Covid vaccination in Mexico: quick, organized, unsurprisingly bureaucratic

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June 30, 2021

mass vaccination site in Mexico — Mass vaccination sites were at first notorious for hours-long wait times, but nowadays many get folks in and out in an hour or less.

You guys. You guys!!

I finally got my vaccine. Like, just now. I’m clearly very excited about it.

Rather than giving much of an opinion this week, I’d like to spend my space telling you about the experience and … well, who am I kidding? You’re going to hear my opinions too. This is the opinion section, after all!

Last month, a friend of mine sent me the official notice that those who turned 40–49 before the end of the year would soon be up for their vaccines! I excitedly signed up, relieved that I wouldn’t have to wait for the 30–39 group (I turn 40 in a couple of months).

Then, I waited.

Finally, last week, someone in my friendly neighborhood WhatsApp group — what would we do without our neighborhood WhatsApp groups? — sent the notice that this week, vaccines would begin for my age group. The first part of the alphabet was today, meaning I’d get to be in the first group.

On that same notice was a list of what to bring: the registration form, your citizen identification number (known as the CURP), your voter ID card (known as the INE) — or in my case, passport and migrant card — and proof of residence, which usually means show us a recent utility bill bearing the address where you live — even if that bill is in someone else’s name since many renters’ bills are issued in the name of their landlord.

I printed the things off at a small neighborhood shop and headed toward the vaccination site on foot. When I got there, I was asked to show my documents. I’d forgotten my proof of residence!

I thought the day was saved when I remembered that I always take pictures of my paid light and water bills, and I showed it to the lady checking our documents. Alas, it was not enough: since I’m renting the house where I live, my name isn’t on the utility bill. Did I have a rent contract, or something for the internet bill, or anything with my name and address on it, she asked?

After a small and polite fit in which I tried to find out if everyone else that rented was being asked to rush out and find a copy of their rental contract (answer: unclear), I gave up the battle.

I was irritated that there hadn’t been any indication that we’d need a document with our name and current address on the same piece of paper; I don’t know if they made everyone that rented do the same thing. Though they explained that as a foreigner I had no proof that I lived there, it hardly would have been logical for me to come down to Mexico to take a vaccine when I can walk into any pharmacy in my own country to get one. But I know better than to argue too much when it comes to these things. And besides, this is Mexico. It’s just not reasonable to expect that you’re going to have all the papers that you need on the first go of trying any sort of bureaucratic deed.

Thankfully, both my partner and the lady who helps me with the house were home and, especially thankfully, I’m organized enough to have been able to tell them where the rental contract was. They sent me pictures of it and I headed out to the street to find a place to print them.

Copies, said a sign about a block away. “Eureka!” said I.

I moved closer and stood in the doorway, frowning at the eight or so cling-wrapped coffins on display. “Uh … this is the copy place?” I asked. Indeed, it was! Not only do they sell coffins, they can get you your copies in no time.

Alas, it was not to be; they had no printing service available, so I set out anew on my adventure.

Luckily, I didn’t have to search for long: there was an internet café just down the street (also next to a coffin shop — most places that sell them smartly set up shop close to the major public hospitals, one of which was just down the street from the vaccination site).

I printed off the first and last page of my rental agreement and headed back. Success! I was in.

The place to which one is assigned for their vaccine depends on the neighborhood of residence. For me, that meant a place relatively close that I walked to in about 25 minutes. The place I went to is officially a gym, but doubles as a convention center for bookfairs and the like.

It was enormous and gray — plenty of space to accommodate everyone at a distance. My temperature was taken several times, my documents were reviewed several times, and more papers were filled out and checked off.

I got a comically tiny one-inch-by-one-inch piece of paper that I was told I’d need to bring back with me for the second dose, along with several other papers, of course. I wonder how many people will be able to hold onto those tiny papers? I snapped a picture of it just in case, then put it in my passport holder.

I filled out a consent form (I mean, I was there, wasn’t I?) that needed the signature of two witnesses. “Just find some people sitting around you,” I was instructed.

I only waited about 20 minutes before it was finally my turn. I showed my papers, and after the lady giving the shot checked with her colleague to make sure she could give one over a tattoo (ha!), I was finally injected with my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Afterward, I was ushered toward a smaller gym (after showing my papers again) to sit in the bleachers for 10 minutes with fellow recently vaccinated members of my generation while doctors scanned over us, making sure nobody started feeling bad.

Then, I left! That was it.

All in all, it was pretty simple and straightforward, and the people working there were helpful and organized.

Now, the opinion part: a lot of people down here are desperate to get their vaccines yesterday. It’s preposterous that in the United States there are vaccines just lying around because not enough people want them. What a privilege to say, “No, I don’t want to put any chemicals into my body, and the pandemic is not a big deal anyway.”

The U.S. did well in sending vaccines to Baja California. How about Baja California Sur as well, where they’re seeing a huge surge?

This was my first Covid-19 vaccine. I’d hoped to travel to the U.S. to get mine earlier but ended up just not having the funds for the trip. I feel so lucky to have finally been able to go, even with all the running around. I may or may not have cried several times.

If any of you have received your vaccines here in Mexico as well, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

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

Medications shortages are real: parents of victims share their stories

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MND Staff

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June 30, 2021

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Young cancer patients who receive support from Nariz Roja, an organization that says the government is flying blind when it buys medications.

Parents of children with cancer have come forward to relate their harrowing experiences with medication shortages after a leading federal health official denied there is a lack of cancer drugs in Mexico.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said in a television interview broadcast on Sunday that the assertion there are shortages is a lie. He also charged that protests against shortages led by parents of children with cancer are linked to international right-wing groups interested in overthrowing legitimately elected governments.

Mothers and fathers of children with cancer who joined a virtual meeting convened by the newspaper Reforma shared stories that served to disprove the remarks of López-Gatell, who retreated from some of his claims on Tuesday amid widespread criticism.

Since drug shortages first became widespread in 2019, countless other parents have recounted the difficulties their children have faced in getting the medical treatment they needed. Some of the stories have tragic endings.

One person who spoke with Reforma was Orfa Pecina of Nuevo León, whose 11-year-old son died of cancer earlier this month.

“Here is the consequence of the shortage, which did exist,” she said while holding up an urn containing the ashes of her son, who was treated at a Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) hospital in Monterrey.

“…. If Emmanuel had received his chemotherapy on time, if he didn’t have to wait so long for them to get medication, … I believe the outcome wouldn’t have been so tragic,” said Pecina, who held raffles and sold belongings to raise money to purchase medications that weren’t available at the IMSS hospital.

Severa Hernández, also of Nuevo León, related a similar story about her son’s experience at the same hospital. David, also 11, died of leukemia in December.

“My boy is gone, it’s very difficult,” Hernández said as tears streamed down her face, adding that she and her family did everything they could to get David the medications he needed.

In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, Mexican journalist Ricardo Raphael noted that parents of children with cancer who say they have been affected by drug shortages have been protesting for almost two years and even taken legal action against the government.

“On this issue there can’t be two truths: either López-Gatell is lying or the presumed victims of the shortage are,” he wrote.

Parents protest cancer medications shortages at Mexico City airport Wednesday.

“… Contrast what the deputy minister said with the hundreds of testimonies that, since the middle of 2019, have been offered publicly by family members of the children allegedly afflicted by the shortages as well as their doctors and civil society organizations that deal with this problem.”

The parents who spoke to Reforma said that they have heard the same thing over and over again from health officials and President López Obrador: the government has a new purchasing scheme and the medications will arrive soon.

“It’s sad and regrettable that this man’s words continue to be the same as always,” said Elissa Torres, referring to AMLO, as the president is commonly known.

“We just hear more of the same, that they’re supplying [the drugs].We want to see action. We’ve been to his morning press conferences to ask to be attended to but they don’t attend to us. The reality is … there are no medications. My son has been through five shortages,” she said.

Torres also said that she has participated in protests against shortages since 2019, the first full year of the current government’s six-year term.

“We went to the [Mexico City] airport, we went on a hunger strike, we went to meetings [with government officials] and we’ve heard the same words many times, … ‘They [the mediations] are going to arrive now,’” she said.

The government entered into an agreement last July with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to collaborate on the international purchase of medicines, medical supplies and vaccines but the shortages of children’s cancer drugs have persisted, parents say.

“…They [government officials] show us inventories [of medications], we’ve been in meetings with [Interior] Minister Olga Sánchez but the reality is there is still a shortage. They fill one hole and another opens up,” Torres said.

Despite López-Gatell’s recent denial that shortages exist, government officials are aware of the problem, she said.

However, it is unlikely that they are aware of the extent of the problem and what purchases need to be made to resolve it, suggests the director of Nariz Roja, a civil society organization that supports children with cancer and their families.

“Mexico today is buying medications blindly because we don’t have a census of cancer patients in the country; the government doesn’t know how many people have cancer, it’s pathetic,” Alejandro Barbosa told the newspaper Milenio.

Israel Rivas, spokesman for a national group of parents of child cancer patients, compared the government to a man who doesn’t know how many children he has fathered.

Parents of cancer patients march Wednesday morning in the city of Veracruz.

“… It’s as if you’re a father and you don’t know how many children you have, how much food you’re going to buy when you go the supermarket and for what ages,” he said.

Andrés Castañeda of the Cero Desabasto (Zero Shortage) collective, a group that monitors the availability of medications in the public health system and pressures the government to keep up the supply, said that efforts to develop a national registry of cancer patients have stalled.

Irene Tello, director of the non-governmental organization Impunidad Cero (Zero Impunity), said that a national registry wasn’t previously so important because public hospitals made their own drug purchases according to their needs. However, the current government centralized purchasing, ostensibly to eliminate corruption.

“The problem is that the federal government ceased buying well and it’s in a fight with the country’s main producers of cancer medications,” Tello said. “They took very bad decisions with respect to the purchase of supplies for the treatment of cancer.”

Castañeda said the government tends to claim that it has resolved a shortage of a particular drug at a hospital when it has only delivered a quantity that will last for a very limited period of time.

“… The government says ‘done, we’ve delivered five little boxes [of whatever drug is lacking],’ but that’s only enough for today, what’s going to happen tomorrow?” he said.

Castañeda also claimed that there is a lack of transparency surrounding the purchases made via the agreement with UNOPS.

“Before we could look at everything that had been bought on the IMSS database” and see where the drugs were going but that’s no longer possible, he said. “It’s a big backward step with respect to what we had,” Castañeda said.

With reports from Reforma and Milenio

Select views of Mexican folk art form theme of 3 conferences on Zoom

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MND Staff

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June 30, 2021

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A tree of life sculpture from Metepec, México state.

The Franz Mayer museum in Mexico City is offering a series of online anthropology conferences in English.

Only 100 tickets are available for each of the three dates to join renowned anthropologist Marta Turok, who is head of the Ruth D. Lechuga Center for Folk Art Studies housed in the museum.

The first of the Zoom conferences, on July 7, is titled Spectacular Natural Dyes of Mexico. It focuses on three important dyes, which are most associated with Oaxaca: cochineal, indigo and purpura, the last of which comes from a purple sea-snail.

The second event, Ceramic Trees of Life, examines pottery sculpture on July 8. Ritualistic candelabra from Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla, and surrealistic works from Acatlán, Puebla, and Metepec, state of México, will form the discussion.

The third and final conference on June 9 will look at Masks in Context and Art, analyzing collector Ruth D. Lechuga’s documentation of traditional masks, including writings, photographs and exemplars. The conference will study the traditional dances where the masks are typically worn.

The events will take place on July 7, 8 and 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A donation of 200 pesos (about US $10) is recommended per date.

Marta Turok is highly regarded bilingual Mexican anthropologist. She was educated at Tufts University, Massachusetts, and at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and has worked to promote artisans.

The Franz Mayer museum opened in 1986 to exhibit the private collection of businessman Franz Mayer Traumann. It houses one of the largest collections of decorative art in the country.

Registration information can be found on the museum website.

Mexico News Daily

Internal divisions in once-powerful ruling party leave 3 wounded

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MND Staff

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June 30, 2021

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Armed with clubs, dissident party members march on PRI headquarters in Mexico City.

There were divisions within the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) after its rout in the 2018 elections, and the most recent vote did nothing to soothe angry members.

A 20-year-old man was wounded by a gunshot and two other people received blows to the head in violent scenes at party headquarters in Mexico City Tuesday.

A 120-strong, six-hour protest that demanded the resignation of leader Alejandro Moreno due to the party’s poor showing in the June 6 elections ended in a bloody altercation. The party leadership and a rival faction blamed each other for the violence.

The former blamed the ex-governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, and Nallely Gutiérrez, a one-time PRI federal deputy, for provoking violence. “They are part of an armed command that came to attack our members … On the orders of Ulises Ruiz and Nallely Gutiérrez an armed commando … [attacked] hundreds of militants who were peacefully gathered supporting the leadership,” read official Twitter posts.

Moreno continued his criticism on his personal Twitter account. “They represent everything that the PRI does not want … These are the practices that have no place in the PRI,” he wrote.

Rival party members Ulises Ruiz, left, and president Alejandro Moreno.

However, Ruiz blamed Moreno and other party leaders, and said they were “responsible for any aggression suffered by the militants who are peacefully holding the PRI to account,” he wrote.

“This is a matter of politics,” he added.

Protesters hold Moreno responsible for leading the party to defeat in eight races for governor in the midterm elections.

Paramedics treated two people at the scene, a man and a woman, who had suffered blows to the head. The man who was shot was wounded in the back and was taken to hospital. His current condition is unknown.

The clash triggered the deployment of 150 police officers. Security officials said video footage was being reviewed to find out who had fired the shots.

Enmity between Ruiz and Moreno dates back to at least 2019, when the former unsuccessfully contested the party leadership.

Ruiz was at the center of a violent conflict while governor of Oaxaca in 2006. During six months of protests by members of the CNTE teachers union and others, there were 30 extrajudicial killings, 311 arbitrary detentions, 381 wounded, 248 cases of torture and the forced disappearance of two people, according to the findings of a 2016 truth commission.

The commission found Ruiz responsible for the crimes but he was never prosecuted.

With reports from El País

A record-breaking May: nearly 1 million US tourists visited Mexico by air

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MND Staff

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June 30, 2021

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A record number of tourists arrived by air from the US last month. el economista

United States citizens flocked to Mexico in May as high Covid-19 vaccination rates in the U.S. spurred international travel.

Just over 970,000 Americans arrived on flights last month, a record for May, according to the Center of Research and Tourism Competitiveness at Anáhuac University.

The figure accounted for 83% of all international air arrivals last month and represents a whopping 4,117% increase compared to May 2020, when just 23,000 U.S. tourists came to Mexico. It’s 9% higher than May 2019, when 891,000 United States tourists flew into the country, and 13% higher than the same month of 2018, when U.S. visitors numbered 857,000.

Virginia Messina, senior vice president at the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and a former Mexican government tourism official, said that high vaccination rates in the United States are aiding the recovery of Mexico’s tourism sector.

About 63% of adults in the United States have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, while the figure in Mexico is about 35%.

Messina said flight bookings show that foreign arrivals to Mexico during the summer will be close to 2019 levels.

“Looking at air reservations into the country between June and August of 2021 compared to [the same months of] 2019, we’re more or less at … 86%, which is very significant. When we look at different regions of Europe, for example, [flight] reservations are about 40% [of 2019 levels],” she told a press conference.

International travel to Mexico has been encouraged by the absence of restrictions for arriving visitors, who don’t have to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test result or go into mandatory quarantine.

Messina said that the WTTC expects other countries to ease restrictions on travelers. The European Union, for example, is set to begin welcoming United States tourists who can prove they have had an E.U.-approved vaccine, among which are the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots.

“We don’t expect borders to close again because we’re not where we were a year ago,” Messina said, although the pandemic is considerably worse in some countries where vaccination rates are low and more contagious strains of the virus are circulating.

“Today, not only have vaccines helped, the Covid-19 testing technology has as well. [Testing] was more difficult a year ago, today it’s faster and the results are as well. We’ll treat Covid-19 like the flu at the end of the year,” she said.

The WTTC official played down the impact insecurity might have on Mexico’s tourism recovery, noting that the problem has persisted for years but international visitors have continued to come. Insecurity is not a major problem in many popular tourist destinations, Messina said.

The United States government is currently warning U.S. citizens not to travel to five states – Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas — due to crime and kidnapping, while there are 11 level 3 “Reconsider Travel” states including Jalisco, where the resort city of Puerto Vallarta is located, and Guanajuato, home to popular expatriate and tourism destinations such as Guanajuato city and San Miguel de Allende.

Quintana Roo, where Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum are located, and Baja California Sur, home to Los Cabos, are among 14 Level 2 “Exercise increased caution” states, while Yucatán and Campeche, both of which are also popular with tourists, are the only states deemed Level 1, or “Exercise normal precautions.”

With reports from El Economista

Michoacán plans operation against crime gangs in 4 municipalities

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MND Staff

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June 30, 2021

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Members of Pueblos Unidos, farmers who have vowed to defend themselves against organized crime.

Michoacán authorities are planning a joint operation with the army to combat organized crime in four municipalities where avocado and blackberry producers have armed themselves in defense, according to the state security minister.

Some 3,000 farmers and farmhands from Salvador Escalante, Ario de Rosales, Nuevo Urecho and Taretán have taken up arms over the past eight months amid attacks by criminal organizations and extortion, the newspaper Milenio reported lat Friday.

Given that Michoacán police and the army intend to deploy to the municipalities, the farmers must lay down their weapons, Security Minister Israel Patrón said. They will be forcibly disarmed if they refuse, he said, adding that they are “flagrantly” violating the law.

Patrón acknowledged that armed men are manning roadblocks designed to keep criminals out of the four municipalities but denied that they number 3,000.

The security minister claimed that not all members of the armed group – called Pueblos Unidos, or United Towns — have genuine interests, suggesting that the group could be “contaminated” by criminals.

He didn’t provide specific details about the planned security operation, such as the number of soldiers and police that will deployed or when it would begin.

A Pueblos Unidos commander told Milenio that farmers would be prepared to disarm if authorities were able to guarantee their security. If the authorities can’t do that, the producers should be given permission to legally bear arms, he said.

“They should give us permission to defend ourselves,” the commander said. “We also don’t want to be disarmed, and we want to be respected. … They should do the work we’re doing, and maybe we’ll withdraw.”

Meanwhile, the federal government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has blocked the bank accounts of 153 members and collaborators of six cartels that operate in Michoacán, UIF chief Santiago Nieto announced on Twitter.

Citing authorities close to the investigations, Milenio reported that the 153 people were members of or had links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Caballeros Templarios (Knight’s Templar Cartel), the Familia Michoacana, the Viagras, Cárteles Unidos and a cell of the Beltrán Leyva organization known as El Independiente.

With reports from Milenio

Criminal gangs face off in Tamaulipas, leaving 9 dead

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MND Staff

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June 29, 2021

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Authorities in Miguel Alemán. — Authorities respond to confrontation in Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas.

Nine people were killed overnight in a clash between criminal groups in a border municipality of Tamaulipas.

Two gangs engaged in a gunfight in Los Guerra, a community on the outskirts of Ciudad Miguel Alemán, located across the border from Roma, Texas.

Several media outlets reported that the confrontation was between the Northeast Cartel and the Gulf Cartel, which have clashed previously in the municipality of Miguel Alemán. Which organization the slain men belonged to was unclear.

Televisa News reported that the two cartels are engaged in a turf war over drug trafficking and migrant smuggling routes.

Los Guerra residents posted videos and photographs to social media that showed lifeless bodies strewn across a road in Los Guerra on Tuesday morning. Soldiers and members of the National Guard attended the crime scene, the newspaper El Universal reported.

Dead bodies in Los Guerra — In the aftermath, images of the dead bodies left on the street on Tuesday morning in Los Guerra circulated online.

The violence came just 10 days after at least 19 people were killed in Reynosa, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Ciudad Miguel Alemán. Most of the victims were innocent civilians who were apparently targeted at random by armed men.

Following the attacks, Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, accused by the federal government of ties to organized crime, called on municipal, state and federal authorities to work together to combat violence. The objective, he said, was to avoid a repeat of the June 19 rampage in Tamaulipas or anywhere else in the country.

President López Obrador took office in late 2018 pledging to reduce violence with a security strategy that addresses the root causes of crime. But a new record for homicides was set in 2019 with more than 34,000 victims and murders declined only 0.4% in 2020.

However, homicides declined 2.9% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period of 2020, giving the federal government some cause for celebration.

With reports from El Universal and Televisa

If you have a computer, credit card and your own home you’re middle class

By

MND Staff

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June 29, 2021

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lopez obrador — The president has brought the middle class into the spotlight since the June 6 elections.

The middle class has become the target of sweeping examinations in the political sphere since the June 6 elections, in which wealthier parts of Mexico City voted for the opposition.

But who exactly belongs to the social group?

The National Statistics Institute (Inegi) has conducted a study to define the middle class, despite the notorious difficulty of categorizing populations into class brackets.

Quantifying the middle class in Mexico: an exploratory exercise highlights that 42.2% of households can be categorized as middle class, which house 39.2% of the population.

In urban areas, the middle class resides in a majority of households, at 50.1%, which covers 47% of the population. In contrast, only 28.1% of households and 26% of the population in rural areas belong to the sector.

The upper class is a minute portion of society, counting for only 1.7% population nationally, and 2.5% of households.

Some characteristics were found by Inegi to be indicative of a middle class family. According to the study, a middle class household is likely to have a computer, and a married couple in a four-person family.

The head of the household is likely to have a high school education, be a property owner or mortgage payer, and work in the private sector.

In terms of spending, a middle class credit card is used for expenses of 1,660 pesos (around US $84) per month, and food and drink bought outside the home is likely to cost the household about 4,380 pesos per quarter.

Another study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggested that the middle class is becoming an increasingly exclusive social bracket. Under pressure: the reduction of the middle class published in 2019 showed that young people are ever less likely to join it.

After the June 6 elections the socioeconomic segment became a target for criticism by President López Obrador, who branded it “aspirational and selfish” and prepared “to succeed at all costs.” He also said a manipulated middle class was what allowed Adolf Hitler’s fascism to grow in Germany, and supported the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

With reports from Milenio

Roma’s newest Asian eateries: hard to find but well worth the search

By

Lydia Carey

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June 29, 2021

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Cariñito Tacos, Roma, Mexico City — East meets West in this Asian-inspired dish from Cariñito Tacos in Mexico City's Roma neighborhood.

As I stand on the streets of Mexico City, checking the address of another hidden restaurant, I sigh, resigned, knowing I am bound for an eating experience that I’m going to have to figure out using context clues and possibly napkin drawings.

I know that this kind of thing (vague directions, hidden entrances, secret handshakes) leads some to believe that they are enjoying a kind of exclusive, in-crowd experience, but you can’t help but wonder, do they really want us to eat here?

That said, there’s not much I wouldn’t do for good grub, so don’t let the obtuse nature of some of the new dining I’m about to mention keep you from the food; it’s good, and once you get past the imposed awkwardness, you can almost appreciate the ambiance.

It’s already been an uncomfortable year and a half, so it makes sense that your first trip back into the restaurant world would follow the trend.

Here are three new restaurants in Colonia Roma that are worth venturing out for:

Makan

Standing outside of #11 Queretaro in Colonia Roma, there is nothing to indicate that three restaurants and a bakery are just inside the open doorway. Thankfully, a security guard (who was on his phone and might have just been a passerby but I asked him anyway) directed me to Makan – an itty-bitty restaurant in a greenery-filled patio at the center of one of the colonia‘s old turn-of-the-century mansions.

They have a limited daily list of Singapore small-plate dishes created by chef and owner Maryann and a more extensive wine list that includes orange wines and ciders from around the world.

As a neophyte to Singaporean food, I can only tell you that what I ate was simultaneously delicate and rich, a pleasure to consume under the covering of the open-air patio, surrounded by draping plants. The encurtidos (pickled items) — cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, pineapple with sambal and sesame — were the perfect marriage of sour and sweet and immediately brightened my attitude toward the waitress who schooled me the moment I sat down that I actually needed a reservation and should remember that for next time.

By the first mouthful of the crispy duck over house-made egg noodles, I found my tolerance expanding, and by the subtly sweet apple dumplings, I was OK, even happy, if I do say so myself.

Choza

Choza, in contrast, doesn’t allow reservations. In fact they’ve created several obstacles to eating there, as again, there is no sign and not even an open door — just a guy looking out the second-story window every five minutes to see if anyone is waiting.

Despite the no-reservation policy, it didn’t take long to get a seat in the summertime-vibe bar upstairs with its high-beamed, semi-thatched roof and basketball rim mounted to the wall. Regularly packed with eaters and their furry friends lounging in hammocks, pet-friendly Choza is only open during that weekend sweet spot of 2–9 p.m.

No instructions were provided beyond you can go up now, so we sat at a random table to wait for someone who never came. After a few painful moments, our consequently very nice — waiter? busperson? — explained that we were supposed to order at the counter, then pay at the cashier and then she would bring our order to the table.

She told us to make sure to look at the menu in front of the glassed-in kitchen, not the one on the wall, because as things run out, they get crossed off the list.

All our effort did pay off in the form of a green-mango salad that would have made even the most confusing of situations suddenly logical. Bright and tangy, it was paired with a sweet, cinnamony coconut rice and caramelized pork that might be the most coherent thing I’ve eaten this week.

The jackfish ceviche was a nice second, with mounds of lime and onion, but the Wagyu sandwich brought up the rear and was underwhelming and oily. Looking on as other people chowed down, we jealously contemplated the whole fried fish that came out looking like a delicious monster and vowed to order it next time (yes, we’re going back, gluttons for punishment and food that we are).

Choza restaurant, Roma, Mexico City — At Choza, the vibe is casual, with even pets allowed.

The drinks were the only true letdown. They included a cheap-tasting mango daiquiri and some tiny Carta Blanca beers, whose taste lives up to their usual 8-peso grocery store price tag but definitely weren’t worth the 50 pesos Choza was charging. We didn’t try the mezcal, which we were told comes from small producers in Oaxaca and Guerrero; that might have been a mistake.

Cariñito

Then there is Cariñito, with its colorful storefront that you absolutely won’t miss and a short menu of Asian-inspired tacos that you won’t want to. (There is just a lot of Asian influence happening in Mexico City’s food scene right now).

Opened just two months ago, Cariñito is still in that giddy phase where the owners meet you out front and everyone is titillated by the menu. And why not? Their tacos delight and surprise with flavors of Laos, Thailand, China and other far-flung cuisines, all piled on to thick homemade corn tortillas with very fresh ingredients and balanced combinations of sweet and sour and spicy and mild.

The recipes were obviously created by a thoughtful chef and someone not afraid to experiment with combining cuisines, techniques and tastes. The undeniable star is a shyly spiced confit eggplant with bolted cilantro, crispy-fried shallots, fresh mint and basil, followed closely by the Cantonese pork belly with pickled cucumbers, sesame seed, hoisin sauce and homemade sriracha – sweet, spicy, and acid all in one gulp.

Two or three types of beer, including some craft beer options, and natural wines and mineral water are the extent of beverages available but, really, that feels appropriate for the pared-down menu — it’s a short, sweet list but satisfyingly so.

The streetside vibe keeps things lively, and a regular string of special food events will likely make Cariñito a popular neighborhood hangout.

Dozens more dining spots have opened and closed in Roma during the pandemic’s upending of the local economy, so keep an eye out for future reviews of the neighborhood’s best eating and drinking.

Lydia Carey is a regular contributor to Mexico News Daily.

CORRECTION: The earlier version of this story misspelled the name of one of the three restaurants. It’s Makan, not Wakan. We regret the error.

Health minister sees attempted coup by right-wing interests in cancer meds protests

By

MND Staff

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June 29, 2021

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Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell in the interview in which he linked medication shortage protests with international right-wing groups.

Protests against medication shortages led by parents of children with cancer are linked to international right-wing groups with a mentality that borders on coup plotting, according to Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell.

“I would like to issue a kind of alert,” the official said during a television interview broadcast on Sunday.

“This type of generation of coup narratives has sometimes been connected in Latin America, in the history of Latin America, with coups, coups d’état. And this idea of children with cancer who don’t have medications, we increasingly see it positioned as part of a campaign … of international right-wing groups that are seeking to create this wave of sympathy among Mexican citizens that has a vision that is almost one of coup plotting,” said López-Gatell, who rose to national prominence in 2020 as the government’s coronavirus point man.

The deputy minister said it was regrettable that cancer patients are being used as pawns in a protest movement against President López Obrador and his administration. He also denied that there is a lack of cancer drugs, even though parents have protested countless times against shortages since the current government took office in late 2018.

If there are widespread shortages, why “do we only see 20 people at protests … at [the Mexico City] airport,” López-Gatell asked.

Children at cancer meds shortages protest — The faces of right-wing extremism? Children at a medications shortage protest.

“They’re the same people [who have been protesting] since the start of the government’s six-year term. One realizes that they’re fabricated groups,” he said before raising the possibility that people are being paid to protest.

Facing widespread criticism for his remarks, López-Gatell on Tuesday backtracked on some of his claims, telling reporters that parents’ concerns about a lack of cancer medications for their children were “absolutely legitimate.”

“What I said and what I maintain is that the phenomenon of cancer in itself is regrettable, tragic and painful. That girls and boys suffer from it is doubly or many times more painful. That these same people lack medications is also painful,” he said.

“… We believe that fathers, mothers or family members of children with cancer have a legitimate reason to have concerns, it’s absolutely legitimate,” López-Gatell said.

“… What I said last Friday on the [television] program … that was broadcast Sunday and which I sadly maintain [is that] human pain is exploited by economic, business and political interest groups that want to profit from human pain. Let it be very clear, our sympathy, our solidarity goes to fathers and mothers or any family members of children with cancer or any other illness … and that’s why we’re working tirelessly to get the medications,” he said.

His coup plotting remarks were described as “regrettable” by Andrea Rocha, a lawyer who represents the parents of more than 200 children with cancer who have been affected by drug shortages. She claimed that the government is trying to discredit the protest movement to distract from its own failure to purchase sufficient medications to put an end to shortages.

Omar Hernández Ibarra, parent of child with cancer — Omar Hernández says López-Gatell has tried ‘to vilify our movement’ during two years of protests against shortages. File photo

Omar Hernández Ibarra, president of an association of parents of children with cancer, said that López-Gatell can say whatever he likes, but the group he heads will remain focused on pressuring the government to resolve the shortages.

“It doesn’t matter what the man has said. … In two years, he’s only been to one meeting with parents of children with cancer. … He’s tried to vilify our movement the whole time, but what matters today is that they didn’t keep [the promise] to get medicines to hospitals [last weekend],” he told the newspaper El Universal. “That’s what worries us and what we must occupy ourselves with.”

Hernández said that another protest would be held today at the Mexico City airport, stressing that only parents of children with cancer who are currently affected by drug shortages will participate.

“We don’t want this movement to be politicized because that only causes damage. It takes credibility away from our demands. For us, the only thing that is important is for the government to comply with the supply of medications. We don’t want anything else, and we don’t want the [political] parties to join and use us for political gain,” he said.

Parents of children with cancer and civil society organizations have also called for a national protest against drug shortages on Wednesday. It has been confirmed that protests will take place in Guadalajara, Veracruz city and Mexico City, the newspaper Reforma reported.

Another national protest to demand that the government resolve drug shortages is scheduled for July 24. Parents of children with cancer and people with HIV/AIDS who have been affected by shortages of antiviral drugs are among those set to take to the streets.

With reports from El Universal, Reuters and Reforma