The abuelitas in their limo on the way to the party. Facebook / Hada Madrina Ari Falcon
A group of grandmothers in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, had a dream come true this past week when they celebrated the quinceañera, or 15th birthday party, that they were unable to have when they were younger.
The women, who came from poor backgrounds and whose families were unable to provide them with this traditional celebration when they were teenagers, were able to fulfill the dream of dressing like a princess and dancing the night away thanks to Ariana Falcón.
Falcón, now known as Reynosa’s “fairy godmother,” has been organizing quinceañeras for girls whose families either don’t have the money for a big, fabulous party or are unable to for a different reason. Many of the young girls she has worked with have serious chronic or terminal illnesses.
It started with Falcón’s own quinceañera, which she said was possible only with the collaboration of friends and families who donated food, music, and even make-up and hair services, as her family wasn’t able to afford it on their own. She later loaned her quinceañera dress — known for their elaborateness and fairy princess-like esthetic — to another girl that didn’t have one, then later she gave it away to a different girl.
Falcón has been working the last 10 years to organize parties for girls who wouldn’t get them otherwise and has helped to host over 200 events.
This past week was the opportunity for 14 older women who were never able to fulfill their dream to enjoy the splendor of a 15th birthday party.
¡Sueño hecho realidad! ❤️
14 abuelitas festejaron sus XV años con pastel, mariachi y hasta limusina en Reynosa, #Tamaulipas, gracias a las hadas madrinas que apoyan el proyecto “Cumpliendo un sueño”. pic.twitter.com/j4y0eO7o0s
A television news channel shared footage of the festivities.
“I woke up so excited for something marvelous, it’s truly like a fairy tale movie. I mean at this age, none of us would have imagined having a party like this,” said Oralia González, one of the women celebrating.
The party included food, music, gifts and even a limousine, all donated by members of the community within Falcón’s network of “fairy godmothers.”
“Each one of them has a history of something hard, like diabetes, leukemia, so today is the moment to have fun, I believe each of them deserves to be treated as a queen,” said Falcón.
The automotive manufacturer Tesla has struck a deal with business-friendly Nuevo León to have its own private lane at a Mexico-U.S. border crossing. A bit like a fast track security checkpoint at the airport, the lane is solely for companies that work with Tesla and the automaker’s employees.
Tesla now has six different companies providing parts for its vehicles in Mexico, including EnFlex Corp., Quanta Computer, Faurecia SE, ZF Friedrichshafen AG and APG Mexico. State authorities say the new exclusive lane will make border crossings more efficient and faster, even though there is no similar exclusive lane on the U.S. side of the border.
Neither Tesla nor the state of Nuevo León seem to think a lane for a single company is a problem, with Economy Minister Ivan Rivas adding that in the future “… maybe there will be lanes for other companies …”
Tesla’s private lane is at the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge, a lesser known crossing north of the Laredo, Texas, crossing (which is one of the busier ones). Bloomberg News reports that neither Tesla nor state officials responded to requests for comments so it’s unknown what the manufacturer offered in exchange. But Nuevo León is building its electric vehicle industry, which Rivas says will provide 5-7% of the state’s investments this year.
Despite a heavy presence in Mexico, Tesla founder Elon Musk continues to insist “Teslas are the most made-in-USA vehicles.” The company is No. 1 on the Cars.com 2022 American-Made Index that ranks car companies on how much of their production and manufacturing takes place inside the United States.
The incident took place at a convenience store in the San José Aculco neighborhood of Iztapalapa. Google Maps via Noticias Iztapalapa
When three teenagers went to a store in Mexico City to collect 2,500 pesos (US $122) in protection money this week, things turned ugly and a 16-year-old boy tending his family’s convenience store ended up getting shot and killed.
The tragic story was reported in the newspaper El Universal and on the digital media site Plumas Atómicas.
Monday evening, according to the reports, the juvenile henchmen arrived by motorcycle at the abarrotes store in the CDMX borough of Iztapalapa, in the San José Aculco neighborhood adjacent to the Central de Abastos market.
At the counter was Daniel, 16, a high school student who often helped out in his spare time; his mother was nearby.
When the young hoodlums demanded he hand over the money and showed a weapon to emphasize their point, a frightened Daniel ran to get away, either toward the backyard or into the house, depending on which report is to be believed. However, the teens chased after him and fired indiscriminately, hitting Daniel, his 65-year-old grandmother and his uncle.
The grandmother, who was hit by a bullet in the leg, and the uncle survived, but Daniel died Tuesday at 4 a.m. in the Moctezuma Pediatric Hospital.
The assailants fled by motorcycle to an awaiting Renault car with license plates from México state. Images captured by security cameras helped the police arrest the alleged perpetrators: Azael, 14; Darwin, 15; and Yosvani, 16. Two of them were said to be residents of Nezahualcóyotl in the state of Mexico, while the oldest reported he lives in Iztapalapa.
According to Plumas Atómicas (Atomic Pens) — which deems itself a community of young writers writing for young readers — none of the arrested youths go to school or have a legitimate job, and all were carrying firearms. El Universal reported that Azael and Darwin were released because they’re too young to be charged, and Yosvani was taken to the prosecutor’s office for juvenile crimes.
Azael allegedly told police that an acquaintance had sent them to collect money from the store. He also allegedly said that his mother has been in prison in the state of Hidalgo for six years for robbing a pharmacy.
The cartel appears to have threatened to kidnap the influencer if they see him in Guadalajara "or anywhere else," in retaliation for blocking traffic in their territory. Instagram @mr.fofomqz
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has threatened to kidnap a social media influencer who earlier this month boasted about shutting down traffic on a busy Guadalajara bridge.
Rodolfo “Fofo” Márquez and unidentified accomplices blocked all three lanes of the Matute Remus bridge in the Jalisco capital by parking luxury cars across them. “Look, I closed … [the bridge] just for me, showing once again what money and power can do in Mexico,” he said in a TikTok video.
Márquez later apologized for his actions, but his expression of remorse apparently didn’t placate the CJNG. In a social media message that was purportedly written by the cartel but whose authenticity has not been confirmed, the CJNG called Fofo “scum” and condemned his stunt on the Guadalajara bridge.
“It’s an act that we don’t tolerate,” the cartel said, adding that it would never allow an “asshole like this to come [to Jalisco] to do these kinds of things.”
Circula entre la ciudadanía tapatía y distintas redes sociales el siguiente mensaje dirigido a fofo Márquez #guadalajara#CJNG#Zapopan Influncer altanero afectando el tránsito en una vía rápida pic.twitter.com/bL7JWgKnL9
— 🇲🇽De Jalisco Para El Mundo🇲🇽 (@BambynoRs) July 18, 2022
A screenshot shows the threat published by a group supposedly affiliated with the CJNG.
“We’re the ones who are in charge in Jalisco and all of Mexico,” the message said before warning Fofo to be careful.
“We won’t allow you to come to Guadalajara thinking that you can do what you want. Here in Jalisco ‘El Mencho’ is in charge,” the cartel said in reference to its leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.
The CJNG then warned Márquez that it would abduct him if it saw him in Guadalajara or anywhere else, and that his money would be of no use to him. “Not even all the money you have will help you,” the cartel told Márquez, who claims to be the heir to a significant fortune.
The message was posted by a social media account that operates under the name Gente con la gente NG, or People with the NG (New Generation) people.
It's the first strike since the company was privatized by billionaire Carlos Slim.
Telmex, one of the largest internet, phone and television providers in Mexico, is guaranteeing that its services will not be affected by a strike of its workers that might head into the weekend.
Owned by Carlos Slim and based in Mexico City, the company was hit by a strike at noon Thursday when thousands of members of the Telephone Operators Union of the Mexican Republic (STRM) placed red and black flags in their offices, branches, maintenance sites and service centers.
They are alleging a violation of their collective bargaining agreement with Telmex, which has never had a strike since it was privatized in 1990. The last strike was in 1985 when Teléfonos de México (Telmex) was still a state company.
The main issue, union leaders say, is that the company has failed to fill vacancies created by the retirement of workers, which puts a major strain on current workers trying to fill the void. For three years, the union says, Slim’s company has left up to 2,000 job openings unfilled.
Carlos Slim (center) in 2017, chatting with then-president Enrique Peña Nieto and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
“We are fighting and we are going to defend our rights,” the union said on Twitter. STRM, which represents some 26,000 active workers and more than 30,0000 retirees, alleged other misdeeds by Telmex, including “coercive measures such as withholding wages, and [retirement] benefits, [and] physical and verbal attacks.”
Telmex is a subsidiary of the América Móvil corporation, which is owned by Slim, the Mexican tycoon whom Forbes says is worth US $81.5 billion. Forbes lists “Carlos Slim Helú and family” at No. 12 on its list of global billionaires.
A potential earlier strike was put on hold after the parties reached an agreement in early June to review the collective bargaining agreement. At that time, Telmex promised to increase the salary of active and retired workers by 4.5%, according to news reports.
But union leadership said a hiring freeze has led to 1,942 vacant jobs, and that Telmex wants to put an administrator in charge of personnel who are about to retire and to modify a clause that outlines retirement benefits.
Telmex workers in offices across the country stopped serving clients midday on Thursday when the strike began. Pictured: a Telmex branch in Xalapa, Veracruz.
For its part, according to the newspaper Reforma, Telmex is claiming that the financial viability of the company is being hurt by older workers and retirees.
Telmex has been shrinking in recent years while Telcel, a cellphone company also owned by Slim, has grown, Reforma reported. Telcel has another union and a different employment contract, so it is not being affected by the strike, Reforma added.
Telmex has 11.1 million landline phone customers and 10.1 million internet subscribers, Reforma reported. It also offers packages with satellite TV and/or video streaming options.
The company, which said it’s willing to continue negotiations, put out a statement about its service: “Telmex guarantees the quality and continuity of all its telecommunications services thanks to its state-of-the-art technology, which allows it to have a network that operates autonomously.”
According to reports, users waiting in Telmex branches at midday on Thursday were no longer served as soon as the red and black flags went up. However, those who were calling in to set up a new phone line and/or internet service were assisted by Telmex operators.
The Labor Ministry quickly stepped into the fray, suggesting a way to get both sides to the bargaining table that would involve Labor Minister Luisa Alcalde acting as mediator. On Thursday, Alcalde posted on Twitter that “progress is being made” and expressed hope that an agreement would be reached on Friday, followed by a union vote that would end the strike.
Reuters reported early Friday that President Lopez Obrador said he expects a deal to get done later Friday or on Saturday. “[Carlos Slim] has told me that [Telmex] has come out ahead of competitors because of its workers. So I think they will reach an agreement,” Lopez Obrador told reporters in his daily news conference.
The president chuckles as he plays the song "¡Uy, qué miedo!" by Chico Che at Wednesday's news conference. Youtube screenshot
United States Ambassador Ken Salazar and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico (Cancham) have advised Mexico to take energy policy objections seriously.
Both the United States and Canada have requested consultations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free trade pact that took effect in 2020. They believe that policies that favor the Federal Electricity Commission and the state oil company Pemex unfairly discriminate against foreign companies that operate in Mexico’s energy sector.
In announcing the U.S. request for consultations, the Office of the United States Trade Representative complained about “Mexico’s delays, denials, and revocations of U.S. companies’ abilities to operate in Mexico’s energy sector” and asserted that “Mexico’s policy changes threaten to push private sector innovation out of the Mexican energy market.”
President López Obrador on Wednesday displayed flippant disregard for the U.S. request, going so far as to mock it by playing a song at his morning news conference whose title translates to “Oh, How Scary.”
President López Obrador with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar.
“The consultation mechanism is a fundamental element of USMCA that benefits all three countries by enabling us to quickly resolve disputes,” he wrote. “We must approach this USMCA energy dispute with determination and seriousness for an expeditious resolution.”
For his part, the vice president of Cancham’s energy committee said that “Mexico must attend the consultations request with all seriousness.”
Carlos de María y Campos added that the consequences of not reaching agreement during the consultation phase could be very serious. If there is no resolution, the United States and Canada could seek the establishment of dispute panels to deal with the matter. If they fail to achieve the outcome they seek, the two countries could ultimately impose punitive tariffs on Mexican imports.
“The impact [the dispute] could have on the economy is nothing to laugh about,” said de María y Campos.
López Obrador pledged Thursday that the government would defend its energy sector policies, noting that, despite its close trade relationship with the U.S. and Canada, it has the right to make its own decisions about domestic matters.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday that the government was already putting together a team to defend Mexico’s policies in the face of the challenge. “We’re going to be prepared and we’re going to defend our arguments,” he said in a video posted to Twitter.
A spokesman for CFE — which is at the center of the dispute as the result of a law that gives the energy it generates priority on the national grid — asserted that Mexico’s policies don’t violate the USMCA. Luis Bravo said that CFE’s position is exactly the same as that of the president. “The agreement isn’t being violated and that’s what will be proven” during the consultations with the United States and Canada, he said.
The question of whether the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has a competitive advantage over foreign companies is at the center of the trade dispute.
Kenneth Smith Ramos, Mexico’s chief USMCA negotiator through 2019, said in an interview with Bloomberg that resolution during the 75-day consultation period was unlikely.
“This looks very difficult to be resolved during the consultation period because the violations are so precise, specific,” he said. “Mexico would need to completely overhaul two pieces of legislation that are essential to AMLO.”
If no resolution is reached and Mexico loses the dispute due to a panel decision, the United States and Canada can impose tariffs equal in value to the losses companies from those countries have incurred, Smith said. Ildefonso Guajardo, a deputy who was economy minister in the 2012-18 government led by Enrique Peña Nieto, said the same in an interview with journalist Carmen Aristegui.
United States officials have spoken of losses of between US $10 billion and $30 billion, meaning that Mexican exports to the U.S. could be subject to tariffs within that range. Canadian tariffs would further hurt Mexican exports. BloombergNEF, a strategic research provider, has calculated that Mexico’s energy policies place at least $22 billion in private investment at risk.
According to Smith, the dispute could potentially be one of the most expensive trade spats since NAFTA, the predecessor to USMCA, took effect in 1994. Guajardo, who as economy minister also had a central role in the negotiation of USMCA, noted that farmers and auto sector manufacturers — both of which are large exporters — could end up paying the price for the discontent generated by Mexico’s energy sector policies.
Luis de la Calle, a former deputy economy minister, said that Mexico’s ability to take advantage of the current global economic conditions could be jeopardized by the trade dispute. He told Bloomberg that the re-routing of supply chains from Asia amid disrupted global shipping networks could boost Mexican exports by billions — over US $35 billion annually, according to the Inter-American Development Bank — but the trade dispute places some of that at risk.
De la Calle said that economic problems in Europe and China have made North America the “most competitive region in the world” right now, and that if there is no resolution to the dispute “the main cost” would be not taking advantage of “the international context that tremendously favors North America.”
Smith described the situation in blunt and evocative terms. “We are watching a potential train crash between the U.S., Mexico and Canada,” he said.
The judge granted an amparo, or protective order, that will allow the marriage to proceed. deposit photos
A polyamorous threesome in Puebla has filed for the right to be married, and the man in the trio, who is the main plaintiff in the case, received a favorable judgement from a local judge.
The attempt to form a “plural family,” or marriage with more than one partner is not legally recognized in Mexico, despite efforts by the LGBTQ+ community to decriminalize this type of living arrangement.
A judge in Puebla’s Eighth District Civil Court ruled in favor of the complainant who filed the suit in protest against articles of Puebla’s civil code, which lay out the state’s legal definitions of marriage and partnership. The plaintiff was awarded an injunction that will allow the marriage to proceed.
The judge ruled that the articles of the civil code were in fact discriminatory because they stated that marriage or partnership could only exist between two people and that they didn’t take into account the possibility of other “sexual orientations like polyamory.”
The case was decided in a Puebla district court. Consejo de la Judicatura Federal
The judge went on to say that authorities have the obligation to promote, respect, protect, and guarantee human rights in accordance with the principles of universality, interdependence, indivisibility and progressiveness.
“In terms of norms, there exists a kind of indirect discrimination,” the judge said, “which happens when the norms and practices appear neutral, but it turns out that their content or application translates into disproportionate effects on people or groups in different situations because of their sexual orientation, like polyamory, without providing an objective and reasonable justification [for those effects].”
The judge said that he could find no constitutional reason why marriage should only be between two partners.
Contesting the law in these kinds of cases has become more common in the past several years, like the case brought by a lesbian couple in Durango last year who petitioned to officially marry the ex-partner of one of the women, who was also the father of their children, in an attempt to raise their children together as a threesome.
Efforts to plant native milkweed, reduce pesticide use and participate in community science networks provide hope that the species could recover, one expert said. IUCN / Joe Schelling
The migratory monarch butterfly, which overwinters in fir forests in Michoacán and México state, has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
It said that the monarch, which travels thousands of kilometers from the United States and Canada to spend winters in the comparatively mild climes of central Mexico, is threatened by habitat destruction and climate change.
IUCN said the population of the now-endangered migratory monarch butterfly – a subspecies of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) – has declined by between 22% and 72% over the past decade.
Butterflies at El Rosario sanctuary in Michoacán, where conservationists have come up against organized crime, illegal logging and possible corruption.
“Legal and illegal logging and deforestation to make space for agriculture and urban development has already destroyed substantial areas of the butterflies’ winter shelter in Mexico and California, while pesticides and herbicides used in intensive agriculture across the range kill butterflies and milkweed, the host plant that the larvae of the monarch butterfly feed on,” the organization said.
“Climate change has significantly impacted the migratory monarch butterfly and is a fast-growing threat; drought limits the growth of milkweed and increases the frequency of catastrophic wildfires, temperature extremes trigger earlier migrations before milkweed is available, while severe weather has killed millions of butterflies.”
UICN also said that western migratory monarch butterflies, which overwinter in California, are at greater risk of extinction than eastern ones, which migrate to Mexico. The population of the former declined by an estimated 99.9% between the 1980s and 2021, with numbers falling to just 1,914 from as many as 10 million.
The size of the larger eastern population shrank by 84% between 1996 and 2014, UICN said. “Concern remains as to whether enough butterflies survive to maintain the populations and prevent extinction.”
One positive is that the number of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico increased 35% last winter, according to the World Wildlife Fund and the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas. However, numbers were still well below those recorded in previous years.
Anna Walker, a member of IUCN’s butterfly and moth specialist group who led the monarch assessment, said that it’s “difficult to watch monarch butterflies and their extraordinary migration teeter on the edge of collapse.”
However, she added that “there are signs of hope” given that “so many people and organizations have come together to try and protect this butterfly and its habitats.”
“From planting native milkweed and reducing pesticide use to supporting the protection of overwintering sites and contributing to community science, we all have a role to play in making sure this iconic insect makes a full recovery,” Walker said.
SHEIN design, left, and that of YucaChulas of Yucatán.
YucaChulas, a Mexican textile company in Mérida, Yucatán, has accused the clothing manufacturer SHEIN Mexico of copying its clothing designs.
According to YucaChulas, a SHEIN product is a design copied from a piece made by them in 2017 for México en Colores, a blog that features Mexican brands with a focus on handmade textiles and embroidery. YucaChulas insists that the only thing that SHEIN changed in their version of the blouse was the colors around the edges of the neck and arm holes, and that the rest of the design and coloring of the shirts is identical to their original.
SHEIN, a Chinese company with affiliates in 220 countries around the world, is known for its fast fashion ethos and cheap final products.
Mexico’s Culture Ministry joined the fray on Twitter, saying it was “strongly against the inappropriate cultural appropriation … by making blouses of short huipiles that are also made in various Maya communities in Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo.
The ministry said it would demand an explanation for commercialization of a design attributed to the communities of Yucatán. The fight is one of many that have surfaced in recent years that accuse large, international brands of cultural appropriation — or the use of designs or products whose ownership has been documented as belonging to indigenous communities in Mexico.
International brands like Louis Vuitton, Carolina Herrera, the French designer Isabel Marant, and most recently the clothing and home interiors store Zara have all been accused of cultural appropriation in fashion, in each case with the Mexican government stepping in to defend the intellectual property rights of artisans.
There have also been several campaigns launched to try to help shoppers determine what are real Mexican artisanal handcrafts and clothing and what are “fake” or “pirated,” i.e. mass produced or from other countries altogether.
Frida poses in her skeleton costume. Facebook / Rescatistas Independientes Unidos Mérida
A beloved dog who for years was a fixture outside a shop in the historic center of Mérida died on Tuesday, apparently due to poisoning.
Frida the xoloitzcuintle (Mexican hairless dog) became famous due to her constant presence outside the Alfaro antiques store on Calle 60 in the Yucatán capital’s downtown. Locals and tourists alike would stop to say hello, give her a pat and perhaps take a photo of or with the friendly pooch.
Sadly, Frida’s days of brightening the lives of passersby are now over. Leticia Alfaro, the owner of both Antigüedades Alfaro and Frida, told the Sipse news organization that her cherished companion passed away on Tuesday morning.
She was taken to a veterinary hospital on Monday after Alfaro’s son noticed that she was unwell. Vets initially said that her heart was beating normally and that she would remain under observation for 24 hours. However, Frida’s condition deteriorated and the vets were unable to save her. Studies they performed indicated that she had been poisoned.
Frida’s owners made an altar to honor her memory.
Alfaro said that additional tests are being done to determine what substance killed her pet. She said she was unsure how Frida could have been poisoned because there is nothing in her shop that could have killed her. She said her cat would have become ill as well if there was poison in her store.
In her conversation with Sipse, Alfaro also eulogized her deceased nine-year-old xolo. “People looked at her, … a xolo in the street, they saw that she followed me, they saw her as a very unique xolo,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“Being in such an important street in Mérida, being free [to roam around] made her special. And a lot of people don’t know xolos, a lot of people said that it was the first time that they had touched an animal like that,” Alfaro said.
She also said that Frida was very affectionate and friendly, noting that she was a friend of the shop cat and would willingly share her food with city pigeons. “Frida was one of a kind, that’s why people loved her so much. I thank them for their affection.”
In memory of her departed dog, Alfaro set up an altar featuring a photo and drawing of her. An urn filled with her ashes was also set to be included in the memorial to Frida, now one of Mérida’s most missed canines.
