Milenio confirmed that roughly 4 million pesos worth of medications expired before they were delivered to hospitals, but workers claim the figure is much higher.
Medications worth millions of pesos were left to expire in a filthy makeshift storage facility used by the Mexico City Health Ministry (Sedesa), according to workers.
Three large tents were set up on the grounds of Sedesa’s central storage facility early last year to store a range of medications and medical supplies while the site’s permanent warehouse underwent repairs.
The storage facility is supposed to keep medications and medical supplies in optimal conditions prior to distribution to Mexico City hospitals, but one tent was filled with stagnant water and trash and smelled of cat urine, according to a report by the newspaper Milenio.
A storage center worker told Milenio that medications – including pediatric cancer drugs – and medical supplies were removed from the permanent facility without proper precautions being taken.
“All the medications and materials should have been [kept] in a cool, uncontaminated place,” he said, conditions that clearly weren’t met.
Methotrexate, a cancer drug which has been in short supply, was one of many medications that expired before it was delivered to hospitals.
“A lot of medications expired, an estimated 40 million pesos [almost US $2 million] worth of medications expired because they weren’t delivered [to hospitals],” the worker added.
Milenio said it had access to the central storage facility’s database and was able to confirm that approximately 4 million pesos worth of medications, including the cancer drug methotrexate, which has been in short supply in Mexico, expired before they were delivered to hospitals.
The worker said that a consignment of another cancer drug was destroyed because it got wet. Workers at the storage facility also claim that medications and medical supplies that were contaminated due to inadequate storage were distributed to Mexico City hospitals during the pandemic. Among them was a 424-bed coronavirus field hospital that has been described as world class.
“Amid the pandemic, from 2020 to 2021, mistreated and contaminated essential personal protective equipment and medications were distributed,” the unidentified worker said.
“… We said, how is it possible that surgical gowns they’re using in the pandemic can be [stored] in the humidity, in the middle of trash?”
Sedesa denied the claim that medications and supplies were improperly stored, telling Milenio they are subject to “strict supervision processes.”
Two of the three makeshift storage tents have now been taken down as the permanent facility is once again in operation.
Workers have blamed two high-ranking Sedesa officials for the expiry of medications and distribution of contaminated drugs and supplies, and claim that their objective is not to unduly discredit the Mexico City government led by Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.
“… I’m not interested in taking her down, I just want justice,” Milenio‘s informant said.
By following a few prudent rules of conduct, the writer has managed to live in peace in Mazatlán for several years.
I moved to Mexico the same year as ex-president Felipe Calderón began his disastrous war on drugs, in 2006.
That year, the murder rate for the state of Sinaloa was 22 people per 100,000. Just the year before, it was only eight per 100,000. (The United States has five per 100,000.) By 2011, it had jumped to 50.
Mr. Calderón’s actions fragmented the cartels from three major criminal organizations, which had been somewhat organized and stable, into a full-blown free-for-all.
For several years afterward, full-color pictures of men and boys with ventilated craniums and with thumbs wired behind their backs were plastered across the pages of the local rags every single day. Just standing in front of a local newsstand and perusing the front pages was not for the faint of heart.
The Zetas — a spinoff of the Gulf Cartel that happen to be the most vicious of the cartels, offering murder for hire, extortion and kidnapping in addition to their drug business — were challenging the Sinaloa Cartel throughout western Mexico.
President Calderón’s war on drugs deployed the military to fight organized crime.
Here in Mazatlán, there were shoot-outs in the colonias (residential neighborhoods), executions in several cantinas and shootings in nightclubs, along with the daylight murder of a Mexican man directly in front of gringo tourists at a popular hotel. At this point, even the expat community was nervous, and many did not venture out at night.
In 2011, when Calderón came to town to assure the general population that he was doing his best to kill or capture the bad guys, he was greeted with a large banner erected in the plaza where he was due to speak. It simply said: “Mr. Calderón, leave the Zetas to us.”
By the following year, the Sinaloa Cartel had eliminated the threat of the Zetas in western Mexico. Of course, at the end of that year, the body count was approaching that of a central African nation after an election, but things felt safer.
During these troubled years, all the Anglo news services were slamming Mexico like a screen door in a hurricane. Month after month, for almost four years, the Canadian and the United States state departments were issuing dire travel warnings about Mexico: don’t go — you’ll die.
Ten years ago, the excessive carnage in Mexico was due almost exclusively to bad guys whacking bad guys. When I wrap what’s left of my mind around this concept, I ultimately think I’m OK with it; let them kill each other.
I know that a few people who are not targeted will die, but for the most part the narcos were fairly selective with their exterminations, very much unlike Detroit or south central Los Angeles, where a kid could get shot for his tennis shoes. (I have often wondered why they don’t issue travel warnings for certain U.S. cities where random violence is not uncommon.)
The writer lived through some of Mazatlán’s worst periods of violence but found that it mostly consisted of criminals targeting other criminals.
However, as capture nets were flung far and wide by law enforcement, cartel members scattered into splinter groups and began forming their own criminal cartels. Soon, besides drug cartels, there were avocado-stealing cartels, gasoline- and diesel-stealing cartels, extortion cartels and human trafficking cartels. Carjacking has also increased, but unlike carjacking in the U.S., here in Mexico the passengers are rarely harmed.
Lately, several of the newer and more vicious cartels have begun to kill entire families, as well as reporters who have written unflattering anecdotes about their activities. The violence is also more widespread but is still always connected to some type of criminal enterprise.
The unfortunate consequence of this ill-conceived war on drugs has been to violently stir a seething cauldron of greed and corruption. When you have an activity that generates US $35 billion to $50 billion each year, there is no hope to control it, and the idea of stopping it is pure fantasy.
One school of experts tells us that the only way to make it disappear is to eliminate its lucrative nature; take the money out. But all views concede that while the legalization of all drugs would likely end the drug wars, it would also unleash a horde of newly unemployed criminals upon society. The displaced narcos would have an extremely limited set of skills, most of which fail to contribute to the common good.
So, what does all this mean for those of us who live here? I have always felt safe living in Mexico, even during the worst years of the violence. But how do you convey your sense of safety to friends and families who think El Chapo is your next-door neighbor? Do we need to run out and get Kevlar vests and armored vehicles? “Barricade the condo, Mabel, the narcos are storming the gates!”
The simple answer is that those of us who live here cannot adequately express our feeling of personal safety to someone who has never been in the country. Most people north of the border equate the violence in Mexico as similar to that of the worst of the urban areas in the U.S. but with a higher body count. But the difference between the two is the random nature of the bloodshed in the United States. Here in Mexico, post offices are not free-fire zones and school shootings are nearly nonexistent.
It’s tough to convince loved ones in the US that you’re safe living in Mexico when they think you live next door to “El Chapo” Guzmán.
This does not mean that as an expat you are safe from any type of criminal encounter; it’s just that you stand a far better chance of surviving one in Mexico.
However, I still have a few friends in the States who think I am going to be gunned down any day now. I don’t mean to downplay the violence and corruption, but criminal cartels are now a part of life in Mexico — and will be for the foreseeable future.
I believe that all the expats who live in Mexico have their own set of guidelines for steering clear of the criminal elements; I know I do.
For example, gone are my days of handling large amounts of cocaine or bales of pot. I have also given up my opium smoking and no longer make rude hand gestures to SUVs with blacked-out windows.
So, always be aware of your surroundings and act accordingly. We are still better off here than in urban areas of the U.S.
(Note: Bodie Kellogg was kidnapped two weeks ago. Last week, his captors raised their offer to 10 cases of Pacífico to anyone who will come and take him off their hands.)
The writer describes himself as a very middle-aged man who lives full-time in Mazatlán with a captured tourist woman and the ghost of a half-wild dog. He can be reached at [email protected].
Sí por México leaders Gustavo de Hoyos, Argelia Núñez, Beatriz Páges and Claudio X. González hold a banner advertising their goal: 'Unity to build a winning Mexico for all and throw Morena out of the National Palace.'
A political movement opposed to the government of President López Obrador announced Wednesday it will seek to convince opposition parties to band together and put forward a common candidate to contest the 2024 presidential election.
The leaders of Sí por México (Yes for Mexico) said they will seek an alliance between the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and the Citizens Movement (MC) party.
“The goal is to have a large opposition coalition …” said Gustavo de Hoyos, former president of the Mexican Employers Federation.
Speaking at an event in Mexico City to mark the first anniversary of the formation of Sí por México, de Hoyos said that other opposition forces could also join the coalition, adding that the objective is to kick the ruling Morena party out of office in 2024.
“We want to have a unity presidential candidate of the entire opposition in order to win in 2024,” he said, without offering the names of any possible contenders.
Former PAN lawmaker and 2018 presidential candidate Ricardo Anaya appears to be a likely choice for the 2024 candidate of the opposition.
Claudio X. González, a businessman and another Sí por México leader, claimed that the opposition is well positioned to win government in 2024.
He noted that the PAN-PRI-PRD alliance that contested this year’s midterm elections under the Va por México (Go for Mexico) banner achieved its main objective of stripping Morena and its allies of its supermajority in the lower house of Congress.
That result, González added, will avoid the approval of constitutional reforms that are harmful for the country. The businessman, an outspoken critic of López Obrador and his government, also said the PAN, PRI, PRD and MC garnered approximately 2 million more votes than Morena at the midterm elections.
“The opposition defeated the ruling party at the June 6 election,” he said, although Morena retained control of the Chamber of Deputies and won 10 of 15 gubernatorial races.
“The main lesson we learned at the last election is that Morena is not invincible and that the opposition – Va por México and Citizens Movement, in other words – can win the presidential election together and the mayoralty of Mexico City in 2024,” González said.
If opposition parties do decide to support a common candidate – 2018 presidential candidate and former PAN lawmaker Ricardo Anaya currently appears to be the most likely choice – he or she will most likely come up against current Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum or Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, suggests a new national telephone poll conducted by the newspaper El Universal.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, a close ally of the president, is one possible pick for the Morena party presidential candidate in 2024.
Asked who they would like to be Morena’s candidate, 42.5% of respondents who identified themselves as supporters of the ruling party said Sheinbaum, while 31.3% said Ebrard.
The only other two possible candidates mentioned, Morena Senate leader Ricardo Monreal and Interior Minister Adán Augusto López, garnered minimal support among those polled.
Asked which party they would vote for if the presidential election was held today, 35.3% of 1,200 respondents said Morena compared to just 14.4% who nominated the PAN, 9% who cited the PRI and 2% who mentioned MC. The PRD garnered less than 1% support. Those results indicate that even a single candidate supported by all opposition parties will not attract enough support to defeat the Morena’s flag bearer in 2024.
Morena came out on top in five of six scenarios in which poll respondents were asked to select a candidate.
Sheinbaum, Ebrard and Monreal all prevailed in mock races against candidates including Anaya, México state Governor Alfredo del Mazo, Nuevo León Governor Samuel García, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro and former first lady Margarita Zavala.
The only scenario in which the Morena candidate didn’t prevail was when Adán López was pitted against Monterrey Mayor Luis Donaldo Colosio Rojas, former Querétaro governor Francisco Domínguez and PRI national president and former Campeche governor Alejandro Moreno.
In that mock race, López – who recently left his position as governor of Tabasco to become interior minister – finished second to the proposed MC candidate – Luis Colosio, the 36-year-old son of Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, a PRI presidential candidate who was assassinated in Tijuana in 1994.
Among the other poll findings was that 80.1% of respondents agreed that it’s time for a woman to become president of Mexico.
Among possible women candidates, Sheinbaum – a protégé and close ally of López Obrador – appears best placed to become the country’s first ever female president.
Small stores such as this have seen their extortion charges rise.
Extortion costs for small retailers have surged across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an organization that represents their interests.
Pre-pandemic, extortion costs hovered around 200 pesos (US $10) per business, but shot up to 500 pesos minimum during the pandemic, says the National Alliance of Small Businesses (ANPEC), which estimates that extortion generates US $11.3 billion for criminal groups throughout the country.
“Extortion operates with total impunity in practically the entire country due to the growing wave of insecurity and violence … in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán and Guerrero; Bajío; Huasteca, Rivereña Tamaulipeca; the northeast of Chihuahua to Mexicali, passing through Magdalena de Quino, San Luis Río Colorado, Navolato, Culiacán, Los Mochis, Tijuana, Rosarito; towns in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and near Monterrey; Mexico City … among others,” ANPEC said.
For small businesses, that insecurity means dealing with both petty theft and armed robbery while local and state officials demand bribes. But a “culture of not reporting” remains, ANPEC said, due to lack of trust of the police.
“There is a justified suspicion that [the police] are colluding with criminals in many cases, leading thousands of small businesses to close their doors, since nobody likes working only to have the money they spent so much effort earning taken away by people threatening their families,” said alliance president Cuauhtémoc Rivera.
Orca and its offspring feed on dolphin meat in the waters off Los Cabos. evans baudin
Orcas are known to be voracious predators, but not many people get the chance to witness them in action. So when photographer Evans Baudin not only witnessed a hunt, but also captured it on camera, he felt particularly lucky.
Baudin, the owner of Baja Shark Experience in Baja California Sur, was diving near Los Cabos when he saw a group of orcas team up to hunt and then devour a bottlenose dolphin.
“That lucky day, I was able to document a complete scene, from start to finish, of their hunting strategy off the coast of Los Cabos. It was absolutely amazing how organized they were to separate the dolphin from the rest of its pod,” Baudin shared on Instagram. “It seemed that every move of the orcas was planned long in advance, like a synchronized dance repeated hundreds of times and with surgical precision … The dolphin had no way of escape. The hunt lasted about 40 minutes before the group of killer whales could finally capture the dolphin and share it.”
In Baudin’s stunning photo of the events, a mother orca and its offspring share a piece of dolphin meat.
Orca diets depend on where they live, Baudin said, and Baja California orcas have been documented feeding on rays, sharks, turtles, dolphins and even whales.
The flooding caused billions of pesos in damages, the governor of Hidalgo said in September.
More than six weeks after severe flooding claimed lives and damaged homes and businesses in Tula, Hidalgo, and other nearby municipalities, victims still haven’t received any support from the federal government.
The lack of support has provoked “enormous anger and disappointment” in Tula, according to the newspaper El Universal.
Banners hung from homes and businesses near the Tula River, which overflowed, claim that “Tula wasn’t flooded, they [Conagua] flooded it.”
According to the federal government’s social programs delegate in Hidalgo, a census identified 3,000 people in 12 municipalities in the state’s south whose homes and/or businesses were damaged in the flood.
“Tula wasn’t flooded, they [Conagua] flooded it,” reads a billboard protesting the flood in Tula, Hidalgo. Miguel Martínez
In an interview with El Universal, Abraham Mendoza Zenteno conceded that no date has been set for when residents will receive government assistance.
There has been speculation that recently announced support payments of between 4,500 and 35,000 pesos (US $220-$1,725) will go to victims of the September 7 flooding but Mendoza clarified that that assistance is for victims of Hurricane Grace, which affected several states, including Hidalgo, in late August.
In Tula, flooding victims are fed up with waiting for government support that might never arrive. Consuelo Ortiz, whose home (which doubles as a shop) was damaged by floodwaters, told El Universal she hasn’t received any assistance from any level of government.
She said she lost everything due to water damage, and she is still cleaning up 44 days later. Ortiz said the six members of her household, including two young girls, are all sleeping on the floor on thin mattresses donated by a telephone company.
For her and her family the federal government has been a disappointment, El Universal reported.
“They’re fine – they have food to eat and somewhere to sleep, that’s why they don’t care about what happened to us,” Ortiz said.
The owner of a Tula locksmith’s shop whose business/home also sustained extensive flooding claimed the federal government had forsaken him and other flooding victims.
“[President] López Obrador said he would visit us … but he didn’t and he won’t. We’ve had a lot of faith in him, he’s a good president but he abandoned us, he failed us,” said Vicente Castillo.
“We lost everything,” he said, adding that the cost of the damage was immense. Castillo said his home flooded in a matter of minutes and was eventually inundated by three meters of water.
A nearby laundromat also bore the brunt of the floodwaters, which damaged washing machines, dryers, computers and other valuable items. Owner Yésica Ochoa Hernández said her losses totaled 150,000 pesos (US $7,400), but she’s received no help from the government.
She told El Universal she had to take out a 13,000-peso loan to repair two of her washing machines so she could reopen her business and feed her family. Like many other Tula residents, Ochoa blames Conagua for the September 7 disaster.
“We’re not asking to be gifted anything … we’re demanding that they pay us, that they provide compensation for an act that the government provoked, it wasn’t the people or nature,” she said. “Conagua must take responsibility.”
Mendoza, the social programs delegate, rejected claims that the federal government has abandoned Tula, noting that the navy, army and National Guard were all deployed to the city to respond to the flood. He also dismissed claims that Conagua was to blame.
“What citizens are asking is that another flood be avoided and we’re working on that. We have to provide certainty to citizens that there will be no repeat of this kind of disaster,” Mendoza said.
Mexican beer drinkers already have a special seasonal brew for Christmas: Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma’s Nochebuena. Now there’s one for the Day of the Dead too.
Rival beer maker Grupo Modelo turned to an iconic Day of the Dead flower in the creation of its new beer, Victoria Cempasúchil. The beverage contains marigold extract and comes in a specially designed can, created by Mexican illustrator Revost. The beer will be available throughout the Day of the Dead season, the company said.
Marigolds are traditionally used to adorn altars and graves on Day of the Dead, and have been used since pre-Hispanic times for food and medicinal purposes.
“This innovation will not only bring the flavor of marigolds into Mexican homes, it will also be a messenger, since a few lucky people will get to customize a can of Victoria Cempasúchil with a commemorative message to those who are no longer with us,” the company said in a press release.
Participants can submit their messages to deceased loved ones through a company website. Then 240 winners will be selected and their messages printed on special edition cans of the beverage.
The new beer celebrates 2021, a year of reunions, the company said.
“We all are coming out of a long pause during which we stopped seeing the people we love the most; now every moment is a reunion and Day of the Dead is the ideal opportunity [for those reunions], including those with people who are no longer with us,” Grupo Modelo said.
According to market researcher Euromonitor International, Victoria is the beer with the third-largest market share in the country. This year marks Cerveza Victoria’s eighth year of seasonal marketing campaigns.
Mexican and US officials met in Tabasco on Wednesday to discuss economic investment in southern states.
Southeastern states are looking for billions of dollars in investment over the next three years as Mexican and United States authorities seek to spur development and stem migration from the region.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier and governors of several states met with United States Ambassador Ken Salazar and representatives of U.S. companies in Villahermosa, Tabasco, on Wednesday to discuss a plan for the development of the region.
The ministries of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and Economy (SE) said in a joint statement that the “productive dialogue” set a goal of US $25 billion in investment between 2022 and 2024 “to trigger economic growth” in Mexico’s southeast, a region that includes the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.
“To achieve it, an action plan, which the Economy Ministry will be in charge of, will be established soon,” the statement said.
The SRE and SE said the aim of the meeting with Mexico-based executives of U.S. companies — Constellation Brands, General Electric, Fedex, Honeywell and Amazon among them — was to “increase trade and investment to inject greater prosperity into the region.”
“… At the same time, the governors presented a panorama of their states, as well as the challenges and opportunities to boost the region hand in hand with our main trading partner [the United States] and the federal executive,” the ministries said.
Veracruz Governor Cuitláhuac García said that migration is a phenomenon that poses challenges for both Mexico and the United States and creating a solution is a shared responsibility. Chiapas Governor Rutilio Escandón said his state needs more industry to create jobs and stem northward migration.
“… I’m sure that [U.S. companies] will be able to make good use of people who want to work,” he said.
Campeche Governor Layda Sansores called on southeastern states to work together to spur economic growth.
“If we formed a great alliance … we wouldn’t need anything from the rest of the country; we have water, oil, gas, tourism, culture and the generosity of our people,” she said.
However, Economy Minister Clouthier said the aim of the development plan is to diversify the region’s economy with a particular focus on the manufacture of products for export.
High-ranking Mexican and U.S. officials have met on several occasions in recent months, including at bilateral meetings in Washington D.C. and Mexico City.
During a visit to the Mexican capital in June, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that Mexico and the United States are “embarking on a new era” in bilateral relations, and the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic partnership to address the lack of economic opportunities in northern Central America.
After another high-level meeting in Mexico City this month, the two nations proposed “a new vision of regional security and collaboration,” releasing a joint statement in which they pledged to take concrete actions to “protect our people,” prevent transborder crime, and pursue criminal networks.
Canada has issued a travel alert warning its citizens to avoid nonessential travel to parts of 13 Mexican states due to high levels of violence and organized crime.
Citizens are advised to avoid:
the state of Chihuahua;
Colima, except the city of Manzanillo;
Coahuila, except the southern part of the state at and below the Saltillo-Torreón highway corridor;
the state of Durango, except Durango city;
Guerrero, except the cities of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Taxco;
Highway 45 between León and Irapuato and the area south of and including Highway 45D between Irapuato and Celaya, in Guanajuato;
Michoacán, except the city of Morelia;
the Lagunas de Zempoala National Park and surrounding areas in Morelos;
the city of Tepic and the area within 20 km of the border with Sinaloa and Durango, in Nayarit;
Nuevo León, except the city of Monterrey;
Sinaloa, except the city of Mazatlán;
Sonora, except the cities of Hermosillo, Guaymas/San Carlos and Puerto Peñasco;
Tamaulipas.
The alert also advises that travelers exercise a high degree of caution throughout the country, due to high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping. A separate COVID-19 advisory recommends avoiding all nonessential travel outside of Canada.
“There are identifiable safety and security concerns or the safety and security situation could change with little notice. You should exercise a high degree of caution at all times, monitor local media and follow the instructions of local authorities,” the website says of travel in Mexico. Ultimately, “the decision to travel is your choice and you are responsible for your personal safety abroad.”
Francisco García Castillo and Verónica Avana Trejo's Nutella-filled pan de muerto is a decadent Puebla variant. photos by Joseph sorrentino
In October, pan de muerto — bread of the dead — starts showing up in panaderías (bakeries) and market stalls all across Mexico. Although it’s an integral part of the ofrendas — offerings made on altars in homes and atop graves in cemeteries during Day of the Dead ceremonies on November 1 and 2 — it’s so good, it’s consumed by the living as soon as it appears.
The origins of Day of the Dead stretch back millennia, with roots in pre-Hispanic Nahua civilizations, which include the Mexica (Aztecs), Toltecs, Xochimilca and Acolhua. For them, death was seen as a natural part of life, and the dead were still considered part of the community.
During specific times, they believed, the dead were able to return to the earth briefly. That belief continues to this day across Mexico.
Rather than being feared, the departed are welcomed and offered the food, drink and music they enjoyed in life. Although the ceremonies differ from region to region, there’s one constant: pan de muerto, a sweet yeast bread.
Francisco García Castillo and Verónica Avana Trejo, a husband-and-wife team, start making their pan de muerto in early October and can be found working in their panadería in Chipilo, Puebla, a little past dawn every day. The bread they make is one that’s the most familiar in Mexico: it has a round base that represents a skull and two strips across the top that are shaped to look like bones.
San Gregorio Atlapulco baker Eva Chapa makes two less common versions of the bread: blood-red golletes, left, and pretzel-like alamar, center.
The recipe they use, said García, is special. “This recipe is only used for pan de muerto,” he explained while mixing the ingredients for the dough. “It is exclusive for that.”
Avana asked that I not reveal the exact recipe, but she did point out the most important ingredient: a flavoring called esencia naranja oleosa — an orange flavored oil. “This flavoring is important for pan de muerto,” she said. “If there is no flavoring, it is not pan de muerto. It is the essence of pan de muerto.”
García sits on a stool and watches intently as the ingredients are mixed in an industrial machine. At various times, he removes a small sample and rolls it in his hands. “When the dough does not stick to my hands, it is ready,” he said.
Once it is, it’s set on a worktable and left to rise. When García determines that the dough is high enough, he cuts it into small sections and rolls it into little balls. Nearby, Avana mixes the dough that they will use to make the bones. García pats the balls flat with his hand and then places the bones on top.
Although the couple’s breads are all the same shape, the ones they sell have three different flavors: ajojonolí is sprinkled with sesame seeds before baking. The azucar flavor is slathered with melted butter after baking and then rolled in a generous amount of sugar. A third one contains the chocolate and hazelnut spread Nutella.
To make that one, García puts a generous spoonful of Nutella into a dozen of the unbaked rolls and then covers them with melted butter and sugar after baking. “Nutella,” he said, “is the most popular. It is something that is more or less only done in Puebla, although it is also popular in Mexico City.”
He then bakes the bread at 180 C for 13 minutes. The rolls emerge from the oven a lovely golden brown.
Interestingly, García said that he once tried making the bread in June but didn’t like the results. “The flavor was not the same,” he said. “It changed a lot. I used the same recipe, no changes. I think the difference is the time of year. This time of year, the flavor is much better.”
There are reportedly more than 900 versions of pan de muerto found across the country.
Eva Chapa sells three versions in San Gregorio Atlapulco, a pueblo in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City, where she’s had a stand at the local market for over 20 years. She uses recipes handed down through her family for generations, ones she regards as special. “They are only used for pan de muerto,” she said. “Each family has its own recipe.”
In addition to a pan de muerto that’s the same shape as the ones sold by García and Avana, Chapa sells two other versions of the bread. The golletes looks like a large donut and is covered with sugar that is dyed red.
“The gollete symbolizes the skulls of Aztec sacrificial victims,” said Javier Márquez Juárez, who has extensively studied pre-Hispanic cultures. “The hole in the middle represents the hole in skulls through which a stick was placed before they were hung on a wall called a tzompantli, which was located in the Templo Mayor [in what is now Mexico City]. The red sugar represents their blood.”
Chipilo, Puebla, baker Francisco Garcia Castillo places the dough “bones” characteristic of Day of the Dead bread.
A third variety Chapa offers is called alamar. It’s pretzel-shaped and, according to Márquez, made to look like the designs found on the traditional clothing of a charro, a Mexican cowboy.
In addition to differences in the recipes and shapes for pan de muerto, there are other regional differences.
The Tecalo family panadería, also located in San Gregorio Atlapulco, is a popular choice for buying pan de muerto and is incredibly busy in October. Although there’s no way to tell how many breads they’ll eventually churn out, they do know that they use almost 4,400 pounds of flour and 20,000 eggs to make their bread.
Like other panaderías, they use a unique family recipe. “I learned how to make it from my grandparents,” said Imelda Tecalco Sandoval.
They also use a special flour. “We do not use this flour for other breads,” said Ludwig Tecalco. “It has a different flavor.” Customers can request their bread to be made with different ingredients like pecans, raisins or almonds.
While the majority of panaderías, especially those in cities, now use gas ovens — which are more easily regulated — ones in smaller, more indigenous pueblos often don’t. “We use wood in the stove because it is more traditional,” said Violeta Guzmán, who works in her small, family-run panadería in Santa Ana Tlacotenco, in the Milpa Alta borough of Mexico City. “Also, it gives the bread a better flavor.”
Agustín Melo, whose panadería is also in Santa Ana Tlacotenco, bakes very traditionally. He uses a recipe he learned from his grandparents, makes his pan de muerto with flour he doesn’t use for any other breads or pastries and bakes it in a wood-fired oven.
Like all the other bakers interviewed for this article, his bread will only be available until November 1 and won’t reappear until next October.
When asked why, he said simply: “It is because we respect the traditions of our ancestors.”
![“Tula wasn't flooded, they [Conagua] flooded it," reads a billboard protesting the flood in Tula, Hidalgo.](https://mexiconewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/tula-no-se-inundo.jpg)
