline in its fourth-quarter earnings compared to the same period in 2022, due in part to foreign exchange losses stemming from a strengthening Mexican peso, Reuters reported.
Two years ago, Oxxo began testing self-service kiosk outlets in shopping malls where people could do self-checkout (paying by credit or debit card) and make payments on water, phone and cable bills.
“Grab & Go is one more innovative element that is part of the Oxxo Smart stores, a concept that seeks to offer products and services in customizable formats,” said Lucy González, director Canal Tradicional de Oxxo. “With this proposal, we want to fulfill our mission to simplify the lives of our clients and collaborators, creating memorable experiences.”
Not having to wait behind eight other people when you just want to buy a bag of ice in Zihuatanejo — that will be a memorable experience!
Protesters in cities all over Mexico showed up in the streets to express support for a robust National Electoral Institute, the autonomous electoral oversight body whose powers will be reduced as a result of the recently passed reform law. (Photo: Fernando Carranza García)
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Mexico on Sunday to protest the federal government’s recently-approved “Plan B” electoral reform laws and to demonstrate their support for the National Electoral Institute (INE), a key pillar of the country’s democracy.
Organized under the slogans and hashtags #ElINENoSeToca (Don’t Touch the INE) and #MiVotoNeSeToca (Don’t Touch My Vote), demonstrations took place in more than 100 cities including Mexico City; Guadalajara; Monterrey; León, Guanajuato; Culiacán, Sinaloa; Puebla; Toluca; Querétaro; Mérida; and Torreón, Coahuila.
Mexico City’s government said about 90,000 protesters showed up at a rally in the Zócalo on Sunday. Protest organizaers said the number of attendees was more like 500,000. (Photo: Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
The protests came four days after the Senate approved the Plan B reform backed by President López Obrador, legislation that critics say will significantly weaken the INE and thus pose a threat to upcoming elections.
The reform — put forward after a more ambitious constitutional bill to overhaul Mexico’s electoral system was blocked in the legislature late last year — will slash INE’s budget and therefore force the dismissal of large numbers of staff, diminish its capacity to sanction politicians who violate electoral laws, curtail its autonomy and close some INE offices, among other consequences.
The INE is an autonomous elections oversight body that organizes elections at all three levels of government in Mexico.
Dressed in the INE’s logo’s colors of pink and white, protesters in Mexico City marched from various starting points to the capital’s central square, the Zócalo, located opposite the National Palace, the seat of executive power and López Obrador’s residence.
In Mérida, anti-Plan B activists held their protest at one of the city’s most iconic locations: the Monumento a la Patria (Monument to the Homeland). (Photo: Martín Zetina/Cuartoscuro)
The Mexico City government said that 90,000 people participated in the demonstration, while organizers claimed that close to half a million citizens took to the capital’s streets to defend the INE and demand that the Supreme Court strike down what they see as an illegal reform and a threat to democracy in Mexico.
“We came to knock on the doors of the court … [to ask] the justices to not allow the loss of the nation and to say to them respectfully but with complete firmness, ‘Send Plan B to the dustbin of history; don’t endorse an unconstitutional and immoral electoral reform,'” said journalist and former federal deputy Beatriz Pagés in an address to protesters in the Zócalo.
“… They’re seeking to eliminate the [electoral] umpire to twist the decision of citizens [at the presidential election] in 2024,” said the spokesperson for Unid@s, a collective of citizens’ groups.
“The Plan B electoral reform is a fraud foretold. … If we let them steal our votes, later we’ll let them steal other rights and other freedoms,” Pagés said.
Former Supreme Court justice José Ramón Cossío Díaz expressed confidence that the nation’s highest court will invalidate the reform despite “the pressures” the 11 justices are under from “those seeking to take control of” Mexico’s electoral system.
“I’m sure that the justices … will declare that electoral norms that reduce the human and budgetary resources of electoral bodies violate the principles of equity and certainty,” he told protesters in the Zócalo.
A Mexico City protester holds up an an image of a pineapple (piña in Spanish) saying, “Be supreme,” a callout to Mexico’s Supreme Court — led by Chief Justice Norma Piña Hernández — to strike down the reform law as unconstitutional. (Photo: Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Opposition parties have indicated they will launch legal challenges to the reform once it has been promulgated via publication in the government’s official gazette.
Retiree Alejandra Orduña, who participated in the Mexico City protest, told the newspaper El País that López Obrador’s aim in putting forward the electoral reform was to ensure that the ruling Morena party stays in power after the 2024 election, at which a new president will be elected and both houses of Congress will be renewed.
“The INE is an autonomous institution that has guaranteed clean elections up until today. This man governing [now] arrived [to power] thanks to the INE, and now he wants to get rid of it and impose rules to perpetuate himself in power along with his followers,” Orduña said.
A couple in their fifties who spoke with El País agreed that “the INE is under threat” due to the approval of the Plan B reform, which, according to the government, could generate annual savings of as much as 5 billion pesos (US $271 million).
The couple, who told El Pais their names were Verónica and José Luis, said they were afraid that López Obrador would continue concentrating power in the executive — an accusation he has faced on numerous occasions since taking office in 2018.
Magdalena Rodríguez, a 70-year-old protester, told El País that she had never been involved in politics but decided to join the demonstration on Sunday because Mexico is in “complete decline” under the rule of the current government.
Anti-Plan B Protesters in Chilpancingo, Guerrero. (Photo: Dassaev Téllez Adame/Cuartoscuro)
“We don’t want to get to communism. [López Obrador] thinks he’s God, but he’s not. He’s not the owner of the country either,” she said.
In Toluca, the newspaper Reforma reported, protesters chanted, “If the INE disappears, the dictatorship appears” and held up signs with the message: “We’re Plan C: constitution, court, citizens.”
The INE’s predecessor, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), oversaw Mexico’s transition to full democracy after the country was ruled without interruption by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for over 70 years until the National Action Party triumphed at the 2000 presidential election.
Poll results published by the Reforma newspaper last November showed that 80% of respondents believe that the INE has played an important role in guaranteeing democracy in Mexico while 71% said that its demise would pose a threat to democracy.
The United States government has been urged by some U.S. newspapers such as The Washington Post to express its opposition to López Obrador’s “remaking” of the electoral system, and on Twitter on Sunday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs Brian A. Nichols did that in a way, writing that “today, in Mexico, we see a great debate on electoral reforms that are testing the independence of electoral and judicial institutions.”
“The United States supports independent, well-resourced electoral institutions that strengthen democratic processes and the rule of law,” Nichols added.
National Electoral Institute President Lorenzo Cordova, right, at a event on Friday held by Michoacan’s state electoral institute. (Photo: Lorenzo Cordova/Twitter)
For his part, INE president Lorenzo Córdova — a tireless defender of the institute he heads — posted a photo of a packed Zócalo to his Twitter account on Sunday.
“Today I won’t publish my Sunday video,” he wrote. Today is a day of the citizenry, and it’s up to all of us to listen to them.”
The protests, which attracted a more middle and upper-class demographic than many other demonstrations, came three and a half months after Mexicans took to the streets in some 50 cities to defend the INE against the (ultimately defeated) plan to replace it and state-based electoral authorities with one centralized body.
According to an Associated Press report, many demonstrators were “simply wary of the kind of vote miscounting, campaign overspending and electoral pressure tactics that were common in Mexico before the independent electoral agency was created in the 1990s.”
While the Mexico City demonstration was easily the largest in the country, the protests in Guadalajara, Monterrey and León also attracted tens of thousands of people.
However, López Obrador, who remains a popular president, described the gatherings as “very small” given that “there must be about 25 million conservative citizens” in Mexico.
At his daily press conference Monday morning, President López Obrador dismissed the importance of the protests, calling them “very small.” (Photo: Presidencia)
“… When they say ‘don’t touch the INE,’ what they’re thinking is don’t touch corruption, don’t touch privileges, don’t touch the narco state,” he said Monday while acknowledging that citizens “have every right to demonstrate.”
The president — who has rejected claims that the electoral reform places the staging of free and fair elections at risk while touting the billions of pesos in annual savings it will generate — also took aim at the two orators who addressed the protesters in the Zócalo.
“Beatriz Pagés, daughter of [deceased journalist] José Pagés Llergo from [the magazine] Siempre!, is very priista, very conservative,” López Obrador said, using a word for members and supporters of the once omnipotent PRI.
National Institute of Indigenous Peoples shows off the document he just signed to create the University for Indigenous Languages of Mexico, which will be located in the Milpa Alta borough of Mexico City. (Photo: Presidencia)
A new national university that will teach Indigenous languages will begin classes by September, Mexico’s National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) announced.
Adelfo Regino Montes, INPI’s general director, signed the foundational documents for the University of Indigenous Languages of Mexico (ULIM) at a ceremony organized to coincide with International Mother Language Day, on Feb. 21.
In September 2020, President López Obrador made a formal commitment to create ULIM in Milpa Alta. (Photo: Presidencia)
“The creation of ULIM seeks the teaching of courses and the establishment of research faculties, with the purpose of strengthening and developing the linguistic heritage of Mexico, based on respect and recognition of multilingualism,” astatement by INPI said.
The ceremony at Mexico City’s Tlatelolco University Cultural Center opened with a ritual of gratitude to Mother Earth and featured speeches by leaders of several Indigenous and educational institutes, including some in Indigenous languages.
Natalio Hernández Hernández, coordinator of the ULIM project, explained that the university will operate through a mix of online and face-to-face classes. The campus is being built in Santa Ana Tlacotenco, in Milpa Alta, but the university will open in provisional headquarters no later than Sep. 13.
Students will learn through linguistic immersion and be evaluated partly through community projects that promote the development of their chosen language.
The ULIM will initially offer four degrees in Teaching of Indigenous Languages; Interpretation and Translation of Indigenous Languages; Literature in Indigenous Languages; and Indigenous Intercultural Communication.
“This is the raw material of our nascent university; we are going to make a wide call to the whole country to form part of our teaching staff, as well as the academic and research teams for each degree,” INPI director Regino Montes said.
He said that the ULIM aims to fulfill a commitment made by President López Obrador to the Nahuatl Indigenous people of Milpa Alta on Feb. 9, 2020.
“This university, unlike in the past, is not a unilateral creation from above; here the people of Milpa Alta have been heard and consulted,” he said.
The ceremony at Mexico City’s Tlatelolco University Cultural Center opened with a ritual of gratitude to Mother Earth and featured speeches by leaders of several Indigenous and educational institutes, including some in Indigenous languages. (Photo: INPI)
Mexico’s National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI) counts68 different Indigenous languages in Mexico, with the most widely spoken being Nahuatl and Maya. There are around 7 million speakers of Indigenous languages in the country, according to the most recent census data.
But the number of speakers is dwindling, and several languages are at risk of extinction, due in part to historic prohibitions on using Indigenous languages in educational spaces.
Although no such prohibitions exist today, Claudia Morales Reza, president of the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred), stressed at Wednesday’s ceremony that Indigenous speakers in Mexico still face systemic discrimination.
“The [ULIM] has the tasks of recovery, revitalization, promotion and encouragement of the use of national languages,” said Bertha Dimas, the INPI’s coordinator of cultural heritage, research and education.
“The results we expect from the ULIM’s academic activities will be to increase the effective number of speakers, so that we do not lose one more language.”
Michiel Desmet shows off his handbike in Cherán, Michoacán, which as this article went to press has traveled over 9,000 km in three countries. (Photos: courtesy of Michiel Desmet and Chiara Maffina)
European bikepackers Michiel Desmet and Chiara Maffina have braved blazing sun, pouring rain and fierce winds to break the world’s record in distance traveled by handbike, but despite their exhaustion, they could not resist Mexico’s charms.
The pair recently made an 8,600-km journey together from Alaska to Baja — he on a handbike and she on a conventional mountain bike carrying most of their gear — to help Desmet set a new Guinness World Record for distance handbiking.
Maffina and Desmet stop to let someone take their picture outside of Tepic, Nayarit.
Fresh off their record-breaking victory, the pair have continued their trip a bit longer, deciding to tour through Baja California, Sinaloa, Michoacán and Campeche and more. They will be here another month, taking in more of the country that has greeted them with such support and enthusiasm.
They will be in the country until March 24.
In 2013, avid traveler Desmet found his world in a tailspin when his bus in Thailand crashed and a spinal cord injury put him in a wheelchair.
“I had to reevaluate my whole life.” he said.
The Belgian needed to find some sense of his former freedom.
“That freedom came in the form of a handbike,” he said, which he found much faster and more travel-friendly than a wheelchair.
This led to the idea of breaking the world record for handbike riding.
He settled on a Alaska-to-California route, with the distance more than enough to break the former record of 5,421 km set in 2002.
“But I could not do it alone, nor did I want to,” he said.
Enter Italian-born Maffina. Also a traveler, she met Desmet in Portugal. Shortly afterward, Desmet proposed the Alaska-to-California trip, which she thought was crazy.
Nonetheless, the two agreed to a trip in which she would ride a conventional mountain bike alongside Desmet on his handbike, and they began preparations. Physical training was important, but the main issue was logistics.
Desmet on hot and sunny Playa de Coyote in Baja.
First there was fundraising for basic expenses. They used crowdfunding sites and got grants from organizations such as the King Baudouin Foundation. Most importantly, they worked out the bare minimum necessities of food, camping equipment and medical supplies since Maffina would have to carry just about everything; the handbike had limited space.
The two left Anchorage in June 2022 under the name Vid Expedition. The original goal was 6,500 km, which would be easily attained before arriving at the Mexican border.
As they got to Oregon, they met bikepackers who recommended Mexico, especially Baja. One major attraction of Mexico for both Desmet and Maffina was that they were tired of Canada and the U.S., which they felt was too much like Europe.
So they crossed the Mexico-U.S. border at Tijuana and continued on, zigzagging the peninsula — San Felipe, Mulegé, etc., until they made it to La Paz. They smashed the record with 8,600 documentable kilometers but decided that enough was enough.
Yet, instead of ending the trip, they decided to focus on seeing Mexico, combining biking with buses and even hitchhiking.
Desmet’s and Maffina’s success is in no small part because of the generosity of locals, who have offered food, water and shelter in all three countries, but Mexico has been particularly generous, the pair said.
Just south of Lake Chapala, the two stopped on a field road in Michoacán. They and their bikes almost always attract the attention of local children.
One of the first issues they faced in Mexico was the difficulty in getting the large quantity of catheters that Desmet needs. Unable to use legal channels, they met a Russian immigrant in La Paz that drove them to the border at Mexicali (and back) and asparagus harvesters who crossed illegally to get their package in Calexico, California. The Mazatlán ferry company waived their fare in exchange for a presentation at a rehabilitation center.
Once on the mainland, the two avoided main roads as much as possible. From Mazatlán to San Blas, they literally hugged the shoreline, riding on local roads and low tide-exposed beaches, negotiating with local fishermen to cross isolated rivers and coastal islands.
“We were often alone on the beach with just the birds,” says Desmet. “It was so beautiful.”
This meant that they spent a lot of time in local villages, attracting a lot of attention. Swarms of children would approach them and their bikes. Locals offered food and other support. When a part on Desmet’s bike broke, a local took them to Tequila, where a replacement was made.
In eastern Michoacán, a local man not only put them up in their home for the night but also insisted on taking them to see the monarch butterflies.
Although they stayed as much as possible with Warm Showers hosts (a volunteer support for bikepackers), in various places they needed to find somewhere to camp. One good bet has been with local parish churches, who allowed them to set up for the night on their grounds.
Maffina entering Mexico through the border crossing in Tijuana.
When I interviewed the couple, they were staying with a Warm Shower host, preparing for the last leg of their journey: a bus ride to Campeche, with a month to be spent riding around the Yucatán Peninsula to see what they can of the region before they fly back to Europe.
In the end, they estimate that they will have cycled about 10,000 km.
Despite warnings about Mexico being dangerous, Desmet and Maffina’s experience biking throughout the country has been extremely positive. They are full of stories about generous people who just want to be a small part of their adventure. They found the highly isolated areas in Baja very safe to camp as “…there was absolutely no one around to bother us.”
Maffina loved the lonely stretches of road in many places, but others were simply inadequate for cycling of any kind, and cycling at night was out of the question. Desmet recalls that he hit one of Mexico’s infamous “invisible” speed bumps, causing a shoe to fly off. It got stuck in his disk brake, causing smoke from the friction.
But that is nothing, the couple says, compared to the aggression they got from drivers in Oregon and California who would deliberately drive too close.
Would they come back to cycle Mexico again? Absolutely.
They still accept donations, needing help with video editing, especially the footage from Mexico. Those interested in helping financially can head to Patreon or to Go Get Funding.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico over 20 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
CORRECTION: Due to editorial error, the original version of this article mischaracterized the itinerary of the trip that Desmet and Maffina took to break the Guinness distance handbiking record.
White and black sesame seeds taste almost the same but create entirely different looks.
While “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” could be the song sesame seeds usually sing, their crunchy, nutty flavor perks up many a dish.
You’ll find them in basics like bread and rolls; in sweets like brittles, bars and cookies; and in an international roster of savory dishes that includes everything from tahini and tuna poke to salsas and crusted fish and poultry.
Japan and China prize sesame oil; Arabic countries make hummus and halvah and use tahini (sesame seed paste) in all sorts of dishes; in France and Sicily, a plethora of traditional breads and breadsticks depend on the little seeds — also called benne — for their crispy, nutty flavor.
This popularity is partly because the sesame plant grows easily in tropical climates, needing little care. It is drought- and heat-tolerant and well-suited for cultivation in desert areas like India and Africa, which produce the most.
Mexico is also a big producer of sesame seeds, mainly in the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. (Interestingly, most of Mexico’s crop is exported to the U.S. by McDonald’s for its hamburger rolls!) The edible seeds grow in pods that look much like okra and are prized for their high oil content and rich, nutty taste. After pressing sesame seeds to make oil, even what’s left is prized as a livestock feed because of its protein content.
In Mexico, the word for sesame seeds is ajonjolí, and you can find them in bulk in mercados and packaged in grocery stores. Where I live in Mazatlán, there’s one farmer at the weekly organic market who grows sesame seeds.
Nutty, hot and sweet all at the same time, traditional salsa macha livens up anything it touches.
Hulled white sesame seeds are most commonly preferred due to their appearance and slightly sweeter flavor than their black counterparts. Both can be toasted for a more nutty taste and crisper mouth-feel or used to coat fish (most commonly tuna) or chicken before sautéing. Black sesame has a more bitter flavor, although most of us can’t taste the difference; feel free to use whichever suits your fancy.
Where, you might wonder, did the phrase “open sesame” come from, and why does it indicate magic? Well, when sesame seeds are ripe, the pods split open with a discernible pop. Some say that’s the origin of the Syrian folk tale “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” where the phrase was first used as a secret command to open a hidden cave.
While you won’t need any secret passwords to unlock the secrets of cooking with sesame seeds, it can’t hurt to murmur “open sesame” as you try the recipes below.
Salsa Macha
This traditional Veracruz sauce livens up roasted vegetables, grilled meats or even baked potatoes with sour cream.
½ cup raw unsalted peanuts
4 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
2 oz. dried chipotle chiles (1½ to 2 cups), stemmed and seeded
1 tsp. salt, or to taste
1 Tbsp. brown sugar, or to taste
3 Tbsp. white vinegar
Heat some oil over medium heat in skillet until very hot but not smoking. Add peanuts and garlic; cook and stir 30 seconds, until peanuts begin to turn color. Don’t let them scorch! Add sesame seeds and chiles; stir and fry for a minute or until chiles are lightly toasted.
Remove pan from heat. Transfer contents, including the oil, to food processor or blender. Add salt, sugar and vinegar; blend until almost smooth. (Salsa will have a little texture.)
Pour into container; cool. Store in refrigerator up to a week.
Sesame-Crusted Fish with Ginger-Butter Sauce
1 cup sesame seeds
4 skinless fish fillets, 6 oz. each (snapper, dorado, sea bass)
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp. neutral oil, like corn or canola
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. minced or grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
¼ cup water
Preheat oven to 200 F (100 C). Heat large, heavy skillet over medium heat; add oil.
Pour sesame seeds on a plate. Season fillets with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in sesame seeds, coating as much as possible. Brown fish quickly in hot oil, 1–2 minutes each side. Remove fish to plate or baking sheet and place in oven.
When skillet has cooled slightly, place over medium heat. Add butter. Once it melts, stir in ginger, soy sauce and ¼ cup water. Return fish to skillet. Turn heat to medium; cook fish 1–3 minutes until desired doneness, turning several times. (If needed, add 2–3 Tbsp. water.) Fish is done when a knife meets little resistance at fillet’s thickest point.
Serve at once.
Chickpeas and sesame seeds team up to make an easy, exotic and delicious snack.
Crunchy Chickpeas with Sesame and Lime
1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and patted dry
1½ tsp. sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. lime zest
Salt
Heat oven to 400 F (200 C). Spread chickpeas evenly on sheet pan. Roast until crisp and golden in spots, shaking pan occasionally, 20–25 minutes. Turn off oven, leaving chickpeas for another 10–15 minutes; check occasionally to make sure they don’t burn.
Meanwhile, toast sesame seeds 2–3 minutes in large skillet over medium heat, stirring often. Set aside; wipe out skillet.
Using the same pan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add cumin, cooking and stirring 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in sesame seeds and chickpeas. Toss until everything is well coated.
Remove from heat, stir in lime zest, season with salt. Serve warm. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.
Black and White Sesame Seed Brittle
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. black sesame seeds
3 Tbsp. white sesame seeds
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. In medium, heavy-bottomed pot, combine butter, sugar, water and salt; cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until mixture reaches 260 F (125 C) on a candy thermometer. Add sesame seeds and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 350 F (180 C) or until sugar mixture is a dark golden-brown.
Remove from heat; immediately pour mixture into prepared pan, spreading into an even layer about ¼ -inch thick. Cool at room temperature until firm. Once brittle has set, break into pieces.
You'll often see Mexicans taking their lives into their own hands by darting across traffic-laden roads that have no stoplights or crosswalks, but this is not a "when in Rome" situation. Use the pedestrian bridge if there is one and you feel safe doing so. (Illustration: Angy Márquez)
Now that I’ve done a few “how to Mexico”-type articles for newcomers, ideas for more have been rolling in! There are many good ones to be addressed (and many I’ll have to do quite a bit of research for).
I won’t go straight through on only these topics — I’m betting there are at least, like, eight or so people who appreciate my social and political commentary as well, and things are happening, people!— but I’ll try to do at least one a month for the foreseeable future.
This week, we’re going to talk about safety.
When most people think about safety in Mexico, they likely assume that staying safe is mostly about avoiding “the bad guys,” a population that’s about the same size pretty much anywhere in the world. While this kind of advice certainly does have a place, for now, I’m trying to primarily stick with the “things you might not know that you don’t know” category.
So, without further ado: a few how-tos (but not an exhaustive list) on safety!
How to not blow yourself up or die of carbon monoxide poisoning
After my last article about gas in Mexico (which is actually a combination of propane and butane and not just propane, one reader informed me), I received several emails from people who had had close calls themselves or knew others who had suffered greatly from preventable accidents involving the gas where they were staying.
Since so many places in Mexico still use gas for so many things in the home, accidents involving it are things we must be on the lookout to prevent. Gas explosions are the more dramatic-seeming of the two, and, while rare, certainly happen.
More insidious is carbon monoxide poisoning, which can happen rather easily and without anyone detecting anything is wrong. This can quickly lead to death or serious medical emergencies.
Old water heaters are often the culprit, but, really, for those not accustomed to noticing the smell of gas, any leak can be dangerous. And if you’re like me, you might lie down to see if you feel better once symptoms start (headache, dizziness, confusion, among others), which in the case of a gas leak, could literally be the death of you.
The solution? In addition to making sure your various apparatuses are in good working order, a carbon monoxide detector or three can be a lifesaver. I’ll admit, I myself have never had one — but after hearing so many stories from you all, I will be getting one very shortly!
How not to get run over (and how to reduce your chances of an accident)
My third-ever article for Mexico News Daily was about some of the bigger differences in driving style down here than what many of us are used to. The short version is: trusting cars to behave the way you expect is a downright bad policy, and the infrastructure necessary for them to behave in predictable ways is not necessarily there anyway.
First tip: if you’re on foot and there’s a pedestrian bridge, always use it if you can and it feels safe to do so; also use crosswalks. You’ll see plenty of Mexicans sprinting across the roads and dodging oncoming cars, but unless you absolutely have to, just…do not. Remember as well that — like everywhere else — drivers are often preoccupied with their cell phones, even when they’re actively driving, and might simply not see you.
Make sure, as well, that you always look both ways before crossing, even on one-way streets. Road signs are sometimes simply seen here as suggestions, and I’ve seen plenty of people “back up” in their vehicles for a full four blocks because they missed a turn or didn’t realize they were on a one-way street until it was too late. You never know!
If you need to cross and there’s no place to do so “officially,” do your best to make eye contact with the lead driver of the oncoming traffic. They’ll usually slow down and either wave you over with their hand or flash their lights as a “go ahead” signal so you can cross, and when they do this, other cars typically take notice and stop as well.
Finally, if you absolutely must cross at a point where there’s no pedestrian bridge, traffic signals or crosswalks, try to do so at the same time as other people, as oncoming drivers will be much more likely to see several people than just one person.
As far as driving goes? This rule has served me so far: drive as if you believed everyone else on the road were both drunk and crying hysterically. Staying far behind other cars on the road and letting people into your lane or past you when they’re desperate has saved me from several accidents so far. Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits is also a favorite nerve-calming driving soundtrack for me!
How to not get your stuff stolen
Anyone anywhere can be a victim of theft, of course, but there are a few things you can do to lower the chances of that happening. Foreigners from countries where financial institutions allow you to dispute charges easily and without question may be taken aback by the response of Mexican banks to a report of theft or fraud: they are (unfortunately) well-known for saying “too bad, so sad” if your card gets stolen and a balance runs up.
So, if you do a lot of walking around and/or make regular use of cozy (read: packed) public transport, it’s a good idea to keep your phone and wallet in front of you rather than in back. While back pockets are comfy storage, they’re relatively easy for others to access, especially in a crowded situation. Keep them in your front pockets instead, or in a bag or purse.
I carry purses quite a lot, and always make sure mine have some important features: zippers or snaps so they can’t be reached into and straps that allow me to keep them right under my arm (when out walking, I prefer messenger bags, which can be pulled to the front if necessary). It’s also a good idea to not carry too much money or especially too many cards with you.
So that’s three big things for now! Stay safe out there, folks, and don’t forget to also avoid the bad guys; I’m campaigning for them to get obvious villain uniforms for easy ID but haven’t succeeded yet. I’ll let you know!
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com
President López Obrador covered everything from "mega-projects" to feminism to Tesla at the daily "mañaneras", or morning press conferences. (LopezObrador.org.mx)
It was a patriotic week in Mexico: last Sunday was Día del Ejército Mexicano, or Mexican Army Day, and Friday was Día de la Bandera, or Flag Day.
President López Obrador marked the former with a speech at a military base in México state and the latter with an address at an army-run venue in Mexico City that is home to one of the nation’s banderas monumentales, or monumental flags.
The president celebrated Flag Day at a military installation in Mexico City on Friday. (Graciela López Herrera / Cuartoscuro.com)
Monday
The minister of infrastructure, communications and transportation reported early in the press conference that the rail project to connect central Mexico City to the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in México state was 39% complete.
“There are two points that I’d like to highlight about the suburban train,” Jorge Nuño Lara said.
“One is that it will provide a high degree of certainty to passengers as they will be able to get on at Buenavista station and reach [AIFA] in 39 minutes,” he said.
Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum speaks at the Monday morning press conference. (Gob MX)
“… The second … [is that] AIFA will be the first international airport in Latin America to have a suburban train terminal within it,” Nuño said of the project slated for completion in December.
In other airport-related news, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said that a 475-millon-peso (US $25.8 million) project to repair structural damage in Terminal 2 at the capital’s international airport, or AICM, was on track to be completed in June.
The mayor, a potential presidential candidate, also noted that the federal government has invested billions of pesos in other projects at the AICM, Mexico’s busiest airport.
After a report from federal officials on the construction of sections 5 Norte, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train railroad, Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa made her way to the mañanera lectern for the second time in as many weeks and proceeded to once again heap praise on the ambitious (and destructive, according to critics) infrastructure project.
“Thanks to the Maya Train greater connectivity will be achieved, allowing national and foreigner visitors to arrive at and see beautiful places where it was previously very complicated or practically impossible to reach,” she said.
During his engagement with reporters, AMLO was notified of a video published by the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, a bishops’ association, that expresses the Catholic Church’s concern about the government’s “Plan B” electoral reform, which passed the Senate on Wednesday.
“That’s why … in the Catholic Church our reference is Pope Francis. We’re respectful of all beliefs and in our movement there are Catholics, evangelicals, people of all the religions and also free thinkers, but when it comes to the [Catholic] Church supporting the conservative bloc in Mexico I say no,” López Obrador said.
“This has nothing to do with Pope Francis because he has condemned looters, he has condemned those who exploit and humiliate the poor,” he said, implying that the pope wouldn’t approve of the governments that preceded his own.
Among other remarks, the president declared he was “absolutely sure” that the Mexican people won’t allow the rateros (thieves) of yesteryear – a dysphemism for members of the PRI and PAN political parties – to return to power and reiterated his disdain for the 2006-11 “Fast and Furious” gunrunning scheme in which the United States government allowed guns to be smuggled into Mexico so that the weapons could be tracked and law enforcement officials could locate and arrest crime bosses.
“They were guns that supposedly had sensors and in that way they were going to be able to detect and apprehend drug traffickers. What happened with those weapons? They were used to murder people,” he said.
Tuesday
The first section of AMLO’s Tuesday presser was dedicated to celebrating the 90th anniversary of the creation of the National Bank of Public Works and Services (Banobras), a state-owned development bank.
“It has been a very important institution for the development of Mexico,” the president said before inviting the bank’s general director to speak.
“Banobras was the first development bank created in Mexico and it was created at a very important time in the history of our country,” Jorge Mendoza Sánchez said.
“It was a post-revolutionary time when there were a lot of shortages, inequalities and a lack of basic services, and Mexico had also been impacted at that time by the Great Depression,” he said.
“… During 90 years Banobras has been part of key sectors and the most important projects in our country … like the Mexico City-Puebla highway, the Circuito Interior [ring road in Mexico City], Ciudad Universitaria, the Monterrey Airport and the Torre Insignia in Tlatelolco,” Mendoza said.
Deputy Security Minister Luis Rodríguez Bucio later reported that Mexico had recently extradited five criminal suspects to the United States and that Poland had handed over one accused offender to Mexico.
The outgoing suspects “are required by different courts in the United States for sexual crimes, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping and homicide,” he said.
The incoming suspect is Mihai ‘N,’ who is accused of criminal association and bank fraud, Rodríguez said, adding that he is a partner of Florian “The Shark” Tudor, a Romanian national who was arrested in May 2021 on charges of running a massive bank card skimming operation in Cancún, Quintana Roo, and other Mexican resort cities.
Returning to center stage, López Obrador highlighted his feminist credentials.
“We’re going to continue supporting women. There is proof that they are respected and they participate in the public service in a way never seen before,” said the president, who has been accused of having a “woman problem.”
“In the case of the federal government, practically half the cabinet are women and they help me a lot,” he said.
AMLO later recalled the incarceration of writer José Revueltas on an island in the Islas Marías archipelago in the 1930s due to his political activism in favor of the Mexican Communist Party.
Revueltas, who wrote novels, plays and political essays, was imprisoned “for insulting the president,” he said before reiterating his opposition to a proposal to toughen a century-old law that stipulates the imposition of punishments for the publication of “insults” directed at the president of the day.
José Revueltas was imprisoned twice at the Islas Marías penal colony. (Wikimedia Commons)
“It’s decided [that I’ll file the suit], I’m just doing some research on how the procedure works,” he said.
Wednesday
The day after García Luna was found guilty of conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel, AMLO was unsurprisingly peppered with questions about the jury’s verdict.
“At the end of the day the lesson we must take away is that these events mustn’t repeat,” the president said.
He then outlined three hypotheses he had previously aired about the case.
“One – that everything was an invention and García Luna was innocent. Consequently Felipe Calderón had nothing to worry about. We’ve now seen that’s not the case,” López Obrador said.
“The second is that García Luna … [is] guilty, but Calderón didn’t know [about his criminal activities]. And the third is that García Luna is guilty with the consent of Calderón,” he said.
“He said that he combated crime with full force … but … what he omitted is the explanation … about why he appointed García Luna [as security minister] and whether he knew or didn’t know [about his criminal activities],” he said.
“… We want information, … that’s the explanation we’re waiting for.”
AMLO raised the possibility that García Luna – who was head of the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency before becoming security minister – might cooperate with U.S. authorities as a witness and disclose whether he received orders from former presidents Vicente Fox and Calderón or told them about his criminal activities.
The president fielded questions about the conviction of former security minister García Luna on Wednesday. (Mario Jasso / Cuartoscuro.com)
“As president of Mexico, for the good of the country, I would say that hopefully [he does it],” he said.
One reporter probed López Obrador about Morena national president Mario Delgado’s remark that he will ask the National Electoral Institute to deregister the National Action Party – which both Fox and Calderón represented – because “it’s proven that it’s more a criminal organization than a political one.”
“I’m not suggesting that,” ALMO responded. “Of course, the leadership of Morena and the deputies have freedom to suggest things,” he said of the party he founded.
“What I think is that we have to get to the bottom of the matter, and once and for all let it be clear that we suffered for 36 years [due to the actions of] a gang of ruffians,” López Obrador said.
“Tolstoy said: ‘a state that doesn’t provide justice is nothing more than a band of criminals,’ and that’s what we suffered,” he added.
Thursday
“What do you know? I’m at your service,” AMLO told reporters at the top of his presser, acknowledging that the government didn’t have any pre-planned information to present.
In response to a question about the approval of the controversial “Plan B” electoral reform, López Obrador said that the passing of new laws as well as the filing of legal challenges against them – as opposition lawmakers pledged to do – was part and parcel “of democratic political normality” and indicative of “a true rule of law” that didn’t exist under previous governments.
“This reform was approved in the Senate, it will be published [in the government’s official gazette] and then … they’ll file a lawsuit for it to be declared unconstitutional,” he said with an air of nonchalance.
A PRI congresswoman holds up a sign showing her support for the pro-INE march to be held on Sunday. (Mario Jasso / Cuartoscuro.com)
“There is nothing outside the law” in the reform, AMLO asserted, expressing confidence that it won’t be struck down by the Supreme Court.
“Does a woman better guarantee democracy?” a reporter asked.
“Yes, women tend to be more honest, more responsible and fairer than men,” AMLO responded.
He later rejected claims that he has redirected resources from policies and programs that benefit women to the government’s megaobras, or mega-projects, such as the Maya Train and Dos Bocas refinery.
“That’s not true, it’s part of the same campaign of misinformation and slander. On the contrary, … 600 billion pesos are being allocated to welfare programs for 25 million households and the majority of that goes to women,” López Obrador said.
Turing his mind to one of his megaobras, AMLO announced that the Felipe Ángeles International Airport was expected to become “self-sufficient” in December.
“In other words it will reach its break-even point and begin to make profits. We’ll no longer have to allocate public funds [to the airport],” he said.
As for the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor project between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, the government is on the verge of launching a search for tenants of 10 industrial parks, the president said.
AMLO demonstrates the trans-isthmus corridor on a map at the Thursday morning press conference. (Gob MX)
“We’re working on that. In fact, I’m possibly going to Coatzacoalcos on the 17th [of March], I’m going to the trans-isthmus [corridor] on the 19th with United States lawmakers, representatives and senators are coming,” he said.
Investors in the industrial parks, “will have tax benefits – they won’t pay income tax [and] we’re going to lower the IVA” value-added tax in the region, López Obrador said.
Friday
After assuring a reporter that Mexico has a “sufficient supply” of vaccines, AMLO acknowledged that he held separate meetings this week with Morena party national leader Mario Delgado and the wife of recently-ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo.
He said he spoke with Delgado about how the ruling party “is going,” but offered few other details.
Morena leader Mario Delgado at a party event in Mexico City (@Mario_Delgado Twitter)
“Don’t ask me [how the party is going] because I’ll say it’s going well and they’ll fine me,” López Obrador said, recognizing his obligation to keep quiet about electoral matters in the lead-up to elections in México state and Coahuila in early June.
He then described Lilia Paredes as an “exceptional” and “humble” woman.
“She came to thank me for what we did for them,” said AMLO, whose government offered asylum to the family of the jailed former leader of Peru.
“She told me about her children, who are studying now. … We’re ensuring that they don’t lack anything, helping them,” he said, adding that Paredes asked the government not to “abandon” her husband, a former teacher and union leader who was president of the Andean nation from July 2021 to Dec. 2022.
“We believe removing him from his post was a great injustice because he was elected by the people,” López Obrador said.
The president later indicated that he agreed with Morena Senator Ricardo Monreal’s view that Mexico was a “narco-state” while convicted cartel colluder García Luna was serving in high-ranking law enforcement positions in the governments led by Fox and Calderón.
Now, however, there is no relationship between the government and criminal organizations, he said. “We’re not associated with or involved with drug trafficking. We’re different,” he declared.
In a wide-ranging Q & A session with reporters that lasted the entirety of an abbreviated 90-minute presser, López Obrador also welcomed news of Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero’s recovery from back surgery and confirmed he would speak “very soon” with Tesla executives including CEO Elon Musk with a view to coming to an agreement about the location of an electric vehicle plant the company apparently intends to open in Mexico.
“We do care a lot about investment in the country because it means job creation but we also want to look after the land, not destroy land and guarantee that people don’t lack water because the people must always be put first,” he said.
López Obrador said earlier in the week that Nuevo León wasn’t the best option for a Tesla plant because “there’s no water” in the northern border state. In contrast, 70% of the nation’s water is concentrated in the southeast, he said before identifying that region of the country as “another option” for the Musk-led EV manufacturer.
Christina Whiteley and her family made a tough decision leaving behind their lives in Canada, but found solace here in Mexico. (Courtesy)
To read writer Christina Whiteley’s story from the beginning, go to Part 1.
Sixteen months have passed since we decided to take a break from our lives in Canada and re-evaluate how we wanted to live our next chapter. It’s been a year since we took the leap and decided to make our time in Mexico more permanent. Although we couldn’t be happier here now, it wasn’t an easy decision.
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic period, I don’t think anyone got out of the experience unscathed. We lost people in our lives, not just to death, but to division. Systems that were already broken were put to the test, and all the cracks in health care, education and public policy came to light. Many small businesses closed down for good.
Christina’s salon business suffered setbacks during the pandemic. (Courtesy)
2021 was a really difficult year for us. I suffered not one, but two miscarriages. People always praise Canada for the “free” public health care system, but I saw something very different. During this time, my doctor left town and was replaced by someone I had never met.
When I first thought I was pregnant, I called to make an appointment and he wanted to refer me to an OB-GYN, but there was a 2-month wait to see her. I opted for a midwife, and was offered a phone appointment, time and time again due to COVID policies. Although I was very sick, I stayed home to keep myself, the baby and our family safe.
At 13 weeks I went for my first ultrasound – by myself – because my husband wasn’t allowed at the hospital with me, and this was when I found out that I had lost the baby. I called my midwife in the parking lot sobbing and she walked me through how I would tell my 4-year-old daughter that she wasn’t going to be a big sister.
I had no idea the pain that I would have to endure at home by myself. I suffered from postpartum depression, yet I continued to try and push through, for my family and business. When I requested to see a specialist after my second miscarriage, I was told it was a 6 month wait…for yet another phone appointment.
I can’t help but notice a huge contrast in healthcare services that are offered where we live today. In Mexico, locals and residents have an option to use public or private health care. Unfortunately, many locals can’t afford private insurance, but for those who can there are a variety of options, including private international coverage. Our family is very grateful to have access to such options.
I was shocked by how quickly I could be seen by specialists here in Cabo, and how much time and care they would take in the appointment to address every one of my concerns, then walk me through the process step by step. Furthermore, every doctor we have seen has given us their personal phone number to text in case we need anything during our aftercare. This kind of care or service would be impossible to get back home.
In Canada, we felt like the walls were closing in on us. On top of our disappointment and grief, we saw our daughter who was happy, outgoing and smart, starting to become worried, frustrated and anxious.
We were also concerned about the age-appropriateness of some of the topics that were being discussed in her Kindergarten class, so my husband and I made a point of attending the PTA meetings (which were then being held on Zoom). We quickly realized our presence was just a formality and that the school wasn’t interested in parental involvement, nor was it welcome unless it was to bring in money.
We knew we didn’t want these precious young years for her being shaped by people who didn’t have her best interests at heart. We knew that we could do better as parents, so we decided to pull her from school and bring her home. Which also came with its own set of challenges.
Not only did the restrictions and lockdowns change our quality of life, economically, it crippled small businesses like ours. It was a perfect storm. We were fortunate that a few years back, after many conversations, we had already started our journey to professionally reinvent ourselves.
If we wanted a better quality of life, we would have to evolve or go broke. Back then the cost of doing business kept rising, so after years of hard work as a salon owner, I shifted my focus to online business because I knew we could leverage our time and make more money if we upgraded our skills.
Christina’s husband, Ryan (left), managed a bar in Canada. (Courtesy)
I know now moving forward that adaptability, purpose and uniqueness in experience will be a huge shift in focus over the next 10 years as many jobs will be taken over by AI in this new technology-driven economy.
My husband Ryan and I have always had conversations about leveling up our lives. We make business decisions based on who we are and what we believe in. Six years ago that took us from city life to country life, and about a year and a half ago it was our turn for another adventure: giving up our 10 acre hobby farm on Vancouver Island to chase the sun in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Ryan and I had many hard conversations about our belief system, how we wanted to raise our family, how we wanted to support our daughter, and what we wanted our lives to look like.
As soon as we landed in Cabo, we felt different. The energy here was different. We felt happier and the daily anxiety dissipated as soon as our feet hit the ground. We realized very quickly that taking a break from what was one of the hardest years of our lives, was actually the greatest gift we could have given ourselves. This balcony view of our lives had proven to be just what we needed to find clarity in the next right step for us.
Christina Whiteley, founder of Life Transformed, is a bestselling author, speaker and business strategist who leads the 6 Figure Profit Plan Mastermind and hosts corporate retreats where she resides in Cabo San Lucas. She and her husband Ryan, who is a realtor, live for road trips and weekend adventures with their daughter and their dog, Larry.
