More tourists means COVID surge; ‘door wide open’ for 4th wave in Mexico

December 29, 2021

The Mexico City airport has been busy this week with holiday travelers.

Baja California Sur – home to tourism mecca Los Cabos – is now Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter, with approximately 14 times more active cases than the national per capita rate.

The rest of the country will see an increase in case numbers in the near future as end-of-year gatherings and tourism fuel the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, experts warn.

According to the latest Health Ministry data, there are 1,888 active cases in Baja California Sur (BCS) for a rate of about 230 infections per 100,000 residents. The national rate is 16.5 active cases per 100,000 people.

The infection rate in BCS is more than four times higher than that in Mexico City, the only other state with more than 50 active cases per 100,000 people. Baja California, Quintana Roo and Aguascalientes rank third to fifth, respectively, for active cases on a per capita basis.

About half of BCS’s active cases are in the municipality of Los Cabos, located on the state’s southern tip, while most of the others are in La Paz, the state capital.

Governor Víctor Castro attributed the spike in case numbers – the largest since the summer – to the influx of tourists, many of whom are from the United States, where the highly mutated omicron variant is spreading widely.

“The hotels in Los Cabos are full and there are more infections,” Castro said this week while summing up the situation.

Mexico doesn’t require incoming travelers to present negative COVID-19 test results or go into mandatory quarantine, a laissez-faire approach that has been good for tourism but which has been blamed for large coronavirus outbreaks in tourism hotspots both this year and last.

The lack of restrictions is risky because “we’re leaving the door open to the virus,” said Alejandro Sánchez, a researcher at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) Institute of Biotechnology.

Authorities in Mexico have only confirmed about 50 cases of omicron but the low number is likely due to scant genomic sequencing of the virus. Sánchez predicted that the variant will become the dominant strain in the country by the end of next month, with case numbers set to increase in early January due to gatherings over the Christmas-New Year period.

Other experts agree that Mexico is on the verge of a fourth wave.

Laurie Ann Ximénez-Fyvie, director of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at UNAM, said in a radio interview that “international databases and information” indicate that 28% of current coronavirus infections in Mexico are caused by the omicron variant.

It’s proven that the strain is as contagious as measles, she said, noting that it has caused record high case numbers in Europe. The United States has also seen infections soar as omicron takes hold, while Mexico recorded its highest single-day case tally since late October on Tuesday, with 4,426 new cases reported.

Rodrigo Jácome Ramírez, a scientist and academic at UNAM, told the newspaper La Razón there is a high probability that omicron is already spreading across Mexico.

“We’re probably going to have a lot of cases,” he said, referring to the new strain, which early evidence indicates causes milder disease than other variants but is adept at evading vaccine-stimulated immunity.

“But if they’re not reporting [all the cases] we’re going to continue with this misleading idea that things are much better than they really are,” Ramírez said. “… These 53 reported cases [of omicron] are the tip of the iceberg …,” he said.

“We’re recording far fewer omicron cases than there really are because there isn’t a robust registration system in Mexico,” said Malaquías López, a public health professor at UNAM.

Four states are yellow on the new coronavirus map.

Andreu Comas, a virologist and researcher at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí, told La Razón that family gatherings in December and the entry of travelers who weren’t required to show a negative test result will inevitably lead to an increase in COVID cases.

“All these crowds of people that are going to be in the airport these [vacation] days will develop symptoms in a few days and continue the chain of transmission. If instead of staying home they’re at tourist destinations we’re going to have large outbreaks … and in a few days when they return home they will spread the virus and it will be very concerning,” he said.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell acknowledged Tuesday that Mexico could see a large number of coronavirus cases due to the spread of omicron, but expressed optimism that hospitalizations and deaths won’t spike significantly, “mainly due to … vaccination.”

More than 80% of Mexican adults are vaccinated against COVID-19, and the government has begun offering booster shots to those aged 60 and over. COVID-19 deaths in the first half of 2021 – when most adults had not yet been fully vaccinated – were much higher than in the second half of the year, even though case numbers spiked due to a delta variant surge. Official data shows there were 107,240 fatalities between January and June, while 65,897 deaths were recorded between July 1 and December 28, a 39% decline.

Mexico’s official death toll currently stands at 298,944, while the confirmed case tally is 3.95 million. Both figures are considered vast undercounts. Estimated active case numbers currently number just under 23,000, including more than 5,000 in Mexico City and close to 2,000 in each of Baja California and BCS.

Estimated active cases rose above 100,000 amid the Delta-fueled third wave in August – the worst month of the pandemic for new cases.

An updated version of the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight map took effect on Monday and shows four states are ranked at medium-risk yellow — one fewer than the previous map — while the rest remain green.

Durango switched from yellow to green; Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua and Aguascalientes remain yellow.

The map is in effect until January 9.

It remains to be seen whether the spread of omicron will push Mexico to new peaks in terms of case numbers, but as evidence suggests the new strain causes less severe disease it is inevitable that, in a country where testing is not a forte, many cases of the variant will go undetected and thus unreported in official data.

Nevertheless, as Tuesday’s case numbers indicate and experts warn, the coronavirus is set to cause a lot more sickness in Mexico – a country hit harder than most by a pandemic now in its third devastating year.

With reports from El País, La Razón, MVS Noticias and El Financiero

Cochinita pibil tops list of world’s best traditional dishes

MND Staff

December 29, 2021

A dish typical to Yucatán has topped a list of the world’s 100 best, compiled by the international traditional food website TasteAtlas.

The cochinita pibil — a marinated, shredded-pork dish typically red in color — has a 4.7 rating on the TasteAtlas Awards 2021, putting it in first place.

It is followed by dishes from Brazil, Poland, Thailand and Italy.

To prepare cochinita pibil, pork is marinated in a combination of annatto paste, bitter orange juice and garlic and then slowly baked, shredded and served on tortillas, tacos, or on its own with shallots, pickled onions, salsa and various roasted vegetables.

The food guide speculated on the origins of the dish.

Taqueria El Turix restaurant in Mexico City — TasteAtlas recommended Mexico City’s Taquería El Turix as one of the best places in the world to dine on *cochinita pibil*.

“Since cochinita means ‘baby pig,’ and pibil means ‘buried’ or ‘underground,’ it acts as a proof that the original recipe used a whole suckling pig that was buried in a pit for roasting.”

It recommended Taquería El Turix in the Mexico City borough of Polanco and La Chaya Maya in Mérida, Yucatán, as two of the best places to sample cochinita pibil.

However, it wasn’t the only Mexican dish to be featured in the world’s top 100. Enmoladas — essentially enchiladas covered in mole sauce — was in 27th place; pozole — a corn stew — was in 58th place and alambre — finely chopped meat and vegetables with tortillas — was in 93rd place.

“Undoubtedly, Mexican gastronomy is magical and surprises us every day, so the place of cochinita pibil as the best food in the world is more than deserved,” the website said.

TasteAtlas is an online encyclopedia of 10,000 foods and drinks, presented as a world map, where users can browse local cuisines and restaurants. It also offers extensive recipes.

With reports from El Universal

Pemex predicts end of crude exports by 2023 in quest for energy self-sufficiency

MND Staff

December 29, 2021

The state oil company Pemex intends to slash crude oil exports in 2022 and end them in 2023 as it increases its refining capacity and the federal government pursues a policy of self-sufficiency for fuel.

Pemex exported just over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in November but CEO Octavio Romero said Tuesday that it will only sell 435,000 bpd abroad next year.

He told President López Obrador’s regular press conference that crude exports will be phased out in 2023.

As exports decline, Mexico’s refining capacity will increase, Romero said. Mexico’s six existing refineries will ramp up production next year and together with Deer Park – the refinery near Houston of which Pemex will soon become the sole owner – will refine 1.5 million barrels of crude per day, he said.

That’s more than double the current output, which was 714,000 bpd in November.

The new refinery under construction in Tabasco.

Production is predicted to increase to 2 million bpd in 2023 due to the commencement of operations of the new Dos Bocas refinery on the Tabasco coast and the use of the Cangrejera petrochemical plant in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, to refine crude.

“In that way practically 100% of Mexican crude will be refined in our country to guarantee the supply of fuel,” Romero said.

Deer Park, currently a joint venture with Shell Oil Company, is considered part of Mexico’s national refining system (SNR) despite being located in the United States.

López Obrador has pledged that Mexico will become self-sufficient for fuel in 2023 as a result of his government’s investments to increase refining capacity. Energy Minister Rocío Nahle predicted Tuesday that the SNR will operate at 86% capacity by 2024, up from below 50% currently.

Due to limited refining capacity, Mexico currently depends on imports to meet demand, with most gasoline and diesel coming from the United States.

If Pemex keeps its word and halts crude exports in 2023 – an eventuality seen as unlikely by some – it will mark the exit from international oil markets of one of its most prominent players of the past decades, the news agency Bloomberg reported.

Mexico’s exports peaked at almost 1.9 million bpd in 2004 and the country has participated in meetings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, as an observer. Among the countries to which it exports crude are Japan, India and the United States.

“Asian refineries, which buy more than one-fourth of Mexican crude shipments, are expected to bear the brunt of any export curbs. South Korean and Indian customers would be hit hardest but American and European refiners also would be impacted …,” Bloomberg said.

However, there is skepticism that Pemex will be capable of refining all of its own crude given its poor operating and safety record. The plan to halt crude exports has also been criticized as they provide significant revenue for Mexico and Pemex bondholders.

Rosanety Barrios, an Energy Ministry official during the 2012-18 government led by former president Enrique Peña Nieto, told Bloomberg that the pledge to end exports “seems impossible to me because the refineries are not capable of operating at 80%.”

John Padilla, managing director at energy consultancy IPD Latin America, expressed a similar view – even though the government has invested heavily to upgrade Pemex’s six existing refineries.

“They don’t have the refining capacity in place, they’ve not been able to increase their refining throughput, and the number of accidents has increased tremendously,” he told Bloomberg.

“You aren’t turning off exports unless you significantly reduce production of crude oil, and that would have major consequences for Pemex bondholders. Mexico would need to absorb massive amounts of Pemex debt,” Padilla said.

With reports from Bloomberg

Follow these few dining rules to stay well in Mexico

Maria Fermin

December 28, 2021

food from Puebla — It's natural to want to sample all the intriguing foods here, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It’s a common, often controversial, warning for foreign travelers to Mexico: watch out what you eat and drink here.

Traveler’s diarrhea is by far the most common travel-related illness, with more than 10 million annual reported cases worldwide. Although you can get sick anywhere in the world, if you spend enough time in a developing country, the chances are pretty high that you will experience a mild stomach problem at some point.

Ironically, the prevalence of such symptoms often leads foreigners living here full-time to dismiss such concerns, reasonably noting that healthy adults will usually recover from their illness within three to 10 days.

However, adults older than 65, children younger than five and anyone who has a chronic inflammatory condition or a weakened immune system belong to a high-risk population that might not fare so well. If that is the case for you, be aware that 3% of people who experience traveler’s diarrhea develop serious long-term consequences, including ascending paralysis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reactive arthritis and even kidney damage.

The decision to enjoy a cozy, homestyle meal in one of the country’s many inexpensive small restaurants known as fondas, or to venture into sampling Mexico’s world-famous street food, should take into account your personal sensitivities and where you fall in terms of your general health.

taco vendors in Leon, Guanajuato — To stay safe, always watch how your food is being handled. Are employees washing and disinfecting their hands? Tomas Castelazo/Creative Commons

Although bacteria, parasites and viral infection can all be potential sources of traveler’s diarrhea, the Spanish medical journal Annals of the Health System of Navarra states that E. coli bacteria is the culprit in more than 70% of all diarrheal cases in Mexico.

E. coli is primarily transmitted through the ingestion of food that has been contaminated or exposed to infected animal or human fecal matter. The source of this matter could be contaminated soil or water or unclean hands.

These guidelines will help minimize the risk of ingesting E. coli while in Mexico:

Tap water: always double-check that your water and ice come from purified sources before taking a sip. Also, be mindful of accidental tap water exposure in restaurants by drying off any utensils, plates and glasses.

Trust your nose: our olfactory senses communicate with our limbic system and rapidly trigger responses. If anything smells spoiled or makes you feel uneasy, trust your instincts and do not taste it. Simply find another place to eat.

Watch how food is being handled: unfortunately, glove use is not widespread, so it’s extra important to pay attention to how the food is being handled: are employees washing and disinfecting their hands when moving from raw to prepared ingredients? Are their fingernails clean and trimmed? If you see artificial nails, keep walking: they pose a much higher risk for trapping harmful bacteria and make thorough handwashing more difficult.

Antibacterial gel: note whether it is readily available for employees and customers. Pandemic or not, basic hygiene is the first line of defense against foodborne illness.

Dirty clothing on staff: pride in personal appearance is a trait woven into the cultural fabric of Mexico, so seeing restaurant staff in dirty uniforms is a definite red flag and indicates that they probably aren’t taking proper precautions in other areas of food safety either.

Foods served hot should always be kept hot and cooked through the center: foods that are served hot should be cooked through the center. Keeping in mind that E. coli and salmonella die at temperatures of 160 F (70 C), rare burgers should be a thing of the past. The same in reverse holds true for foods that are meant to be served cold. Make sure they’re as cold as they’re supposed to be.

Seafood in particular needs to be refrigerated — period. Raw seafood like ceviche or aguachiles has a much higher chance of being contaminated (either by contact with unpurified water or with the preparer’s hands).

Watch out for mayonnaise: commercial mayonnaise is made with pasteurized eggs and can be left out at room temperature. However, to prevent the introduction of bacteria into the mayonnaise jar, make sure that the utensil the vendor is using is only being used for the mayonnaise.

Places with no running water: think street taco stands. If the purveyor’s food preparation area has no access to running water, then reusable serving plates should be covered with a new plastic bag that hasn’t been used for any other purpose. Some vendors use slips of paper instead, but these are permeable and typically only cover the middle of the plate.

If you’re going to cook your own food while visiting Mexico, get to know Microdyn, available at every supermarket and neighborhood market. Twitter

Be wary of street juice stands: juices sold on the street are all-natural and freshly squeezed in front of you, but the safest bet is to look for jugerías (juice sellers) with a more permanent location. These locations can afford rent because they have repeat customers who are obviously not getting sick. While you’re there, don’t pass up the opportunity to treat yourself to an escamocha (diced fruit served in yogurt or orange juice with granola).

If you plan on spending more time in Mexico, it’s worth finding a local marketplace where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables at great prices. Wash your produce with Microdyn, an antibacterial rinse that can be purchased from any supermarket or neighborhood market.

While these guidelines will help minimize potential sources of infection, remember that there are other worldwide factors over which you have no control: soil contaminated through fertilizer or contaminated water used for irrigation, for example, can be sources of cholera. Campylobacter is the number-one cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in the United States.

In conclusion, while you should not deny yourself world-class Mexican cuisine prepared in its country of origin, proceed with the amount of caution appropriate to your specific health situation. Not everyone can afford to take the same risks.

With an extensive background in advocacy, Maria Fermin is a resource for everyone seeking to live their healthiest, happiest lives. She is currently pursuing her health coach board certification and holds degrees in medicine and psychology.

Casa del Mar girls’ home builds community, one girl at a time

Janet Blaser

December 28, 2021

Gabriela Ramirez, director, Casa del Mar, Mazatlan — “We don’t want pity," says Casa del Mar's board of trustees president Gabriela Ramírez. "It’s our duty as a society to take care of these children."

Girls come to Mazatlán’s Casa del Mar for a variety of reasons — from broken homes affected by drug addiction, violence or severe poverty.

This 94-year-old girls’ home functioned as an orphanage when it originally opened in 1927 after the Spanish flu swept the city and left multitudes of children without families. But these days, the societal problems that bring the girls here have changed, and three years ago, so did Casa del Mar’s focus.

“As a system, we’ve shifted to a human rights focus,” explained Gabriela Ramírez Landeros, president of the institution’s board of trustees. “We don’t want pity — it’s our duty as a society to take care of these children. We want to give them the ability to have an independent future, employability and [the ability] to choose a career and train in that field.”

The changes are obvious in almost every aspect of the program and the girls’ lives: they’re expected to contribute to their “community” in big and little ways and share in making many of the decisions that affect their lives. The new name, Casa del Mar, was voted on by the girls two years ago to avoid the stigma of the word “orphanage,” although the nonprofit is still registered as Orfanatorio de Mazatlán and donations are still tax-deductible.

“It’s very important to us that they can make their own decisions,” explained Ramírez. “Part of living in a community is that you have to contribute. This is about their lives, not just our authority.”

Casa del Mar girls' home in Mazatlan — By necessity, many of the residents sleep in a large dormitory, but they’re encouraged to individualize their sleeping areas.

Before, birthday cakes were purchased; now the cumpleañera’s friends make it. In the past, a staffer would sort donated clothing and decide what garments went to which girls and which items needed to be purchased new.

“Now the girls have a say in what they wear; they have a voice,” said Ramírez. “If they choose to wear their fancy dress on a Monday, that’s OK!”

The girls have regular chores and duties that change monthly. They can earn money by taking on extra tasks, and the girls learn to set goals and save for them.

Casa del Mar’s imposing property covers almost an entire block with high walls surrounding multiple courtyards, a huge playground and the main building, which encircles a big central courtyard with bicycles lined up neatly on one side.

A long, dormitory-style bedroom houses the younger girls in neat rows, while teens have their own room. The spacious remodeled bathroom features modern individual shower stalls. Each girl has their own closet/locker for clothes and personal items, as well as a nightstand next to their bed.

Other areas include a playroom with a big TV and lots of toys, a study/sewing room and a computer room where the girls can do schoolwork. Posters about self-esteem dot the walls, as do paintings done by the girls. A spotless stainless-steel kitchen and dining room are decorated with more of the girls’ artwork, these ones about healthy eating and good nutrition.

Twenty girls, aged five to 19, currently live at Casa del Mar. Some were referred by the DIF family services agency, but nowadays they’re more often brought to the program by family members looking for assistance with their care.

For example, a girl may be living with a grandparent who has to work and can’t care for her during the week. Working within the parameters of a special program, she can live at Casa del Mar from Monday to Friday and go home on weekends.

“Most of them, all of them, come from broken homes or where parents have abandoned them,” explained director Rafaela Cornejo Valdovinos, who has worked at Casa del Mar for almost 20 years.

“Parents must understand that we are not the enemy,” added Ramírez. “We’re not judging, we’re helping.”

Can parents visit?

“We have to see that the girls are safe,” said Ramírez. “Some parents are allowed to visit; some don’t want to. That’s really hard to explain to the girls.”

The dormitory for Casa del Mar’s younger residents.

One might assume there’s funding from the city to help defray costs, but Casa del Mar only receives 2,000 pesos a month from Mazatlán’s municipal government. Sponsors include big companies like Lala, which donates milk products, as well as volunteers who take the girls on outings, teach them to sew or read to them for story hour.

“We have lots of volunteers in the health field: doctors, dentists, therapists and nutritionists,” said Ramírez. But, she added, “Money is always the best donation.”

Casa del Mar carefully screens volunteers with in-person interviews that include questions about the applicants’ families and backgrounds.

“It has to be something to benefit the girls,” explained Cornejo. “We ask them to present their idea and objectives. There are rules and regulations they must agree to, and we work together to oversee what they’re doing and how the girls feel about it.”

The girls are offered therapy, which is suggested but not forced. The girls must decide if they’re able and want to move forward in order to cope with their past neglect and abuse.

“It’s not mandatory,” said Ramírez. “But we encourage them because it’s the only way for them to help themselves.”

When girls “age out” of Casa del Mar they don’t have to leave if they’re willing to continue their studies. It costs 3,000 pesos for a month of school-related costs, paid for by sponsors.

Since the pandemic shut down in-person school, Casa del Mar has contracted two teachers to visit three hours a day at a cost of 200,000 pesos for the year. (High schoolers have virtual classes.)

Since its inception, 2,500 girls have lived at the facility.

“Hopefully, this will be the first generation of girls to go on to university!” said Ramírez.

• Interested in volunteering? Find out more on the Casa del Mar website or send an email with details about what you’d like to do. Reach them by phone at (+52) 669-981-2214.

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

When you find yourself adrift in a sea of Christmas yard displays

Bodie Kellogg

December 27, 2021

Inflatable Santa — The peak of holiday cheer or the stuff of nightmares?

Christmas without drifting snow and icy roads just doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. Admiring lavish holiday displays while wearing shorts and sandals is very incongruous and somewhat bewildering.

So, to keep from becoming a more deeply disturbed person, I have trained my aging and addled mind to disassociate Christmas from snow and cold. I now connect the season simply with inflatable decorations and garish displays.

Each Christmas, I am always astounded by the sheer numbers and wide assortment of blow-up yard art in Mazatlán and probably throughout Mexico. These things come in all shapes and sizes, with the larger ones having their own little compressors to keep them fully inflated.

The upside is that they are easy to store 10 months of the year, but on the downside, they can be exceptionally tacky. Besides having all the standard Christmas themes — Jesus, the Three Wise Men, Santa, reindeer, et cetera, there are also a myriad of inflated cartoon characters scattered across the roofs and patios of town.

I find myself wondering what Bugs Bunny or Mickey and Pluto have to do with Christmas. I guess not everyone can afford the seven-foot Santas that are so prolific in the walled compounds of the wealthy.

yard decorations in Mazatlan — Mazatlan homes can go all out with Christmas yard decorations. File photo

Signs of the holidays have been steadily on the rise since mid-September and peaked with the extravagant exhibits of lights and inflatable decorations in gated communities. There are several streets in the high-dollar neighborhoods, where it became the land of competing Christmas displays, complete with individual soundtracks.

I have seen a larger-than-life Santa kicking a soccer ball, waving from an inflated sleigh, going down an inflated chimney and stuffing an inflated reindeer down an inflated chimney. Many others simply stand in mute testimony to the season at hand.

Both life-sized and miniature Nativity scenes will share a space with an inflated Snow White and seven blow-up dwarfs. A blow-up display of the Warner Brothers cartoon character Wile E. Coyote can be seen chasing another one of his perennial prey, The Roadrunner, among Santa’s air-filled reindeer.

The largest displays will have 30 or more of these egregious bags of air spread across all available roof and yard surfaces, along with every shrub and tree festooned with thousands of lights.

There is only one house in Mazatlán’s center that has been following in the footsteps of the privileged, and it becomes more ostentatious each year.

It used to be a light show only, but now the roof is sprouting inflatables like ticks on a street dog, bloated and leering.

house of Julio Preciado in Mazatlan — Even banda star Julio Preciado’s home in Mazatlán is known to get into the holiday act. This was how his house looked last year at Christmastime.

Each year at this time, I have recurring nightmares where Mazatlán is savagely overrun by blow-up decorations from the dark side. Fortunately, a moderate amount of tequila can assuage these inherent fears.

Although the fervor of Christmas is now becoming but a din in the past, there will still be a few inflatables out there, neglected and sagging. With their little compressors unplugged, the Three Wise Men, once proud holiday icons, will resemble the Marx Brothers on acid.

So … in the spirit of the season, or whatever you may choose to call it, please accept, without obligation implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of this winter holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion, secular practices or pagan ceremonies of your choice, with respect for the persuasion and/or traditions of others, human or animal — or their choice not to practice religious or secular or pagan traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and pain-free entry into the generally accepted calendar year 2022, but not without proper respect for the calendars of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make the world what it is, whether we like it or not.

In addition, this wish is made without regard to the race, color, age, political doctrine, physical ability, mental acuity, religious faith, gender or sexual preference of the wishor or wishee.

Bodie Kellogg was last seen wrestling with a life-sized inflatable Christmas decoration that strongly resembled Betty Boop. It appears that his zeal for the holiday season is truly unbridled. He also 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].

Failed ‘kingpin strategy’ at heart of new Mexico-US security plans

Parker Asmann

December 27, 2021

Wanted: El Mayo Zambada and El Guano Guzmán. The 'kingpin strategy' continues.

The United States and Mexico have officially entered a new phase of their partnership to tackle transnational organized crime groups and the evolving regional drug trade, yet recent announcements suggest the two countries are relying on some of the same failed strategies.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard met with U.S. government officials December 14 to mark the official start of the Bicentennial Framework. First announced in early October during a “high-level security dialogue,” the plan proposes a “new shared vision of regional security and collaboration.”

In particular, it aims to prevent substance abuse using a public health focus; reduce arms trafficking through enhanced tracing and investments in better technology; improve information sharing to dismantle illicit financial networks; increase cooperation to facilitate extraditions; and target drug labs and precursor chemicals to disrupt illegal supply chains, among other priorities.

Ebrard said the new initiative signified the two countries were “leaving the Mérida Initiative behind.” Launched in 2007, that multibillion-dollar binational security effort largely failed to improve citizen security, quell violence, reign in corruption or confront the scourge brought on by organized crime groups trafficking in drugs, weapons and other contraband.

A day after the U.S. and Mexican governments started their new security efforts, the State Department announced “significant steps to enhance … efforts to disrupt and deter transnational criminal activity.” Specifically, officials said they would now offer up to $20 million in total to anyone that could provide information leading to the arrests of Sinaloa Cartel members Ovidio Guzmán López, Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Joaquín Guzmán López.

The four sons of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo” — now jailed in the United States after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison on a number of criminal charges — are known collectively as “Los Chapitos.” They are currently battling for internal control of the group with Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” one of the group’s oldest members.

U.S. authorities also recently upped the reward for help in arresting Aureliano Guzmán Loera, alias “El Guano,” the older brother of El Chapo and another major Sinaloa Cartel figure who Los Chapitos are also reportedly at odds with.

In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new designations to the Rojos and Guerreros Unidos crime groups in Mexico for their role in moving drugs into the United States. In Mexico alone, the U.S. government has pledged up to $50 million for information facilitating the capture of a number of organized crime leaders: “Los Chapitos” and “El Mayo” of the Sinaloa Cartel and Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, among others.

President López Obrador said that capturing El Chapo’s sons is a “priority,” and if they’re in Mexico, it should be the responsibility of Mexican authorities to bring them to justice.

InSight Crime analysis

U.S.-Mexico security relations may be entering into a new phase on paper, but the targeting of various organized crime groups and leaders with multimillion-dollar rewards and sanctions suggests the plan moving forward will continue to rely in part on a seriously flawed approach: the kingpin strategy.

“The U.S. government is making a big statement by announcing that the first concrete actions taken within the new Bicentennial Framework are a reaffirmation of the kingpin strategy, and it’s very unfortunate,” said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations and organized crime in Mexico.

Since Felipe Calderón launched an offensive against organized crime groups in 2006 backed by the United States and a shared vision of arresting and extraditing criminal leaders, or what has come to be known as the kingpin strategy, violence in Mexico has surged to unprecedented levels.

To be sure, homicides have jumped nearly three-fold in the last 15 years, as the national government reported 34,515 murders and almost 1,000 femicides in 2020. And since 2007, the number of homicide investigations reported by Mexico’s National Security System has tripled, according to data collected by the Justice in Mexico Project at the University of San Diego.

“Leadership disruptions — especially due to the targeting of drug ‘kingpins’ by Mexican and U.S. law enforcement — has contributed to the … pattern of internal schisms and encroachment by rival organizations that has fueled violence,” according to a recent Justice in Mexico report on organized crime and violence in the country.

Not only that, but Mexico’s criminal landscape has fragmented substantially thanks to the outsized focus on crime bosses. The International Crisis Group estimates there are some 200 active criminal groups operating in Mexico today, many of which are factions that have splintered off from once-mighty groups like the Zetas and Beltrán Leyva Organization, only to become incredibly predatory groups in their own right.

Unintended consequences from the heavily militarized kingpin strategy were among the core arguments for needing to completely reform the Mérida Initiative. The Bicentennial Framework promised a shift to addressing the root causes of violence and the public health problem that is substance abuse.

However, at this initial stage it doesn’t appear as if the framework marks a “fundamental change” to the way in which the two countries operate on joint security efforts, according to Jaime López, a security policy consultant and former police official in Mexico. He said it’s possible that direction could change in the future as the plan moves forward, but so far the response seems to be the same scenario with a different name.

Correa-Cabrera agreed, adding that it looks more like a cosmetic change. “It’s the same initiative under a different name, just with makeup,” she told InSight Crime.

Reprinted from InSight Crime. Parker Asmann is a writer with InSight Crime, a foundation dedicated to the study of organized crime.

Preserve Bank of México’s autonomy, warns outgoing governor in face of political pressure

Tony Richards

December 27, 2021

Alejandro Díaz de León leaves his post at the end of the month.

The Bank of México’s outgoing governor has spoken out about the importance of protecting the bank’s constitutional mandate as the institution faces mounting political pressure from President López Obrador and his party.

The bank’s autonomy was recently called into question when López Obrador withdrew his nominee to be the next governor and replaced him with a little-known public sector economist.

Outgoing governor Alejandro Díaz de León said he was confident the bank would continue to fulfil its mandates so long as its legal framework stayed intact.

“The key thing is to conserve the constitutional mandate and the law that the bank has today,” Díaz de León told the Financial Times in an interview. “I think those are the best guarantee that an environment of stability and low inflation can be maintained.”

Victoria Rodríguez Ceja will take over January 1 as the first female governor of the bank, leading a majority-female board.

Tensions between the central bank and politicians began to mount last year when a bill proposed by lawmakers from the ruling Morena party sought to force it to buy excess dollars. The proposal would have undermined the bank’s autonomy, critics said. It was eventually shelved after strong opposition.

The central bank’s board also ran into political controversy this year when it pushed back against López Obrador’s attempt to use Mexico’s share of a global liquidity injection from the IMF to pay off public debt.

The back and forth with the president and his party was part of the normal functioning of democracy, Díaz de León said.

Central banks are at the forefront of a global push to try to slow rising inflation, and last week many of them tightened policy more aggressively. Policymakers face “a critical situation for the handling of monetary policy,” Díaz de León said. “It’s very clear that central banks can do their jobs better in an autonomous framework and it’s really important to preserve that.”

The Bank of México has faced a delicate balance in steering the country’s fragile emergence from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. A sudden output contraction in the third quarter of this year put pressure on its five-member board not to choke off the recovery by raising rates too fast.

Yet Mexico faces spiraling inflation, leaving them with a dilemma. The pace of price growth has hit its highest in 20 years, pushing the bank to surprise markets by raising rates sharply at its meeting earlier this month.

Despite this, Díaz de León cautioned that Mexico was not necessarily targeting substantial future rate rises.

“Sometimes it looks like there are two tracks, the track of 25 [basis point rate rises] and the track of 50 . . . The truth is in the bank we don’t see it that way,” he said. “Going forward all the options are available and none are predefined.”

Mexico has experienced outflows of foreign funds in equities and government securities since the beginning of the pandemic, another factor that could put pressure on the bank to raise rates in a bid to attract foreign capital.

However, Díaz de León played down the economic impact. “The adjustment has been ordered and gradual,” he said. “We hope that as the risk settles even more, the appetite for instruments in local currency may also reappear.”

After taking power in December 2018, López Obrador implemented a sweeping austerity drive that he held firm on during the pandemic. The IMF, which has in the past advocated for tight spending rules, urged the government to raise its spending to tackle the economic impact of COVID.

The Bank of México lost staff in the early months of López Obrador’s administration, particularly after a law was passed limiting public sector salaries. The rotation in headcount had stabilized since then, Díaz de León said.

Campeche man’s annual mission: spread joy through a holiday spectacle

Shannon Collins

December 27, 2021

Campeche Christmas decorations — Keau incorporates figures ranging from traditional gingerbread men to Star Wars characters into his Christmas display.

Undeniably the most magical time of the year, Christmas is a time for opening one’s heart and thinking about the wider community. There are a number of obvious ways to give back to the people around us at Christmas time, but sometimes, it is inspiring joy in smaller ways that makes the biggest difference.

Houses festooned with lights, wreaths, and paper chains are part and parcel of the joy of the festive season, but a home overlooking the sea on the edge of the city of Campeche spreads the spirit of Christmas better than most.

At Avenida Pedro Sainz de Baranda, Manzana 4, Numero 2, Campeche, every day is a celebration — and never more so than in the festive season.

The creative mastermind behind the decorations is José Dolores Keau Canul, who has worked at the property as a maintenance man for 20 years. The property owners sometimes give him money to cover the costs, but it is Keau Canul who decorates and maintains the house.

“We started with a few simple drawings, but naturally, it evolved as we continued doing it,” he said. “One constant is the decor on the doors, which we make by hand to fit every year. And alongside that, we now have,” he stops speaking and gestures broadly, “well, you can see for yourselves.”

And so you can — or, at least, you can try: such is the splendor of these decorations that standing on the pavement outside the house, perhaps counterintuitively, does no justice to the spectacle.

On the home’s exterior, the eye can but dart between the handmade nutcracker sentinels on the doors, Santa Claus singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” a huge maguey cactus on the grass outside with red and gold baubles and a life-sized white reindeer nodding sagely at passing cars.

And it could hardly be a Christmas celebration without a crowning decoration on the roof: in this case, it’s the all-important … inflatable baby Yoda?

Possible affiliations with Jedi Knights aside, seeing the ornamentation on Avenida Pedro Sainz de Baranda is surely a Christmas tradition for all who frequent this part of town; the house has been a proud totem of the Yuletide spirit for nearly all of the two decades Keau Canul has worked at the property.

At this house, as well as in the Plaza de República, where the Campeche Christmas fair is held, and in other places all over the city, people can take a moment out of their day to marvel at the sight of Christmas in all its glory.

“It’s a double win because you feel good and it attracts people’s attention,” Keau Canul explains. “People pass it and they talk about it, and we hope it makes them feel good. In this way, we try to encourage the spirit of Christmas a little.”

But Christmas is not the only time of year when the house is a spectacle. For six months of the year, anyone making the daily journey past the house can marvel at its various decorations, which are put up for the September Independence Day celebrations, then change in October for Day of the Dead and then shortly thereafter transition to the current Christmas theme.

It’s very lucky, Keau Canul says, that people have largely respected the property and its decorations; barring a few very minor incidents, including an aggressive rainstorm the night before, they have not suffered any theft or vandalism of the display.

And perhaps it is this which encapsulates the magic of the festive season: the goodwill that comes with broadening the enjoyment of Christmas beyond the walls of your own building foments amity in the people who are able to view it.

Campeche is a city where an age-old reverence for the Virgin Mary and her child Jesus has blended with western Christmas traditions to make the holiday a celebration that lights up the whole community. Along the highway, men sell traditional Christmas star-shaped and brightly colored piñatas.

They are cheerful in spite of the slightly chill breeze which blows at this time of year, and the passersby who stop to buy their wares stay to chatter for a few minutes before they walk away. Throughout the city, lights glimmer in window frames, and presents meant to put smiles on everyone’s faces nestle under well-adorned Christmas trees.

There is a magic to this time of year that strengthens the bonds between loved ones, and which — even if only temporarily — allows strangers to spread joy in their everyday activities. For, as we all know, there are few joys purer than being able to share the wonder of seeing a house trimmed with Christmas finery and knowing that it is a sure sign that the big day is fast approaching.

Feliz Navidad!

Shannon Collins is an environment correspondent at Ninth Wave Global, an environmental organization and think tank. She writes from Campeche.

And to all a good night: Noche Buena beer is Mexico’s Christmas favorite

Leigh Thelmadatter

December 25, 2021

Noche Buena beer on sale in a Zapopan, Jalisco, liquor store. Facebook

If you’ve ever noticed around this time of year the cases and bottles of beer decorated plainly with poinsettias and named Noche Buena, what you’ve seen is one of Mexico’s most eagerly awaited seasonal beers — and its only traditional Christmas beer.

The name literally means “good night,” but it actually refers to Christmas Eve, as the Spanish word for Christmas Eve is Nochebuena. The poinsettia is also a nochebuena, and its origins as a Christmas flower are Mexican.

This “good night” beer is as welcome in Mexican homes at this time of year as the aguinaldo (Christmas bonus) and the piñata.

Unlike the vast majority of commercial Mexican beers, Noche Buena is a dark bock, a class of beers that have their origins in Germany. They are dense and calorie-rich, dating back to the 14th or 15th century. As the story goes, German monks developed it to get through the winter and fasting periods, especially Lent.

This particular bock has a reddish-brown color with a thick head that holds up well, leaving a lattice on the glass as you drink it. The aroma is agreeable with notes of chocolate, caramel and red fruits. A sip will reveal flavor notes that also include prunes, toasted malts and herbal hops.

Homer Simpson Noche Buena meme — In Mexico, even beer lover Homer Simpson drinks Noche Buenas at Christmas. Twitter

It finishes with a dry aftertaste. It is a low-hop beer, so it isn’t particularly bitter. In fact, I find it a bit sweet for my taste, but then I tend to go for very dry and hoppy beers like India pale ale.

Noche Buena is not considered anywhere near the same quality as European-produced bocks, but those who prefer it say they like it because it is neither too heavy nor too spicy. The alcohol level is 5.9% by volume.

Dark bocks can be produced year-round, but this particular beer is strongly associated with winter, available only between October and February. One reason is that this beer needs colder temperatures to brew and mature well. The second is that dark beers in general are associated with winter in Germany. But perhaps most important is the beer’s history in Mexico.

German immigrants to the country introduced beer to Mexicans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A novelty at first, it would eventually replace pulque as the working man’s drink as it was commercialized and seen as healthier and more modern.

Noche Buena is the first bock beer made in Mexico. Its history began in 1924 in Orizaba, Veracruz, when a group of Germans founded a brewery here and began making the bock for themselves. Eventually, they began giving the beer as gifts to coworkers and family. This created a demand among the general public, and the brewery began to make it as a seasonal specialty for winter, hence the name.

People all over Mexico drink Noche Buena, but it is most popular in the high mountains in the country’s center where December weather is colder overall than in most other places in the country.

Until 2011, the beer was available only in Mexico. Mexicans and others looking for a case would have to drive across the border to get it. Export began simply because the demand had become so great. However, in 2018, its makers decided to stop exporting it to the United States, citing a lack of demand, according to a San Diego Tribune article published at the time.

Over the 20th century, Mexico’s commercial breweries consolidated into two or three conglomerates, of which Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma was one. It produces well-known brands such as Dos Equis, Superior, Indio, Tecate and Bohemia. The company considers Noche Buena as part of the Bohemia line.

Ironically, in 2010, the Dutch company Heineken bought out FEMSA’s control of Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, putting most of Mexico’s beer brewing, including Noche Buena, back into European hands. However, it is highly unlikely that this will mean any notable changes in how Noche Buena is made. It is too far an ingrained Christmas tradition for Mexicans to tolerate that.

It costs a bit more than most Mexican beers, but Noche Buena is not a beer simply to drink as alcohol. It is to drink with close family and friends as you celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. Whether or not you get drunk is secondary at best.

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.

1...858859860...1,920 Page 859 of 1,920