An army official carries high-caliber weapons collected at an event for the voluntary surrender of firearms in Oaxaca last month. Such weapons are nearly impossible to obtain legally. Cuartoscuro.com
Members of the The Mexican army sold weapons to a México state-based drug cartel, according to a report leaked by Guacamaya, a hacking group that infiltrated the IT system of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena).
In a 2019 intelligence report obtained by the non-governmental organization Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI), Sedena said it was aware that a soldier offered weapons and tactical gear to a crime group in May of that year. The soldier also provided information about military movements and operations to the Tejupilco-based cartel, the report said.
The soldier offered 70 fragmentation grenades to “operators of the crime group” at a cost of 26,000 pesos (US $1,300 at today’s exchange rate) each on May 31, 2019, the report said. The unnamed cartel bought at least eight grenades, which were delivered in Atlacomulco, México state, it added.
Via an analysis of the metadata of the soldier’s cell phone, authorities determined that he was based in Almoloya de Juárez, a México state municipality that is part of the metropolitan area of state capital Toluca. The supplier of the weapons and tactical gear to that soldier was another presumed soldier who was believed to be based at an army facility in Mexico City, according to the Sedena report.
The cartel members referred to the supplier as “antiguo” (oldie), but neither he nor the vendor were formally identified in the Sedena report.
MCCI said that Sedena intercepted calls in which a criminal leader sought to buy from the army 2,000 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 5,000 rounds of AR-15 ammunition and 50 magazines for each of those firearms. It was unclear whether that request was fulfilled.
The anti-graft group also said that the Almoloya de Juárez-based soldier, apparently a bodyguard for a colonel, offered to tip criminals off as to the whereabouts of a regional prosecutor in Amecameca – a México state municipality 60 kilometers southeast of central Mexico City – as they allegedly planned to murder him.
Guacamaya, a Latin American hacktivist group, recently stole 6 terabytes of data from Sedena servers. Among the information that has been leaked are details about President López Obrador’s poor health and plans for an army-operated commercial airline.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard displays a copy of the lawsuit filed on Monday.
Just over a week after its case against United States gun manufacturers was dismissed, the federal government has filed a lawsuit against five gun stores in Arizona, accusing them of involvement in illegal arms trafficking to Mexico, where firearms are used to commit tens of thousands of homicides annually.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said in a statement that the government filed the suit in a U.S. federal district court in Tucson on Monday.
Three of the accused stores are in that city. Another is in Phoenix and the fifth is in Yuma, located just east of the border crossing between Andrade, California, and Los Algodones, Baja California. Mexico is seeking unspecified monetary damages from the stores and demanding that they hire independent monitors to ensure compliance with gun purchase laws.
The SRE said that the government’s lawsuit alleges that the five stores “routinely and systematically participate in the illegal trafficking of arms, including military-style ones, for criminal organizations in Mexico through sales to straw purchasers and sales directed to arms dealers.”
The five gun stores are located in Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma, all near the U.S. border with Mexico. Internet
“The lawsuit points out that the five stores are among the vendors in Arizona whose weapons are recovered with greatest frequency in Mexico,” the ministry added.
The stores named in the suit are Diamondback Shooting Sports, SNG Tactical and The Hub Target Sports – all in Tucson – as well as Ammo AZ in Phoenix and Sprague’s Sports in Yuma.
Alejandro Celorio Alcántara, the SRE’s legal advisor, said the government chose to name “the five worst stores” for illegal trafficking in the United States, where a recently enacted federal law defines straw purchasing as a crime. The law stipulates sentences of up to 25 years if the offense is related to drug trafficking.
“They are not careful when they sell products, so they allow straw purchasers to buy guns,” Celorio said, adding that the stores have sold multiple weapons on multiple occasions to some buyers.
“We are saying they are negligent and facilitate straw purchasers, to the point of being accomplices,” he said.
The official said that criminal probes in the U.S. had traced weapons purchases to the five stores named in the lawsuit. There was evidence that they didn’t file all the required information when making some sales, he said.
“The main argument of our lawsuit is that these businesses are an organized part of a criminal enterprise, a mechanism to facilitate criminals and cartels in Mexico being able to use their weapons,” said Celorio.
He acknowledged that the first hearing related to the lawsuit might not occur until the summer of 2023.
The SRE said in its statement that the litigation against the stores is part of a “multifaceted strategy of the government of Mexico to stop the avalanche of weapons, particularly assault weapons, from the United States.”
The weapons, it added, “empower criminal groups, cause bloodshed in Mexico and contribute to the trafficking of drugs to the United States.”
The judicial action in no way questions the constitutional right of U.S. citizens to carry arms nor the right of gun stores to sell their products responsibly, the SRE said, noting that its lawsuit is the first such civil action filed by a national government against U.S. weapons vendors. It said that the suit sets out “various arguments,” including that the stores violate their duty of care, use “deceitful and biased” advertising, sell guns that can be converted into automatic weapons and “violate state and federal laws” in the U.S. – conduct that “causes tremendous harm in Mexican territory.”
The lawsuit’s filing came 10 days after a Massachusetts federal judge dismissed the Mexican government’s case against U.S. gun manufacturers, which were accused of negligent business practices that led to illegal arms trafficking and deaths in Mexico, where U.S.-sourced firearms are used in a majority of high-impact crimes. The SRE said it would challenge Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor’s ruling. U.S. law “unequivocally” prohibits lawsuits that seek to hold gun manufacturers responsible when people use their products for their intended purpose, Saylor determined.
In its latest statement, the ministry said that a favorable sentence in Arizona would support the lawsuit in Boston as “it would prove that the manufacturing companies are negligent by not monitoring or disciplining vendors that sell their products.”
“… The government of Mexico is confident that both the Boston lawsuit against manufacturers and the Arizona lawsuit against vendors will succeed,” it said. “The actions undertaken by Mexico have already contributed to promoting conversations and actions around the world to stop the trafficking of weapons as well as the dangerous practices of the arms industry.”
IMSS director Zoe Robledo announced the open call for international medical specialists at the president's daily press conference. He said Mexican doctors are welcome to apply. Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro
The federal government is looking beyond Mexico’s borders to find specialist doctors to fill more than 700 positions in 15 states.
The director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) announced on Tuesday an international campaign to recruit 749 doctors across 43 specialties to work in 54 public hospitals.
Mexican doctors can also apply for the jobs, but Zoé Robledo said the campaign is targeted at “specialists from other parts of the world who are interested in coming to Mexico to work for a period of one year.”
The IMSS chief asserted that the recruitment drive – which formally commences Wednesday – will allow the government to recruit specialists for places where they are most needed.
IMSS chief Zoé Robledo said the public health system can’t find specialists because in the last 30 years, 80% of medical school candidates have been rejected.
The foreign doctors are slated to work in 13 hospitals in Sonora, seven in Baja California Sur, seven in Chiapas, six in Nayarit, four in Oaxaca, three in Colima, two in each of Michoacán, Veracruz, Tlaxcala, Zacatecas and Chihuahua and one in each of Baja California, Guerrero, Hidalgo and Campeche. Many of the hospitals are located in remote communities in those states.
In addition to having relevant medical qualifications, doctors must be fluent in Spanish to be considered for the positions and are required to present a letter from their most recent employer.
Robledo told President López Obrador’s regular news conference that applications will be considered by a committee of experts and the government will arrange the appropriate visas for successful candidates.
After the government announced it was bringing Cuban doctors to Mexico earlier this year, the heads of 30 medical colleges, associations and federations rejected the claim that there was a shortage of medical professionals and described the hiring of foreigners as a “serious offense” against Mexican health professionals.
Earlier this year, the nation looked to Cuba to fill vacant doctor positions. At the time, President López Obrador said no Mexican doctors wanted to fill the positions, a claim many unemployed doctors refuted. Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro
López Obrador and Health Minister Jorge Alcocer have both said that Mexican doctors are unwilling to work in remote areas and for that reason, the government decided to hire Cubans.
Robledo said Tuesday that there is a lack of specialists in Mexico because 80% of people who have sought to enter university to study medicine over the past 30 years have been rejected.
A large group of unemployed Mexican doctors, including specialists, launched a social media campaign in May to highlight that they are ready and willing to work but unable to find a job.
In addition to announcing the international recruitment campaign for specialists, Robledo said that the government was also looking to hire 1,750 general practitioners and 550 specialist nurses.
Transport equipment manufacturing, a sector that includes automakers, received more foreign direct investment than any other industry during the first nine months of the year. (General Motors)
The production and export of light vehicles both increased by over 30% in September compared to the same month of 2021, data shows.
The Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA) reported that 273,329 light vehicles were manufactured in Mexico last month, an increase of 31.4%, or 65,237 units, compared to September 2021.
Data from national statistics agency INEGI shows that 259,792 light vehicles were exported in September, an increase of 33%, or 64,498 units, compared to the same month a year earlier.
AMIA director Fausto Cuevas told a press conference that 196,638 vehicles – almost 76% of the September export total – were shipped to the United States last month.
Exports increased sharply in September thanks to greater U.S. demand. Depositphotos
“The favorable [export] result in September is due to the 9.5% increase in the sale of cars in the United States, where Mexican exports are significant,” he said. Cuevas called the production and export increases “extraordinary.”
General Motors was the No. 1 manufacturer and exporter of Mexican-made vehicles in September followed by Stellantis and Ford in both categories. GM has plants in México state, Guanajuato, Coahuila and San Luis Potosí.
Over 1.65 million Mexican-made cars were exported to the U.S. in the first nine months of 2022, an 8.6% increase compared to the same period of last year. Mexico was the leading exporter of cars to the U.S. between January and September, taking the top spot for the first time ever.
Exports to all countries totaled 2.12 million units in the same period, a 5.4% spike compared to the first nine months of last year.
Overall production of vehicles in Mexico also increased between January and September, rising 10% to 2.51 million compared to 2.28 million in the same period of 2021 when the semiconductor shortage was more acute.
While the production increase is good news, there is still some ground to make up to reach pre-pandemic levels, with output in the first nine months of the year 15.4% below that of the same period of 2019.
Such a ban could create widespread fuel shortages, like those seen in early 2019 (shown). Miriam Martínez / Cuartoscuro.com
A United States ban on fuel exports – a measure the U.S. government is reportedly considering to lower costs for motorists in that country – would have a severe impact on Mexico, energy experts warn.
The news agency Bloomberg reported Oct. 4 that White House officials have asked the U.S. Department of Energy to analyze the possible impacts of a ban on exports of gasoline, diesel and other refined petroleum products.
The move is an “indication that the controversial idea is gaining traction in some parts of the Biden administration,” Bloomberg said, noting that there is “growing concern that high gasoline prices pose a political threat to Democrats in the November elections.”
The American Petroleum Institute and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers sent a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Tuesday saying they have “significant concerns” that the U.S. government is considering limiting fuel exports in an attempt to lower prices for American motorists.
“Banning or limiting the export of refined products would likely decrease inventory levels, reduce domestic refining capacity, put upward pressure on consumer fuel prices and alienate U.S. allies during a time of war,” they said.
Three energy experts who spoke with the El Universal newspaper warned that if the United States were to implement an export ban, there would be serious consequences for Mexico given that much of the fuel sold here is imported – mainly from the U.S.
“You just have to remember that Mexico imports between 800,000 and 850,000 barrels of petroleum products per day, mostly from the United States market,” said Ramsés Pech.
Six of every 10 liters of gasoline and diesel sold in Mexico are imported, he said. The energy analyst said that a ban on U.S. fuel exports would be concerning for Mexico because refining capacity here is still well short of reaching a point where domestic demand can be met, despite President López Obrador setting a goal of making Mexico self-sufficient for fuel by 2023.
If fuel exports from the U.S. were banned, Pemex’s newly-acquired Deer Park refinery in Texas would be of little use. Pemex
Luis Miguel Labardini, a partner at energy consultancy Marcos y Asociados, said there would be probably be a fuel shortage in the short-term if the U.S. was to put an export ban in place.
He said that eventuality was unlikely, but still recommended that the federal government act cautiously and direct Pemex’s trading arm, PMI Comercio Internacional, to “start to look for alternate supply sources in other countries, even though that implies negotiating prices on an open market” and quotes will likely be higher than the prices currently paid.
Gonzalo Monroy, director of the energy consultancy GMEC, said that Mexico could look to countries such as Brazil and Aruba to buy fuel but concluded that a U.S. ban on exports would nevertheless have a devastating impact here.
Mexico spent more than US $13 billion on fuel purchases from U.S. refineries in the first eight months of the year, according to official data published by El Universal.
Amid the speculation that the United States could ban or limit fuel exports, OPEC+ – a group of 24 oil producing countries including Mexico – announced Oct. 5 that it had decided to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting in November, a move designed to counter recent declines in the price of crude.
Cholera, which is caused by consuming contaminated food or water, can be lethal without proper medical care. Depositphotos
The federal government has advised health care facilities to be on the lookout for cases of cholera due to an outbreak of the disease in Haiti.
Citing the Pan American Health Organization’s report of a cholera outbreak in the Caribbean country, the Health Ministry said Thursday that the government had issued an “epidemiological notice” advising all “health units” to be alert to symptoms of the bacterial disease in people who have recently been in Haiti.
The Pan American Health Organization said Thursday that it was “working closely with Haitian public health authorities and international partners to support the country’s response to the recent cholera outbreak.”
“After more than three years without reported cases, Haiti first confirmed on 2 October two cases of Vibrio cholerae O1. In an update on 5 October, national authorities confirmed 11 cases, including two deaths, and a total 111 cases under investigation in various communes around Port-au-Prince,” it said.
The United Nations said Thursday that seven cholera-related deaths had been confirmed in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said that Mexico’s national network of public health laboratories has “complete diagnostic capacities” and that the National System of Epidemiological Vigilance is “attentive to the presence of people with symptoms compatible with the disease.”
“Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae,” the ministry added, noting also that it can be lethal if not treated promptly.
The epidemiological notice said that the first cholera case detected in Mexico occurred in rural México state in 1991.
“The cholera epidemic lasted for 10 years, affecting 97% of [Mexico’s] territory,” the notice said, adding that just over 45,000 cases were recorded and that the mortality rate was 1.12 per 100 cases.
There have been additional outbreaks in Mexico over the past decade, including one in 2013 in which almost 200 people were infected — mainly in Hidalgo — but no cholera cases have been detected in the country since 2019.
Whether or not she existed, La Carambada is still a well-known figure among Querétaro residents, who've passed down her story for generations. deposit photos
A country as old as Mexico always has a plethora of legends, some fantastical, some realistic but purely fictional. Then there are some that are probably based in truth, but who can say how much exaggeration and outright fabrication has happened along the way?
The legend of La Carambada — a 19th-century female highwayman who supposedly plagued the roads between Mexico City and Querétaro, robbing travelers of their money and valuables and giving them to the poor — falls somewhere between these last two.
Was she in any way real or pure fiction? Either way, she’s one of Queretaro’s most popular local legends, appearing as a character in multiple local historic tours.
Mariana Álvarez Díaz Barriga, who leads the Querétaro historic tour group Leyendas y Mitos de Quéretaro (legends and myths of Querétaro), said that while her group understands that some elements of the La Carambada story are romanticized, they use her in their tours because “there do exist historic sources that say she existed.”
Actress Marianne Lugo of the tour group Leyendas y Mitos de Querétaro portrays the legendary La Carambada for tourists.
“I consider her to be the most important icon, or legend, in the representations of the histories of Quéretaro of this type,” she said. La Carambada’s story is still popular with queretanos, she said, something Álvarez attributes to her being “a Robin Hood type.”
Local Querétaro historian Delfino D. Leal Vega says, “She was a thief, but only because she gave to those in need by taking from those who owned the most in a perverse and corrupt regime in the Mexico of the late 19th century,” he said.
Among historic sources arguing for her existence is Queretaro’s own official municipal history, which talks about her as real, according to current-day Mexican chronicler Salvador Zúñiga Fuentes. He identifies her as a poor woman named Leonarda Medina. Other versions paint her as a wealthy young woman, once a companion to Mexico’s Empress Carlota, although most academics refute this detail. Further adding to the intrigue around her existence are 1880s U.S. news accounts of La Carambada’s capture.
Rod González, who also conducts historical tours of Querétaro, laughingly says that “every person in Querétaro has a different version of the legend.”
One more fanciful element of La Carambada’s varying legends is that she secretly caused President Benito Juárez’s deadly heart attack in 1872 with poison.
So did she ever exist? How much of the legend is true, if any?
Historian Valentin F. Frias — considered the father of Querétaro history and who lived during La Carambada’s time period — wrote in his book The Legends and Traditions of Querétaro that La Carambada did indeed exist. He identified her as Leonarda Martínez, not Medina, and said she was born in 1842 in the village of La Punta.
In 2018 and 2019, newspapers like the Garbancero Chronicler and Noticias de Querétaro published versions of La Carambada’s story, saying it was the version passed on through generations in Quéretaro. Their versions told how in the late 19th century, gangs of thieves on horseback were common. They frequently stole money and valuables from travelers on the roads around the city, robbed haciendas and stole shipments of gold and silver in transit.
La Carambada supposedly was part of such a gang, made up of people from the Querétaro villages of San Antonio de la Punta — where Leonarda was born — and Santa María Magdalena.
Some versions of the story say Leonarda was a companion to Empress Carlota, wife of Mexico’s Emperor Maximilian I. But it’s one of the legend’s more unlikely details, academics say. Creative Commons
Leonarda knew how to ride bareback, dressed in men’s clothes, handled weapons with ease, and neighbors in La Punta spoke of her having been involved in a gang and stealing from a young age. As La Carambada, she warned victims to comply in a masculine and threatening tone, telling them they were surrounded by her partners in the woods, where she had strategically placed lit corn cobs around the area to look like there were glowing tips of cigarettes. She was also known for lifting her top at the end of her robberies, revealing her gender mockingly to her victims and bragging, “Look who just stole from you.”
According to Álvarez, the female bandit’s sobriquet came from the old expression “Ay caramba.” Whenever Queretaro’s residents heard of another of her bold exploits, they’d utter the phrase.
Many versions also contain romantic elements: a tragic love affair, a revenge plot and political intrigue in which she secretly assassinates Benito Juárez for turning a deaf ear on her pleas to not execute her lover, a soldier with the French occupying forces in Mexico slated for death once Juárez and his government took back Mexico. Leonarda is said to have vowed revenge.
Using her beauty, she supposedly got herself invited to a dinner party in 1872 at the home of Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, then president of the Supreme Court. He ascended to the presidency in 1872 when Juárez died of a heart attack in office.
La Carambada’s capture was reported as fact in 1884 by U.S. newspapers, including The Sunday Critic of Logansport, Indiana.
This version of the legend says Martínez caused that heart attack by placing drops of the slow-acting poison veinteunilla into Juárez’s champagne glass, killing him without a trace 21 days later.
The story of La Carambada also captured the imagination of journalists in the United States. One 1884 article in The Sunday Critic of Logansport, Indiana, reported as fact that “La Carambada, the woman brigand long a terror to travelers in this region, is dead at last, with a bullet in her heart. Her operations extended over many years and was of the most daring description.”
This article painted La Carambada as a femme fatale who would work her way into the good graces of male travelers and lure them outside of town with her in a carriage. She would then shoot them dead. The driver — perhaps paid for his silence — would then drive on to her appointed destination, where she would reunite with her gang. Her trickery was said to have baffled the authorities since drivers always told them that the victims had been robbed and killed by highwaymen but that the lady with them left unharmed.
When she finally came under suspicion, Leonarda decided to change her tactics and lure wealthy landowners to their abduction, having her gang negotiate the ransom while she was far away, targeting her next victim. But this strategy is said to have been her downfall, for she was captured after trying to abduct a wealthy landowner named Don Civelo Velázquez.
A bakery in Querétaro bearing La Carambada’s name is a testament to her continued popularity among locals. mikebimr
She was betrayed by one of her gang members and captured by the authorities. The rest of the gang tried to overtake her captors, but she was killed in the fierce gunfight that commenced. “One of her captors described her as a beautiful woman …. but with a wicked eye and a cruel-looking mouth when in repose,” one account reported.
According to Frias’ history, the end of La Carambada’s notorious career came slung over the back of a mule — presumed dead. She was taken to the hospital for an autopsy, where she was discovered to be alive. However, she’s said to have died shortly after making her confession to the Archbishop of Querétaro.
So while it’s probably nearly impossible to prove whether or not she really existed, La Carambada is proof of the maxim “never underestimate a good story.”
Leal believes it ultimately doesn’t matter whether the story is true.
“It is very important to reserve, value, and recover the collective memory — the myths and legends [of the Mexican people],” he said.
Sheryl Losser is a former public relations executive and professional researcher. She spent 45 years in national politics in the United States. She moved to Mazatlán last year and works part-time doing freelance research and writing.
Residents celebrate the festival Yohualican Kampa To Xolalmej Ilhuitij, in Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, a Magical Town. Sectur
Día de Pueblos Mágicos
Wednesday, Oct. 5, was National Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Towns) Day, as designated by the Department of Tourism (Sectur). There are 132 cities included in the program — from Aculco, México state to Zozocolco de Hidalgo, Veracruz — which highlights places known for their cultural and historical significance. Some of the more popular destinations include Tepoztlán, Pátzcuaro, Valle de Bravo, Real de Catorce, Mazunte and Sayulita. According to Sectur, the combined population of the Pueblos Mágicos today is 8.5 million people (6.8% of Mexico’s population), and they contain 13% of the registered hotel rooms in the country. From Oct. 11 to 14, the fourth annual Pueblos Mágicos tourism fair will be held in Oaxaca and Sectur has announced plans to add more towns to the list in 2023. To be included, municipalities have to demonstrate they have a “unique natural or cultural attraction,” and submit plans and resources for developing tourism services.
Tulum and CDMX: Hot spots for vegetarians
Looking for somewhere to celebrate International Vegetarian Week (Oct. 3-9)? Get yourself to Mexico City or Tulum, touted as the two cities with the largest number of vegetarian or vegan restaurants in the country. And you won’t be limited to gourmet dining or juice bars — even street stands and markets are offering meat-free dishes in Tulum. According to a 2016 Nielsen survey, 28% of Mexican respondents identified as vegan or vegetarian, the highest number in Latin America.
Pre-Hispanic paintings discovered in convent
Restorer working on Chapel 4 at convent in Tepoztlán. Photo credit: José Morales
During restoration work at a 16th-century convent in Tepoztlán, Morelos, experts found images of feathered headdresses, an axe and shield hidden under layers of dirt and plaster. The wall paintings were found in three open-air chapels and appear to show indigenous imagery. Historians note that in the early days of the Spanish conquest, Catholic churches included these open-air spaces to encourage the participation of indigenous converts, who were accustomed to performing religious ceremonies outdoors. The discovery of these symbols, juxtaposed with Christian imagery, raises questions of the “relation of pre-Hispanic culture with Christianity in the first years following the Spanish invasion” according to the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Mexico’s Compañía Nacional de Teatro (National Theater Company) celebrates 50 years
The 56-member company debuted at the first Festival Internacional Cervantino held in 1972 in Guanajuato, and will return to the festival this month, which is also celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. The company, which is based in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City, has staged 238 productions in its history and has performed at 44 international venues. This year, the CNT welcomed its first female artistic director, Aurora Cano, who has acknowledged she faces extraordinary challenges: the theater-going population in Mexico according to a 2022 survey was just 4.7%, and the pandemic had devastating financial effects on the performing arts. Cano says her ambition is diversifying the CNT’s repertoire, “broadening our view, expanding the canon,” since “theater is the forum of social debates, it is the epitome of public art.”
Cozumel to be designated first “city of birds” in Latin America
Island of Cozumel Sectur
Mexico’s largest Caribbean island is receiving the certification from various conservation NGOs, including the American Bird Conservancy, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, in recognition of efforts to provide a “safer and more secure community” for birds by promoting bird-watching and conservation. The island has five natural reserves and three endemic bird species; up to 300 other species have been recorded there. The name Cozumel is derived from Mayan ah cuzamil peten, which translates as “island of the swallows.”
Elaborate ofrendas (alters or offerings) for deceased loved ones are just one part of Michoacán's traditional Day of the Dead festivities. Twitter @Michoacan
Authorities in Michoacán are expecting over 300,000 tourists to flock to the state for this year’s Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday on November 1 and 2.
Pátzcuaro, Morelia, Uruapan and the Lake Páztcuaro islands of Janitzio and Yunuén are among the destinations expecting an influx of domestic and foreign tourists.
In addition to elaborate ofrendas (alters or offerings) in cemeteries and other locations, those destinations have other Day of the Dead attractions such as catrina parades featuring women painted as skeletons and Pirekua (an indigenous Purépecha song form) performances.
Michoacán Tourism Minister Roberto Monroy told a press conference that the annual Day of the Dead celebration is an important economic event for the state given the large number of tourists who arrive. He predicted this year’s holiday will generate 250 million pesos (US $12.4 million) in revenue for local businesses.
“We support the Purépecha communities and municipalities with 4.5 million pesos [US $223,000] so that they can buy the necessary articles to carry out the celebration,” he said, adding that the state government also helps coordinate events in different locations.
Monroy said that the 2017 animated film Coco spurred international interest in Michoacán’s Day of the Dead celebrations, with visitors from countries such as Japan, France and Colombia traveling to the state for the holiday in recent years. “Coco is a gift from Disney for Mexico,” he said.
The tourism minister also said that the Day of the Dead experience in Michoacán is unlike that in any other part of the country.
For his part, Pátzcuaro Mayor Julio Arreola said the celebration in the state is “magical and mystical” and noted that many hotels are already booked out.
Mexico’s Day of the Dead tradition is recognized as intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
“As practiced by the indigenous communities of Mexico, el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) commemorates the transitory return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones,” the UN agency says on its website.
“… Families facilitate the return of the souls to Earth by laying flower petals, candles and offerings along the path leading from the cemetery to their homes. … The Day of the Dead celebration holds great significance in the life of Mexico’s indigenous communities. The fusion of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Catholic feasts brings together two universes, one marked by indigenous belief systems, the other by worldviews introduced by the Europeans in the 16th century.”
President López Obrador looks on as Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier announces her resignation on Thursday morning. Daniel Augusto Sánchez Moreno / Cuartoscuro.com
Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier has resigned less than two years after taking on the job, telling President López Obrador in a letter that her time to step down had come.
Clouthier, who succeeded Graciela Márquez as economy minister in January 2021, read her resignation letter at the president’s regular news conference on Thursday.
“Dear president, I’d like to take the opportunity with this note to thank you for the great opportunity you’ve given me to walk with you in favor of the fourth transformation,” she said, referring to the profound change López Obrador says he is implementing in Mexico.
“If I can make a comparison with baseball, I was invited to play in the major league, to get to know the country, represent it, play in different positions, sweating profusely in my shirt and never ceasing to do my part in order to score a run for Mexico.”
Clouthier, who managed López Obrador’s 2018 presidential campaign, said that, “as in the game,” one needs to know when it is time to step away. She didn’t cite a specific reason for her resignation, simply saying that her “opportunity to be on the team is over.”
Clouthier – a former federal deputy who was affiliated with the National Action Party for over two decades before joining López Obrador’s Morena party – noted that she had discussed her decision with the president in July and September and said she would now join the porra, or fans of the government and enthusiastically follow her erstwhile “team” while continuing to work for the country as an ordinary citizen.
“I would like to say more but the only thing that comes out of my mouth and heart is thank you,” said the visibly upset outgoing minister.
“Thank you … for allowing me to put my abilities at the service of the country and above all for showing me that when it comes to serving [the people of Mexico] there is no weariness, sickness or barrier that can’t be overcome.”
Creo , esta es opinión mía ya que no he hablado con ella, que el tema de la Guardia Nacional debe haber pesado mucho en su decisión ! Congruencia de Tatiana vs. la incongruencia de López
In addition to the ongoing energy disputes, Tatiana Clouthier’s brother, politician Manuel Clouthier, speculated that recent issues related to the National Guard may have influenced her departure, though he acknowledge he had not discussed the issue with his sister.
Clouthier’s departure comes as the federal government continues to conduct dispute resolution talks with the United States and Canada over concerns about Mexico’s nationalistic energy policies. As economy minister she played a key role in trade talks and in maintaining positive government relations with Mexican business and industry.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that her resignation wouldn’t affect the energy talks with the U.S. and Canada, which have been “productive,” according to the Economy Ministry.
López Obrador said he respected Clouthier’s decision to resign but nevertheless attempted to change her mind. “We insisted that she stay but she’s a woman with convictions … and she’s taken this decision to leave the Economy Ministry,” he said.
“… We’re going to feel her absence but … she’s always going to continue … defending justice and promoting the democratic political development of our country.”
Asked later in his press conference whether Clothier disagreed with the militarization of Mexico during the current government, López Obrador said that wasn’t the case and that the minister was leaving “on the best terms.”
He said Clouthier’s replacement will be announced Friday. The news agency Reuters reported that a person familiar with López Obrador’s thinking said that Raquel Buenrostro, head of the federal tax agency SAT, was being lined up for the job.
