President Claudia Sheinbaum held an unusual press conference on Friday morning: It lasted less than an hour and she didn’t take any questions from reporters. As a result, she didn’t face questions about violence that broke out late Thursday in Mexico City at a march to commemmorate the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre.
The main focus of the abbreviated mañanera was the “Viernes muy mexicano” (Very Mexican Friday) initiative and the México Canta singing competition, which will stage its grand finale this Sunday.
Buy Mexican, shop local
Viernes Muy Mexicano is a public-private initiative designed to encourage consumers to buy Mexican products and use Mexican services, especially those on offer at family-run businesses in their own communities rather than at multinational chains.
The objective, according to the Viernes Muy Mexicano website, is to “strengthen pride, consumption, and national identity in everyday life by promoting the consumption of Mexican products every Friday.”
Every Friday participating businesses offer promotions, discounts and “special experiences,” the website says. “The last Friday of each month will have greater visibility and participation.”
The initiative — which in part can be seen as a response to United States’ protectionism — began in September. It complements the government’s renewed promotion of the Hecho en México (Made in Mexico) branding of locally-made products.
On Friday morning, the president of the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism provided an update on the initiative.
Octavio de la Torre Stéffano said that on the first day that the initiative ran, which was last Friday, 23,335 “family businesses” across all 32 federal initiatives participated.
“The states with the most registrations were Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Guanajuato, Puebla and Mexico City,” he said.
“Among the municipalities with the most promotions were Ciudad Victoria, León, Puebla, Campeche and Puerto Vallarta,” de la Torre said.
Participating businesses receive stickers and posters to promote their participation in the Viernes Muy Mexicano initiative.
De la Torre said that restaurants, hardware stores and beauty salons were among the businesses that participated last Friday.
He said that the initiative supports “local employment” and contributes to “community safety.”
“Presidenta,” de la Torre added.
“Viernes Muy Mexicano is aligned with Plan México, … it strengthens the internal market, promotes shared prosperity and recognizes the family business as the backbone of the economy,” he said.
“…I also want to emphasize something important. This is not just a discount campaign, this is the economy with a human face. When we choose a neighborhood restaurant, a hardware store, a shop, or a salon in our community, what we are doing is financing family scholarships, helping to pay rents, sustaining learning, generating and maintaining trades, and above all, preventing income from escaping outside the community,” de la Torre said.
“For us, that is everyday sovereignty; it is where we decide that money in circulation should remain in our country,” he said.
Record deals up for grabs in ‘México Canta’ finale
The finalists of the “México Canta” singing competition attended the mañanera and performed parts of the songs they will sing at the grand finale on Sunday night.
As Mexico News Daily reported on Thursday, “México Canta” is a singing competition akin to “American Idol” with one overriding rule: Songs that glorify the lives of cartels, violence or drug trafficking are not allowed.
Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza reminded reporters that “México Canta” is an “unprecedented binational contest” that “unites young Mexicans and Mexican-Americans through music and our traditions.”
She thanked all the contestants as well as established artists that supported the competition.
“It’s a competition that is organized by the Mexican government through the Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Mexican Music Council,” Curiel de Icaza said.
“It has been an integral part of the strategy of attending to the causes [of crime] in order to obtain peace and against addictions,” she said.
“The goal has always been to promote new musical narratives that transform lyrics to express values and other possible worlds without resorting to glorifying violence,” Curiel de Icaza said.
The “México Canta” grand finale on Sunday will air from 7 to 9 p.m. Mexico City time on Canal Once, Canal 22 and Canal 14; the first two are on various platforms and cable systems in the United States.
Additionally, the show is expected to be streamed live on YouTube channels, such as the official Gobierno de México and Secretaría de Cultura accounts.
Curiel de Icaza said that two prizes will be awarded via the popular vote of viewers: one for best composition and another for best performance.
Specialist judges will award a third prize to another finalist, the culture minister said. All three winners will be awarded record deals.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
