The storm's forecast track as of Monday morning. The hurricane watch area is marked in pink; areas under tropical storm watches are indicated in yellow. Times are Mountain Daylight Time. us national hurricane center
A rapidly strengthening tropical storm in the eastern Pacific has triggered a hurricane watch between Bahía de Tempehuaya and Escuinapa, Sinaloa.
As of 10:00 a.m. CDT on Monday, Tropical Storm Pamela was located 440 kilometers southwest of Playa Pérula, Jalisco, and 735 kilometers south-southwest of Mazatlán, producing sustained winds of up to 100 kmh, said the national meteorological service. It was moving to the northwest at 13 kmh.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicts that Pamela will become a hurricane by Monday night and a major hurricane before it reaches the Mexican coast. The storm is expected to pass south of the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula Tuesday night or early Wednesday and make landfall in Sinaloa on Wednesday morning.
Very heavy rains are forecast for Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for north of Bahía de Tempehuaya to Altata, Sinaloa, from south of Escuinapa to San Blas, Nayarit, for the Islas Marías and from Los Barriles to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur.
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López applauds as President López Obrador shows Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez the new security plan.
More than 17,000 National Guard troops will be deployed to Michoacán as part of a federal government plan to strengthen security in the violence-stricken state.
At an event in Morelia on Saturday, President López Obrador announced a “support plan for Michoacán,” which also intends to expand government social programs and upgrade hospital infrastructure. In addition, the plan makes the payment of teachers a federal responsibility.
Accompanied by members of his cabinet, López Obrador expressed his full support for new Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, who represents the ruling Morena party.
He said Ramírez will be responsible for coordinating the expansion of federal social programs, such as the “Youths Building the Future” apprenticeship scheme, designed to steer young people away from a life of crime, among other objectives.
“[I want to] express very clearly our support for the people of Michoacán, we’re going to continue helping and we’re going to have more actions in benefit of the people, more actions for the wellbeing of the michoacanos,” López Obrador said.
Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said that more than 17,000 additional National Guard troops will carry out coordinated actions to guarantee security in Michoacán, Mexico’s third most violent state in the first eight months of 2021. Among the municipalities where security will be bolstered are state capital Morelia and Uruapan, both of which are among the 50 most violent municipalities in the country.
Cresencio also said that new National Guard barracks will be built in three Tierra Caliente municipalities over the next two years. Six hundred troops will be stationed in each of Tepalcatepec, Aguililla and Apatzingán, the army chief said.
Cresencio said that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is engaged in a turf war with the Cárteles Unidos in the notoriously violent Tierra Caliente region, has been driven out of the towns of Tepalcatepec and Aguililla due to the actions of federal security forces. The criminal group has retreated to Michoacán’s border with Jalisco, he said.
“Military presence was achieved in the towns, movement of traffic was reestablished … and the provision of supplies was reestablished,” Cresencio said, adding that people displaced due to violence had begun returning to their homes.
López Obrador stressed that the government won’t wage a war against cartels to restore peace in Michoacán, nor favor one criminal group over another.
“The [government’s] security strategy is well defined, it’s not about declaring war, that’s already been left behind because in addition to being inhumane that strategy was a complete failure. That’s not the strategy nor is it fighting one group and protecting another. It’s legality without impunity for anyone, it’s not about favoring anyone,” he said.
The president also said the federal government has provided resources for the payment of salaries to teachers, some of whom have been blocking railroads in Michoacán to protest the state government’s failure to pay wages.
Governor Ramírez, who succeeded Silvano Aureoles on October 1, said his government inherited a 20-billion-peso (about US $1 billion) bank debt and a budget deficit of almost 18.8 billion pesos.
Shari Bondi’s life was saved by whales in Mexico. Today, she returns the favor with Whale Magic Tours to educate the public about them. Whale Magic Tours
So who among us foreigners in Mexico think “outside the box” as far as building a life here? Recent articles I wrote about Camille E. Torok de Flores in Guanajuato and the Hoveys in Sonora got me interested in seeking out those with an entrepreneurial spirit.
So I put out a call on Facebook, and the result has been overwhelming! There will be a series of articles. An e-book is a definite possibility.
There seem to be two self-employment paths in Mexico: working for yourself in a business registered in Mexico and the digital nomad route. The two are distinct because the first carries many more requirements with Mexican authorities.
Digital nomads, since their income is not derived in Mexico, are often here on a tourist visa. This article focuses on those who need to jump through more Mexican hoops.
Googling “starting a business in Mexico” results in a number of articles, websites and services in English since it is a popular topic. But what became clear to me is that these resources mostly cater to entrepreneurs with significant capital to invest from the get-go.
Manisha Kumar was urged by her yoga classmates to start an Indian food delivery business in her Mexico City apartment. Manisha Kumar
Sure, there is the stereotype of “rich foreigners” and, of course, it is far more profitable to advise a rich person than a poor one. But what about those of us who aren’t rich? We do open businesses, and our enterprises have a lot in common with immigrants all over the world.
Many of these expat entrepreneurs are people who came to Mexico to live or decided to stay — well, simply put, they fell in love and married.
Such immigrants get permanent residency and work visas and can have the economic support of their new family as they acclimate to life in Mexico. These same Mexican families also serve as windows into the wider community, often with relatives who own businesses themselves.
Several people I have interviewed stated that they never would have considered opening a business in Mexico without that. Some even have their businesses in their spouse’s name or the name of someone in their Mexican family to avoid legal and bureaucratic hassles.
Those who do not come to Mexico initially because of a spouse do so because of a job, study abroad or vacation. They fall in love with Mexico and either look for a way to support themselves here or decide to change careers.
Such immigrants need to do more to get the right visas to stay and work, whether or not it is tied to the new business. They generally do not have significant economic resources to draw upon from their home country either because of their youth and/or because of having an alternative (often nomadic) lifestyle.
Oaxaca tour operator Alvin Starkman specializes in mezcal, dedicated to educating palates. Alvin Starkman
In both cases, the start-ups result from either falling into a business opportunity or because the person is not interested in teaching English or doing online work. There are those who have businesses (legal or not) because they do not have many options.
These can include the spouse of someone here for work, a political refugee or a Dreamer deported “back home” to Mexico. Despite having Mexican citizenship because of birth, this latter group — who may or may not speak Spanish due to being raised since childhood in the United States — often finds itself with few employment options here, outside of working for call centers that need fluent English speakers.
It is striking how similar the stories here parallel those of immigrant business owners the world over. Most start businesses that have some relationship to their country of origin — import-export, ethnic restaurants, specialty shops or tourism and services for other foreigners adjusting to life in Mexico.
The only industry that may be fairly unique is that of language instruction — schools and classes that cater to the local Mexican population.
Expat business owners face many of the same issues that native ones do, in particular complying with local laws and regulations. Only three of my interviewees had all of their paperwork complete before starting operations, they said, with most coming into compliance over time.
The issue is economics: compliance is expensive, and profitability is not assured. Several respondents told me that their local and state governments have grace periods (official and unofficial) to allow a new business to operate while they do the paperwork.
Juanita Stein gave up a good gig as an editor at Yucatán Today magazine to open her own bookstore in Mérida called Between the Lines. Juanita Stein
Those taking advantage of this stated that they probably came into compliance quicker than their Mexican counterparts because they face more legal and social scrutiny as foreigners.
But there are some aspects unique to being an entrepreneur in Mexico. Opening a business here does not automatically give you the right to work in it. Work visas are a separate issue. Obtaining permission to work in a profession common in Mexico (like carpentry) may be difficult to do as a foreigner.
Being connected to the community is absolutely crucial. Even if you are not competing with those around you, a foreign business owner can be unwelcome. Various business owners living in the center and south of the country report neighbors being “jealous” of their businesses, even if their spouse is a local.
This seems to be less of an issue in the north, likely in part because of the area’s long socioeconomic connection with the United States.
Corruption? A definite maybe. It depends on where you set up shop and the industry you work in. Be aware that retail businesses in cities can be vulnerable to protection rackets.
Again, it is important to know the neighborhood and your neighbors.
Not all expat businesses focus on other foreigners. Kimberly Davin’s Yucatán Health Center brings chiropractic and physical therapy to an underserved market in Mérida. Yucatán Health Center
On the plus side, some business owners report that the lower cost of living in Mexico is an advantage. Lower living costs can give the owner more time and more flexibility to find the business’s footing. Another lower cost is that of professionals such as accountants and lawyers. This can offset the greater need to use such services.
Of course, the main risk for any new business is running out of money before you see a profit.
It is also important to know if owning a business will cause issues with your home country. For example, Americans make up the majority of foreign business owners and investors in Mexico, but unlike citizens from other industrialized nations, Uncle Sam requires the reporting of all foreign income.
The deductible for “foreign-earned income” is high enough to offset anything most small businesses earn, but you need to check if you have to pay self-employment taxes, especially if you are not enrolled in Mexico’s social security net.
Also remember that when you open a Mexican bank account, you must give the institution your United States taxpayer ID information.
Stay tuned for more articles about common business types, digital nomading in Mexico and even a few outliers!
Linda Kuehl created Villa Linda Mar, a luxury, off-grid eco-resort located in Loreto, Baja California Sur. Villa Linda Mar
If you have stories to share about your business, please contact me at [email protected].
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
Persistent Mexican debt collectors may harass not just the debtor, but also their connections.
I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls lately. Too many, actually.
The calls are from a different out-of-town number each time, and there’s always a beat before the person on the other end starts talking, as if they were being connected.
Each call is the same. They ask for someone that’s not me but who is someone I know.
I say, “No, this is not her number.” They say, “Well, do you know her?”
At first, I said no, because I hadn’t recognized the name — I know her by what is apparently her middle name. At first, I said, “I have no idea who that is. Please take this number off your list and stop calling me,” probably 15 times. That obviously didn’t work.
Once I started recognizing who they were asking for, the conversation continued like this: “Yes, I know her.”
“We are trying to collect a debt from her, and we can’t get in touch with her. We’re calling you because you were listed as a reference.”
This, my friends, is a lie.
First of all, they obviously think my number is her number because they ask for her and not for me. (I lent her a phone that she still uses, and my guess is that my number is still somehow associated with it.)
And besides, if I truly had been listed as a reference, they should know my name, shouldn’t they?
After contacting my friend, she told me that she had canceled her internet contract with that company and had, of course, paid her final bill. They had not been calling her.
With her consent, I gave the callers her number. She’s tried explaining to them, to no avail, that she did indeed pay the balance upon canceling her service. If she hadn’t, after all, she would not have been able to cancel.
But this does not matter. They insist she owes money, and it seems that their mission in life is to collect it. When I’m feeling saucy — and I usually am — I ask them questions.
“What is it exactly that you are wanting from me personally?” They usually don’t answer this question directly but say something like, “It’s just that you’re a reference, and we can’t get hold of her.”
“OK,” I say. “She does not live with me. Again, what do you want from me? Are you expecting me to pay the supposed debt she owes?”
“She put you as a reference.”
At this point, again, I call bullshit. If I were a reference, they’d have my name, and they clearly don’t.
When I ask that question — the one about me paying the debt — they usually get a little snippy. The last lady shouted, “At no point did I say that you were responsible for the debt!” and hung up on me.
I’ve been thinking about things I can do to stop them, or at least get back at them, which I’ll admit is kind of a sport for me. When I was a teenager, my mother was hounded by debt collectors, mean ones, and I now have a personal vendetta against them.
It’s not that I think people shouldn’t pay their debts, but the fact that collectors are often wrong about what is owed — and the fact that there even exists an industry built upon hounding people who are very likely going through real financial crises in their lives — already puts me in a fighting mood.
I mean, there was a summer after my mother had lost her job where for a few weeks we ate one meal a day. The debt collectors obviously did not care. They wanted their money, and failure to provide it to them gave them the right to treat the debtors like scum — irresponsible freeloaders who simply didn’t deserve to sit in peace without the phone ringing 50 times a day (and this was before the time of caller ID – imagine!).
Here in Mexico, they apparently slather on another layer: public humiliation. My friend is obviously mortified that the collectors are calling and harassing me. She’s also not quite sure how they have my number in the first place.
While it could be because she has my old phone, it’s also possible that her boyfriend gave someone my number during the contracting process.
In the end, I don’t care. If someone gave my name and number as a reference, that’s fine. And even if my friend did truly owe money, that would be fine too.
What astounds me is that, especially for such a small amount of money, collection agencies are allowed to harass the references and contacts of the creditor.
When I read the somewhat silly story about all of the dehydrated soups that were being taken off the shelves, I had a “Eureka!” moment.
Profeco! Of course! Surely Mexico’s consumer protection agency could help me.
I quickly looked up its address here in Xalapa, only to find that it was shut down in 2019. Not to be deterred, I found its website, which is about as thorough as most government websites are these days, which is not much.
But I found an email address! A message has been sent, and now I wait. Because this fight … this fight is personal.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you all — what experiences have you had with debt collectors in Mexico, justified or not? And if you were able to resolve the issue, how did you make it happen?
If I receive a response or a resolution, I’ll be sure to share it with you in the comments section.
Tunas in markets usually have most of the spines removed, but wear gloves when handling them. Some may have been missed!
The prickly pear cactus is an integral part of Mexico’s long history; it’s part of the Mexican flag, complete with tunas, the red fruit of said cactus.
The design comes from an Aztec legend about the founding of their capital city. Directed by the god Huitzilopochtli, the ancient Aztecs searched for a site where an eagle sitting on a prickly pear cactus growing on a rock in a lake was eating a snake.
It took 200 years of wandering, so goes the story, but they finally came upon that exact scenario, and the city of Tenochtitlán — what became Mexico City — was founded.
The paddles (nopales) of the cactus are a part of traditional Mexican cuisine, used in stews, tacos and many other foods; the fruit is the tuna, known in English as prickly pear.
The cactus plants grow to be quite large and formidable and are used for fencing to this day.
It makes sense that tunas are also called prickly pears, as the skin is covered with two kinds of spines: small clusters of hard, whitish spines grow all over the small fruits and are visible to the eye, but there are also soft, hairy filaments on the fruits.
Extreme caution — and gloves — are advised when handling tunas.
Tunas have a sweet, melon-like flavor, which some compare to bubblegum or watermelon. They don’t taste anything like they look, and inside the rough, spine-covered skin is a delectable and very edible fruit.
They come in a wide range of colors — from yellowish to light and dark green, to bright red to deep ruby red — with different sweetness levels. They’re just coming into season now and will continue to be harvested until December; look for piles of them in mercados and stores everywhere.
To prepare tunas — wearing gloves! — first cut off both ends of the fruit. Slit from end to end lengthwise and then peel back the thick skin. It should come off easily.
Peeled, they can be stored for about a week in the fridge in a sealed container or Ziploc bag. The strained juice can be added to margaritas, cooked into a syrup, made into a glaze for poultry or fish or used in smoothies or agua frescas, ice pops or sorbet. Because they’re so sweet, a bit of citrus juice is often added for balance.
Deep-red tunas make a striking addition to all sorts of dishes and beverages.
Agua de Tuna
One of Mexico’s many fruit-filled aguas frescas, this beverage is quick and refreshing.
3 prickly pears
1 cup water
½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 tsp. agave syrup, honey or simple syrup
Wearing gloves, prepare prickly pears by cutting off both ends of fruit. Then slit from end to end lengthwise, and peel back the skin.
Place peeled fruits in a blender with water. Blend on low for 1 minute. Strain and discard seeds and pulp. (You may need to use a rubber spatula to smoosh the seeds around the wire-mesh strainer and release the juice.)
Pour juice back in blender, add orange juice and sweetener and blend until smooth. Serve over ice.
Prickly Pear Syrup
3 lbs. ripe prickly pears
Water to cover
3 cups sugar (approximately)
1 Tbsp. citric acid OR 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
Prepare fruits as described above. Put peeled fruits in a pot; add enough water to almost cover them. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn off heat; let steep 30 minutes.
Mash fruit with a potato masher or fork. Using a wire-mesh strainer and rubber spatula, push pulp through and discard seeds. Line strainer with cheesecloth or paper towels and strain juice again.
Measure the strained juice and pour into a pot. Add an equal amount of sugar, and bring to a simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, let cool 15 minutes.
Add lemon juice or citric acid. While still hot, pour into clean jars. This will keep for months in the refrigerator. Use for glazes, salad dressings, over desserts, etc.
Not only is this prickly pear smoothie delicious, it’s high in antioxidants. Ms. Li/Shutterstock
Tuna-Coco Smoothie
2 prickly pears
About 2 cups fresh or packaged coconut water (not canned coconut milk)
1 tsp. fresh lime juice
Ice
Prepare tunas as described above. Add tuna, coconut water and lime juice, to blender; process until smooth. Strain and serve over ice.
Prickly Pear Paletas
Watch this video to see the whole processfor making these refreshing popsicles.
8 ripe prickly pears
½ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup water
1/3 cup agave syrup or other sweetener
¾ tsp. salt
These prickly pear popsicles make a sweet treat anytime!
Using a paring knife, working away from your body, carefully scrape off any cactus thorns. Cut off the ends of the fruit. Using the tip of the knife, score the fruit lengthwise. Slip your thumb under the skin and peel the fruit. Discard the peel and thorns, then dice the fruit.
Prepare prickly pears as described above. In a blender, combine prickly pear, lime juice, water, sweetener and salt; purée until smooth. Pour through a fine wire-mesh strainer; discard seeds.
Pour the resulting liquid into popsicle molds. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
Just some of the pristine beauty you'll find hiking Jalisco's El Cerro del Colli: verbesina flowers, a plant of the daisy family with medicinal properties.
Every year near the end of the rainy season, I do my best to urge people who live in Guadalajara to head for El Cerro del Colli — their nearest portal to the Primavera Forest — to spend a day tiptoeing through the “colliflowers” that grow in profusion all up and down this steep hill at the west end of town.
According to geologists, it is actually a volcanic plug, created after the Primavera Caldera’s last explosion about 25,000 years ago.
How long does it take to get from the city to the Primavera Forest?
I could say “a tenth of a second,” but I’d be exaggerating the voyage’s length, because it is literally only one step from city to woods.
For many years, ordinary families, hard-core hikers or someone simply out for a stroll needed only to get themselves to the far end of Calle San Gregorio at the western edge of the city. Then taking that one step, they would find themselves in another world.
Colli offers dramatic views of the city of Guadalajara. The highest point on the hill is over one mile above sea level.
The contrast was staggering: there you were, one minute, in the middle of Zeta gas trucks, barking dogs, screaming babies, blaring radios and racing car engines. Then you began walking up a steeply inclined path.
A few minutes later, you found yourself in the middle of a shady oak forest so quiet that you could actually hear the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves blown by the wind: nature’s own symphony!
All of this I described in my Outdoors in Western Mexico books, as well as in frequent articles. Recently, however, I was disappointed to discover that locals had decided to fence off the trailhead and forbid access to the forest from this convenient point.
Why was that? A local homeowner told my friends and me that unsavory characters had begun to use the trail for unsavory deeds.
Shutting down access to the forest was a simple way to get rid of a problem, but other solutions might have been possible.
Imagine someone who lives at the edge of Yellowstone or Banff Park putting up a fence and saying, “Sorry, we won’t let anyone through because we’ve seen some unsavory characters using this entrance.” While this is unlikely to happen to a park owned by the public, it’s more than possible if the government doesn’t bother to purchase the land that it has declared a “protected area.”
“This papelillo may be known as the tourist tree, but I am not a tourist,” says tarantula expert Rodrigo Orozco.
In point of fact, according to the newspaper El Diario, more than 80% of Jalisco’s famed Bosque La Primavera is privately owned.
In 1980, the government declared all 30,500 hectares a wildlife refuge, imposing a long list of restrictions on what the owners of the land would be allowed to do.
This has resulted in a sort of war between the general public, which greatly loves the forest, and the people who live there, many of whom want or need to make either a living or a profit off the land — or both.
In the case of Cerro del Colli, the easternmost extension of the Bosque, the landowner happens to be an ejido (a cooperative of farmers and ranchers) whose members were perhaps quite happy to see the trailhead blocked.
The problem might have been resolved by setting up an official entrance to el Cerro del Colli and manning it with a couple of park rangers. Their presence might discourage unsavory characters from making an appearance.
Or the ejido might have begun charging an entrance fee, as is done in other parts of this same forest, and managing the area in a responsible way.
The dayflower or widow’s tears blooms only for one day.
None of these things happened, so I began searching for an alternative route to the top. My first attempt was via what was once a decent footpath up the south side of Colli, leading to a huge white cross.
I am sure that on a certain feast day, year after year, this path was crowded with pious families — everyone from abuelitas (grandmas) to toddlers barely able to walk: a long line slowly heading for a wide clearing at the foot of the cross for some sort of ceremony.
These days, however, I doubt if that ceremony is taking place at all, and if it does, I doubt that few parishioners will be present because the path has been devastated by the short and violent rainstorms that have become the new normal in Western Mexico.
Getting up the hill is now a struggle and a pain, and getting back down is like trying to dance on ball bearings.
So, I am happy to describe here a new and pleasant route up the northern side of Cerro del Colli, quite close to Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium, home of the ever-popular Chivas soccer team.
Hikers following one of the many trails that crisscross Cerro del Colli.
From your parking spot at the end of the aptly named Avenida del Bosque, walk only 3.3 kilometers to reach the top of the volcano, but as soon as you begin to gain a bit of altitude, you will begin to reap the benefits of your endeavor.
Along the way, you may come upon the Mexican national flower waving in the breeze. This is the dahlia, which is actually the flower of an edible tuber that the Aztecs used to grow.
Yes, if you’re ever lost in the woods and starving, look for dahlias!
If you see the dahlia on Colli, you will almost surely also spot the beautiful blue dayflower, so called because its bloom never lasts more than a day.
Along with the dahlias and dayflowers, you are likely to find bright red Pitcairnias. These are the flowers of a curious, ground-dwelling bromeliad.
Colli is also home to a wide variety of trees such as pochotes (silk-cotton trees), whose trunks are covered with spikes, and the curious papelillo, a Bursera with paper-thin bark forever peeling off the trunk and branches.
Mexico’s national flower, the dahlia, grows from an edible tuber that tastes much like a potato.
The bark could be of several colors. If it happens to be red, it’s popularly called a tourist tree in honor of all those foreigners who get sunburned at Mexico’s wonderful beaches!
Higher up the hill, you will come to madroños (strawberry trees), egg-cone pines, clethras, mesquites and several species of oak whose height and size may surprise you.
Wander about and you will find gorgeous meadows, rolling hills, chunky deposits of lava rubble and, topping it all off, the peak of Cerro del Colli, 1,976 meters above sea level.
This spot is just a bit over a mile high, and from here you can see the city of Guadalajara stretching off into the distance. Enjoy the view!
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for 31 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.
A hiker stops to take a rest among the wildflowers.
Pitcairnias are the flowers of a ground-dwelling bromeliad.
Crossing a meadow on Colli Volcano, located less than a minute from the city streets of Guadalajara.
Cabezona or toad’s herb (Eryngium carlinae) is said to be good for treating kidney diseases and diabetes mellitus.
The eastern entrance to Cerro del Colli, shown here, is now closed to the public.
This flower is called cielitos in Spanish and butterfly mist in English. And, yes, it is attractive to butterflies and bees.
Montanoa is a member of the sunflower family.
View from the cross on the south side of Colli. The trail up to this point has deteriorated greatly.
In a joint statement, the two countries – which will celebrate 200 years of bilateral relations in 2022 – announced “a bicentennial framework for security, public health, and safe communities.”
“This new framework establishes a comprehensive and long-term approach to guide bilateral actions going forward. Together, we can build a system of peace, justice, and respect for the rule of law,” the statement said.
Mexico and the United States pledged to take concrete actions to “protect our people,” prevent transborder crime, and pursue criminal networks.
“To protect our people, we intend to pursue a memorandum of understanding to reduce substance abuse disorder and associated harms, with the intent to develop plans to prevent drug consumption, provide evidence-based treatment, and strengthen early warning systems and ability to track demand,” the statement said.
In pursuit of the “protect our people” objective, the two countries also pledged to create a network for homicide prevention.
The network will “provide a platform for the exchange of best practices in crime and violence prevention, homicide reduction, work with at-risk youth, and work toward safe and peaceful communities,” the statement said.
It also said the network would consider creating multidisciplinary homicide task forces focused on high-impact crimes linked to transnational criminal organizations, with a focus on forensic laboratories and support for investigation and prosecution.
To prevent transborder crime, Mexico intends to work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to strengthen control and management of incoming shipments for precursor chemicals, the statement said. Such chemicals commonly arrive at Pacific coast ports on ships from Asia.
Mexico and the United States also affirmed their commitment to work together to combat arms trafficking. The joint statement said the two countries will work together on the detection and interdiction of firearms and consider new strategies to combat the flow of weapons across their shared border.
“… We affirm our support for current initiatives and the need to continue current efforts to stop firearms sold in the United States from reaching Mexico, and actions to identify, target, and investigate financing, transportation, and communication methods employed by smuggling networks in order to disrupt and dismantle their operations,” the statement said.
The Mexican government is currently pursuing legal action against U.S.-based gun manufacturers, accusing them of negligent business practices that have led to illegal arms trafficking and deaths in Mexico, where U.S.-sourced firearms are used in a majority of high-impact crimes. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said last month that reducing violence in Mexico will be very difficult if the United States doesn’t do more to stop the illegal flow of weapons into the country.
Mexico and the United States also committed to expanding bilateral cooperation to counter human smuggling and human trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.
“… To pursue criminal networks, the United States and Mexico commit to increasing bilateral and parallel actions to disrupt illicit actors and their financial networks,” the statement said.
The two countries said they would target importers of chemical precursors and their their financial networks, “with special focus on import companies suspected of diverting precursor chemicals for the production of synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, to transnational criminal organizations.”
They also said they would target underground drug laboratories. “We intend to create a bilateral working group on precursor chemical regulation to standardize protocols and regulation for dual-use substances to prevent their use in the production of synthetic drugs,” the statement added.
It also said that both countries were committed to human rights and to advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity. In addition, the two countries pledged to “work with our youth to provide them with options other than joining organized crime” and share information to detect money laundering, among other initiatives.
President López Obrador says that his government employment programs such as the “Youths Building the Future” apprenticeship scheme can help steer young people away from a life of crime.
The governments of both countries also committed to forensic cooperation to help solve the thousands of cases of disappearances and forced disappearances in Mexico.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were among the U.S. officials that met with López Obrador, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and other Mexican functionaries in the National Palace.
Mexico has never allowed the commercial cultivation of GM corn but it has permitted its importation for years, mainly for livestock feed.
For the first time ever, health regulator Cofepris has refused to issue a permit for a new variety of genetically modified (GM) corn, according to Mexico’s top farm lobby.
Juan Cortina, president of the National Farm Council (CNA), told the news agency Reuters that Cofepris rejected a permit for a new GM corn variety in late August. The permit was sought by German pharmaceutical and crop science company Bayer.
CNA data showed that Cofepris determined that the new seed variety was designed to withstand glyphosate, a herbicide that is the active ingredient in Roundup, which is made by Bayer. Cofepris, which considers the herbicide dangerous, said its rejection was based on a “precautionary principle.”
Mexico has never allowed the cultivation of GM corn on a commercial scale but has permitted the importation of such varieties for decades. Most imports come from the United States and are mainly used as livestock feed. Before a new variety of GM corn can be imported, Cofepris must authorize it.
Reuters reported that Cofepris’s rejection of Bayer’s application was not disclosed publicly, and that its press office didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Bayer also initially refused to comment on the rejection, the news agency said, but later came out strongly against the decision.
“We are disappointed with the unscientific reasons that Cofepris used to deny the authorization,” a Bayer press release said of the rejection, which involved a corn variety with the company’s proprietary HT3 x SmartStax Pro technology. Bayer will evaluate its legal options for moving forward, it said in a statement to Reuters.
Bayer also criticized regulatory delays and said further permit denials could have a “devastating impact” on the Mexican supply chain.
Cortina said that Mexican corn importers will start feeling the impact of the rejection as early as next year.
“This is the first obstacle, which isn’t immediate, but it’s coming,” he told Reuters. The CNA chief said he believed the decision violated the new North American free trade agreement, the USMCA, which took effect last year.
Cortina also said that seven other applications for permits to import GM have been awaiting resolution for periods between 14 and 34 months. He complained about the delays in an interview with Reuters in June, asserting that Cofepris had effectively brought forward an import ban that is not scheduled to take effect until January 2024.
Reuters reported that previous Mexican governments approved some 90 GM corn varieties for import and granted approximately 80 other permits for the import of GM seeds for crops such as cotton and soybeans. However, since President López Obrador took office in late 2018, Cofepris hasn’t approved any new GM seeds.
The federal government published a decree on December 31 that stated that biosecurity authorities would “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release of genetically modified corn seeds into the environment.”
The objective of the decision is to “contribute to food security and sovereignty” and protect “native corn, cornfields, bio-cultural wealth, farming communities, gastronomic heritage and the health of Mexicans,” the decree said.
The government has not clarified whether the importation of GM corn for use as fodder and to make products such as cereals and sauces in the industrial sector will also be banned.
Cortina has warned that grain buyers, especially those within Mexico’s large livestock sector, won’t be able to substitute current GM corn import levels with domestically grown corn by 2024, as the government believes can occur.
Authorities have captured Fernando Emmanuel “N,” also known as “El Panther,” leader of the powerful Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), according to the Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office.
The suspect, who is wanted for a number of crimes, was captured in an operation led by the state criminal investigation agency with the assistance of other state and federal authorities. The authorities did not share where the operation took place.
“El Panther” had taken great pains to avoid capture, even undergoing cosmetic surgery to change his appearance with face and hair grafts. He was apprehended with a “large, very peculiar” firearm, authorities reported.
“El Panther” was designated leader by José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez, who was captured in August of last year. “El Marro” was followed by Adán “El Azul” Ochoa as cartel leader, but Ochoa was captured in October.
The CSRL operates in the center of the country, where it is fighting a territorial war with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The repeated loss of leaders diminished the power of the cartel, but it remains firmly rooted in Guanajuato where it operates in municipalities including Celaya, Villagrán and Cortazar.
For the past four years, Guanajuato has been the state with the most murders in Mexico, with nine out of 10 incidents having some kind of link to fights between criminal organizations.
The semi-trailers in which the migrants were traveling toward Monterrey.
Federal authorities found more than 600 Central American migrants hidden in the refrigerated containers of three tractor-trailers traveling in Tamaulipas on Thursday night.
Tamaulipas authorities said that the army and National Guard stopped the trucks at a military checkpoint on the Ciudad Victoria-Monterrey highway in the municipality of Hidalgo. A total of 652 migrants, including 197 unaccompanied minors, were found in the containers. Another 158 minors were traveling with adults.
Authorities said the group was made up of 564 Guatemalans, 39 Hondurans, 28 Nicaraguans, 20 Salvadorans and one person from Belize. Four people were arrested in connection with smuggling the migrants in the trucks, which authorities said had departed from Puebla and were headed for Monterrey.
The migrants were taken to state police facilities in Ciudad Victoria on Thursday night and some received medical assistance from the Red Cross. Some were taken to federal Attorney General’s Office facilities on Friday morning, the newspaper Reforma reported.
Tamaulipas health authorities said that nine of the migrants had tested positive for COVID-19, but most had only mild symptoms. State Health Minister Gloria Molina Gamboa said they had been placed in isolation and were under medical supervision.
Other migrants had ailments including dehydration and respiratory problems. At least two pregnant women were among those traveling in the refrigerated containers.
The discovery comes amid a record influx of migrants into Mexico. Some 147,000 migrants were counted in Mexico in the first eight months of the year, and almost 80,000, including large numbers of Haitians, applied for asylum here.
Many have entered the country via Mexico’s border with Guatemala in Chiapas before making their way to Tapachula, where there are currently more than 100,000 migrants, according to civil society organizations. Most migrants who have arrived this year are Central Americans, Cubans and Haitians. However, almost 1,700 Africans from 35 countries have also sought asylum in Mexico this year after crossing into Chiapas.
Among them are 329 people from Senegal, 247 from Ghana, 179 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 151 from Angola and 111 from Guinea.
