Added weight stretched capacity of Metro’s Line 12 to the limit

June 28, 2021

mexico city metro line 12 — The section of the line that collapsed May 3.

The elevated section of Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro, part of which collapsed last month, was overburdened by the weight of its tracks, according to a report by the newspaper Milenio.

The Mexico City government hired a company in 2014 to inspect that section of the line due to warping of some sections of tracks. The company, Systra, recommended the replacement of several rail track components including the rails themselves, sleepers, fasteners and ballast.

In a report submitted to the government, Systra said it didn’t detect any “anomalies” with the structure that supported the elevated tracks but advised against it being overloaded.

However, the Mexico City Ministry of Public Works and the then director of the Metro system, Joel Ortega, chose replacement track components that did overburden the structure, Milenio reported.

Citing government information, Milenio said the combined weight of almost 38,000 fasteners increased fivefold to almost 950,000 kilos, an increase of 759,760 kilograms, or nearly 760 tonnes.

The combined weight of the new sleepers was 6.53 million kilograms, an increase of 1.53 million kilos, while the replacement rails weighed just under 1.35 million kilograms, an increase of 76,007 kilos.

All told, the structure supporting the elevated section of Line 12 was burdened with an additional 2,367 tonnes of weight.

During six years of service, and two powerful earthquakes in September 2017, the excess weight damaged the infrastructure supporting the elevated section, Milenio said.

“Experts consulted by Milenio commented that this excess load took the structure to its elastic limits, creating cracks, fragmentation and deformation [that] damaged [metal and concrete] sheets, beams and columns,” the newspaper said, adding that the situation worsened as a result of the 2017 earthquakes.

Milenio said that unionized Metro workers were the first to notice that columns supporting the elevated section of Line 12 had shifted due to the excess weight they were supporting. In early October 2014, the secretary general of the union, Fernando Espino, wrote to then Metro chief Jorge Gaviño to request a “meticulous inspection” of Line 12, “specifically the structure and columns on the elevated section because some displacements of the structure have been identified.”

Three companies that built the line, Carso Infrastructure and Construction, ICA and Alstom, were contracted to inspect and repair the elevated section and Gaviño subsequently said it was safe to reopen the line, which had closed in the wake of the earthquakes.

Less than four years later, 26 people were killed when part of the elevated section collapsed on the night of May 3. The preliminary results of an independent inquiry conducted by the Norwegian firm DNV found that a series of faults during construction caused the collapse.

DNV’s report noted deformations, fractures and displacement of beams that form part of the structure that supports the elevated section. The excess weight placed on the structure during a period of several years may have contributed to the collapse, the Milenio report suggests.

DNV will release a final report detailing the results of its investigation into the cause of the tragedy later this year.

With reports from Milenio

Hurricane Enrique leaves 2 dead in Guerrero but the storm is already weakening

MND Staff

June 28, 2021

Violent waves caused by Hurricane Enrique have killed two people in separate events in Acapulco, Guerrero, and destroyed hundreds of houses in the state. The storm has also caused damage in Michoacán and Colima.

Authorities on Monday morning predicted torrential rains in Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit and Sinaloa, but said they were optimistic the hurricane would move towards the coasts of Nayarit and Sinaloa on Tuesday and be downgraded to a tropical storm in its advance toward Baja California Sur Wednesday.

Enrique continued to be classed as a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale as of 1:00 p.m. CDT but was weakening.

Tropical storm watches are in place between Puna Mita and San Blas in Nayarit and from Cabo San Lucas to Los Barriles in Baja California Sur while a hurricane warning has been downgraded to a tropical storm warning between Cabo Corrientes and Playa Perula in Jalisco.

Guerrero has recorded 207 houses destroyed, landslides and fallen trees, with 10 municipalities affected. The most serious damage was reported in Coahuayutla, where rain and winds collapsed the roofs of 120 houses; in Copalillo, 70 houses were damaged.

In Colima, which faced 24 hours of constant rain, the El Carrizo bridge collapsed on the Manzanillo-Minatitlán highway. Minatitlán was one of four municipalities affected, and was inaccessible by land.

In Michoacán, most of the damage has been registered in Lázaro Cárdenas with flooding and fallen trees.

The Defense Ministry has assigned 13,397 personnel and 310 vehicles to attend to damage and support local people.

Those in affected areas are instructed to follow updates from the Meteorological Service of the National Water Commission (Conagua).

The 2021 rain and tropical cyclone season began on May 15 and ends in November.

With reports from Aristegui Noticias, El Financiero

Shades of Line 12: Maya Train timelines not realistic, say private firms

MND Staff

June 28, 2021

President López Obrador walks a section of old railway on the route of the Maya Train.

Contracts issued by the federal government to build three sections of the Maya Train railroad stipulate construction periods that are too short, the results of a survey of construction companies suggest, raising concerns that the project could be substandard and ultimately dangerous, as Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro – the scene of a deadly disaster last month – proved to be.

The National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), which is managing the project to build a 1,500-kilometer tourist and freight railway through Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, has given the companies building sections 1, 2 and 3 of the project 28 months to finish once they have started construction.

The aim is to inaugurate the new railroad before the end of the six-year term of President López Obrador, who has pressured the construction companies to work more quickly.

A market survey conducted by Fonatur, PricewaterhouseCoopers and other consultants in 2019 found that a majority of 21 construction companies believed that a period of at least 36 months was needed to build a 250-kilometer section of railroad – provided everything went smoothly.

However, “companies with more experience in the construction of railroad tracks favor a period between 36 and 48 months,” the survey report said.

lopez obrador maya train — The president during a recent inspection of progress on the train.

All told, about two-thirds of the construction companies consulted said that at least three years were needed to build each section of the railroad, the government’s signature infrastructure project.

Completing a 250-kilometer section in that period of time would require an absence of “delays caused by environmental, social or right of way issues,” the survey report said.

Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the ambitious project – which faces legal challenges from indigenous communities – are all shorter than 250 kilometers, but not significantly so.

Section 1 will run 228 kilometers between Palenque, Chiapas, and Escárcega, Campeche; section 2 will traverse 235 kilometers from Escárcega to Calkinía, Campeche; and section 3 will cover 172 kilometers from Calkiní to Izamal, Yucatán, a stretch that will cross land beneath which there are numerous caverns and cenotes, or natural sinkholes.

López Obrador, who believes that the new railroad will spur economic and social development in Mexico’s long-neglected southeast, appears determined to ensure that the construction companies comply with the 28-month construction period set by Fonatur, asking them on several occasions to speed up the process.

(Construction of the US $8-billion project officially began in early June 2020.)

During a visit to Campeche last December to inspect the progress of section 2 – which is being built by a consortium controlled by business tycoon Carlos Slim – López Obrador offered a “respectful recommendation” to simultaneously work on different parts of the stretch at the same time. “More progress is made that way,” he said.

The president made similar remarks during an inspection of the same section in March, and pledged to visit as frequently as every two weeks if construction fell behind schedule.

“That there is a rush to complete the Maya Train before he leaves the National Palace is more than obvious,” the newspaper El Universal said in a report published Monday, although the work has not kept pace with the president’s predictions.

“In December 2018 [the month the president was sworn in], López Obrador said that construction in Palenque was going to start that month. In February 2019, he promised that the tendering process would begin in March and in June he guaranteed that construction work would begin in 2019. In December of that year, the president guaranteed that there would be construction work in March 2020. Between April 23 and May 15 of 2020, sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Maya Train were awarded and the physical construction work was inaugurated in June, just a month later, providing almost no time to carry out a quality executive project [master plan],” El Universal said.

Construction began very soon after the signing of contracts despite a majority of companies surveyed by Fonatur indicating that they would need six to 12 months to draw up construction plans for a single section of the railroad.

Asked by El Universal why a period of just 28 months was set for each of sections 1, 2 and 3 to be completed and why construction began so soon after the contracts were awarded, Fonatur responded that the companies that submitted successful bids “presented construction work programs” that made a commitment to finish in that period of time “after analyzing in detail the viability of their development.”

“With respect to the beginning of the work, it is the usual norm in these kinds of contracts that the executive project is presented in partial deliveries …” it said.

There was also a rush to finish Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro.

The apparent rush to complete the train before López Obrador’s term ends in 2024 appears eerily similar to the alleged scramble to open Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro – where 26 people were killed in an accident on May 3 – before former mayor Marcelo Ebrard left office in late 2012.

The preliminary results of an independent investigation indicate that the collapse of an elevated section of Line 12 was caused by a series of faults during construction. The New York Times reached the same conclusion after conducting an investigation based on years of government records, interviews with people who worked on construction of Line 12 and expert analysis of evidence from the site of the crash.

“In a rush to finish, the city demanded that construction companies open the subway well before Mr. Ebrard’s term as mayor ended in 2012. The scramble led to a frenzied construction process that began before a master plan had been finalized and produced a Metro line with defects from the start,” the Times report said.

It also said that the “heralded expansion” of the Mexico City Metro system “could boost his credentials for a possible presidential run.”

However, Ebrard – now foreign minister – denied the claim that the project was rushed for political purposes and suggested that a lack of maintenance during the government led by his successor as mayor, Miguel Ángel Mancera, could have caused the collapse of the overpass.

Two of the companies that worked on construction of Line 12, Slim’s Carso Infrastructure and Construction and ICA, are involved in the construction of the Maya Train project. ICA, a Mexican firm, is building a section between Izamal and Cancún, Quintana Roo.

Fonatur has said that the Maya Train project is being built with the “highest quality and safety standards,” but the Times said it has seen hundreds of messages in which “engineers have discussed construction progressing on [the Maya Train] without plans or details being approved, as well as unfinished designs.”

The director of construction company Coconal, which is not working on the Maya Train project but participated in the Fonatur survey, raised concerns in May about the tight timetable to build the railroad and other large government infrastructure projects, such as the new Mexico City airport and the Dos Bocas oil refinery on the Tabasco coast.

“If the project has risks that you’re going to assume unknowingly … and in addition you know beforehand that it won’t be achieved [on time], you shouldn’t take it on,” Héctor Ovalle said.

Fonatur director Rogelio Jiménez Pons said the Line 12 tragedy was “a timely warning” for the Maya Train project but remained defiantly committed to the 28-month construction period, asserting that the tourism fund has to lay everything on the line to ensure that it is met.

His boss expects no less: the Maya Train has to be ready in 28 months, López Obrador said while inaugurating the project on June 1 last year. No excuses will be accepted for delays, he stressed, asserting that a long period of rain, for example, would not be considered a valid reason for the project falling behind schedule.

While a majority of construction companies surveyed by Fonatur believe that the Maya Train can’t be built in 28 months, the president made his view very clear, declaring unequivocally as he triumphantly waved a starting flag for the project that “of course it can.”

With reports from El Universal

Sweet, savory, spicy: explore gazpacho’s many flavor options

Janet Blaser

June 28, 2021

Morelian gazpacho — Gazpacho from Morelia takes advantage of Mexico's easy access to sweet fruits like mango, pineapple and papaya.

The other day I was at the mercado, noticing the glorious array of summer veggies and thinking about making gazpacho. Then it occurred to me that gazpacho is basically salsa whirred in a blender.

Further research revealed that the original gazpacho was quite different than the type we enjoy today. Tomatoes weren’t added until the early 19th century, and bread — mashed, soaked, crumbed — was a foundation of the dish. In fact, the word gazpacho is derived from the Arabic for soaked bread.

History tells us that gazpacho most likely originated in the Iberian peninsula, perhaps carried by the Romans. Although traditionally eaten as a cold soup of raw vegetables blended with stale bread, vinegar, salt and olive oil, variations abound.

One of the most interesting is the traditional gaspacho made in Morelia, Michoacán, basically a fruit soup with a few unusual twists. Small minced cubes of mango, jicama, papaya, pineapple, watermelon and onion, layered with cotija cheese and chile powder, are then doused with orange juice and eaten with a spoon — kind of like a sweet pico de gallo. Apparently, this curious dish was a hangover remedy created in the 1960s by a greengrocer named José Alfredo Ferrer Ortíz, known as “the pioneer of gazpacho.” It was originally made solely with jicama, cotija cheese, a few drops of vinegar and chile powder.

The more common gazpacho (unless you live in Morelia!) is tomato-based and includes a variety of raw chopped veggies in season: cucumbers, onions, parsley and other fresh herbs, garlic, avocado, celery, bell peppers and, of course, the juiciest tomatoes you can find.

grape-almond gazpacho — This creamy take on gazpacho uses yogurt and cream cheese for richness and grapes for just a touch of sweetness.

The freshness of the ingredients is crucial; straight from the garden is the best. Before blenders, fresh garlic was pounded into a paste in a mortar and pestle and then olive oil, soaked stale bread, a few drops of vinegar and salt were added to make a paste. This formed the foundation of the soup.

Vibrant fresh flavors are the crux of gazpacho. Besides the best, freshest, ripest vegetables, fruits and herbs, a good, flavorful extra-virgin olive oil, kosher or sea salt, fresh-ground black pepper and the best-quality vinegar you can find will all make a difference to the finished product.

Classic Gazpacho

6 oz. any kind of bread, crusts removed, torn into 1-to 2-inch chunks
3 lbs. very ripe tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded
3 stalks celery
1 red onion
1 green or red bell pepper
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
Chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, chives, cilantro or oregano for serving

Cut tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, celery and bell pepper into one-inch chunks. Place bread in bottom of a large bowl. Add half the tomatoes in an even layer on top and season generously with salt and pepper.

Add cucumbers, onion, peppers, celery and garlic. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Add remaining tomatoes, and sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Drizzle oil and vinegar over top. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Gently toss all ingredients with a wooden spoon. Transfer half, including the liquid at the bottom of bowl, to a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth. Press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Repeat with remaining soup.

Season to taste with more salt, pepper and vinegar.

Serve immediately, garnished with chopped herbs and drizzled with olive oil, or chill for up to three days before serving.

Traditional Morelian Gaspacho

1 cup jicama
1 cup mango
1 cup pineapple
1 cup watermelon
1 cup orange juice
3-4 limes, juiced
Salt to taste
4 tsp. chili powder
1 cup cotija cheese
½ cup onions, finely chopped

Chop all fruit into tiny cubes. In a large bowl, combine chopped fruits, onion and the orange and lime juices. Refrigerate until serving. Just before serving, sprinkle individual cups or bowls with cheese, chili powder and salt.

Quick and spicy gazpacho, with only three steps, lives up to its name and makes it easy to get your veggies.

Cantaloupe Gazpacho

1 medium cantaloupe (peeled, seeded, chopped)
1 small cucumber (peeled, chopped)
2 Tbsp. chopped red onion
1/3 cup water
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh mint leaves

Purée cantaloupe, cucumber, onion and water in a blender till smooth. With motor running, drizzle in olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill. Garnish each serving with mint leaves.

Green Grape and Almond Gazpacho

5½ cups seedless green grapes
1 cup chopped, peeled cucumber
1 cup chopped scallions
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup plain regular yogurt
¼ cup toasted sliced almonds
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup buttermilk*
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. ground arbol chile powder
Garnish: fresh herbs like dill, parsley, cilantro, basil

* Can’t find buttermilk? Mix 1 tsp. white vinegar into a scant ¼ cup of regular milk; let sit five minutes.

Combine everything except the dill in a blender or food processor. Purée until mostly smooth with a few small pieces remaining.

Cover and refrigerate until cold. Serve topped with minced fresh herbs.

Quick and Spicy Gazpacho

4 stalks celery
3 red bell peppers
3 yellow bell peppers
2 cucumbers
3-4 avocados, sliced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions
½ red onion
½ lb. shrimp, grilled or sautéed
46 oz. bottle tomato-vegetable juice cocktail (like V-8)
2 (32 oz.) bottles tomato and clam juice cocktail
12 oz. bottle hot pepper sauce (such as Cholula)
⅓ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Dice celery, peppers, cucumbers, all onions. Combine all ingredients except avocados and shrimp in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper.

Refrigerate at least six hours to blend flavors.

Serve topped with shrimp and avocado slices, drizzled with olive oil.

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.

Billionaire owner of Banco Azteca wants it to be first bank to accept bitcoin

MND Staff

June 28, 2021

Banco Azteca plans to become the first bank in Mexico to accept Bitcoin.

Owner Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexico’s third richest person, announced the plan in a series of tweets on Sunday in which he called Bitcoin “the new gold.”

Bitcoin is the world’s largest crypto currency. It was created anonymously in 2009 does not depend on any central institution.

Salinas stated investment opportunity and customer service were the main drivers. “Bitcoin is a good way to diversify your investment portfolio and I think that all investors should start studying cryptocurrencies and their future. At Banco Azteca we are working to bring them to our clients to continue promoting [financial] freedom,” he wrote.

In November, the billionaire revealed on Twitter he had 10% of his liquid portfolio invested in the crypto, which received a boost in recent weeks when El Salvador announced it would become the first country to make it legal tender. Lawmakers in a Brazil and Panama expressed an interest in following suit.

However, the crypto currency’s valuation has had a turbulent recent history. It fell to a five-month low on Tuesday, due to China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency mining and trading. On Monday it was trading at US $34,620 after reaching a high of $63,000 on April 13.

Salinas is worth US $15.8 billion according to Forbes. He runs TV Azteca, Mexico’s No. 2 television broadcaster, and Grupo Elektra, a retailer founded by Salinas’ grandfather in the 1950s that targets lower-middle class consumers, many of whom buy products using money borrowed from Banco Azteca.

With reports from Milenio and Forbes

US restricts movement of personnel in Reynosa due to recent violence

MND Staff

June 28, 2021

'La Vaca,' center, and four others arrested in connection with the Reynosa shootings.

U.S. authorities have ordered staff to suspend field operations in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, due to a severe spate of violence in the border city.

At least 15 innocent civilians were killed on June 19 when gunmen arrived in vehicles and indiscriminately opened fire. Among the victims were taxi drivers, construction workers, a family and a nursing student.

The announcement, issued Friday by the U.S. Consulate General in the neighboring city of Matamoros, read: “In light of the violence that occurred in Reynosa on June 19, U.S. government personnel in Reynosa are temporarily restricted from field operations and official movements other than home-to-work.”

For anyone traveling to the city, it said: “Those choosing to travel to Reynosa, Río Bravo, and surrounding areas should remain vigilant and maintain a heightened state of awareness due to the heightened possibility of violence between rival cartel factions.” U.S. citizens have long been advised against travel to Tamaulipas due to crime and kidnapping.

Meanwhile, eight people have been arrested for the June 19 massacre, including the presumed local boss of the Gulf Cartel, Iván Alejandro “N,” also known as “La Vaca.”

An arrest warrant was issued in 2019 for the crime boss, and a 2-million-peso (about US $101,000) was offered as a reward for information.

Yesterday, the head of the Catholic Church made reference to the massacre.

“The Holy Father reiterates his firm condemnation for this episode of unjustifiable violence,” said Pope Francis in a letter from the Vatican.

U.S. officials urge anyone visiting the area to avoid traveling at night, to review their personal security plans, to monitor the local news and to keep contacts up to date of their whereabouts.

U.S. citizens living in Mexico or traveling to the country can sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which provides security and travel updates.

With reports from Milenio, Infobae and El Financiero

‘We’re fed up:’ Weekend deliveries of promised cancer medications fail to arrive

MND Staff

June 28, 2021

cancer medications protest — 'I want to live,' reads the sign at a protest against shortages.

Cancer medications that the federal Health Ministry promised to deliver to various hospitals over the weekend didn’t arrive, according to an association of parents of children with cancer.

Association president Omar Hernández Ibarra told the newspaper El Universal that the head of the universal healthcare agency Insabi, Juan Ferrer, and the agency’s national coordinator for medicine supply, Alejandro Calderón Alipi, failed to fulfill a pledge made last Wednesday to deliver a range of much-needed cancer drugs to hospitals in cities including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Mérida and Chihuahua.

“The association is made up of at least 50 parents of children with cancer. … We monitor [the distribution of drugs] and we see that they didn’t carry out the supply of the medications,” he said.

The Dr. Ignacio Morones Prieto Central Hospital in San Luis Potosí city was supposed to get 25 essential cancer drugs late last week but only three arrived, according to hospital official Vinicio González Rubio. He said the hospital has faced shortages of more than 600 medications since last year.

Hernández said more protests against drug shortages are likely to be held this week, adding that members of the parents’ association will discuss whether continuing to meet with government officials is worth it given that they have failed to keep their word to resolve the longstanding problem.

‘We can’t go on like this:’ Omar Hernández, head of an association of parents of cancer victims.

“… It’s not fair, it now seems that they’re taunting us, they promise us something and they don’t do it,” he said.

“We can’t go on like this. … [we believe that] the meeting on Wednesday will go ahead but we have to ask all the parents whether they agree with continuing [the dialogue],” Hernández said.

“… It’s now been more than two years that mothers, fathers and other family members of girls and boys with cancer have sought adequate dialogue to resolve our problem. We’ve attended more than 20 meetings with officials who, each time, have committed to resolving our demand but haven’t kept their word,” he said.

“We’re disappointed, fed up, tired and economically and emotionally depleted, but we won’t stop raising our voices.”

The shortage of essential cancer drugs has persisted despite the federal government signing an agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services last July to collaborate on the international purchase of medicines, medical supplies and vaccines.

President López Obrador said at the time that the agreement would allow Mexico to obtain high quality medications and equipment all over the world at low prices and thus put an end to shortages.

But parents of children with cancer have protested ongoing shortages numerous times since then. Earlier this month, parents protesting at the Mexico City airport said there was not only a lack of cancer drugs but also of basic painkillers at the hospitals where their children are treated. A shipment of more than 50,000 units of cancer medications is expected to arrive from Argentina next month but it is unclear whether it will be sufficient to put an end to shortages.

Hernández said that a Health Ministry purchase list he saw didn’t include cyclophosphamide, a chemotherapy drug. He said the ministry’s purchases would only partially combat shortages and noted that drugs will arrive from different countries at different times, which could hinder the comprehensive and timely treatment of children with cancer.

In San Luis Potosí, parents seeking to buy the cancer medications themselves have been unable to find them, said Alma Durán Valero, director of the state branch of the Mexican Association to Help Children with Cancer.

With reports from El Universal and Reforma

Do Mexicans accept death better than other cultures?

Leigh Thelmadatter

June 26, 2021

Funeral procession with taxi in Tenango del Valle, México state. More common in towns and rural areas, processions are rare in Mexico City.

Oddly, we’d had a casual conversation about Licha’s condition a few weeks ago, when my husband Alejandro assured me that things were OK with his sister-in-law’s cancer treatment.

Then, a few days ago, I hear him talking on the phone with that tone of voice that transcends all linguistic barriers. You know the one — half hushed and 150% serious.

Licha’s death on June 19 was my second experience with a death in Alejandro’s family; the first was 12 years ago. My experiences with these events contrast somewhat with a lot of what is written in English about death in Mexico. The idea that death is dealt with differently here, more easily and readily, might be a little simplistic.

Such writings focus on Day of the Dead and its festive skeletons. It is true that Mexicans have their own way of relating to the general concept of death, but it is not a devil-may-care attitude, especially when it hits home.

As a United States-raised Protestant, both deaths I experienced caught me a bit by surprise because there had been no frank talk beforehand about the serious medical issues both women had.

Funeral at a church in San Francisco Tlaltenco, in Mexico City. The requirement to dress up or wear black seems to vary by region and social status.

In the case of Alejandro’s sister, Lupita, this was kind of understandable as she was only 45 years old. I do not know to this day how much Alex knew of her condition before she went into the hospital for the last time; I think Lupe herself kept most of it secret from the rest of the family.

Licha was in her early 70s — still too young though not quite so tragic — but a similar scenario played out. Everything was OK, or not so bad, until it wasn’t.

Like everywhere else, once death comes in Mexico, ritual and tradition take over. They seem to vary greatly in the details depending on a family’s socioeconomic status.

To get it out of the way, I’ll say that my husband, Alejandro, comes from a lower-working-class urban family — Catholic, but not overwhelmingly so. My husband believes in God but not so much in the church.

In Alex’s family, death is immediately followed by a flurry of phone calls among distant family members discussing decisions whether or not to travel. Mexican families don’t tend to scatter like U.S. ones do, and the need to travel long distances is still rare enough the families might not take this into consideration when making funeral arrangements.

Alex’s family is somewhat scattered in central Mexico, so the decision was made for him to travel to Guadalajara while I would stay in Mexico City.

Like many other cultures, Mexican funeral rites have a wake, or viewing period (although this can be optional), and some kind of ceremony related to the disposal of the body. The details of how these are done vary by local and family traditions along with the economic situation of the family.

There is also a novena, or period of prayer, unless the family is not Catholic.

The wake can last anywhere from 24 to 72 hours, depending on whether the body is embalmed. If not, the body must be buried or cremated within 24 hours.

Aside from this, regulations are not as strict or as pervasive as in other countries, and there is some flexibility in how and where a body is set for viewing. Family members can participate in the preparation of the body, such as applying makeup to the face, with viewings happening in funeral parlors or in people’s homes.

The body is laid out in a coffin and usually separated from viewers by a pane of glass or translucent shroud, though an open casket allowing mourners to touch the body is not unheard of.

Someone is usually with the body day and night at this time, often with one or more people praying. But there is often food and conversation going on as well, especially in the areas farther away from the deceased.

Depositary for urns at the San José de Gracia Church in Querétaro city.

Final rites can be held in the same funeral parlor as the wake or at a church, with the latter being more common in more rural areas — as are processions. In the almost 15 years I have lived in Mexico City, I have never seen any sort of funeral procession, but I have seen them (motorized and on foot) in towns.

In the case of my husband’s sister, the final service was in the funeral home, with only immediate family accompanying the body to the crematorium. Burial is far more traditional, but the lack of space in places like Mexico City has made cremation more acceptable. Burial or the depositing of ashes is often done with a small ceremony.

If you are not from a Mexican Catholic family, the biggest difference for you will be the novena — a nine-day period after the burial when family and close friends gather at least once a day — often after work — to recite the rosary and other prayers for the deceased.

This is done in the deceased’s home or that of a close family member. It often means a crowded house, full of people eating tamales and drinking atole once the somber task of praying for the soul is completed.

Dress codes for public funeral rites vary quite a bit, and it seems mostly to have to do with socioeconomic status. People may wear anything from the most formal attire, preferably in black, or the clothes they wear every day. In my husband’s family, somewhat more formal attire in a darker color suffices.

Although the rites observed in the hours and days after a loved one dies are very important, they don’t seem to take on the sense of urgency that they have in my family. Probably because of Day of the Dead (when many funeral rites are repeated), it is not necessary to show all of your grief immediately.

So, yes, funerals in Mexico are about saying goodbye, but that goodbye is not as absolute as they are in Anglo-Protestant cultures. On Day of the Dead, you have a chance each year to relate to those who have gone before, a psychologically healthy way to deal with lingering grief.

In loving memory of Lupita and Licha; see you on November 2.

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.

Espionage and presidents on trial: the week at the mañaneras

MND Staff

June 26, 2021

lopez obrador — Despite bad news, the president's optimism is unquashed.

The 65th president of the United States of México has been giving morning news conferences since he took office in 2018. For some, the mañaneras, as they are known, are an essential platform for public information. For others, they are an exercise in propaganda.

Here are the highlights from this week’s conferences.

Monday

The first mañanera of the week was more presentation than conference. Only one journalist was given the opportunity to address the president.

Following the weekly roundups, AMLO, as the president is commonly known, showed the “campaign of manipulation” his administration faced. A clip of an opposition deputy’s voice reverberated: “A disaster … They have to be canceled: the Maya Train, the refinery, the Santa Lucía airport and Sowing Life.”

The deputy on show, Gabriel Ricardo Quadri, took exception, later branding the mañaneras a “narcissistic and cynical instrument of autocratic construction.”

The monthly security report came next.

Top military brass related facts and figures with a sense of ease, in stark contrast to the plague of violence that continues to ravage the country. “99,946 elements have been deployed in 214 regional coordinations,” said one.

The last speaker offered something tangible: homicide rates had fallen 2.9% in annual terms. Fifty percent of killings were concentrated in six states: Guanajuato, Baja California, Jalisco, state of México, Michoacán and Chihuahua.

When the lucky journalist’s chance came, he asked about planes. An old presidential plane had been sold: where did the money go? The president responded by ridiculing commercial space travel and advertising the newer, still for sale presidential plane.

Tuesday

Health officials kicked off Tuesday with their weekly conga, in which a small rise in Covid-19 cases was announced.

AMLO looked ahead to August 1: a referendum will ask whether past heads of state should be investigated for corruption. He summarized the crimes of his predecessors: “Why judge Carlos Salinas? Well, because he gave all the goods of the nation and the people of Mexico to his close friends, it’s that simple.”

Ernesto Zedillo: “Because … he converted the private debts of a few into public debt and we have been paying that debt for 30, 40 years.”

Vicente Fox: “Because he deceived the people … he became president and became a traitor to democracy.”

Felipe Calderón: “He declared war on crime without addressing the causes … massacres were carried out, there were instructions to finish off the wounded.”

Enrique Peña Nieto: “For obvious acts of corruption.”

Conveniently, a journalist raised a corruption case from the previous administration in which 20 billion pesos had been transferred from state oil company Pemex to its associated union. The union leader’s family lived lavishly thereafter.

But, despite the mire, AMLO’s optimism could not be quashed. He turned a famous Porfirio Díaz quote on its head: “Blessed Mexico, so close to God, and not too far from the United States.”

Wednesday

To the relief of neglected journalists, the whole of Wednesday’s mañanera was dedicated to their questions. However, that didn’t stop the president from addressing their questions as he saw fit.

The head of state announced a new weekly roundup. “We’re going to invite someone from the government to explain the lies of the week. Just like we have the who’s who for [gas and oil] prices on Monday, we are going to have a who’s who on the week’s lies, to combat fake news,” he said.

Later, the president put out a warning. “Power,” he related, “makes intelligent men foolish, and makes foolish men go mad.”

The leader of the world’s 15th largest economy acknowledged that taking responsibility is the antidote.

“We should not get angry, neither you nor us … those in authority have to have patience. The three P’s are required: presence, patience and prudence,” he said.

However, one of those P’s was running thin as he made his exit: “This authority has to go and have his coffee with milk and a cookie … So, see you tomorrow.”

Thursday

It was straight to the floor again on Thursday.

A video had circulated of a transparency agency official hitting two women. The president said he hadn’t seen it, and took the opportunity to rail against the organization in question. “The transparency body … Those are the organizations that should disappear. They cost a lot and they achieve nothing,” he said.

A matter of great concern to the audience was raised. The government had been accused of spying on columnists who were critical of the government.

“Well, it’s not true … it’s like a choir, everyone agrees to question the government without evidence … False, nothing more than,” was the president’s response.

It was all sour grapes, he said. “The owner of El Financiero received a loan of US $100 million from the development bank, the owner of El Universal also had a loan from the development bank … and what they received in advertising was stratospheric,” he said.

Despite his feisty rhetoric, AMLO said the charge of polarization could not be laid at his door. “Mexico has been polarized for century … A few have a lot, and a lot have little; that’s the polarization that has always existed,” he said.

Friday

“Good morning, afternoon,” began the president, revealing a late start on Friday. The preceding security meeting had run long, he informed.

Lunch might have already been circulating in some journalists’ minds: avocados and seafood were both mentioned early on. Fishermen in Veracruz were still waiting to be compensated for an oil spill a decade earlier, and wanted some fishing restrictions lifted; avocado farmers, tired of criminal incursions, had taken up arms in Michoacán to defend themselves.

International politics were given a rare platform. A journalist said Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega may seek a fourth term after 14 years in power, and that 17 opponents, including five journalists, had been detained.

“We believe that freedoms should be guaranteed and that there should be no repression anywhere, neither in Nicaragua nor in Colombia, nor in any country in the world … nothing by force, everything by reason and law,” the president responded.

“Hopefully in Nicaragua and in Colombia, and in Peru too, everything is resolved peacefully,” he added, alluding to the fragile political situations in the three countries. The Colombian president’s helicopter was shot at later in the day.

In a change to normal proceedings, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez presented at the close. She gave some good news to kick off the weekend: all adults in Baja California had been fully vaccinated, the first state in the country to achieve the feat.

Mexico News Daily

Covid cases continue to surge in Baja California Sur

Rose Egelhoff

June 26, 2021

A healthcare worker administers a Covid test.

Cases of Covid-19 continue to rise in Baja California Sur, prompting the reopening of two temporary hospital wards to handle the surge. The temporary hospitals, which the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) will set up in covered hospital parking areas, will add 40 beds in La Paz and 30 in Los Cabos.

There are currently 320 people hospitalized for Covid in the state, said Health Minister Víctor Jorge Flores. That includes 195 patients in Los Cabos and 120 in La Paz. The patients have an average age of 45 to 47 years, though two are aged 19 and 20.

Baja California Sur currently has 2,812 active Covid-19 cases, up from 2,272 on Monday.

Given the increase in case numbers, Los Cabos mayor-elect Óscar Leggs has called for more stringent health measures to contain the spread. He suggested the state should declare itself red, or high risk, on the stoplight alert system, which would trigger more health restrictions.

“Fifteen days or so of total isolation could help us a lot,” Leggs said.

Coronavirus cases and deaths in Mexico as reported by day. milenio

Failing that, he asked citizens to voluntarily stay home.

“Stay home. The beaches are open, so what!” he said. “We are not going to contribute to the propagation of the virus and everyone else should do the same.”

At the national level, Covid cases have surged 14% compared to last week, after months on the decline.

There were 5,270 new cases registered on Friday, bringing the accumulated total to 2.49 million. There were 278 deaths, bringing that total to 232,346.

Hospital occupancy across the country is 17% on average, but significantly higher in a some places.

As of Friday, Mexico has administered 42.8 million doses of Covid vaccine.

With reports from AP News, Milenio, Diario El Independiente and La Jornada

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