AMLO criticizes Twitter for limiting reach of tweets by Russian state media

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March 1, 2022

Twitter has applied labels to tweets by state media outlets — Twitter has applied labels to tweets by Russian state media outlets to identify them as such. President López Obrador called it censorship.

President López Obrador accused Twitter of censorship for its handling of tweets by Russian state media at his morning news conference on Tuesday.

Twitter added explanatory labels to tweets by the state controlled media organizations RT and Sputnik and reduced the visibility of the tweets on the platform in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

López Obrador said the practice was tantamount to censorship. “I wish Twitter would clarify this matter, because it is very serious. [The labels] are like a kind of stamp of approval for the opinion that people have … Since yesterday there are allegations that whoever has a favorable opinion of Russia is removed or a label is put on their account. That is censorship,” he said.

The president said his position was fundamentally political. “No to censorship, no to authoritarianism … preventing people from expressing themselves and demonstrating is all contrary to freedom,” he said.

Google and Facebook have banned Russian state controlled media from advertising on their platforms while YouTube announced Tuesday it was banning the RT and Sputnik channels in Europe.

Meanwhile, the president said Mexico wouldn’t implement any sanctions against Russia in order to maintain good relations and promote dialogue. Many western nations have retaliated against Russia by blocking Russian banks’ access to money abroad, while oil and gas companies have abandoned partnerships with Russian companies and shipping companies are refusing to carry freight to and from Russia.

“We are not going to do any economic retaliation because we want to maintain good relations with all the governments of the world, and we want to be in a position to be able to talk to the parties about the conflict.”

He added that the government hadn’t had sustained contact with Russia or Ukraine, but said it was in favor of humanitarian aid for the latter. “We have already set out our position at the United Nations Security Council and we are promoting humanitarian aid to reach Ukraine through the UN, but we can’t do any more.

“We think that the best thing is to promote dialogue to promote peace,” he said.

However, the president condemned the invasion more than once in the last week and compared the plight of Ukraine to Mexico’s struggles against France, Spain and the United States through the centuries.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard condemned the invasion more directly on Thursday after the president appeared reluctant to do so at his press conference earlier in the day: “Our main position is to reject the use of force and vigorously condemn the presence of Russian Federation forces in Ukrainian territory,” he said.

Ebrard announced on Friday that the Mexican Air Force would fly to Romania to pick up Mexicans who have fled Ukraine and wish to return to Mexico.

With reports from Reforma and El Universal

Mexico will provide refuge to Ukrainians in Mexico: Immigration chief

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mexico will provide refuge to Ukrainians currently in the country, the chief of the National Immigration Institute (INM) said Monday.

Francisco Garduño also said that Russians in Mexico will be offered refuge if they seek to stay here.

During a meeting of the Senate’s border and immigration affairs committee, the INM chief said that Ukrainians currently on vacation in Mexico will initially be granted permission to stay an additional 180 days after the validity of their visitor permit expires.

“We have to give them … 180 renewable days so that they can remain in the country due to conditions of vulnerability and the possible violation of their human rights” if they return to Ukraine, Garduño said, noting that Mexico has a long tradition of granting asylum to people fleeing war or persecution.

He acknowledged that “a lot of Ukrainians” with temporary and permanent residency status already live in Mexico.

Russians who ask for refuge will also be allowed to stay, Garduño said, noting that asylum is granted to a person not a country.

“They will also be processed in consideration of the armed conflict, … given permanent refuge … or refuge, so they are at ease,” he said.

“They can be in this wonderful country that is the home of all of you and which we can share in these kinds of cases,” Garduño told members of the Senate committee.

He noted that INM records show that 9,903 Ukrainians entered the country in January and February, while 1,300 have temporary or permanent residency.

More than 28,000 Russians entered Mexico in the first two months of the year, while just over 3,000 were granted residency between 2020 and 2022, Garduño said.

Mexico has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has not imposed any sanctions. President López Obrador said Monday that Russian airlines wouldn’t be banned from flying into Mexico, declaring that the borders are open to carriers from all countries.

With reports from El Universal

Spring documentary festival to screen 7 Mexican films

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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Still from documentary El Gran Salto — Still from the documentary El Gran Salto, which follows the story of Mexican long-jumper Luis Rivera. Imcine

A documentary film festival in Oaxaca is set to project across the country with seven films on 80 screens in 25 states.

The Spring Documentary Film Festival (Primavera documental) runs from March 1 to March 31 and aims to exhibit the diversity of experiences in the country’s communities in alternative and independent venues.

In Oaxaca, there will be screenings in Cinema Cuervo in Oaxaca city, Cineteco in Villa de Etla, the Yucusaa Museum in San Pedro Villa de Tututepec and in Cine Club Verde y Vivo in Huatulco. (See the full list of venues across the country under the “Sedes” heading).

While united under the banner of conveying Mexico’s diversity as a country, the films vary widely in their subject matter: Cruz tells the story of a Rarámuri and his community forced to leave their land due to narcotrafficking. The documentary Un México Perro, El Héroe Verdadero is about the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestler known as Perro Aguayo; Fiesta Nacional is an experimental documentary on the lives of a Wixárika artist, a bullfighter and a bricklayer who portrays Christ.

Other showings include El Gran Salto, which follows Mexican long jumper Luis Rivera; 499, a docudrama about a conquistador returning to Mexico in 2020 and seeing the country’s modern reality; Comala, which tracks a man’s journey to find the scattered members of his dysfunctional family and understand the life of his absent father; and Giro Polar, which follows a traveler who goes to see the northern lights.

Trailer oficial, Un México Perro (Documental del Perro Aguayo)

Watch this video on YouTube

Trailer for the documentary Un México Perro, El Héroe Verdadero.

With reports from NVI Noticias

Beer exports to US surge 13% to new record

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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Mexican beers — An unequal relationship: the U.S. imports significantly more Mexican beer than Mexico imports from its northern neighbor.

Beer exports to the United States set a new record in 2021 when close to 1 billion gallons of brew crossed over the border.

The 924.99 million gallons exported to the U.S. last year was 13.4% higher than the 2020 figure of 816.3 million gallons, according to the U.S. trade association Beer Institute.

Mexican beer continues to be the most sought after by the U.S. in global terms: it is imported far more than beer from the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, which are all well known for their high-quality brews.

The increase in popularity for Mexican product has cut into demand for beer from the Netherlands: it exported 9% less to the U.S. in 2021 than it shipped in 2020.

Demand for Mexican beer in the U.S. has almost doubled in nine years. In 2013, the U.S. imported less than half a billion gallons.

Imports of beer to the U.S. have also increased in general terms. The nation received 1.2 billion gallons from abroad last year, up 8.5%.

However, the Mexican-U.S. beer relationship isn’t well-balanced: while the U.S. imported almost 1 billion gallons from Mexico, only 7.2 million gallons passed from U.S. suppliers to Mexico.

With reports from Reforma

AMLO celebrates 65% approval, says adversaries gained nothing with conflict story

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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Jose Ramon Lopez Beltran's house in Houston — Interior of the home lived in by the president's son, José Ramón López and his wife, Carolyn Adams, in Houston, Texas. Screen capture

Noting that the results of a new poll show he has an approval rating of 65%, President López Obrador claimed Monday that a scandal involving his oldest son did nothing to diminish his popularity.

Speaking at his regular news conference, López Obrador acknowledged there was a scandal because the wife of his son rented a luxurious home in Houston, although he didn’t mention that it was owned by a high-ranking executive of an oil sector firm that has lucrative contracts with the state oil company Pemex.

José Ramón López Beltrán last month denied any conflict of interest in relation to his family’s living arrangements in the United States.

López Obrador told reporters that the story, which was published in late January, became a national and international trending topic on Twitter, although he attributed that phenomenon to anti-government bots.

Government critics and the media “wanted to show that we’re the same” as past corrupt governments, “that I came here to favor families and friends and allow corruption and influence peddling and conflicts of interest,” he said.

The Oraculus poll of polls — In February, the president’s approval rating was 58%, according to the Oraculus poll of polls, the lowest since August 2018, shortly after he was elected. Oraculus collates the results of several major opinion polls. oraculus

“… So they go for it but they get it wrong … and they’re not capable of offering apologies, they’re not capable of correcting themselves, saying ‘we got it wrong,’” López Obrador said, although neither he nor his son has disputed the facts of the story.

After briefly pondering what was achieved in attempting to stain him and his government with what he described as an expensive and time-consuming political hit job, the president pivoted to a pronouncement on the latest poll conducted for the newspaper El Universal.

“Look, 65% approval after all the attacks,” he gloated. “And it’s a telephone survey. In ours, which are house by house because the majority of humble, poor people don’t have a telephone, we’re above 70%,” López Obrador said.

“I come back to the same thing. What good did it do them? All the media outlets, or almost all of them [that criticized me], social media, bots, trending topic. Nothing,” he said.

“The thing is that people are very intelligent, … people are not stupid. Stupid is he who thinks that the people are stupid, and it’s very difficult for them [government critics] to change strategy,” López Obrador said.

“I shouldn’t be giving them this advice, but they have to understand that it’s not like before. … The so-called political society, journalists, columnists, radio and television commentators, organic intellectuals, academics and scientists were the ones who decided [things], and the opinions of The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal [mattered]. That’s no longer the case, now it’s the majority who decides,” he said before once again asserting that he is the second most popular world leader after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mexico News Daily

Killers had 5 hours to clean up after Michoacán massacre and remove bodies

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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video at crime scene of Michoacan massacre — A video camera recorded the entire incident, from the time the killers arrived at the wake to the aftermath, allowing authorities to pinpoint when the killings happened. internet

Security forces didn’t attend the scene of a massacre in Michoacán on Sunday until almost five hours after it occurred, giving the perpetrators ample time to clean up and remove the bodies.

As many as 17 people were killed in a firing squad-style execution after they were forced to leave a wake they were attending in the center of the town of San José de Gracia.

According to Michoacán Attorney General Adrián López Solís, the massacre took place at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, but state and federal security forces didn’t reach the crime scene until 8 p.m.

Mayor Jorge Luis Anguiano said that the multi-homicide was reported to local authorities at about 5 p.m., but he ordered the three municipal police officers on duty not to confront the heavily-armed perpetrators because they were outnumbered and outgunned.

“… We didn’t approach the scene until backup arrived because we didn’t have the capacity,” he told the newspaper Reforma.

Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said Monday that the massacre wasn’t reported to state authorities until three hours after it occurred. An investigation is underway to determine why it took so long for them to be notified, he said.

San Jose de Gracia, Michoacan Mayor Jorge Luis Anguiano — San José de Gracia Mayor Jorge Luis Anguiano said the police officers on duty were outnumbered and outgunned and he told them to await backup. Screen capture

The crime scene had been cleaned by the time state and federal security forces arrived, although they found spent bullet casings, bags filled with body parts and another bag with cleaning product containers.

“The crime scene had already been manipulated,” López Solís said.

The delay in notifying state authorities “could be explained by the lack of a report from the first responders who … should have been the municipal police,” the attorney general said.

“[But] there were only three [on duty], and they didn’t activate the alert services of the state security system,” he said.

The aggressors apparently took away the slain bodies in the vehicles in which they arrived. As the corpses haven’t been found, authorities haven’t confirmed the number of victims. Unofficial reports put the number between 10 and 17.

López Solís said the target of the attack, and one of the victims, was Alejandro G., a presumed drug trafficker known as El Pelón. The news website Infobae reported that he was a member of the Familia Michoacana criminal group, but he apparently switched allegiances and later worked for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Ricardo Mejia Berdeja Deputy Minister of Security — Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejía Berdeja explains on Tuesday the longstanding feud between two CJNG members that led to Sunday’s massacre. President’s office

El Pelón was attending a wake for his mother in a private home and was accompanied by alleged fellow criminals.

Deputy federal Security Minister Ricardo Mejía said Tuesday that Abel N. – a CJNG operative known as “El Viejón” and “El Toro” – killed Alejandro G.

Abel N. allegedly killed El Pelón’s brother in a San José de Gracia cantina in 2018, while Alejandro G. allegedly settled that score by murdering El Viejón’s brother last December. Thus the execution of El Pelón, and other people attending his mother’s wake, appears to be revenge for that homicide.

San José de Gracia is the municipal seat of Marcos Castellanos, located in the northwestern corner of Michoacán on the border with Jalisco.

In addition to apparent internal disputes, the CJNG is involved in a turf war with the Cárteles Unidos in Michoacán, but that conflict is mainly centered on the state’s southwestern Tierra Caliente region.

Sunday’s massacre came less than three weeks after the army drove the CJNG out of parts of the Tierra Caliente, a month to the day after an armed attack in Zamora, Michoacán, that killed seven people and four months after a new security plan for the state was announced.

While last month’s military operation succeeded in displacing the powerful Jalisco cartel from one of its strongholds, it didn’t appear to weaken it in any way. Violence spiked in Colima, which borders the Tierra Caliente region, in the days after the CJNG was ousted from southwestern Michoacán, suggesting that cartel members had crossed into that state.

Michoacán is sought after by criminals because the port of Lázaro Cárdenas is an entry point for narcotics, including fentanyl from China, and opportunities abound to extort lime producers, cattle ranchers, operators of iron ore mines and producers of avocados, known colloquially as green gold for the high profits they generate.

Michoacán was the third most violent state in the country last year with over 2,700 murders. Governor Ramírez, who took office last October, said recently that pacifying the state might take six years. Sunday’s massacre epitomizes the vast challenge he faces.

With reports from Reforma, El País, Proceso and Infobae

Dante the police dog captures hearts on social media

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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Dante has been a popular ambassador for the National Guard.

A police dog working for the National Guard has won fans on social media for his interactions with the public and his memorable style.

Dante, a dark Xoloitzcuintle, is trained in security work but evidently welcomes the public’s attention.

The proud, athletic pup was pictured at the Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City in November wearing a marigold flower necklace and posing for photos with spectators.

The canine crowd-pleaser can also be seen in a video uploaded by the National Guard. In the video, he stands stoically tall with his ears upright, composed in the presence of women dressed up as Katrinas, families, people burning copal and performers dressed in Aztec attire.

The Guard published a slogan on a link to the video: “We’re strengthening the link between authorities and citizens!” Dante was certainly playing his part toward achieving that aim.

Xoloitzcuintles are a breed of hairless dog. The name comes from the god of fire and lightning, Xolotl, that according to ancient narratives is the breed’s creator, and itzcuīntli, meaning dog in Náhuatl.

In ancient times, Xolos were often sacrificed and then buried with their owners to act as guides to souls on their journey to the underworld.

With reports from El Universal and Radio Fórmula

March fairs and festivals: from sports and spiritualism to music and marathons

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MND Staff

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March 1, 2022

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From marathons to music, there’s no shortage of events to keep you entertained in the 31 days of March.

• Monterrey Tennis Open, Monterrey, Nuevo León (Now-March 12)

Two weeks of tennis at Monterrey’s Club Sonoma. There are two tournaments, a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) female players competition until March 6 followed by a second division Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) men’s tournament.

Players featuring over the fortnight include Elina Svitolina, Victoria Azarenka, Pablo Andújar and Feliciano López. Tickets are 200 pesos (US $9.80) and up.

• San Miguel Literary Sala Workshops, online (March 8-9)

A workshop on how to integrate humor into prose. The Uses of Humor in Narrative Prose with Signe Hammer will take place at 6 p.m. on March 8 on Zoom. Hammer’s memoir, By Her Own Hand: Memoirs of a Suicide’s Daughter, was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book. Participation costs 80 pesos.

Learn how to transform a manuscript from long time award winning editor Wendy Call. The Self-Editing Toolkit teaches writers the four levels of editing to take “dreadful early drafts into masterworks.” The Zoom workshop starts at 6 p.m. on March 9 and costs 80 pesos.

• Enter Light Art Exhibit, Mexico City (Now-March 12)

Enter Light plays with light and photography on canvas to explore impaired vision and how colors, natural shapes, and forms influence us. Fine art photographer Doug Winter was inspired to develop the project due to his visual impairment and his father’s blindness. See the exhibit at Calle Lucerna 1, Interior 100, Colonia Juarez.

• Caballo Blanco Ultra Marathon, Urique, Chihuahua (March 4-6)

Bring your best shoes for a 80 kilometer ultra marathon through part of the Copper Canyon, a region populated by the Raramuri people, who are famed for their natural running abilities and play a prominent role in the event.

The kite festival at Tequisquiapan, Querétaro, runs from March 5-13.

The weekend annually attracts 1,200 endurance runners from over 20 countries. There is also a marathon race for those that don’t want to go the whole distance. The main event starts on March 6 at 6:30 a.m.

• Kite Festival, Tequisquiapan, Querétaro (March 5-13)

A kite festival in the Magical Town of Tequisquiapan, 60 kilometers east of Querétaro city. Entrance costs 100 pesos ($4.90) and there’s a kite making workshop for an additional 100 pesos.

Face painting, music, and clown and puppet shows will also keep the kids entertained.

• National Fireworks Festival, Tultepec, México state (March 4-14)

A festival of lights, colors and plenty of fireworks that has run since 1989. Regional music and folkloric dancing line a packed bill and on March 8 the willing can be surrounded by exploding fireworks on all sides at the Toros Pirotécnicos (Pyrotechnic Bull) run.

• The Ancestral Alliance Festival, Cholula, Puebla (March 10-13)

Pahkalli Xeripa advertises itself as a center of magic, cleansing and tradition. The center is inviting people to realign with their ancestry over three days with native ceremonies, dances, concerts, ancestral medicines, temazcales, conferences and more near the town of San Buenaventura Nealtican.

• Cumbre Tajín, Papantla de Olarte, Veracruz (March 18-20)

A celebration of Veracruz’s Totonac heritage featuring the famed Papantla Flyers. The special guest at this 23rd edition will be the Guatemalan human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú, who will lecture on indigenous womanhood.

The program is rich with ceremonies, discussion of identity, traditional medicines, discussion of language, cinema, dance and music. The event is held at the Takilhsukut park, close to the Magical Town of Papantla.

• Vive Latino Festival, Mexico City (March 19-20)

An Ibero-American music festival at Mexico City’s Foro Sol in Iztacalco borough, focused mainly on indie and rock music. This year features Groove Armada, Pixies, Gary Clark Jr. and many more.

Tickets start from 1,581 pesos.

• Global Beer Fest: Edward James Edition, Xilitla, San Luis Potosí (March 19-20)

A beer festival at the Edward James Surrealist Park in the jungle-like terrain of the Huasteca region.

Patrons can expect 12 domestic brands selling artisan beer, an international food selection, artisans, live music and DJs.

• Spring Equinox, Chichén Itzá, Yucatán/ Teotihuacán, México state/ Bernal, Querétaro (March 20)

An astronomical event at some of the country’s most vaunted ancient ruins. Enthusiasts can see the solar festival, when when the sun sits vertically above the equator, making day and night equal across the planet, at Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá and Bernal.

Mexico News Daily

Alberto Flores built his winery in a surprising place: the land of tequila

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Diana Serratos

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February 28, 2022

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Alberto Flores, founder Jalisco winery Bodega Gravitas — Alberto Flores, founder of Jalisco winery Bodega Gravitas. Facebook

Mexican wine is having its moment in the sun, with more variety, more demand and better-quality wines on the shelves. Every year, new regions across the country and new states join Mexico’s winemaking map.

One of those newcomers is the Bodega Gravitas winery in the state of Jalisco, a pioneer in a region where the main alcoholic beverage has long been tequila. Owner and Jalisco native Alberto Flores worked for more than three years in wineries in Germany before returning to Mexico and creating Bodega Gravitas with a group of friends.

Although a relatively new winemaker, he was clear from the start about the kind of wine he wanted to produce, one that had as little artificial intervention as possible. To produce fruity and expressive wine, he believes in longer fermentation times, avoiding fertilizers and other chemicals as much as possible and eschewing manufactured yeasts and additives like sulfates.

When he first began planning his business, Flores knew it would take several years for his winery to start producing bottles. So he began his enterprise on two fronts.

First, he found an existing vineyard in Sonora with the qualities necessary to produce the wine he wanted: fresh, fruity vintages that wouldn’t require barrel aging. At the same time, he began building his winery in Jalisco and planting his first grapevines there.

Bodegas Gravitas winery, Jalisco, Mexico — Bodega Gravitas’ 2020 Zinfandel.

Bodega Gravitas’ first vintage went on sale in 2017 and the winery made its debut at the Festival of Mexican Wine in Guadalajara in 2018 with a cabernet sauvignon, a zinfandel, a white zinfandel and a pinot noir. The response from judges and attendees was extremely positive, and Bodega Gravitas’ wines have since seen a growing market presence. These vintages — along with a newer pinot noir rosé and a barrel-aged chenin blanc — can these days be found in some of the country’s best restaurants.

Within the next two years, Flores plans to finally harvest their own grapes in Jalisco and expand their line, first with a syrah. They will also continue searching for grapes that adapt well to the local climate, Flores said.

Here are some tasting notes from Bodega Gravitas’ excellent 2020 vintages:

Sauvignon blanc

This is a fresh, citric wine, pale yellow in color with golden lines and with a balanced mouthfeel. It’s ideal for drinking cold on hot days with young cheeses and fresh fruit.

White zinfandel

Despite this wine’s nice level of acidity, it shows no loss of fruitiness, with pleasant strawberry and raspberry notes. It has a very balanced mouthfeel and begs to be paired with grilled and buttered shrimp, paella, cochinita tacos, fish, chicken or pork al pastor. Also, enjoy it with semi-mature cheeses, especially cotija.

Zinfandel

A potent red that’s deep violet in color, this wine leaves notes of plum, figs and fruit compote in the nose. In the mouth, its structure and potency meet expectations. Tannins are present without being aggressive, with a long finish. I recommend decanting it before drinking. This wine pairs well with meat and grilled sausages or with cheese and cured meats accompanied by berries and dried fruit.

Pinot noir

This memorable wine has a soft red hue and an aroma that hints of strawberries, cranberries and currants and a mocha finish. Soft in the mouth, velvety and subtle, this excellent wine is very agreeable without hard edges.

Sommelier Diana Serratos writes from Mexico City.

AMLO says Russian airlines welcome but minister’s Aeroflot tweet creates a stir

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MND Staff

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February 28, 2022

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Though other countries have shut it out, the Russian air carrier Aeroflot remains welcome in Mexico. Facebook / Aeroflot

Mexico will not ban Russian airlines from flying to Mexico despite Russia’s decision to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine last week.

President López Obrador said Monday that airlines from all countries can fly into into Mexico.

“We’re not going to close the country. … Let it be known, we’re not going to close to any country,” he said.

Mexico has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but hasn’t imposed any sanctions.

López Obrador’s remarks at his regular news conference came after the European Union’s decision on Sunday to close its airspace to Russian airlines and other Russian-owned aircraft. They also followed Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco’s publication of a widely-condemned tweet inviting Russian flag carrier Aeroflot to fly into Mexico City.

Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco Marqués welcomed the Russian air carrier Aeroflot to Mexico in a since-deleted tweet. — Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco welcomed the Russian air carrier Aeroflot to Mexico in a since-deleted tweet. Daniel Schwen / CC BY-SA 3.0

“Warm greetings to our friends at the prestigious airline @aeroflot, hoping for prompt connectivity between nations and of course to Mexico City. I remind you that tourism is a synonym of peace, friendship and understanding between people,” Torruco wrote Saturday in a tweet he later deleted.

The tourism minister posted nine other tweets about Russian tourism to Mexico that remain on his Twitter account, noting that visitor numbers and spending were up last year compared to 2020, among other tidbits of information.

“The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine could represent a series of economic sanctions by the international community on the government of the Russian federation, which would cause the 2022 program of flights to be affected,” Torruco said in a final tweet on the subject.

Twitter users described his tweet to Aeroflot, and his Russian tourism-related posts more broadly, with unflattering descriptors such as “unfortunate,” “lacking empathy,” “stupid” and “inopportune.”

The European Union and Canada have banned Russian flights from entering their airspace but the United States remains open.

López Obrador also announced that a Mexican Air Force plane dispatched to Romania to pick up Mexicans who have fled Ukraine had touched down in Bucharest.

“The plane is there, it already has permission to be there a considerable time, and we’re going to continue with these kinds of actions. We’re obliged to bring our citizens home safe and sound,” he said.

López Obrador also indicated he would be willing to grant asylum to Ukrainians fleeing the violence in their homeland.

“Mexico is a … country that protects, that takes care of refugees, persecuted people, people seeking to save themselves from war and confrontations,” he said.

The president predicted that Russia’s full-blown assault on Ukraine – now in its fifth day – won’t have much of an impact on the Mexican economy.

“People shouldn’t worry about this invasion situation. … It’s very regrettable, yes. … We can’t be unaware [of it], we can’t turn our back, but the effects it might have on the national economy are minimal,” he said.

With reports from Reforma and Emeequis