Environment minister admits Maya Train lacks permits

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May 2, 2022

A construction crew works on a section of the Maya Train in Yucatán.

Environment Minister María Luisa Albores acknowledged Monday that definitive environmental approval hasn’t been granted for four sections of the Maya Train railroad project.

She said that sections 4, 5, 6 and 7 only have provisional approval but their construction has been able to proceed thanks to a decree issued by President López Obrador in November.

The decree instructs government agencies to grant provisional authorizations and permits to projects deemed to be of public interest and national security in a maximum period of five working days so as to ensure their timely execution.

Speaking at López Obrador’s regular news conference, Albores said that sections 1, 2 and 3 of the 1,500-kilometer railroad have definitive environmental approval. They are the Palenque-Escárcega, Escárcega-Calkiní and Calkiní-Izamal sections.

The environment minister then admitted that the other four sections only have provisional approval. They are the Izamal-Cancún, Cancún-Tulum, Tulum-Chetumal and Chetumal-Escárcega sections.

Environment Minister María Luisa Albores talked about environmental issues related to the Maya Train at the president's Monday morning conference. — Environment Minister María Luisa Albores talked about environmental issues related to the Maya Train at the president’s Monday morning conference.

“What was done is that on November 22, 2021, there was a decree to issue provisional permits,” Albores said. “It doesn’t mean that … technical studies [and] environmental impact statements aren’t being done,” she said.

However, it is unclear when those studies – which are needed for full environmental approval to be granted – will be completed.

Albores – the country’s foremost environmental official – defended companies’ capacity to work on the US $10 billion project while the environmental studies are being carried out. She said that the National Tourism Promotion Fund, which is managing the ambitious project, has experts in the field who monitor work on the railroad to ensure that the environment isn’t adversely affected.

“We’re talking about more than 100 specialists who are in the territory [where the railroad is being built]. … They’re brigades that do everything related to looking after the environment,” she said.

Albores acknowledged that there has been significant opposition to the southern part of section 5, which will run between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, but claimed that work has continued, apparently before a judge suspended work due to environmental concerns and the lack of permits.

The protesters – which López Obrador has dubbed “pseudo-environmentalists” – have made a lot of noise, but it doesn’t mean work has stopped, she said.

Opponents of the Playa del Carmen-Tulum stretch have denounced the clearing of forested land without environmental permits having been granted and warned of irreversible damage to flora, fauna and subterranean rivers in Quintana Roo.

Albores said Monday that “only 300,000 trees” will be cut down to make way for the highly-controversial section before she asserted that over 143 million trees will be planted along the railroad route thanks to the government’s reforestation and employment program, called Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life).

While the environment minister argued that work on the Maya Train sections without definitive environmental approval was legal, given AMLO’s infrastructure decree, a National Autonomous University academic took a different view earlier this year.

Ana Esther Ceceña, an academic with the university’s Economic Research Institute, told the news website Animal Político in late March that environmental impact statements have to be completed before work on the different Maya Train sections can begin.

“That is by law, and they can’t be provisional permits,” she said. “… They haven’t done land or environment studies or even economic feasibility studies. They haven’t done them in advance, they are doing them on the fly,” Ceceña said.

López Obrador, who has consistently denied that the railroad project will damage the environment and has touted the economic benefits it will bring, claimed on March 31 that all environmental permits had already been issued for the Maya Train project – one of his signature infrastructure projects – but Animal Político ran a fact check on the assertion and declared it to be false.

With reports from Milenio and Animal Político

Becán’s remains hint at the story of an important pre-Hispanic trade center

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Thilini Wijesinhe

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May 2, 2022

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Structure X at Becan site in Campeche — The towering Structure IX at the ancient Maya archaeological site of Becán in Campeche.

If you are a fan of archaeology and history, Becán is yet another beautiful Maya site in Campeche that is a must-see!

Situated around 130 kilometers from Chetumal off Highway 186, you can combine a visit to Becán with a trip to the famous Maya site of Calakmul, and several other nearby ruins.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) says the site’s first occupation dates to around 600–300 B.C., and it is believed to have been the capital of the Río Bec region in the late classic period (A.D. 600–900). Becán enjoyed a strategic location and controlled trade routes, according to INAH.

It was eventually abandoned around A.D. 1200–1400.

Becán is Yucatec Mayan for “trench.” It is also translated as “path (cavity) formed by running water” or “path of the serpent,” according to INAH. The name refers to a unique trench shielding its main buildings.

Becan archaeological site Campeche — This passageway was once a street.

With around a two-kilometer circumference covering an area of approximately 12 hectares, the trench has seven entrances, with bridges to access the enclosed area. The trench had different uses, including possibly for defense. Outside the shielded area, other constructions and residences of Becán’s population have been identified.

There are about 20 structures to see, so expect to spend a few hours exploring the site. Río Bec is one of the key architectural styles to observe here, featuring symbolic twin towers with decorative stairs and temples on top.

Remember to keep an eye out for traces of original paint on buildings.

Once you enter the site, you will see an interesting tunnel-like passage that was once used as a street. In ancient times, there had been a fake arch covering the length of this passage. The arch had included niches for offerings.

An absolute must-see section of the site is the Central Plaza. The magnificent structures here will help you envision the grand city that Becán was.

East of the plaza is Structure VIII, with a beautiful central area and two towers on either side. The main section’s entrance has columns, and a stela — a carved or inscribed stone slab or pillar — stands in the center. The stela probably commemorates a ruler’s official occasion, according to INAH. While some of the building’s rooms are identified as living quarters, there are others believed to have been used for storage or religious ceremonies, including possible self-sacrifices.

Structure IX at Becan site in Campeche — A burial chamber was found within Structure IX.

North of the Central Plaza is Becán’s tallest building, a large pyramid measuring around 32 meters in height. Named Structure IX, INAH says a burial chamber was found here. The pyramid has a large stairway that leads to a temple on top.

You can climb this pyramid, but the site notice says they will appreciate it if you do not — for preservation and to avoid accidents. You can observe the features of this pyramid from the plaza, however, even without climbing it.

West of the Central Plaza is an interesting building called Structure X that looks like a complex of buildings. It has many rooms across two levels and a temple on the top section. This temple’s facade had decorations representing the Maya creator god Itzamná, also called the Earth Monster, whose remains can be seen.

You can also see the remains of the roof comb — which was once decorated with stucco figures. Structure X has palace complexes that were likely the residences of the city’s key residents, according to INAH.

Towards the south end of Structure X is a magnificent stucco mask with remains of original colors, believed to be of a ruler or a notable person. In the past, this mask was displayed through a glass window, but during our visit, it was covered with a canvas to protect it from the sun. While it is not the same as seeing the real mask, the image on the canvas will help you visualize what it looks like.

Make time to explore the interesting rear of this complex to the west. Next to this complex is the West Plaza. A notable section here is the ball court where the Mayan ballgame believed to represent the recurring life and death cycle was played. It has the usual parallel rectangular platforms, but its playing area is wider than what’s seen on some sites. The ball rings are speculated to have been made of wood, but no traces of them exist.

The East Plaza, which you will see when entering the site, is worth exploring. There are several beautiful buildings surrounding this plaza; a notable one is the magnificent Structure I, identified as one of the oldest buildings on the site.

This structure has many rooms on two levels and two towers on each side measuring around 15 meters in height. INAH says the towers had openings that may have been used for astronomical observations, but they no longer exist.

Check out the round structure called the circular altar in this plaza. These types of constructions are thought to be linked to Kukulcán – the feathered serpent deity.

The palace-like Structure IV in the East Plaza is also worth seeing. Rulers are believed to have occupied certain rooms here. The benches in rooms are considered resting spaces. This building has remains of decorative masks.

There are several other buildings to explore onsite. Don’t forget to also enjoy the natural scenery: near Becán is the town of Xpujil, where you can explore more ruins and enjoy some local food.

Thilini Wijesinhe, a financial professional turned writer and entrepreneur, moved to Mexico in 2019 from Australia. She writes from Mérida, Yucatán. Her website can be found at https://momentsing.com/

Inflation: prices of 12 key food products up as much as 28% in first four months

By

MND Staff

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May 2, 2022

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basic basket of goods, Mexico — Prices for 12 basic food staples has shot up to more than double Banxico's target inflation rate.

The average price of 12 staple products leapt up as much as 28.6% in some parts of Mexico during the first four months of the year, according to data from the Economy Ministry and the consumer protection agency Profeco.

The products in question all feature in the shopping basket of essential items. Mexico uses this economic tool to track inflation, which was 7.72% in the first half of April, more than double the Bank of México’s target rate.

The 12 products included in the January-through-April calculation are limes, melons, serrano chiles, onions, apples, tortillas, tomatoes, milk, beans, rice, eggs and chicken. These 12 products are not the entire makeup of the basket, which includes several other foods and also cooking items such as oil, chocolate and some hygiene projects like soap and toothpaste.

The cost of limes, serrano chiles and melons all skyrocketed in the first four months of 2022, between 97% and 173%. Those price spikes were partially compensated by a drop in the price of beans (1.9%), chicken (16.2%) and rice (32.1%) over the same period.

Mexico City citizens were the worst affected, where a 28.6% spike in the cost of the 12 products was recorded. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, the items increased 27.9% in cost, while in Monterrey, Nuevo León, their prices jumped 18.1%.

shopping in Mexico City — Shoppers in Mexico City had it the worst with a 28.6% spike in prices for the 12 products.

President López Obrador announced last week that the government was seeking an agreement with private companies to limit price increases on basic food items.

“We are going to reach an agreement, which is already very advanced, with producers and business people,” he said. “We are going to guarantee a basic basket of food with fair prices so that people do not suffer …” he said. López Obrador added that the plan had the support of the business community.

However, opinions in that sector appear mixed.

The finance director of restaurant operator Alsea, Rafael Contreras, said the plan was workable in the short term.

“It’s a good thing in the short term for people who consume items from the [inflation] shopping basket, but in the long term, it could generate a shortage of those products. It’s something that will have to be defined as inflation grows to see if producers are willing to continue with it,” he said.

Rodolfo Ramos, the general director of poultry producer Bachoco, supported the government’s plan to facilitate product distribution. “The government said that it’s not going to control prices, which is very important, and that there is going to be some support for distribution, including reductions in taxes on gasoline and diesel, and there are some other proposals relating to … transportation,” he said.

Chickens at Bachoco — Chicken is one of several items contained in the basic shopping basket of food staples. Bachoco

The director-general of supermarket chain Chedraui, Antonio Chedraui Eguía, has voiced concerns that the government could try to keep prices low in the longer term.

The director of economic analysis at Banco Base, Gabriela Siller, said the strategy could end up being counterintuitive.

“Unifying prices [between states] implies that for some, prices will have to rise. Then you end up affecting people instead of helping them,” she said.

With reports from Milenio

Electoral reform is regression for democracy, warns elections chief

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MND Staff

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May 2, 2022

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Lorenzo Cordova — At a Mexico City event Friday, INE chief Lorenzo Córdova spoke out against an electoral reform bill sent to Congress Thursday.

President López Obrador’s proposed electoral reform would sabotage democracy in Mexico, the head of the National Electoral Institute (INE) said Friday.

Sent to the lower house of Congress last Thursday, López Obrador’s constitutional reform bill would dissolve the INE and replace it with a less-well-funded, directly elected body.

It would also cut public funding to political parties, loosen electoral campaigning rules, reduce the number of federal and state lawmakers and introduce electronic voting.

As it seeks to change the constitution, the reform — which López Obrador says would generate huge savings — requires support from two-thirds of lawmakers to pass Congress. The ruling Morena party and its allies have a majority in both houses but don’t command a supermajority in either, meaning the bill is unlikely to be approved in its current form.

Speaking to reporters at an event in Mexico City last Friday, INE president Lorenzo Córdova described the proposed reform as a threat to democracy because it entails a “democratic regression.”

He acknowledged that the rules governing elections in Mexico could be improved but asserted that the current system is an international example of how to guarantee democratic certainty.

Lawmakers who support the bill without seeking to change even a comma would be sabotaging the country’s transition to democracy, Córdova said.

That transition, many scholars argue, was completed in 2000 when the National Action Party won control of the federal government after over more than 70 uninterrupted years of Institutional Revolutionary Party rule.

Córdova said that electoral changes over the past 30 years were made in response to shared needs and problems. There was a consensus about how to respond to those needs and confront those problems, he said, before implying that there is now no such agreement between the country’s political parties.

López Obrador, an outspoken critic of the INE who has clashed with its chief on several occasions, said Thursday that “there is no intention to impose a single party” with the proposed reform and “what we want is for there to be an authentic, true democracy in the country and to end electoral fraud.”

But Córdova questioned the need to overhaul the electoral system given that the INE – one of the country’s most trusted institutions – has organized over 300 elections that guaranteed citizens’ right to freely choose their political representatives.

With reports from Infobae

Navy expresses alarm; predicts massive arrival of 32,000 tonnes of sargassum

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MND Staff

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May 2, 2022

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The stinky seaweed is both difficult and expensive to clean up.

Navy Minister Rafael Ojeda warned Friday that over 30,000 tonnes of sargassum were located off the coast of Quintana Roo.

Speaking at President López Obrador’s morning press conference – held Friday in the Quintana Roo municipality of Isla Mujeres – Ojeda said the navy was monitoring an estimated 32,000 tonnes of the seaweed.

“We’re going to try to stop it from reaching the beaches,” he said, referring to the navy’s efforts to collect the seaweed at sea. If it does wash up on shore, it will be removed, the navy chief said.

“This sargassum reaches the Mexican Caribbean and a lot of the time continues its trajectory towards the Gulf of Mexico,” Ojeda said.

“We can say that the current situation is alarming, it’s a category 8 [situation],” he said, explaining that meant an excessive amount of sargassum could arrive on Quintana Roo beaches.

Monday morning's sargassum distribution map from the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Network. — Monday morning’s sargassum distribution map from the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Network. Facebook / Red de Monitoreo del Sargazo de Quintana Roo

The Quintana Roo sargassum monitoring network’s map shows that 34 beaches currently have excessive amounts of sargassum. Among those where excessive quantities of the smelly and unsightly seaweed have washed up are beaches in the Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum areas and beaches along the eastern coast of Cozumel.

Ojeda noted that the navy has removed 97 tonnes of sargassum from the sea since February 15 and cleared over 9,000 tonnes from beaches. He said that 328 marines, 11 sargassum-gathering vessels, 23 other boats and five air units are supporting the navy’s seaweed removal and collection efforts.

The navy chief said that sargassum affects the coastlines of a lot of countries but Mexico is the only one where federal, state and municipal authorities are working together to combat the problem.

“We would like the results to be better but in one way or another we are combating the problem,” Ojeda said.

The director of the Quintana Roo sargassum monitoring network disagrees, saying last month that Mexico’s anti-sargassum strategy doesn’t work.

“Over and over again the same deficiencies have been on display. For example, we’ve already seen that the barriers don’t work because the sargassum goes over [them]. They’re barriers designed for the contention of oil spills,” Esteban Amaro said.

Navy Minister Rafael Ojeda describes the navy's work to prevent the arrival of sargassum, last Friday. — Navy Minister Rafael Ojeda describes the navy’s work to prevent the arrival of sargassum, at Friday’s presidential press conference.

Removing sargassum from beaches is not only very hard work but also very expensive.

A study by the National Autonomous University’s reef systems unit in Puerto Morelos determined that removing sargassum from beaches costs authorities between 6 million and 10 million pesos (US $293,000 to $488,000) per kilometer per year.

Rosa Rodríguez, head of the unit, told the newspaper Milenio that the government should be encouraging the use of sargassum for industrial purposes.

“It’s worth investing [in sargassum] … research [and] management … and promoting the industry because sargassum has the potential to be used in different industries,” she said.

“But we need regulations … [and] fiscal incentives” to encourage its use, Rodríguez said.

With reports from Animal Político and Milenio

AMLO describes ‘cordial’ phone call with US president

By

MND Staff

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May 2, 2022

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President López Obrador and U.S. President Biden shake hands at a 2012 meeting, before either was elected to the presidency of their respective countries.

Cooperation on development in southern Mexico and Central America was a key focus of President López Obrador’s phone call with United States President Joe Biden on Friday.

López Obrador said he had a “cordial” conversation with his U.S. counterpart, adding in a social media post that they spoke about “issues of interest in the bilateral relationship.”

The president also said they agreed that Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard would travel to Washington, D.C., on Monday to work with U.S. officials on “issues of cooperation for development” and the Summit of the Americas – a meeting of the heads of state of Western Hemisphere countries that will be held in Los Angeles in June.

The approximately 50-minute call came four months after Mexico and the United States entered into a new security agreement that superseded the 13-year-old Mérida initiative and as the U.S. remains concerned about its neighbor’s energy sector policies and plans, albeit less so because López Obrador’s nationalistic electricity bill failed to pass Congress last month.

In a statement, the Mexican president’s office said López Obrador and Biden reviewed progress on bilateral development cooperation in Central American and southern Mexico. Their cooperation is aimed at attending the root causes of migration to the United States, such as poverty, lack of opportunity and insecurity.

Tuvimos una cordial conversación con el presidente Biden. Tratamos temas de interés en la relación bilateral y acordamos que el secretario Marcelo Ebrard visitará Washington el lunes para avanzar en temas de cooperación para el desarrollo y sobre la Cumbre de las Américas. pic.twitter.com/IIWeLii7S7

— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) April 29, 2022

On Twitter, AMLO shared some of the topics covered in his “cordial” phone call with the U.S. leader.

Officials in Mexico and the United States are concerned that the cessation of Title 42 expulsions – a Donald Trump era public health order that allows the U.S. to expel migrants to stop the spread of the coronavirus – will lead to a surge in arrivals on the U.S. border. The order was to expire on May 23, but that is now in doubt due to a federal court ruling last week.

The president’s office said López Obrador and Biden “emphasized the importance of working together with other countries in the region to ensure safe and sustainable livelihoods for their respective citizens and migrant populations,” adding that they would continue to collaborate on job creation in Central America and efforts to expand legal migration pathways.

“They also committed to promoting these efforts with key regional partners and in multilateral forums … [with a view to making] a new and and solid declaration about migration and protection,” the statement said.

It also said that López Obrador and Biden spoke about progress in the strengthening of supply chains in North America and “the modernization of our shared border to further strengthen our agricultural and trade activity,” which was recently affected by Texas’s decision to ramp up inspections of trucks crossing the border from Mexico.

The president’s office also noted that López Obrador proposed that all Western Hemisphere countries be invited to the Summit of the Americas. Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are among U.S. antagonists in the region.

In a readout of the call between the two presidents, the White House said Biden spoke with López Obrador to “reaffirm the vision they laid out in the November 2021 North American Leaders’ Summit of a North America that remains the most competitive and dynamic region in the world.”

The politicians spoke about border infrastructure projects that aim to promote legal trade and stop the illegal flow of drugs and weapons. — The politicians spoke about border infrastructure projects that aim to promote legal trade and stop the illegal flow of drugs and weapons, the president’s office said in a statement.

“At a time of immense global challenges, from Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine to economic volatility, the leaders pledged to work together across the breadth and depth of the relationship between our nations,” the White House said.

“President Biden and President López Obrador discussed how our countries can continue to advance our shared economic, climate, energy, and migration management goals in line with the High-Level Economic Dialogue, with a special focus on shoring up North American supply chains.”

The readout said that “in view of the unprecedented flows of migrants from throughout the hemisphere to our two countries, the presidents reiterated the need to build stronger tools for managing regional migration surges.”

“To that end, they agreed to enhance our collaboration to support just, humane and effective efforts to reduce irregular migration and to advance our shared goal that countries throughout the region improve their ability to manage their borders in furtherance of humanitarian and security objectives,” the White House said.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Friday that the “majority of the conversation was about migration” and described the call as “very constructive.”

“This was not a call where President Biden was threatening the Mexican president in any way,” she said, seemingly making a veiled reference to former president Trump’s recent boast that Mexico “folded” and agreed to place troops on its northern border to stem illegal immigration to the U.S. when he threatened in 2019 to impose blanket tariffs on Mexican imports.

López Obrador has repeatedly said that the United States has treated Mexico with respect since he took office in late 2018.

Neither country said that López Obrador and Biden spoke about Mexico’s failure to impose sanctions on Russia in light of its invasion of Ukraine, but a high-ranking U.S. official said before the call that “we obviously hope that they will join us in imposing a cost on the Kremlin for what it is doing … by working with us to enforce sanctions implemented by the United States and our partners.”

The official, who spoke with journalists on condition of anonymity, said the United States and Mexico would inevitably have “different approaches” to responding to Russia’s aggression but added that they had a “common vision” that Vladimir Putin’s war was unjustified.

Mexico has condemned Russia’s invasion, but last month abstained in a United Nations vote that suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights in Ukraine.”

With reports from Milenio and Reforma

Swordfish: this king of the sea turns a meal into a royal feast

By

Janet Blaser

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May 2, 2022

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swordfish tacos — Swordfish tacos, anyone?

First things first: is swordfish safe to eat?

Yes, as long as you’re not eating it every day. Concerns about eating swordfish are rooted in its often high mercury content, a hazard with any fish that lives long, grows large and eats smaller fish (think tuna, shark, marlin).

Mercury accumulates over the lifetime of the fish, attaching to the protein in the flesh; cooking or cleaning won’t remove it. The United States Food and Drug Administration recommends young children, pregnant women and women of childbearing age not eat swordfish; the rest of us are OK eating it a couple of times a week.

The reality is you’d have to eat it every day for months on end in order to possibly be affected by the amount of mercury in the fish.

That’s good news because swordfish is plentiful — and affordable — on both coasts of Mexico.

swordfish neapolitan pasta — Swordfish + Neapolitan pasta = YUM!

Their migratory pattern takes them to cooler waters during hot summer months and warmer waters during the winter. Fishing seasons vary depending on location, but frozen swordfish retains its texture and flavor better than most other fish due to its firm, dense makeup.

Although in the past, swordfish was listed as endangered, tightly regulated fishing and increased awareness changed that. This downloadable consumer guide allows you to check the status of just about every kind of seafood.

In Mexico, swordfish (pez espada) are found in the waters off Baja, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora and Guerrero. They are powerful, predatory fish and travel alone, not in schools. They can often be found at the surface of the water or breaching and are one of the world’s largest and fastest fish, able to swim up to 80 kilometers per hour.

Fresh swordfish is a dull white, with a reddish vein in the center of a whole filet. It’s often compared to chicken. It doesn’t have a fishy or oily taste and indeed can be almost sweet. I like to add cooked chunks to pasta primavera, and Swordfish Piccata (recipe below) has become my go-to when I have dinner guests.

Perhaps the easiest way to cook swordfish is to grill it; unlike most fish, the flesh is firm and meaty. Another simple method is to pan-fry it quickly in an equal mixture of olive oil and butter. For one to two steaks, a tablespoon of each should do, heated till hot and bubbling on medium-high in a cast-iron or nonstick skillet. Wash and pat dry the swordfish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook the steaks (¾ to 1-inch thick) for three to four minutes on each side, turning once.

Cooked either of these ways, swordfish also makes fabulous tacos.

Swordfish Piccata

1½ pounds swordfish, in ¾ -inch slabs
Salt and pepper
½ cup regular flour, sifted
2 Tbsp. olive oil
9 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. finely minced shallot
⅙ cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp. capers
Juice of ½ lemon plus wedges for garnish
1 Tbsp. minced parsley, plus more for garnish

Season swordfish on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour, shaking off excess.

In cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat oil until just smoking over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp. butter until melted and bubbling, about 30 seconds. Place swordfish in pan and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 3–4 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate; remove any excess fat from pan.

While pan is still hot, melt 1 Tbsp. butter, add shallots/onions and cook 30 seconds. Deglaze pan with the wine; reduce by half. Add capers and lemon juice; cook 1 minute. Remove pan from heat, add remaining 6 Tbsp. of butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, swirling pan continuously. Add parsley. Season to taste.

Spoon sauce over fish, garnish with lemons and parsley.

Swordfish au Poivre

4 swordfish steaks, about 1-inch thick, skin removed
Fine sea salt
1½ Tbsp. crushed black peppercorns
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
½ cup cognac or brandy
⅔ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. minced parsley

Heat oven to 150 F. Dust fish lightly with salt and pepper. Have a baking sheet or ovenproof pan big enough to hold fish in a single layer.

Heat oil to medium-hot in a heavy skillet. Sear fish until barely cooked through and still a bit pink in the center, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to baking sheet/ovenproof pan; place in oven and turn off the heat.

Add butter to skillet; add shallot and sauté, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add cognac. Swirl in the pan a minute or so until somewhat reduced and syrupy. Add cream and parsley; continue cooking, stirring, until somewhat thickened.

Remove from heat. Remove fish from oven; serve with sauce poured on top.

Neapolitan Pasta with Swordfish

2 Tbsp. olive oil
¾ lbs. swordfish steaks, skin removed, cut in ¾-inch cubes
Salt and pepper
1½ Tbsp. capers, rinsed and dried
1 Tbsp. thinly sliced garlic
¾ cup canned whole tomatoes, chopped
10 pitted Kalamata olives
½ lb. short pasta, like cavatelli or penne
Grated zest of ½ lemon
1 Tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large nonstick or cast-iron skillet on high; add swordfish pieces in a single layer. Sear about 30 seconds until starting to brown.

Season with salt and pepper; remove to a bowl. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining oil and capers; cook until capers start to crisp and brown. Turn to low, stir in garlic; cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and olives. Cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes; turn off heat.

Meanwhile, cook pasta al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water; add pasta to skillet.

Heat on medium-low, gently folding everything together. Add enough pasta water to make a sauce-like consistency.

Gently add swordfish and lemon zest. Transfer to serving dish, scatter parsley on top and serve.

Swordfish Kebabs with Chimichurri

2 pounds swordfish steaks (at least 1½ inches thick), skinned and cut into 1½ -inch chunks
12 bay leaves (fresh if possible)
2 lemons, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into ¼ -inch slices, seeds removed, plus 1 whole lemon for squeezing
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
Extra-virgin olive oil

To make kebabs, thread swordfish chunks, bay leaves and lemon slices alternately onto bamboo or metal skewers. Arrange in nonreactive baking dish. Season kebabs on all sides with salt and pepper. Squeeze juice from remaining lemon over them. Sprinkle with oregano; drizzle with olive oil. Turn to coat; marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Build a hot fire in your grill. Oil grate; arrange kebabs over fire. Grill until fish is browned, sizzling and cooked through, 2–3 minutes per side. Baste kebabs with a little chimichurri as they cook. Serve with more chimichurri on the side.

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. She has lived in Mexico since 2006. You can find her on Facebook.

Man needs surgery costing US $95,000 after neighbor’s beating

By

MND Staff

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May 2, 2022

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In 2018, Gonzalez and supporters protested the slow government response to his case.

A man who was left quadriplegic after being attacked by a neighbor in Quintana Roo now faces US $95,000 worth of surgery costs.

Roberto González was assaulted in January 2017, at his home in Playa del Carmen after a quarrel with a neighbor.

González and his son had been preparing for a trip to a hot air balloon show in Yucatán when a neighbor’s unruly dog entered their property, González said in an interview with the newspaper Milenio.

“We had an exchange of words. She [Fernanda Salcedo] went for her husband [Rodrigo Galán] and I don’t know what she told him. Her husband came to me … he stunned me with a taser and I went down … When I tried to get up he started beating me and kicking me until he left me quadriplegic,” he said from a wheelchair in an apartment in Mexico City, where he has moved temporarily for access to medical care.

Once a keen sportsman, the attack led to a downward spiral for González.

“My health is very delicate. My body does not work as it did before. I used to be a very involved in sports, I did triathlons, I did open water marathons, I liked to run. I ran almost daily and now I can’t do any of that … My family life was totally destroyed. I had to get a divorce … there isn’t enough money. We had to sell cars, we had to sell everything you can imagine. We almost had to sell our clothes to be able to cope with it,” he said.

An operation previously unavailable in Mexico is now being offered in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and González has requested help on social media to raise US $95,000, hoping to regain some mobility or even walk again.

“It’s not something 100% certain. They don’t guarantee that you’ll be able to move or walk again, but I’m willing to try everything in my power. I dream, I long to walk again. To hug someone again, to be like I was before, or at lease some part of who I was,” he said.

González’s search for justice has been no easier. He launched two legal cases but they have advanced at a sluggish pace and been delayed by 18 amparos — legal injunctions to protect individuals’ constitutional rights — placed by Galán.

“The civil and criminal systems are too slow and they move you from one date to another. Then there is the pandemic and it seems like everyone is on vacation … unfortunately the system is excessively slow. I’m asking the authorities, the justice system, to speed it up … five years, and nothing has been achieved,” he said.

With reports from Milenio

International tourism soared 138% in first three months of the year

By

MND Staff

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May 2, 2022

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International tourist numbers surged in the first quarter, bringing relief to a sector that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions.

More than 5 million international tourists flew into Mexico during the first three months of 2022, an increase of 138.5% compared to the same period of last year.

Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco reported Sunday that 5.02 million international tourists arrived by air between January and March, a figure just 7% below the number of arrivals in the first quarter of 2019.

Over three-quarters of the visitors – 3.88 million or 77% of the total – were from just three countries: the United States, Canada and Colombia.

Torruco said in a statement that 3.18 million Americans flew into the country in the first three months of the year, an increase of 101.2% compared to the same period of 2021.

Coastal resort towns like San José del Cabo (shown) and Cancún were popular destinations. — Coastal resort destinations like San José del Cabo were popular among U.S. tourists.

The number of U.S. tourists, who commonly visit coastal destinations such as Cancún and Los Cabos, was 14.1% higher than in the first, pre-pandemic, quarter of 2019.

Over half a million Canadians – almost 511,000 – flew into Mexico in the first three months of the year, a whopping 1,446% increase over the first quarter of 2021.

Tourism from Canada collapsed early last year after that country’s government reached an agreement with the main Canadian airlines in late January 2021 to temporarily suspend flights to Mexico and Caribbean countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the supercharged first quarter recovery, there is still a lot of ground to make up to reach pre-pandemic numbers for Canadian tourists. Over 1 million flew into Mexico in the first quarter of 2019, or more than double the number who came here in the first three months of 2022.

Colombians were a distant third in terms of the number of international tourists who touched down at the country’s airports between January and March. Just over 185,000 arrived, Torruco said, an increase of 217% compared to the first quarter of 2021.

The figure was 52% higher than in the first three months of 2019, when just under 122,000 Colombians arrived.

Torruco also reported that 3.82 million of the 5.02 million first quarter international tourists entered the country via the Cancún, Mexico City and Los Cabos airports.

The combined number of international arrivals at those three airports represented 76% of the total and was up 134% compared to the first quarter of 2021. However, the figure was 5% below the number for the first quarter of 2019, when just over 4 million foreigners flew into the capital and the country’s two leading resort cities.

Tourism accounted for over 8% of Mexico’s GDP in pre-pandemic times before falling in 2020 due to the slump in international travel. The sector employs more than 4 million Mexicans and is vital to the economy in states such as Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur.

Mexico News Daily

May good dads win the battle for men’s souls: female lives depend on it

By

Sarah DeVries

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April 30, 2022

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Depositphotos_143374663_S — Seeing more Mexican fathers than ever happily taking on childrearing tasks gives the writer hope. deposit photos

There’s a man who attends the March 8 women’s march every year.

He did not march this year, “out of respect for the separatists,” he said, but still, he showed up to show his support dressed in a plastic tunic with his daughter’s face on it and the message, “Don’t forget me, I’m still missing.”

His daughter Esmeralda disappeared in 2009, but he refuses to stay quiet about it. What parent would?

Another striking image of a father that’s recently gone viral is a man in Paraguay, standing alone at night on the side of the road. The photo was taken by his daughter, who says he walks to the bus stop to wait for her every night until she gets home from work.

In the weeks since writing my article on motherhood in Mexico, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about fathers here as well.

I think about my daughter’s father, who has embraced the job of raising her with gusto. We’re not together anymore, but he clearly takes his job as father seriously, guiding her, teaching her, caring for her and protecting her, a far cry from the stereotypical “weekend dad” who only shows up for the fun stuff.

While we might not see eye-to-eye on everything, I do not worry about her when she’s with him because I know that she is safe and happy.

I think about my current partner. He’s not a father himself but has enough caretaking instincts and playful disposition for the both of us, which my daughter benefits from greatly. He often cares for his two-year-old niece for full days at a time. He plays, changes diapers and never, ever loses patience, which is more than I can say for myself.

A couple of weeks ago, when his brother (our niece’s father) came to pick her up, I marveled at the way they cared for her between the two of them. I’ve seen plenty of women during my time in Mexico swoop in to take over childcare responsibilities from men. I do not have the inclination nor the instinct to do so myself and simply sat back to enjoy my after-meal coffee while they busied themselves attending to her needs.

Could things be changing, I thought? Is the definition of fatherhood finally expanding to mean equal involvement of fathers when it comes to the maddening, boring, tedious parts of raising a child?

Among the men around me, it seems to be.

Then again, who’s to say? I can only speak of how things go on in my own house, I suppose. I can only guess at who does the bulk of the domestic and childrearing work in individual homes. Among most of my friends, it’s definitely the women.

Still, though. Seeing more fathers than ever changing diapers and carrying around sparkly school bags gives me hope.

Every woman is somebody’s daughter. Most fathers love their daughters, right? Certainly, the fathers that I know are doting and caring, though to be fair, “the people I know” are not a representative sample of the country.

My biggest questions about the missing women and girls, then, have to do with the identity of the perpetrators of these disappearances, which almost always end in murder.

Do they have daughters? Sisters? Mothers? Do they care about any women, even just specific women, perhaps? Or do they think that women simply shouldn’t exist unless they’re personally useful to them? Do they lack respect for all life or just female life?

Are the perpetrators of these crimes a handful of bad people who commit them over and over again with impunity? Or — much more terrifying — is it a common, widespread crime committed by men who see an opportunity to do something they want with very little chance of getting caught?

I am extremely sad to say this, but the more disappearances there are, the harder it becomes to argue that a handful of psychopaths — and not some dark, misogynist corner of the culture — is to blame for the endurance of this type of crime.

We don’t know if these criminals have daughters they love, because we don’t know who they are. Whoever they are, they’ve so far been great at hiding among us. My terrified guess is that it’s a substantial number.

The most viral image of all lately has been of 18-year-old Debanhi Escobar standing on the side of the road in her skirt and hi-tops. It is believed that after having been sexually assaulted by the taxi driver who was driving her, she insisted on getting out of the taxi. The last photograph of her is the haunting image on the side of the road captured by the taxi driver to “prove she’d gotten out of the car.”

After asking for help at a transport company across the road — whose security tapes from that night have mysteriously disappeared — she disappeared. Her body was found several days later in the subterranean water tank of a nearby motel. Ms. Escobar’s father has accused the Attorney General’s Office of negligence and failing to take his daughter’s disappearance seriously.

When it comes to taking the disappearance of women and girls seriously, I think that at this point we could very well accuse the entire government of ignoring the problem.

During the week that Debanhi was being searched for, after all, there were 80 more disappearances of women and girls in the country, more than half of them between the ages of 10 and 18, a fact that positively turns my stomach.

This was a steep increase from the previous week. What’s not increasing at all is the budget allocated for fighting violence against women.

Someone recently suggested to me that perhaps the media attention femicides receive inadvertently encourages similar crimes, as it’s possible that those with the inkling feel emboldened to go for it, assured that they won’t get caught.

If reporting on these tragedies is truly contributing to more, then we’re in even more serious trouble than I thought.

In this cultural battle for the soul of Mexican men, I just hope the good dads win.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com and her Patreon page.