The intimate exhibition about one of Mexico's greatest cultural icons has opened at the University of Guadalajara. (@udg_oficial/Twitter)
Images of Frida Kahlo taken during her recovery from gangrene are being exhibited for the first time in Mexico at the Museo de las Artes (MUSA) in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Running until Aug. 6, “Kahlo Without Borders” honors the human behind the artist and a lesser-known side of Frida Kahlo’s life in a period near her death.
The exhibition also displays a number of personal items, letters and gifts from her time in hospital with gangrene. (@udg_oficial/Twitter)
“This exhibition shows Frida Kahlo as a person of flesh and blood,” Kahlo’s great-niece Cristina Kahlo, who co-curated the show, told the news agency EFE.
The photos date from the amputation of the artist’s right leg in 1953, shortly before her death the following year.
Images taken by the Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide show Frida’s new prosthesis, as well as the corsets she wore after her accident in 1926. They are on display alongside pictures of the hospital gowns she wore that were stained with paint as she worked from her bed.
Other photos document her convalescence in Mexico City.
The intimacy of the images shows Frida as someone “who had all these operations […] and who continued as a creative artist even when she was in a hospital room,” Cristina Kahlo said. “For her, art was a healing issue.”
The images reveal a vulnerable and depressed Frida, strikingly different from the figure in the collective imagination — a woman with a perpetually strong stare and pride in her clothing, Cristina added.
Kahlo spent much of her life in chronic pain after a vehicle accident when she was only 17.
In addition to the photographs, there are a number of personal letters on display that provide a look into the life of the troubled artist, obsessed with questions surrounding her treatment, the behavior of her husband Diego Rivera and the socialist struggle — aspects of her life that have become secondary to her modern mythos.
The exhibition also showcases clinical material — such as doctor’s notes — from those who attended the artist during her various convalescences, including the amputation of her leg at the American British Cowdray Hospital (ABC) in Mexico City.
Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, director of the MSU Broad Museum in East Lansing, Michigan, where the exhibition was first shown last year, said that Cristina Kahlo spent more than four years trying to recover her great-aunt’s medical records from the hospital.
“The records detail what she ate and drank in the morning, cardiograms of her surgeries or post-op notes,” she said.
As for the letters and images of Frida, many come from the family’s personal archive, since Cristina’s father, Antonio Kahlo, took some of the most intimate photos of the convalescing artist.
After Guadalajara, the exhibition will move on to the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo House Study Museum in Mexico City.
The port complex in Michoacán will receive significant infrastructure upgrades to cope with nearshoring demand. (APM Terminals)
The Mexican government will invest over $6 billion pesos (approximately US $322 million) in the Lázaro Cárdenas port in Michoacán, the port’s administration has said.
In a meeting with the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents (Amanac), Asipona head Jorge Luis Cruz Ballado said that improvement works started in 2020, with upgrades scheduled to be completed by 2026.
Links with rail and road networks are also due to be improved as part of the upgrade works. (APM Terminals)
Ongoing projects include the construction of a goods yard with a static capacity for 7,560 automotive units.
Cruz Ballado said that the new funds will be allocated to projects including the construction of the control tower, the renovation of the Lázaro Cárdenas airport terminal and the optimization of handling of cabotage cargo and customs services.
The port will also build nine fluid storage tanks with a capacity of 401,280 barrels.
To discuss ways to improve efficiency for the transit of rail cargo, Director General of Lázaro Cárdenas port, Norma Becerra Pocoroba invited representatives of Kansas City Southern railroads, APM Terminals and Hutchison Ports to take part in the meeting.
During discussions, Amanac reinforced that Lázaro Cárdenas is key to the development of the Mexican economy owing to its strategic geographical position within the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern maritime routes. The site also boasts more than 820 hectares available for new business.
With drafts of up to 19 meters in its access channel, Cruz Ballado said that Lázaro Cárdenas can accommodate ships of up to 165,000 tons as well as seventh-generation container ships.
In 2022, the total cargo movement from Lázaro Cárdenas was 2,460,374 tons. This was predominantly mineral bulk (44%), followed by containerized cargo (35%) and oil products (5%).
Despite automotive units amounting to only 3% of the port’s total cargo, imports hit a record figure of 646,578 units, placing Lázaro Cárdenas as the nation’s second in automotive cargo statistics thanks to strong import quantities from Asian manufacturers.
Forbes Mexico reported that the Chinese automakers Zhong Tong Bus, Ankai, Skywel, Karry, Chirey Brilliance, Yutong and Dongfeng, increased by 40%. In January 2023 alone, the port reported a movement of 56,983 units from Chinese automakers and brands like Toyota, Mazda, Suzuki, General Motors, Hyundai and BMW, among others.
This high number of automobiles has led to port congestion.
Japan were jubilant as they advanced to play the United States in Tuesday's final. (@MLB/Twitter)
Mexico’s exhilarating run in the World Baseball Classic came to an end in a thrilling Monday night semifinal, when No. 1-ranked Japan won 6–5 by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Japan will play the United States in the championship game Tuesday at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
Mexico had defied the odds and overcome highly-rated Puerto Rico to reach the semifinal against Japan. (@MLB/Twitter)
A crowd of 35,933 packed the ballpark on Monday, many of them wearing sombreros, chanting “¡Sí se puede!” (yes we can!) and otherwise boisterously supporting a Mexican squad that had strung together four consecutive wins after opening the 20-nation WBC with an extra-inning loss to Colombia.
Mexico’s triumphs included an 11-5 thumping of the United States in round-robin play in Phoenix and a rousing, 5–4 comeback over favored Puerto Rico in the Miami quarterfinals, a huge improvement over showings in previous years, when Mexico was knocked out in the second round of the first two WBCs in 2006 and 2009, then failed to advance past the first round of the next two, in 2013 and 2017.
Despite entering this year’s semifinals as underdogs, Mexico held a 3–0 lead over two-time champion Japan after six innings, thanks to a home run by Luis Urías in the fourth inning and the strong pitching of starter Patrick Sandoval of the Los Angeles Angels.
Urías, who plays for the Milwaukee Brewers, launched his homer with two runners on base and two outs, scoring it off 21-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, who threw one perfect game (and nearly two in a row) in Japan last season. Twenty-six of his 64 pitches on Monday eclipsed 100 mph.
Despite defeat, Mexico Coach Benji Gil told a reporter, “The world of baseball won tonight.” (@TalkinBaseball/Twitter)
Holding a 3–0 lead and needing only seven more outs to clinch a spot in the final, Mexico suddenly found itself in a 3–3 tie after Japanese slugger Masataka Yoshida belted a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Mexico rebounded by scoring twice in the top of the eighth to take a 5–3 lead, but a single run by Japan in the bottom of the eighth and two more runs in the ninth scored off relief pitcher Giovanny Gallegos sent Mexico to defeat.
Minutes later, “Amo el Béisbol,” a Mexican baseball page on Facebook that has 728,000 followers, posted “THANK YOU MEXICO! Thank you for making us dream! Thank you for making history! Thank you for being a team together! Thanks for everything! We will always carry [you] in our hearts.”
In less than 15 minutes, the post had 2,500 likes and 71 shares.
Japan, meanwhile, won the first two and lost in the semifinals in the other two. “Samurai Japan,” as the country’s national team is known, entered the semifinals having outscored its five opponents 47–11. Oddsmakers had predicted Japan to beat Mexico by two runs.
Both squads are comprised of players who either play in Major League Baseball or for professional teams in their home countries.
Japan’s winning rally began with a double by superstar Shohei Ohtani, an outstanding pitcher and hitter for the Los Angeles Angels, and ended on a walk-off double to the gap by Munetaka Murakami that plated two runs — and left deflated Mexican players hanging over their dugout railing.
“We lost a baseball game but we won many things,” said outfielder Randy Arozarena of Mexico. “Mexican baseball continues to grow. This is the first step.”
Arozarena — who defected from Cuba in 2015, escaping on a small boat bound for Quintana Roo — has proved a huge factor in Mexico’s success.
The Cuba native hit .450 with six doubles, one home run and nine RBIs in the tournament. He also made two highlight-reel catches, including a leaping grab Monday at the 8½-foot wall in left field that saved a home run and preserved Mexico’s 3–0 lead and sparked Mexico’s go-ahead rally in the eighth with a leadoff double.
“Randy was incredible today,” Mexico manager Benji Gil said. “He gave us the opportunity to come back … We fought. We retook the lead. They are warriors.”
A young star in Cuba, Arozarena got his professional start at age 21 with brief stints in the Mérida Winter League in the state of Yucatán, in the Norte de México League and with the Tijuana Toros of the Mexican League before catching the baseball world’s attention with the Navojoa Mayos of the Mexican Pacific League.
Known largely for hitting 10 home runs with 13 RBIs for the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 playoffs and World Series, Arozarena professed his desire to play for the Mexican team three years ago and became a Mexican citizen last year.
Before the game Monday, Arozarena wore a large sombrero and cowboy boots while shagging flies during batting practice. During the game, he flipped at least two balls into the crowd after making catches and signed autographs for fans behind the left-field wall during a pitching change.
Fans responded by chanting “M-V-P!” at him.
“I leave with much joy because of all the love I received from the fans,” Arozarena said. “It was a beautiful experience for me.”
And for the Mexican team as well.
“I think that they are not aware of what they have done for Mexico and for the Mexican boys and girls,” Gil said. “These two weeks are going to attract so many young players in Mexico, and also Mexicans that live abroad.
“For that reason, I believe that this was a victory, even when we didn’t win today.”
"Joaquín Murieta: The Vaquero," by Charles Christian Nahl. (Public Domain)
The story of Joaquín Murrieta — the legendary Mexican Robin Hood who inspired the story of El Zorro — has endured and evolved over almost 200 years. To the American authorities in California during the Gold Rush, he was a notorious criminal, but to Mexicans, he was El Patrio: the patriotic avenger who came to symbolize defiance of U.S. oppression.
The facts of Murrieta’s life are elusive, but the story really begins with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, between the United States and Mexico. The terms which ended the Mexican-American war forced Mexico to cede more than 50% of its territory — including the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico; most of Arizona and Colorado; and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.
An artist’s conception of Joaquín Murrieta. (California State Library)
That same year, Murrieta, at age 18, migrated from Sonora, Mexico, to California with his wife, brothers and three of his brothers-in-law to prospect for gold during the California Gold Rush. By all accounts, Murrieta was a successful forty-niner, but as a Mexican, he suffered persecution and discrimination.
Cherokee novelist John Rollin Ridge (Yellow Bird), who wrote “The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta: The Celebrated California Bandit” in 1854, says an assault in 1849 changed Murrieta from a peaceful miner into an outlaw.
Murrieta and his family were attacked by a group of U.S. miners who stole his land and home, hanged his brother for a crime he didn’t commit, horse-whipped Murrieta and raped and murdered his young wife.
At the time, authorities in California were engaged in efforts to expel Mexicans from California and turned a blind eye to such attacks.
Harry Love, center, who claimed to have captured Murrieta, posing with two of his California Rangers.
Murrieta complained to the authorities, Ridge says, but only suffered more outrage and so decided to avenge his family himself. He vowed to kill every “Yankee” he encountered.
He and accomplice Manuel García, who was known as “Three-Fingered Jack,” formed a gang: The Five Joaquíns, consisting of Murrieta and four other members all named Joaquín. García functioned as Murrieta’s right-hand man.
They quickly moved from horse theft to assaults, robberies and murder. It is said that in the next few years, they stole more than US $100,000 in gold and 100 horses and killed more than 19 men, including those who had attacked his family.
After robbing their victims, it was said that Murrieta’s gang would distribute the gold they stole among the poor. The legend of this Mexican Robin Hood grew as more and more stories circulated about Murrieta giving stolen gold to those who needed it most. It made him popular with Mexicans but a dangerous threat to the American authorities.
In 1853, California Governor John Bigler decided to put an end to Murrieta and his gang. An 1853 bill passed in the state legislature labeled The Five Joaquíns criminals and authorized the hiring of 20 California Rangers — all veterans of the Mexican-American War — to track them down. Bigler also put a bounty on Murrieta’s head to incentivize people to turn him in.
No one did.
The Rangers were led by Captain Harry Love, who was credited with Murrieta’s eventual capture. For months, the Rangers searched for Murrieta and his gang, suspecting that due to Murrieta’s hero status, Mexican families were helping him elude the authorities.
The Rangers finally encountered a gang of armed Mexicans near Arroyo de Cantua, and in the gunfight killed three of them, including Murrieta and Three Fingered Jack. A California historical landmark plaque now marks the site where Love claimed Murrieta was killed.
Love then cut off Murrieta’s head, as well as Three-Fingered Jack’s right hand, preserving them in jars of brandy. Love thought that exhibiting the body parts would further intimidate Mexicans and send them a message about opposing the authorities.
Love soon returned to San Francisco and began his grisly exhibitions — displaying the head in Mariposa County, Stockton and San Francisco for $1 a view. He and Bigler thought that these exhibitions would prevent Murrieta from gaining more relevance among oppressed Mexicans, but the opposite was true.
After Murrieta’s supposed capture, Love went around California in the 1850s exhibiting a preserved head that he claimed to be Murrieta’s. (Public Domain)
The legend of the Mexican Robin Hood spread far and wide and became more spectacular with each telling. Mexican Californians identified with this avenging hero’s pain and sorrow and saw him as a crusader against oppression by the “gringos.”
For the next 25 years, rumors about Murrieta ran rampant: The theft of gold shipments continued after his alleged death, and some said that Murrieta had never been captured or killed — that the Rangers fabricated the whole story to reap the US $5,000 bounty.
Furthermore, people close to Murrieta — including his own sister — proclaimed that it was not his head. People reported sightings of Murrieta, saying they had just received gold from him.
Then, in 1875, the San Francisco Herald newspaper received a letter signed by Joaquín Murrieta, claiming he was still alive adding, “I still have my head.”
No one knows for sure what happened to Murrieta, but some say he didn’t die until the end of the 1870s and that his body is buried in a Jesuit cemetery in the town of Cucurpé, Sonora.
Murrieta’s legend reveals the complicated relationship that existed between Mexico and the United States after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 — which started the first wave of Mexican migration to the U.S.
A new Amazon series, “The Head of Joaquín Murrieta,” featuring an international cast and starring Mexican actor Juan Manuel Bernal, is proof that the legendary outlaw’s story still strikes a chord. (Amazon)
Everyone loves stories of heroes seeking revenge, and especially stories of outlaws stealing from the rich to give to the poor, so Murrieta’s legend has unsurprisingly endured for almost 200 years. By 1919, Johnston McCulley had recast Murrieta as the character El Zorro in a five-part serial for an American audience, “The Curse of Capistrano,” published by a pulp fiction magazine. In McCulley’s story, Zorro’s real name is Alejandro Murrieta.
Throughout the years, Murrieta’s legend has inspired more than 15 books, including one by Chilean Nobelist Pablo Neruda; five comic strips (including “Batman”); 16 songs; and 20 TV shows, radio programs and movies — one of the most famous being the romanticized film “The Mask of Zorro,”starring Antonio Banderas.
The most recent version of the legend can be seen in the newly released (2023) TV series “The Head of Joaquín Murrieta,”available on Amazon Prime.
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive and professional researcher. She spent 45 years in national politics in the United States. She moved to Mazatlán in 2021 and works part-time doing freelance research and writing.
According to the U.S. company Vulcan Materials, a group of soldiers, Cemex employees, police and "special investigation" officials arrived at the Punta Venado marine terminal of its subsidiary Sac Tun at around 5:30 a.m. (Internet)
A United States company has denounced the “illegal” takeover and occupation of its Quintana Roo marine terminal by federal and state security forces last Tuesday.
The CEO of Vulcan Materials Company, an Alabama-based construction aggregates firm, wrote to Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, to request the immediate withdrawal of government forces and officials.
The facility being fought over is the Sac Tun company’s marine terminal in Punta Venado, Quintana Roo, near Playa del Carmen. Sac Tun is a subsidiary of Vulcan Materials. (Sac Tun)
“I am writing with great concern to bring to your attention illegal events that transpired on Vulcan/Calica properties this week,” J. Thomas Hill said in his March 16 missive, which was published by Fox News.
“On Tuesday, March 14, at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time, heavily armed naval forces, state police and special investigative forces answering to the state prosecutor, along with Cemex personnel, arrived at the gates of Vulcan/Calica property at Punta Venado in Quintana Roo.”
Calica is the former name of the company Sac-Tun, the Mexican subsidiary of Vulcan. Cemex is a Mexican building materials company. Punta Venado is located just south of Playa del Carmen.
Hill wrote that the security forces told unarmed Vulcan security guards that “they had an order to bring a Cemex vessel into the port to unload cement.”
In a letter to Mexico’s Ambassador to the U.S., Vulcan Materials CEO J. Thomas Hill said that the cohort of military and government officials and Cemex personnel that entered the facility “did not possess… official justifications for the action.” (Vulcan Materials)
“Cemex, the military and police forced entry into our private property. They did not possess or present at that time any court order, warrant or other official justifications for the action,” he told Moctezuma.
“As of today, March 16, we have not been presented a single legal document, court order, or warrant justifying or ordering this act. Government forces and Cemex personnel continue to illegally occupy Vulcan’s private property as Cemex unloads its ship supported by armed military and police forces. I am writing to request that your government immediately order its forces and officials to leave our private property,” Hill wrote.
“The government’s participation in this gross violation of our property rights is yet another example of the government’s arbitrary and illegal treatment of Vulcan and its investments in Mexico,” Hill added. “This occupation must cease immediately.”
The Reforma newspaper published video footage of the property’s takeover. Forbes México reported that Cemex obtained a court order on March 5 that allowed one of its boats to unload cement at the terminal, adding that Vulcan offered to do so on March 23 once the required logistical and safety arrangements were in place.
But according to Hill’s letter, Vulcan had not seen any such court order.
Vulcan said Monday that the security forces were still occupying the property, even though Cemex had apparently completed unloading a shipment of cement on Friday. It also said that “it should be clear that the rule of law is no longer assured for foreign companies in Mexico.”
“This invasion, unsupported by legal warrants, violates Vulcan’s commercial and property rights,” the company said in a statement.
Cemex is a private Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. (Cemex)
Fox News reported that Vulcan filed “a general federal complaint against the Mexican military, Quintana Roo state police, local prosecution authorities and Cemex for acting without a warrant and for breaching a previous federal court injunction concerning the land.”
The U.S. news outlet said that Vulcan provided it with a copy of a March 16 order from a Quintana Roo court that told the military to leave the facility. However, the company’s statement on Monday indicated that this hadn’t occurred.
President López Obrador has maintained a dispute with Vulcan for years, and his government last year shut down a limestone gravel quarry the company operated in Quintana Roo for having allegedly “extracted or exported stone without approval,” according to an Associated Press report.
The president needs Vulcan’s dock to get cement, crushed stone and other materials into the area for the construction of the Maya Train railroad, AP said.
Cemex used to have an agreement that allowed it to use Vulcan’s Quintana Roo terminal, but it expired at the end of last year and negotiations for a new contract broke down.
The federal government has imported ballast from Cuba for the Maya Train project, but ships bringing it to Mexico have had to unload in Sisal, Yucatán, on the other side of the Yucatán Peninsula, because they couldn’t access Vulcan’s terminal.
“López Obrador has offered to buy the property, but talks have apparently not gone well,” AP reported.
The government takeover of the facility triggered criticism from two Republican Party senators. Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty said that reports of the incident “add to the worrying trend of misguided and counterproductive behavior of President López Obrador.”
“Our important economic and trade relationship with Mexico will suffer significantly if the United States companies that operate in Mexico don’t receive the same treatment granted to Mexican companies that operate in the U.S.,” he told Reforma.
This forcible seizure of private property is unlawful and unacceptable. It is shameful that this Mexican presidential administration would rather confiscate American assets than the fentanyl killing hundreds of Americans per day.https://t.co/ti9V0d7DOLpic.twitter.com/SN24fctFCg
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) March 20, 2023
Some U.S. politicians called attention to the incident in tweets and press statements, including U.S. senator for Alabama Kate Britt.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt said in a statement that “this forcible seizure of private property is unlawful and unacceptable.”
“It is shameful that this Mexican presidential administration would rather confiscate American assets than the fentanyl killing hundreds of Americans per day,” she said.
“Mexico should be more focused on going after the cartels than law-abiding businesses and hardworking people. President Biden must raise this directly with President López Obrador and assure the American people that this will not be tolerated.”
A U.S. National Security Council official who spoke with the Bloomberg news agency on the condition of anonymity said that the White House, as always, is concerned about the fair treatment of U.S. companies.
The person also said that U.S. officials have told Mexican government representatives that the failure to comply with trade obligations could affect future efforts to attract investment.
Mexican authorities previously shut down a Veracruz fuel storage terminal owned by U.S. company Monterra Energy. That facility was reportedly closed at gunpoint in September 2021.
U.S. energy companies have also had problems securing the permits they need to operate without encumbrance in Mexico, according to Ambassador Ken Salazar.
The United States and Canada are currently challenging Mexico’s nationalistic energy policies under the USMCA free trade pact, arguing that companies from those countries are being treated unfairly.
Some tension between Mexico and the United States has also arisen over security, with some Republican Party lawmakers criticizing the Mexican government for not doing enough to combat cartels and the flow of narcotics into the U.S., and proposing the use of the U.S. military on Mexican soil.
President López Obrador extolled the accomplishments of President Lázaro Cárdenas, who nationalized Mexico's oil in 1938, and also drew parallels with his own "transformation" of the country. (Gob MX)
President López Obrador marked the 85th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico’s oil industry with a detailed and defiant speech at a massive rally in Mexico City’s central square on Saturday.
According to the Mexico City government, 500,000 people descended on the Zócalo to commemorate the anniversary of the day – March 18, 1938 – on which former president Lázaro Cárdenas signed an order that expropriated the assets of foreign oil companies operating in Mexico.
The president gave an hour-long speech at the rally on Saturday. (Gob MX)
Later the same year, the Cárdenas government created the state oil company, Pemex, which López Obrador now claims to be “rescuing” after years of neglect.
“This is an event to commemorate the oil expropriation and it’s a national event,” the president declared at the beginning of an hour-long address before a sea of supporters.
López Obrador offered a glowing assessment of Cárdenas’ 1934-40 government, acknowledging its policies in favor of disadvantaged sectors of the population such as campesinos and its nationalization of assets and resources “that were in the hands of foreigners” since the dictatorial three-decade rule of Porfirio Díaz in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
“Unlike politicians of the elite, General Cárdenas had sincere and profound love for the people. … There hasn’t been a president in Mexico as close to the humble people as General Cárdenas,” he said.
President Cárdenas reads the expropriation decree in 1938. (Mexican National Archive)
“… The oil expropriation was supported by the majority of people. In photos from the time the majority presence of humble people [at pro-government gatherings] is noted: Indigenous men and women, campesinos, laborers, teachers, employees and members of the lower-middle class. It was the ordinary people who … cooperated with the government for the payment of compensation to foreign oil companies. How can we forget the many poor women who donated their goats and turkeys for that purpose, and even gave up the modest jewels they possessed.”
In addition to “massive and forceful popular support, the Cárdenas government had another favorable circumstance,” López Obrador said, noting that former U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the Good Neighbor foreign policy and thus “respected the sovereignty of our country” and didn’t oppose the nationalization of the oil industry even though it affected many U.S. companies.
While outlining his own government’s achievements, including its support for the poor through welfare and social programs, the president noted that his administration is pursuing “energy self-sufficiency” and declared that Mexico wouldn’t import any gasoline, diesel or other fuels in 2024 thanks to its investment to rehabilitate existing refineries and build a new one on the Tabasco coast.
“We’re going to process all our own raw material,” he said, referring to crude oil.
The Dos Bocas refinery in Paraíso, Tabasco is one of the president’s key infrastructure projects. (Gob MX)
López Obrador – a fierce critic of the former government’s energy reform that opened up the sector to private and foreign companies – also touted a section of the North American free trade pact, the USMCA, which his administration succeeded in having added to the text.
It states, the president noted, that “the United States and Canada recognize that Mexico reserves its sovereign right to reform its Constitution and its domestic legislation, and Mexico has the direct, inalienable, and imprescriptible ownership of all hydrocarbons in the subsoil of the national territory.”
After expressing confidence that the Mexican people will continue to support his government’s “transformation” of the country, López Obrador once again denounced the proposal from some Republican Party lawmakers that the United States military be used to combat Mexican cartels in Mexico.
“First I want to make it clear that it’s no longer the time of [former president Felipe] Calderón or [ex-security minister and convicted criminal Genaro] García Luna. It’s no longer the time of murky links between the government of Mexico and agencies of the United States government. Now there is no simulation, organized crime and white collar crime are really combated because there’s no corruption, no impunity and there are no relations of complicity with anyone,” he said.
“… From here, from this Zócalo, the political and cultural heart of Mexico, we remind the hypocritical and irresponsible politicians that Mexico is a free and independent country, not a colony or protectorate of the United States. They can threaten us, … but never, ever will we allow them to violate our sovereignty and trample on the dignity of our homeland. Cooperation yes, subjugation, no! Interventionism, no!”
AMLO supporters at an event that was described as an “opening salvo” ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. (Graciela López Herrera / Cuartoscuro.com)
Among the officials seated behind the president and cheering him on were Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Interior Minister Adán Augusto López and Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, the three leading contenders to become the ruling Morena party’s candidate at the 2024 presidential election.
According to an Associated Press report, many of the government supporters in the Zócalo on Saturday agreed that the event was “the de-facto opening salvo to the 2024 elections,” at which both houses of Congress will also be renewed.
“The important thing is for the ideology of López Obrador to continue,” attendee Alberto Martínez told AP.
“This train is already in motion, somebody just [needs] to get aboard and drive it,” said Martínez, who indicated his preferred candidate was Sheinbaum.
In his speech, López Obrador expressed confidence that whoever secures Morena’s nomination would win the election and perpetuate his government’s policies “in favor of the people and nation.”
Another rally attendee expressed support for the president’s opposition to calls from some United States lawmakers for Mexican cartels to be designated as terrorist organizations and for the U.S. military to be deployed to Mexico.
“They are hypocrites because they don’t do anything to reduce drug consumption [in the U.S.],” Blas Ramos, a 69-year-old electrical engineer, told AP.
He also said he was confident that López Obrador’s so-called “fourth transformation” of Mexico would continue when the president’s six-year term ends in September 2024.
“This is a movement that began a long time ago. We have spent our whole lives waiting for this movement. This movement isn’t over in six years. This is a process that will take 30, 40 years.”
Saturday’s rally came three weeks after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Mexico to protest the federal government’s “Plan B” electoral reform laws and to demonstrate their support for the National Electoral Institute, a key pillar of the country’s democracy.
The Zócalo also filled up with citizens on Feb. 26, but the Mexico City government said that only 90,000 people participated in the demonstration. The difference between that figure and the half a million people said to have been in attendance on Saturday has led some Mexicans to question the accuracy of the Mexico City government’s numbers.
Viva Aerobus will become the first carrier to service all four of Quintana Roo's major airports. (Viva Aerobus)
Viva Aerobus has confirmed it will be the first airline to operate flights from the new Tulum International Airport.
Head of Viva Aerobus Juan Carlos Zuazua said that the government has informed the company that the terminal will be ready for operation in April 2024.
An architect’s rendering of the new Tulum Airport. (Tulum Airport)
In the announcement, Zuazua said that the Tulum flight will seek to reinforce its Cancún route, a destination that accounted for five million passengers — 25 % of the total volume of Viva Aerobus’ travelers throughout 2022.
The Tulum flight will turn the low-cost airline into the only Mexican carrier flying to Quintana Roo’s four international airports: Cancún, Chetumal, Cozumel and, once open, Tulum.
Zuazua also said that although they would initially operate domestic routes, Viva Aerobus is negotiating an alliance with U.S. carrier Allegiant Air to connect small and medium-sized cities in the United States with the Mexican Caribbean.
Although the proposed terminal is undergoing an environmental evaluation, construction work, including jungle clearance, has begun.
Tourists' desire for authenticity and locals' need to make a living and remain in their neighborhoods often creates thorny situations. (Martín Zetina/Cuartoscuro)
The ancient cities of Chichén Itzá and Teotihuacán are set for thousands of tourists today, as crowds gather to celebrate the spring equinox — the official start of the new season.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has launched “Operation Equinox,” to protect and promote the historic sites before one of the busiest days of the year.
The Descent of Kukulkán
Chichén Itzá, in the state of Yucatán, is home to the world-famous Temple of Kukulkan — which appears to come to life during the equinox, as shadows cast by the design of the temple give the effect of a giant plumed snake slithering down the stairs.
Chichén Itzá will be limited to 15,000 visitors in order to protect the ancient city, which dates from around A.D. 800. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
The snake god Kukulkan was one of the chief Mayan deities, and his “arrival” from the center of the temple marked the beginning of the maize planting season.
At Teotihuacán, located in México state, thousands are expected to arrive from nearby Mexico City in search of a mystical energy associated with the site. At its height, Teotihuacán was one of the largest cities of the ancient world, with a population of over 125,000.
Visitors to the giant pyramids of Teotihuacán will not be able to climb them. (Ricardo David Sanchéz/Wikimedia)
Operation Equinox specifies that visitors will not be able to climb the enormous pyramids of the sun and the moon, which dominate Teotihuacán. However, this has been the case already in recent years in order to prevent damage to the ancient monuments.
The equinox occurs when the sun is over the equator, and the day and night are almost exactly equal across the globe.
Visitors to the sites are reminded to remain in the designated areas and to not perform religious rites or ceremonies without prior permission from INAH. The measures will last until Mar. 24.
INAH recommends that historians in search of a quieter experience visit the sites at Izamal, Ek’ Balam, Mayapán, Uxmal or Kabah instead.
The skull was discovered near some workshops in Palenque, and is believed to be a woman who came to Palenque for marriage. (Photos by Mauricio Marat/INAH).
A skeleton discovered last May at the archaeological site of Palenque was a foreign woman of around 45–50 years of age, according to a new forensic analysis.
A team from the Palenque Archaeological Project (PAP), coordinated by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), conducted adetailed study of the skeleton dubbed “Lady SAS,” revealing new data about her diet, physiognomy and health.
Palenque was one of the centers of the vast Mayan empire. (Lousanroj/Wikimedia)
The team — made up of osteoarcheologist Luis Núñez Enríquez and physical anthropologists Miriam Camacho Martínez and Lucía López Mejía — confirmed the skeleton was female through analysis of her pelvic structure and skull features.
They also noted intriguing differences between the skeleton and other human remains found in the Mayan city.
“The human burials of Palenque are usually located inside temples or in living areas, and the space where we found this skeleton — a stone tool workshop, as reported by INAH — is neither,” said Núñez.
“One possibility is that she was associated with this activity, and those who worked in the workshop decided to bury her right there.”
The woman found at Palenque had an intentional skull deformation of the “erect tabular” type, which expanded the skull in width and height., different from the “oblique tabular” modifications typical of city residents. (INAH)
The team also observed that the woman had an intentional skull deformation of the “erect tabular” type, which expanded the skull in width and height. While intentional skull deformations were common among the ancient Mayans, the tribes of Palenque favored “oblique tabular” modifications that lengthened the skull backwards.
This led the team to conclude that “Lady SAS” may have been a foreigner within the kingdom, despite the fact that she was buried close to the site’s urban nucleus. She was found alongside three vessels believed to be burial offerings, which suggests she died between A.D. 800 and 850.
“Thanks to hieroglyphics found at Palenque, we know that women used to arrive at the city… for political relations and for marriage, and that they were women of some importance,” Pablo Alberto Mumary Farto, Doctor of Mesoamerican history at UNAM told Mexico News Daily.
“This find proves that,” he said. “It is confirmation that women did come [to Palenque] from outside the kingdom, or the Maya-Palenque state.”
Another striking feature of “Lady SAS” was a set of green inlays on her teeth, which were also intentionally filed. Núñez Enríquez observed that many societies around the world practice dental filing and skull modifications, “reflecting codes between people who share a symbolic language — who are of the same ethnic group or practice the same trade.”
“She bears the characteristics of someone who had a certain status — the dental decoration and the jade belongings that were found with her… this discovery is important from an archaeological — an osteological — standpoint because it confirms what we have read on the inscriptions: the arrival of foreign women to Palenque to marry men of a certain social status,” said Mumary Farto.
Núñez Enríquez also commented that “Lady SAS” had suffered from several pathologies common in pre-Hispanic women, including dental caries, a bone fracture and signs of scurvy caused by vitamin C deficiency in childhood.
However, these illnesses had healed at the time of her death, leading the team to believe she died of natural causes at 45–50 years old — the maximum normal life expectancy in pre-Hispanic Mexico.
“Lady SAS” is one of several archaeological finds to have been discovered during the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza). Promeza is being carried out alongside the construction of the Maya Train — a controversial new railroad that will link the archaeological and tourist sites of the Yucatán Peninsula.
The merger is expected to result in significantly increased levels of rail freight. (Canadian Pacific)
A United States federal regulator approved the first major railroad merger in two decades on Wednesday, creating a railroad that would be the first to operate a single-line service linking Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
Canadian Pacific’s US $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern (KCS) was approved after two years of scrutiny by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. In approving the deal, the board said that the new single-line service would shift about 64,000 truckloads per year to rails from the road, fostering investment in infrastructure, quality and safety.
The merger between KCS and Canadian Pacific is the largest in two decades. (William Hamlin/Twitter)
The new merged entity will be known as Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and will be the parent company to Kansas City Southern México (KCSM), which announced plans to invest US $200 million in Mexico last month.
The new railroad will transport grain from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast and Mexico, as well as intermodal freight goods between Dallas and Chicago. It will facilitate “the trade in automotive parts, finished vehicles and other containerized mixed goods between the United States and Mexico,” the board said.
The U.S. regulator also said that the merger would not reduce competition and will add more than 800 union jobs in the U.S.
“On balance, the merger of these two railroads will benefit the American economy and will be an improvement for all citizens in terms of safety and the environment,” U.S. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman told a news conference on Wednesday.
After service problems and economic damage that followed railroad mergers in the 1990s,regulators adopted tougher rules for major mergers in 2001, making the Canadian Pacific and KCS merger the largest since. The merger plan would combine the two smallest of the major railroads in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada into one entity, forming the sixth-largest carrier behind Canadian National.
The new single-service railroad will stretch from Canada to Mexico, providing much-needed infrastructure links between the three countries, according to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (Canadian Pacific)
When the news of the merger was first announced in 2021, independent railroad analyst Tony Hatch told AP News that the merger should help stabilize the industry overall and should not lead to another round of railroad mergers.
According to Canadian Pacific, it could take control of KCS as soon as April 14. It will take the Alberta-based company about three years to combine the railroads. CPKC will operate around 20,000 miles of track and employ nearly 20,000 people, according to Canadian Pacific.
“This important milestone is the catalyst for realizing the benefits of a North American railroad for all of our stakeholders,” KCS President and CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer said in a statement to shareholders.
Acknowledging the political relevance that railroads and safety have acquired in the U.S. after the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, in February, Oberman added that the merger would improve safety by removing the transport of hazardous materials from roads to railways.
According to the companies, CPKC will bring a new safety standard to the North American rail industry as Canadian Pacific has been the safest railroad in North America for more than a decade.
The Surface Transportation Board said that Canadian Pacific has the highest safety record of any Class I railroad over the last 15 years and that combined, both railroads’ record for preventing perilous material releases exceeds, on average, any data related to road freight or any other railroad service.
The only major impact of the deal would be an increase in noise in places where train traffic is expected to significantly increase, the regulator said. Chicago, Illinois and Laredo, Texas, expect to have the biggest traffic increases, while railways across Iowa are predicted to see more than 14 additional trains daily. The tracks between Kansas City, Missouri and Beaumont, Texas, also foresee an increase of about 12 more trains per day.
