The fiancés José Melesio Gutiérrez Padilla and Daniela Márquez Pichardo. (Facebook)
A dual Mexico-United States citizen has been formally identified as one of four people whose remains were found in a rural area of Zacatecas last week, near the Jalisco border.
The Zacatecas Attorney General’s Office (FGJEZ) confirmed Tuesday that the remains of José Melesio Gutiérrez Padilla were among those found in Tepetongo, a municipality in southwestern Zacatecas that borders Jalisco.
Gutiérrez, a 36-year-old architect who lived in Ohio but was originally from León, Guanajuato, disappeared on Dec. 25 along with his fiancée Daniela Márquez Pichardo, her sister Viviana Márquez Pichardo and Irma Paola Vargas Montoya, a cousin of the two women. The remains of the three women were found along with those of Gutiérrez.
The four victims disappeared on Christmas Day as they were returning to Colotlán, Jalisco — where the three women lived — from Jerez, Zacatecas, a tourism-oriented “magical town” where they spent time at a bar.
The pickup truck in which they were traveling was later located in Tepetongo on Jan. 16. It had bullet holes in it, indicating that they came under fire while traveling through the municipality.
DNA testing of family members of Gutiérrez and an analysis of his remains allowed the FGJEZ to confirm the victim’s identity. The other remains were previously identified as belonging to the Márquez sisters and Vargas.
Gutiérrez’s family members underwent DNA testing in Guanajuato because they were too afraid to travel to Zacatecas.
“Out of fear of everything that’s happening, [we didn’t go to Zacatecas],” said Enrique Gutiérrez, José’s father.
He said that his son lived in the United States from the age of 12 and had a successful life.
“It’s not fair that good people doing good things go through this,” Gutiérrez said.
Brandie Gutiérrez, José’s sister, told Cincinnati television station WCPO that her brother completed a master’s degree in architecture at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and had been working at the firm Champlin Architecture in downtown Cincinnati.
She said that her brother and Daniela Márquez had been engaged since last Valentine’s Day and planned to get married in September 2023.
Daniela was an interior designer, her sister was a fashion designer and their cousin was a makeup artist, according to news website La Silla Rota. Funerals for the three women were held on Jan. 22.
President López Obrador discusses the García Luna trial at his Jan. 24 daily press conference. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais / Cuartoscuro.com)
Former security minister Genaro García Luna is currently on trial in the United States, but he also faces charges in Mexico and federal authorities are attempting to secure his extradition.
The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said Sunday that it has two warrants for the arrest of García Luna, security minister during the 2006-12 government led by former president Felipe Calderón.
Issued by federal judges, the warrants are for “crimes committed in Mexico” that are unrelated to the charges the ex-official faces in the United States, the FGR said in a statement.
In a trial that began in a federal court in New York last Monday, García Luna is being accused of drug trafficking, accepting multimillion-dollar bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel and intimidating journalists and potential witnesses.
While Calderón was president in Mexico, the United States government allowed people to buy guns illegally in the U.S. and smuggle them into Mexico so that the weapons could be tracked and law enforcement officials could locate and arrest crime bosses.
Handguns, AK-47s, .50 caliber rifles and other weapons displayed at a press conference on arrests and weapon seizures by Operation Fast and Furious. While some weapons were found, others were never recovered. (Rebekah Zemansky via Shutterstock)
However, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of most of the weapons, some of which were used in fatal shootings of both Mexican and U.S. citizens.
The FGR said in its statement that “the weapons that Mexican authorities … allowed to illegally enter [Mexico] have caused a large number of deaths and irreparable damage to justice.”
It said that the second warrant for the arrest of García Luna relates to a case involving privatized federal prisons, for which a massive amount of funding was authorized during the Calderón government.
The FGR said that García Luna’s involvement in the case “was fundamental in creating immense financial damage” to public coffers.
The federal government has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. to attempt to recover US $700 million that he allegedly accumulated as a result of his broader corrupt activity.
The FGR also said there are two additional ongoing investigations in Mexico against the former official, who headed up the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency before becoming security minister.
Garcá Luna speaks with then-president Felipe Calderón. Archive / Cuartoscuro.com
It noted that it has applied for a third warrant for García Luna’s arrest, but that request — related to alleged improper use of powers and criminal association — is still being processed.
The FGR added that proceedings aimed at securing his extradition are continuing “within the framework of the corresponding legal limitations.”
García Luna’s New York trial is expected to last more than two months, with scores of witnesses ready to testify. The 54-year-old former security chief was arrested in Dallas, Texas, in December 2019.
President López Obrador claimed in 2020 that Mexico was a narco-state during the administration of Calderón given the accusations faced by García Luna.
Technical crews pulling the damaged train cars from the Metro tunnels following the Jan. 7 crash. (Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com)
The driver of a train involved in a fatal accident on the Mexico City Metro in early January has been arrested on homicide charges, authorities said Friday.
Two trains traveling in the same direction on Line 3 of the subway system collided Jan. 7 between the Potrero and La Raza stations north of the historic center. A woman was killed in the crash and more than 100 other passengers were injured.
Ulises Lara, spokesperson for the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJ), said that the accident was caused by the negligent driving of Carlos Alfredo “N” and “intentional” damage to electrical cables at the Potrero station.
Authorities allege the arrested train driver ignored the low-speed protocol in place between the two Line 3 Metro stations. (Fiscalía CDMX Twitter)
A low-speed protocol was implemented between the Potrero and La Raza stations after signaling problems were detected the day before the accident, but the aforesaid train driver didn’t respect it, according to Lara.
The driver didn’t attempt to stop the train before it collided with the rear of another train on the same line, he added.
He was arrested on charges of homicide and causing injuries to passengers, the FGR spokesperson said.
Lara also said that the “intentional burning and cutting” of “communications, signaling and automatic pilotage” cables at the Poterero station was a factor in the crash.
He said that “fire and tools” were used to damage the cables and that “the crime of sabotage” may have been committed.
The Mexico City government has claimed that sabotage has caused a range of recent “atypical” incidents on the Metro system, including the Jan. 7 crash and the uncoupling of two cars on the same train on Jan. 15.
Lara said that the FGJ will continue investigating to identify those responsible for the unusual incidents.
The president addressed everything from energy sovereignty to the case of an imprisoned Peruvian shaman at the morning press conferences this week. (Gob MX)
President López Obrador inspected progress on the construction of the Maya Train railroad from the vantage point of an aircraft last Sunday, but come Monday morning he was back on the ground in Mexico City to begin another week of daybreak dialogue with reporters.
Monday
Early in his press conference, AMLO offered his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of an army colonel who was killed, and a captain who was wounded, in an ambush last Saturday in Michoacán that was allegedly perpetrated by members of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG.
Campeche governor Layda Sansores at the morning press conference on Monday (Gob MX)
Campeche Governor Layda Sansores was on hand to offer a perhaps overstated assessment of southeastern Mexico’s Maya Train railroad project and López Obrador’s role in bringing it to fruition.
“The Mayans would say; ‘It’s a colossal project that only the strength, will and passion of one man makes possible.” … The 21st century will always stand out as the century of the Maya Train,” she said.
“Thank you Andrés Manuel López Obrador, noble man, son of corn, son of the southeast. Thank you because you’re giving the most magnificent project to my hometown [of Campeche].”
“We have to keep investing, we’re going to get to self-sufficiency, that’s the aim for gasoline and diesel, but we have to keep investing,” he said.
López Obrador said that his government has increased production at all of Mexico’s state-owned refineries, but needs to lift output even more.
“Today I have a meeting with the directors of the six refineries [in Mexico and] … that at Deer Park [in Texas]. We have a program, we’re investing, … [we’re ] modernizing plants,” he said.
“There has been a lot of speculation and a very miserable attitude regarding this issue,” López Obrador said before noting that the 83-year-old had had surgery on his spine.
“He’s at home, he’s fine, he’s recovering and even working, and we wish him a quick recovery,” he said.
Tuesday
The trial in the United States of Genaro García Luna – which started Monday – was once again on the mind of López Obrador, a staunch adversary of the former security minister’s erstwhile boss – ex-president Felipe Calderón.
AMLO discussing the García Luna trial at Tuesday press conference (Gob MX)
“According to the accusations the United States government is making, he protected one of the cartels or organized crime groups at the same time he was in charge of public security,” he said.
However, no “irrefutable” evidence had so far been presented at the trial, AMLO said.
“We’re doing quite well, I would say we’re close to recovering the bodies, because work has been going on,” he said.
López Obrador also found time to reiterate his support for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is in prison in the United Kingdom and fighting extradition to the United States on espionage charges.
“Assange is not a spy, but rather a journalist and what he did was reveal information, the same information that The New York Times and other media outlets revealed,” said AMLO, who has raised Assange’s case with United States President Joe Biden.
“Why aren’t those media outlets being tried?” he asked.
Wednesday
Government spokeswoman Ana García Vilchis was back at the National Palace to present her recurring “Who’s who in the lies of the week” segment.
She pointed out that the newspaper El País recently published an article in English (a translation of a Spanish-language story) that said that López Obrador “is seeking to rewrite the constitution to allow for a re-election bid.”
“Of course, … it’s false, the president of Mexico never said such a thing, but [the article] was widely disseminated, lending credence to this discourse, which is a spiel of the opposition in Mexico and some media outlets of the international press,” García said.
The claim in the article, she added, wasn’t in the original story. “In the English version … they inserted a complete lie,” García said.
Cancún taxi drivers at an October protest against Uber. (Taxistas Cancún)
In response to a reporter’s question about taxi drivers’ attacks on Uber drivers in Quintana Roo, AMLO expressed confidence that Governor Mara Lezama would resolve the issue.
“They’re seeking a solution to the matter. … That’s what … [the governor] told us yesterday,” López Obrador said, adding that he didn’t believe the dispute would escalate.
The president later announced a large event in Mexico City’s central square on March 18 to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico’s oil industry.
“Everybody’s invited. We have to defend our sovereignty, we have to defend the [Mexican] oil industry, we have to defend the electricity industry,” he said.
“And we’re also going to invite singers, those that the people like. It will be a party because we rescued Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission.”
One person who appears unlikely to get a personal invitation from the president is well-known journalist Pedro Ferriz de Con, who made a curious claim about AMLO in a Twitter post late last year.
López Obrador read the tweet out at his Wednesday presser, noting that Ferriz de Con asserted that it’s an “open secret” that he practices “witchcraft, Santería, black magic and death rituals to reach and accumulate power.”
“I’ve been in rituals,” the president admitted. “They give me a cleansing me wherever I go and I’m proud of that because it’s part of our culture, our traditions, our customs. It’s deep Mexico,” he said.
Thursday
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez took the stage after a “zero impunity” report from her new deputy Luis Rodríguez Bucío and spoke about a case involving a Peruvian shaman who was detained at Mexico City Airport last September because he was carrying ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant-based brew that is legal in his native Peru.
“His name is Lauro Hinostroza García. … He’s an indigenous Quechua man … who has practiced traditional Peruvian medicine since the age of 10. … And he has a doctorate in medical anthropology from UNAM,” she said.
Rodríguez said her ministry is seeking Hinostroza’s release from preventative prison due to his age and health problems.
Peruvian citizen Lauro Hinostroza, who was detained at Mexico City International Airport in September 2022 (Lauro Hinostroza Facebook)
“The family tells us that his rights were violated from the time of his arrest because he didn’t have access to an interpreter of his mother tongue,” she added.
López Obrador later revealed his own concerns about Mexico’s justice system, saying he lacked confidence in most Supreme Court justices.
“The majority come from the old regime and don’t dare to carry out a thorough reform of the judicial power,” he said.
“… What prevails, what reigns is that only those who can’t buy innocence are punished,” AMLO charged.
Earlier in his presser, the president was confronted by the son of deceased Veracruz journalist Moisés Sánchez, who was murdered in early 2015.
Jorge Sánchez denounced the impunity in the case and called on López Obrador to meet with him and other people who have lost family members to violence.
“I know that you have a busy schedule but I believe it’s necessary for you to know … what we’ve been through,” he said.
That remark rankled AMLO, who offered a blunt reply to the slain journalist’s son.
“I always receive [people with grievances], I’m attending to [them] every day. … Every day I dedicate myself to ensuring justice is served, that’s my job,” he said.
“… But you come out with this about El Chapo’s mom, that’s what [businessman and government critic] Claudio X. González says, right? Or [journalists] Ciro Gómez Leyva or Joaquín López-Dóriga or [Carlos] Loret de Mola, all those who are financed by foreign governments, the so-called non-governmental organizations … that receive money from abroad because they’re against us.”
Friday
In response to the first question of the day, AMLO confirmed that the government would help Pemex pay off almost US $10 billion in debt this year.
“We’ve been supporting Pemex and we’re going to continue doing it because it’s about rescuing the most important public company in our country. … We won’t leave Pemex without support,” he said.
López Obrador later linked high inflation – just below 8% in the first half of January – to a lack of support for Mexico’s farming sector during previous “neoliberal” governments.”
The inflation rate for foodstuffs is high “because we still have to import food,” he said.
“… The countryside was abandoned during the entire neoliberal period and [that’s why] we’re not self-sufficient [for food], … we have to buy corn,” AMLO said.
“We’re now practically producing in Mexico all the beans we consume because we’re boosting production. We’re helping corn producers and bean producers – we also used to import a lot of beans. And we’re still importing a lot of rice … because the production of rice was completely abandoned and that’s the way it was for other foods.”
Despite the ongoing dependence on food imports, the president predicted that inflation would soon begin to ease.
“[A reduction] will be seen in the next INEGI data,” he said, referring to the inflation numbers published periodically by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
After his communications chief presented the results of a survey that showed he was still the second most popular leader among a group of 22, AMLO turned his focus to his imminent trip to Michoacán.
AMLO visits an IMSS-Bienestar hospital facility in Michoacán on Friday (Gob MX)
“In Michoacán today, we’re going to launch the health program to improve the entire public health system,” he said.
López Obrador – who pledged in early 2019 that Mexico would have a health care system comparable to those in Canada, the United Kingdom and Denmark in two years – also said that the government’s network of wellbeing banks would be reviewed at meetings he was scheduled to attend while visiting the state.
“The Banco del Bienestar … [will eventually have] around 3,000 branches, it will be the bank with the most branches in the country and it will disperse close to 600 billion pesos [in welfare payments per year],” said AMLO, who has made monetary support for Mexico’s most disadvantaged people a central feature of his administration.
The quinceaños, a girl's 15-year-old party, (Photos: Alejandro Linares)
This month, my sister, niece and I had the honor of being invited to the quinceañera party of my husband Alex’s godchild, Valeria. I already knew that it is a rather elaborate rite of passage for girls in Mexico, and I did a little research before going, but I still found the experience both moving and, shall we say, peculiar.
At its core, it is the coming-of-age for teen girls. Nothing weird about this as many cultures have something similar for teens, like bar/bat mitzvahs and high school proms. The closest event to it north-of-the-border is the Sweet 16 party, which I understand from my U.S.-based sister, is making something of a comeback there.
Arrival at the parish church in San Martín Texmelucan, Puebla. At times, quinceañeras can feel like lavish weddings. (Photo: Issacvp/Creative Commons)
Quinceañera literally means “of 15 years.” In this case, it refers to a girl who turns 15 years old.
The term for the celebration used to be la fiesta de quinceaños (the party for turning 15) and the girl was known as the quinceañera, but with exportation of the tradition to the U.S., where the term quinceañera got conflated into both the girl and her party, the double usage has migrated back to Mexico, and it’s not uncommon to hear the party referred to as a quinceañera here as well.
Although the ritual has claims of pre-Hispanic influence, the celebration likely dates back no further than the 19th century, probably based on European debutante balls.
The original purpose was the same as the debutante tradition: to present an upper-class girl ready for marriage to her society and find her the best match possible.
In the quinceañera’s earlier history, the traditional included a Catholic mass, where the girl announced her virginity and piety, as well as the the ball, where she demonstrated her physical and social fitness to become a wife and mother.
Changes in women’s roles since the 20th century have certainly had an effect, but the main elements remain the same. The mass is now held to give thanks that the girl has reached this milestone, no sexual declarations needed.
Recreation of a 19th-century quinceañera dress. (Photo: Petra’s Dresses)
These days, the girl still dresses in a very formal gown and is accompanied by several young men in matching formal attire called chambelanes. It still contains many of the elements of a wedding: a rented hall, a cake, a banquet, limousines, photographers, flowers.
The rituals during the night include the dancing of a waltz by the girl and her father and, depending on the family and/or region, with other male family members and/or with one of the chambelanes.
The father also gives a heartfelt speech and leads a toast to the new woman in society.
There is one other important dance, or more accurately show. The girl changes the gown for a modern, often revealing, outfit to perform a dance number with her chambelanes, something they practice for weeks in advance. The celebrant is the star of the show, and she returns to the gown afterwards.
The gifting of a doll (or some kind of toy) is an important rite as well. Depending on the family and region, the celebrant gives one away to a younger girl or receives a special one as a “last toy” before adulthood.
Valeria’s quinceañera ball had all of the main elements, but there were some unique twists: The main one was that the family opted for a package deal with the dance hall, which included just about everything except alcohol, the dress and the mass (which she opted out of).
It meant her chambelanes were not her young male relatives and friends, which is traditional, but professional dancers, and she starred in several “shows” in both her ball gown as well as other outfits.
Traditionally, the group of young men who serve as the quinceañera’s courtiers, or chambelenes, is made up of the girl’s relatives and friends. But a newer trend is for event halls to sell a package that includes the services of professional dancers to fill that role. (Photo: Alejandro Linares García)
But, you might ask, isn’t it all expensive? Absolutely, especially when you consider the girl’s future wedding. In 2019, the El Peso de Dinero website estimated that quinceañera events cost on average 137,000 pesos (about US $7,000), although that figure can be significantly higher.
Cost and modern values have put pressure on the tradition, since a good marriage no longer has the same economic importance to the young woman and her family. Traditionally, the cost of this event is borne by parents and godparents, but this is difficult for most families.
My husband and Valeria’s godfather Alejandro gladly contributed, saying, “I am like a second father to her, and part of her next step in life.”
Modern adaptations can include scaling the event down and the integration of modern trends.
Gown colors and styles now vary widely, and invitations are now videos shared through email and WhatsApp. Valeria’s “shows” had outfits and moves to imitate the sexuality of popular music videos, something I was (somewhat) prepared to see her do — although to me, she will always be a baby.
I had a much harder time with the dancer in a stormtrooper costume gyrating next to her like a stripper.
That said, my sister, niece, husband and I all teared up more than once during the night, as we and others had chances to show Valeria just how special she is.
One significant change to the quinceañera rite of passage in the 20th century was the extension of its popularity to the lower classes in Mexico, with just about all families now marking the occasion somehow. Many poorer families use a system of padrinos and madrinas to help them afford it — not literal godparents but volunteers who offer to pay for some aspect of the event.
Valeria with the writer, left, and her husband, right who is the quinceañera’s godfather. (Photo: Alejandro Linares García)
As my sister Joanne and I have known Valeria for years, we happily volunteered to be the madrinas of the alcohol, even though it was a new concept for us.
OK, full disclosure: it was Joanne’s idea.
Alex, as her true godfather, bought the formal gown, but since the rest was a package, the other contributions were done in cash rather than through purchases.
The migration of quinceañeras to all the social classes has actually made them passé with girls of Mexico’s upper classes, with many of them now opting for expensive concert tickets, trips and even practical items such as an education fund, which shows that such girls think of their future selves as something other than marriage material, and likely more as individuals than members of a family.
For economically lower-classes, family ties still remain the most important social safety net, and traditional quinceañeras remain an important way to reinforce such ties. Add to this that for many 15-year old girls, becoming “princesses” for a night, surrounded by admiring friends and family, is highly attractive.
Valeria and her family value the quinceañera precisely for these reasons, with Valeria telling me, “The traditional quinceañera is a beautiful and unique experience, and it is very important to share it with those I love since I get only one chance to do it.”
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
Not quite the same as sour cream, Mexican crema is rich and decadent and an easy, delicious addition to a host of dishes.
I’d probably been in Mazatlán less than a month and was reveling in the discovery of all my new hometown had to offer. At that time, there were a few small grocery stores scattered in the Centro Historico — bigger than the little tiendas but smaller than a big chain store.
I stopped in at one, looking for unsweetened yogurt, at that time almost impossible to find. Lo and behold, there in the refrigerated dairy section was a big container of what I thought was plain yogurt.
The next morning, I made myself a bowl of granola, fruit and the yogurt; hmmm, I thought, this is very rich! It must be made with cream-top milk. (Hah!) I think I ate it two more times before I thought to ask a neighbor, who laughed and said it was crema — like American sour cream.
Since then, I’ve eaten and figured out how to use rich, decadent crema in all sorts of dishes: as the finishing touch to chilaquiles, quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas and soups; as a cooling addition to spicy soups or nachos; slathered over papas locas; and asan essential ingredient in the classic pastel de atun dish and poblano cream sauce.
Is crema the same as sour cream or crème fraiche? Not quite. They’re made differently, the fat content and acidity are not the same, and the taste and texture are different too.
First, we have to understand the two types of sour cream (literally “soured cream”): “regular” sour cream — which uses vinegar to sour it and will have been pasteurized, thereby killing any beneficial probiotic bacteria — and cultured sour cream, which contains live cultures that sour and thicken the cream. (One more reason to read labels carefully!)
Often the cultured type will cost more, and sometimes commercial sour cream will have live cultures added after pasteurization. French crème fraiche is cultured cream, from a specific bacterial culture, and has a much higher fat content. More reasons to read those labels carefully!
Back to Mexican crema. As an example, the Alpura brand crema contains five kinds of stabilizers plus assorted other flavorings and additives and no live cultures. (Oops!) Did it taste good? Umm, yes.
Crema is traditionally made with heavy cream, a little salt and cultured sour cream or buttermilk to turn it, with a bit of lime juice added for flavor. I’ve included a recipe below, but I’ve never found buttermilk here, and the only heavy cream I can find is full of additives to make it whip, which probably affects its ability to culture properly. Probably just easier to buy it!
Homemade Crema
1 cup sour cream, cultured if available, or buttermilk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
Whisk sour cream/buttermilk and heavy cream in a bowl. Cover bowl; allow to sit overnight in a warm place (like the top of your refrigerator). Once thickened, stir in salt and lime juice and refrigerate.
Crema adds a mellow touch to spicy, crunchy foods.
Quesadilla Fritas with Pickled Jalapeños, Cilantro and Chipotle Crema
1 canned chipotle pepper, plus 1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
½ cup crema
Two (8-inch) flour tortillas
4 ox. (¼ lb.) grated Jack, Cheddar, or Oaxacan cheese
2-3 pickled jalapeños, minced
3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt
Optional: shredded chicken or cooked steak, cooked mushrooms or beans, or other fillings as desired
Process crema, chipotle and adobo sauce, jalapeños and 1 Tbsp. cilantro in blender or food processor. Add salt to taste.
Spread half of cheese over one half of each tortilla, leaving a small border around edge. Add any optional fillings. Fold tortilla firmly in half, enclosing cheese.
Heat oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Carefully add both folded tortillas and cook, shaking pan gently until first side is golden brown and puffed, 1–2 minutes. Carefully flip tortillas, sprinkle with salt, and cook on second side until golden brown and puffed. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plate. Cut each into four pieces, drizzle with chipotle crema, garnish with cilantro, and serve.
Green Goddess Dressing
¾ cup crema
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped basil or cilantro leaves
3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
2 scallions or 1 small onion
1 avocado
½ jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 garlic clove
Salt and pepper
Place crema, herbs, lemon juice, oil, scallions, avocado, jalapeño and garlic in food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Taste and season with salt, pepper and more lemon juice as needed.
Fresh, bright and tangy, this Green Goddess Dressing is delicious on salads, sandwiches and as a dip.
Steak, Avocado and Spicy Crema Sandwiches
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1½ lbs. hanger or skirt steak
Salt and pepper
8 slices rustic bread
2 ripe avocados
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp. minced fresh garlic
¼ cup crema
1 tablespoon (or more to taste) hot sauce
Cook steak as desired; cut into ½-inch thick slices. Set aside.
Coarsely mash avocados in large bowl. Add cilantro, lime juice, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. In separate bowl, mix crema and hot sauce.
Brush one side of each bread slice with oil. In a hot nonstick skillet, cast-iron pan or on a grill, cook each side over medium heat until golden and toasted. Set aside.
Coat 4 bread slices with avocado spread. Top with steak. Coat remaining bread with crema; press down onto sandwich. Serve immediately.
Burned Scallion Crema
1 bunch green scallions, trimmed and cut into large pieces
1 jalapeño pepper
1 cup crema
½ cup mayonnaise
¾ tsp. salt, or to taste
2-4 limes
Cook scallions and jalapeño in a large dry sauté pan over high heat, tossing occasionally, until both are blackened at the edges, 10–12 minutes.
Blitz scallions, jalapeño and juice of 2 limes in a food processor; add crema and mayonnaise, and process until smooth and flecked with blackened bits. Season to taste with salt. Add more lime juice to make the mixture thinner, if desired.
Use as a dip, on tacos or quesadillas, or with roast chicken, veggies or fish.
Mexico has recently become an attractive destination for U.S. citizens interested in alternative education styles such as unschooling and world schooling, which prioritize child-led learning over a set curriculum. (Illustration: Angy Márquez)
“Mommy, how did I learn to be so good at sharing?”
This is a question that my daughter asks me once in a while, usually after having spent some time being kind to toddlers, who I think we can all agree are basically really cute and tiny psychopaths.
My daughter’s question is adorable in its naked attempt to solicit praise, but it’s also a request for an origin story, or at least an origin anecdote.
“You learned at maternal, sweetie,” I say, remembering the nursery we began taking her to when she was eight months old.
I remember feeling such a strong sensation of guilt and release on that day. I wasn’t going to be taking care of her myself; I wouldn’t even be available in the next room. I was admitting that I needed some time to be Sarah rather than just Mommy for a while. I was choosing myself over her, at least for a little while.
And santo remedio, she took to “school” like a fish to water. Together with a diaper bag chock full of breast milk, changes of clothes and a couple of toys, she ventured off to learn how to share and play and be in a community, safe in the knowledge that we’d be there at the end of the day to continue caring for and loving her. A moody baby, she almost immediately got happier and cheerier. Some structured time with other babies turned out to be just what she needed.
I have prefaced this week’s column with a rather long anecdote in order to give you a bit of my own background and bias before delving into today’s topic, alternative schooling: essentially, education without that principal vehicle of the institution itself: the school.
As expat and immigrant social media groups have grown, a new way (or very old way?) of educating our children has bleeped onto my radar and I’m suddenly seeing posts like this: “We are world-schooling (sometimes “unschooling”) our children and are looking for a community in Mexico with x, y, and z. What places do you recommend?”
At first, I rolled my eyes. What the hell is “unschooling?” It sounded to me like a recipe for keeping kids’ psychopathic toddlerhoods in arrested development, allowing them to continue as the center of their respective universes well beyond the time when they should be learning that others might have competing needs and wants, perhaps even in conflict with their own.
It’s true that schools haven’t always existed and kids still managed to get civilized, but it’s also true that for most of human history, we haven’t lived in isolated nuclear family units with dwindling opportunities for community involvement.
“Well, unschooling doesn’t mean unparenting,” says Miro Siegel. It doesn’t simply mean that you cease to guide and parent your child.
Miro Seigel is a young man who grew up as a world schooler and — together with his mother, author Lainie Liberti — was kind enough to sit down with me to talk about their experience of this lesser-known world of education. Together, they run Project World School, which facilitates meetups and retreats for world-schooling teens.
First, a note on definitions: there’s plenty of overlap among the terms “homeschooling,” “world schooling” and “unschooling,” though they’re not all identical.
Most of us are familiar with homeschooling: children follow a set curriculum from home that their parents guide them through.
World schooling may or may not involve a curriculum and is based on, like it sounds, learning from the world around them. This usually involves travel and implies an expansion of cultural learning.
Unschooling, finally, is completely child-led, may or may not involve travel, and never involves a curriculum; learning is completely self-directed, allowing the children themselves to decide what they’re interested in pursuing.
“It’s less about structure and more about being creative,” says Sarah Tyler, location coordinator for the upcoming World Schoolers Summit. Adds Seigel: “Learning this way is experiential.”
During the pandemic, says Tyler, many parents became, in a way, accidental world schoolers. With schools closed and a plethora of online classes of dubious value, especially for very young children, many parents were left looking for ways to keep their children engaged.
Plenty as well were eyeing Mexico as a place they could do remote work with low(er) costs of living and make the fantasy of long-term travel a reality. “Mexico’s the door to the world for a lot of Americans,” Tyler says.
The tricky part, of course, is finding community in a new place when you’re not already part of a “built-in community” like school. There’s ample opportunity, after all, for making friends when you spend your days quite literally surrounded by hundreds of peers.
One of Tyler’s biggest pieces of advice if considering world schooling in Mexico is to learn Spanish.
“A lot of newcomers don’t realize how isolated they’re going to be,” she says. Siegel and Liberti agree: if they want the children to learn Spanish, then “parents need to model a desire to learn the language.”
Finding opportunities to practice it and to meet others, however, means going the DIY-route to finding community, something that many Mexicans might find strange, given that institutions for socializing children already exist.
Many turn to Facebook to connect with like-minded families, and Siegel and Liberti’s events are meant precisely to foster and bring together the community of world schoolers. Many others may put their children in small, alternative private schools temporarily so that they can make friends and learn the language.
Is there anyone who shouldn’t adopt this lifestyle? Everyone I interviewed emphasized the necessity of being open to learning:
“If you’re there to fix somebody or change things [about your host country], then world schooling is not for you,” says Liberti.
Also worth noting: there’s, of course, a middle ground between highly structured schooling and no schooling as well. Plenty of “alternative” schools have been popping up and/or continue to thrive as they have for quite some time, like Montessori schools, forest schools, and Waldorf schools. If I still lived in Querétaro, I would send my daughter to JFK, a school that strikes just the right balance for my personal taste between structure and the freedom to explore interests.
The problem with these places for many world schoolers is simply that they’re not mobile; to attend, you’ve got to stay put in one place. The main issue for world schoolers, then, becomes one of community, something that can be tricky to maintain through online interactions and organized get-togethers.
Liberti describes the mission of world schooling as one that “leaves behind systems to tackle larger questions.”
“Compassion for humanity grows as world schoolers; it gives us that connection to the ‘other’ and gives us a greater path to peace.”
This, I believe, is true. Making true, meaningful contact with the “other” in the absence of a preset community is the tricky part. For my own family, the ready-made kind saved us; the community of teachers, classmates, and fellow parents have helped raise my daughter in a way much better than I might have done by myself.
But my conversations with those in this world have reminded me to keep a light grip and to leave ample space for her to pursue and learn about her interests. Humans are nothing if not resourceful and creative: perhaps the types of communities that await us are beyond any of our imaginations.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com
Progreso's municipal ecological police kept the beached dolphin alive while waiting for experts to arrive from the local university. (Photos: Martin Zetina/Cuartoscuro)
The headline in one Mexican newspaper screamed “¡Heróes!” following their rescue of a beached dolphin in Progreso, Yucatán, this week.
The relatively new Progreso Ecological Police rescue unit responded quickly after receiving an emergency call Thursday afternoon, saying that a dolphin was in the sand along the International Malecón, or beachside promenade.
Reportedly measuring 2.7 meters (9 feet) and weighing 100 kilograms (220 pounds), the dolphin was initially kept alive by the responding Ecological Police officers, then subsequently carried back into the sea by specialized personnel from the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY).
The stranded dolphin attracted a crowd of onlookers at Progreso, Yucatan’s Malecon promenade.
All the while, dozens of people surrounded the mammal and the rescue crew to observe the scene.
According to the newspaper Milenio, it’s believed the dolphin ended up on the northern Yucatán beach, on the shores of the Gulf of México, due to the effects of Cold Front 27, which had prompted Yucatán’s Civil Protection to keep all fishing boats and small crafts from heading out to sea from most ports in the area, including Progreso, Celestún and Río Lagartos, the Yucatán Times reported.
The front is expected to generate heavy rains and swells of 1 to 3 meters along the Yucatán coast on Thursday and Friday, the Times reported, according to Mexico’s National Meteorological Service.
The Progreso Ecological Police, formed in 2019, is the first entity of its kind in the state. Under the command of the municipal police department, it was founded with a staff of 28 people — 14 per shift — and two boats, four ATVs, six motorcycles, four bicycles, and video and radio communication equipment.
Much of its mission is geared toward maintaining a clean beachfront and raising awareness about environmental issues. It has the authority to issue warnings or citations, or even make arrests, if someone litters, burns garbage or discharges debris or harmful liquids into waterways or onto the street.
Looks like its personnel are good at saving dolphins too.
The Mexican government had already temporarily suspended cage diving from May to December 2022, but a new edict has permanently shut down all access to the waters around the island. (Photos: Government of Mexico)
Since Jan. 10, white shark observation near the island of Isla Guadalupe in Baja California for has been banned indefinitely both for tourists and commercial film productions.
According to Mexico’s new rules in the Isla Guadalupe Biosphere Reserve Management Program, the closure is intended “to avoid altering [the white shark] habitat, behavior and feeding sites and thereby preserve and conserve the species.”
However, local tour operators are concerned that the new management plan, while well-intended, does not have any provision to protect the sharks and prevent illegal fishing.
The island was made a biosphere reserve in 2005. It, along with its surrounding waters, is home to 158 species of fish and 133 species of marine birds and land animals.
In a recent article, Dive Magazine said that “the liveaboards that visit the region have also, collectively, provided an effective barrier to poachers and illegal fishing activities, as they are present on an almost permanent basis during the six months that the great whites visit Isla Guadalupe each year.”
Liveaboards are tourism boats built generally for recreational scuba divers who want to spend several days diving in deep ocean waters.
The Isla Guadalupe Biosphere Reserve is the only place in Mexico with the presence of white sharks — an endangered species according to the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp).
Venezuelan migrants at a makeshift camp in Chihuahua, near the U.S. border. (Fotógrafo Especial / Cuartoscuro.com)
The United States is set to start using fast-track asylum screenings at its border with Mexico, the news agency Reuters reported Thursday.
Citing five unnamed sources including United States officials, Reuters said that the move is part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s efforts to combat the record high level of illegal crossings into the U.S. from Mexico.
Amid calls for the United States government to do more to stop illegal immigration via Mexico, Biden visited the border earlier this month.
The Reuters sources said that the rapid screenings would determine whether migrants arriving at the U.S. border have a legitimate asylum claim, such as fear of torture or persecution in their country of origin.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters that a group of Biden administration officials traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border this week to prepare for the implementation of fast-track asylum screenings.
However, the news agency said it was unclear when they would begin. The sources said that migrants detained by U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel would have remote interviews with an asylum officer within days of their apprehension.
A Cuban asylum seeker shows his passport to a photographer in Tapachula, Chiapas this week. (Cuartoscuro)
If an asylum seeker was unable to prove a fear of persecution they would be deported, Reuters said.
Fast-track asylum screenings could help the U.S. government deter illegal border crossings by demonstrating that asylum seekers will be deported promptly if they don’t establish a credible fear of persecution.
But migrants’ advocates expressed concerns about the planned policy, which is similar to pilot programs implemented during the government led by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
“President Biden rebuked rushed asylum processing two years ago in Executive Order 14010, only to now be poised to bring back this cruel and draconian policy,” said Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC).
“The president promised hope and fairness to asylum seekers, not a Groundhog Day where we continually relive the prior administration. It is past time for this administration to show the courage and leadership to treat people fleeing persecution with dignity. Rapid deportation and CBP detention are not solutions, we need to uphold our obligations to protect asylum.”
Heidi Altman, policy director at the NICJ, described the prospective policy as a “mockery of justice.”
“Imagine fleeing your home and loved ones, arriving at a new country to seek safety, and then being forced to present a complicated legal claim less than two days later, from jail,” she said.
Douglas Rivlin, director of communications for the pro-immigrant organization America’s Voice, said on Twitter that “accuracy will suffer if we govern the asylum process with a stop watch.”
“People fleeing danger need a process to have their claims heard and evaluated accurately because it’s a matter of life and death. Biden should emphasize getting it right, not getting it fast,” he wrote.
