Three Mexican sports stars had a successful weekend – in a Nevada boxing ring, on a Mexico City racing track and on a Quintana Roo golf course.
Saúl Álvarez won his unification title fight against American boxer Caleb Plant with an 11th round technical knockout. With his victory, the red-haired boxer widely known as “Canelo” (Cinnamon) became the first undisputed super middleweight champion.
“Getting here hasn’t been easy but with you, my team and my family we’ve come very far,” Álvarez said after the bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“It’s an achievement for my family and team but above all for Mexico. This means a lot to me and a lot for the history of Mexico,” Canelo said, noting that he is just the sixth boxer to hold all four belts in a single weight division.
Some 3,000 kilometers to the south, Red Bull-Honda driver Sergio “Checo” Pérez finished third behind his teammate Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the Mexico City Formula One Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome.
It was the first time that a Mexican had appeared on the podium at his home Grand Prix. Pérez, who has had two F1 wins in his decade-long career in motor racing’s most prestigious championship, described his third place as an “incredible” achievement, although he lamented that he and Verstappen just missed out on the 1-2 positions they were looking for.
Golfer Carlos Ortiz went one better than Pérez on Sunday, finishing runner up at the World Wide Technology Championship, a PGA event held at the El Camaleón golf course near Playa del Carmen. Ortiz finished with a five under par 66 on Sunday to end the tournament at -19, four strokes behind Viktor Hovland of Norway, who won the event for a second consecutive year.
Another Mexican, Abraham Ancer, finished tied for seventh with a four-round score of -15. Ortiz rose 29 positions to 49th in the world golf rankings as a result of his second placing.
While there was plenty of cause for celebration in Mexico, there was even more reason for jubilation in Guadalajara, where Álvarez, Pérez and Ortiz were all born.
In addition to being tapatíos, as natives of Mexico’s second city are known, all three men were born at the start of the 1990s. Canelo and Checo are both 31, while Ortiz, who doesn’t (yet) have a publicly known catchy nickname, is the youngest of the three at 30.
The crash caused a large fire that engulfed several vehicles, burning occupants to death. Twitter
Nineteen people were killed and at least three others were injured in a horrific accident at a toll plaza on the Mexico City-Puebla highway on Saturday afternoon.
A transport truck traveling toward the capital lost its brakes and crashed through the San Marcos Huixtoco tollbooths in México state before colliding head-on with numerous cars heading in the opposite direction.
The crash precipitated a large fire that engulfed several vehicles and burned their occupants to death.
A deputy fire department chief in Chalco, the municipality where the accident occurred, said the vehicles’ own gasoline appeared to have fueled the blaze. The truck was carrying 6,000 liters of textile glue, but that substance isn’t flammable, Adrián Díaz Chávez said.
Firefighters arrived at the toll plaza shortly after the crash and managed to control the fire almost 40 minutes later. Capufe, the federal agency responsible for highways and bridges, said late Saturday that 19 people — including the truck driver — had died in the accident. Two of the deceased were children.
The San Marcos Huixtoco toll plaza remained close for seven hours after the crash, causing traffic to back up in both directions. It reopened just before 8:00 p.m.
A similar accident occurred at the same toll plaza in 2019 but no one was hurt. A truck transporting sugar also crashed into the toll booths in September in an accident that claimed the life of one toll collector and one other person, while a tanker carrying molasses suffered the same fate in October. Three people were injured in the latter crash.
Vehicles traveling toward Mexico City traverse a pronounced downward slope before reaching the toll plaza. There are emergency escape ramps before the toll booths, but the truck that crashed on Saturday, and others involved in accidents at the same location, obviously failed to make use of them.
The fair was shut down a week before it was due to close.
A México state fair was shut down after a cartel followed through on its threat of violence against performing musicians.
A bus carrying members of a band was attacked by gunfire on Friday following threats against musicians performing at the Metepec Fair in México state. Organizers then suspended the event, which had a star lineup of Mexican musicians.
The bus in which the band La Adictiva was traveling was attacked on the Toluca-Palmillas highway.
The threat was made on two narco banners hung on overpasses around Metepec on Friday morning. Signed by the Familia Michoacana it was directed at fair promoter Mario García in a possible case of unpaid extortion.
“Urgent message: We inform all the artists who were going to perform in the Metepec Fair not to perform at that venue, to avoid the spilling of innocent blood including theirs … due to the actions of that bum, the businessman Mario García, they are prohibited from performing. Respect our organization and we will respect your lives. Familia Michoacana,” the banners read.
The fair’s organizing company MG Diamante announced the suspension after artists pulled out following the attack. Musicians Pancho Barraza, Christian Nodal, Julión Álvarez, La Arrolladora and Alfredo Olivas were among those set to perform.
“We are concerned about the safety and integrity of all attendees, press, artists, employees and workers who work with us at this event,” Diamante said in a statement.
Security authorities detained two people in relation to the narco banners, but no arrests were reported for the attack.
A food vendor with a stall inside the venue said he was frustrated at the lost income. “This pandemic has cost us a lot … without events. These sales are what we live for. We had a week [of operation] but we did not get back all that we’d invested,” he said.
The fair opened October 29 and was scheduled to run until November 14.
Refunds for canceled shows will be available at the box office on November 15.
'I have researched the Aztecs and their civilization for half a century,' anthropologist Frances Berdan says. 'That said, I’m still learning new things about them.'
When anthropologist Frances Berdan did fieldwork with indigenous weavers in Puebla’s Sierra Norte, she made a surprising discovery: although the women weavers she observed were using store-bought thread or wool alongside the once-preferred cotton, they still made cloth using traditional backstrap looms as Aztec girls and women had done centuries before.
This firsthand experience is one of many ways she finds continuity and complexity in the narrative of the famed empire in her new book, The Aztecs.
“I have researched the Aztecs and their civilization for half a century,” Berdan said in an email interview. “That said, I’m still learning new things about them.”
Part of the Lost Civilizations series published by Reaktion Books, The Aztecs suggests new ways of seeing its subject: instead of focusing on leaders like the ill-fated Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, she expands her lens to include the people they governed.
“Historical accounts generally focus on the powerful – kings and nobles,” Berdan, a professor emerita of anthropology at California State University in San Bernardino said. “Fortunately, some of the ethnohistoric records that we have also address a wide range of people — men and women, adults and children, priests and teachers, farmers and artisans, merchants and porters … doctors. And slaves. And more.”
Wealthy Mexica merchants display fine textiles, precious feathers and valuable stone adornments. From Book IX of the Florentine Codex. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
The book uses artifacts as a jumping-off point for a wider narrative about the empire and its people. One such artifact is a feathered shield that wound up in Habsburg Austria. Its feathers came from multiple bird species, from quetzals to spoonbills. It depicts an image of a canine figure that might be a coyote, Berdan says. Only four such shields survived the conquest.
In addition to feathered shields, Aztec artisans made objects ranging from reed mats to obsidian knives. Some items were bartered on the empire’s frontiers in locations that Berdan describes as international trading centers.
This is the author’s second consecutive book that seeks to broaden discussion of the civilization, following Everyday Life in the Aztec World, also released this year. She also has written a book on Aztec archaeology and ethnohistory and co-edited a volume about the Codex Mendoza, a manuscript written around 20 years after the conquest by indigenous authors and depicting Mexica history, society and daily life before colonization.
Her latest book “not only presents the general ‘big picture’ of the Aztecs as an empire and civilization but also spends a great deal of time discussing the activities, behaviors and beliefs of the people themselves, whether they be nobles or commoners,” she said. “The book focuses on people as they engage in farming, marketing, marrying, raising children, healing wounds, participating in rituals, fighting on the battlefield and myriad other activities.”
These activities included textile production. The book states that it may have been the most “ubiquitous craft in Mesoamerica,” and that all women in the empire learned to spin and weave, “from Tenochtitlán to rural villages.”
In areas added to the empire by conquest, women had to make textiles for about 300,000 items of clothing delivered annually to their Aztec overlords, the most common type of tribute paid, according to Berdan. In the arduous process, a woman or girl spun cotton or maguey fibers on a spindle, then wove them into cloth on a loom strapped to her back.
A Nahua weaver in Cosoleacaque, Veracruz, using a traditional backstrap loom. Biblioteca de Investigación Juan de Córdova
Berdan said it was “eye-opening” to see weavers use these ancient techniques today.
“The 16th-century documents provide us with images of weavers and some descriptions of their activities,” she said, “but here were women expertly weaving cloth very much as it has been done for hundreds and hundreds of years … and I could talk with them!”
The indigenous women of the Sierra Norte told Berdan that they had mastered the process by age 14, which historical texts say was also the case in the ancient empire.
Berdan describes the Aztecs as “meticulous artisans” and cites this as among a number of clarifications she wishes to make about the ancient civilization in her new book.
After the establishment of Tenochtitlán in 1325, the city-state expanded over the decades until it became an empire that reigned for nearly a century. It grew through negotiation as well as conquest, Berdan notes, and the people within its borders would have called themselves Mexica, not Aztecs.
Beyond these points, the book describes the civilization’s scientific achievements as impressive, from astronomers who calculated a 365-day solar calendar to farmers who used innovative agricultural techniques such as terraces and chinampas — small artificial “islands” of soil built on a freshwater lake for agricultural purposes.
Berdan’s latest book looks at the lives of average Mexicas as they farmed, raised children, participated in rituals or fought in battle. Reaktion Books
Furthermore, she finds the Aztec religion more multidimensional than the usual narrative of human sacrifice we hear today. “Aztec religion was rich and complex,” she said. “The Aztecs worshipped many gods and goddesses (each with their own temples and cadres of priests), recited colorful myths and performed frequent ceremonies with processions, offerings, dances, music and song. Some — but not all — of these ceremonies included human sacrifices.”
The Aztecs sacrificed both humans and animals to the sun god Huitzilopochtli — for light and warmth for the all-important maize — and to the rain and water deities, Tláloc and Chalchiuhtlicue, for sufficient rainfall.
“Human sacrifices were always conducted in ritual contexts,” Berdan said, “although some of the large numbers of sacrifices we hear about relate to an added political dimension where a Mexica king wished to intimidate both his enemies and his allies.”
Even when it comes to the conquest, Berdan finds cause to challenge an existing narrative, in a chapter entitled “The End of the Fifth Age: The Setting Sun.”
Nahua perspectives of the conquest and its direct aftermath, she said, are “quite different than the usual narrative of the conquest.”
For instance, she explained, “the Spaniards’ native allies, such as the Tlaxcalans, did not view themselves as part of a Spanish enterprise but rather looked at the Spaniards as helping them to fight and conquer their longstanding Mexica enemies.”
The god Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, was among other things, the patron god of arts and crafts. Codex Magliabechiano, facsimile edn, Zelia Nuttall, ed
Despite the fall of Tenochtitlán and the devastating epidemics that followed over the ensuing decades, Berdan questions to what extent the Aztecs were actually conquered, noting that about two million people speak Náhuatl in Mexico today.
In the Huasteca — a region located partially along the Gulf of Mexico and touching parts of seven states, the language is growing in vocabulary, adding new words for recent innovations. Email, for instance, is tepozmecaixtlatiltlahcuilloli, or “apparatus where writing is delivered to your face.”
Another fusion of past and present can be seen during Day of the Dead: ofrendas include not only the modern beverages of Coke and Pepsi but also the Aztec staples of atole and tamales.
“The Aztecs viewed life and death as a constant cyclical process,” Berdan said. “Day of Dead ceremonies are very important in Mexico today and reinforce ties between the living and the dead. It is another example of the fusion of indigenous and Spanish traditions.”
Rich Tenorio is a frequent contributor to Mexico News Daily.
Humphrey and Nieto wanted a quiet wedding but it didn't quite turn out that way.
One of the federal government’s leading anti-corruption crusaders might have thought he could have avoided the media spotlight by getting married in Guatemala rather than at home.
But he apparently didn’t count on one of his high-profile guests losing US $35,000 because he didn’t declare it upon arrival at the Guatemala City airport and another losing her job because she flew into the country on a private jet.
Santiago Nieto, head of the government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), wed Carla Humphrey, a National Electoral Institute councilor, in Antigua, Guatemala, on Saturday.
According to a report by the newspaper Reforma, the reception that followed a civil ceremony on Saturday night was an exuberant and lavish affair, with more than 300 guests toasting the newlyweds with Moët & Chandon champagne and chowing down on gourmet dishes before hitting the dance floor to dance – and drink – the night away.
The news website Infobae reported that the bride and groom decided to get married in Guatemala out of fear that a wedding in Mexico could have been targeted by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. But there were more topical things on guests’ minds as they let their hair down in Guatemala’s premier tourist destination.
A hot topic of conversation at the reception, held at an exclusive five star hotel, was the detention for five hours on Friday of several guests who flew into La Aurora International Airport on a private jet.
Reforma reported that Paola Félix Díaz, the now-former Mexico City tourism minister, Juan Francisco Ealy, general director of the El Universal newspaper, and Alejandro Gou, a theater producer who produced the recent Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, were among the guests detained after seven envelopes stuffed with US $35,000 in cash that hadn’t been declared were found by police in a suitcase.
The money, which apparently belonged to Ealy, was confiscated in accordance with anti-money laundering laws. Nieto and Humphrey’s wedding guests were eventually released so they could travel the approximately 40 kilometers to Antigua.
According to the newspaper El País, which obtained access to a Guatemalan police document, the owner of the suitcase in which the cash was held was Erika Telich, Ealy’s personal assistant. Telich told police that the money belonged to her boss and that he took it to Guatemala because he planned to use it to pay for medical expenses in Los Angeles, where he intended to travel on Monday after the wedding. Ealy apparently had appointments to consult with medical experts in California – seemingly suspicious specialists with a predilection for hard cold cash transported clandestinely across international borders.
Paola Félix, meanwhile, arguably suffered a bigger loss, tendering her resignation as she evidently felt her position was no longer tenable.
“I’m in Guatemala at a social event to which I was invited. I traveled on a private flight, it’s false that I have been arrested and it’s false that the flight was paid for by a [government] supplier. I haven’t committed any illegal activity but I’ve decided to tender my resignation to [Mexico City Mayor] Claudia Sheinbaum,” she wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Former tourism minister Paola Félix.
In another Twitter post, she threatened to sue an El Financiero journalist if he didn’t retract his claim that she had been detained.
The Mexico City government subsequently released a statement to announce that it had accepted Félix’s resignation and to emphasize that it considers “the principles of republican austerity” to be fundamental.
At an event on Sunday, Sheinbaum described the former tourism minister as an efficient official but stressed that no members of her government are permitted to travel on private jets. Félix acted like a self-serving official of previous governments at a time when such conduct is no longer tolerated, the mayor said.
Wearing dark glasses, the ex-official returned to Mexico City on a commercial flight on Sunday, Reforma reported.
Among the other high-profile guests at the now infamous Guatemala wedding were Supreme Court Justice Yasmín Esquivel, Campeche Governor Layda Sansores, former Sinaloa governor Quirino Ordaz, former Querétaro governor Francisco Domínguez and former presidential candidate and National Action Party Senator Josefina Vázquez Mota.
Although Nieto is a prominent member of the federal government, no members of President López Obrador’s cabinet were in attendance.
Francisco Gárate, a former National Action Party representative at the National Electoral Institute, raised questions about how the UIF chief and his bride were able to pay for such a sumptuous wedding. He said they are “morally obliged” to disclose where the money for the wedding and travel to Guatemala came from, raising the possibility that government suppliers and/or contractors gave the couple “a little gift” to offset their expenses.
“Both are subject to the Public Servants Responsibilities Law,” Gárate said.
López Obrador on Monday described the events in Guatemala as a “scandalous affair” and advised public officials to act with “moderation and austerity.”
Nieto, who was fired in 2017 from his previous position as special prosecutor for electoral crimes for illegally disclosing details about a corruption investigation involving Brazilian company Odebrecht and former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya, has not commented publicly on the weekend’s events, although he did retweet a congratulatory message from a journalist.
Humphrey has also kept mum – the couple presumably has a honeymoon to enjoy, and Nieto might want to cool his heels for a few days, and clear his head, before defending himself against allegations he is more adept at making.
Car production in millions of units. financial times
Once a magnet for billions of dollars in investments and rapid job creation, Mexican monthly auto production and sales are languishing at their lowest levels in a decade as the industry is pummeled by the pandemic and semiconductor chip shortages.
The chip problems felt around the world are hitting North America particularly hard, and Mexico is experiencing an outsized impact since it relies on autos for more than 3% of its gross domestic product. Data published on Monday showed that auto production in Latin America’s second-largest economy in October was at its lowest for that month since 2011.
The auto supply chain issues could hit GDP by 1% this year, according to a Bank of México estimate from August, and the problems will probably last well into next year. The uncertainty ahead was compounded by changing U.S. consumer tastes, the transition to electric vehicles and the Mexican government’s energy policy, analysts said.
“We’re in a really tricky moment for the sector,” said Adrián de la Garza, chief economist for Mexico at Citi. “It’s not clear that going forward we’ll see a big rebound in foreign investment.”
That could be a drag on Mexico’s already fragile economic recovery, which contracted suddenly in the third quarter. While the sector has long benefited from North America free trade agreements, an eagerly awaited boom from factories moving from Asia to be closer to the U.S. is yet to materialize.
This year, automakers had hoped to recover fully from COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020. But supply chain bottlenecks caused by persistent waves of the virus, raw material shortages and other factors severely restricted the supply of chips. That has led to stoppages and production cuts across many factories.
“We recovered from the plant closures but then we basically ate up all the raw materials and ran out of components,” said Guido Vildozo, senior market analyst at IHS Markit. “We are at a point where . . . if anything is derailed, then the domino effect is very severe.”
Almost 1 million Mexicans work in the auto industry. Entire regions of the country depend on the factories owned by big names such as General Motors and Nissan and their suppliers. More than 80% of production is for export, mostly to the U.S.
Many emerging markets that made autos were seeing a hit of 0.1 to 0.2% of GDP from the chip problems, said analysts at Capital Economics. But in Mexico, the Czech Republic and Hungary, where the sector comprises a larger chunk of the economy, the overall impact was likely to be greater than 1% of GDP, including spillover effects, they added.
Tatiana Clouthier, Mexico’s economy minister, warned the chip problems were having an impact on the wider economy, and said her team had been working within the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) to strengthen the supply chain for chip parts.
“We’re in the HLED working on this, from issues around training and reskilling of people needed for new chip models, to defining which parts each side will do,” she told the Financial Times. “It’s one of our priorities.”
Another reason why Mexico has been hit hard is that it still makes many smaller cars, which have been deprioritized in terms of which chips the companies order. There is also a clear trend among consumers in the U.S., Mexico’s main auto market, away from smaller passenger vehicles toward light trucks. Mexico is rebalancing but cannot go as fast as the changing trends.
“You essentially have a double whammy,” said Vildozo. “You’re constrained on semiconductor availability but then the industry also looks at what generates revenue.”
Local car sales have also plummeted, with the industry having suffered its worst October for sales in a decade, reflecting a lack of inventory. “It’s a complicated moment, without a doubt,” said Jorge Vallejo, president and chief executive of Mitsubishi Motors Mexico.
The short-term chip issues are hurting now, but several longer-term trends are also converging on the horizon.
A recent proposal to nationalize future lithium production and prioritize dirtier, more expensive state energy was unlikely to help Mexico’s case in the global fight for electric vehicle investment, said analysts.
Clouthier said that her team was working with the private sector and academia on the transition to electric vehicles, particularly around battery production.
“We’re doing what we have to do to move forward in a mixed system,” she said.
The shift has the potential to reshape the geography of auto manufacturing around the world, said José Zozaya Délano, executive president of the country’s auto industry body AMIA.
“Mexico . . . has shown over the years it has the capacity and qualified people to make vehicles with advanced technology,” he said. “We’re ready, but we need to do a better job in attracting investment and giving confidence in it.”
Tourists take shelter in a Puerto Morelos hotel after gunfire last Thursday.
Fearing that recent incidents of violence in Quintana Roo will have a negative impact on the tourism industry, business and tourism organizations have called on authorities to ramp up security in the Caribbean coast state.
In the wake of attacks in Puerto Morelos and Tulum that terrorized tourists and left two foreign women dead in the latter destination, three organizations warned that more needs to be done to improve security for residents and tourists.
Asserting that there is a “fierce and ruthless” turf war between competing drug gangs that operate in Quintana Roo – including on the state’s beaches, the Hotel Association of Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres urged municipal, state and federal authorities to carry out “firm and forceful actions” to combat insecurity in tourism destinations.
Association official Jesús Almaguer Salazar said the presence of federal security forces needs to be bolstered to deter violence.
“We appeal to the good will of the president. The navy has shown that it can control these kinds of situations,” he said. “… The presence of an elite navy corps in the state that supports [local] authorities would be significant.”
Abelardo Vara, a hotel owner and former president of the Cancún hotel association, claimed that the federal government’s so-called abrazos, no balazos (hugs, not bullets) security approach – which favors addressing the root causes of violence over combating it with force – has failed and criminal groups have been allowed to flourish.
“It’s out of hand. The hugs haven’t worked,” he said. “Being honest, they haven’t allocated sufficient resources to control insecurity,” Vara added. “… Every day you find [dead] people in bags, dismembered people.”
The Caribbean Business Coordinating Council (CCEC) also called for security to be bolstered in Quintana Roo. It warned that incidents such as the shooting on a Puerto Morelos beach last Thursday that left two presumed drug dealers dead and the attack in a Tulum restaurant/bar late last month that claimed the lives of a a German woman and an Indian woman could cause people to cancel their plans to travel to the Riviera Maya. It is an outcome that would undermine the region’s recovery from the sharp pandemic-induced downturn.
The CCEC urged all levels of government to work together with citizens’ groups on a joint strategy to combat the criminal groups that “do so much damage to our organization.”
The executive president of the Quintana Roo Vacation Clubs Association also said that coordination between municipal, state and federal authorities is needed to effectively tackle the crime problem but emphasized that the support of the army and navy is paramount.
Miriam Cortés Franco described security as the most sensitive issue for the tourism sector, adding that her organization has fielded numerous calls from people asking whether Quintana Roo is a safe place to visit.
She noted that a new military base – inaugurated by former president Enrique Peña Nieto in late 2018 – was built just north of Cancún, but lamented that it hasn’t been used since 2019 because the government redeployed troops to other parts of the country to stem the flow of migrants.
Cortés said that tourism destinations in Quintana Roo are very attractive to criminal groups, which are often involved in extortion in addition to drug trafficking and street-level dealing. For that reason, greater federal support is needed to combat crime, she said.
Quintana Roo was the 18th most violent state among the 32 federal entities in the first nine months of the year with 495 homicides, according to federal data.
According to the state Security Ministry, at least six criminal groups operate in the Riviera Maya, a coastal region that includes Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. They include the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Old School Zetas.
Mexico’s government has swept aside the private renewable energy industry it began to support and is returning to its familiar fossil fuel habit.
Like most people, I want to be healthy. I want my body to last, and I want it to be as strong as it can be for as long as it can be. And yes, I want to conserve my nice figure and keep being pretty too.
It’s not a rare goal; most people want these things. Yet, in our modern societies, these are much trickier goals to reach than they might have been for our ancestors before the agricultural revolution, simply because we have so many things within our reach that we both love and are horrible for us.
We’re addicted to a lot of things, both as individuals and as a society, things that doom us. As a species, delayed gratification is no shining feature for us.
Cognitive dissonance sure is, though. So we continue along on our merry way, eating pure sugar and fat at regular intervals, staring at our screens for hours at a time, sleeping in after a long night of mindless scrolling or streaming instead of getting up for a jog.
We know these things aren’t healthy, but they’re so hard to kick. We’re creatures of habit, and nothing ever seems as good of an idea as doing what we usually do at the usual times. Today is never a good day to change; tomorrow is always a much better choice.
It’s only when these habits catch up to us — when our teeth are stained and cavity-ridden, when our pants don’t fit anymore, when we start suffering from insomnia and headaches and seem to catch every little virus that might float by — only then, that we take notice and think about changing. Because it’s not usually until we feel physically bad that we realize what slaves to our bodies’ biological states we are: we don’t even notice our good health when we’ve got it.
But cut a pinkie finger and we’re suddenly laser-focused on how many things we need that pinkie finger for.
The reality is that if you’re feeling terrible, or even mildly not great, it’s hard to be successful and reach your full potential in most areas. This is true for us as individuals, and it’s true for us as a society.
It’s so depressing that we’ve basically got no choice other than to — fill this part in with whatever harmful behavior is your go-to; in my case, it’s “eat this entire box of donuts until I feel so full that it’s all I can focus on” — to numb the pain. But, especially after an isolating pandemic that may or may not be over soon, this is how many of us live now.
And like most people, it’s difficult — sometimes it feels downright impossible, in fact — to do what we know we need to do to stay healthy. We’re addicted to the things that are bad for us.
And that’s the only way I’m able to relate to a situation that, to me, seems counterproductive, counterintuitive, and all-around illogical: Mexico (and most other countries, for that matter) is addicted to oil, and it’s being incredibly defiant about it.
We know where this path leads, though, don’t we? President López Obrador’s greatest wishes, far from what my socialist and justice-loving sensibilities had hoped for, seem to be to ensure that Mexico stays dependent on oil and to protect the state oil company Pemex and the state electricity provider, the Federal Electricity Commission, at all costs as if they are misunderstood, bullied victims.
But we know that burning oil for fuel is bad for us and bad for the planet. We know that someday that oil will run out. And we know that by the time it all happens, every living thing on this planet will be much worse off.
Part of the problem is that the oil is still around, and there’s still a lot of it. We know how to make it work, we’ve already got the infrastructure to keep it working and we can get a lot of money for it; Mexico’s economy and energy infrastructure is still more dependent on oil than on any other resource.
And like serial dieters suddenly abandoning their good habits in the face of overpowering cravings for pizza, ice cream and soda after a few weeks of “being good,” Mexico’s government has swept aside the private renewable energy industry it began to support in favor of diving right back into that sleek, black pool that it already knows and loves. (“Ah, that really hits the spot. Just for today, we swear. Tomorrow or next week or next month we’ll be good again.”)
But a you-only-live-once philosophy is not good national or international environmental policy, and indulging ourselves is much too easily confused for “self-care” these days.
We know that overeating and smoking will lead to diabetes, heart disease and lung cancer. We know that too much screen time will lead to depression and languishing. We know that polluting the Earth with fossil fuels will bring about environmental chaos, frequent disasters and the likely demise of us and everything around us.
As Greta Thunberg has told the world, “I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic.” We’ve got about 6 1/2 years before we get to the point of no return, when global temperatures rise to the point that spells inevitable and irreversible disaster.
But it’s all so hard to quit. We seem to be on an uncontrollable oil binge right now. By the time we’re done, it might be too late.
Doctoring up a base of store-bought salsas is easy and convenient, and there’s no reason not to.
I’ve been in a bit of a rut in the kitchen lately, making the same things over and over. Even the simplest change — like making a fresh salsa to have with grilled fish or chicken — has seemed like too much work, and I’m such a “purist” that I never buy canned or pre-made salsas. Well, that’s all about to change.
It’s easy to doctor up store-bought salsas, and there’s no reason not to. (Where I came up with that random parameter I don’t know.)
The spicy-sweet kick of salsa works on just about anything: omelets and egg dishes; grilled meats of all kinds; baked potatoes; added to pasta sauces, stews or soups; mixed into ground beef for burgers; as a topping for fish; or as a marinade. And starting with a ready-made base of whatever kind of store-bought salsa means you’re more than halfway done before you even start.
What we want to do is enhance the flavor and bring back the bright zing of fresh ingredients. Canned or jarred salsa can’t help that it tastes the way it does; the high heat necessary for processing and preserving it strips the fresh ingredients of, well, their fresh taste.
The easiest fix is to add fresh lime juice and a handful of minced fresh cilantro; go one step further and add some chopped tomato, onion or cucumber and you change the texture as well as the flavor. The citrus (or a little vinegar) also provides an acidic balance to the other ingredients.
Feeling adventurous? Add fruits like pineapple or jicama or maybe some kernels of corn.
A bit more complicated — but well worth the effort — is to add something roasted or grilled. This doesn’t have to be complicated; even a single jalapeño, poblano, bell or serrano pepper, held over a gas flame and charred till blackened, will enhance the flavor of any salsa immensely. (Place charred pepper in a bowl covered with plastic, let it steam for a few minutes, peel off the skin, remove seeds and ribs and chop.)
Feeling adventurous? Do the same thing with an ear of corn and add those roasted kernels to a bean- or tomato-based salsa and watch the magic happen.
Adding a small pinch of ground dried spices like cinnamon, coriander, cumin or even Mexican oregano can tweak tomato-, fruit- and bean-based salsas. This is also good with salsas that are heavy on the dried chiles.
Adding some finely chopped fresh fruits like mango, pineapple or papaya can change everything about a salsa in a good way. Be careful not to add too much, or it’ll taste more like curry than salsa!
It’s hard to imagine who “invented” salsa and when. The first recorded reference is from a Franciscan missionary in the early 1500s who wrote about seeing a ground-up mixture of “chile peppers, tomatoes and seeds” poured over meat. (Note that onions, lime and cilantro — all mainstays of more modern-day salsas — are not mentioned.)
You’ll have to experiment with these ideas; every store-bought salsa will be different, and the amounts and types of ingredients you add will yield varying results. Taste first, noticing on your tongue if the overriding taste is sour, hot or sweet.
Some will be hot enough as they are; others will be able to hold more spice or sweet. Just keep tasting as you go. Let me know in the comments what you come up with. And in case you feel inspired to start from scratch, here are some classic salsa recipes:
2–4 serrano or jalapeño chiles, seeds and ribs removed, halved
15 sprigs cilantro
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt
In a broiler or on a comal, roast tomatillos, onion and chiles until darkly charred and blackened on top and the tomatillos are completely tender, 6–12 minutes. Transfer vegetables and their juice to blender or food processor. Add half the cilantro. Pulse to a rough purée.
Heat oil in medium saucepan over high heat. Pour salsa into hot oil all at once (it will steam and sputter). Immediately stir and cook until salsa is darkened and thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Mince remaining cilantro; stir into salsa. Season with salt. Let cool; serve. Refrigerate up to 5 days. — seriouseats.com
Change up your chips and dip with this salsa made with deep-red smoky morita chiles.
Chile Morita Salsa
This is a deep-red, smoky and delicious salsa.
2 dried chile moritas OR dried chipotles
1 lb. tomatillos, husks removed
1 clove garlic, unpeeled and cut in half
Salt
Cook chiles on a comal or in a hot, dry cast-iron skillet until they inflate and pop (about two minutes). Pour enough water over the chiles to cover. (Transfer to bowl if using a comal.) Let sit 30 minutes to soften.
Char tomatillos in a skillet until they blister and blacken. Transfer to blender or food processor; add garlic, chiles and a pinch of salt. Purée until smooth.
Pineapple-Jicama Salsa
1½ cups finely chopped fresh pineapple
1 cup finely diced peeled jicama
½ cup finely diced red bell pepper
½ cup minced red onion
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. minced cilantro
Pinch salt
Combine all ingredients. Let rest for an hour to blend flavors.
Set on the shore of Lake Chapala, the town of Ajijic is a popular destination for international retirees. (Somniphobiac/Creative Commons)
So what exactly is a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) in Mexico nowadays?
In 2001, the federal government began a wildly successful program to promote quaint historic towns as weekend getaways. What started as a handful of them near Mexico City has grown to 132 in 20 years.
But not without controversy.
In December 2020, the expat enclave of Ajijic, Jalisco, received the coveted designation, but does it deserve to be ranked with the likes of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, and San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas?
Two main issues exist with the designation: the first is that Ajijic is not a stereotypical Mexican town with centuries-old architecture dominating the center. Instead, what stands out is its cosmopolitan atmosphere and a very visible foreign population that has transformed it considerably.
Main plaza with one of the many public artworks in town. Alejandro Linares García
There are only three buildings in town with historic significance; the rest were demolished long ago as development filled Ajijic with 78 hotels, 136 restaurants and bars serving contemporary Mexican and international cuisines, art galleries and second homes. All this obscures that the town was officially founded in 1531 and was a fishing village for far longer than that.
Ajijic is one of many small towns in the area with gorgeous views of Lake Chapala. Indeed, the lakeside pier and the colorful main square are its main attractions, especially with weekenders from nearby Guadalajara.
Mostly American snowbirds and others have been attracted to move to the area’s near-perfect climate since the 1940s. The Ministry of Tourism estimated before the pandemic that as many as 20,000 foreigners currently make the town their home at least part of the year. These residents, including a significant number of artists, drive much of the cultural scene here, sponsoring the many public murals. They have also repaired and improved a number of public structures and spaces.
As late as 2012, researcher Vair Avota said, “People were saying that Ajijic would never become a Pueblo Mágico no matter how hard they tried and how good it might be — that as a ‘gringo village’ it has been way too transformed.”
Famous last words.
The second issue with the designation of Ajijic as a Pueblo Mágico is that transportation and other infrastructure are nowhere near adequate to handle the number of visitors the town receives now, never mind whatever new influx the designation might bring in the future.
One of the many murals that grace private homes all over Ajijic. Alejandro Linares García
Ajijic sits on a small strip of land wedged between Chupinaya Mountain and Lake Chapala. This fact causes bottlenecks in the town’s center; residents complain about traffic even during the low season.
Growth has taken a toll on the mountain, with new lake-view homes being built ever higher. This was a principal cause of recent flooding in the town proper — because vegetation had been stripped away for development.
Overall infrastructure here is poor, with no updated planning documents since 2011. There is a general lack of regulation. Despite the town having a wealthy population, there are still residents who live without basic city services.
The naming of Ajijic as a Pueblo Mágico came as something of a surprise to residents as the effort was driven entirely by the outgoing mayoral administration with no input from the community.
These authorities succeeded because the requirements for designation have been changed over the years.
Originally, towns had to have qualities like architecture, history and visible manifestations of historic culture, along with specific requirements for tourist and other infrastructure. According to Fernando Mendoza, founding president of the National Coordination of Pueblos Mágicos Committees, those requirements were necessary at first to consolidate the brand.
Ajijic’s main plaza. Somniphobiac/Creative Commons
The first changes to the requirements came after five years, when infrastructure criteria were relaxed in order to allow more towns to get the designation. About seven years ago, requirements were limited further, including those related to architecture and other obvious attractions, as the program became a “social development through tourism” program.
According to Mendoza, the formerly strict requirements favored towns that already had tourism and the resources to pave and widen roads, rehabilitate buildings, bury electrical lines and do other improvements. This left out more marginalized communities from consideration.
Needless to say, marginalized does not really describe most of Ajijic, filled with second homes and retirees with the money and time to spend on community improvement projects. Interestingly enough, it is this international community that is part of the official rationale for making Ajijic a Pueblo Mágico, says Greg Custer of the Lake Chapala Society, the oldest operating organization for expats in Mexico.
You would think that having a prominent foreign population would work against designation, but Mendoza says that other communities with significant numbers of foreign residents, such as Tepoztlán and Loreto, Baja California Sur, are also Pueblos Mágicos.
For both Mexican and foreign residents, opinions about Pueblo Mágico status are highly mixed: those highly in favor of the designation seem to be business owners, although resident John Sillyards says that many of the local artists “are thrilled.”
Resident Daniel Houck worries that several foreign residents are not aware of the potential ramifications. Many residents and others worry that the inclusion of towns like Ajijic devalues the brand and means that the approval process is now all about politics.
But like it or not, Custer notes, Ajijic is now a Pueblo Mágico. For him, what is important now is to decide how the community deals with the designation.
One immediate challenge is to get tourists to visit more than just the pier and the main square, he said. The town needs to diversify its attractions into more parts of town in order to ease traffic and get the benefits of Magical Town status to more areas.
Mendoza agrees that community involvement is the only way to make the Pueblo Mágico designation beneficial. A citizens’ committee to address the coming challenges has been formed, and only time will tell if Ajijic will become a “successful” Magical Town or not.
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.
