Not every expat came to Mexico lured by a romantic image

By

-

September 17, 2022

Campeche city, Independence Square — This riot of color is often not where foreigners forced to follow spouses or family here end up. SCStock/Istock

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and the munchkins sing with glee about having killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Suddenly, a startling explosion of green smoke appears and reveals yet another evil witch.

“I thought you said she was dead!” says Dorothy.

Glenda the Good Witch replies: “That was her sister — the Wicked Witch of the East. This is the Wicked Witch of the West, and she’s worse than the other one was.”

“Geez,” I think every time I see that scene. “Glenda could have at least warned her about that ahead of time.”

The thread of a recent Facebook group I’m in got my attention the other day, and the responses from its members have been rolling around in my head ever since and reminding me that not all of us arrive in Mexico under circumstances that seem to make our worlds change from Dorothy’s depressing sepia to Technicolor.

The group is mostly made up of U.S. and Canadian women who have moved to Mexico, with a handful in other Latin American countries. While they all technically came voluntarily, it wasn’t the lure of a magical and romantic Mexico that brought them; it was their deported spouses.

These women are the on-the-ground results of one of Obama’s more unfortunate legacies – deportations increased exponentially under his presidency and are still going strong. Many of them packed up their and their children’s lives overnight and headed to Mexico or other parts of Latin America in order to keep their families together.

This particular thread in the Facebook group posed two questions: what advice did they have for others making the move, and knowing what they know how, what would they do differently — or would they even do it again?

The responses were a compilation of life experiences very different from my own: many talked about arriving in Mexico and not having things like running water or a refrigerator in whatever small, rural hometown they wound up in because their husbands were from there.

Others talked about husbands who’d been perfectly fine spouses in the U.S. but who became abusive, or lethargic or “entirely different people” once back in their natal environments. There were stories of family members and friends who were suspicious of them, stories of relationships that seemed to be friendships but were really others taking advantage of their fish-out-of-water status and (relative) wealth. Many struggled to learn Spanish as they continued to keep up their families’ lives in a new, sometimes hostile environment.

They learned the hard way that most people in Mexican culture, including their husbands, don’t like saying no when asked for favors, even huge ones (it’s true: there are many great things about the Mexican psyche but setting and respecting clear boundaries with those close to them is not one of them). Heartbreakingly, many learned that once their husbands’ families were around, they no longer seemed to occupy the “number one most important person” position in their spouses’ lives.

More than a few saw that the money they had been sending down weekly or monthly had, in fact, not been going toward buying land and building their future homes as they’d intended but pocketed or directed elsewhere. Wherever it had gone, it certainly wasn’t there waiting for them.

Many of the people who contributed to this thread said that if they had the chance to make the move again, they would have done it very differently or not at all, opting to cut their losses and stay home.

As for advice for those who make the move?

“Try to get a remote job in the U.S. before coming so you don’t live in poverty once you get here and aren’t stuck being dependent on a possibly hostile united front of your husband plus his family.”

“Make sure your husband works, even if he makes a fraction of what you do.” Several had realized that a reversal of traditional gender roles often didn’t work out here, the dominant cultural script for masculinity here not conducive to their husbands taking over homemaking duties in any truly effective way, even when the wives were the main breadwinners.

“Don’t live with his family.”

“Never, under any circumstances, hire family members for jobs.”

“Don’t lend money if you ever want to see it back in your pocket.”

“Have an exit plan: don’t be afraid to simply give up and go home. Accept the help of your family back home if you need to, even it if hurts your pride. Don’t put up with abuse that’s surfaced since arriving. Here are the Embassy numbers; they can help get you and your children out even if you’re missing paperwork. Here’s my cell phone number; call me if you and your kids need an emergency place to stay.”

All this reminded me that not all our immigrant experiences are the same. Experiencing the delight of living inside an expat travel blog’s Instagram companion account takes a lot of money, after all.

Some people’s experiences are just rough. And plenty of new arrivals come to one conclusion only: “Please, I just want to go home. I want my life back.”

So, this Independence weekend, I’m thinking about what the phrase “independence day” can mean on a personal, evolutionary level. I’m thinking about that ‘90s Martina McBride country song “Independence Day” that’s part of the “old country” Spotify playlist I listen to on Sunday mornings while I make pancakes and cry about missing my mom (the car radio as a kid was always turned to a country station; it’s hardcore nostalgia for me).

I’m thinking about how freeing it can be to give up and say, “Okay, I accept it; this isn’t for me, after all. I’m out of here.”

To move to a new country is, in a way, to be born again; it’s to become a brand-new person, or at least a version of yourself that looks very, very, different than the old one.

For some (for me), it feels like Dorothy emerging from her black-and-white house onto a colorful, magical landscape. The evil witches are peripheral and at a safe distance, and the overall experience is still worth it, even knowing that they’re around.

For others, it’s scary — not something they’d planned. It’s a feeling of unease, recognition on a gut level that the particular circumstances they find themselves in are not ones that are doing them any good. The truth strikes like lighting: “There’s no place like home.”

Whether freedom for you means a joyful rebirth into an entirely new world or a clear realization that where you belong is back in your old, beautiful garden, I wish you a happy Independence Day.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com

Raspberries in winter? You can thank Mexico for that.

By

Leigh Thelmadatter

-

September 17, 2022

0

Mexico News Daily’s John Pint did a good job discussing the issues related to berry cultivation in Jalisco back in March, but despite the problems, berry cultivation isn’t going anywhere for one compelling reason: money.

Mexico and its cuisine are not traditionally associated with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, but they are not entirely unknown. My first experience with them in Mexico was fresh blackberries being sold on the highway in the spring in México state, as well as blackberry liquor (really cane alcohol with the fruit). I was surprised, but then I realized that the state has an abundance of pine forests.

Blackberries grow wild in a few high forested areas, but berry cultivation in Mexico was almost nonexistent until the late 20th century. This lack of familiarity may account for the wide variety of names used for this category of fruits in Mexican Spanish: baya, frutilla, fruta de bosque, mora and even the English word “berry.”

But as Pint and many others have noticed, this has changed dramatically in the past couple of decades.

Berries in Mexico waiting for shipment to US — Berries ready for shipment to the United States. Lower labor costs are an advantage as berries need to be hand-picked and hand packed. Government of Mexico

The visibility comes with the rise of greenhouses growing raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, with white tarp greenhouses dotting various landscapes. These abound in Michoacán, which is the largest producer of such berries, but berries of all types are grown in 22 of Mexico’s 32 states.

Prime growing areas extend from central into southern Mexico, with some other areas in the northwest and Baja, generally microclimates where the altitude moderates temperature and rain patterns. Right now, 55,000 hectares of land are under berry cultivation, but that number is sure to grow.

Berries as a whole account for only 5% of Mexico’s agricultural production but 11% of its agricultural income. The vast majority are strawberries, but the most profitable by far are raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.

This has gotten the attention of many local, state and federal agricultural agencies, and the establishment of a producers’ group, the National Association of Berries (Aneberries).

Biochemist María Aparicio Cid, owner of La Mora berry wine — Biochemist María Aparicio Cid started La Mora berry wine in 2015 when she found that tons of overripe and damaged fruit was being dumped in a local Jocotepec, Jalisco landfill. Such dumping is no longer the case thanks to her and others’ entrepreneurship.

Strawberries have been grown in Mexico for some time, with Mexico now producing 10% of the world’s supply. They are an important part of the economy of southern Guanajuato, with the city of Irapuato holding a strawberry fair each spring.

But the cultivation of other berries, especially raspberries, has a much higher profit margin and less price fluctuation since they have long been prized in the northern cultures in the United States, Canada and Europe. Their demand has only risen with studies touting their antioxidant content and their benefits to the immune system.

The U.S. had long produced its own fruit, and it is still the main producer of blueberries worldwide. But climate conditions in most of the country mean a short season in the spring. Mexico has a huge advantage in that it can produce berries in the fall, winter and spring, with many Mexican farmers managing their harvests to happen in winter, when prices are highest.

Mexico not only has climatic advantages it also has logistical ones: it’s located next to the world’s largest berry market, the United States. It is also much better located for shipment to Europe and even Asia than its main Latin American competitors, Peru and Chile. Lower labor costs is also an advantage.

greenhouses in Mexico — Acres upon acres of white-tarped “greenhouses” give new meaning to agroindustry in Mexico. JHuete

The recent explosion in production and export is due to free trade agreements starting with NAFTA in 1994. Just one year prior, only 13,000 tons of strawberries left Mexico for the U.S., and none of the other berries, and only a minuscule amount of blueberries, were grown in Puebla.

Exports really took off after 2005. By the end of 2022, Aneberries anticipates the export of over 584,000 tons of berries from Mexico, earning US $3 billion. That would make berries Mexico’s third most important food export after beer and avocados.

All berry production is rising, but raspberries are by far the most popular, bringing in more than US $3 billion annually. Blueberry production remains very small, but it is the fastest growing, rising from 29,000 tons to 50,000 tons from 2016 to 2020. Berry fields and greenhouses are replacing corn in states like Michoacán and Jalisco. This is leading to a mutual dependence developing between Mexico and the U.S., an exchange of berries and other fruit for corn.

Despite environmental and socioeconomic concerns, there seems to be no end in sight to the Mexican berry industry’s growth. There is still a large gap between the demand for berries and worldwide production, as consumers are more than happy to see these formerly seasonal treats available almost year-round and at better prices. Those white greenhouses will continue to pop up in moist, temperate microclimates in Mexico, which, yes, are a kind of blight on the landscape.

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.

New Tourism Ministry program now deems neighborhoods ‘magical’

By

Lydia Carey

-

September 16, 2022

0

Mexicos Tourism Ministry magical neighborhoods program — The Tourism Ministry hopes the program will attract visitors to cities that don't qualify for the Pueblo Mágico designation but with neighborhoods that share similar qualities. SECTUR

Officials from Mexico’s Tourism Ministry (SECTUR) have announced the creation of a program called Barrios Magicos, or Magical Neighborhoods, a new program they believe will draw visitors to major cities across the country.

Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos (Magical Towns) program, which began in 2001, was an attempt to highlight small towns across the nation with historical and cultural value. The program provided funding for renovations as well as promotion of the unique features of these locations. The Pueblos Mágicos program has been a resounding success in terms of tourist numbers, having brought influxes of visitors and money to its 132 member towns.

SECTUR now wants to more fully integrate big cities that don’t meet the requirement for the Pueblo Mágico distinction into the country’s tourism sector through the new program. The idea is to highlight certain neighborhoods within large urban spaces that have some of the same qualities as Pueblos Mágicos, i.e., special historical, cultural or artistic highlights.

“A barrio mágico is a space that combines diverse elements,” said SECTUR’s Miguel Torruco Marqués. “[These are] things that make it unique and one of a kind: history, culture, cuisine, products and services, as well the coexistence between the local population and visitors. They are places where you can discover the spirit and essence of a city.”

Thirty-two neighborhoods have already been selected nationwide to form the first phase of the program, each a smaller part within a borough or metropolitan zone.

Torruco remarked that the challenge is finding neighborhoods that facilitate the integration of products, neighborhoods that have a service infrastructure, are representative of the cities themselves, are logistically well-connected, and can be linked with other destinations through thematic routes. Mexico City already has 21 designated Barrios Magicos that include places like San Ángel and Mixcoac, but this program will now amplify that list as well as expand the program to major cities across the nation. Torruco Marqués assures that the program will not only be a boon to tourism in big cities.

“The Barrios Magicos, in tandem with the Pueblos Magicos, will promote, strengthen, and encourage highway travel. Travel towards open spaces, towards more intimate contact with nature and other destination communities, a trend that we have seen in post-pandemic travel.”

With reports by Sectur, Radio Formula, Mexico Travel Channel, and La Prensa Latina.

CFE used 55% more coal for electricity generation in 2022

By

MND Staff

-

September 16, 2022

0

coal fired power plant — The Federal Electricity Commission's use of coal to generate power increased significantly in the first seven months of the year. deposit photos

The Federal Electricity Commission’s use of coal to generate power increased significantly in the first seven months of the year, while its use of two key renewable sources slightly declined, according to the National Energy Control Center (Cenace).

Data presented by Cenace chief Ricardo Mota Palomino at an energy conference in Veracruz showed that the state-owned utility produced 9,248 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity with coal between January and July, a 54.7% increase compared to the same period of 2021.

The CFE uses coal to generate power at three plants, two in Coahuila – where many coal mines are located – and one in Guerrero.

Data presented by Mota showed that the commission’s use of both solar and wind to generate energy fell marginally between January and July. Generation with solar totaled 10,100 GWh, down 3% compared to the first seven months of 2021, while generation with wind was 12,504 GWh, a 0.1% decline.

Mexico's Cenace Chief Ricardo Mota Palomino — Cenace Chief Ricardo Mota Palomino shared the CFE data at the Veracruz Energy Conference.

While the GWh totals for both solar and wind are higher than that for coal, the CFE depends much more heavily on other non-renewable sources such as gas and fuel oil. Non-renewables were used to generate almost two-thirds of CFE’s electricity last year, while the largest renewable source was hydro, contributing to 26% of the company’s total output.

Carlos Flores, an energy expert, told the newspaper Reforma that the government should be doing more to substitute non-renewable contaminating sources with renewable ones.

“The president repeats over and over again that the hydroelectric plants will be the solution for the [energy] transition when that’s not the case,” he said, insinuating that greater investment in wind and solar is needed.

“They say that [the use of] coal will come down, but … it hasn’t declined [yet], it’s the complete opposite,” Flores said.

President López Obrador, an energy nationalist intent on bolstering the CFE and state oil company Pemex at the expense of the private sector, has been loathe to move away from fossil fuels, although he has conceded that an eventual transition to clean energy is inevitable.

With reports from Reforma

Jalisco water park offers delightfully warm swimming fed by geysers

By

John Pint

-

September 16, 2022

0

Jalisco's Rio Soledad — You can enjoy a natural hot shower at Rancho Avila’s, fed by natural mineral water tumbling from a tall stream.

Here’s another wonderful place that makes you feel like you’ve arrived in the middle of nowhere when you are actually a mere 45 minutes from the crowded streets of a big city.

As you head out of Guadalajara on Avenida Alcalde, the noise and congestion suddenly end, and you find yourself driving straight down into the maw of El Cañon de Oblatos, probably the most spectacular of the deep canyons surrounding Mexico’s second-largest city.

Just before you reach the canyon floor — and slightly before reaching the banks of the Santiago River— you turn off to the quiet village of Ixcatán. Now you’re on cobblestone for six kilometers, until you reach a bridge crossing Río Soledad, a.k.a. The River of Solitude.

From this point downstream, the river passes through what could be called a miniature version of Yellowstone Park. It’s truly miniature, covering a stretch of only 500 meters, but within that small space, lies a steaming wonderland.

Thirty years ago, I heard rumors that there were geysers along the Soledad River and when I first laid eyes on them, I was truly amazed.

There they were, side-by-side, two geysers spraying hot water high into the air, with loud hissing, but what really grabbed my attention was the fact that each geyser was spouting out of a kind of cone perhaps a meter and a half high, somewhat shaped like a stovepipe. These cones looked very thin and fragile, and they were gaudily colored: bright reds and golds mixed with a brilliant white, all the colors melted together as if Antonio Gaudí himself had sculpted them.

This was one of the loveliest sights I have ever seen, but those cones were all too fragile. The next time I paid La Soledad a visit, they were gone.

Local people told me the sad story: “Some kids came along, saw the geysers and climbed up to the top of the cliff behind them. From there they threw stones to see which of them would be the first to knock down the cones.”

In a matter of minutes, the kids were able to destroy two of Mother Nature’s masterpieces that had been built up over who knows how long a period of time.

Although the geysers stole the show, the base of the cliff behind them was hissing and steaming with great vigor and you could have spent hours looking at what was going on in each vent and fissure, where all hell seemed to be trying to break through, creating bizarre mineral formations in the process.

Supercharged with minerals, the boiling hot water bubbling out of this mini-Yellowstone flowed down the hillside, displaying a melange of colors, to two small round pools built by the owners of this land — and more delightful hot tubs you are unlikely to find anywhere.

To our surprise, we discovered another set of big, noisy geysers 500 meters downstream, creating a huge cloud of hot vapor right at the river’s edge.

All of these wonders I have described are located on private land. Over the years, the owners have made valiant attempts to turn their steamy wonderland into an attraction that others might enjoy, but none of those projects ever bore fruit. Today, this thermal area — perhaps the most picturesque in the state of Jalisco — is off limits to the general public.

But if these descriptions have given you a yen for immersing yourself in a delightful pool of hot mineral water, don’t despair: the River of Solitude will not fail you!

A short distance upstream from the bridge (remember the bridge?) there are other thermal delights — not quite so flamboyant as those geysers, mind you — but these are open to the public.

Cross the bridge and head west for just over a kilometer and you will be at the entrance to a balneario (water park) called Rancho Avila’s.

An English speaker might wonder what the apostrophe is doing at the end of “Avila.” Well, just consider this a would-be appendage of classiness inspired by such well-known establishments as Chili’s and Macy’s: a sort of Chez Avila, Mexico style.

Drive 300 meters into Rancho Avila’s and you will come to a parking lot next to a big roofed dining area with nearby restrooms and changing booths. As for bathing options, the owners have taken full advantage of the many hot and cold springs all along this stretch of the Soledad River. Here you can choose between a spiffy modern pool with its own mini-island or a rustic swimming hole.

I would take the rustic swimming hole any day. It’s bordered by a picturesque canyon wall covered with ferns and gnarly tree roots and it’s filled with deliciously warm water which comes from a tall stream of hot water tumbling into the pool.

Once you are standing under this delightful hot shower created by Mother Nature, you won’t be able to step away!

Almost all the visitors to this balneario spend their time frolicking in one of the pools, but if you are a bit adventurous, just follow the river downstream a bit. This involves jumping from rock to rock for a while but leads you to a truly magical place with small, interconnected, natural pools, two of them fed by streams of water pouring down from the cliffside.

Yes, here are two more natural showers and if you find them, you will probably have them all to yourself: clean, crystal-clear water, deliciously warm, but not hot … ahhh, pure bliss!

Rancho Avila’s is open from Wednesdays to Sundays. Admission is 80 pesos for adults, 50 for kids. They don’t allow camping, but they do have a cabin that sleeps eight for 2,000 pesos (about US $100) a night. Whoever rents the cabin automatically gets the whole water park to themselves — and you will especially appreciate the hot pool at night!

For more info, you can call Gaby at 331 022 5837 (WhatsApp). To get to the place, ask Google Maps to take you to “Balneario Rancho Avila s” — spelled with a mysterious space instead of that classy apostrophe. Driving time from the north end of Guadalajara is about an hour. Double that if you’re coming from the Lake Chapala area.

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.

geyser along Jalisco's Rio Soledad — The highest geyser along the Soledad River now produces only hot air.

PAN and PRD confirm split with PRI leader Alejandro Moreno

By

MND Staff

-

September 16, 2022

0

PAN leader Marko Cortés (left) and PRI leader Alejandro Moreno (right). — PAN leader Marko Cortés (left) and PRI leader Alejandro Moreno (right) fell out last fall over the PRI's support for a constitutional bill allowing the military continuing performing domestic security functions, but their differences appear to have been smoothed over. Twitter

The three-party Va por México coalition appears set to break up unless the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) dumps its current leader and its senators vote down a controversial constitutional bill.

The leaders of the National Action Party (PAN) and Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) said Thursday that the alliance might continue but their relationship with PRI president Alejandro Moreno is over. It is difficult to see how the opposition coalition can survive if Moreno – a former Campeche governor who faces corruption charges in that state – remains at the helm of the PRI.

The trouble stems from the PRI’s support of a constitutional bill that, if passed by Congress, would allow the use of the military for public security tasks until 2028. With the support of the PRI, the ruling Morena party and its allies, the bill passed the lower house of Congress on Wednesday and will be considered by the Senate next week.

PAN national president Marko Cortés said Thursday that the party he leads will no longer have a relationship with Moreno, who is also a federal deputy, because it has lost confidence in him.

“He didn’t keep his word and agreements were breached,” he said at an event in Durango at which that state’s new governor was sworn in.

Cortés said last week that the bill put forward by a PRI deputy was “absolutely contradictory” to Va por México’s commitment to not support modifications to the constitution or the militarization of the country.

He said Thursday that the PAN will wait and see what happens in the Senate – where PRI senators look set to vote against the bill – before making a decision about the future of Va por México.

“We hope they’re consistent with what they’ve said until now [and the PRI senators] will vote against [the bill],” Cortés said.

PAN and PRD legislators are concerned about the continued involvement of the military PAN and PRD legislators are concerned about the continued involvement of the military in domestic affairs. Pictured: a military parade in 2010, during the Calderón administration.domestic affairs. — PAN and PRD legislators are concerned about the continued involvement of the military in domestic affairs. Pictured: a military parade in 2010, during the Calderón administration. Christian Frausto Bernal CC BY-SA 2.0

After the vote, members of the PAN national council will meet to decide whether the party will remain allied with the PRI.

PRD president Jesús Zambrano, who was also in Durango for the swearing in of a governor endorsed by the Va por México coalition, said that Moreno – widely known as “Alito” – couldn’t be trusted anymore. He said that his party would reassess the coalition to decide whether it can continue in its current form.

The PAN and PRD said in a joint statement Wednesday that the reform passed by the Chamber of Deputies seeks to extend the “failed security and militarization strategy” beyond the term of the current government.

The “autocratic government” is placing “our democratic system” and “respect for human rights” at “grave risk,” the parties said, adding that the country is “on the verge of a dictatorship.”

“… The national leadership of the PRI and the majority of PRI deputies have broken their word and the signed agreements, and they’ve turned their backs on the citizens who voted for them at the 2021 elections precisely so they would prevent these kinds of anti-democratic reforms that are contrary to freedom and human rights,” the statement said.

The PAN and PRD said they would wait for the legislative process in the Senate to conclude before deciding the “immediate future” of their alliance with the PRI.

While the PRI was in “obvious complicity with Morena” in the lower house, according to the PAN/PRD statement, PRI senators will vote against the constitutional bill, said Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, the party’s leader in the upper house.

Without the PRI’s support in the Senate, the bill won’t pass as the two-thirds majority required to make a constitutional change won’t be reached.

Osorio Chong, interior minister in the previous federal government, said last week that PRI senators don’t agree with the proposal to continue to use the military for public security tasks until 2028.

“It goes against what we’ve been proposing in recent years,” he said. “[The armed forces] were [already] given enough time,” the senator said, referring to their authorization to carry out public security tasks until 2024.

Militarization is currently a hot button issue in Mexico as the federal government seeks to extend and augment the role the military plays in public life. The National Guard has now been placed under the control of the army, and President López Obrador has assigned a range of non-traditional tasks, including infrastructure construction and management of the nation’s ports and customs, to the military.

He said earlier this week that the ongoing presence of the armed forces on the nation’s streets is essential to guarantee peace, but many human rights organizations oppose the militarization of public security, pointing out that Mexican soldiers and marines have committed or allegedly committed a range of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings.

With reports from Reforma, Infobae and Animal Político

2,685 prisoners released under amnesty law, Security Ministry reports

By

MND Staff

-

September 16, 2022

0

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez announces the release of prisoners, on Thursday. (Presidencia de la República)

Its timing probably had little to do with Mexican Independence Day, but nevertheless it was announced on Thursday that 2,685 people who had been held in penitentiaries around the country have been granted their freedom and independence under the nation’s Amnesty and Early Release Law.

Some of them had been waiting for years to be tried, and others had experienced violations of their rights of due process.

The announcement came during President López Obrador’s daily press conference, with Minister of Public Security and Citizen Protection Rosa Icela Rodríguez providing the details.

“We say that, with actions like these, we advance in the formation of a more humanitarian, equal and fair society,” she said. “And as Martin Luther King said: ‘[True] peace is not simply the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.’”

The Reclusorio Oriente, a prison in Mexico City. CC BY-SA 4.0

The figures provided to the media indicated that those receiving early release included 123 women, 120 older adults, 208 people with chronic-degenerative diseases, 51 Indigenous people and 15 foreigners — plus another 2,032 people “who met the requirements for early release” (such as having a work plan, not having any other charges or warrants, or not being repeat offenders).

An additional 136 people were released through the amnesty portion of the law: “66 of them in poverty, 42 women, 21 Indigenous, two with permanent disabilities, four victims of intimidation and one victim of discrimination,” Rodríguez said.

Mexico’s law covering amnesty and early release went into effect in April 2020 under the direction of López Obrador, who has pushed a strategy against crime that attacks the roots of the problem, such as poverty, corruption and impunity (though his critics consider that measures such as amnesty for prisoners are an attempt to gain electoral support).

“It is, as you have said, Mr. President, an act of justice for those who have not committed serious crimes, or crimes related to violence, humble people who could not afford a lawyer, have a translator or have faced all kinds of adversities,” said Rodríguez, a former journalist and close ally of AMLO — and the country’s first female security minister, the person in charge of coordinating the fight against drug cartels and other criminals.

According to Rodríguez, 92,590 people around the country are in pre-trial detention, which has been a hot topic in recent weeks. AMLO has been a vocal proponent of the use of mandatory pre-trial detention, which policy analyst critics fault for the rising numbers of incarcerated people awaiting trial in Mexico.

In August, Supreme Court Justice Luis María Aguilar Morales proposed eliminating mandatory pre-trial detention from the Constitution, in favor of letting individual judges make that decision. But with the Supreme Court poised to vote on the issue, some judges went public with their intention of voting against Aguilar’s idea, so last week he withdrew the proposal.

A day after the announcement about the prisoner release, Rodríguez helped open Friday’s Independence Day military parade in Mexico City by giving a speech at the capital’s zócalo. “Mexico is not destined for war. It is destined for peace,” she exclaimed.

With reports from El Universal, Expansión Politica and Animal Político

Mexico City protesters drape monument with massive banner: ’16 years of impunity’

By

MND Staff

-

September 16, 2022

0

A member of the search collective Hasta Encontrarte unfurls the banner on Mexico City's Estela de Luz monument. Screenshot

A massive banner denouncing impunity and increasing militarization was unfurled on a towering Mexico City monument in the early hours of Friday.

Two female members of a Guanajuato-based collective dedicated to searching for missing persons unrolled the banner from the top of the Estela de Luz (Stele of Light) monument after climbing up the 104-meter high structure, located outside one of the entrances to the Chapultepec Park.

The Hasta Encontrarte collective (Until We Find You) said in a Twitter post that the unfurling of the “monumental” banner was completed at 2:30 a.m.

“Our gratitude to those who outdid themselves for 20 hours to leave a mark of dignity on the #EstelaDeLuz,” the collective said.

The climbers worked throughout the night to scale the more than 100-meter tower and unfurl the banner, as seen in this series of photos. Twitter @HEncontrarte

It noted that its members were on the structure – which is known colloquially as the “monument to corruption”– while President López Obrador was delivering the “Cry of Independence” and before Friday’s military parade.

From top to bottom the banner reads: “16 years of military impunity. No to the military coup. When will we get independence from the army? The military pact is also patriarchal. The National Guard in the National Defense Ministry = more militarization.”

The “16 years of military impunity” references the length of time the armed forces have been carrying out public security tasks in Mexico. Former president Felipe Calderón deployed the military to combat the country’s notorious cartels shortly after he took office in December 2006.

Since then, soldiers and marines have committed or allegedly committed a range of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, while carrying out public security tasks. There have been some arrests, but impunity remains a generalized problem in Mexico.

Most of Mexico’s more than 100,000 missing persons disappeared after Calderón launched the militarized war on drug cartels, a strategy largely perpetuated by former president Enrique Peña Nieto and President López Obrador.

Hasta Encontrarte’s reference to the National Guard recognizes its incorporation into the army, a move criticized by the United Nations and human rights groups such as Amnesty International.

Civil Protection authorities and the Red Cross were unable to suspend the collective’s peaceful protest. Their personnel, according to reports, made their way to the Estela de Luz monument and tried to convince the two Hasta Encontrarte members to come down. However, the women ignored the request and continued with their efforts to unfurl the entirety of the lengthy – and heavy – banner.

Hasta Encontrarte said in another Twitter post that the banner is four meters wide, 100 meters long and weighs 80 kilograms.

Viviana Mendoza, integrante del colectivo @HEncontrarte, del estado de Guanajuato, pide no se mal entienda que se está rescatando a alguien. Explica que quienes escalaron la Estela de Luz están capacitadas para eso.

📸 @lu_fm. pic.twitter.com/m6pKOWgYtY

— adondevanlosdesaparecidos.org (@DesaparecerEnMx) September 16, 2022

Viviana Mendoza speaks to reporters to assure the public that the climbers were trained, safe and did not need or want to be rescued.

Collective member Viviana Mendoza sought to allay safety concerns, telling reporters Thursday night that the two women unfurling the banner “are completely trained to climb to that height.”

“… They have appropriate clothing [for the cold]. We’re in constant communication [with them], … they say they are perfectly fine,” she added.

“… We believe that missing persons and victims of homicide also deserve to be remembered during this Cry of Independence. … Violence isn’t combated with the armed forces, it’s combated with public [policy] improvements and intelligence.”

The unfurling of the banner isn’t the first eye-catching protest carried out by Hasta Encontrarte. It was one of three search collectives that created and “exhumed” mock graves outside the National Palace last December. The aim of that protest was to put the missing persons issue squarely in the sight of President López Obrador and pressure his government to act.

With reports from Aristegui Noticias and Infobae

Chinese investment in manufacturing on the rise in Mexico

By

MND Staff

-

September 16, 2022

0

Nuevo León Governor Samuel García met on Tuesday with executives of the Lingong Machinery Group, which plans to open a boom lift plant in the northern state. Nuevo León state government

Chinese investment in Mexico continues to grow as more and more companies from the world’s most populous nation seek to take advantage of the country’s proximity to the United States and its free trade agreement with its northern neighbor.

Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro announced Monday that Solarever Group, a Chinese solar panel manufacturer, would invest US $1 billion over the next four years in an electric vehicle battery plant in the state, while Nuevo León Governor Samuel García met on Tuesday with executives of the Lingong Machinery Group (LGMG), which is investing $140 million in a boom lift plant in the northern border state.

Not to be outdone, Guanajuato’s Sustainable Economic Development Minister Ramón Alfaro Gómez said Wednesday that a Chinese company, which he didn’t name, was building a plant in León where products for the corporate and housing sectors would be manufactured.

This week’s announcements are indicative of the increased interest in Mexico among Chinese companies that export to the United States, the world’s largest economy. Investment from China (including Hong Kong) reached a record high of almost $500 million last year, according to the Economy Ministry, up from just under $300 million in 2020 and just over $200 million in 2019.

Solarever Group's display at the Mexico City Green Expo 2022 in early September. — Solarever Group’s display at the Mexico City Green Expo 2022 in early September. Facebook / Solarever

The investment from the world’s second largest economy looks set to increase further as an increasing number of Chinese firms relocate to take advantage of tariff-free trade with the U.S. and Mexico’s proximity to their main export market.

“If you want to do good business with America, you must have something close to the market,” Simon Huang, Mexico manager for Chinese furniture company Kuka Home, told the Bloomberg news agency.

That company and and nine other Chinese firms including an auto parts maker and a garden equipment manufacturer have plants in the 850-hectare Hofusan Industrial Park, which opened on the northern outskirts of Monterrey, Nuevo León, in 2016. According to the Hofusan website, the industrial park is “the first Chinese industrial park in North America” and an “investment platform for global clients to explore the North American market.”

A Bloomberg report published this week under the headline “Chinese manufacturers get around U.S. tariffs with some help from Mexico” said that “Hofusan has become a haven for Chinese manufacturers looking to sidestep U.S. tariffs and shorten supply chains that have been strained to a breaking point during the pandemic.”

Hofusan officials say that the number of Chinese companies with operations in the park is expected to increase from 10 to 35 in the space of just two years. César Santos, a real estate lawyer whose family owned the land on which the industrial park was built, told Bloomberg there’s already “more than $1 billion in investments here.”

In his conversation with Bloomberg, Huang explained one of the key benefits of setting up shop in Mexico. Due to the USMCA, the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, a chair made by Kuka Home in Nuevo León can be shipped to the U.S. duty-free whereas one made in China is subject to a 25% tariff, he said.

Bloomberg noted that materials and labor generally cost more in Mexico than China, but “the gap has been shrinking over the years, with wages in China growing at a more rapid clip.”

David Martínez Garza, who’s supervising the construction of a new $80 million furniture factory at the Hofusan park, said that higher operational costs are offset by lower costs for delivery to the U.S., which for obvious reasons is much quicker from Mexico than from China.

ManWah México celebrates the start of construction on their new facility in Nuevo León's Hofusan Industrial Park, in August. — ManWah México celebrates the start of construction on their new facility in Nuevo León’s Hofusan Industrial Park, in August. Facebook / Hofusan Industrial Park

Bloomberg said that the Holley Group, a Hangzhou-based company that is a part owner of the park, is looking for sites to build two or three additional industrial parks in Mexico. Other Chinese companies are doing the same thing.

Nuevo León is one state particularly intent on attracting Chinese investment. State Economy Minister Iván Rivas told Bloomberg that Nuevo León is building two “superhighways” to Mexico’s border with the U.S., including one to serve Hofusan. The state also offers tax incentives to companies that meet certain requirements.

“I can tell you that now between 15% to 20% of investment is from China. Before it wasn’t even 5%,” Rivas said.

Among the benefits of the investment for Mexico is job growth, with Chinese companies hiring locals to fill most positions.

LGMG executives said Tuesday that their plant in the Nuevo León municipality of Marín will employ 1,400 people, while Governor Alfaro said that Solarever’s battery plant in the Jalisco municipality of Zacoalco de Torres will create 3,000 new jobs.

During the meeting with executives of the former company, Rivas said that Mexico’s proximity to the United States “gives us a great competitive advantage,” while Gómez, the Guanajuato economic development minister, said that logistics and the trade pact with the United States and Canada makes Mexico an attractive destination for Chinese investment.

“These are the main reasons why [Chinese companies] are turning to Mexico,” Gómez said, adding that there has been a “significant increase” in Chinese-funded projects in Guanajuato, which is part of the Bajío region, an industrial hub.

With reports from AM, El Economista, El Universal and Bloomberg

Independence Day military parade in CDMX to honor National Guard

By

MND Staff

-

September 16, 2022

0

The National Guard is set to lead Friday’s Independence Day military parade in Mexico City, and will be formally placed under the control of the army at a ceremony in the capital’s central square, or zócalo.

Soldiers, marines and Air Force personnel will also participate, but the parade – scheduled for 11 a.m. Central Time – will be dedicated to the three-year old security force created by the current federal government.

“The parade will be dedicated to the National Guard, but public servants responsible for public security will also participate,” President López Obrador said earlier this week.

The plan for the parade includes more than 7,000 members of the National Guard marching through the streets of Mexico City accompanied by smaller numbers of personnel from the military forces, with over 100 military aircraft will flying overhead. The parade has been held annually since 1935, when Lázaro Cárdenas was president.

A poster advertising the Independence Day military parade. Twitter @SEDENAmx

This year’s edition – which celebrates the 212th anniversary of the start of the Mexican War of Independence – comes a week after the Senate passed a bill authorizing the Ministry of National Defense to take administrative and operational control of the National Guard, which is currently part of the civilian Security Ministry.

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez will officially confer responsibility for the security force to the army during a ceremony in the zócalo.

Among the other officials who will speak are National Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Navy Minister Rafael Ojeda Durán and President López Obrador, who on Thursday night delivered the “Cry of Independence” – El Grito – from the National Palace, wishing long life to Mexico, independence heroes and a long list of ideals including freedom, equality and peace, and death to corruption, classism and racism.

One proud member of the military set to participate in today’s march is Dalia Vanessa Morales Mendoza, a military police officer in the Mexican army who will lead a contingent of 51 women. Although she has been in the army for over 14 years, she has only ever marched in her home town of Querétaro city.

Morales told the newspaper La Jornada that she and other military policewomen trained at an army base in Mexico City for 1 1/2 months to prepare for the parade.

“Before this we didn’t know each other but we lived together for 1 1/2 months, rehearsing several hours a day,” she said early Friday after sleeping just five hours.

“Today we’ll march together,” she told her comrades as they prepared to leave their barracks. “It’s a special day for all of us. We’re going to demonstrate our training, discipline and morale, and the spirit of our group.”

With reports from Expansión, AS and La Jornada