Illegal used car amnesty signed; up to 500,000 such cars in Baja California alone

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October 18, 2021

The chocolate cars decree was signed Saturday in Ensenada.

President López Obrador signed a decree on Saturday to regularize used cars that were imported into Mexico illegally.

Announced by the president last week, the regularization program will initially be limited to the six northern border states and Baja California Sur but is slated to extend to all 32 states.

Registering an auto chocolate (chocolate car), as an illegally imported vehicle is colloquially known, will cost approximately 2,500 pesos (about US $120), López Obrador said after signing the amnesty agreement in Ensenada, Baja California.

There are an estimated 500,000 autos chocolate in Baja California alone, and millions across the country. The vast majority come into Mexico from the United States.

“We took the decision to regularize cars that don’t have papers, now they will be registered,” López Obrador said.

“Those who have these cars are going to make a contribution of about 2,500 pesos. … This money will stay in Baja California and will be used to fill potholes and improve the roads. If the 500,000 vehicles are regularized, there will be about 1.3 billion pesos [US $63.7 million] for the six municipalities,” he said.

Similarly, income derived from the regularization of autos chocolate in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Baja California Sur will be used to repair and upgrade roads in those states. Federal lawmakers are set to vote Monday on an initiative that seeks to ensure that money collected via the regularization program in the northern border region stays there.

Speaking alongside López Obrador in Ensenada, Security Minister Rosa Icela said the decision to allow the regularization of autos chocolate was taken because such vehicles are frequently used by criminal groups.

She said 370 vehicles used in homicides were seized by Baja California authorities between November 1, 2019 and August 30, 2020, and 78% of them had been illegally imported into Mexico.

“Hence the importance of advancing with regularization so that these vehicles are no longer anonymous and investigations can be carried out to find those responsible for violence,” Rodríguez said.

“That’s why the president … took the decision to regularize these vehicles that move about the whole border area and until today are irregular,” she said.

The security minister said that regularization will only be available to the owners of cars that are already in Mexico, although it was unclear how that rule would be enforced.

The Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA) said last week that allowing the regularization of autos chocolate will only exacerbate the illegal importation problem.

Legalization “will represent a prize for the mafias that get rich with the smuggling of these kinds of vehicles,” AMDA said in a statement, adding that regularization will hurt sales in the formal automotive sector.

With reports from El Universal and Milenio

On Day of the Dead, sugar-based folk art such as the popular sugar skulls survives and thrives

By

Leigh Thelmadatter

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October 16, 2021

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sugar skulls in Mexico state — Classic alfeñique sugar skulls for sale at a market. Edomex Informa

It is almost a given to say that Mexicans can be creative with just about anything, even with something as common today as sugar.

So how did it get intimately connected to Day of the Dead?

In October, traditional and temporary markets (tianguis) overflow with paraphernalia for this holiday, and sugar skulls are prominent, along with Mexican marigolds (cempasúchil), papel picado (colorful decorative paper cutouts), pan de muerto (bread of the dead), incense burners, skeletons in all kinds of materials, candles and more.

This use of sugar is far more about art and ceremony than it is about something to eat.

The figures are like Day of the Dead itself, a syncretism of indigenous and European traditions and beliefs. Physically, their origin is with the creation of molded offerings made with amaranth seed, agave syrup and human blood by ancient indigenous peoples.

Sugar paste skeletal monks in Mexico — Alfeñique skeletal monks. Tomás Castelazo

Spanish evangelists co-opted this idea a bit, equating them with Catholic rituals — e.g. the use of the ceremonial host and wine, which represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ — but then forbade the consumption of amaranth and human blood. What was left was the sweet part. Agave was replaced by cane sugar after the Spanish introduced this crop.

The making of skulls and other forms for Day of the Dead is not part of any official Catholic rite but rather “folk religion,” semi-sacred observations that coincide with many of the dates on the Catholic calendar.

Both Mesoamerican and European cultures had ritualistic observations related to the dead around the same time — the end of October and early November. This is because the end of the growing season occurs roughly at the same time: in Europe, it’s due to the onset of cold weather, and in Mexico because of the end of the rainy season.

In both cases, the “death” of the fields, and the bounty they provide, became associated with ancestor veneration — both literally and as a homage to the past. Day of the Dead, Halloween (in its original form) and All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day are all holidays that serve as reminders that everything living eventually dies.

Fruits of the harvest are prominent on Day of the Dead altars, along with photographs of those being remembered and other decorations. Sugar cane is part of the harvest, but it also serves as a preservative, so candied fruits, as well as squash and sweet potatoes in syrup, are also traditional. Sugar was relatively expensive in the colonial period, so using it to make skulls and other figures acted as a kind of offering.

By far, the most popular sugar figures are highly decorated skulls, generally with a space on the forehead for adding a name when the skull is bought.

Sugar paste Day of the Dead altars — Miniature altars with elements made of *alfeñique* sugar paste. Alejandro Linares García

That name can be of someone living or dead. If the name is of the dead, the homage is obvious, but why put the name of someone who is alive?

It certainly is not to wish another person dead.

The conceptual line between life and death in Mexico is thinner than in Anglo cultures. If the recipient is a child, gifting of a sugar skull serves as a lesson that death is part of life. They are more often given as tokens of affection among coworkers and adult family members.

There is also no rule against buying one and putting your own name on it.

If you have tried eating a sugar skull, or anything else made with the paste, you were probably disappointed that it did not taste like rock candy. (I know I was.)

The sugar paste is called alfeñique, which can translate as “sweets,” and rather than being pure sugar, it is powdered sugar mixed with egg white and — depending on where you are in Mexico — possibly Porophyllum ruderale, a native plant with glue-like properties. These additions allow for a paste that can be molded by hand, something not possible if mixing sugar only with water.

alfeñique figures at Toluca Museo de Alfeñique — Life-sized *alfeñique* figures at the Museo de Alfeñique in Toluca, México state. Museo de Alfeñique

Alfeñique artisans all have their own recipes, and the best concoctions result in something that has properties not unlike clay, allowing for figures that it’s hard to believe are made from sugar.

Alfeñique skulls and figures can be made completely by hand, but the use of molds for the basic shape is very common. Painting and the addition of raised decorative elements are typically done manually.

After skulls, the most common sugar figures made are skeletons, many of which are sculpted to show them doing activities of the living in a comical way. Other figures include angels, devils, domestic and wild animals, the Virgin of Guadalupe, crosses, tombs and even miniature representations of common Day of the Dead altar offerings.

The artisans can be found all over Mexico, especially in the center and down into Oaxaca and Chiapas. However, the small industrial city of Toluca in México state has developed a nationwide reputation for preserving this craft in a myriad of forms.

Toluca is home to the annual Fería de Alfeñique and a museum dedicated to the craft. Organizers have confirmed that it will be taking place this year, from October 15 to November 2.

There are various events, but most come to see the myriad of stalls that occupy the walkway around the Portales de Toluca, a complex of buildings behind the city’s cathedral that hosts shops and restaurants.

Chocolate candy skulls in Mexico City — Chocolate candy skulls at a tianguis in Mexico City’s Coyoacán borough. Cristina Zapata Pérez

Here you will see a wide variety of alfeñique in traditional and innovative forms, as well as just about anything you might need for your altar. They also have skulls made from other edibles such as amaranth seed (no blood, sorry), chocolate and tamarind paste.

For alfeñiqueros (alfeñique artisans), the month of October is absolutely critical for the survival of their craft. There is no other holiday or event for which the sugar paste is used.

Even with good sales, it is not easy. Many of the stalls in Toluca and other markets now also sell masks and other stuff related to Halloween, much to the chagrin of traditionalists.

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.

Understanding canela, or Mexican cinnamon

By

Janet Blaser

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October 16, 2021

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Mexican cinnamon's subtle heat and warm flavor add complexity and richness to a variety of dishes.

If you’ve noticed that the cinnamon here in Mexico tastes different than what you’re used to in Canada or the United States, you would be correct. Canela (Mexican or Ceylon cinnamon) is not the same variety as cassia cinnamon — what’s commonly sold and used in those other countries.

Both come from the inner bark of several varieties of tropical bushes and trees native to Southeast Asia. Cinnamomum verum, what’s sold in Mexico, is often thought of as “true” cinnamon because of its distinct flavor profile and ability to enhance rather than overpower a dish.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the difference in taste; canela is milder and more floral, not as brash or as spicy, and with a more complex flavor that makes it better suited for savory dishes. In Mexican cuisine, it plays a part in moles, marinades and bean dishes, its subtle heat and warm flavor adding complexity and richness. And, of course, it’s used widely in sweets: horchata, rice pudding, dulce de leche and Mexican hot chocolate.

You can find canela as whole sticks (known as quills) or ground into a powder. Mexican cinnamon quills are thin, delicate and quite fragile; the bark curls around itself and crumbles easily. It’s very difficult to grind it yourself, so I’d suggest you choose the form most suited to the recipe.

I’ve selected some unusual recipes here that use cinnamon; you can easily find more common ones online.

Cinnamon Tamarind Margarita

For the serving glass rim:

1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. cayenne
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

For the cocktail:

¾ oz. tamarind concentrate
2 oz. blanco or reposado tequila
1¼ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
½ oz. simple syrup
½ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ oz. Cointreau
Ice
Garnish: cinnamon stick, lime wedges

Preparing the rim: Mix sugar, salt, cayenne and cinnamon in a small bowl; pour onto a saucer. Pour lime juice onto second saucer. Turn serving glass (martini glass or old-fashioned) in lime juice to wet the outer rim; spin glass in cayenne mixture, rotating slowly to coat.

Making the cocktail: Add tamarind concentrate, tequila, lime and lemon juice, simple syrup and Cointreau to a cocktail mixer. Fill with ice; shake well. Strain into serving glass. Garnish with the cinnamon stick and lime wedges. —seriouseats.com

Spicy Chicken Kabobs

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. ground cumin
⅛ tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. crushed red pepper
Zest from 1 lemon OR 3 small limes
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
1½ tsp. salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
8-12 skewers (metal or wooden)

In medium bowl, mix everything except the chicken. Cut chicken into small kabob-sized chunks; add to marinade and stir gently until fully coated.

Transfer to refrigerator; marinate at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, thread chicken onto skewers. Grill on a barbecue or in the oven under broiler on high until golden brown and cooked through, 6–8 minutes, turning once. Serve atop rice.

Coffee-Cinnamon Horchata

⅓ cup long-grain rice, white or brown
⅔ cup raw almonds
2 Tbs. whole dark-roast coffee beans (or whatever you have on hand, really)
One 2-inch cinnamon stick, broken in half
3 cups hot water (not boiling)
1 cup cold water
4 Tbs. honey or agave syrup

Add almonds, rice, coffee beans, cinnamon stick and hot water to a blender. Process on high for 1 minute. (Make sure lid is on tightly!)

Pour into a jar or other covered container; let soak overnight at room temperature.

The next day, put the blended liquid back into the blender; add the cold water. Process on high for 2 minutes.

Over a big bowl, strain the re-blended liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, lined with cheesecloth if you have it. Whisk agave or honey into the horchata. Serve over ice.

Store remaining horchata in fridge for up to a week. Shake before serving again.

Cinnamon Rice

1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
¾ tsp. cumin seeds
One 3-inch cinnamon stick (whole)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1½ cups long-grain white rice
2¼ cups chicken broth
¾ tsp. sugar
¾ tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt

Cook onion, garlic, cumin seeds and cinnamon stick in oil in a medium-sized saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, until grains are slightly translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, sugar, pepper and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender and liquid absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork, and discard cinnamon stick if desired.

Sweet Potato Veggie Hash

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cups peeled, diced sweet potato
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. salt, divided
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
5 garlic cloves, minced
1¼ cups water, divided
1 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Tbsp. canned adobo sauce
1 (15.5-oz.) can unsalted black beans, rinsed and drained

For garnish:

¼ cup unsalted pepitas
1 plum tomato, diced
½ cup minced fresh cilantro or parsley
½ cup queso fresco, crumbled

To make the hash: heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil, sweet potato, oregano and ½ tsp. salt; cook 3 minutes, stirring. Add cumin, cinnamon, red pepper and garlic, then ½ cup water. Cover, reduce heat, cook 5 minutes.

Uncover; stir and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.

To make the bean mixture: Bring remaining ¾ cup water to a boil in a saucepan. Add remaining ½ tsp. salt and green beans; cook 4 minutes. Stir in adobo sauce and black beans.

Serve hash topped with the bean mixture and garnish items.

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

USA, yachts, Oxxo in knots: the week at the morning press conferences

By

MND Staff

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October 16, 2021

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On Monday, the president justified his proposed Federal Electricity Commission reforms.

An apology owed: last week there was no article on President López Obrador’s morning press conferences. Unfortunately, the writer found himself behind bars in a migrant detention center after being caught unawares without his passport.

No doubt everyone’s favorite elder statesman was up to old tricks, and perhaps a few new ones in those conferences. Mischief is a staple of AMLO’s diet, as this week again went to prove.

Monday

A vibrant AMLO put energy at center stage on Monday. As the president justified the proposed reforms of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), he recalled some familiar foes. “Do you remember that Iberdrola here in Mexico hired the minister of energy and former president Calderón? Well in Spain … they just hired a high-level leader of the PSOE, the socialist workers’ party of Spain … a politician. What does he know about the electrical industry? Nothing,” he said.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard read a letter sent by U.S. President Biden, which offered glimmers of hope for cooperation on Central America: “The United States has provided more than US $600 million in international assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. I have also asked the United States Congress for an additional $861 million in my fiscal year 2022 budget for Central America.”

More big figures, and perhaps a hint of jealousy, entered the conference. This time it was journalists’ salaries in question. “They earn about 20 times more than me … one earns … the newspaper said, we will have to see if it is true, US $650,000,” the president said.

Tuesday

Health wizard Hugo López-Gatell spun into action on Tuesday. COVID-19 cases had been falling for 10 consecutive weeks, he said, and had dropped 30% over the last seven day count. Only a quarter of hospital beds for COVID patients were occupied, he added.

Truancy rates were falling, Education Minister Delfina Gómez Álvarez confirmed. More than 16 million students had returned to class, she said, leaving about 9 million chairs still empty.

Is Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum really the president’s favored pick for his successor? AMLO refused to be drawn in, and said surveys could be used to help select the candidate.

Money talks, the president said, but yachts talk even louder. “[Yachts] have stabilizers, it can be in rough seas … and the passengers can drink a toast, and not a drop of champagne falls … Do you know what a 120, 150-million-dollar yacht is? It is a spectacular thing and at the same time an offensive one. It is an offensive display.”

Health subsecretary Hugo López-Gatell gave an update at Tuesday's conference. — Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell gave an update at Tuesday’s conference.

Wednesday

“Good news,” the president announced: the land border to the United States would reopen in early November to the fully vaccinated. However, the Russian vaccine Sputnik and the Chinese vaccine CanSino, both distributed widely in Mexico, won’t be recognized by the U.S., as they are not on the World Health Organization’s approved list.

AMLO returned to the topic late in the conference: “We’re going to ask the World Health Organization to finish with the certification [of Sputnik and CanSino] … it needs to hurry up,” he said.

Oracle in disguise Ana Elizabeth García Vilchis took her usual place. An analysis of news related to the reform of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) had revealed media bias, she said. Of the articles, 41% were negative and only 3.5% were positive; the rest were classified as “informative.” Convenience store Oxxo bore the brunt of a García onslaught: ” … how much does a Mexican family pay for electricity on average? … 5.2 pesos per kilowatt, Oxxo pays 1.8 per kilowatt,” she said. The store had been a target for AMLO on Monday.

The CFE, García assured, would not be removing solar panels from homes and businesses.

A new petrochemical plant was planned for Poza Rica; could the mayor, former baseball player Fernando “The Octupus” Remes, be trusted?

“He knows very well that you have to steal the bases, but not the budget,” the president quipped.

Thursday

AMLO’s sworn enemy, the newspaper Reforma, was back in his sights on Thursday. An article suggested a worker at the Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco had died in a recent flare-up; AMLO accused the newspaper of wishing it so: “They were already talking about a dead person … they are very eager for there to be tragedy, for us to do badly. These are times of vultures,” he said.

He appended presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón to the naughty list for their Twitter comments.

Later in the conference, AMLO directed his attention to the sporting arena, and a Sinaloa born baseball star. “I’m going to keep an eye on today’s game, which is very important, Dodgers-Giants. And I wish Julio Urías the best, because he deserves to do well … he comes from a humble background, he was brought up very well by his father, who was the one who trained him, and he is a good, noble person.”

(Urías was suspended for 20 games by Major League Baseball in 2019 for violating its domestic violence policy after an incident in Los Angeles in which he shoved a woman to the ground during an argument).

It was back to the land of the free shortly after. The president quoted U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who had derided European explorers like Christopher Columbus: “Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations — perpetrating violence, stealing land, and spreading disease …We must not shy away from this shameful past, and we must shed light on it.”

On Thursday, AMLO called out former presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón for their Twitter shenanigans. — On Thursday, AMLO called out former presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón for their Twitter posts.

Friday

AMLO advertised his weekend plans: California awaited. Baja California to be precise, and the president had to keep the conference short if he was going to make his flight.

The trip would see a tour of six municipalities before the Tabascan finds his way to the opposite end of the country on Monday, near the Guatemalan border at Balancán, Tabasco, where he will be joined by the U.S. presidential climate envoy John Kerry.

A journalist probed on the CFE reforms, in which any lithium discoveries are to be protected as a state asset. AMLO explained its importance: “The reform contemplates that lithium, which is a strategic mineral, is owned by the nation, that contracts or concessions cannot be delivered to individuals and much less to foreigners … future development depends on that, maybe we ourselves will never see it, but it is for the coming generations, for our children and for those who come after,” he said.

Abruptly, time was up, as the president feared making himself a nuisance. “I have to go … If not, I won’t make it … I’m not going to delay a commercial plane. I have to get to the plane on time,” he said before rushing away to attend to the nation.

Mexico News Daily

As the pandemic drags on, even the most privileged children are suffering

By

Sarah DeVries

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October 16, 2021

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A park in Morelos, closed with caution tape during the pandemic. — A children's park in Morelos, closed with caution tape during the pandemic.

Since the pandemic started, quite a lot of my time, energy and money have been spent on finding ways to entertain my daughter.

In the early days, back when we thought we’d be at home for a couple of weeks, a month tops (remember those days?) — something similar to the precautions we took during the swine flu scare (remember those days?) – we did a lot of painting to pass the time.

She and I had just moved, so we turned the box from the new oven into an elaborately decorated playhouse for her and started on several mural projects in our backyard that I was much more enthusiastic about than she was.

We spent a lot of time trying to make our days special for just the two of us: we’d eat outside, plucking blackberries from the bushes. We instituted “Pancake Saturdays” and “movie parties,” which really is just an exciting name for watching a movie on the couch while eating popcorn.

I bought her some roller skates so that we could have some fun skating around some nearby trails, and we would spend anywhere from two to four hours outside most days just doing that.

I bought what seemed an endless supply of toys: bubbles, Play-Doh, puzzles, Hula-Hoops, balls, Legos. We have Netflix and Amazon. She has a tablet, books, a playroom and, if we’re being honest, as much unlimited screen time as I imagine most kids have these days.

And yet, nothing has beat human contact. Though I know she is among the most privileged children in the country right now, I mourn on her behalf the time she’s not been able to spend time with kids her age.

Though school has officially begun “in-person,” currently about half of all students in Mexico are either not enrolled or simply not attending because their parents are nervous about them contracting the virus or simply used to having some more helping hands at home.

My daughter has yet to attend in-person classes. The short version of why is that I would like her to — since her mostly outside, small-groups school is about as safe as any educational institution could possibly be — but her father is still a bit panicky about sending her.

But regardless of the permissions we may or may not have at any point for school attendance, the time for my daughter and me to be cooped up in our own house is over — neither of us can stand it anymore.

Lately, she’s not into skating or taking walks. What she wants are parks (and by parks, I mean playgrounds).

Parks are places where she might possibly run into other kids, which is her biggest hope. Parks are places where neither I nor any screen is responsible for entertaining her. She can be free and creative, and she can explore and be creative with her strong little body.

This, however, is not a pleasure I can easily give her, at least not for free. Here in Xalapa, many of the centrally located and popular playgrounds remain as closed now as they were at the beginning of the pandemic.

While not all parks here have fences around them, several close-by ones do, and even a few open-air ones have caution tape around them.

Playgrounds and video arcades like PlayTime at the mall, as well as playgrounds at restaurants, however, are open for business, meaning that children are only able to entertain themselves on playgrounds if their parents can pay for the privilege.

This, my friends, is not cool at all. Places for people with money are open. Places for people without money are not open … and that’s basically the way it’s been around here, at least in my city.

Pandemic or not, kids need to play and be outside, and they need interaction with other kids. The refusal to open places for them to do that without cost is, in my opinion, a violation of their rights, especially given what we now know about how comparatively safe being outside is.

My heart breaks for all the special things about my daughter’s childhood that she’s missing because we’re still in this damned pandemic. And my daughter has more privileges than so many kids around her.

What are the kids who don’t have even half of what she does doing during all this? It’s almost as if they’ve disappeared. They’re not gathering around schools. They’re not in the parks. A few of them can be seen at pay-to-play places.

So, where are they? This, my friends, is something that should worry us.

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

COVID roundup: Mexico City among 20 green states on risk map

By

MND Staff

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October 15, 2021

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The new coronavirus map takes effect on Monday.

Green once again dominates the federal government stoplight map. There are 20 states in the green, up from just nine two weeks ago. The new map has 11 yellow states, one orange and none in the red, and reflects the gradual recovery from the devastating third wave of COVID-19.

Mexico City and México state will switch to low risk green on the new map. The neighboring states, which rank first and second for coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths, will remain green until at least October 31. Both are medium risk yellow on the map currently in force.

Mexico City official Eduardo Clark said that case numbers and hospitalizations had decreased in the capital, although there are still more than 6,000 estimated active cases. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the greater Mexico City area declined to 1,450 from 1,705 a week ago, Clark said.

He said that bars, cantinas, nightclubs and other entertainment venues will be permitted to operate at 50% capacity until 1:00 a.m. starting Monday. There will be no limits on attendance at outdoor events.

Mexico City has been the country’s coronavirus epicenter since the start of the pandemic, and despite the imminent switch to green, still has more active cases than any other state in the country. However, the capital also has the nation’s highest vaccination rate, with more than 90% of adults inoculated against COVID-19.

Neighboring México state will also go green on Monday, Governor Alfredo del Mazo said. “In México state we’re making progress, … this has been possible thanks to the efforts of everyone,” he said in a video message.

The governor said that all economic and social activities that have not yet been permitted to resume will be able to do so starting Monday, albeit with restrictions. He noted that more than 80% of adult residents of the state are vaccinated with at least one shot, adding that all people aged 18 and over will have had the opportunity to get vaccinated by the end of the month.

The only orange state is Baja California. The yellow states are Chihuahua, Coahuila, Jalisco, Colima, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Morelos, Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatán.

In other COVID-19 news:

• The Health Ministry reported 5,825 new cases and 381 additional COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, lifting Mexico’s accumulated tallies to 3.74 million and 283,574, respectively. There are 40,835 estimated active cases across Mexico.

One in four cases recorded during the pandemic was detected in Mexico City and almost one in five deaths occurred there.

• Almost 67.7 million Mexican adults are vaccinated with at least one shot, according to the most recent Health Ministry data. Of that number, about three-quarters are fully vaccinated.

Mexico’s single-dose vaccination rate among adults is about 75% but just 53% if minors are counted.

• The federal government will wait until the first quarter of next year to consider the possibility of offering booster shots to adults, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said.

“It’s possible but we don’t yet know the dynamic of the virus … in order to know when to reinforce [protection] or for which patients or individuals it’s recommended,” he said in an interview.

• Face masks became an instrument of “egotistical” people during the pandemic, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said during an appearance this week at an event at the International Book Fair in Mexico City.

“The idea of face masks became an instrument in which egotistical people, egotistical social groups, tried to blame others: ‘Put your face mask on because you are going to contaminate me and my little universe,’” he said.

“… In technical terms, we would have gotten better results if we had thought of face masks as a means of social connection, to protect one another.”

López-Gatell, the federal government’s coronavirus point man, was a less than forceful advocate for face masks at the beginning of the pandemic, casting doubt on their capacity to stop the spread of the virus.

With reports from Expansión Política, Milenio, AP, Reforma and El Universal

Meet 2 of rural Mexico’s insects: creepy to some, dangerous to no one

By

John Pint

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October 15, 2021

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The harmless vinagrillo (vinegaroon) is found all over Mexico. The name comes from its defense mechanism: spraying a vinegar-like substance at predators.

If you live in rural Mexico or occasionally pass the night in a rustic cabin or campsite, you are bound to run into creeping creatures that you may never have seen back where you grew up.

Because, in a moment of panic, we might feel an impulse to squish that unfamiliar bug, I’d like to present here just a few creepers that may not be exactly glamorous (except to a biologist or an unspoiled baby) but present no danger to human beings and should be left to go on their way, or perhaps be given a little assistance in getting out of your house.

I’m a member of a rural community that has recently come closer together thanks to a WhatsApp chat group.

In the past, a neighbor of mine who found a bizarre-looking creature in his or her bed might have dispatched it without hesitation, but today he or she will first snap a picture of the invader and post it on the chat a few seconds later, usually adding, “OMG, look what I found hiding under my pillow!”

Within seconds, my naturalist friend Rodrigo Orozco will reply from wherever he may be, urging the sender to keep calm and explaining whether the intruder is harmful or harmless and what steps to take next.

Vinegaroons

Perhaps the most common Is this dangerous? image I see on our chat is a picture of a vinegaroon, known in Mexico as a vinagrillo and graced by scientists with the intimidating name of Mastigoproctus giganteus giganteus.

This creature, which may be black, gray or brown, could measure up to 15 centimeters (six inches) in length, including all its parts, with a pair of claws that look like they belong on a lobster. Its tail might just bring the words “dangerous stinger” to the lips of the beholder.

Don’t be fooled! Those fearsome claws are meant only to catch little bugs, and the vinegaroon is such a naive creature that it will probably never even think of misusing its claws to pinch someone like you.

As for that needle-like tail, it’s actually a flexible organ of touch used for investigative purposes and not a stinger at all. However, it definitely grabs the viewer’s eye, for which reason the vinegaroon is also called the whip scorpion in English.

Scorpion, it is not, but the tail does resemble a whip antenna.

vinagrillo compared with emperor scorpion — At first glance, they may look the same, but the tail of the vinagrillo, top, is just a feeler, while the tail of the emperor scorpion, bottom, ends in a stinger.

With all that said, I must admit that the vinegaroon does possess its own special weapon and will not hesitate to use it if you mistreat the little guy in the slightest way.

Tickle a vinegarroon and it will retaliate by spraying you with something that smells just like vinegar.

This is a harmless mix of acetic plus caprylic acid and will not hurt you, but when sprayed into the eyes of a cat or dog, will definitely surprise the potential predator and send it running.

This trick has a certain useful effect on human beings too since the first thing you will do with the smelly vinegaroon is put it outside the house — which is exactly what it wants!

I once had a friend who kept a vinegaroon as a pet and would play with it when he was bored. Vinegaroons, in fact, are well-known to make good pets and will stop spraying the vinegar once they get to know you.

Best of all, they will keep your home free from scorpions and cockroaches. So, instead of chucking them out, maybe you’d like to invite a few in!

Aphonopelma tarantula discovered in a living room. Harmless to humans, they eat crickets, cockroaches and beetles.

Tarantulas

Mexico is home to 92 species of tarantula. So, if you live in rural Mexico, it would not be the least bit unusual for you to eventually discover one of these large hairy arachnids creeping about under your coffee table.

Please don’t step on it because not one of Mexico’s tarantulas is dangerous to human beings, despite the never-ending avalanche of popular movies portraying them as deadly.

Fortunately, the Tarántulas de México Wildlife Management Unit (UMA) happens to be located in my community (Pinar de La Venta, just outside Guadalajara). Thus, many people on our local WhatsApp chat have had the privilege of holding a large tarantula in their hand and finding out for themselves that they are ever-so gentle and in no way harmful or dangerous.

People all around the world who want a tarantula as a pet inevitably seek out Mexican redknees (Brachypelma smithi), which are renowned for their gentleness as well as their beauty.

If you do discover a tarantula in your living room, it will most certainly be a male, as it is their mission to wander about looking for females — who habitually stay put inside their burrows.

To help that male get back outside where it can continue its romantic quest, place a capture jar or bowl over it and very gently slide a stiff piece of cardboard underneath.

Mexican Redknee tarantula — The Mexican redknee tarantula is famed for its beauty and docility.

Are you worried that the tarantula might jump on you as you are attempting to capture him?

Relax. Mexican tarantulas don’t jump upward, only forward, and for a grand distance of about three centimeters, or one inch! Tarantulas are not given to leaping because they are both heavy and delicate, so delicate that Rodrigo the tarantula expert reckons that a fall of only 30 centimeters — a foot — could be fatal to this gentle giant.

Remember this when you are carrying the creature outside and letting it go!

Just like the vinegaroon, the tarantula does possess its own unique defense weapon. Instead of spraying vinegar, the provoked tarantula turns around and, using its back legs, flicks a cloud of short, nearly invisible, urticating hairs right into the nose of, say, a curious tlacuache (possum) or mapache (raccoon) that was contemplating a quick meal.

While these urticating hairs will send the possum running, they won’t cause much of a problem to a human being. In fact, for many years the famous “itching powder” sold at novelty shops was made of tarantula hairs.

If there is a reason to be concerned about tarantulas, it is not because they pose a threat but because they are themselves threatened.

Many years ago, Rodrigo realized that some species of Mexican tarantulas were in danger of going extinct because poachers would allow hundreds of them to die in a clumsy effort to sell a dozen or so to traffickers, who would then supply them to customers in the United States.

He reckoned that the only way to stop this process was to flood the black market with Mexican tarantulas raised in captivity. Nearly 20 years later, Tarántulas de México is carrying out this mission, and the black market in illegal Mexican tarantulas is practically out of business.

So, if a vinegaroon or a tarantula should stop by for a visit, recognize them for the innocent creatures they are and treat them kindly!

More creepy but harmless creatures coming up next time: the millipede, the amblypygid and the ever-so-scary cara de niño (Jerusalem cricket).

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for 31 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.

A Magnacarina primaverensis tarantula explores the surface of a camping knife. This tarantula is native to Guadalajara’s Primavera Forest.

Mexico City initiates marigold tour route in time for Day of the Dead

By

MND Staff

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October 15, 2021

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Mexico City residents looking to buy marigolds to decorate their Day of the Dead altars will find plenty on offer on the capital’s south side.

For a second consecutive year, cempasúchil (Mexican marigold) producers will sell their flowers along the “Agro-touristic Flowers of Mictlán Route” in the borough of Xochimilco. Mictlán is the name of the underworld in Aztec, or Mexica, mythology.

Along this year’s route, which runs through the chinampas (floating gardens) of San Luis Tlaxialtemalco, the town of San Greogorio Atlapulco and the San Juan Acuexcomatl Plants and Flowers Market, a grand total of 231 producers will be selling some 2.8 million marigolds, which are said to lure souls back from the dead with their bright color and powerful perfume.

Inaugurated on Thursday at a ceremony attended by Mexico City officials and marigold growers, the route will remain open daily through November 2. Anyone interested in following the route can do so on bicycle or foot between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Environment Minister Marina Robles García said the sale of 2.8 million marigolds in Xochimilco will inject some 100 million pesos (US $4.9 million) into the local economy. She described the marigold route as “extremely important” for the area.

Columba López Gutiérrez, general director of the Natural Resources and Rural Development Commission, said that Xochimilco marigold producers not only sell locally but also send flowers to 20 states across the country. She noted that production and sales have increased significantly in recent years, generating additional jobs.

López highlighted the support the Mexico City government has provided to growers via the Altepetl program, which seeks to conserve agricultural land and boost production in a sustainable way.

“The economic, social and environmental impact the Altepetl program has had is quite big and we can now reap results, not just with the cempasúchil,” she said.

With reports from Milenio

AMLO to discuss tree-planting program with with Biden climate advisor

By

MND Staff

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October 15, 2021

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President López Obrador visits a Sembrando Vida project nursery. — President López Obrador visits a Sembrando Vida project nursery in Balancán, Tabasco. Official website of Andrés Manuel López Obrador

The United States government’s top climate official will accompany President López Obrador on a trip to Tabasco next week to learn about the federal government’s tree-planting employment program.

López Obrador said Friday he will travel to the municipality of Balancán on Monday with John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate.

“On Monday we’re going on a tour of the border of our country with Guatemala. We’re going to the municipality of Balancán, near Guatemala, and John Kerry, the presidential envoy of President Biden is coming,” he told reporters at his regular news conference.

“He’s coming [to discuss] climate change matters and to see the Sembrando Vida [Sowing Life] program,” the president said.

The United States government agreed last month to collaborate with Mexico on Sembrando Vida and the Youths Building the Future apprenticeship scheme in the southern region of the country and in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

López Obrador asserts that the former program, which pays participants 5,000 pesos (US $245) to plant fruit and timber-yielding trees, is not only beneficial to the environment but also helps to stem migration to the United States.

He has described the program as the most important reforestation initiative in the world, but it has been plagued by lack of planning and operational problems, according to some observers.

Mexico asked the United States to commit US $108.4 million a month for the implementation of Sembrando Vida and Youths Building the Future in Central America but the U.S. hasn’t publicly pledged to do so.

With reports from Milenio

How Latin America became tech’s next big frontier

By

Michael Stott

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October 15, 2021

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Rappi, founded in Colombia, aims to become the 'superapp”' of Latin America. — Rappi, founded in Colombia, aims to become the 'superapp' of Latin America.

Buying a used car, renting an apartment or opening a bank account: all recurring nightmares in Latin America, because of reams of paperwork, lethargic bureaucracy and legal pitfalls.

Start-ups created to tackle problems like these are propelling the region to the forefront of the emerging market tech boom. Last year US $4.1 billion of venture capital investment flowed into Latin America, exceeding southeast Asia’s $3.3 billion and beating Africa, the Middle East and central and eastern Europe combined, according to the Global Private Capital Association.

In the first half of this year, Latin America pulled in $6.5 billion of venture capital, not far short of India’s $8.3 billion.

“We started in this industry in 1999 when there was hardly any internet, almost all the connections were dial-up and internet penetration was 3%,” said Hernán Kazah, co-founder of Kaszek Ventures, Latin America’s largest early-stage fund with more than $2 billion of capital raised to date. “Today, Latin America finally has critical mass in almost every market.”

Nubank exemplifies the new breed of Latin American start-up. Co-founded in 2013 by Colombian entrepreneur David Vélez after it took him six months to open a bank account when he moved to São Paulo, it has grown exponentially and now has more customers than any other standalone digital bank in the world.

A forthcoming IPO could value the Brazilian fintech at more than $50 billion, according to recent reports. That compares with the $79 billion value of Mercado Libre, the region’s answer to Amazon and Latin America’s most valuable company, founded in 1999 in a first wave of tech activity.

The latest crop of Latin American start-ups has attracted the attention of some of the tech world’s deepest-pocketed investors. Marcelo Claure, the Bolivia-born chief operating officer of SoftBank, announced last month a second dedicated Latin America tech fund, committing $3 billion on top of $5 billion allocated to the first fund in 2019.

“We’ve been incredibly surprised by the quality and quantity of great companies that were capital starved, so we started making investments,” Claure told the Financial Times. “There is so much room to improve people’s lives in LatAm, because all systems are inefficient and plagued by bureaucracy . . . huge opportunities for tech to disrupt.”

Mexico’s first unicorn, Kavak, is one such disrupter. Valued at $8.7 billion in a funding round last month, the company aims to improve the often hazardous experience of buying a used car. It offers buyers a mechanical check, a three-month guarantee, rapid online credit and home delivery.

Brazil-based Quinto Andar is simplifying the challenge of renting an apartment by cutting out brokers and offering its own insurance to vetted tenants, eliminating the need for huge deposits, guarantors or costly insurance.

Chilean start-up NotCo has deployed innovative AI to develop unusual combinations of plants to mimic the taste and texture of milk, mayonnaise, ice cream and meat. Valued at $1.5 billion in a funding round in July, NotCo has now expanded into the U.S. and Canada.

Kavak, Quinto Andar and Nubank highlight how Latin America’s most successful start-ups are dedicated to tackling the problems of the region.

“This story of bringing over Silicon Valley and trying to tropicalize it didn’t work,” said Ivonne Cuello, former chief executive of the region’s private capital association LAVCA. “The role models which started to be successful were the ones which said: ‘There are structural problems in the region which can be solved by new enterprises . . . designed exclusively for the needs of the region’.”

Kaszek’s Kazah said that Latin America’s innovators were now inspiring envy. “You see companies outside the region saying ‘I want to be the Nubank of Germany.’ That did not used to happen.”

Financial services have dominated Latin America’s start-up scene, with about 40% of the private funding to last year going to fintechs, according to LAVCA data.

Before the pandemic, more than half of the region’s citizens did not use a bank. In just a few months from May to September last year, 40 million people opened a bank account, according to research from Mastercard.

Fintech start-ups such as Nubank and Argentina’s Ualá played a key role in facilitating the expansion. In Brazil, the central bank has launched Pix, a fast money transfer system over mobile phones which has 110 million registered users.

“You have some of the world’s most profitable banks sitting in Brazil and Mexico so it’s an obvious first hit,” said SoftBank’s Claure. “These banks are highly inefficient, lots of branches, long queues and all that . . . so we started with fintech.”

As in other regions, the pandemic has accelerated digital change. Latin America has some of the world’s highest per capita coronavirus death rates and some of its worst recessions, but COVID-19 also forced much more economic activity online.

“For many years Latin America, a region which is large as a percentage of global GDP because these are middle-income countries, had been underinvested in technology,” said Pierpaolo Barbieri, who founded Ualá in 2017. “What we’re seeing now is a general catch-up where everyone is rushing to see what the opportunities are.”

In some areas, the region is still trailing. “Seventy percent of commerce in China is done online, almost 50% in the United States and . . . it’s still 20% in Latin America, so the process of economic digitization still has a long way to go,” Barbieri added.

Julio Vasconcellos, co-founder of Atlantico, a Latin American venture capital fund, has compared the total market capitalization of tech companies in the region as a proportion of GDP with the same ratio in Asia.

“When you look at the evolution of the U.S. market, the evolution of the Chinese market and now Latin America, the curve tends to look very similar over time,” he said. “It’s slow and gradual until it eventually hits an inflection point and it really starts to accelerate.

“Latin America is going through this inflection point roughly 10 years after the U.S. and around seven to eight years after China.”

Latin America’s total tech market capitalization stands at 3.4% of GDP, he said, compared with 30% in China and 14% in India. Were Latin America to reach Chinese levels of tech participation in the economy “we’re talking about the equivalent of over a trillion dollars of market value being created.”

How long that could take is unclear. Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, co-founder of U.S.-based Riverwood Capital, has been investing in Latin American tech since 2008. While he agrees that the region is experiencing “a lot of excitement” and that revenue growth in the tech sector is likely to be strong, he notes that funding ebbs and flows.

“There’s a significant increase in capital availability in the region, which accelerated in the past few years at a very rapid pace,” he said. “Where we are in the cycle is difficult to say [ . . .] we should be ready for volatility on that front.”

The region faces other challenges. As a major exporter of commodities, it is prone to economic booms and busts and its politics are volatile. An electoral cycle currently under way is throwing up a wave of anti-establishment candidates and demands for greater state intervention in the economy.

There are practical problems, too. Except in Brazil, software engineers are in short supply and universities are not producing enough tech-literate graduates. Fixed broadband connections are lacking in many areas.

SoftBank’s Claure, meanwhile, is comfortable increasing his tech bets. “Today the Latin American fund has over 100% IRR [internal rate of return] in local currency and it’s probably the best-performing fund that we have today from an IRR perspective.”

Three Latin American start-up successes

Nubank has a claim to be the greatest success story of Brazil’s start-up scene. Since launching a credit card with no annual fees in 2014, the fintech has amassed more than 40 million customers across its homeland, Mexico and Colombia.

A funding round this year gave the unicorn a valuation of $30 billion and it is now eyeing an initial public offering in the U.S. With a focus on technology and customer service, the São Paulo-headquartered group has challenged a Brazilian banking industry notorious for high charges and bureaucracy.

Through its smartphone app, Nubank also offers personal and business accounts, loans, insurance and investment products.

The online used-car platform Kavak was founded in Mexico in 2016 by Venezuelan entrepreneurs. The company recently raised $700 million in a funding round that valued it at $8.7 billion, one of the highest in Latin America. Investors include General Catalyst, SoftBank and others.

Clients can either buy or sell their used cars on the site, with the company acting as an intermediary and carrying out inspections of the vehicles as well as offering financing, guarantees and home delivery. The company now operates in Brazil and Argentina and has its sights on further expansion.

Rappi is Colombia’s outstanding start-up success. Local entrepreneurs started the company in 2015 to deliver groceries but it has since branched out into areas such as financial services. Having expanded into nine countries and more than 200 cities, it aims to become the “superapp” of Latin America.

Among Rappi’s innovations is the Turbo Fresh service, which aims to deliver the most requested products to customers within 10 minutes, using sophisticated “last kilometer” logistics. The company’s name is a word play on rápido, Spanish for “fast.”