These bricks, dubbed 'sargablocks,' are 40% seaweed.
A Quintana Roo man who invented a brick partially made out of sargassum has now built 13 “sargablock” homes for low-income families.
Omar Vázquez Sánchez of Puerto Morelos came up with the idea of making bricks with sargassum in 2018, when he was already selling the seaweed as a fertilizer to customers at his nursery. He completed his first sargablock building – which was modeled after his grandmother’s small home – soon after.
Vázquez, who has been dubbed Señor Sargazo or Mr. Sargassum, has come a long way since then. He now has 16 full-time employees dedicated to collecting sargassum and making bricks with it. The smelly, unsightly seaweed washes up on the famous white-sand beaches of Quintana Roo – sometimes in huge quantities – during the lengthy annual sargassum season, presenting headaches to the beach tourism industry and potential dangers to marine life and humans.
A reporter for The World public radio program recently visited Vázquez’s brickmaking operation in Puerto Morelos, a coastal town about 40 kilometers south of Cancún. The social entrepreneur explained that his bricks are made from ground sargassum, limestone and other organic material. The sargassum content of each sargablock is about 40%.
Once he developed his product, Vázquez showed it off at trade shows in Europe.
The sargassum mixture is fed into a block-making machine, which compresses and molds it into bricks measuring approximately 30 centimeters. After drying in the sun for around six hours, the sargablocks – which are considerably cheaper to make than regular bricks – are ready to be used in construction projects.
Vázquez told The World that his machine can make about 3,000 blocks a day.
“They’re very resistant. And they have this added value that no product in the world has,” he said. “We clean the beaches. We help clean up all of this sargassum, which kills fish and the reef, and we create jobs for people in need.”
Vázquez said that his first sargablock home – which he named Casa Angelita after his mother – is still intact after surviving five hurricanes and six tropical storms. Only a very small amount of water is required to make the innovative building material, he said.
Inside one of Vázquez’s sargablock homes.
The 13 homes Vázquez has built with sargablocks – each of which requires up to 20 tonnes of seaweed and some 2,000 bricks – have been donated to low-income Quintana Roo families. One of the beneficiaries is Elizabeth del Carmen López, a street vendor who took possession of her new home last December.
“It was pretty much our Christmas present,” she told The World. “The house is beautiful. It’s refreshing. Cool in the heat. And we feel safer.”
Having had his own struggles in life, Vázquez says he identifies with the people to whom he has donated houses. Along with his mother and siblings, he emigrated to the United States as a child and worked in agricultural fields instead of studying. He later worked as a landscaper in California’s wine region, but the lure of returning to his homeland remained.
“I always wanted to come back to Mexico and live my Mexican dream. Not the American dream … I wanted to come back and do something for my country,” Vázquez said in 2020.
Vazquez’s first house, named Casa Angelita after the entrepreneur’s mother.
He told The World he wants his brickmaking operation to be “one of the most important businesses in the country so that others don’t have to emigrate elsewhere, leaving their family and suffering like we did.”
“Been to any good restaurants lately?” is a familiar refrain among expats in Mexico. If the answer you get is “Pujol in Mexico City,” then your friend has been to a really, really good one — the fifth-best restaurant in the world according to a recently released list.
Pujol ranked No. 5 and another Mexico City eatery, Quintonil, came in at No. 9 among “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants,” an annual list compiled by U.K.-based William Reed Business Media. Revealed on Monday at a ceremony in London, the list got its start 20 years ago in Restaurant magazine.
Pujol, by chef Enrique Olvera, improved four places from its spot on the 2021 list, and can also lay claim to being the best restaurant in North America, as the top four spots are claimed by restaurants in Denmark, Peru and two in Spain.
Pujol is located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, and it rates a 4.5 on Google based on 4,291 reviews (with a price rating of $$$$, indicating the most expensive level). It has a sleek interior and a partially covered, terrazzo-floor patio.
Opened by Olvera in 2000 and relocated to Polanco in 2017, the restaurant aims to showcase “everything about Mexican gastronomy, from its unique techniques and inimitable spices to the country’s rich history,” according to a writeup released with the list. Jesús Durón is now Pujol’s chef de cuisine.
Among the restaurant’s signature dishes are “Mole Madre” and “Mole Nuevo,” both featured on a seven-course tasting menu that changes with the seasons and “packs an incredible punch.” One of the moles is aged for up to 2,500 days, according to the writeup, and is served “alongside a steamy dish of baby corn with chicatanas and mayonnaise.” Chicatanas, a Mexican delicacy, are flying ants collected only once a year in the first few hours after the first big rain of the season.
The restaurant also serves an array of gourmet tacos, such as scallop tacos with avocado, ginger and shiso, and flor de calabaza (squash blossom) tacos with koshihikari rice and amberjack (a fish).
Quintonil, which jumped from 27th on the 2021 list to No. 9 this year, is led by chef Jorge Vallejo, who received an individual honor as well. He was given the “Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award” for 2022 at the ceremony for “defining the soul of a nation in its kitchen.” The restaurant features “boundary-pushing Mexican cuisine” and is named after a green herb that shows up in both food and beverages at the restaurant.
Barbecued potatoes in a grasshopper adobo sauce with nixtamalized ayocote and vaquita beans at Quintonil in Mexico City.
Just like Pujol, Quintonil is located in Polanco and scores a 4.5 on Google (based on 1,796 reviews) with a price rating of four dollar signs.
Although the list is presented as a top 50, it also comes with rankings for 51 through 100. That addendum includes No. 51 Mayor in Guadalajara, No. 52 Sud 777 in Mexico City, No. 60 Rosetta in Mexico City and No. 89 Máximo Bistrot, also in Mexico City. The first two had appeared on the list before, while Rosetta and Máximo made their debuts.
The top spot went to Geranium, which serves seasonal Scandinavian food at its restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its dining room is on the eighth floor of a football stadium. Last year, another Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, was No. 1 for a fifth time, and Geranium was runner-up; organizers this year decided to make former winners ineligible, so Noma was placed in a “Best of the Best” category.
This year’s top 5 was rounded out by Central in Lima, Peru; Disfrutar in Barcelona, Spain; Diverxo in Madrid, Spain; and Pujol.
The reveal ceremony took place in London at a repurposed fish market on the Thames River in the midst of a heat wave and was hosted by actor Stanley Tucci.
Here’s the full list of the Top 50. Numbers in brackets are last year’s rankings:
The Feria Nacional Potosina runs for over three weeks, starting Aug. 5.
Wine, cinema and song are on the agenda for Mexico in August along with fireflies, tennis and guitars. Here is your monthly guide to what’s going on around the country.
• Viewing of the Fireflies, Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala (Now-August 14)
For those looking to connect with the natural world, the spectacle of fireflies lighting up the nighttime forest for mating season will return to the Firefly Sanctuary in the town which has become famous for its luminescent insects.
Saltillo’s annual festival returns. There’s a lot on offer for kids with a dinosaur exhibition, circus performances, a funfair and cowboy shows. The concert lineup is banda and norteño heavy, but also includes local ska band Inspector, members of the Cuban ensemble Buena Vista Social Club and Mexican singer Flor Amargo, who crosses many genres. Entrance costs 70 pesos (US $3.50) and there are 2×1 tickets on Mondays and Tuesdays. Seniors and disabled people can enter for 40 pesos ($2).
There’s free entry from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to the La Redonda vineyards for the annual grape treading, part of the process to turn the fruits into juice ready to be transformed into wine. Anyone who attends will be asked to take their shoes off and help crush the grapes. There will be entertainment too, with live music and wine tasting and plenty of opportunities to learn how wine is made.
• Lagos de Moreno Festival, Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco (July 28-August 14)
The attractive Magical Town Lagos de Moreno in Jalisco brings back its annual festival this year. There will be performances from clowns, ranchera and pop music performances, among other genres, and a whole separate lineup of kids entertainment. It’s a local affair, but still a great opportunity to visit an often overlooked Magical Town, about midway between San Miguel de Allende and Guadalajara.
There are still tickets available for the Los Cabos Tennis Open, with a range of packages available and single days starting at 550 pesos ($27). The ATP event welcomes the world’s highest ranking men’s player, Russian Daniil Medvedev; U.S. serve maestro John Isner and No. 9 ranked Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
• Festival of Rustic Furniture and Embroidered Textiles, Pichátaro, Michoacán (August 4-6)
Finely worked hand-crafted wooden furniture and beautifully embroidered textiles are on offer at the festival, 90 kilometers west of Morelia. The 31st edition of the event includes religious activities, a wood carving contest, local gastronomy and traditional dances, in a state renowned for its artisanship.
• Feria Potosina, San Luis Potosí city (August 5-28)
The annual San Luis Potosí city festival returns, also known as the Fenapo. The modern festival includes an impressive funfair and a star studded concert line up, featuring Maná, Colombian artists J Balvin and Carlos Vives and many others. There’s free entry to some of the biggest names at the Teatro del Pueblo, while tickets for concerts in the Palenque stadium can be bought here.
Guitars are the focus of the annual festival in Paracho, Michoacán.
The Paracho Guitar Festival brings musicians from Italy, Colombia and the United States to the Purépecha Magical Town, 120 kilometers west of Morelia. The festival will have an open relaxed atmosphere and will include a classical guitar contest for musicians and a competition for instrument makers, for whom the town is famed.
The annual festival returns to Huamantla, a Magical Town in Tlaxcala. Horses, bulls and flowers feature heavily at the traditional festival. Expect it to be noisy on August 14 for the “Night When No One Sleeps” when the town lets loose. Tickets for a package of three events in the bull ring can be bought here, with prices starting at 750 pesos ($36).
• Festival of Grapes and Wine, Parras, Coahuila (August 9)
There’s further opportunity to celebrate wine at the Casa Madero vineyard in the Magical Town of Parras which, founded in 1597, claims to be the oldest vineyard in the Americas. There is free entry to the event at the Hacienda San Lorenzo, which promises folkloric dancers, fireworks and food and wine for sale. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.
• Festival of Arts, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato (August 11-21)
The first edition of the San Miguel de Allende Arts Festival (Fasma) will see 71 music, theater, cinema, dance, literature and other visual expressions of the arts. Many events will be free or for a very low cost in the cultural venues and public squares of the city and Germany will be the guest country. The festival “demonstrates, once again, why this small World Heritage city is considered the heart that gives strength to the pulse of Mexico and the heartbeat of the world,” a festival spokesperson said.
• San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato (August 12-27)
A classical music festival comes to San Miguel with concerts over three consecutive weekends. A Canadian piano trio will play alongside Anthony McGill, the clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. American classical pianist Orion Weiss, who the Washington Post had noted for his “powerful technique and exceptional insight,” will also exhibit his talents, among others. Tickets start at 300 pesos ($15).
• L.A. Cetto Wine’s Party of the Colors, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California (August 13)
There’s another opportunity to get wet feet at the L.A. Cetto vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe. The wine season will be inaugurated with a prayer at 12:30 p.m. on August 13, followed by a full program with a grape treading contest, wine tasting and canapes, a tour of the vineyards, music from singer Kalimba, dinner and more music from a DJ. Tickets for the full day cost 6,000 pesos ($290) and are available at L.A. Cetto stores in Baja California and Mexico City and through Whatsapp at +52 664 364 3867.
• “Pharmakon” art exhibition, Tulum, Quintana Roo (August 13)
Pharmakon: Psychotropic Symbiosis is the new exhibition from Colombian artist Cristina Ochoa, set to open in Tulum. The three-part exhibition is interactive and promises to span the senses, exploring the pharmacological tradition of the Maya. The exhibition is the fruit of many years of investigation by Ochoa into the flora discussed in the Maya texts the Popol Vuh and the Chilam Balam. It will be on in the SFER IK Tulum arts center in the Hotel Zone.
• Cabuland, Monterrey, Nuevo León (August 13-14)
A hip hop festival returns to Monterrey. Puerto Rico’s reggaeton duo Joel & Randy and a rapper from the same island, Residente, are confirmed so far. Tickets for a single day are priced at 1,300 pesos ($63) and tickets for both days for 2,300 pesos ($112), while more expensive VIP tickets are also available.
The annual festival known as Fenafre will be back in the second largest city in Zacatecas, Fresnillo. The events will take place in Lagunilla Park to celebrate 466 years since the city’s foundation. The beauty pageant is leading the build up and Frensillo’s beauty queen is likely to feature heavily during the festival, which will see Banda music from El Recodo and from Bronco.
• Monterrey Cinema Festival, Monterrey, Nuevo León (August 17-28)
Filmmakers battle it out to win an emblematic Little Silver Goat award at the Monterrey Cinema Festival. Categories cover international, Mexican and Nuevo León films across documentary, animation, fiction and shorts. The red carpet and opening will take place at the Showcenter Complex on August 17. Seventy thousand pesos will be awarded to the winners of the best Mexican fiction and best Mexican documentary as well as the best Nuevo León feature film.
• Maya Hot Air Balloon Festival, Tahmek, Yucatán (August 20-21)
There’s a free balloon festival in Tahmek, 45 kilometers east of Mérida, which used to receive 10,000 visitors before the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme will exhibit the natural beauty, animals and customs of Yucatán. The balloons are purely decorative, and won’t be used to elevate spectators. Artisans from Medellín, Colombia, promise to light up the event with some of their works.
• Mexico City Marathon, Mexico City (August 28)
Dust off your sneakers for the Mexico City Marathon, where 30,000 runners will convene on the capital to follow a course from the National Autonomous University into Chapultepec Park, ending in the central square in the historic center, the zócalo. Those ready for the challenge can sign up here until August 24. The cost is 650 pesos ($32) for Mexicans and $80 for foreign nationals.
A group of five people doused Luz Raquel Padilla with a flammable liquid in a Zapopan, Jalisco, park Saturday and set her on fire. She died three days later in hospital. Photos from Twitter
A 35-year-old woman has died three days after she was set on fire in a park near her home in Zapopan, Jalisco.
Luz Raquel Padilla passed away in a Guadalajara hospital on Tuesday. According to witnesses, four men and one woman doused Padilla with a flammable liquid before setting her alight in a park in the Arcos de Zapopan neighborhood on Saturday night. She sustained burns to 90% of her body.
Before the attack, Padilla denounced death threats allegedly made by one of her neighbors. In a May 17 Twitter post, she published photographs of graffiti messages scrawled on walls inside the building in which she lived. One said, “I’m going to burn you alive” while another said, “I’m going to kill you, Luz.”
Padilla tagged the Jalisco government in her post and asked how long she would have to live in fear that something could happen to her or her family.
@MeCuidanGDL ayuda mi agresor me atacó con cloro industrial y mi seno izquierdo esta mal 🥺 y las #amenazasdemuerte son a diario porque es mi vecino mi #agresor ya levante mi denuncia pero no hacen nada por protegerme, tengo miedo por mi vida y la de mi familia pic.twitter.com/1YhxvbCyk7
— Luz Raquel Padilla Gutirrez (@GutirrezPadilla) May 17, 2022
Padilla’s Twitter post on May 17 showing graffiti death threats. ‘Machorra’ is a slur.
The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office (FE) said in a statement Tuesday that it was investigating the murder under the femicide protocol. It said its personnel had carried out a range of actions aimed at identifying the aggressors and noted that Padilla had filed a complaint against a neighbor due to threats he allegedly made. The FE acknowledged that there were “problems related to neighborhood coexistence” between the woman and man.
It said that it didn’t have evidence that the man who allegedly made the threats was at the park where the attack occurred. However, his possible involvement remains under investigation, officials said.
According to #YoCuidoMéxico, a caregivers’ advocacy organization, Padilla received constant death threats from neighbors because her young son, who is autistic, made noises during his “moments of crisis” that annoyed them.
It said that Padilla, who belonged to #YoCuidoMéxico, previously survived an attack in which her chest was doused with bleach. The organization said she reported the attack to authorities in Zapopan but her complaint wasn’t given “due attention.”
Padilla, far right, with members of the organization #YoCuido, of which she was a member. She posted this image on Twitter the day she was attacked.
It also said that Padilla asked to join a protection program “due to the constant threats and violence she received because of the behavior of her son with autism.”
However, authorities rejected her request as they determined that the threats didn’t warrant her inclusion, #YoCuidoMéxico said. The Mexico City-based organization described Padilla’s death as “a femicide that the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office could have avoided.”
It has called on citizens to demand justice for Padilla at a protest outside the Jalisco government’s Mexico City offices on Thursday.
“We call on communities and collectives of caregivers, people with autism, people with disabilities, mothers and women [in general] to take their stories on letter-sized sheets of paper that will be part of a clothesline that makes visible the violence we face on a daily basis,” #YoCuidoMéxico said in a Twitter post.
President López Obrador responded to US trade challenge by playing a tune called Oh How Scary during Wednesday's press conference.
The United States has challenged energy sector policies in Mexico that favor the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the state oil company Pemex at the expense of U.S. firms in violation of the North American free trade agreement.
The U.S. Trade Representative on Wednesday requested dispute settlement consultations with Mexico under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“We have repeatedly expressed serious concerns about a series of changes in Mexico’s energy policies and their consistency with Mexico’s commitments under the USMCA,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “These policy changes impact U.S. economic interests in multiple sectors and disincentivize investment by clean-energy suppliers and by companies that seek to purchase clean, reliable energy.
“We have tried to work constructively with the Mexican government to address these concerns, but, unfortunately, U.S. companies continue to face unfair treatment in Mexico. We will seek to work with the Mexican government through these consultations to resolve these concerns to advance North American competitiveness.”
Determined to “rescue” the CFE and Pemex from what President López Obrador describes as years of neglect and mismanagement by past governments, the federal government has changed or sought to change a range of energy sector laws.
One controversial law – the Electricity Industry Law (LIE) – gives power generated by the CFE priority on the national grid over that produced by private and renewable energy companies. The law was passed by Congress in March 2021 and upheld by the Supreme Court in April.
The USTR also accused Mexico of “delays, denials, and revocations” of permits that affect U.S. companies’ capacity to operate in Mexico’s energy sector. United States officials, including Ambassador Ken Salazar, have already spoken out about the problems U.S. companies are having to secure the permits they need to operate without encumbrance in Mexico.
‘We have repeatedly expressed serious concerns:’ Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
The USTR noted that USMCA rules stipulate that the request for dispute settlement consultations must be acted on within 30 days unless the two parties decide otherwise. If the United States’ concerns are not resolved within 75 days of its request, the U.S. may seek the establishment of a dispute panel.
The U.S. request comes the week after President López Obrador met with U.S. President Joe Biden in the White House. A joint statement highlighted the two countries’ “broad and deep cooperation” and recognition of “the importance of investing in and promoting renewable sources of energy.”
López Obrador has dismissed suggestions that the United States is concerned about Mexico’s energy policies, insisting that U.S. and Canadian energy interests are “very satisfied, very pleased. There is no problem.”
At Wednesday morning’s press conference, the president played down the U.S. move and declared that nothing would come of the challenge, which he mocked by playing a popular song called Oh, How Scary.
The president – a fierce critic of the 2014 energy reform that opened up the sector to private and foreign companies – says that his energy sector policies will keep costs down and make Mexico more self-sufficient.
Critics argue that electricity prices will actually go up while investor confidence is undermined and Mexico’s clean energy commitments are violated.
Although the United States government is unhappy with the way the energy sector has changed since López Obrador took office, the situation, from its perspective, could be even worse.
The massive, five-day technology and business conference opened Wednesday in Guadalajara.
A massive, five-day technology and business conference called “Talent Land 2022” opened Wednesday in Guadalajara with expectations that 25,000 people will attend in person with another 2 million participating virtually from all corners of the globe.
The confab is taking place at the Expo Guadalajara conference center, marking the venue’s first in-person gathering since 2019 due to the pandemic. To get an idea of how popular this event is, one only needs to know that standard tickets are completely sold out — at a cost of 3,900 pesos (US $190) each.
As of Wednesday morning, the website listed digital tickets still available for US $99 and in-person VIP passes for 6,800 pesos (US $332). Information about the event is presented in either English or Spanish at www.talent-land.mx.
Before it wraps up on Sunday, the conference will have addressed a multitude of technology and business topics over more than 1,000 hours. There will be talks, workshops, challenges and competitions, along with approximately 500 speakers.
The tech fair is the first in-person event the Expo Guadalajara has held since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions began.
However, because of the pandemic, organizers are not allowing this year’s attendees to sleep at the event at night or take naps onsite, which had been allowed in the past to encourage a maximum level of creativity.
The event is made up of seven distinct “lands,” including two new ones this year.
In “Blockchain Land,” the theme is rebuilding the financial world where topics to be addressed will include cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, tokenization and investing.
“Business Land” includes topics related to entrepreneurship, digital transactions, ecofriendly businesses, startups and venture capital.
Tents set up at Talent Land in 2018. The conference used to encourage attendees to sleep onsite to promote creativity, but due to COVID-19 concerns it will not be allowed this year. Twitter
There will also be “Creative Land” (where the new digital market meets art and creativity), “Developer Land” (everything related to computer development and programming) and “Iron Land” (technology, automation and machinery).
New this year is “Health Land,” where people will learn about innovative and technological solutions in the field of health, and “Metaverse Land,” a space designed for those curious about virtual reality and its impact on social and economic constructs.
Also, participants in a hackathon will devise technological solutions to everyday problems and develop platforms focused on the environment, health or education, and another space will be dedicated to women succeeding in science, technology, business and innovation.
One of the most anticipated speakers at the event will be Katya Echazarreta, who became the first Mexican-born woman to fly into space when she was aboard a craft last month built by Blue Origin, an aerospace company started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Born in Guadalajara and raised in the United States from age 7 onward, the 26-year-old is pursuing her master’s degree in engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
The judge's decision goes against a presidential decree that mandated the elimination of glyphosate, a controversial herbicide, by January 2024.
German multinational Bayer has obtained a court order against the application of a presidential decree that mandated the elimination of glyphosate, a controversial herbicide, by January 2024.
Published on December 31, 2020, the decree also ordered the phasing out of genetically modified (GM) corn imports, including seeds, for use in the food industry by the same date.
The federal Environment Ministry (Semarnat) said in a statement last Friday that it disagreed with the injunction granted by a Mexico City-based administrative judge and would challenge it.
It said that the injunction was granted to Monsanto, but that company – which produced the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup as well as GM seeds – no longer exists as it was acquired by Bayer in 2018. The German company promptly retired the controversial Monsanto brand name.
The court decision was granted to the Monsanto company, which was bought by Bayer in 2018. Bayer retired the controversial Monsanto name. Twitter
In its statement, Semarnat asserted that Bayer had sought to ignore the precautionary principle with “deceptive arguments.”
The injunction the company obtained allows it to continue supplying glyphosate and GM seeds to Mexico. Although the decree’s elimination target date is still one and a half years away, Bayer has already been affected by the federal government’s efforts to phase out its controversial products as health regulator Cofepris last year refused to issue a permit for a new GM seed variety it developed.
Semarnat noted that the ruling handed down by Judge Francisco Javier Rebolledo is not definitive and asserted that it “only benefits a private multinational company and didn’t take into account the harm to the health of Mexicans due to use of” glyphosate. The herbicide’s adverse effects are “proven by medical and scientific research,” it added.
Semarnat said it would file an appeal against the judge’s decision, noting that it had 10 days to do so.
“The presidential decree has been received with great approval by the Mexican population and by many other countries that recognize that the herbicide glyphosate is extremely harmful to human and environmental health,” it added.
“In addition, this decree provides continuity to Mexican society’s long struggle to recognize corn as bio-cultural heritage that gives us identity, and prevents the introduction of genetically modified varieties that … deteriorate the genetic reservoir that has been built throughout thousands of years.”
Semarnat also said it has collected “sufficient information” to prove that glyphosate causes harm to pollinators such as bees and to water, soil, flora and air.
“We cannot step back from our obligation to protect life, ensure an adequate environment and conserve biodiversity,” said Environment Minister María Luisa Albores. “That’s why we will … continue using the precautionary principle for the … implementation of the presidential decree.”
Genetically modified varieties of corn causes a deterioration of a “bio-cultural heritage” and a “genetic reservoir” built over thousands of years in Mexico, the Environment Ministry said. Tati Nova photo Mexico/Shutterstock
The Sin Maíz No Hay País (Without Corn There Is No Country) national campaign, a network of over 300 organizations opposed to glyphosate and GM food production, also slammed the judge’s decision to grant an injunction to Bayer.
“It’s a ruling full of formalistic arguments with a deficient handling of human rights and environmental standards,” it said in a statement.
“… In his ruling, … [the] judge cites the precautionary principle in various places but he interprets it incorrectly, breaching his constitutional obligation to protect the human rights of the Mexican population, such as the rights to health and a healthy environment. In the same way, he breaches international treaties and environmental principles,” Sin Maíz No Hay País said.
The campaign said that Rebolledo received scientific literature from the government that sets out the risks posed by glyphosate and GM corn but “without a robust legal argument,” he decided to ignore it and in doing so “put the interests of the complainant company before the human rights of the population.”
His decision, it continued, “places food sovereignty and the health of the planet and people at risk.”
“It’s an attack against the common interest of Mexicans, the biodiversity [that coexists with] present and future generations … and the constitutional right to a healthy environment and adequate nutrition,” Sin Maíz No Hay País said.
“… Suspending the application of the decree for Bayer represents an infringement on the health of the Mexican population because there is solid scientific evidence that … [exposes] the harm that glyphosate causes to health.”
Debanhi Escobar disappeared on April 9 after attending a party near Monterrey with friends. Instagram @debanhi.escobar
An 18-year-old Nuevo León woman whose death in April made headlines in Mexico and abroad died of asphyxia by suffocation, a third autopsy found.
The body of Debanhi Escobar was found in an underground water tank at a motel in General Escobedo on April 21. She disappeared almost two weeks earlier after getting out of a taxi on a highway in the same municipality, apparently because the driver had touched her breasts.
Femicides are common in Mexico, but Escobar’s case attracted major attention, at least partially because of a haunting photo taken by the taxi driver that showed her standing alone next to the highway in the dark.
The third autopsy found that she died due to “obstruction of respiratory orifices,” but investigators didn’t specify what had blocked her nose and mouth. The head of Mexico City’s forensic service said Monday that no signs of sexual violence were discovered, a finding that contradicted the second autopsy. Dr. Felipe Takajashi also said that Escobar died three to five days before her body was found, indicating that she was alive for over a week after she disappeared.
It was unclear whether she had been held against her will for that period. No attempts were made to collect a ransom for her release.
Investigators said the third autopsy didn’t establish that Escobar was murdered, but the woman’s father has always maintained that his daughter was the victim of a heinous crime and that her body was planted in the motel cistern.
A first autopsy performed by Nuevo León authorities determined that the young woman died from a blow to to the head after apparently falling into the motel cistern while still alive. The second autopsy, performed by independent experts on the request of Escobar’s family, found that she was sexually assaulted before being murdered.
The General Escobedo motel was searched twice before Escobar’s body was found in the cistern. Video footage from the motel suggested she had entered its grounds, wandered around and then headed off in the direction of an area where three cisterns are located.
The taxi driver who was supposed to take Escobar home on the night of her disappearance was detained for questioning, but more than three months later no one has been arrested in connection with her possible – or presumed – abduction and murder.
Based on satellite imagery, one place tanker ships appear to be clustered is at the port of Tuxpan, Veracruz, which receives about a quarter of Mexico's gasoline imports. File photo
Over 60 ships carrying an estimated 18 million barrels of fuel are currently waiting at sea off the Mexican coast as they are unable to unload due to a lack of storage space, according to a Bloomberg report.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the news agency reported Monday that the majority of the ships are transporting gasoline and diesel imported by Pemex, the state oil company. The vast majority of fuel Mexico imports comes from the United States.
It isn’t clear where off the coast of Mexico these waiting ships are located, or if they’re all located in the same area. However, the ship tracking site Marine Traffic’s live map currently shows the highest agglomeration of tanker ships off the coast of Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico, near the ports of Tuxpan and Coatzacoalcos — both in Veracruz — and also at the port of Tampico, Tamaulipas. All three ports are major receivers of gasoline imports.
The Bloomberg sources said that Pemex is covering the bulk of some US $2.4 million per day in delay fees charged by the ships. The tankers impose penalties of approximately $40,000 each for every day they are held up.
The Miguel Hidalgo Refinery in Atitalaquía, Hidalgo. Currently, Mexico’s refineries are running at less than 50% capacity while they are undergoing maintenance.
One source told Bloomberg that the current backlog is three times higher than normal. The news agency said “the congestion at sea is the result of several compounding factors in addition to a lack of available storage.”
Pemex has recently increased its fuel purchases in order to meet higher demand as the pandemic eases (even though Mexico is facing a worsening fifth wave) and to stock up before the worst of the hurricane season, Bloomberg said. The state oil company’s trading unit, PMI, and other fuel importers are making use of government subsidies to cheapen imports, it noted. The news agency also observed that increased imports are required because Mexico’s six refineries are operating at less than 50% capacity amid maintenance.
Pemex imported more fuel in June than any other month this year, with a total of approximately 888,000 barrels brought into the country. Gasoline purchases increased 17% compared to May while diesel imports were up 34%.
Felipe Pérez, a downstream director at financial information company S&P Global in Los Angeles, said it made sense for Pemex to “err on the side of caution to secure supplies because if a hurricane strikes the Gulf of Mexico, they could be in real trouble.”
Mexico’s domestic gasoline inventories are only sufficient to meet nine or 10 days of demand, according to Felipe Pérez of S&P Global in Los Angeles,
Mexico’s domestic gasoline inventories are “a bit tight,” he said, noting that stock is only sufficient to meet nine or 10 days of demand. According to the Energy Information Administration, a United States government agency, the U.S. maintains inventories to meet 25.8 days of demand.
The approximately 60 ships waiting to unload are carrying enough fuel to meet about 60% of Mexico’s monthly demand. The Bloomberg sources said the last time so many oil tankers were sitting off the Mexican coast waiting to unload was in early 2020, when Pemex declared force majeure on import contracts due to plummeting demand for fuel amid the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bodegas Pinesque founder Gilberto Pinoncély began making wine as a hobby after an Italian couple he knew taught him the tradition they'd grown up with.
Seventeen years ago, Bodegas Pinesque winery in Chihuahua city, one of the state’s earliest and now biggest wineries, got its start thanks to an Italian couple who encouraged founder Gilberto Pinoncély to start making his own wine.
Gastone and Maria Guglielmina, immigrants to Mexico who are acknowledged by many in Chihuahua as pioneers of winemaking in the state, started creating vintages for their own consumption in the 1970s, a time when beer was much more popular with Mexicans. Gastone — an engineer who grew up helping his family make its own home wine — enthusiastically shared his knowledge and love of wine with anyone else who showed interest, including Pinoncély.
Pinoncély got involved in hobby winemaking with the Guglielminas’ help as part of an informal group started by the couple and their wine-loving friends. Together, at the Guglielminas’ home, they made wine with the couple’s guidance and called themselves La Cofradía de Buen Vino (The Good Wine Guild).
Eventually, Pinoncély’s wife, María Esquer, and their children got interested in winemaking with him. And over the years, as the Pinoncély-Esquer family learned to improve their grape crops and their cultivation and winemaking techniques, they saw that their hobby could become a business.
Maria and Gastone Guglielmina are considered pioneers in Chihuahua winemaking. They shared their love of wine at a time when beer was a more popular alcoholic beverage in Mexico.
They created the winery’s name by contracting the couple’s two surnames together, and in 2010, they launched their debut product, 5 de Pinesque, a cabernet sauvignon and syrah blend you can still purchase today. Its 2012 and 2014 vintages won silver medals at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in 2016.
These days, the winery is managed by three families, among them descendants of the Guglielminas — as well as daughter Mónica Pinoncély. One of Chihuahua’s largest wineries, Bodegas Pinesque is today known for making natural yeast wines.
The winery’s second creation, a sweet surprise named Novembre, was a late-harvest wine of chardonnay grapes matured for two months on the vine. It’s a true gem for anyone in possession of a bottle since it has since sold out and Bodegas Pinesque doesn’t produce it anymore.
In the years following, Bodegas Pinesque added new wines to its line, such as Peach Chardonnay — a sweet, white wine, perfect for dessert — and Bárbaro, a late-harvest wine made with barbera grapes.
Bodegas Pinesque’s line of wines includes reds, whites, a rosé and blends.
In 2018, it released — in homage to the Guglielminas — Gastone & Maria, a wine aged for two years. It continues to be one of Chihuahua’s most emblematic wines.
The winery’s other offerings include Triada, a white table wine that pays tribute to three of the state’s cultures: Raramuri, Mennonite and mestizo.
SinfoRosa is an excellent rosé made with zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon and syrah grapes. It’s not sweet, but it’s layered with hints of strawberries and watermelon.
Its new 2022 wine, Tin Marín, is a young, fresh red without pretense. A blend of three different grapes, this is a wine for everyday consumption.
Bodegas PInesque’s debut wine, 5 de Pinesque, took silver medals at the Concours Mondial Bruxelles in 2016 for two of its vintages.
With more and more wineries in Chihuahua, Bodegas Pinesque’s owners are working to promote wine tourism in the area. You can visit the vineyard on its hectare of land and take a tour in English or Spanish.
The entire setting has a family ambiance and a personal touch: the owners work onsite, there are kid-friendly activities for visitors and wine tasting and winemaking classes. The restaurant there specializes in high-quality meats. You will need to make advance reservations for a tour or to take part in activities, so be sure to call ahead at 614-153-3128.
Bodegas Pinesque wines are available in liquor stores, markets and restaurants in Chihuahua city and elsewhere in Chihuahua state in Ciudad Juárez, Delicias and Cuauhtémoc. You can also buy its wines online at their website.
