The mayor of Moroleón, Guanajuato, is in the spotlight after it was revealed she owns a 7-million-peso (approximately US $350,000) Lamborghini.
A photo of Alma Denisse Sánchez Barragán’s Lamborghini Huracán sports car parked next to the Moroleón municipal headquarters appeared on social media this week.
The revelation that the Citizens Movement (MC) party mayor owns such an expensive vehicle raised questions about the source of her apparent wealth.
Sánchez explained Tuesday that she bought the vehicle with income generated by her family’s clothing businesses.
“It’s not something … that I hide. In my family, we’re textile manufacturers, … we’ve always made clothes and [we have] other kinds of businesses,” she told the AM newspaper.
Sánchez, who replaced her mother as the MC candidate at the 2021 mayoral election after Alma Rosa Barragán Santiago was murdered at a campaign event last May, asserted that her Lamborghini – which she described as a family vehicle – and other cars her family owns are not the product of her position, which she assumed last October.
“I have nothing to hide, we’ve had high-end cars not for a year or two but for … [many] years,” she said.
Sánchez’s brother also found himself the focus of unwanted attention when Guanajuato media outlets reported on federal intelligence reports that apparently identified him as the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Moroleón and several other municipalities on or near the border with Michoacán.
However, authorities haven’t publicly identified Fernando Tonatiuh Sánchez Barragán as a criminal target and he has appeared at some of his sister’s public events.
The fatal crash occurred on the Tuxcueca-Cítala highway, south of Lake Chapala. Jalisco Civil Protection
Fourteen people were killed and 20 others were injured in a bus accident in Jalisco Wednesday night, state authorities reported.
The Jalisco Civil Protection unit said just before 11:30 p.m. that it was responding to an accident on the Tuxcueca-Cítala highway, which is on the southern side of Lake Chapala. It initially reported 13 deaths but revised the figure to 14 a short time later.
The bus was transporting workers from a berry company, the Civil Protection unit said on Twitter. Among those killed was the driver, who passed away after arriving at hospital.
The bus was on its way to Jocotepec when its brakes apparently failed. “The driver tried to stop the vehicle and hit a wall on the side of the highway head on,” officials said.
Emergency services from several municipalities including Guadalajara, Poncitlán, Jocotepec and Chapala responded to the accident, the newspaper Reforma reported. The highway was closed in both directions after the crash.
Modern mural inspired by the Mesoamerican rain god by Tulum artist Felipe Cespedes. Felipe Cespedes
“Tlaloc is showing off again,” you will hear in my house when a good thunderstorm hits Mexico City.
Yes, it’s the 21st century, but it turns out we are not the only ones who “invoke” the god Tlaloc as we go into the annual start of the rainy season. With almost half the country now officially in drought, even the newspaper El Financiero appealed to Tlaloc in an April 4 headline.
Mexico’s seasonal consciousness is not divided into winter and summer but rather dry and rainy seasons, with the latter as much anticipated as spring is up north. From prehistory to the present, the country’s agriculture has always been largely dependent on rain, as there is relatively little surface water for irrigation. This makes the various rain gods extremely important.
These gods go by many names: Chaac for the Mayans, (Pitao) Cocijo for the Zapotecs, Dzahui for the Mixteca, and more. He is one of the oldest gods of the Mesoamerican pantheons, dating back at least to the pre-Classic period.
Three pre-Hispanic depictions of the the Mesoamerican rain god. From left to right: Tlaloc, Cocijo and Chaac.
This period coincides with the domestication of corn and the dominance of the Olmecs. Olmec and later depictions are fairly similar, with common elements such as jaguar fangs and associations with mountains and caves instead of the sky.
There is debate as to whether this is due to the Olmec version being adapted by later cultures or a more complicated interchange of ideas. Either way, Tlaloc can be found all over Mesoamerica among diverse cultures such as those in Tula, Teotihuacan, Monte Alban and El Tajín. But the best-known name is Tlaloc of the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs.
For simplicity’s sake, we’ll focus on the Tlaloc of the Mexica civilization. The god of rain, lightning and thunder, his name comes from the words for Earth (tlalli) and nectar (octli).
Tlaloc is identified with goggle-like rings around his eyes and large feline fangs. The “goggles” were originally snakes coiled around the eyes, an image that got stylized into circles.
Most often he is depicted as a singular male, but there are depictions of him with multiple faces and multiple bodies, generally to represent his different roles and attributes and his relationships with other gods and goddesses. Tlaloc could be temperamental: giving good rains one year, a drought the next and flooding after that, making currying this god’s favor essential.
There were many, many temples and shrines dedicated to this god, but perhaps the best example of his importance to the Mexica was the fact that the Templo Mayor (Main Temple) of the capital Tenochtilán had dual sanctuaries — one to Huitzilopochtli, the deity associated with war, and the other to Tlaloc. This is because the basis of this empire’s wealth and power relied equally on warfare and agriculture.
Mountaintops and caves were other places of veneration. For the Valley of Mexico, the most important of these is still called Mount Tlaloc, on the eastern edge of the valley.
This eastern orientation is important. The god’s home, Tlalocan, was said to be a paradise somewhere to the east. It’s an interesting idea because the vast majority of Mexico’s moisture indeed comes from the east, from the Gulf of Mexico.
Diego Rivera’s fountain of Tlaloc at a water pumping station in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. ProtoplasmaKid/Creative Commons
Of course, major events in honor of Tlaloc occurred as the rainy season approached, but rituals were done and offerings were made year-round. He received objects of gold, quetzal feathers and, even more importantly, jade — extremely precious and rare in Mesoamerica.
Sacrifices were common too, including of jaguars, to which he was related, and, yes, of humans as well. The association with jaguar and human sacrifice echoes in some indigenous communities to this day, with the so-called “tiger” dances to ask for good rains.
Of course, the Spanish worked to eliminate belief in Tlaloc, but they only partially succeeded. Subtle references to him can be found in some early colonial churches, and isolated communities kept a number of rituals, with or without a Catholic veneer.
But perhaps the best testimony to Tlaloc’s survival in the Mexican psyche comes with a “comeback” that dates at least to the 20th century. After centuries of trying to eliminate the indigenous aspect of Mexico, post-Revolution radicals looked to incorporate it into a new identity for the country.
Art, especially muralism, played a key role. Tlaloc as allegory appears in art by Saturnino Herrán, Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Carlos Merica, Frida Kahlo, Juan O’Gorman, José Chavez Morado, Francisco Eppens and others.
But the most celebrated example is a work by Diego Rivera that is all but unknown to foreigners. Tucked into a remote corner of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City is a 30-meter pool and fountain whose bottom is covered with a relief image of the god, covered in symbols related to the history and mythology of Mexico.
The artwork is so large that it cannot be viewed in its entirety except by air, a nod to the budding aviation industry of the 1950s. Reinterpretations of the image continue to this day in various kinds of artworks, including those commissioned by public water utilities.
I should mention here the famous Tlaloc image in front of the National Museum of Anthropology. The 168-ton stone statue was originally in Coatlinchan, but federal authorities decided to move it in 1964. It is said that as soon as the statue entered the city proper, a large thunderstorm struck, indicating the god’s displeasure. To this day, people in Coatlinchan are bitter at the loss of the artifact.
This 168-ton stone statue of Tlaloc stands near the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Burkhard Mücke/Creative Commons
Images of Tlaloc today can be found in many places, including tattoos, logos for water companies and fire stations and even foreign video games. Ceremonies to the god have endured, and in some cases resurfaced as cultural and/or spiritual exercises.
For the Nahuas of the Sierra de Texcoco, the god’s image has been melded with that of the Mexica ruler Nezahualcoyotl, who created water distribution systems in this area on the northeast edge of the Valley of Mexico.
In April 2022, several municipalities in Nuevo León sponsored such a ritual, reporting that it did indeed rain hours afterward.
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.
Internation aviation safety standards remain unmet in Mexico.
Almost a year has passed since the United States government downgraded Mexico’s aviation safety rating, and there are signs that it won’t recover the top-tier rating after a new assessment in June.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced May 25, 2021, that it had downgraded Mexico from Category 1 to Category 2 after finding that it didn’t meet standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.
“The FAA identified several areas of noncompliance with minimum ICAO safety standards,” the aviation authority said in a statement at the time.
The downgrade prevented Mexican airlines from adding new flights to the United States.
Aviation experts cited by the newspaper Reforma said that efforts by aviation authorities to recover Mexico’s Category 1 rating are not going well.
Gabriel Rojas noted the recent problems with Navigation Services for Mexican Airspace (Seneam), whose director was dismissed after pilots of a Volaris plane narrowly averted a disaster earlier this month after they were cleared to land on a runway occupied by another aircraft at Mexico City International Airport (AICM). A similar incident occurred last Wednesday.
In addition to the problems with Seneam, Rojas claimed that the AFAC has covered up problems with regard to aviation safety in Mexico. He also said that the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (AFAC) hasn’t shown it has the capacity to address the deficiencies outlined by the FAA, which included concerns about the lack of training of personnel and delays in updating aviation laws and regulations.
In addition, Rojas said that putting an end to corruption in public agencies with links to the aviation sector is urgent, as is dismissing any officials who don’t contribute to it being strengthened.
Rogelio Rodríguez, a former executive with AFAC’s predecessor, told Reforma that the aviation authority hasn’t taken any decisive action that will help Mexico regain its Category 1 rating.
No additional resources have been allocated to address the FAA’s concerns, he said, adding that there has been a “chain of systematic failures in the [aviation] sector due to the lack of training of key personnel, such as [air traffic] controllers.”
Rosario Avilés, another aviation expert, noted that Mexico previously recovered its Category 1 rating in just six months by investing US $500 million in the aviation sector. In response to the 2010 downgrade, the federal government hired a team of experts to deal with the problems outlined by the FAA at the time and implemented new aviation sector regulations and updated existing ones.
The response to the most recent downgrade has been hampered by the current government’s frugality, Avilés said.
“Due to the argument of austerity, not enough resources have been directed [to the aviation sector],” she said.
The pink waters of the lagoon on the coast of Oaxaca.
A lagoon on the Oaxaca coast has turned bright pink, a phenomenon locals believe is related to a lack of oxygen in the water.
The water in the La Salina lagoon in the community of Escobilla, Santa María Tonameca, turned pink about a week ago, according to locals cited by the newspaper El Universal.
The low oxygen levels are believed to be caused by the closure of an outlet to the sea as well as a lack of rain.
Salt was previously extracted from the lagoon, located between the resort destinations of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco, for commercial purposes – hence its name – and it still has that mineral on its bed. The presence of salt in the water is also believed to be a factor in the lagoon’s sudden color change, for which authorities haven’t given an official explanation.
The newspaper El Imparcial reported that the pink color is due to the presence of bacteria that releases a pink pigment. The bacteria only occurs in water with a high concentration of salt, it said.
Citing an unnamed local, journalist Esau Zavaleta said on Facebook said that the color change is “a phenomenon of which there is no record.”
“… It seems to be due to many situations that we can’t determine with accuracy,” he wrote. “But without a doubt it is part of climate change and humans are the main culprits.”
The poor condition of the water in the lagoon has led to a reduction in the number of species that inhabit it. Locals say that fish and crocodile numbers have been on the wane for three years.
Sea turtles could also be affected by the deteriorating health of the lagoon as they nest in the area, which is a designated turtle sanctuary.
The change in the color of the water comes almost three years after the Manialtepec lagoon near Puerto Escondido also turned pink. The color change in that case was believed to be related to a change in the microorganism population in the water.
The younger generation has been less interested in learning weaving, but the hope is that its growing status will change that. Jack Lawes
Don Habacuc Avendaño was just 15 years old when he first walked eight days across Oaxaca to collect the dye of a renowned purple snail.
From the remote highlands of Pinotepa de Don Luis, Oaxaca, Avendaño descended toward Huatulco National Park, where he learned the dangerous art of collecting ink from the purpura pansa snails — an integral part of his community’s weaving traditions.
“There are a few snails, but not like before,” Avendaño lamented as he recalled the seven decades he’s been a snail dyer.
Threatened by illegal poaching and environmental concerns, his livelihood is now under threat.
Use of purpura pansa snails and cochinilla insects in Oaxaca for producing vibrant textile colors goes back centuries. Juan Avendaño López
Avendaño is now just one of 15 men alive, all older in age who know how to carefully extract the dye from the endangered purpura snail before returning the creature to the rocks where it continues its life cycle.
“Humans are destroying the nature around us … our work is a big example of how we can live in harmony with nature without hurting it,” his son Rafael Avendaño said.
Ocean pollution, global warming, poachers and encroaching tourism have all taken their toll on the snails.
Habacuc and Rafael’s town, Pinotepa de Don Luis, is a sleepy pueblo in northern Oaxaca whose 6,000 residents are mainly of Mixtec descent. For more than 3,000 years, the community has respected and worked alongside the snail and passed down these ancient traditions to their children.
Collecting purpura pansa snails to extract their ‘milk’ for dye is dangerous work: strong ocean waves pose a threat. Juan Avendaño López
The striking purple color also gives the Tixinda weaving collective — the women of Pinotepa de Don Luis — its recognition.
Few of the elderly weavers — identified by their striped wrap-around skirts called posahuancos and apron tops — speak Spanish and prefer to speak Mixtec. They’re one of the last remaining Mexican groups that grow and hand-spin their own cotton as well as use the sacred dye. They also color their thread with other natural sources such as the cochinilla — an insect that lives on the nopal cactus.
It takes 400 hours of work to create a huipil, intricately decorated with symbols that their ancestors revered. These symbols and patterns are also unique to each pueblo, meaning the Tixinda products are absolutely one of a kind.
From cleaning and spinning the cotton by hand, to organizing the colors, it is a laborious task to even prepare for weaving to begin.
Mexico’s Dyeing Tradition | Saving a 3000-year-old Mixtec culture through Reverse Migration
Tixinda weaving collective members say they’re more hopeful as their work gains international recognition.
What’s more, similar to the work of the dyers of Pinotepa de Don Luis, the ancient weaving techniques face challenges of survival within the coming generations. While many girls are encouraged to learn the traditions of their ancestors, most are less interested in pursuing this line of work.
In recent years, numbers of the endangered snails have rapidly declined — posing a challenge to the future of their Mixtec traditions and weaving. Many of the collective fear that within a decade, the snail may no longer exist at all.
“It’s illegal to harvest it, but it’s still happening and there’s no enforcement of the law,” immigration rights lawyer Patrice Perillie explained. “Their cultural identity is totally tied to this sacred color. They revere the snail; they protect it.”
Perillie has worked with the Tixinda collective for over 15 years. Inspired by the collective’s incredibly intricate artwork, Perillie is helping to raise awareness as well as helping the group sell their unique items.
The women of the town use the dyed threads to weave huipiles and other traditional garments. Jack Lawes
“Fifteen years ago, there was no tourism in Oaxaca due to a teachers’ strike. People found out I was an immigration lawyer and asked me if I could help them go to the United States — where they would be cleaning homes and offices.”
However, Perillie had a different idea, adding: “I saw what they did … and I said, ‘No, I’m going to help you stay right here.’”
As a result, her organization, Mexican Dreamweavers, was born.
Perillie’s nonprofit group — which has been coined a reverse migration project — has opened up the Tixinda collective’s market for selling these beautiful garments. The group now has a thriving social media page, monthly huipil sales in nearby Puerto Escondido and made-to-measure orders coming in from overseas buyers.
What’s more, leaders of the group, like Habacuc, who is now head of the Cooperativo de Tintoreros de Pinotepa Don Luis dyers cooperative, have traveled to the United States to talk about their important work. Perillie’s efforts have allowed the Tixinda cooperative to gain international recognition.
However, environmental and social challenges remain, and the future survival of this 3,000-year-old Mixtec art cannot be achieved through one single route.
“It’s a question of education [and] conservation, and we want to pay the dyers to protect the snails. Then they’d make a living doing this,” Perillie said.
Despite the hurdles, the aging weavers and dyers are also optimistic about preserving their art.
“I remain hopeful that the snails can continue to reproduce. These snails don’t have to be killed or eaten,” Rafael Avendaño said. “It’s very important for the ecology of marine life … and it’s a part of our lives; it’s part of the knowledge of the Mixtecs.”
Tamara Davison is a journalist and documentary filmmaker whose work is focused on Mexico and Central America. Tamara’s work forms part of Outlawes Films, which recently produced a documentary called Dreamweavers about the work of the Tixinda cooperative.
Dead fish on the shore of the Laguna de Chautengo.
Large numbers of fish have died in a Guerrero lagoon in recent days, leading local fishermen to appeal to authorities for financial support.
The Laguna de Chautengo, located on the Pacific coast in the Costa Chica region of the southern state, is currently awash with five to six tonnes of dead fish.
Fisherman have blamed the mass die-off on the presence of lime and other substances that are used to clean shrimp ponds in the lagoon.
Fisherman have called on federal and state authorities to provide aid given that their income has dried up.
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The ecology director of the government in Florencio Villareal, the municipality where the lagoon is located, told reporters that the die-off affects several communities including Chautengo, Pico del Monte, Llano de la Barra and Tamarindos. Fish have died in the lagoon in previous years but not on the scale that has occurred recently.
“It’s very probable that we’ll need some state subsidies, even … temporary employment [opportunities] because the economy of the locals has been affected,” Adame said.
He said the municipal government has provided food aid but more help is needed. The ecology official also said that a scientific study is needed to determine what caused the fish to die. Once that is established, steps can be taken to resolve the problem, Adame said.
The Laguna de Chautengo is not the only body of water in Guerrero where large numbers of fish have recently died. Fishermen in the Tierra Caliente municipality of Ajuchitlán del Progreso have denounced the death of thousands of mojarra in the Las Garzas dam.
Fishermen say the National Water Commission is responsible for the ecocide because they have not properly managed the dam’s water and it has consequently dropped to a critical level.
Ana Cecilia Jara Ettinger rejects President López Obrador's claim that there aren't enough doctors.
A week after leading medical associations rejected the federal government’s plan to hire some 500 Cuban doctors, Mexican doctors continue to insist that there is a surplus rather than a shortage of doctors.
President López Obrador announced May 9 that more than 500 Cuban doctors would come to work in Mexico “because we do not have the doctors we need.”
The heads of 30 medical colleges, associations and federations subsequently issued a statement to express their “profound disapproval” of the government’s plan, saying that it was justified by a supposed rather than real shortage of doctors.
Unemployed doctors have now launched a social media campaign to highlight that they are ready and willing to work but unable to find a job. More than 1,300 doctors have already joined the #AquiEstamos (Here We Are) campaign, according to organizers.
Its most prominent leader is Ana Cecilia Jara Ettinger, a young doctor who has been trying to find a position in the public health system for two years.
“The president of Mexico just said that we don’t have specialist doctors in Mexico and because of that we need to hire Cuban doctors,” she said in a video posted to social media.
The genetics specialist bluntly rejected the claim. “There are no jobs. There is not a single position in which I can work,” Jara said.
“This is just in genetics, the specialty of the future in the United States and Europe but in Mexico there are no jobs,” she said.
Jara, who studied medicine at the National Autonomous University and undertook research in Israel and Italy, said her fellow graduates in specialities such as gynecology and pediatrics are also unable to find work.
“The president says the jobs are in rural areas. I have a lot of friends who want to return to their cities, to their home towns to practice. Where are the jobs?” she said.
“If you say there are no doctors in Mexico I can tell you there are a lot of doctors and a lot of specialists, we’re on waiting lists for years and years to get a job,” Jara said.
She called on other unemployed doctors to join the #AquiEstamos movement.
“You can fill out the form on our webpage so the president knows where we are, how many we are, what [area of medicine] we dedicate ourselves to and where jobs are urgently needed,” Jara said. “There is talent in Mexico, of course there is. We have a lot of doctors and we are looking for work.”
Jara, who has indicated that she is prepared to leave Mexico City if she can find a job, said in a subsequent video that more than 1,300 doctors had registered – “doctors who have been waiting for a position and are willing to go and work.”
She also said the #AquiEstamos campaign has generated a lot of hate against doctors and her in particular. In a Twitter post, the doctor – daughter of former Michoacán governor Salvador Jara – rejected claims that she has links to a political party.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer echoed remarks made by López Obrador, saying that there are jobs available for doctors in rural parts of the country.
However, Mexican doctors are unwilling to work in remote areas and for that reason the government decided to hire Cubans, he said.
Alcocer said doctors cite insecurity as the main reason why they don’t want to work in rural areas of the country but claimed that they’re not interested in living in remote areas. “They’re forgetting … the right patients have to be attended to wherever they are,” he said.
Jara told the newspaper Reforma that out-of-work doctors are in fact looking for work outside major centers, but it appears that few have had any luck.
“I’ve looked in Sonora [and] in Michoacán because I’m from there,” she said. “We’ve gone to … the states, we’re not all looking to work in Mexico City, which is very saturated,” said the doctor, who claims that someone has to die or retire for a position to open up.
“… Having years of training is not a guarantee [to find a job], … there is no place for us, but there is for Cubans,” Jara said.
President Biden will host the summit in Los Angeles in June but President López Obrador might be a no-show.
It is supposed to show that the United States is back in its own neighbourhood. Yet three weeks before its opening, the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles threatens to expose Washington’s weakness in the region.
President López Obrador of Mexico, the United States’ most important ally in Latin America, has dropped a bombshell by vowing not to attend the triennial heads of government meeting unless the U.S. invites Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua — something the Biden administration had previously ruled out.
Caribbean nations backed López Obrador’s position, as did Bolivia. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro has still not decided whether to go and Argentina is wavering. Iván Duque, president of Latin America’s fourth-biggest economy, Colombia, could end up being the most important invitee.
“We’re in crisis mode now and it’s really embarrassing,” said Ryan Berg of the Americas Program at the Washington-based think tank CSIS.
“I cannot believe that we are three weeks out [from the summit] and we are where we are,” said Rebecca Bill Chavez, director of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington.
The U.S. has announced a partial relaxation of Trump-era restrictions on Cuba and dispatched a team to Mexico to bend López Obrador’s ear. But the struggle to persuade a key ally to attend what should be an indispensable meeting has already underlined America’s weakness.
China, by contrast, has been rapidly growing trade, investment and influence as it pursues Latin America’s abundant supplies of key commodities such as soy, copper and lithium.
Berg contrasted the troubled preparations for Los Angeles with a smoothly run Chinese virtual summit with Latin American and Caribbean foreign ministers in December, which agreed to a three-year action plan.
Beijing has been making diplomatic hay from the disagreement over who should attend. shutterstock
The row over summit attendance disguises a bigger problem: the lack of an ambitious agenda. Latin American officials complain that the Biden administration has not yet advanced anything comparable to the bold proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas floated by Bill Clinton in 1994, the last time the U.S. hosted the summit.
Beijing has been making diplomatic hay from the U.S.’s woes. The Chinese foreign ministry quickly supported Mexico’s argument that Los Angeles should not “be reduced to a ‘Summit of the United States of America’” adding: “Instead of benefiting Latin America . . . the U.S. has brought Latin America wanton exploitation, wilful sanctions, inflation, political interference, regime change, assassination of politicians and even armed aggression.”
China has already bought goodwill through US $130 billion of state bank loans to Latin America and the Caribbean over the past 15 years and $72 billion of corporate acquisitions over the past decade. Following a successful bout of vaccine diplomacy during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now promoting its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, which at least 20 Latin America and Caribbean nations have joined.
Washington has belatedly started to circulate proposals for the summit, which may include harnessing the financial firepower of institutions such as the Development Finance Corporation and the Inter-American Development Bank to help the region exploit nearshoring opportunities, said Cynthia Arnson, outgoing Latin America director at the Wilson Center in Washington. “If there is one way to rescue the summit it is to provide that kind of bold initiative.”
Whether even a successful meeting in Los Angeles can stem China’s inexorable advance in Latin America is questionable.
Among its trump cards, Beijing — unlike the Biden administration — prefers to talk business rather than criticize governments over democracy, human rights and corruption.
“The United States is rather like the Vatican,” said one top Latin American diplomat. “It’s very difficult to be accepted, you have to follow lots of rules, go to confession and you may still end up being damned, rather than going to paradise.
“The Chinese on the other hand are like the two well-dressed young men who knock on your door and ask you how you are feeling. They say they also believe in God and want to help. It’s the Mormon strategy.”
Médica Sur was at the top of a list of Mexico's 54 best hospitals.
The United States magazine Newsweek has rated a private hospital in a southern borough of Mexico City as Mexico’s best hospital for a second consecutive year.
In alliance with the German market and consumer data company Statista, the magazine ranked hospitals in 27 countries for its World’s Best Hospitals 2022 index.
Médica Sur, located in the borough of Tlalpan, ranked No. 1 in Mexico with a score of 94.37. Seven of the other nine hospitals in Mexico’s top 10 are also located in the Mexico City metropolitan area.
The scores are based on three data sources: online surveys completed by medical professionals, patient experience surveys and key performance indicators for hospitals.
Behind Médica Sur in second place was the ABC Medical Center in Santa Fe, a business district in the capital’s southwest. The private hospital achieved a score of 93.36 and was the only other Mexican hospital with a score above 90.
In third place and ranking first among Mexico’s public hospitals was the Siglo XXI National Medical Center in the central borough of Cuauhtémoc. The hospital complex, which includes several specialist hospitals, is operated by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), a large public health care provider. It achieved a score of 82.45.
Rounding out the top 10 were the Observatorio ABC Medical Center in the Álvaro Obregón borough of Mexico City; the IMSS La Raza National Medical Center in the Azcapotzalco borough; the Ángeles Hospital in Lomas, México state; the Guadalajara Civil Hospital; the Christus Muguerza High Specialty Hospital in Monterrey; the Dr. Manuel Gea González General Hospital in Tlalpan; and the Español Hospital in the Mexico City borough of Miguel Hidalgo.
Those hospitals were allocated scores between 76.99 and 81.54.
Newsweek compiled a list of Mexico’s 54 best hospitals, 16 of which are in Mexico City. Other cities with hospitals on the list include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Ciudad Juárez, Puebla, Mérida, Hermosillo, Cancún, Aguascalientes, Tijuana and Querétaro.
The Hospitales Ángeles network, which has 25 hospitals in Mexico, has seven hospitals among the best 54, while IMSS has 12.
Médica Sur and the ABC Medical Center in Santa Fe were the only two Mexican hospitals rated among the 250 best in the world by Newsweek. They were among 100 hospitals in the unordered 151-250 cohort.
A group of medical experts who collaborated with Newsweek and Statista on the index said that hospitals around the world had to adapt quickly to new and existing challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic.
David Bates, chief of general internal medicine and primary care at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said the world’s leading hospitals were able to remain strong amid the pandemic “largely by attracting the best people, those who are focused on developing new approaches to care and making care better.”
Mexican authorities reconfigured many hospitals to better handle the influx of COVID-19 patients, but the public health system nevertheless struggled to cope at times, such as amid the second wave of infections in late 2020 and early 2021.
Some critics, such as the bureau chief of Bloomberg News in Mexico, claimed that the public health system was woefully unprepared to deal with the pandemic, which has claimed over 324,000 lives in Mexico, according to official data.
