The Tianguis Turístico allowed Mexican states to advertise their tourist potential to investors and businesses across the world. Here, the state of Coahuila advertises itself as a site for tourism related to dinosaurs and fossils. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
The largest tourism fair in Latin America came to a close with record sales as reported by Mexico’s Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco.
The Tianguis Turístico, which gathered businesses from across the tourism industry, “broke all records in terms of business appointments, participation of buyers and representation of nations,” Torruco said, citing preliminary reports.
The Tianguis Turistico saw the best of Mexico come together to discuss the future of the sector and attract investment. Here a man advertises tourism on the Yucatán Peninsula. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Companies and local governments used the four-day event to announce new tourism-related initiatives and products and traveling opportunities.
According to Torruco, preliminary sales numbers reached US $68.5 million — an 87% increase from the 2022 fair held in Acapulco.
“The event marked a milestone for tourism in the country and in the history of the tourism fair itself,” Torruco said.
Ninety countries from five continents attended the event, involving 2,338 buyers and 1,383 companies, the ministry said. The fair, which allows registered participants to make appointments in advance with business participants at the event, saw close to 90,000 such appointments scheduled.
Organizers attributed that number to a 34% increase in people attending the fair as buyers. Torruco said that 53% of those business appointments ended in sales.
Companies and local governments used the four-day event to announce new tourism-related initiatives and products and traveling opportunities, including announcements about new airline routes and the use of technology in the tourism industry, as we highlight below.
Viva Aerobus announces new Querétaro-Los Cabos flight
With three flights per week starting in July, the airline Viva Aerobus will launch a new route from Querétaro to Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.
Viva Aerobus also anticipates the delivery of 28 more A321 aircraft. (Viva Aerobus)
According to the government of Querétaro, Los Cabos is one of the most requested destinations by airport users. Authorities anticipate about 45,000 people per year will fly the new route.
“[The new route] will allow us to place and promote Querétaro in a market that, naturally, we do not have. With this new flight, Querétaro will be able to offer new travelers all our products,” Minister of Tourism for Querétaro Adriana Vega said during the announcement.
The route will use Airbus A320 aircraft, which can accommodate up to 186 passengers.
ChatGPT recommends Mexico as a tourist destination
Chairman of the Board of Directors at Grupo Carso Carlos Slim Domit (billionaire Carlos Slim Helú’s son) told audiences in a keynote address at the fair that he had tried out Open AI’s ChatGPT software and that it had good things to say about Mexico.
Slim Domit said he’d asked the chatbot the question: “Do you recommend visiting Mexico?”
The chatbot responded in the affirmative, he said.
Chat GPT says Mexico is one of the best tourist destinations in the world. (David Vives / Unsplash)
The AI (artificial intelligence) software told Slim Domit that Mexico has “a lot to offer.”
From modern cities to historical towns, mountains and seaside villages, ChatGPT said, “there’s something for everyone in Mexico,” and “Mexico is a great place to go if you’re looking to travel somewhere.”
Slim Domit said that technology is no longer an option but a necessity in the tourism industry and that it’s imperative to explore ways of using it. Tourism companies, he said, should use artificial intelligence to create personalized experiences for their clients.
Mexican states promote medical tourism
The northern, Bajío and western regions of the country are developing strategies to take advantage of increasing medical tourism.
In an interview with newspaper El Economista during the fair, San Miguel de Allende’s head of economic and tourism development Tania Castillo said that the most important destinations in the country are experiencing an economic boom in this sector. Her city is getting involved as well, she said.
Mexico is rapidly becoming a destination for medical tourists, with modern facilities designed to attract people from across the world. (archdaily.mx)
Castillo cited the Guanajuato city’s planned Alquería WTC San Miguel de Allende, a World Trade Center campus that in addition to businesses, will include a dedicated medical tourism hospital — which Castillo claimed will be the first such facility of its kind in Mexico.
Construction is anticipated to start this spring.
Medical tourism for cosmetic procedures is in increasing demand in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, particularly from Canadian and U.S. citizens, said Sujey Cardenas, head of public relations for Puerto Vallarta’s Tourism Promotion Trust.
Baja California is also a hot spot for medical tourism. About 10% of tourism in the state belongs to this category, and double-digit rates are expected for the rest of 2023. Tijuana and Ensenada are building 15 complexes to accommodate this new breed of tourist.
The new factory in Nuevo Leon will produce millions of car sets by 2025 under the brand Faurecia. (@_JosePerales/Twitter)
The French auto part manufacturer Forvia has opened a new US $147 million plant in the northern state of Nuevo León.
Forvia, which produces car seating and interiors for major international brands, hopes that the creation of their new Apodaca plant will allow for the export of more than 2 million full sets of car seats per year in 2025.
The opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries from the government of Nuevo León. (Forvia)
The company is aiming to double its manufacturing capacity by the end of 2023. Clients of Forvia include the automakers Volvo and Stellantis.
“This new facility positions us to deliver exceptional value to our customers and enhances our mission to pioneer technology for mobility experiences that matter to people,” said Nik Endrud, Forvia executive vice president of the Americas.
The company believes that the plant’s opening, under the Faurecia brand, represents a “true milestone” for the business. Forvia is currently ranked as the global leader in the industry, with a 16% market share.
A number of state dignitaries were in attendance at the opening ceremony, including Governor Samuel García and Nuevo León Economy Minister Ivan Rivas.
The new factory is yet another development in the nearshoring boom that has seen significant investment in Mexico as a global manufacturing center — especially the state of Nuevo León.
The state has rapidly become a hub for the automotive industry, according to Rivas. One hundred twenty-five of its recent high-level investments have been in the sector.
Like other developments opening in the region, the new factory will also adhere to modern sustainability standards, to help fight the chronic water shortages that have plagued much of Mexico.
“Our investment supports key sustainability initiatives in the fields of bioclimatic design, energy efficiency, and water recovery. This is why we are pleased to share with you that this new plant is certified as a green building,” said Jean-Paul Michel, executive vice president of the interiors division, told the business publication Mexico Industry.
It was another eventful week at President López Obrador's morning press conferences, covering everything from the tragedy in Ciudad Juárez to the Supreme Court blocking the "plan B" electoral reform. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez / Cuartoscuro.com)
President López Obrador triggered an outburst of positive and negative responses when he highlighted the natural beauty of Quintana Roo and the construction of two government infrastructure projects in the same social media post last Saturday.
“It’s not a dream, it’s a nightmare for nature,” one Twitter user wrote in response to AMLO’s publication of a photo showing “beautiful little lagoons close to where we’re building the new Tulum airport.”
Bellas lagunitas cercanas a donde estamos construyendo el nuevo aeropuerto de Tulum. Llevamos dos días de supervisión de avances del Tren Maya, que es como un sueño que pronto, muy pronto, se volverá realidad. pic.twitter.com/cBIdt3xOVE
AMLO shared this image of lagoons near the site of the new Tulum airport last Sunday
In the same post, the president said that the Maya Train railroad project – which will connect cities and towns in five southeastern states – is “like a dream that … very soon will become reality.”
The dichotomy between the comments praising the president for his commitment to carrying out transformative infrastructure projects and the remarks accusing him of defiling Mexico’s natural environment was not surprising.
Politically speaking, Mexico is a divided country, and that polarization is perhaps more evident on social media than anywhere else. Much of the public debate, online and offline, stems from AMLO’s discourse at his lengthy weekday morning press conferences, or mañaneras, exercises in oratorical – and auditory – stamina held mostly in the National Palace.
Monday
During the weekly update on the construction of the Maya Train railroad, the head of the National Tourism Promotion Fund reported that “significant progress” has been made on the 234-kilometer section between Escárcega and Calkiní in the state of Campeche.
“There are 80 kilometers of tracks completed and we already have 100% of the ballast, rails and sleepers required,” said Javier May Rodríguez.
“The drainage works are 70% complete, the 10 viaducts under construction are 60% complete and we already have half of the 148 pedestrian, vehicle and wildlife crossings we need. … All this has created 12,000 jobs,” he said.
“Traveling in the train along section 2 will allow [passengers] to visit and enjoy emblematic places like the historic city of Campeche, the Champotón River, the archaeological zone of Edzná and the Hecelchakán Museum, to name some of the marvelous places in Campeche. And of course … [passengers] will be able to enjoy the gastronomy and handicrafts of our amigos y amigas campechanos,” May added.
Governor of Campeche, Layda Sansores, speaks at the morning press conference on Monday. (@LaydaSansores/Twitter)
During a theatrical appearance before reporters, Campeche Governor Layda Sansores – an ardent AMLO ally – declared that the ambitious 1,500-kilometer-long railroad will be completed on time in December because the project was “predestined.”
“Its destiny was written on the bark of the ancient ceiba trees,” she said.
“… Let the thunder of the train reverberate on the [Yucatán] Peninsula. Let’s get on the train – we’ll discover the splendor and power of our Mayan culture, we’ll find another world of redemption and hope,” the governor gushed.
“Thank you, Andrés, president, for giving us the opportunity to write a line in the long history of peaceful and eternal battles you’ve led. Andrés Manuel, son of corn and restorative lightning, son of the four cardinal points, he who carries 32 suns in his soul, never forget how much your people love you.”
Justice Javier Laynez in court in 2019. ( ISAAC ESQUIVEL /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
“It’s thought that this justice overstepped the mark, went too far,” López Obrador said.
“… There can be interpretations of the constitution, of laws, but in reality that’s what he did. The important thing is to know why [judges] act in this way. I believe that the majority of people know that it’s not a legal matter, it’s a political matter and I would say a commercial matter because what they don’t want is for the electoral law to be approved or declared constitutional. What they don’t want is for the salaries of the high-ranking National Electoral Institute [INE] officials to be reduced,” he said.
Responding to another question, AMLO praised Constellation Brands for accepting the result of a 2020 referendum on a brewery the United States company planned to build in Mexicali, Baja California.
“They’re [now] building the brewery in Veracruz, near the port. … The owners of this company behaved very well because they were surprised to some extent, deceived by previous authorities who gave them permits when there was no water available,” he said.
“They thought there wasn’t going to be a problem but clearly there was a problem because the people of Mexicali didn’t agree. The consultation was done, the people reaffirmed that they didn’t want the brewery, we spoke with the owners … and they accepted the move … to a place where there is water.”
In response to the final question of the presser – What’s your schedule today, Mr. President? – López Obrador revealed that he is not as au fait with his day-to-day agenda as one might expect.
“We have some things, I don’t remember well,” he said reluctantly before flashing a broad grin.
Tuesday
López Obrador acknowledged at the beginning of his presser that 39 migrants had died in a fire in a government-run detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It appeared that migrants set mattresses alight when they found out they were going to be deported or moved, he said.
“It’s very sad that this happened,” AMLO said after noting that the names and nationalities of the victims had not yet been established.
(Migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia were subsequently confirmed to have died.)
Education Minister Leticia Ramírez later announced that the government was launching “a campaign against addictions” that would be mainly directed at middle school and high school students
At least three days a week students will receive information from teachers about the harm caused by drug use, she said.
Ramírez ran through a list of brief but blunt messages that will be conveyed to students during the campaign: “fentanyl will kill you straight away; methamphetamine hooks you; vapes really are toxic; cannabis harms you; tobacco affects you and everyone; alcohol, be careful, don’t start; benzodiazepines aren’t a game.”
Education Minister Leticia Ramírez at the Tuesday press conference. (Gob MX)
After López Obrador expressed his support for the campaign, Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto took center stage and reported that 11,505 Mexican archaeological pieces have been repatriated since the federal government took office in late 2018.
“We want to thank … the management of museums in other countries [and] citizens who had these assets in their homes for some reason – maybe they inherited them, but they became aware that they don’t belong to them,” she said.
Frausto also expressed gratitude to the governments of European countries that have returned artifacts to Mexico, including that of Italy, which recently handed over 43 pieces.
Alejandra Frausto at the Wednesday morning press conference. (@AleFrausto/Twitter)
Back in his element in front of a gaggle of eager reporters, AMLO declared that his government needs to “continue seeking the purification of public life” after 36 years of neoliberal policies implemented by the past six governments.
“We’re talking about 1983 to 2018. … This predominance of neoliberalism … penetrated deeply … [in] all aspects of public life,” he said during a prolonged response to a question about the need for judicial reform.
Among other remarks, AMLO said that “the family is the most important social security institution” in Mexico because of the support members can provide to each other and noted that he had a “very good” meeting on Monday with the lawyer for Pedro Castillo, the former president of Peru who was ousted by that country’s Congress late last year.
“He’s defending the case well. He explained to me that there is no legal foundation for what they did. In other words they acted at the margins of – and above – the law,” he said.
Wednesday
At the top of his presser, López Obrador expressed his condolences to the family members of the men who were killed in the Ciudad Juárez detention center fire and to the residents and governments of the Latin American countries from which they came.
According to reports, migrants set fire to mattresses after being informed they would be deported. (Juan Ortega/Cuartoscuro)
He said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office was conducting an investigation and pledged that his government wouldn’t “hide the facts.”
“In the face of this [tragedy] that is so painful and so sad for us, we’re not going to act unfairly in any way,” AMLO said.
After various officials presented a bombardment of statistics, including ones related to pensions for seniors (11.2 million recipients), the “Youths Building the Future” apprenticeship scheme (2.6 million participants in the past four years) and the government’s “Internet for Wellbeing” program (20,508 rural localities connected), fake news finder Ana García Vilchis made her regular Wednesday appearance to present another edition of her “Who’s who in the Lies of the Week” segment.
After defending the integrity of the government’s scholarship scheme for students in the wake of a report that questioned the whereabouts of more than 1.6 billion pesos in funding, she took aim at “opposition media outlets” that have reported on flooding at the new Pemex refinery on the Tabasco coast.
“Time and again they falsify information, publishing photos that don’t correspond, doing photomontage, reviving old lies and rehashing false information – a complete cocktail of disinformation,” García said.
She also denounced reports that claimed that Wells Fargo wouldn’t allow remittances to be sent to the government’s Bank of Well-Being due to the latter’s lack of anti-money laundering controls.
Reentering the fray, AMLO directed some of his ire at senior judges and high-ranking electoral officials who earn “double or triple” his salary (about US $9,600 per month gross) despite the constitution saying that no public servant can make more than the president.
“They violated the constitution through an injunction, legal chicanery,” he said before noting that he did succeed in eliminating exorbitant pensions for past presidents.
“How much did they give Fox, Calderón, Salinas, all of them? About 5 million pesos a month,” López Obrador said.
During a subsequent engagement with a storied mañanera figure, a reporter known as Lord Molécula (real name Carlos Pozos), AMLO’s mind suddenly turned to Mexican cinema and specifically a new film called ¡Que viva México!
“I was watching a movie, a churro [dud] against us, … [a film] for the consumption of the conservatives,” he said before going on to explain why he isn’t a big fan of cinema.
“Que Viva México” poster on the back of a Mexico City bus. (@QueVivaMexico__/Twitter)
“I regret [not being a fan] because [cinema] is something exceptional, it’s art, … but perhaps due to the reality in which I live I don’t need more drama. My reality, my experience, is very rich,” the president said.
Among other remarks, AMLO once again asserted that Mexico is a largely safe country as he sought to refute recent comments regarding cartel control made by members of U.S. President Joe Biden’s cabinet.
“I maintain that I, as president, and any person can go to any part of [Mexico’s] national territory,” he said. “Yes, there are more risks in some regions and cities than others, but life goes on unchanged in the entire country.”
Thursday
Members of the Consejo de la Communicación (Communication Council) – a private sector group that aims to raise awareness about social problems and help solve them – were guests of honor at López Obrador’s Thursday press conference.
Francisco Casanueva Pérez, who assumed the presidency of the council at the mañanera, declared that Mexico is facing “significant economic, social and environmental challenges” and asked the president to “allow us to continue joining forces with the federal government” to tackle them.
“We have a shared vision of achieving the wellbeing of society and the progress of our country,” Casanueva said. “Working together – the public sector and the private sector – we can reach our goals.”
Continuing the love-in, López Obrador said that the work of the council – which ran a pro-vaccine campaign during the pandemic and has supported other public health initiatives – is “highly renowned.”
“I want to thank [the council members] for what they did for our people in very difficult times, when we were facing the COVID pandemic in very difficult and sad circumstances. We all joined together and managed to save many lives,” he said. “… This is a council with a social dimension, a civic dimension.”
AMLO with members of the Communication Council at the Thursday press conference. (Gob MX)
Before opening up his presser to questions, López Obrador ran through a range of economic data, highlighting low unemployment, wage growth for formal sector workers, the strength of the peso and record-high remittances, among other favorable pieces of information.
He acknowledged that inflation is a “concern,” but stressed that the scourge is now declining.
During his engagement with reporters, AMLO noted that he had spoken with National Immigration Institute director Francisco Garduño since the detention center fire, but offered no details about the conversation. Asked whether Garduño would remain in his position, the president said that the government would wait for “the result of the investigation” before making any decision.
He later turned his mind to the importance of eating well and exercising. Eating a healthy diet and doing sport is “preventative medicine,” said the 69-year-old heart attack survivor.
“And prevention is better than cure. … We can have specialist hospitals but the best thing is for people not to get sick and we can achieve that with good eating habits, with exercise, by looking after ourselves and that’s why we have this [healthy eating] campaign,” he said.
“… There are other important issues. Water, for example, is extremely important,” AMLO added.
“… We already have problems with a shortage of water in the country and we have to look after water, both surface and subterranean water. There are areas in the country with water stress – there’s no water in other words,” he said.
Friday
Right off the bat, AMLO was asked about the election of Guadalupe Taddei Zavala as president of the National Electoral Institute (INE). He promptly noted that her election and that of three new electoral councilors occurred via sortition, or selection by lottery.
Gudadalupe Taddei, the new president of the INE. (IEE Sonora)
Compared to the “bad habit of dividing the positions between the parties, this is a more democratic way of choosing,” he said. “In ancient Greece this method was used as well, it was part of democracy.”
López Obrador went on to describe Taddei – who has family links to the government – as an “experienced, professional and honest” woman who is “incapable” of acting like outgoing INE chief Lorenzo Córdova, a noted foe of the president. He dismissed a suggestion that the INE was being taken over by the ruling Morena party.
The president was later asked about his exhortation on Monday for citizens not to vote for “the conservatives.”
The INE ruled on Thursday that his remark threatened equity in upcoming elections in México state and Coahuila and ordered the removal of the relevant section of his mañanera from the internet.
AMLO charged he didn’t do anything wrong, although the government has removed Monday’s presser from its websites and social media pages.
“To say ‘not one for vote for conservatism’ is not to say ‘not one vote for PRIAN,'” he said, using a hybrid acronym for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the National Action Party, or PAN, political allies that are sometimes accused of being one and the same.
AMLO discusses immigration policy at his Friday press conference. (Gob MX)
“If they put on the [conservative] jacket, that’s another thing. There’s not a formal conservative party, right?”
The president put politics aside to discuss the Ciudad Juárez tragedy, noting that he would travel to the border city and meet with the doctors treating the injured migrants.
“I’m going to have a meeting with the doctors to ensure they don’t lack anything, so that we can save lives. That’s the essential thing now,” he said.
“… This case has been very painful for a lot of people. And I confess it has pained me a lot, it has hurt me. I’ve had difficult moments [as president], the most difficult was the explosion in Tlahuelilpan,” AMLO said, referring to the 2019 petroleum pipeline blast in Hidalgo that claimed well over 100 lives.
“That was the hardest event, the one that affected me the most emotionally. And then this, this moved me, it broke my soul.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
Using just a few basic ingredients, garlic shrimp is easy and quick to make.
In Mexico, you can find garlic shrimp — camarones al ajillo — on menus everywhere; it’s a ubiquitous dish served in seafood restaurants coast to coast (and in between).
It’s simple to make, but like most recipes with just a few ingredients, it can easily go wrong.
A perfectly cooked camaron is a work of art.
Arguably, the most common mistake is overcooking the shrimp, resulting in tough, leathery, flavorless lumps no one wants to eat. No matter their size, shrimp cook in minutes (or less!). The flesh will turn from grey to white that’s tipped with pink, which means that they’re done and need to be removed from the heat.
The other challenge with this dish is cleaning the raw shrimp — always kind of a hassle. At some of the fish markets where I live, the shrimp vendors will clean the shrimp for you, but usually what you’re going to find are bags of flash-frozen shrimp with the heads off, which makes the process a little easier.
Purists will prefer them that way because as soon as the shrimp begins to die, the head releases enzymes that make the flesh mushy. That said, if the heads are still on, cut or break them off; same with the legs.
The shell can be peeled off in one piece and discarded, although in this recipe, we’ll be keeping them to infuse the oil with extra flavor. (They’re also great for making stock; seal them in a freezer bag and save for future use.) Tails can be kept on or twisted off, as you like.
Once the veins are removed, pass the shrimp under running water. You’ll be glad you did.
Now for the gross part: deveining. Hold the shrimp in your left hand with the back side up. With a small, sharp knife, make a slit from end to end, about 1/8-inch deep.
It will split open, and you’ll see a dark blue or black “vein” (actually the digestive tract). Pull that out with the knife and discard. If you’re lucky, it will come out in one piece. I like to do this under running water.
Once the veins are removed, rinse the shrimp well under running water, discarding any veiny bits that may surface. If you’re not using them right away, set the shrimp in a bowl of cold ice water until you’re ready.
Another method is to use a fork to slit the back and pull out the vein with one smooth move. That’s never worked for me, but feel free to give it a try.
For more info about buying, cleaning and cooking with shrimp, go here.
I always try to time making shrimp dishes with garbage night so I can get rid of the shells quickly. Otherwise, I wrap them tightly in two plastic bags before putting them in the trash; in the hot summer, I sometimes put the wrapped shells in the freezer until they can go out in the trash.
What makes this dish stand out? Not the amount of garlic, although that’s certainly part of the flavor profile. What takes this dish to the next level is that you’re going to infuse the oil with a rich shrimp essence you don’t get by just sautéing the camarones in the oil for the few minutes required to cook them. It’s a small additional step that’s well worth the little bit of extra time it takes.
Freshly mincing garlic releases all of its flavorful oils into whatever dish you’re making.
The Best Garlic Shrimp
12 cloves garlic
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and cleaned, shells reserved
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt (Kosher if you have it)
¼ tsp. baking soda
Pinch red pepper flakes, or a 1-inch piece dried guajillo chili
1½ tsp. sherry vinegar OR red wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Finely mince four garlic cloves and place in a large bowl. Smash four more of the cloves under the flat side of a knife and place in a large skillet. Thinly slice the remaining four cloves and set aside.
In the bowl with the minced garlic, add shrimp, 3 Tbsp. olive oil, ¾ tsp. salt and baking soda. Toss to combine thoroughly. Set aside at room temperature.
Add shrimp shells, remaining olive oil and pepper flakes to skillet with smashed garlic. Set over low to medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shells are deep ruby-red, the garlic is pale golden brown and the oil is intensely aromatic, about 10 minutes. The oil should be gently bubbling the whole time, but don’t let the garlic burn.
When ready, strain through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl, tossing and pressing the shrimp shells to extract as much oil as possible. Discard shells and garlic.
Return flavored oil to skillet and heat over medium-high until shimmering. Add sliced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic turns a pale golden brown, barely 1 minute. Stir in shrimp, tossing and stirring constantly until barely cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Add vinegar and parsley and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt. Serve immediately over rice, or use as a filling in tacos, quesadillas or burritos.
Xavier López, better known as "Chabelo," was a beloved performer best known to generations of Mexicans for his kid-friendly variety show "En Familia Con Chabelo" (Family Time With Chabelo). He died on March 25 at age 88. (En Familia Con Chabelo/Facebook)
Maybe I have been in Mexico too long. I was at the market when I looked up at a television set to find out that performer Xavier López, a.k.a. Chabelo, had died. My response was “no manches!” (You’re kidding!)
Understanding the character known as “the friend of all children” is one key to understanding 20th-century Mexico.
López doing a presentation in character during a Day of the Child event at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City in 2007. (Fernando Acevez/Cuartoscuro)
López died at age 88 in Mexico City on March 25, and Mexican newspapers are still writing up homages to him. But they don’t explain why he was/is so important to Mexicans, likely because “everybody knows.”
With a career spanning over six decades, López essentially wound up as a “little boy” with the face of an old man. While he did some other work, including in film and theater — he had a voice role in the movie “Coco” in 2017 — just about his entire career was based on the playing of a single character, Chabelo.
The character was readily identifiable through the voice López affected for the part, his body movements, and his wearing of shorts/cargo pants. It emerged early in his career, appearing in movies, radio and television. But López’s mark on Mexican culture was made with the show “En Familia Con Chabelo” (Family Time With Chabelo), which appeared every Sunday morning for more than 2,400 episodes from 1967 to 2015, according to its broadcaster, Televisa.
That longevity means that Mexican families have two, even three, generations of viewers. Parents who grew up watching him watched him again with their own children. The show was part of a Sunday ritual which included breakfast and, often, Mass.
“En Famila Con Chabelo.” missed only seven broadcasts during its continuous run from 1967 to 2015. According to its broadcaster, Televisa, the show produced 2,459 episodes.
Artisan José Guadaluupe Urbán notes that until relatively recently, Mexican homes had only one television set, so during those hours of the day, having family-friendly entertainment was important. My Mexican husband has fond memories watching the show with his brothers on their parents’ bed, as the family’s only set was in their room.
“En Familia” was a variety and game show for kids and featured celebrity guests — often comedians or musicians performing. Like game shows in the U.S., seeing normal people winning and losing was part of the excitement.
Professional dollmaker Ana Karen Allende appeared on the show once and won, interestingly enough, a doll.
“I can still remember her smell and her blonde hair,” she says.
En Familia con Chabelo | Último Programa
This 2015 ad for the last episode of “En Familia Con Chabelo” gives an idea of the show’s format.
The show’s most famous element was the part of the show called La Catafixia. López made up this word to refer to a gamble that offered contestants the chance to keep a prize they had just won in the game show for an unknown — possibly better, possibly worse — hidden prize on the stage (“The Price is Right” game show does something similar.).
Actress Itatí Cantoral remembers that she was “always nervous” when she saw the Catafixia part of the show.
“I would yell, ‘No, please! Don’t do the Catafixia!'”
Catafixiar has since entered Mexican Spanish, meaning to take a risk with no idea if the result will be better or worse.
In his younger days, López appeared with legendary comedic actor Mario Moreno, left, a.k.a Cantinflas, in the 1962 Mexican film “El Extra.”
The show’s sponsors, such as the candy Paletas Payaso (find them at supermarket checkouts) and the furniture company Muebles Troncoso became famous in Mexico, not only for the plugs that Chabelo did during the show but also for their products appearing as prizes. Many Mexican children’s lists for Santa and/or the Reyes Magos (the Three Wise Men, who give out Christmas holiday gifts to children in Mexico) were based on products they saw on the show.
But the fun and games had a serious side: López promoted values such as teamwork, trust, confidence and even being a good parent, says Jessica Alcántara of the Mexico City media company BBmundo.
The comedy on the show was “white humor,” meaning no satire, sarcasm or innuendo. Although Mexico has another famous “old man dressed as a child,” “El Chavo del 8,” the two shows were distinct — the latter a sitcom, sometimes with a darker edge.
The last episode of “En Familia Con Chabelo” in 2015 was still drawing child viewers almost three generations later after it premiered in 1967. (Armando Monroy/Cuartoscuro)
“En Familia” cut across Mexico’s rather strong class divisions, as it appealed to what Mexicans have in common, especially the appeal to family unity.
“There is not one Mexican person who doesn’t know Chabelo,” journalist Laura Martínez told the BBC.
A 2019 Alliant International University dissertation notes that relating to Chabelo (and other pop culture icons) is something that can separate Mexican immigrants from Mexican-Americans. Mexican Tik-Toker celebrity @jezzzini was embarrassed in London because when he was asked about idols similar to Queen Elizabeth (who had recently died) Chabelo came to mind.
Although he was a legend for his Chabelo persona, Xavier López was far from a one-trick pony: in 2016, he celebrated his 150th performance of a Spanish-language version of the Broadway musical, “Young Frankenstein” at Mexico City’s Teatro Aldama. (Antonio Cruz/Cuartoscuro)
English-language sources about López tend to call him “Mexican-American” or the like because he was born in Chicago, but neither he, and definitely not his fans, would consider him such. His U.S. birth was simply a matter of where his mother was when he was born. He was raised in Mexico and always identified as such.
The show on every level was about family, which López called “…the most beautiful in human life and should be fundamental in television” but lamented that much modern programming is “trash.” He also commented that “The world has changed and therefore the children. It’s not that they have lost their innocence; what has happened is that they live more hurriedly [to grow up].”
One way that the world has changed is that Mexican audiences do not seem to be as forgiving about actors who do not look the age of their parts. Chabelo got a pass until the end, but others from the same era have been recently ridiculed in social media for continuing to play their characters.
After retirement, Chabelo’s fame got a second wind thanks to the same internet… and this is how I know him best. Like Queen Elizabeth, Betty White and others, it seemed that Chabelo/López would live forever.
Internet memes about his longevity are legion, with more appearing after some elderly Mexican celebrity died, implying that Chabelo had outlived yet another contemporary.
Some memes have since appeared since his death, as a kind of homage.
So, yet another person I thought (jokingly) would outlive my relatively young self is now gone, and I have to wonder, “Does this mean Keith Richards will really someday die?”
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.
If you're an American citizen living and earning an income in Mexico (or any other country outside the U.S.), you still might owe the IRS some tax on that income. (Illustration: Angy Márquez)
April is here! For many, this means the sprouting of spring: perhaps some nice, warm rain, maybe picking some wildflowers, or maybe even getting to see a few cute baby animals.
For those of us either from the U.S. — or who happen to have dual citizenship through a U.S. parent, it also means that tax season is once again upon us.
For U.S. citizens, April (or June if you’re out of the country, though you still must pay by April) is the time to file and very likely pay wherever you might happen to be in the world. If you’ve been an immigrant to another country for 50 years, there are, officially, IRS filing requirements.
If you’ve never really stepped foot in the United States but are a citizen by birth — for example, if you were born in the U.S. to parents who left the country shortly thereafter — there are, officially, IRS filing requirements.
The United States is the only country in the world still holding on to citizenship-based taxation (save a small Eastern African country, Eritrea, who asks its own citizens residing outside of the country to pay them a flat 2% tax on their earnings). That grip, unfortunately for those of us trying to build sensible financial lives in our homes outside of the United States, has only strengthened of late.
And with the extraterritorial law FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), there’s no playing dumb or being “dumb” for that matter: foreign banks are required to report U.S. citizens’ local accounts to the IRS; those banks that refuse to do such reporting simply do not serve anyone with U.S. citizenship.
And for all U.S. citizens, failing to file one’s financials in another country through the FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) can mean extremely heavy fines.
Meant to catch the uber-wealthy and U.S. corporations from stashing cash tax-free oversees, these rules have quite a big negative impact on those of us “regular folk” who live outside of the U.S.
In Mexico — as well as for U.S. expats living around the world — it means that we must deal with two different tax systems: contrary to popular belief, filing and paying taxes to your host country doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook with the U.S.
U.S. tax law does allow some expat taxpayers to take the foreign income exclusion, but not if you’re not a full-time, bona fide resident of Mexico; and if you’re self-employed in Mexico, you can qualify for the exclusion, but the excluded amount will only reduce your regular income tax, not your self-employment tax.
Mr. Lehagre, for his part, is an “accidental American:” though he was born in the US, he has never lived there nor had ties to the country. He and many like him, he says, were not even aware that they were required to file with (and much less pay) the IRS until FATCA came along.
“Imagine the surprise of having to declare your income to the IRS when you have no connection with the United States or even though you left the United States a very long time ago…For accidental Americans, it’s even more Kafkaesque because beyond the fact that many do not even speak English, most did not even know that they had American nationality.”
Examples of this unpleasant situation abound. Says Lehagre: “A business owner, a French citizen born in the United States of two French parents, having left the United States when he was 15 days old and having no connection with the United States, had to, for professional reasons in accordance with the IRS, renounce U.S. citizenship. It cost him over $130,000 in attorney fees and taxes.”
As more and more U.S. citizens move their families to Mexico, it’s easy to see the implications of this for our own children should they decide to stay in Mexico as money-earning adults.
So why is it like this in the first place?
Reasons, of course, are numerous. Lehagre points to the Civil War as a starting point: the US decided that all citizens would need to be taxed to support the war effort, and CBT (citizenship-based taxation) never went away after that.
Redmond adds: “It’s a multidimensional reason…the real question is, why doesn’t the US change to RBT (residency-based taxation) the rest of the world practices?”
For citizens residing outside of the U.S., the consequences of it are quite punitive. Intentionally or not, there are numerous ways in which it restricts many U.S. citizens from accessing financial products to help them save for retirement or invest in both the U.S. (many products are restricted to residents) as well as in their countries of residence.
Another particularly difficult example: the Transition Tax, part of the Tax Cut & Jobs Act (TCJA), a retroactive tax “adversely and ruinously affecting Americans overseas with small to medium sized businesses” who are in the U.S. tax system.
Among those reasons, too, are political ones: “Americans overseas are not a strong voting block, as their votes are diluted across 50 states and territories. Plus, no candidates acknowledge the plight of Americans overseas,” says Redmond. Taxation without representation, indeed.
And who among us immigrants to Mexico haven’t been met with a “that’s what you get” attitude from our fellow citizens? “It is an unusual cultural phenomenon that if one is an American not living in ‘the greatest country in all of mankind,’ one must be hiding money and/or committing some type of nefarious activity,” points out Redmond.
So, what options do U.S. citizens abroad have? As Redmond points out, there are pluses and minuses to any one of them, none of them as perfect as the United States simply ending CBT. These range from “deal with two tax systems and good luck” to renouncing one’s U.S. citizenship or simply choosing to move to the U.S. (whether you’ve lived there before or not).
If you’re like me, none of the choices sound quite fair, which is why lawsuits are currently in the making to fight for residency-based taxation like the rest of the world has (see the link above for the GoFundMe campaign started by Lehagre).
American emigrants face two types of damage, says Redmond. First, there’s the actual damage in terms of financial gains being lost to the U.S. tax system through extraterritorial taxation. Then, there are the opportunities for financial growth that are lost as a result of being outside of the country.
For the growing number of US citizens now permanently living in Mexico, the damage can add up quickly.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com
Want to see views like this? Senderos de México can show you how.
The northern shore of Lake Chapala has been called a paradise because of its ideal climate and beautiful environment, but for those of its inhabitants who enjoy hiking, this area is paradise twice over.
Why? You jump out of bed, walk a few blocks uphill and there you are at a trail head which takes you straight into a network of footpaths both easy and difficult, eventually leading to peaks offering spectacular views of the lake that those on the shoreline never see.
View from the top of Cerro Viejo, 2,970 meters above sea level, the third highest peak in Jalisco.
Many kilometers of those trails have been laboriously traced, described and mapped by a nonprofit organization called Senderos de Mexico (Trails of Mexico) which is dedicated not only to cataloguing Mexico’s hiking trails but also to signposting and maintaining them.
After years of on-trail research, Senderos de Mexico has published the 144-page book, “Trail Guide for Chapala, Ajijic, Jocotepec, and Ixlahuácan de los Membrillos.”
This guide comes in both a Spanish and an English edition and contains 100 color photos as well as 26 maps featuring contour lines, hiking time estimates and levels of difficulty. Loose versions of all the maps are also included in a pocket inside the book.
The Trail Guide measures 12 by 17 centimeters (less than 5 by7 inches) and weighs only 142 grams, (5 ounces), small enough to slip into your back pocket, yet packed with useful features like how to find the trail head, GPS coordinates, as well as a detailed description of the trail and where to make crucial turns.
The writer with his trusty Senderos de México guide in his pocket.
To me this trail guide is gold, and this opinion was confirmed when I showed it to experienced lakeside hiker Kriss Gang. He flipped through the book.
“Ah yes, here’s El Chante Trail, and this is La Christina and…” he began. Suddenly his eyes sparkled. “Wait a minute — what’s this? Here’s a trail I’ve never been on! Mmm, very interesting… Say, can I buy a copy of this?”
I received my own copy of this extraordinary little book from Jose Luis Cortés, Senderos’ executive director.
“Next week, I’m going on one of the hikes described in our book. Want to join me?” he asked.
José Luis Cortés, Executive Director of Senderos de México.
I jumped at the chance. even though I already knew that Cortés is one of those people who automatically rise at 5 a.m. every morning, ready to start their day.
I was lucky enough to be able to sleep until 5:45 a.m., and then it was off to Lake Chapala.
When Cortés parked along a dirt road not far from the Tecnológico de Chapala, I knew exactly which trail we would be following.
“I’ve only done this hike once,” I told him, “but it instantly became one of my very favorites.”
A venerable old fig tree along the trail to the Mesa de Ocote.
In the Trail Guide this is route number 23: “El Caracol to the Mesa Del Ocote.” Thirteen years ago, I did it during the rainy season.
You start off walking for a long time through what feels just like a tunnel through a jungle. On all sides, you hear the songs of birds, and if you are lucky, one of them will be the melodious warble of the clarín jilguero (brown-backed solitaire), which to me resembles three flutes being played all at once.
In the tunnel, you brush past wild sage and maidenhair ferns, and when you come to an occasional gap in this gallery of green, you may catch a glimpse of a huge fig tree towering overhead.
You start out at 1,838 meters altitude, and every 15 minutes, you seem to enter a new ecosystem presenting you with new plants. At 2,114 meters for example, the agaves appear — at first, at a normal size, but the higher you go the bigger they get.
Senderos de México isn’t just about giving hikers a piece of utopia, they’re also a nonprofit doing a variety of good works, as these hardworking participants in a Senderos de México-sponsored bicycle-repair workshop for kids found out.
Then at 2,418 meters comes the big surprise. Somehow, it seems you have left Mexico and entered Canada!
All the green is gone. You are now in an oak forest with a canopy of leaves overhead and a carpet of leaves underfoot, but not a plant or bush to be seen in between.
Passing through this stark but enticing woods, you arrive at a mirador or lookout point, that offers a gorgeous view of Lake Chapala, a view those couch potatoes down at the shore have never seen. It’s one of those special moments when you experience the joy of hiking.
For me this 3.7-km trail symbolizes the inclusion of Mexico’s five ecosystems within what I call “The Magic Circle” around the city of Guadalajara. In the space of a short hike, you can experience a diversity of flora, fauna and climate which, elsewhere in the world, might require days of travel.
Proceeds from the sale of the books go towards the maintenance of trails that need it, like this one. (Photo courtesy of Brett Shinn)
The Senderos de Mexico Chapala Trail Guide is available at Diane Pearl Galleryin Riberas del Pilar, Jalisco, and via the Senderos de Mexico Facebook page. The price is 400 pesos (US $20). Money received from book sales goes for trail signs, trail maintenance and programs that Senderos carries out in indigenous communities, training people in everything from how to fix a bicycle to how to become a trail guide — the live kind, of course.
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.
Mexico Deputy Santiago Creel holds up the randomly drawn ballot that would give the INE president position to Guadalupe Taddei. She's the INE's first woman leader. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)(Chamber of Deputies)
A Sonora woman with links to the ruling Morena Party government has been elected as the new president of the National Electoral Institute (INE).
While she is the first woman to be chosen as leader of the autonomous elections oversight body, what perhaps makes Guadalupe Taddei Zavala’s election most memorable is the way in which she was selected.
When Taddei was head of the Sonora Electoral Institute, the National Action Party accused her of favoring Morena and its allies in 2021’s state electoral process. On Friday, PAN president Marko Cortés acknowledged her electoral experience but said the way she was chosen was a “severe blow to our democracy.” (IEE Sonora)
Taddei will replace Lorenzo Córdova at the helm of Mexico’s electoral agency next week after her name was drawn out of a transparent lottery box in the Chamber of Deputies in the early hours of Friday morning.
If that sounds like an unusual way to appoint the country’s electoral chief, that’s because it is.
Party leaders decided to use sortition – also known as selection by lottery and selection by lot – to elect the new INE president and three new electoral councilors since none of the candidates had the support of the required two-thirds of lawmakers in the lower house of Congress.
An agreement between the parties that would have allowed that level of support for four consensus candidates never materialized. As a result, sortition was used to elect an INE president and councilors for the first time.
After they were unable to reach a two-thirds majority for any candidates for the open positions, the Chamber of Deputies voted to use sortition, i.e., a lottery, to fill the slots. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The Morena party, which along with its allies has a simple majority in the Chamber of Deputies, were likely happy to resort to drawing lots because the majority of the 20 candidates for the four positions – all of whom were nominated by a “technical committee” earlier this month – are close to their party, the newspaper El País reported.
Taddei, an experienced electoral official who formerly headed up the Sonora Electoral Institute, will begin her nine-year term next Tuesday. The fact that she is the first woman to head up the INE complies witha recent Federal Electoral Tribunal gender parity ruling.
President López Obrador, an outspoken critic of Córdova, expressed his approval of her election at his regular news conference on Friday morning.
“She’s an experienced woman. … She’s professional, honest, incapable of acting like the outgoing [INE] president,” he said.
National Action Party federal deputies documenting the state of the lottery box (tómbola) used to randomize the drawing of candidates. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
López Obrador, who put forward the so-called “Plan B” electoral reform package after more ambitious legislation wasrejected, has been accused of attempting to seize control of the INE or make it more favorable to the ruling Morena party in the lead up to next year’s presidential and congressional elections.
That perception is likely to grow due to the fact that Taddei has family links to both the government and Morena.
A cousin of the soon-to-be INE chief is the government’ssuper delegate, or social programs chief in Sonora, a nephew was last year named head of the new state-owned lithium company, and a niece is a Morena deputy in the Sonora Congress.
Labor Party (PT) Deputy Magdalena del Socorro supervises the lottery box containing lots representing each candidate for INE chief and INE ministers. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
While serving as president of the Sonora Electoral Institute, Guadalupe Taddei faced accusations from the opposition National Action Party (PAN) that she favored Morena and its allies during the 2021 electoral process in the state. She has denied claims of political partiality.
The three new electoral councilors elected by sortition early Friday are Jorge Montaño Ventura, Arturo Castillo Loza and Rita Bell López Vences.
Montaño, an electoral crimes prosecutor in Tabasco, has expressed support for the federal government’s electoral reform, while Castillo, a sociology teacher, said in an interview during the candidate selection process that he was in favor of austerity at the INE, a position in line with López Obrador’s support for cuts to the electoral authority’s budget.
López Vences, who has a master’s degree in constitutional law, has served as an electoral councilor in her home state of Oaxaca.
Federal deputy Santiago Creel about to open Taddei’s sealed ballot.(Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
PAN national president Marko Cortés said on Twitter that the election of the new INE officials by sortition was “a severe blow to our democracy.”
The party said in astatement that it would challenge the appointment of Taddei and Montaño due to what Cortés described as their “clear links” to Morena.
“We acknowledge that Guadalupe Taddei Zavala … has electoral experience, but we also point out that it’s completely unacceptable that the person who seeks to preside over our electoral umpire is clearly linked to Morena,” the PAN said.
Protesters hang posters outside a Ciudad Juarez detention center where 39 migrants were killed in a fire on Monday. (Photo by Graciela Lopez Herrera/Cuartoscuro.com)
A judge ruled that the five suspects – three immigration agents, a security guard employed by a private company, and a Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the blaze – must remain in preventive detention as they await trial. The accused face charges of homicide and causing injury.
An additional security guard suspected by authorities has not yet been detained.
According to reports, migrants set fire to mattresses after being informed they would be deported. (Photo by Juan Ortega/Cuartoscuro.com)
The arrests came aftera fire broke out late Monday at a provisional detention center run by Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (INM). The 39 men killed were migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and Venezuela.
The detained Venezuelan citizen, identified as Jason “N,” is accused of setting mattresses alight after he and other migrants learned they were going to be deported or moved to another INM facility. Jason “N” was not seriously injured in the fire, federal security minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said Thursday.
A video posted to social media showed that the male migrants being held in Ciudad Juárez wereleft in a locked section of the detention center while the fire raged. A security guard and an INM agent appear to evacuate the building without unlocking the door to the section where the migrants were detained.
In addition to the 39 deaths, around 30 other migrants were injured in the blaze.
The five suspects – four men and a female INM agent – are being held in a state prison in Ciudad Juárez and will face another preliminary hearing next week.
President López Obrador asked Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero to personally attend to the case and pledged that those responsible for the tragedy won’t go unpunished.
Informal workers, like street vendors, make up over half of the labor force in Mexico. ( Moisés Pablo Nava / Cuartoscuro.com)
Mexico’s unemployment rate hit a historic low of 2.7% in February, according to figurespublished today by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
The INEGI’s National Employment and Occupation Survey (ENOE) shows that unemployment in February was a full percentage point lower than the same month in 2022, and 0.1% lower than in January this year.
A strong peso and low unemployment rate are positive signs in Mexico’s post-pandemic rebound (Depositphotos/Photo by kmiragaya)
Underemployment – the number of people who do not work enough hours – was also down to 7.4% in February, compared to 9.2% in February 2022.
These figures are despite the fact that Mexico’s economically active population (of working age) grew by 1.7 million people over the previous year. It reached 60 million people in February 2023, of whom 58.3 million were actively employed.
Mexico’s unemployment rate has beensteadily declining after spiking at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.
However, employment in the informal economy remains strong.
Informal labor made up 55.5% of total employment in February 2023, a 0.9% increase from February 2022. Notably, the proportion of men in informal employment dropped slightly during this period, while the proportion of women in informal employment jumped, from 53.7% to 56.4%.
Of those who found formal work in the previous year, 60% did so in the services sector. (Depositphotos/Photo by Kasto)
Although these informal figures include those working in subsistence agriculture, a similar trend was observed in non-agricultural informal employment, which rose from 28.5% to 29% overall, and from 28.1% to 29.7% for women.
Of the 2.29 million people who started new jobs since February 2022, only 23% entered the formal economy. This is concerning given that those employed in the informal economy are more economically vulnerable and generally lack social security.
Of those who found formal work, 60% did so in the services sector, particularly in trade. 35.6% entered the industrial sector, mostly in manufacturing, and the remainder took up work in the primary sector.
