The British bank's forecast was at odds with that of Moody's Analytics. Depositphotos
The British bank Barclays has offered a rosy forecast for the Mexican peso, presenting an outlook that differs sharply with that put forward by Moody’s Analytics earlier this month.
The peso — one of the world’s best performing currencies in 2022 — could appreciate by over 4% against the U.S. dollar between now and the end of 2023, according to two Barclays analysts.
The analysts told a press conference Friday that the peso could trade at 19 to the U.S. dollar at the end of 2023, an appreciation of about 4.2% compared to its value of approximately 19.83 to the greenback at 11 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST) Monday.
Gabriel Casillas, Barclays’ head of Latin America Economics, and Erick Martínez, a New York-based exchange rates strategist with the bank, predicted that one U.S. dollar will buy 19.75 pesos at the end of this year, a slight appreciation for the latter currency.
The peso could appreciate slightly against the dollar by the end of the year, some analysts say. Depositphotos
Casillas said that “fiscal austerity, Mexico’s attractiveness for nearshoring and a shrinking investment universe” are all positives for the Mexican economy — and the country’s currency. Investors can no longer invest in Russia and they’re pulling money out of China due to political concerns, he said.
Martínez said that the peso has been supported by — and will continue to be supported by — the difference in interest rates between Mexico and the United States. The Bank of México’s benchmark rate is currently 9.25% whereas that of the United States Federal Reserve is 3-3.25%.
Among other advantages for the peso, Martínez said, are political stability in Mexico, the absence of capital flight from the nation’s economy and solid public accounts. The analyst expressed “clear disagreement” with Moody’s Analytics’ recent prediction that the peso could depreciate 20% against the U.S. dollar in coming months due to tightening monetary policy in the United States.
The dollar is “overvalued” now due to the Fed’s sharp interest rate hikes — 0.75% following its three most recent meetings — but will return to its “fair value” as the U.S. central bank relaxes its monetary policy, Martínez said.
He and Casillas predicted that the Fed’s monetary policy will ease as the U.S. economy slows, and the peso will benefit as a result — even though the Bank of México will likely adopt a less aggressive stance itself as inflation regulates here.
Mexico’s central bank has also raised rates by 0.75% following its three most recent monetary policy meetings as the bank seeks to tame high inflation — 8.53% in the first half of October.
Martínez said that the peso could suffer if the global economic situation worsens in early 2023, but predicted that it would regain any lost ground as central banks relax monetary policy once inflation has been brought under control.
The peso has appreciated over 3% against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year even as many other currencies lost ground against the greenback, which is seen as a safe-haven currency in times of economic uncertainty. The strength of the Mexican currency has been lauded by President López Obrador and has led some media outlets, such as Bloomberg, to dub it the “super peso.”
Martínez said that the currency could begin to come under pressure in 2024 due to political uncertainty in the lead-up to the Mexican presidential election, scheduled to take place in July of that year. The peso depreciated slightly against the U.S. dollar in Monday morning trading as the market factors in the likelihood of the Fed announcing another 0.75% interest rate hike this Wednesday.
Colorful, fun and somewhat creepy, brightly decorated sugar skulls (calaveritas) are an integral part of Day of the Dead celebrations.
Like every holiday, Día de Muertos is celebrated with food.
In this case, though, the foods aren’t necessarily what we want: Day of the Dead tradition calls for honoring those who have passed away by preparing their favorite dishes and drinks, uniting both worlds in a celebration and remembrance of your time with them. Relatives and friends cook for the pleasure of the departed, and offerings are made on home altars or at grave sites. Marigolds (cempasuchitl) are traditionally used for decoration as their strong fragrance is said to attract and guide the spirits back to their final resting place.
Pan de muerto (literally translated as “dead bread”) is perhaps the most well-known food associated with this holiday and heralds the approaching celebration. While it seems to be just a round, Danish-like pastry sprinkled with sugar, everything about it is symbolic.
The circular shape represents the cycle of birth and death; the bumpy knob on top represents the skull, with the four elongated knobby strips symbolizing bones or the tears shed for the deceased.
Pan de muerto’s shape, flavor and distinctive knobby top are full of Aztec symbolism.
These also signify the four directions of the Aztec calendar. And finally, Pan de Muerto’s gentle orange-blossom flavor is to attract and comfort the deceased. While you’ll find different variations throughout Mexico, the basic shape and meanings remain the same.
Pan de muerto can be made at home — it’s a basic sweet yeast dough — but space restrictions prohibit my including a recipe here. Google around or just go buy some at your favorite bakery or restaurant.
Candy skulls (calaveras or calaveritas) are another sweet traditionally associated with Day of the Dead. Made from just sugar, egg whites and water, they aren’t usually eaten (even though they could be) and are simply for decoration. They’re a fun project if you’re so inclined, although they are easily purchased in grocery stores at this time of year.
Amaranth candies, or alegría — made plain or with nuts and seeds or chocolate — are another sweet often found on Day of the Dead altars. These are easy (and delicious) to make and can be cut into relevant shape. Find recipes for traditional alegría and a chocolate version here.
Pumpkins—or calabaza—come into the picture during this time too, albeit not in the form of pie or lattés. Slow-cooked in a thick sugar syrup, Dulce de Calabaza (recipe below) celebrates the season and is meant to appeal to the sweet tooth of loved ones who have passed away.
Sugar Skulls (Calaveritas)
To make the skulls:
3 cups granulated sugar
The white of 1 large egg
In a bowl, combine sugar and egg white with your fingers. Pack mixture firmly into skull molds. Scrape tops level. Bake at 200 F (93 C) for 20–30 minutes until surface feels hard and solid when lightly pressed. Cool on wire rack.
To unmold: place a baking sheet over the mold; holding mold and pan together, turn over. Tap mold gently and then lift carefully off sugar skulls.
If mixture sticks to mold, dump back into bowl and stir in 2–4 tablespoons sugar; if mixture crumbles, return to bowl and mix in more egg white, 1 teaspoon at a time. If any skulls break, wash and dry mold and fill again, reusing sugar mixture.
To make icing:
The white of 1 large egg
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar (optional)
Using a mixer on high speed, beat the egg white and cream of tartar (if available) until foamy. Beat in 1½ cups powdered sugar. Add more if needed to make a stiff icing. Blend in food coloring as desired.
Pipe icing onto cooled skulls to decorate, using a pastry bag with plain or decorative tips. Let dry at least 1 hour.
Store in airtight container or wrapped in plastic.
In some parts of Mexico, calabaza (squash) cooked in sugar syrup is another Día de Muertos tradition.
Dulce de Calabaza
You’ll see this in the mercados in a more crystalized form, to eat as candy.
About 5 cups peeled,* seeded and cubed calabaza, butternut squash or pumpkin
1 cup piloncillo, grated
1 tsp. cinnamon or 1 (4-inch) cinnamon stick
1 cup water
Heat water, cinnamon and piloncillo in a pot big enough to fit all the squash. Simmer over medium heat until piloncillo dissolves; add squash pieces. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until syrup is thick as honey. Serve warm, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt.
* To peel squash or pumpkin: place whole squash/pumpkin on folded dish towel so it doesn’t slip. Carefully cut in half, then quarters (or in smaller slices). Remove seeds. To peel, use a vegetable peeler or a sharp paring knife. Cut into cubes and proceed with recipe.
1 lb. any kind of fruit (apples, pears, plums or mixed)
A 4-inch long cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp. baking soda
½ cup harina de maiz (corn flour)
About 1 cup water
Wash, cut and boil fruit in water until soft. Strain out skins, pits and seeds. Purée in blender or food processor.
Combine puréed fruit, milk, sugar and baking soda in a pan. Dissolve corn flour in water; add to pan.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Add sugar to taste before mixture begins to boil.
Remove from heat. Serve warm or chilled.
Alegría de Limón (Lime Amaranth Candy)
5 cups amaranth
1½ cups sugar
¾ cup water
2 Tbsp. grated piloncillo
1¼ Tbsp. lime juice
¼ cup water
Vegetable oil spray
Optional: pepitas, peanuts, sunflower seeds
Lightly spray cupcake tin, 8×8-inch baking pan, rimmed baking sheet or other molds with vegetable oil. Place amaranth in large bowl.
In a saucepan, heat ¾ cup water, sugar, piloncillo and lime juice over medium-high heat. Boil 10–15 minutes, stirring continuously.
Pour syrup over amaranth; mix well with a spatula or spoon. Scoop mixture into pan or molds; press down firmly to even out surface.
If using the nuts, scatter over the top and press into the amaranth mixture. If using baking sheet or pan instead of molds, cut into any desired shape while warm. Store in sealed container in refrigerator.
Close up of mummy’s hand at Guanajuato city's popular Mummy Museum. Tomas Castelazo/Creative Commons
Mexico’s world-famous Day of the Dead spotlights the country’s relationship with the end of life, but that doesn’t mean that death is ignored the rest of the year. Its acceptance as an integral part of life means that there are year-round cultural institutions dedicated to the subject.
Without a doubt the best known “death museum” in Mexico is the Guanajuato Mummy Museum in Guanajuato city, which features about 100 mummies exhumed from the crypts of the Santa Paula Cemetery next door. The mummies’ popularity is due to a 1972 film that pitted the iconic lucha libre wrestling star El Santo against them after they came to life. Today, the museum is the third most visited in all of Mexico, welcoming about 600,000 people a year.
For years, it was thought that there was something special about the soil in the cemetery that created the mummies, but the reality is that all were exhumed from abandoned above-ground crypts, which sometimes allowed the interred to dry out and mummify naturally.
The museum is so popular that there was a proposal in 2017 to construct a new complex. However, by 2022, the National Institute of Anthropology and History nixed the city’s plans — not because there was no need for better preservation of the mummies but because the proposed replacement was a sleek modern building with spaces for 53 businesses, an auditorium, cafeteria and souvenir shop. The UNESCO International Council on Monuments and Sites threatened Guanajuato’s World Heritage Site status if the project went through. There was local opposition as well, calling the structure a “shopping mall.”
“Angel of Silence” at the Benigno Montoya Museum/Durango cemetery.
To date, no suitable alternative proposal has been put forward.
In the past, photography of the mummies was not allowed, but since it is pretty much impossible to keep people from taking pictures with their cell phones, the museum has since opted to charge a small fee instead.
As famous as the Guanajuato mummies are, an even better mummy experience can be had in the small town of Encarnación de Díaz in the Los Altos region of Jalisco.
There are only 32 mummies on display, but many more remain hidden because of a lack of permission from families and other legal considerations. Most of these mummies are in the outfit they were buried in, providing historical context.
One mummy is that of a fetus, only 12 cm long, the smallest in the world, according to Guinness. Like their Guanajuato cousins, these mummies were extracted from above-ground crypts at the Señor de la Misericordia Cemetery.
This museum also has the life stories of many of the mummies, including that of Pedro Ramos, whose uniform is the basis for those worn by museum staff. To provide even more context, there are rooms dedicated to the funerary practices of the region.
The last notable display of mummies is at El Carmen in the south of Mexico City. The entire former monastery is a museum, but the lowest level contains the remains of 12 well-preserved bodies from the 19th century that were discovered during the Mexican Revolution by looting soldiers. The identity of the 12 and how they came to be interred in the monastery is still a mystery.
That they exist at all is unusual as Mexico City has a wetter climate and the crypts are barely above ground. Their preservation is credited to how the monastery was constructed, creating a microclimate.
Body of Macario Delgado on display at the Mummy Museum in Encarnación de Díaz, Jalisco. Alejandro Linares Garcia
Then, there are museums dedicated to the concept of death. Mexico has not one but two museums on this topic.
The National Museum of Death in the city of Aguascalientes and the Museum of Death in San Juan del Río look to educate the public on concepts death and the beyond from the Mesoamerican period to the present with exhibits dedicated to fine and folk art, funerary practices and more. The Aguascalientes museum was founded in 2007 as part of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, and the Querétaro museum in the 18th century is at the former Santa Cruz Cemetery.
One very creative idea to get people to visit a city cemetery year-round is the Benigno Montoya Museum of Funerary Art in the city of Durango. The museum claims to be the first of its kind in the country.
The museum is not a building but rather several themed paths that have been integrated into the municipal cemetery proper, with QR codes in places of particular interest. The main attractions are the magnificent tombs and sculptures created in the 19th and early 20th centuries by Italian artist Benigno Montoya and his students.
Most of the 700 marked sites have one or more of these artworks, but some have local and regionally notable figures.
Mexico City has its own cemetery/museum integrated into the San Fernando Cemetery. Here the main attraction is history, with visitors coming to see the final resting places of many of Mexico’s famous politicians, soldiers and heroes, such as Vicente Guerrero, Ignacio Comonfort, José Joaquin Herrera, Martíin Carrera, Benito Juárez, Santiago Xicoténcatl, Francisco Zarco, Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía.
The cemetery not only offers tours but also temporary exhibitions, conferences, workshops and book presentations.
A bit more touristy is the Cementerio Mexicano (Mexican Cemetery), an exhibit at the Xcaret resort in Quintana Roo. A thoroughly modern creation, it consists of an artificial hill covered in colorful graves representing Mayan, other Mesoamerican and more recent funerary practices.
The hill actually represents a large snail, which was considered to be a messenger to the gods in the pre-Hispanic period. The snail consists of two spirals, one interior and one exterior, and canals in which water runs.
With all these options, you can get a taste of what Day of the Dead means in Mexico year round.
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.
Over her 20+ years in Mexico, Day of the Dead has shifted for the writer from an cultural encounter to a more intimate experience filled with meaning. Gerardo Covarrubias/Unsplash
It’s my favorite time of the year!
The weather is crisp but not yet intolerably cold; it’s energizing rather than depressing. Is there anything better than sweater weather paired with a bright sun and a warm drink in your hands?
Here in Mexico, we might not get many golden leaves, but we do get golden flowers: cempasúchil, or the marigold plant, is the official flor de muerto, which I think is a pretty fair exchange.
We also get brightly-colored papel picado (those tissue paper decorations with cut-out patterns that go on and behind Day of the Dead altars). We get candied skulls and special bread called pan de muerto, decorated with sugar crystals sparkling on top made to look like crossed bones.
What’s not to love?
Day of the Dead has been my favorite Mexican holiday since my first experience celebrating it 20 years ago in Naolinco, a small town in the mountains of Veracruz. The town’s official business is all things leather – mostly shoes – but they’re also locally famous for going all-out for this particular holiday.
That first year, my small group of fellow study-abroad students and I wandered around the town, looking at altars, many of which were displayed in the fronts of homes — whose owners beckoned us in to see them.
We’d eaten dinner at a restaurant first, though we needn’t have done so: we were given tamales, bread and homemade wine by all the strangers inviting us into their homes.
Cempasúchil seemed to glow brightly from every corner that night, and music from the carolers in the busy graveyard drifted over the town. What a night! I was hooked.
Last year, I went to Naolinco again and stayed this time with a friend living in the next town over. Despite the pandemic, the streets were filled.
While there were too many crowds for anyone to be inviting throngs of people inside their houses, the town was still brightly decorated, the celebration in full swing. It had officially been “discovered” by us city folk, and while I’m sure it’s a boon for tourism and represents a well-appreciated swell of income for the businesses there, I wonder how many native inhabitants choose to stay inside on those days for a little peace with their dead.
During the 19 years between my first and second Naolinco Día de Muertos trips, how I celebrate the holiday has changed.
I still stop to appreciate the public altars around my city, Xalapa, Veracruz, and I go to the series of Día de Muertos plays (always one funny, one serious, and one so weird and abstract I never understand what it’s about) that are put on at the Bicentennial Park. And hey: I’ll accept tamales, chocolate, and bread from pretty much anyone.
I still love the public aspect of the holiday, but with my own altar becoming more crowded each year, I make a point of spending time with it here at home. Now it’s a time for my dead who need to get the attention they deserve.
This year (so far), I’ve reserved the places of honor for my mother and my grandmother, one on each side. My mother visited me in Mexico several times and loved it. She hadn’t wanted me to come initially, but when she got here for the first time, she told me she understood why I was so happy here.
My paternal grandmother, as far as I know, never did come to Mexico … at least not on any kind of a long trip that I know of. She was also deeply scandalized by certain aspects of the Mexican Catholic Church. “Sarah, they worship the Virgin Mary as if she were a goddess!” she’d say, exasperated — and, hey, she wasn’t wrong.
I wonder what she would say to being on my very non-Presbyterian altar now. Surely, the cosmic version of herself would appreciate the intention.
My own dead grew up in, lived and died in a culture that did not celebrate death; more than anything, we tried to ward it off. The only appropriate emotions in the face of death were sorrow and terror, and we worked hard to avoid talk of it; it was almost unspeakable.
But trying to run away from the reality of death is certainly a loser’s game if there ever was one.
I miss my mom and my grandma. And celebrating them on Day of the Dead doesn’t mean that I get them back, but it does mean that there’s a carved-out block of time for me to sit with them, a tradition that is becoming more important to me as the years go by.
Now, the celebration is bittersweet and more personal, which in my book still beats just plain sorrowful.
So I set things out for my dead: flowers, chocolate, tamales, mandarins. I sprinkle cempasúchil petals around and light some candles. And then I sit for a while and try to conjure them.
I imagine them walking into the room and having a seat next to me. Will I see them again, here or after? Did they go out like candles, or are they out there in some conscious form, knowing things that I don’t? There’s no greater mystery than that of the one experience no one’s come back to tell us about.
Day of the Dead is a time to remember, and it’s also a time of reminders: we’ll all be with them soon enough. So, live it up now: there’s chocolate and bread to be had.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com
Tourists in Cancún interacting with dolphins with a trainer, second from left. Such activities will now be banned under the new law. File photo by Elizabeth Ruíz/Cuartoscuro
The Chamber of Deputies modified the General Wildlife Law to prohibit the use of marine mammals – such as dolphins, seals, and otters – as part of entertainment shows or activities not related to scientific research or educational reasons. If the objective is not the reintroduction, repopulation, or translocation of the specimens, intensive breeding is also banned.
The amendment was promoted by deputy Karen Castrejón Trujillo, a member of the Green Party (PVEM), and president of the Environment and Natural Resources Commission. She explained that the modification seeks to terminate the forced reproduction of marine mammals with current authorizations remaining in place until the specimens’ death.
The owners of any marine mammal will have 90 days to present an inventory as well as changes to their management plan necessary for compliance with the new law. These updates must be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, SEMARNAT and, the Federal Office for Environmental Protection, Profepa. Failure to do so will result in the revocation of the permits to keep the mammals.
In the meantime, the president’s office has a maximum of 365 days after the law’s effective date, to start the process of issuing and updating all administrative regulations necessary for compliance with the wildlife law.
“It is inhumane to continue subjecting these marine mammals to the stress caused by being part of a show for which they must modify their natural behavior,” said Green Party federal Deputy Karen Castrejón. Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro
In its statement of reasons, the reform mentions that while it is focused on marine mammals, the main drive behind it was the dolphins, whose subsistence has been “distorted” to make the public believe that their captivity for recreation is a means of protecting their species.
Even if the law bans the capturing of dolphins, there are enough specimens to be breed in captivity, says the statement, “without any reason that explains the need for those who do it to condition an animal to live in captivity for life.” The new law also recognizes the impossibility of reintroducing some of the mammals back to their natural habitat – particularly those who were born in captivity and who “didn’t even had a chance to experience freedom”.
According to Forbes México, there are about 3,000 captive dolphins in the world, of which 250 are in Mexico. The revenue from captive dolphin shows ranges from US $400,000 to $2.2 million per animal.
Deputy Castrejón Trujillo remarked that “it is inhumane to continue subjecting these marine mammals to the stress caused by being part of a show for which they must modify their natural behavior.” In that sense, she said that the new law reflects the demands of environmental activists who have been fighting for years to end the use of dolphins for profit.
The new law follows the lead of 2015 legislation banning the use of wild animals in circuses. At the time, such a law created a relocation problem for rescued animals, with many ending up in the controversial Black Jaguar/White Tiger big cat sanctuary on the outskirts of Mexico City, run by a charity with offices in California and in Mexico. It was shut down in July by the environmental agency Profepa after the agency learned that the resident animals were suffering from starvation and extreme neglect.
The great pyramid of Calakmul. Manuel Quesada-Ix / Community Tours Sian Ka'an via UNESCO
A laser imaging survey of the Calakmul Biosphere in Campeche has discovered the immense urban sprawl of the ancient capital of the Kanu’l dynasty, as part of a joint research project by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project.
The findings were shared on the INAH YouTube channel on Tuesday by INAH Director Diego Prieto along with the international team of researchers including Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor, a professor at the University of Calgary and director of the Bajo Laberinto Archaeological Project, and Adriana Velazquez Morlet, state director of INAH in Campeche. Both experts received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to conduct the survey using a 3-D laser scanning technique known as LiDAR.
In the broadcast, Dr. Reese-Taylor and archaeologist Velázquez Morlet, detailed that the team imaged a 95 km area of the ancient Maya city revealing residential apartment buildings — some made up of more than 60 individual structures — which served as households for large extended families and affiliated members. The sprawling residential complexes are grouped around numerous temples, sanctuaries, and possible markets.
“The magnitude of landscape modification may have equaled the scale of urban population, as all available land was covered with water channels, terraces, walls, and dams, to provide maximum food security and sufficient water for city dwellers,” they said. The new discoveries confirm that Calakmul was one of the largest cities in America around the year A.D. 700.
A LiDAR image shows a portion of the city of Calakmul. INAH
The discoveries confirm and add to the findings of investigations carried out in the 1980s and 1990s, which estimated that the city must have been home to a large population during the heyday of the Kanu’l lineage based on the enormous number of structures that had been discovered thus far.
Calakmul was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2002 based on both its cultural and natural value. It’s well-preserved structures paint a vivid picture of life in an ancient Maya capital.
This enormous ceremonial plaza is just one part of the Cerro de Teúl archaeological site, an ancient city dating back at least 17 centuries.
Teúl de González Ortega, located near the south end of the state of Zacatecas, is one of Mexico’s most beautiful and interesting towns: a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) truly deserving of the name, conveniently located right next to an amazing archaeological site.
“Let’s go visit the Cerro de Teúl,” I suggested to friends in Guadalajara, where I live.
I got a lot of blank stares… and then: “Where is it?”
Next thing I knew, there I was, The Old Gringo, telling my Mexican friends about one of their own treasures.
Like a giant sombrero, the Cerro de Teúl rises above the Ticuata Lagoon.
But perhaps their lack of knowledge is understandable: the Cerro de Teúl archaeological site — located where a pre-Hispanic city was built on a mountain — only opened to the public in 2018 after a decade of excavation. Researchers say it has at least 17 — if not 19 — centuries of history.
“It’s a two-hour drive from Guadalajara, straight north along an excellent highway, through one of the more picturesque canyons in Mexico, la Barranca de San Cristóbal, and right now (October) the roadside is festooned with vast stretches of wildflowers.”
Inevitably, the next question was: “Is it safe?”
This question is now in vogue any time you mention a place that seems “far away.” Conventional wisdom says that “far away” is automatically dangerous and definitely populated by “mala gente” (bad people).
“My contacts in [the town of] Teúl [a historian and an archaeologist] both say it’s perfectly safe.”
The ball court on the day the site was inaugurated in 2018.
The following Saturday found a group of my friends winding our way beneath high, red cliffs, overlooking deep valleys filled with billowy white clouds of morning fog. With such glorious views, the two hours passed quickly and suddenly the Cerro de Teúl, a great peak shaped like a giant sombrero, loomed above us, so stately and imposing that even the notorious conquistador Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán remarked upon its grandeur.
Two minutes after entering the Magical Town of Teúl de González Ortega, we reached the base of this little mountain and the site’s visitors center, where we were met Teúl’s very own chronicler, Professor Ezekiel Ávila, as well as archaeologist Peter Jiménez.
Jiménez informed us that he would be completely superfluous on our tour of the ruins because the site was a pioneer in the development of an ingenious app that was going to guide us along our 1.8-km circuit, using narration, animations, videos and augmented reality — an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. All we had to do was download the free Cerro de Teul app from the Google Play store.
The app is unfortunately only for Android, so if you have an iPhone, you’d better hire a human guide.
With a little help from augmented reality, the author chats with one of the 60 skeletons found beneath the sunken patio.
“Now, if any member of a group is disabled,” mentioned Jiménez, “he or she can relax in the visitors’ center and — wearing a virtual reality headset — enjoy a complete guided tour of the ruins. It’s so realistic, some people actually get a little dizzy while virtually walking up the steep hillside.”
A few minutes later, we were huffing and puffing up that same steep slope, grasshoppers jumping out of our way with every step. Because we had snapped a picture of the first explanatory sign on the trail, our smartphones had been activated and they were now explaining to us that the Cerro de Teúl is one of the richest archaeological sites in Mexico because it was continuously occupied for nearly 2,000 years by peoples who were never conquered by the Mexica.
We learned that a great city had covered every inch of the hill we were climbing, that it was one of the first industrial zones of the continent, where they manufactured products made of copper and ceramics. Indeed, it is on this hill that they discovered the oldest copper-smelting furnace ever found in pre-Hispanic Mexico, used between A.D. 900 and 1200 and fired by corn cobs.
Then, after proceeding up steep stairs built centuries ago to a long, flat area bordered by two pyramids and offering a magnificent view of distant mountains, our omniscient app, (with a little help from Peter Jiménez) explained that we’d reached an ancient ceremonial center, where rituals were held — especially during the spring equinox — to reenact, so to speak, the creation of the world.
Visitors take a rest on a stone bench carved out of the rock hundreds of years ago.
This plaza would be crowded with people, who were told that, “in the beginning, there was darkness and there was water and there was a serpent… Then the gods created fire, and the sun appeared in the east, where there was a sacred mountain. And the sun climbed the mountain, and this was the first sunrise.”
Within the bounds of the plaza, archaeologists found an undulating canal which represents the serpent. They also found the remains of many ancient bonfires. The pyramid, of course, represented the sacred mountain. Even today, if you come during the spring equinox, you will see the sun rise directly behind it.
A few minutes walk from the plaza took us to a sunken patio, as archaeologists call it, where people used to dance, eat and drink.
Beneath this patio, the app told us, archaeologists found some 60 skeletons, apparently the bodies of famous persons, who were honored by being buried in this sacred spot.
Teúl’s Presa la Ticuata is completely uncontaminated, the locals say.
“These people,” we learned, “typically had artificially flattened heads and teeth filed to sharp points.”
Then, the app asked us, “Would you like to take a selfie with one of the skeletons?”
Well I couldn’t resist, and now — thanks to augmented reality technology — I have a photo of myself hobnobbing with a 1,000-year-old celeb.
Further up the hill, we came to a well-preserved ball court where we got to see 1,000-year-old statues of two ballplayers. One of them is nearly two meters tall and was deliberately sculpted without a head, perhaps confirming the old belief about the ancient ballgames that the captain of the winning team was honored by decapitation.
A Teúl street decorated with parasols.
At the highest point in our tour, we came to one of seven shaft tombs found on this cerro, all of them approximately 2,000 years old. This was where the tour ended.
A self-guided walk through the ruins takes about two hours, leaving you plenty of time to wander through the pretty streets of the Pueblo Mágico of Teúl and work up an appetite.
After being thoroughly charmed by the town’s arches, balconies and clean, quaint streets, we were now ravenously hungry, so drove down to a adorable little lake (Presa la Ticuata) just south of town and hopped aboard a floating restaurant.
Actually “floating dinner table” might be a better description. The boat was long and narrow, with just enough room for the table and seated diners, which meant we were kept plenty busy before, during and after the meal, passing place settings, food and drink up and down the line.
Visitors enjoying chamorro al vapor at a floating restaurant in the Presa la Ticuata just outside the Pueblo Mágico of Teúl.
Our delicious chamorro al vapor (steamed pork hock) dinner included Teúl’s culinary specialty: gorditas, served on oak-leaf “plates.” By the time we had finished eating we had toured the lake and strolled around several picturesque spots on its shores.
Finally, you can’t escape from Teúl without a visit to Don Aurelio’s Distillery, where you quickly discover that first-class tequila can indeed be produced in the state of Zacatecas… as long as you label it “mezcal.”
After describing a full day in Teúl, I have to admit that maybe there is something dangerous about this town: there’s so much to do that you might just lose track of the time, as we did, and end up driving back through the Barranca in the dark.
When they update that nifty “Cerro de Teúl” app, maybe they should add an alarm clock.
The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.
Archaeologist Peter Jiménez, far right, discussing the 2,000-year-old shaft tombs found at the Teúl site.
Arches and balconies in the quaint streets of Teúl.
Gorditas, Teúl style, contain curd cheese and cream. They are placed on a large oak leaf and then baked in an oven for three hours.
Soldiers participate in a ceremony in the state congress of Tamaulipas SedenaMX Twitter
A reform authorizing the use of the military for public security tasks until 2028 has been approved by 17 of 32 state congresses, ensuring that it will be enshrined in the constitution.
The constitutional bill, which allows the federal government to keep the armed forces on the streets for an additional four years, was approved by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies earlier this month.
The legislatures of México state, Hidalgo, Nayarit and Sonora approved the bill on Thursday, joining 13 other states that had already endorsed it. With a majority of state congresses having now ratified the reform, it will be enshrined in the constitution once it has been published in the government’s official gazette.
Interior Minister Adán Augusto López visited some states to urge lawmakers to approve the reform. President López Obrador said last month that the ongoing presence of the armed forces on the nation’s streets is essential to guarantee peace, while a recent poll found that almost three-quarters of Mexicans agree with the plan to continue using the military for public security tasks until 2028.
López Obrador on Friday directed his interior minister to continue visiting state congresses and monitor the way in which lawmakers vote on the reform, which was originally presented by an Institutional Revolutionary Party deputy.
The government needs to know “who is who,” the president said. “Let’s see if [state lawmakers] vote as representatives of the people or representatives of parties, if they’re going to act on orders or [while] thinking about people’s safety,” he said.
Most opposition lawmakers, human rights organizations and others argue that the ongoing use of the armed forces for public security tasks only perpetuates a failed security strategy and comes with the risk of more human rights violations being committed by the military.
Though domestic incentives have helped, it is unclear if Mexico will be able to produce enough corn to meet demand without current GM imports. Archive
With a ban on genetically modified corn imports set to take effect in just over a year, the federal government has begun thinking about ways in which it can ensure Mexico is able to buy enough non-GM corn to meet domestic demand.
President López Obrador published a decree on the last day of 2020 stating that GM corn imports for use in the food industry will be phased out by 2024. Ambiguity in the wording of the decree — which also orders the phasing out of the controversial herbicide glyphosate and GM corn seeds — created uncertainty as to whether imports of GM corn used as livestock feed would also be banned.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Víctor Suárez told the news agency Reuters that the government is proceeding with the ban and no modifications would be made, but didn’t specify whether it would apply to corn used to feed farm animals.
He also said that growing domestic production has put Mexico on track to reduce by 50% imports of yellow corn from the United States — most of which is used as fodder — by the time the ban takes effect. Such a reduction is equivalent to 8.5 million tonnes as Mexico currently imports about 17 million tonnes of corn annually from its northern neighbor.
To secure the corn the country will still need while a gap between domestic production and demand remains, the government will consider making direct agreements with farmers in the United States, Argentina and Brazil to supply Mexico with non-GM corn, he said.
“There are many alternatives to importing non-GM yellow corn from the United States,” Suárez told Reuters earlier this week, suggesting that Mexico’s reliance on U.S.-grown corn will diminish once the ban on GM imports takes effect.
Reuters reported that his remark was “the strongest indication yet” that the GM corn ban will apply to yellow corn used to feed livestock. His statement “appeared to reverse assurances Agriculture Minister Víctor Villalobos made to his U.S. counterpart last year that Mexico would not limit imports of genetically modified corn from the United States,” Reuters added.
Agricultural associations in the United States say that the ban on GM corn imports will cause billions of dollars worth of economic damage both in that country and in Mexico, and have urged the U.S. government to challenge the move under the USMCA, the North American free trade pact.
The Mexican government has not confirmed whether the GM corn ban will apply to livestock feed. Depositphotos
Suárez asserted that López Obrador’s decree doesn’t violate the USMCA as Mexico is under “no obligation to buy and grow GM corn.”
“We respect and care for [the trade pact], but the USMCA is not God, nor is it our constitution,” he told Reuters.
It remains to be seen whether the government’s plan to get farmers in other countries to grow and supply non-GM corn is viable.
MAIZALL, a coalition of corn farmer associations from Argentina, Brazil and the United States, has said that affiliated growers won’t alter their production methods to accommodate Mexico’s appetite for non-GM corn. The organization — whose members produce 70% of global corn exports, according to the MAIZALL website — said it has doubts about whether Mexico will be able to source enough GM corn to satisfy demand.
Suárez said that the government could make further announcements about its intentions with regard to U.S. corn exports in the second half of next year. He also said that yellow corn imports have become more expensive than locally grown corn and expressed confidence that the dependence on U.S. imports will be halved by the time the ban comes into force.
Federal authorities are seeking to make deals with Mexican farmers to increase yellow corn production to 6 million tonnes a year, the deputy minister said, adding that “we do believe that we will achieve it.”
Government incentives such as free fertilizer and irrigation projects have already helped to slightly boost yields, Reuters reported, noting also that López Obrador is aiming to make Mexico self-sufficient “in everything from energy to food.”
The international event will be held in Ensenada this year, where 2,500 guests will discuss climate change, sustainability and the wine market in a post-COVID world. Sherry Smith/Istock
Ensenada, Baja California, will host the 43rd annual World Congress of Vine and Wine from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4. The global event, which has not been held since 2019, returns to Mexico for the second time, the first being in 1980.
The event is organized each year in one of the 48 member countries of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) and brings together scientists, academics and grape and wine producers. This year, an estimated 2,500 guests will discuss climate change, sustainability and the wine market in a post-pandemic world.
According to Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, her state is the largest producer of wine in the country, with seven out of 10 wines produced nationally coming from the Ensenada region. The famed Valle de Guadalupe, known as “Mexico’s Napa Valley” is located in the Ensenada municipality.
Mexico produces 64 million liters of wine a year in 14 states today, with a range of grape varietals. While Mexico doesn’t have “very large production” yet, according to Paz Austin, the director general of the Mexican Viticulture Council (CMV), there are 8,000 hectares dedicated to vineyards nationwide, and the country has been recognized for its growth and for the quality of the wines produced.
Ensenada Mayor Armando Ayala Robles held a press conference to announce that the conference for the wine market worldwide would be held in his municipality starting Oct. 31. CMV/Facebook
In recent years, the OIV has recognized Mexican wines with 1,500 awards.
“This shows the relevance of the industry, and it is thanks to this that the OIV, [based in France], chose Mexico as the venue for this 43rd world gathering,” said Hans Backhoff, president of the CMV.
During the event, guests will get to visit the wine regions of Baja California and to learn about Mexican wineries’ practices in environmental matters, microclimates, agriculture and oenology while also enjoying tastings. As part of its cultural agenda, the conference will also host celebrations related tothe Day of the Dead.
“There is a lot of interest in attending this event, it is like the Formula 1 of wine,” said Austin.
