Just hours after mayors in the coastal region of Oaxaca announced strict new health measures, other government officials appeared to walk back on the restrictions.
Last Friday, mayors from a number of Oaxaca communities agreed to close beaches and suspend all tourist activities, hoping to slow the wave of coronavirus infections currently hitting the area. They also prohibited the sale of alcohol, banned large group gatherings and limited hotels and restaurants to operating at 35% capacity. The mayors represented the communities of Pochutla, Tonameca, Huatulco, Colotepec, San Miguel del Puerto, Pluma Hidalgo and Tututepec.
But some state and municipal authorities were not happy with the restrictions. After the announcement, they faced push-back from the state tourism board and the Huatulco municipal council announced that beaches would not, in fact, be completely closed. Rather, they would be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while nightclubs and bars would be shuttered. Hotels and restaurants serving tourists would be limited to 30% capacity.
The state government confirmed there would not be a total closure of the beaches, telling the newspaper El Universal that while it respected the decision of municipal authorities, Friday’s announcement by the mayors had been misinterpreted.
The beaches where access will be limited include those in Puerto Escondido, Zipolite, Puerto Ángel and Salina Cruz, where visitors will be allowed at 35% capacity, and use of face masks will be mandatory. In some areas, mayors have approved fines and even jail time for those found not using face masks in public.
Furthermore, a minivan service between Puerto Escondido and Pochutla will be halted after the region entered the red (maximum alert) rating on the coronavirus risk map on Monday.
According to Oaxaca Health Services, the coast region has 4,021 confirmed Covid cases and 345 people have died since the pandemic began.
Synchronized diving medal winners Alejandra Orozco and Gaby Agúndez.
The Mexican Olympic team brought home four bronze medals and seven fourth-place finishes from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which wrapped up on the weekend.
Medals came in men’s soccer; mixed archery for Alejandra Valencia and Luis Álvarez; the women’s synchronized 10-meter diving for Alejandra Orozco and Gaby Agúndez; and in the women’s weightlifting for Aremi Fuentes.
The tally fell short of the 12 medals predicted by Sport Commission (Conade) head and Athens 1994 Olympic silver medalist Ana Guevara. Expectations were also heightened by the country’s outstanding performance at the 2019 Pan American Games, where it won 136 medals, 37 of them gold.
One hundred and sixty-three athletes participated at the Games, the most in 50 years, with first time appearances in events like softball, where the team came fourth, gymnastics trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics and women’s wrestling. The performance was far from the country’s worst: in Paris 1900, Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964 and Atlanta 1996 it only claimed one bronze medal.
Swimming bronze medalist at the 1968 Mexico City Games, María Teresa Ramírez, said the Covid-19 pandemic had made preparation difficult for athletes. “It wasn’t easy for Mexico. The pandemic made everything difficult. When an athlete prepares for a world-class event there are many years at stake. Everything is planned. I talked to a lot of athletes and they tried to maintain a good attitude despite the circumstances. They trained wherever they could … On an emotional level they were affected. I was told there were athletes who felt alone, they trained alone,” she said.
“That’s the way sports are — if you’re not on the podium it looks like you didn’t do the work … it’s cruel,” she added.
The results have also been attributed to organizational issues and a lack of funding. In Mexico there is no ministry of sports unlike in sporting superpowers such as China or the United Kingdom. Instead, Conade reports to the Ministry of Education. The budget changes each year, and varies depending on the administration.
The budget has decreased 51% in the last 10 years in real terms, according to the magazine Expansión. Conade received 2.67 billion pesos this year, equivalent to 0.056% of the national budget. In 2011, it was allocated significantly more at 0.21% of the budget.
The 2012 London Olympic Games saw Mexico’s best performance in history, and it was also the year that Conade was given the highest level of funding.
Wrestling silver medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Daniel Aceves, put the responsibility squarely at the door of government authorities. “It has to be a decision of the executive and legislative branches to attribute greater importance to sports through the national budget,” he said.
León's international hot air balloon festival is one of Guanajuato state's many events and activities that attract tourists each year. Festival Internacional de Globo
With 32 states and 5,800 miles of gorgeous coastline, urbanscapes and quaint colonial towns — in regions that each have their own special cuisine, distinct accents and beautiful biodiversity — Mexico has so many destinations worth visiting, it can be hard to know where to start.
I’ve gotten to know Guanajuato well during my 13 years in the country, and it still has nooks and crannies I have yet to explore. Tourists who head right to the state’s most famous attraction — the city of San Miguel de Allende — miss out on the plethora of places and activities the state has to offer.
By far, one of the state’s biggest and best destinations is Guanajuato city. As you approach, the multicolored facades of the houses creeping up the mountains glitter in the sunshine. A massive system of underground tunnels and stone archways snaking under the city’s streets provide a sense of the long history of this former silver mining center.
A jewel of the Spanish viceregal period, the city’s welcoming urban space beckons tourists to meander through its alleyways that snake through classic architecture. Diego Rivera’s childhood home is here, as is the state’s famous mummy museum (a result of the arid landscape that “mummified” many of the previous inhabitants).
A growing list of excellent boutique hotels and restaurants are flooded with guests each year during the world-famous International Cervantino Festival (FIC), the largest performing arts festival in the Americas.
Bird’s-eye view of the state capital and former mining city of Guanajuato.
In contrast to some of the country’s sleepier destinations, Guanajuato has a vibrant cultural scene due in part to the University of Guanajuato, whose main campus is in the heart of downtown. But it’s also a working city with attractions geared not only toward tourists but also to the almost 200,000 people who live and work here. This is a real draw for foreigners looking to learn Spanish: you can mingle with locals as opposed to heavily touristy destinations where you might end up speaking a lot of English.
The city has several good language schools, including Escuela Mexicana, Escuela Falcon, and La Hacienda Spanish School. The price tag for a few months here (spent in a great neighborhood with all the bells and whistles) is much less than other more touristy locations.
The state has six Pueblos Mágicos, Magical Towns officially recognized by the Mexican government for their cultural and historical significance. Mineral de Pozos, which seemed frozen in time just 10 years ago, is being discovered for its bohemian charm and tranquil ambiance.
The town is smattered with small hotels, boutique shops and a handful of good eateries but retains its small-town charm and easy living. Once inhabited by various nomadic tribes, Mineral de Pozos became a center of mining during the 18th century but closed most of the mines by the mid-1920s. You can still visit some of these crumbling reminders of the town’s glory days on its outskirts, enjoy a relaxing weekend of off-road biking and amble through the town’s narrow streets surrounded by ancient architecture.
Dolores Hidalgo, another Magical Town, is a perfect weekend day trip from nearby San Miguel de Allende or Guanajuato city. You can see the church where Father Miguel Hidalgo first called for Mexico’s independence as well as wander through local pottery shops so famous for their craft that you can now find examples around the world.
In the main square, stop for one of the town’s nieves (ice cream) in a wild range of flavors — think mole or pulque — or sit for a spell under the main plaza’s leafy canopy and watch local breakdancers or mini theatrical performances.
Yuriria, a Magical Town that’s one of the state’s oldest, still has rural surroundings where coyotes roam.
A trip to Dolores Hidalgo is nicely paired with a stop at some of the state’s wineries scattered throughout the Bajío region, where wine grapes were first grown in the New World; Father Hidalgo was rumored to have his own vineyard.
The wine scene here has really just started to blossom in the past decade, so some vineyards are still young and working on perfecting their vintages. However, a few stalwarts — like Cuna de Tierra — have been developing their particular styles (rich, deep reds in Cuna de Tierra’s case) for years and have won fame internationally.
Newcomer Tres Raíces is also making some beautiful wines. Its vineyard and boutique hotel is also idyllic for a few days’ stay. Other vineyards include Dos Buhos, the organic vineyard Viñedos Toyan and Viñedos San Lucas. All four are located on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende.
Other roadtrip-worthy destinations include Yuriria, home to Guanajuato’s first Catholic convent, built in 1550 from volcanic rock. It’s well known for its rebozos, intricately patterned handmade shawls.
Guanajuato’s first official city, Salvatierra, hosts a harvest festival each year in November, a mix of indigenous and Catholic rituals with music, dancing and fireworks. In tiny Jalpa de Canovas, visit the town’s founding hacienda (which once hosted Mexico’s first and only emperor, Maximiliano) and see the gothic-inspired Church of Our Lord of Mercy.
If you are chasing Mexican Independence history, stop in the town of Atotonilco to see the mural-covered chapel where Hidalgo stopped on his independence march and took an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe there to use as his makeshift army’s standard. León, the state’s industrial center, is worth a visit during their annual hot air balloon festival.
Mineral de Pozos’ famous “Jesuit Ovens” — smelting ovens built by Spanish Jesuits to service a mine outside of town.
So much wide-open country means that in most of the towns I mentioned you can sign up for horseback riding, ATV or mountain biking tours. Tourismo Alternativo offers bike tours of Guanajuato city. Want to do it on your own? There are great resources on local bike routes already archived that can save you from traveling by car altogether.
It’s also a great state for camping, although campgrounds vary wildly in terms of services, access and maintained trails. Some areas worth a sleep under the stars include Peña Alta, a protected pine forest north of Dolores Hidalgo; Tierrablanca, where you can sleep in a hammock suspended hundreds of feet above a canyon and Sierra de Lobos, a protected oak forest just outside Guanajuato city with beautiful natural rock monoliths.
Traditional street food and homemade dishes in small family-run comedores are the best way to get a taste of Mexico, and the region has a few specialties to keep an eye out for as you travel; enchiladas mineras is one of the most famous.
A nighttime snack, these are tortillas dipped in a guajillo chile sauce and stuffed with local cheese, shredded lettuce, pickled chiles, carrots and potatoes. Also on the menu is capone de nopales con xoconostle. Popular in the southern part of the state, this is a cactus salad with prickly pear, tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro added. In León, try guacamayas; though named after parrots, they are actually a fried pork skin (chicharrón) sandwich with pickled veggies, salt and lime on top. Finally for dessert, try the state’s charamuscas — figurines made of Mexican cane sugar, called piloncillo.
Whatever you decide to highlight on your map, you are bound to encounter the warm hospitality of Mexico’s cradle of independence and — if you are willing to get off the beaten path — experiences that will stay with you until your next Mexico trip.
ʼCause let’s be honest; you’ll be back.
Outside many of Guanajuato’s towns you can explore on horseback.
Lydia Carey is a regular contributor to Mexico News Daily.
Soldiers patrol an Acapulco beach earlier this year to remind visitors to follow coronavirus precautions.
As of Monday bars and nightclubs are closed for business in Guerrero thanks to new measures that state authorities hope will stem the tide of new coronavirus cases.
In a virtual press conference, state officials announced that beaches will stay open but only from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with only 40% of the usual occupancy permitted. The authorities also asked that beach-goers use face masks.
Parties, camping and live music are suspended but hotels will be allowed to continue operating at 40% capacity. Restaurants will remain open at 50% capacity and alcohol sales will be prohibited after 7 p.m. Cemeteries will be closed and places of worship can only operate at 40% capacity.
“We are looking for the middle ground … we reiterate that the beaches will stay open, but with restrictions,” said Governor Héctor Astudillo. He added that the health measures aim to slow the rising numbers of Covid cases over the next two weeks.
“We are making an energetic call to all who would come to the tourist centers of Acapulco and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. They must know that we have a complicated situation here and they must follow the [health] guidelines,” Astudillo said. “We frequently find that the people ignoring [the guidelines] are the visitors.”
Mexico City is at red (high risk) on the coronavirus stoplight risk map, Astudillo said, meaning that visitors from the capital city could infect Guerrero citizens.
As of Monday, Guerrero is also red on the map. Despite that alert and the rise in cases, Acapulco registered 40% tourist occupancy on Sunday and beaches were brimming with vacationers.
A female vaquita identified as Ana with a calf in 2018. Oscar Ortiz
Three federal ministries announced a new agreement with NGOs Saturday to define cooperative efforts to save the endangered vaquita porpoise.
Although no NGOs were named and the announcement was thin on detail, the Ministries of Environment, Navy and Agriculture said in a joint statement that the accord would bring about improved collaboration in conservation efforts and avoid aggressive acts by people engaged in illegal fishing.
Last December, there was a clash between small fishboats and a vessel operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. A fisherman died after one boat collided with the vessel.
The agreement states that authorities will focus their efforts on inspection and monitoring in a so-called “zero tolerance” zone in the upper Gulf of California, where gillnet fishing had been declared illegal to protect the vaquita. The porpoise is a bycatch in the illegal totoaba fishery, made lucrative by strong demand for that fish’s swim bladder, a delicacy in China that has been referred to as the “cocaine of the sea.”
Like the drug, its trafficking has drawn drug cartels to participate.
While the government will attempt to control illegal fishing, a responsibility it has been unable to carry out successfully in the past, civil society organizations will remove abandoned nets and work to raise awareness about vaquita conservation among fishermen.
The accord comes three weeks after the Mexican government relaxed restrictions in the no-fishing zone, triggering a wave of accusations by conservationists that Mexico was abandoning the vaquita.
The most recent of those came from U.S. actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who criticized the government on his Twitter account last Thursday. “The vaquita porpoise is the most endangered marine mammal in the world. Yet, the Mexican government has lifted the ban on fishing in its habitat, effectively ensuring that the remaining 10 or so porpoises will die in gillnets.”
DiCaprio signed a memorandum of understanding in 2017 with then president Peña Nieto and businessman Carlos Slim to protect the vaquita, at which time there were still some 30 remaining. The intention was to make a temporary gillnet ban permanent in the Gulf of California.
But like most efforts at saving the mammal nothing was accomplished due to lack of enforcement, the growing involvement of cartels and protests by unhappy fishermen deprived of their ability to make a living.
Despite the fact there may be as few as 10 vaquita remaining, not all conservationists have written off the vaquita as a lost cause.
Environmental writer Andrew Revkin of the Climate School at Columbia University wrote last week he saw four reasons for hope after interviewing a marine scientist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Barbara Taylor argued that the porpoise has a fighting chance:
The survivors are wily and elusive, she said, with their scars and behavior showing they are aware of the risk nets pose.
The estimated presence of three calves – all fat and healthy in 2019 – showed that the remaining females are prolific breeders.
Recent analysis of the vaquita genome shows they are unlikely to face a genetic bottleneck that sometimes threatens the recovery of deeply depleted species.
Finally, there are other examples of species, including marine mammals, reviving from tiny numbers after devastating slaughter. She cited the northern elephant seal, which was declared extinct in 1884. A tiny population was later discovered on an island off Mexico’s Pacific coast. Now there are 300,000.
Yucatán residents protest the rape and murder of José Eduardo Ravelo in Mérida.
Four Mérida municipal police officers are now in custody for the rape and murder of a young man, according to an announcement by the Yucatán state governor on Saturday.
After police detained José Eduardo Ravelo, 23, on July 21 he was raped and badly beaten, leading to his death on August 3. Ravelo had recently arrived in Mérida from Veracruz, looking for a job.
The day after the attack, his mother said, Ravelo called her and told her what had happened. She traveled to be at his side as he was dying.
“In a video … the attorney general’s lawyer told me that when he was inside [the jail], you can hear screams and no one went to help him,” the victim’s mother told local media outlets.
“In our state there is no place for impunity … there will be justice,” Governor Mauricio Vila said, adding that the family had accepted help from the State Commission for Victim Services.
The murder has triggered protests by Yucatán residents and nonprofit organizations. The demonstrators rallied outside the municipal government building on Sunday.
“The police don’t protect us; they rape us, they kill us!” people chanted.
Some left flowers and candles by the building’s entrance in Ravelo’s memory.
Lawyer Adriana Quintal was one of the people who attended the protest. She said the crime was not an isolated incident.
“This is not an isolated case of violence by the police against citizens, what’s different is it’s the first case where a mother dared to rub it in their faces. In Progreso last year there were various [police murders],” Quintal said.
The federal Interior Ministry (Segob) has announced that the investigation will include an inquiry into whether discrimination based on physical appearance, age or personal identity factored into the attack on Ravelo.
The documentary Comala will compete in the Toronto International Film Festival.
It was only after his father’s death that Monterrey film director Gian Cassini, 34, learned what his father did for a living: he was a drug cartel sicario. The man had often been absent in Cassini’s youth, and now he knew why.
His father was killed during the violent drug-trafficking crackdown by the Felipe Calderón administration, Cassini said.
“At the time I remember it was like … I wanted to keep it in a box, as if it were separate from him. I thought, ‘I don’t need this in my life,’” Cassini said.
But talking with his father’s family and seeing their loss, Cassini became more interested in the dichotomy between the man his family knew and the violent business in which he had been involved and decided to make a documentary about his family’s experience. Now, after nine years of work, the film Comala is debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“Initially, I thought I’d make a fictional film, but when I met with my family and saw everything, how the absence of a son, a brother and a father affected them, I was inspired [to make a documentary] … Little by little I convinced them to participate, which is admirable because we all have things we are ashamed of or things we don’t want to confront … in the end, they threw themselves in and were completely honest with me,” Cassini said.
Rather than focusing on sensationalist violence, the film looks at the toll his father’s line of work took on his immediate family. One of the film’s goals, Cassini said, was to spread awareness of the problem of violence, which is often normalized.
“It’s terrifying how we have arrived at the point of normalizing the violence of narco-trafficking. It is something that seems to no longer affect us, and is even celebrated [in popular culture] … It’s worth remembering that … in the midst of all of that, we are still human beings and what is happening affects us,” Cassini said.
The Toronto festival runs from September 9 through 18.
On Saturday night reports were heard of an armed man shooting in the tourist zone of Cabo San Lucas. It turned out to be none other than the head of the state Ministry of Public Security in Baja California Sur.
Germán Wong, allegedly drunk, drove through the area near Lázaro Cárdenas boulevard shooting off rounds around 11 p.m.
After receiving the reports local police mounted an operation to catch the shooters, who were traveling in a white Honda. When they found the vehicle and stopped it, they found Wong in the passenger seat. He was accompanied by three women and another man.
According to the newspaper Milenio, the officers did not believe Wong when he claimed to be the head of the state police and their superior officer. Instead, they handcuffed and interrogated him.
An hour later, municipal Police Chief oJuan José Zamorano arrived and ordered Wong be disarmed and taken home.
Baja California Sur Governor Carlos Mendoza later announced on Twitter that Wong would be fired. He has been the minister of public security since February 2018.
“The members of my cabinet must have irreproachable conduct,” he wrote.
Fewer Brits are expected among travelers at Mexico City airport.
The inclusion of Mexico on the U.K.’s travel red list means losses in the millions of dollars for the tourism industry, according to trade body the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
A third wave of Covid-19 infections in Mexico has seen around 20,000 new cases a day, which triggered the U.K. to change the country’s status from amber to red on its travel list. Many tourists from the U.K. rushed home before 4:00 a.m. Sunday to avoid a 10-day hotel quarantine which will cost arrivals about US $2,425. People without legal residence are banned from entering the U.K. from Mexico.
The WTTC estimates that the decision will affect about 6,000 U.K. tourists. Data from the Tourism Ministry (Sectur) shows the United Kingdom is the main source of tourists from Europe and the fourth biggest globally. Mexico was becoming a more popular destination for U.K. tourism, which grew by 16.8% from 2015-2018, from 505,954 to 590,954 visitors.
The announcement deals a fresh blow to the industry, which suffered badly due to travel restrictions in the pandemic. Data from federal statistics institute Inegi shows that the value of the industry dropped 55.1% in 2020 compared to 2019. However, it was still a significant foreign currency earner: according to the WTTC’s annual economic impact report it contributed 8.5% to Mexico’s GDP in 2020 and generated 5.8 million jobs.
The vice president of the WTTC, Virginia Messina, estimated the economic impact of the decision. “The longer [restrictions] are extended the greater the impact. We are talking about many millions of dollars for the Mexican economy,” she said.
She added that the restrictions could cost $2 million per day for the tourism industry, which would mean losses of $364 million over six months. Other European countries could also take action to restrict arrivals from Mexico, she said.
In the U.K. 70% of the population has received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and officials hope to hit 100% in October. That has heightened fears of introducing new Covid-19 variants to the population, against which vaccines may not be effective. Meanwhile, in Mexico almost 40% of people have received a first dose, according to Health Ministry data released on August 7.
Sixty countries are on the U.K.’s red list including much of Latin America. The countries include Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela and Panama.
The U.K. government updates its list of countries every three weeks. Travelers can view updates and requirements on the official government website.
The basking shark on the beach in Puerto Vallarta.
An unusual sight gave beach-goers a scare on Saturday in Puerto Vallarta. After an ominous triangular fin was spotted circling near the shore, bathers exited the water and a crowd gathered to watch a small shark, just over a meter long, that was wandering through the shallows.
Fear quickly turned to concern for the animal’s well being after the shark came too close to the beach and a wave left it stranded on the sand. Civil Protection agents quickly arrived at the scene to help the shark, which had an injury on its tail. They decided that it was not serious enough to necessitate additional aid.
Then, with the help of local parachute tour operator José Manuel Castillón and his boat, the animal was taken half a kilometer out to sea and released, well away from the beach and its tourists.
It was identified as a small basking shark, a species that does not attack humans.
