A reform to the federal Mining Law that nationalizes lithium will take effect this week after it was approved by the Senate on Tuesday.
The law declares that lithium “is an asset of the nation and its exploration, exploitation, extraction and use is reserved in favor of the people of Mexico.”
No new concessions for the mining of the metal – a key component of lithium-ion batteries used in electronic devices and for green energy storage – will be issued to foreign or private companies as a result of the reform, allowing López Obrador to fulfill his pledge to create a state-owned lithium company.
The lower house of Congress approved the reform on Monday, a day after López Obrador’s constitutional bill that would have overhauled the electricity market in favor of the state and nationalized lithium failed to attract support from the required two-thirds of lawmakers.
The Mining Law reform only needed support from a simple majority to pass Congress, which was easily achieved. Eighty-seven senators voted in favor in general terms, 20 voted against it and 16 abstained. López Obrador announced last week that he would send the proposal to Congress if his electricity bill wasn’t approved.
“The lithium is ours,” López Obrador declared at his news conference on Tuesday, recalling “the oil is ours” refrain from the country’s 1938 expropriation of the oil industry from foreign companies. That act is still seen as a landmark expression of sovereignty by Mexican nationalists.
“It was a very good decision yesterday. Let’s see if it acts as a scolding to those who didn’t finish the job,” he added in reference to opposition lawmakers who “thought by blocking the constitutional reform that it was resolved — no, no, no.”
Senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, a mining union boss who represents the ruling Morena party, said the nationalization of lithium allows the wellbeing of the Mexican people to be prioritized.
“What we’re doing is preventing the concentration of large national and foreign monopolies,” he said.
Instead, the state will have a virtual monopoly on lithium extraction, although companies with existing concessions, such as China’s Ganfeng Lithium, are expected to be allowed to remain in the country to mine the metal. However, when asked about the private lithium investment on Tuesday, López Obrador responded: “These contracts have to be reviewed.”
Gustavo Madero, a National Action Party-affiliated senator who is part of an independent “plural group” of upper house lawmakers, questioned why the reform was needed given that the constitution already establishes that the state controls lithium.
‘We’re preventing the concentration of large national and foreign monopolies:’ Morena Senator Gómez.
“What the constitution says is that concessions for lithium [extraction] can’t be issued,” he said, even though close to a dozen companies have existing contracts to explore potential lithium deposits, according to Reuters.
Madero, who voted against the reform, described it as a “consolation prize” for the president given he was unable to get his electricity bill through Congress.
Institutional Revolutionary Party Senator Mario Zamora rebuked Morena lawmakers for seeking to nationalize something that is already the property of the state. “Sunday’s defeat was tough and they want to put something on the table,” he said.
Juan Manuel Fócil, a Democratic Revolution Party senator, warned that a state company for lithium could become like the Federal Electricity Commission and state oil company Pemex – firms “with too much bureaucracy and too much debt.”
“[They’re] inefficient companies that have lost money,” he said.
Analysts expressed bewilderment with the president’s high hopes for lithium, describing his hasty nationalization as more about saving face after the failed energy reform than promoting prosperity. “The lithium initiative is a response to the fact that the electricity reform was not approved. It could be seen as a political gesture to say they didn’t lose,” said Gabriela Siller, head of financial and economic research at Banco Base.
Mexico has large potential reserves of lithium in Sonora and smaller potential deposits in states such as Baja California, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas. However, most of Mexico’s potential reserves are in clay deposits that are technically difficult and expensive to mine, leading to doubts about the state’s capacity to exploit them.
There's plenty of Mexican pomp and circumstance to be had at Puebla city's Cinco de Mayo celebration. This year is the 160th anniversary of the 1862 battle. Government of Mexico
Things are heating up in May, and it’s the perfect time to soak up some fun and engage with locals at traditional fairs or at a modern showpiece event. Also, a last-minute advisory for April: if there’s a Mexican child in your life, don’t make the social faux pas of forgetting Dia del Niño (The Day of the Child) on April 30. It’s a big deal in Mexico; kids are feted in school and get gifts from family and friends.
Also a fairly big deal for Mexicans? The Hot Sale, this year happening May 23–31. This online sales event is often compared to Buen Fin or Black Friday in the United States and is when Mexicans get discounts from major retailers on everything from furniture to flights to beauty products to sports equipment. To find out more or get on an email list for notifications of deals, visit the Hot Sale site.
Here’s the rundown of what’s on in Mexico now and all next month.
• San Marcos Festival, Aguascalientes city (Now–May 8)
This 90-hectare festival in Aguascalientes celebrates its 193rd birthday this year and has something for everyone. The Feria Nacional de San Marcos offers visitors colonial tradition in the bullring, music, nightclubs and family attractions on an artificial lake on San Marcos Island. Most of the big Mexican artists are yet to perform as part of the fair’s palenque concerts, including Gloria Trevi, Christian Nodal, Edith Marquéz and Alejandro Fernández. Find tickets here, but note that when you are taken to the Ticketshop website, you must click the link in the middle of the screen where it says to “remove all filters” in order to see the available shows.
Dallas electronic artist Ishi is one of several artists in the lineup at Cozumel’s Piña Güera Weekend Festival, a three-day dance music event in Cozumel happening May 5–8.
• Expo Festival Guadalupe, Nuevo León (Now–June 12)
A bull-heavy local festival in Nuevo León’s second biggest municipality with over 70 years of tradition. Expo Feria Guadalupe can entertain the kids at the fairground while parents find their way to the beer garden. Last year, the 60 pesos (US $3) at the gate gave people unlimited access to fairground rides.
National Donkey Festival, Otumba, México state (April 29–May 1)
The running of the donkeys in Otumba, known as the Carrera Internacional del Burro, where the beasts of burden are dressed up in local traditional costumes and run five- and 10-kilometer races. If Donald Trump-themed donkeys or a Buzz Lightyear burro sound appealing, then this is a must. Visitors can also watch a donkey polo match.
Note that the information about buying tickets that is listed at the link we provided applies to racers, not spectators.
• Puebla Festival, Puebla city (April 29–May 14)
Puebla’s major festival returns: the Feria de Puebla at the Centro Expositor y de Convenciones de Puebla (Puebla Expo and Convention Center).
Bull running and cockfighting events, plus music from famed Mexican artists such as Carlos Rivera, Banda MS and Los Tigres del Norte. Concerts start at about 11:30 p.m. Tickets cost from 300-3,500 pesos (US $15-172). See all the events here. Any tickets labeled as “Palenque Puebla” are for concerts at the festival.
And if you’re in town anyway, don’t spend Cinco de Mayo in a bar with a bottle of Corona, head downtown to witness a massive spectacle of military might, floats, indigenous performances and more as the city celebrates not only the 160th anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Puebla with its annual Cinco de Mayo parade — in which Mexican forces beat back French invaders — but also the return of the parade, which hasn’t been put on for two years due COVID-19. Also, President López Obrador is scheduled to be the parade marshall this year.
• Santa Cruz Festival, Bernal, Querétaro (May 4)
A UNESCO-recognized festival in the Magical Town of Bernal. Some 50 members of the indigenous Otomi-Chichimeca community form a long line up a large boulder and pass an 85-kilogram wooden cross almost 300 meters up to the top. There, the cross is returned to the small chapel it was taken from earlier in April.
Other events are arranged in Bernal to coincide with the ascent of the cross, including a marathon and a competition between artisan mask makers.
• Piña Güera Festival Weekend, Cozumel, Quintana Roo (May 5–8)
If your ideal weekend is spent relaxing in sun and sand by day and dancing the night away to electronica, pop, funk and soul, this DJ festival is for you. Taking place at two of Cozumel’s boutique hotels, Hotel B Unique and Hotel B Cozumel, tickets are for all-inclusive deals that include lodging, food and alcohol and activities like yoga classes, and for the more adventurous, daytime activities such as snorkeling and diving.
• Pulso GNP Music Festival, Queretaro city, Queretaro (May 7)
If you’re interested more in rock, pop and indie than pure dance music, this one-day festival takes place at Queretaro’s old airfield. The lineup of Mexican and international acts includes Gorillaz, AfroBros, Cold War Kids, The Dears, Carla Morrison, Natanael Cano and Akil Ammar, plus stand-up comedy performances by Michelle Rodríguez, Carlos Ballarta and Karla Camacho. The price is currently 1,500 pesos for general admission tickets and will go up as it gets closer to the concert.
You can also pay more to access special “Tecate Plus” tickets, giving you pit seating close to the main stages and other privileges. Handicapped accessible facilities, including the bathrooms, entrances and stage areas. See the lineup at the Pulso GNP site and buy tickets here.
• May Cultural Festival, Guadalajara/Zapopan/Santiago Tamazola, Jalisco (May 7–29)
The 25th year of Jalisco’s May Cultural Festival (FCM), largely taking place in theaters and venues in Guadalajara. Classical music concerts, interpretive dance, opera and modern theater with an abstract light show promise to keep people entertained.
Tickets for concerts range from 80–600 pesos (US $4–30) and can be purchased here. However, many events are free, including art exhibitions and organ concerts. Artists set to perform at the festival hail not only from Mexico but Ukraine, Denmark, Canada, Japan and the United States.
• Tamasopo Cross-Country Run, Tamasopo, San Luis Potosí (May 8)
A run in the countryside that includes some sizeable obstacles, such as rivers, waterfalls and sugarcane fields. The race begins in the central garden of Tamasopo, a town flush with waterfalls in the indigenous Huasteca region. Runners can opt to go five kilometers, 10 kilometers or the whole 21-kilometer distance.
Unfortunately, signups ended in March, but the festive atmosphere and surrounding natural beauty will undoubtedly be worth soaking up even as an observer.
• Ironman Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León (May 8)
Swimming kicks off the competition in Mexico’s second largest city with a 1.9 kilometers paddle in the Santa Lucia Canal, an artificial river. Racers then mount bicycles to do two laps of a highway (90 kilometers) before three loops of a running track (21 kilometers), with the finish at the Macroplaza, home to the city’s Mexican History Museum.
Registration for the event is still available for US $400, which includes a swimming cap, backpack, food on the day and more.
• Volare hot air balloon festival, Orizaba, Veracruz (May 21)
This festival takes place near Mexico’s highest mountain with a musical lineup that includes Argentine rockers Babasónicos, tecnocumbia group Mi Banda el Mexicano and rock band El Gran Silencio. Tickets can be found here for 599 pesos (US $30) or 299 pesos (US $15) for children. Tickets include – subject to availability – a 15 meter ride 100 meters above the event in a hot air balloon.
• The National Festival of Cheese and Wine, Tequisquiepan, Querétaro (May 20–June 5)
Few things combine better than a selection of cheeses, and a few glasses of wine. 50,000 people are expected for the 42nd edition of the annual event which will take place in the magical town of Tequisquiepan on three consecutive weekends. Art and fashion exhibitions and concerts accompany the culinary offering.
Tickets to the event for a day are available for 250 pesos (US $12.50). This year Spain is invited to showcase the quality of its cheese and wine.
Heart of Mexico Wine Tours is offering a 3 day/4 night getaway for the festival that includes a hotel stay, admission to the festival, visits to wineries, wine and beer tasting and some meals included. Visit this link for more information.
• Born To Be Wine, near Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato (May 28)
The festival combines wine and food at the Cuna de Tierra vineyard, 12 kilometers outside of Dolores Hidalgo, before the DJs arrive for an all-out electronic music party.
Tickets are available here for 1,550 pesos (US $78). The tickets include a free bar and transport to and from San Miguel de Allende, where you can catch outbound transportation.
'Welcome to Zacatecas,' but not if you're a US government employee. Roberto Galan / Shutterstock.com
The U.S. Embassy has issued a security alert to U.S. citizens for Zacatecas due to a cartel turf war, introducing new restrictions on travel for U.S. government workers.
The alert orders employees not to travel to the state, with the exception of air travel to and from Zacatecas city. “U.S. government employees may not travel to Zacatecas city overland,” the statement said.
The alert urges travelers to pay close attention to their surroundings and monitor local media and call 911 in case of an emergency.
The statement said that violence and kidnapping in the state had intensified and that U.S. citizens there could be at risk. “Zacatecas state has experienced violent turf battles between cartels. The state’s homicide rate in 2021 was more than double the previous year’s rate and was the highest in Mexico. U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) have been victims of kidnapping,” the statement read.
The U.S. Department of State didn’t include Zacatecas on a Do Not Travel advisory on April 13. That advisory told people to reconsider travel to the state, along with Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, México state, Morelos, Nayarit and Sonora. It instructed people to not travel to Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas. A separate security alert specific to Colima was released in early April.
The April 13 advisory recommended increased caution in all other states except Campeche and Yucatán, where normal precautions were recommended. It also instructed citizens to reconsider travel to Mexico due to COVID-19.
Zacatecas is the scene of a bloody turf war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel that has displaced thousands of people. It is far and away Mexico’s most violent state in terms of homicides per capita, which increased by 143% between 2020 and 2021, according to figures released by the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System. Fresnillo, the state’s second biggest city, was identified as unsafe by 94.3% of residents who participated in a security survey in October.
Police have also felt the effects of the turf war: eight municipalities in Zacatecas had few or no police in November because officers abandoned their jobs due to high levels of violence. The civic group Causa en Común said 16 officers were murdered in the state in the first three months of the year, the highest number in the country. About 80% of state police officers went on an 11 day strike earlier this month.
The government launched Operation Zacatecas II in November, sending almost 4,000 troops to the state in an effort to keep order.
Insect sculptures by Amador Montes, on display at Chapultepec park.
Visitors to Mexico City’s Chapultepec park can now enjoy an art installation made up of eight giant insect sculptures.
The sculptures, which together form the “El lago de las típulas” (The Lake of the Crane Flies) installation, were erected in the Chapultepec botanical gardens for the Chapultepec Forest Insect Festival, which was held between April 14 and 17, but will remain on permanent display.
The 2.5-meter-high bronze sculptures were made by well known artist Amador Montes, a native of Oaxaca.
“They come from a short story I made when I was a kid in Oaxaca,” he told the newspaper Milenio.
Montes said that he first dreamed of the insects when he was seven, before turning the images he saw into drawings and paintings. He said his story featured “some mosquitoes that arrived after a day of rain.”
“[They were] big mosquitos with very long legs. Later I found out they’re called tipulas [commonly known as crane flies], but in my imagination they were mosquitoes that arrived to help a community that been been through a storm that I created myself,” the artist said.
Montes said that creating large-format sculptures of the insects he dreamed about in his childhood made him “very happy.”
“Mosquitoes are a very important part of me. I’ve painted many pictures of these insects, they’ve been with me. I love their form, they’re very beautiful to draw, with their very long legs, … they’re very aesthetic,” he said.
The sculptures are based on “drawings and characters I made when I was little,” Montes added. “They remain with me and they will be with me for a long time. … [The sculptures] are like a part of me … made in bronze.”
In a separate interview with El Heraldo de México, the artist said the sculptures turned out exactly as he planned and dreamed them.
Artworks in public spaces can “change the context” of their setting and “speak to people,” Montes said. “In addition, [my installation] is an invitation to reflect about the environment,” he said.
Mexico City Environment Minister Marina Robles said at the inauguration of the public art display that over 20 million Mexicans and foreigners visit Chapultepec park every year. “Having Amador’s work [here] is a privilege and we accept it with a lot of affection,” she said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its 2022 economic growth forecast for Mexico to just 2% from 2.8% in January.
In its April World Economic Outlook report, the IMF also lowered its 2023 forecast for the Mexican economy, predicting that GDP will increase 2.5% next year, a 0.2% decrease compared to its 2.7% prediction three months ago.
Mexico’s GDP slumped over 8% in 2020 due to the pandemic and associated restrictions, but recovered strongly with growth of 5% last year.
Subtitled “War Sets Back the Global Recovery,” the new IMF report said that global economic prospects have worsened significantly since the January World Economic Outlook was published.
“At the time, we had projected the global recovery to strengthen from the second quarter of this year after a short-lived impact of the omicron variant. Since then, the outlook has deteriorated, largely because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – causing a tragic humanitarian crisis in Eastern Europe – and the sanctions aimed at pressuring Russia to end hostilities,” the intergovernmental financial institution said.
“This crisis unfolds while the global economy was on a mending path but had not yet fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a significant divergence between the economic recoveries of advanced economies and emerging market and developing ones.”
The IMF’s Mexico forecasts for 2022 and 2023 are well below those of the federal Finance Ministry, which updated its predictions at the start of April t0 3.4% for this year and 3.5% for next. President López Obrador has typically been more optimistic than his own government with regard to growth prospects and has routinely dismissed forecasts made by international organizations such as the IMF.
The organization’s April Outlook noted that inflation had surged in many economies even prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “because of soaring commodity prices and pandemic-induced supply-demand imbalances.”
Inflation in Mexico reached a 20-year high of 7.37% in November, while it was 7.29% in the first half of March. The IMF projects that consumer prices will increase 5.9% in Mexico this year and 3.4% in 2023.
It noted that central banks in some emerging markets and developed economies, “such as the US Federal Reserve and those in Latin America,” came under pressure due to inflation before the war in Ukraine, which caused them to bring forward the timing of their monetary policy tightening.
The Bank of México has raised rates at all of its last seven meetings. Its current benchmark rate – 6.5% – is 2.5% higher than it was a year ago.
In a World Economic Outlook sub-section on Latin America and the Caribbean, the IMF said the region is “expected to be more affected by inflation and policy tightening” in the near future.
“Brazil has responded to higher inflation by increasing interest rates 975 basis points over the past year, which will weigh on domestic demand. To a lesser extent, this is also the case in Mexico,” the World Economic Outlook report said.
“The downgrades to the forecasts for the United States and China also weigh on the outlook for trading partners in the region. Overall growth for the region is expected to moderate to 2.5% during 2022–23,” the IMF said.
It cut its 2022 forecast for the United States – Mexico’s largest trading partner – to 3.7% from 4% in January, while the outlook for China was downgraded to 4.4% from 4.8%.
The IMF is projecting worldwide growth of 3.6% in 2022 and 2023, reductions of 0.8% and 0.2%, respectively, compared to January. It predicts Ukraine’s economy will contract 35% this year and that Russia’s GDP will decline 8.5%.
“The severe collapse in Ukraine is a direct result of the invasion, destruction of infrastructure, and exodus of its people. In Russia, the sharp decline reflects the impact of the sanctions with a severing of trade ties, greatly impaired domestic financial intermediation, and loss of confidence,” the fund said.
“The economic effects of the war are spreading far and wide – like seismic waves that emanate from the epicenter of an earthquake – mainly through commodity markets, trade, and financial linkages. … The war adds to the series of supply shocks that have struck the global economy over the course of the pandemic, contributing to more shortages beyond the energy and agricultural sectors. Through closely integrated global supply chains, production disruptions in one country can very quickly cascade globally,” the IMF said.
The borough of Coyoacán is used to tourist crowds, but residents say that motorcycle groups began arriving en masse about six months ago. Aditum Creativos/Shutterstock
Invasions of motorcyclists in an upmarket Mexico City borough are proving a nuisance for citizens, who say they feel in danger.
The quaint Coyoacán borough, in southern Mexico City, is an intellectual and artistic hub, once home to artist Frida Kahlo and site of the main campus of the National Autonomous University (UNAM).
Residents of the borough are used to tourists and daytrippers flooding the main squares and museums on weekends and vacations. However, people in Colonia del Carmen say 100-strong biker caravans have arrived frequently over the last six months, generally at night, mounting sidewalks, riding the wrong way down roads and parking their vehicles in a church courtyard and in two of Coyoacán’s well-preserved public gardens.
At night, when the motorcycle engines roar, sensitive car alarms go off, residents said.
Colonia del Carmen resident Gilberto Kapellmann told the newspaper Reforma that the bikers were going unchallenged and putting people’s lives at risk.
Residents say the bikers, who clog streets and parks and set off car alarms with the roar of their bikes, make them feel unsafe. Internet
“My daughter and I were almost run over outside the door of my house when we tried to step out onto the sidewalk … dozens of motorcyclists were allowed to harass us … they never slowed down. They forced us to step aside and wait for them to pass. They can do it because nobody tells them anything,” he said.
“The truth is that it’s very difficult to get around with 100 guys [on motorcycles] … they are in front of the police, doing whatever they want,” Kapellmann added.
He’s reported the issue to the local government but law enforcement is ignoring the problem, he said. The security operation doesn’t work, he claimed.
“It has no presence, and it has never solved anything,” he said. “The police have a permanent patrol … but it seems that they’ve been given the instruction to show their presence and nothing more and to not attend to anything.”
Since Kapellmann’s comments to Reforma, the local government has said it had agreed with Mexico City security authorities to prevent the riders from entering the borough by cutting off road access.
The head of the borough’s citizen security, Aurora Cruz Ramírez, said the local government would be informed by city officials from a monitoring center when a large concentration of motorists is detected, allowing them to take action.
Cruz added that the motorcycle caravans could be tracked effectively, as they normally arrive from northern Mexico City.
Holy Week tourist numbers exceeded expectations in some of Mexico’s most popular destinations, bringing much-needed revenue to businesses that have suffered during the past two years due to the pandemic-related economic and tourism downturn.
Authorities in Guerrero estimate that over 220,000 national and international tourists holidayed in the so-called Triángulo del Sol (Sun Triangle) between April 11 and and 17.
The region includes the coastal resorts of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa and the colonial city of Taxco. Average hotel occupancy was 71% and tourists injected some 2.3 billion pesos (US $114.6 million) into the state economy, according to Guerrero authorities.
Tourism Minister Santos Ramírez Cuevas said that just over 166,000 tourists – three-quarters of the total – vacationed in Acapulco. He said that hotel occupancy in the Pacific coast city was 68.6%, while 58.4% of timeshare accommodation units and 50% of other vacation dwellings were occupied. The tourist-generated economic spillover was estimated at 1.91 billion, or over 80% of the Triángulo del Sol total.
The influx of visitors to Mazatlán, Sinaloa, was almost four times higher than the number who vacationed in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa and Taxco, but tourists spent far less on average.
According to municipal authorities, a record high of approximately 800,000 people visited “The Pearl of the Pacific” during Holy Week and collectively spent 1.11 billion pesos (US $54.8 million). Based on those figures, tourists spent an average of 1,375 pesos (US $68) each, compared to 10,454 pesos (US $521) per person in Guerrero. That apparently indicates that tourists spent significantly less time in Mazatlán than they did in Triángulo del Sol destinations, perhaps because they couldn’t find anywhere to stay. Mazatlán authorities said hotel occupancy over the Easter weekend was 100%.
Los Cabos, located due west of Mazatlán on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, welcomed over 100,000 tourists during the Easter vacation period, according to municipal tourism director Donna Jeffries. She said tourists spent an estimated 265 million pesos (US $13.2 million) into the local economy, or about 2,650 pesos (US $132) each.
Meanwhile, the Quintana Roo Tourism Ministry said that just under 1.18 million tourists were expected to visit the Caribbean coast state in an extended Easter vacation period that will end Sunday. Tourism-generated revenue is predicted to add up to US $972 million, which would be 67% higher than income during the same period of 2021. That figure equates to about US $820 per tourist. Quintana Roo is home to numerous tourism destinations including Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cozumel and Isla Mujeres.
Veracruz authorities estimated that some 1 million tourists would visit the Gulf Coast state over the Easter vacation period and spend over 700 million pesos (US $34.9 million). But based on preliminary data from various Veracruz municipalities, tourism revenue is expected to be double that amount, the newspaper Milenio reported.
Farther north on the Gulf coast, over 90,000 tourists flocked to Miramar beach in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, on Good Friday. Some 1.3 million visitors arrived in the northern border state over Easter week, municipal and state authorities said.
Tourists from the United States – Mexico’s No. 1 market for international visitors – undoubtedly bolstered numbers in some destinations.
Citing information from the United States Department of Commerce, Tourism Minister Miguel Torruco said Monday that Mexico was the most popular international destination for U.S. travelers last year. Of all international trips undertaken by U.S. citizens in 2021, 58.4% were to Mexico, he said.
By contrast, only 4.3% of trips were to Canada, while 13% were to Caribbean countries; 10.7% to Europe; 5.3% to Central America; 3.1% to the Middle East; 2.9% to South America; 1.3% to Asia; 0.7% to Africa; and 0.1% to Oceania, Torruco said in a statement.
The tourism minister said that air arrivals to Mexico by U.S. citizens increased 100.9% last year to 10.07 million, just 0.3% short of the figure for 2019, when 10.1 million Americans flew into the country.
The Mérida judge issued the injuction based on environmental concerns raised by speleologists in a lawsuit last month. File photo
A judge in Mérida, Yucatán, has issued a provisional suspension order against the construction of the Maya Train railroad between the Quintana Roo resort towns of Playa del Carmen and Tulum due to environmental concerns.
In response to a lawsuit filed by a civil society organization on behalf of three speleologists from Playa del Carmen, the judge ruled that all work on the southern portion of section 5 of the railroad must stop due to the “imminent risk” of “irreversible damage” to the Mayan jungle, caves, subterranean rivers and cenotes (natural sinkholes) and the absence of environmental studies and permits.
According to the newspaper El Universal, which obtained a copy of the ruling, Adrián Fernando Novelo Pérez ruled that work on the Quintana Roo section, which began in February, isn’t being carried out in accordance with standards that afford “the highest protection to the environment and water of the affected communities.”
The federal government modified the route for section 5 of the 1,500-kilometer railroad earlier this year, moving the Cancún-Tulum stretch inland after the business community in Playa del Carmen complained about its construction through the center of the coastal resort city.
Earlier this month, work uncovered the nearly two-mile-long main entrance to the Angry Wasp cavern system, prompting renewed environmental concerns. Twitter
The ruling handed down by the Mérida-based judge, which prohibits developers from clearing any additional swathes of jungle, will remain in effect until a decision on a definitive suspension order is made.
Filed late last month by the Cancún based organization Defendiendo el Derecho al Medio Ambiente (Defending the Right to the Environment), the lawsuit questioned why environmental protection agency Profepa hasn’t intervened to stop work on the Quintana Roo section given that environmental studies haven’t been completed and permits haven’t been issued.
The judge acknowledged that there is no evidence that an environmental impact study has been carried out and cited a Supreme Court precedent that establishes that the execution of a project without environmental authorization is “sufficient to consider that the ecosystem in which it will be developed has been placed at risk.”
Novelo’s ruling was thus based on the precautionary principle – enshrined in the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, which assumes there is potential for harm when there is a lack of information to the contrary.
Other court orders have temporarily stopped work on the Maya Train railroad – which will run through Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas and is scheduled to begin operations next year – but they haven’t managed to definitively halt the project, one of the federal government’s signature infrastructure projects.
President López Obrador has said that environmental studies for section 5 of the railroad are underway and has not expressed concern about the commencement of work before their completion. He has repeatedly defended the US $8 billion railroad from an environmental standpoint and described those opposed to the project as “pseudo-environmentalists.”
The train will run through the states of Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.
On Tuesday, López Obrador claimed that “international organizations” are partially funding the campaign against the Maya Train.
“There is a campaign against the Maya Train with political, not environmental, aims, financed by international organizations and Mexican businesspeople and they’re using pseudo-environmentalists,” he said.
“There may be people concerned about the environment but in general it’s people without convictions, without moral scruples of any kind,” López Obrador said.
“… There are more and more environmentalists who didn’t [previously] exist, who weren’t present,” he told reporters at his regular news conference.
López Obrador repeated his objection to the United States government funding “groups that act in Mexico” that are “against us, like Claudio X. González’s group and [those of] other people who oppose us,” including environmental associations.
President López Obrador claims “international organizations” are funding a campaign against the Maya Train and dismisses environmental concerns. File photo
The federal government last year sent a diplomatic note to its counterpart asking it to explain why it had provided funding to MCCI, which has exposed alleged corruption within the López Obrador administration.
In 2021, the president repeatedly railed against the U.S. government’s funding of Mexican civil society organizations that he regards as opponents of his administration.
But despite López Obrador calling on it to stop funding what he described as political groups that disguise themselves as NGOs, the U.S. government announced last June that it would in fact increase support to international partners committed to the elimination of corruption.
On Tuesday, AMLO also repeated his defense of the Maya Train project from an environmental point of view.
Section 5 of the railroad “respects subterranean rivers and doesn’t affect cenotes,” he said. “So much so that the farmers, community landowners and small landholders all gave their consent.”
López Obrador said that the government will review the ruling handed down by the Mérida-based judge before questioning where he, and people who purport to be environmentalists, were when projects that caused damage to the environment of the Yucatán Peninsula were previously carried out.
“Stop hating Russians” was the message from the Russian Embassy after an orchestra in Zacatecas excluded an overture by composer Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky last Thursday.
The Zacatecas Concert Band traditionally closes its Holy Thursday concert with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, accompanied by the firing of cannons and the ringing of church bells. But the band’s director, Salvador García y Ortega, decided the work would be dropped in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
García said the concert stood for peace and that playing the famous composition would be inappropriate. “The 1812 Overture is a war anthem of the Russians … we cannot play [it] now that they are the conquerors of the world. Everyone can see that they are massacring the Ukrainians,” he said.
“In many countries the overture was banned. The director of the Chicago Orchestra has just been fired for playing the overture. It would be like celebrating what’s happening” in Ukraine, García added.
The Russian Embassy responded on Twitter on Monday morning accusing García of xenophobia. “Concerning news: the director of the Concert Band of the state of Zacatecas, Mr. Salvador García y Ortega, decided to exclude the piece by Tchaikovsky … Such a decision helps feed a campaign that seeks to dehumanize women, children, the elderly, athletes, musicians, artists, absolutely everyone, based on a single criterion: being Russian. Undoubtedly, it is another regrettable example of Russophobia that apparently is gaining more and more ground on Mexican soil,” the post read.
The hashtag #DejaDeOdiaralosRusos (Stop hating Russians) was attached to the post.
The overture’s omission proved controversial within Mexico. Cultural commentator Víctor Ramos Colliere said it was a divisive decision. “The Concert Band of the state of Zacatecas fell into the terrible error of an international policy of dividing, isolating and vetoing … we must understand that Tchaikovsky’s work is no longer just from Russia, it belongs to the whole of humanity. In dark times of humanity the only thing … which dissipates borders and becomes a universal language is art. The contributions that a country has given to humanity cannot be vetoed due to phobias,” he said.
Ramos added that Ukraine and Russia should be dealt an even hand. “If the intention was a concert for peace, the ideal thing would be to interpret Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and … a work representing Ukraine, giving the message that ideological differences can be left for a moment through the universality of art,” he said.
Rosario Ibarra de Piedra was arguably Mexico's most well-known activist for justice for the disappeared.
Rosario Ibarra de Piedra — a political and social activist who fought for justice for Mexico’s thousands of missing persons, led the search for them and became the country’s first female presidential candidate — died in Monterrey, Nuevo León, on Saturday at the age of 95.
The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) announced her death on Twitter, describing her as a “tireless activist” and a “pioneer in the defense of human rights, peace and democracy in Mexico.”
No cause of death was given, but her health had been deteriorating for several years.
The CNDH — whose president is Ibarra’s daughter, Rosario Piedra Ibarra — also noted that her mother was the founder of the Eureka Committee, which the CNDH described as “one of the first organizations of mothers, fathers and relatives of missing persons.”
Born in Saltillo, Coahuila, in 1927, Ibarra reached the defining point of her life in 1974, when her son Jesús – a member of a communist guerrilla group – disappeared. His abduction allegedly occurred at the hands of authorities after he was accused of murdering a police officer.
At public events, Ibarra de Piedra frequently wore a photo of her missing son, Jesús, who was the impetus for her to become an activist for the disappeared in Mexico.
Jesús’ disappearance came amid Mexico’s Dirty War, an internal conflict from the 1960s to the 1980s in which successive Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governments violently repressed left-wing student and guerrilla groups.
Ibarra, who never definitively found out what happened to her son, subsequently embarked on what would become a decades-long fight against enforced disappearances and for justice for victims. Her impassioned struggle turned her into Mexico’s most prominent social activist.
In 1977, she formed Comité ¡Eureka! due to the lack of progress on her son’s case and as its leader fronted countless protests that denounced the involvement of the government in enforced disappearances and called for the release of political prisoners. One of the best-remembered was a 1978 hunger strike outside Mexico City’s main cathedral, where demonstrations were officially banned.
The Eureka committee, largely made up of other mothers searching for their missing children, documented more than 500 disappearances during the 1970s that were allegedly perpetrated by the state. It has succeeded in locating over 100 people who disappeared but were not killed by their abductors.
In 1982, as she continued to fight for justice for her son and other missing persons, Ibarra represented the now-defunct Workers Revolutionary Party (PRT) in the presidential election, becoming the first woman to run for the country’s top job. She attracted less than 2% of the vote but nevertheless represented the same party at the 1988 election, at which she fared even worse.
Although she garnered few votes, her participation in the elections, as the first female presidential candidate in Mexico’s history, was still significant. Only five other women have appeared on a presidential ballot in Mexico, including former first lady Margarita Zavala, who pulled out of the 2018 race before election day.
Ibarra de Piedra was awarded the Belisario Domínguez medal in 2019, the Mexican Senate’s highest award, but due to health problems, her daughter, left, accepted the award. Senate
Ibarra served as a deputy for the Trotskyist PRT between the 1982 and 1988 elections before later joining the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), which she represented in the lower house of Congress between 1994 and 1997 and in the Senate between 2006 and 2012.
For her unflagging activism in favor of missing persons and their families, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on four occasions but never won the award.
However, in 2019, Ibarra was awarded the Mexican Senate’s highest award, the Belisario Domínguez medal, although she didn’t attend the conferral ceremony due to her health problems and asked President López Obrador to hold it for her while the country’s missing persons problem — there are today more than 95,000 such people — remained unresolved.
“I don’t want my fight to be left unfinished. That’s why I leave such a precious recognition in the custody of your hands and ask you to return it to me together with the truth about the whereabouts of our beloved and missed children and relatives,” she said in a letter to the president, to whom she presented a presidential sash in a mock ceremony after he claimed fraud cost him the 2006 election won by Felipe Calderón.
López Obrador, a member of the PRI and the PRD before founding what is now the ruling Morena party, acknowledged Ibarra’s passing in a Twitter post on Saturday, writing that she will “always remind us of the most profound love for children and solidarity with those suffering due to the disappearance of their loved ones.”
“She supported us at all times and I will never forget that my mother voted for her for president of the republic,” he added in a second post. “A hug to her children and to her many followers and friends.”
Ibarra de Piedra in 1988 in an election fraud protest with fellow candidates Manuel Clouthier, center, and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. Tatiana Clouthier
Among the many other public figures who lamented the death of Ibarra was Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier, whose father ran against her in the 1988 election. Manuel Clouthier, who represented the National Action Party at the election; Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, who stood for the National Democratic Front; and Ibarra joined forces to denounce fraud at the 1988 vote, which was won by PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
“I deeply lament the death of Rosario Ibarra de Piedra,” Tatiana Clouthier wrote on Twitter in a post that included a photo of her father with Cárdenas and Ibarra during a protest following the 1988 election, which is widely accepted to have indeed been fraudulent.
“[She was a] tireless woman who paved the way for mothers looking for their disappeared children and who, like few others, transitioned to a clean political career. In my family, we will remember with affection her sensitive words when my father died,” Clouthier said.
