Tag Archives: Environment

Huatulco

Bahías de Huatulco: Three Important Developments

Leave a comment

By Randy Jackson

Back in December 2021, I wrote an article for The Eye (Understanding Huatulco) that outlined some of the future uncertainty of the Bays of Huatulco as a resort area created and funded by the federal agency FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo). The last official plan for Huatulco under FONATUR was issued by the federal administration of Felipe Calderón (2006-12). Since then, development has continued, but on a smaller scale than had been anticipated by the Calderón plan. Nonetheless, in recent years there has been a flourishing of residential real estate projects, and a continuous increase in the number of tourists, particularly domestic tourists.

Under the current Federal administration of AMLO (Andrés Manuel López Obrador), funding for and responsibilities of FONATUR were reduced in favor of AMLO’s pet project, the Mayan Train in the Yucatán. As his term comes to an end, AMLO has issued new directives that will have significant impacts on Huatulco, its current level of functioning, and its future development:

(1) The transfer of the ownership, governance, and maintenance of Huatulco from FONATUR to the State of Oaxaca and the municipality of Santa María Huatulco.
(2) The creation of three new national parks within the boundaries of Huatulco, along with the conversion of the Tangolunda golf course to a Natural Protected Area (Áreas Naturales Protegidas, ANPs).
(3) The opening of the toll road from the City of Oaxaca to the Oaxacan Coast.

FONATUR Set To Leave Bahías de Huatulco

The long-running rumor of the exit of FONATUR from Huatulco seems to have come to pass. In January of this year, the State of Oaxaca issued a press release announcing joint actions by the State of Oaxaca and FONATUR for the purpose of “rehabilitation of the Huatulco Comprehensive Planned Center [CIP, Centro Integramente Planeado].” On May 30, 2023, a collaboration agreement was announced by the federal Government of Mexico, the State of Oaxaca, FONATUR, and Tourism Mexico. I paraphrase the salient clauses of this agreement:

● FONATUR will transfer to the State of Oaxaca responsibility for operating the services it has provided to CIP Huatulco through FONATUR infrastructure.
● FONATUR will transfer to the State of Oaxaca responsibility for all matters related to the transfer of FONATUR real estate.
● The collaborating parties will enter into a series of specific agreements to enable the transfer of all assets, properties, licenses, permits, and staff of CIP Huatulco from FONATUR to the State of Oaxaca. The State government will accept the staff for which it has sufficient funds in its budget.
● FONATUR and the State Government will enter into specific agreements with the Municipality of Santa María Huatulco for the provision of services.
● The working group of the parties to this agreement will provide a critical path of actions required to carry out the transfer agreement. This critical path will be provided within 30 days of May 30, 2023.

Following this agreement, the State of Oaxaca announced a list of 700 real estate properties to be transferred from FONATUR to the state. In an October 26 article on NVI Noticias, an online Oaxacan news service, Saymi Pineda Velasco, Oaxaca’s Secretary for Tourism, announced the setting up of nine “work tables” (mesas de trabajo) to clarify the status of infrastructure for CIP Huatulco (for wells, sewage, water systems, treatment plants, etc.). This article also mentioned the only timeline I could find on the actual transfer of CIP Huatulco from FONATUR to the Oaxacan state; Pineda Velasco said it was “two months before the deadline for the delivery and receipt of the Huatulco CIP.” As the article was published on October 26, 2023, the putative transfer target date is December 31, 2023.

Will It Happen?
So, is this a done deal? Well, maybe, maybe not. The clock is ticking on AMLO’s mandate. The next federal election will take place on June 2, 2024, and the new president will take office on December 1, 2024. The number of agreements, legal documents, and possibly legislation required to make the transfer within both the state and federal bureaucracies would be substantial. Also, four of the 19 signatories to the transfer agreement have left their positions, most notably the head of FONATUR, Javier May Rodríguez, who has announced he is running to be the governor of the state of Tabasco. Also, the FONATUR Directors of Development, Commercialization, and Strategic Management and Institutional Liaison have all left their positions since signing the agreement.

Will time run out, and a new federal administration have a different approach to Huatulco? Who knows? But the motivation of the State of Oaxaca (the governor of Oaxaca, Salomón Jara Cruz, is now in the first year of his six-year term) could be a factor. Huatulco receives 17% of the state’s tourists and 45% of the state’s tourism revenue, and the potential sale of the 700 real estate properties that FONATUR would transfer to the state is certainly a source of revenue. It’s possible, as well, that Huatulco would be better off if it were operated by the State of Oaxaca; it would not be competing for funding with all the other priorities of a Federal government, although the state’s funds are more limited. I guess time will tell.

Creation of New National Parks within CIP Huatulco

On August 16, 2023, SEMARNAT, the federal Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, announced 13 new national protected areas within six states of Mexico. Three of those new areas are within the boundaries of the CIP Huatulco. These are:

● Ricardo Flores Magón National Park (1,801 hectares, about 4,450 acres)
● Oaxaca: Huatulco II National Park (2,261 hectares, about 5,587 acres)
● Bajos de Coyula National Flora and Fauna Protection Area (1,935 hectares, about 4780 acres)

The addition of these three new parks (5,997 hectares, ±14,820 acres), when added to the existing National Park of Huatulco (6,375 hectares, ±15,752 acres), brings the total hectares in CIP Huatulco under natural protection to 12,372 hectares (±30,572 acres). The parks are shown on the map below (courtesy of APRODIT – Asociación de Promotores Inmobiliarios y Turísticos de Bahías de Huatulco)

The Ricardo Flores Magón National Park will contain the Copalita Archaeological Park, which has been closed in the recent past but is currently open (except for the museum) to visitors.

Protests against the New Parks
The formation of these natural protected areas is not without controversy and protests. A number of business and environmental organizations (Association of Hotels & Motels of Huatulco, real estate and hotel promoter APRODIT, Equipo Verde Huatulco, tourism and hotel promoter PROHOTUR, and the Mexican Association of Travel Agents) have formally protested the new national parks, citing multiple issues.

● Huatulco draws people searching for economic opportunities; a good number of people have set up settlements in forested areas. These irregular settlements, like the settlements inside the existing national park at Cacaluta, are not controlled. More such dedicated protected land would exacerbate this issue.
● The sudden declaration of the new parks does not respect the development plan of CIP Huatulco, adding uncertainty for investors.
● The funding of national parks is woefully inadequate and more national parks dilutes this even further. The environment group NOSSA (Noroeste Sociedad Civil para la Sustentabilidad Ambiental), reported that the funds budgeted for national parks and protected areas in Mexico come to $10.7 pesos per hectare for 2024. For Huatulco, that would amount to $64,168 pesos ($3,620 USD) per year to staff, maintain, and operate all the newly announced protected areas of Huatulco.
● The natural area proposed for Bajos de Coyula is widely contested by the residents in and around Coyula, who were not consulted in the process.

A formal objection to these new protected areas has been submitted by the Municipality of Santa María Huatulco to María Luisa Albores González, head of SEMARNAT.

Turning the Golf Course into Parque Nacional Tangolunda
On October 12, 2023, AMLO announced that the golf course in Tangolunda would be converted to a national protected area. Up until August of this year, the concession for the golf course was held by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, a wealthy businessman who is head of TV Azteca. AMLO announced that the golf course would be auctioned off, expecting to raise $600 million pesos, with priority given to Salinas Pliego.

As there was no agreement with Salinas Pliego nor any other offers, AMLO declared it a National Protected Area, to be amalgamated with the Ricardo Flores Magón National Park. The 229-page study and justification document for “Parque Nacional Tangolunda” states that it will be converted to conditions before the golf course was established.

Here, too, there have been protests to the golf course conversion. These protests were acknowledged by Pineda Velasco, Oaxaca’s Secretary of Tourism, in an announcement of the Huatulco CIP transition (AVI Noticias, October 10, 2023). Currently, the golf course is still operating.

Overall, the new national parks and protected areas announced for Huatulco are being contested at the same time as FONATUR is transferring Huatulco CIP to the state of Oaxaca. As a result, uncertainty reigns.

New Toll Road from Oaxaca City to the Coast

The new autopista (highway) is a toll road to connect Oaxaca City, and thereby the toll road system of Mexico, to the Oaxacan coast. The latest (of many) officially scheduled opening was November 29, as per AMLO’s announcement that he would inaugurate the new highway on this date. However, on November 6, AMLO announced that because of a collapse, the highway wouldn’t open until January 2024.

The original concession to build the highway was granted in 2007, with an original projected opening date in 2010. This highway has had numerous opening dates announced that were subsequently canceled over the years, but it seems different this time. The construction seems largely complete and it has been touted as an infrastructure project that AMLO wants included in his legacy.

The official name is Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway, although it’s usually called the Oaxaca-Puerto Escondido highway. The highway will shorten the travel time from Oaxaca City to the Oaxacan coast near Puerto Escondido from six hours to two hours; it will connect to Route 200, the coastal highway, 15 kilometers (±9 miles) east of Puerto Escondido and about 100 kilometers (±60 miles) from Huatulco.

The highway will have two lanes and run 102.4 kilometers (±61 miles), with nine interchanges and two toll booths along its length. Traffic is estimated at 4,253 vehicles per day traveling at speeds between 90 and 100 km/hr. The relative ease of connecting from the capital to the coast has important implications for Huatulco.

On the one hand, goods, services, and visitors from Oaxaca City and central Mexico can flow more quickly and cheaply than ever before. On the other hand, it raises the specter of an influx of people into an area where existing infrastructure is at or near capacity. And in some areas, during peak season, demand for water, sewage, and electricity already exceeds capacity.

These points were raised in an NVI Noticias article on infrastructure and massive tourism to the Oaxaca Coast. The article cites Gaulberta Rodríguez, President of the Mexican Association of Hotels and Motels of Oaxaca, on the fear that the new highway would cause a huge influx of tourists and economic migrants, possibly causing a collapse in infrastructure services as well as damage to the environment.

The More Things Change, the More They DON’T Stay the Same!

These three important developments, although the exact timing and final outcomes are somewhat uncertain, will significantly affect Huatulco. However, if you put these developments in the context of the history of Huatulco, it becomes easier to see these changes as steps along the development road. Until the 1980s, when the Mexican government sought to develop this area, there wasn’t even a paved road connecting Huatulco to anything – only a fishing village and coffee plantations existed here. The cruise ship dock at Santa Cruz only opened in 2003. As residents and long-term visitors, many of us have witnessed, over decades, many changes in the development of Huatulco. And now, with these three developments on the horizon, there is more change to come.

Email: box95jackson@gmail.com

Huatulco

Footwear in Mexico

Leave a comment

By Jan Chaiken and Marcia Chaiken

One of our shared characteristics is flat feet. As children, we were among the very few who, while running around a pool, left footprints that displayed a complete foot with no open arch space. But the similarity in our feet ends there; one of us wears a US men’s size 13 shoe and the other a US women’s 5.5 (Mexico, size 22.5). For the latter, looking for smaller than average dress shoes that provide comfortable support was always a challenge in the U.S. – but not in Mexico.

Shopping for Mexican Shoes

For anyone in the United States or Canada whose feet are smaller than the shoes that local footwear brands bother to sell, traveling and shopping in Mexico provides them with a welcome opportunity to explore footwear in a great variety of styles, colors, materials and price ranges. That’s because Mexico has a long history of designing and creating footwear for a population whose mix of foot sizes differs from what is found in the US and Canada.

Production of footwear in Mexico developed gradually out of traditional work of artisans using locally available materials. Now it is one of Latin America’s major industries and collectively aspires to export to the entire world. But that is a comparatively recent development, as the first exports of footwear from Mexico to the United States occurred in 1951.

Before the Spanish conquest of Mexico (16th century), shoe making was already a creative endeavor. As throughout the world, once homo sapiens decided to stand on their own two feet and roam, there was a recognized need to protect soft soles from thorns and other sharp objects. Sandal-type foot coverings were made from bark, animal skins, plant fibers and, in Mesoamerica, from rubber. The nations indigenous to Mexico were creators of prototypes of the earliest artisan shoes – huaraches, an iconic Mexican style of sandals that continues to be popular today. Huaraches were traditionally made from woven leather strips but now are also of synthetic materials, with a distinctive, open-toed design. They come in various styles, from simple everyday versions to more ornate, decorative options. These shoes are not only comfortable and suitable for Mexico’s warm climate but are also a symbol of Mexican craftsmanship.

The conquistadores (and later their families) brought European design expectations with them and created a demand for footwear that was far more elaborate than simple huaraches.

Charro boots, or botas vaqueras, are also a distinctive style of Mexico. Charros are skilled horsemen who participate in rodeo events, and their attire, including the boots, has been widely adopted by Mexicanos. The boots typically feature pointed toes and high heels, have intricate designs and embroidery, and are acceptable at even formal events.

The Mexican Shoe Industry

Although Europeans who flocked to Mexico included shoemakers who started cottage industries to supply locals with footwear, Mexican shoemaking became centralized as the world shifted to mass production. Consider León, a city in the state of Guanajuato that is unofficially considered to be the footwear capital of all of North America – it produces more shoes annually than any other city on the continent. Nearly every major footwear company in Mexico has its headquarters or outlets in León. How did that happen? Well, León is surrounded by cattle ranches, which provide a large supply of hides for tanning, not to mention numerous cowboys needing boots. León also has a ready supply of water for tanneries. Talented shoemakers established factories in León initially to make rugged cowboy boots but gradually expanded to a wide variety of footwear.

While most shoe stores sell shoes for both men and women, the patterns of shopping and purchase differ greatly between them. In Mexico approximately 70% of all footwear purchases are for women’s shoes. Sometimes you may spy a husband or boyfriend just sitting placidly in a shoe store awaiting the woman’s decisions, and perhaps completing the final purchase. Studies show that approximately half of women’s purchases arise out of desire for style or variety rather than for need. A typical average is four pairs of shoes for work, three for exercise, five pairs of walking shoes, and three more for special occasions. Men, by contrast, generally consider only comfort, durability, and cost when buying shoes. Their wardrobe contains on average one pair for casual outings, one for sports or exercise, and two pairs of dress shoes.

The Story of Grupo Flexi

When we first travelled extensively within Mexico (over 25 years ago), quality shoes were readily available only in major cities, notably Guadalajara and Mexico City. Now they are plentiful even in Huatulco, and shoes can be purchased in other outlets such as Coppel or sections attached to supermarkets. Flexi is our go-to store in Mexico and is a typical mid-range store competing against brands such as DSW, Zappos, and ASICS.

Founded in 1935 under the name CESAR, Flexi is now a multi-national company with stores throughout North America, and exports to Europe and Asia. In 1998, Flexi had 30 stores in Mexico; by 2014, it was 300. By 2015, it was producing 16 million pairs of shoes a year; today it produces 22.6 million pairs a year. With $56.4 million in revenues, Flexi is the leading shoe manufacturer in Mexico.

Grupo Flexi now has over 400 physical stores in Mexico, perhaps 4,000 shops within other stores, and stores in a half-dozen other countries; it also runs a strong online business built on the latest SAP technology for e-commerce. Originally focused on outdoor boots, especially worker boots for men, Flexi now has designers who try to keep ahead of the latest styles and materials for women’s shoes.

Therein lies the rub. Finding comfortable dress shoes in size 22.5 for flat feet is not really easy even in Mexico’s Flexi shops. Once found and worn literally to shreds, they cannot be replaced with exactly the same style since designers have moved on to later fashions and models. The only solution is to buy several pairs of exactly the same shoes and hope that customs inspectors do not jump to the conclusion that they are being imported for resale and therefore are not duty-free. But the good news is that the need to shop for shoes in Mexico may prevent us from even considering giving up our annual winters in our home away from home.

Huatulco

Editor’s Letter

Leave a comment

By Jane Bauer

“By standing together in unity, solidarity and love, we will heal the wounds in the earth and in each other. We can make a positive difference through our actions.”
Julia Butterfly Hill

This month our writers explore political parties and revolutions. In my cooking classes I always say that the recipe for a revolution is a few very wealthy people controlling everything while poor people do all the work. This has been true during most of the large revolutions of the past that were a reflection of class struggle.

With technology and the decline of environmental quality, we are seeing a new kind of revolution and it doesn’t care how much stuff you have- in fact the less the better.

Back in 1997 Julia Butterfly Hill ascended Luna—a giant 1,500-year-old redwood tree near Stafford, California, and spent 738 days in a tree to protest the logging industry. Her act was seen as radical and perhaps crazy- there is no denying it was a huge commitment. However when examined through the lens of today, while an outrageous act, the philosophy behind it is being embraced more than ever.

People are fleeing urban areas for cleaner air, access to water and nature – planning for survival in an ever growing hostile world. Peasant life is the new rich. With carbon dioxide levels on our planet at the highest they have been in 4 million years, we have seen a rapid increase in temperature, which is leading to drought, forest fires, dying coral, melting permafrost, loss of biodiversity and decimated crops.

Where this will take us is anyone’s guess. As a species we are slow to make immediate changes for long-term gain- we are impatient and want what we want now.

Thanks for reading,

Jane

Huatulco

The Green Revolution

Leave a comment

By Kary Vannice

When we hear the word “revolution,” most of us think of people clashing with other people, fighting for opposing rights or ideologies. However, in recent decades, a new kind of revolution has emerged, one that differs in its focus and purpose. The “Green Revolution” is not about people fighting one another, but about humans combatting a common and existential threat – climate change. This revolution transcends borders and beliefs and pits humanity against the fallout of its own environmentally destructive habits.

Traditional revolutions seek to overthrow existing political systems or religious ideologies. In contrast, the Green Revolution seeks to transform values and behaviors to ensure a sustainable future. It calls for a shift from consumerism to sustainability, from short-term thinking to long-term planning, and from environmental exploitation to conservation and preservation. The transformation it promotes is not political, social, or religious, but connected to our individual and collective values.

Just as different strata of Mexican society rallied together against foreign occupiers during the Mexican Revolution, millions of people across borders, cultures, and demographics have rallied together in the common goal of combating climate change.

All revolutions have their quiet rumblings that start long before they erupt onto the world stage. The Green Revolution’s rumblings started in the mid 20th-century when books like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) began raising concerns about the impact of pesticides on the environment. Within a decade, the state of the environment became a major part of the global political conversation; the first Earth Day was held in 1970 and the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment happened in 1972.

Climate change has been a major headline grabber for the last two decades, so most of us are familiar with the public figures like Greta Thunberg, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as the most talked about climate concerns like extreme weather events, renewable energy, deforestation, carbon emissions, and rising sea levels. But, as individuals, it’s difficult to take action against such monumental concepts and global threats.

However, we each have ways in which we can contribute to change for a more sustainable future.

Consumer choices have a significant impact on environmental sustainability. People are increasingly using their purchasing power to drive change, demanding eco-friendly and ethical products. Consumer activism and ethical purchasing are all about supporting sustainable businesses, reducing single-use plastics, and opting for renewable energy sources. By making informed choices and asking companies to adopt sustainable practices, individuals play a pivotal role in the Green Revolution.

Financial institutions and investors are recognizing the value of green finance and investments in driving this environmental revolution. Financing renewable energy projects, green infrastructure, and sustainable businesses is essential for transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Green bonds, sustainability-linked loans, and impact investments are key financial instruments that can be employed to support environmentally responsible initiatives.

Green funds typically invest in companies that follow sustainable practices such as renewable energy, clean technology, conservation, and other environmentally responsible activities. By investing in green funds, individuals or institutions can align their investments with their values, contributing to both environmental and financial goals.

Shifting thinking from a “buy-use-dispose” mindset to a more circular “reduce-reuse-recycle” mindset may seem like a small contribution to a mammoth problem, but every big revolution was won because of a series of small battles. In our communities here in Mexico, as well as back home in the US and Canada, it’s generally the low-income and vulnerable communities that bear the brunt of negative environmental impacts and extreme weather events. Before disposing of an unwanted item, consider whether or not it might still have some life left in it for someone else. Donating items rather than throwing them away can extend product lifecycles, minimize environmental impact, and create a more sustainable economic future.

Participating in local, grassroots community clean-up projects like “Playas Limpias,” supporting community-run farmer’s markets, and buying local, sustainably made products can put you on the front lines of the Green Revolution.

The Green Revolution is not just about averting environmental catastrophe; it’s about preserving the planet for future generations and, like many revolutions throughout our history, is a testament to the potential for positive, collective change. The Green Revolution represents a turning point in the way humanity confronts its most significant challenges.

Huatulco

Zapatistas and the Modern World

Leave a comment

By Brooke O’Connor

As November brings our minds to politics, we see wars and conflicts around the globe. It’s easy to think, “It’s far away from me,” or “It’s not my business,” but political unrest is around the corner in every culture.

In Mexico, we see how uprisings with the Zapatistas played out not so long ago. Those uprisings are continuing to affect important historical and cultural areas of Mexico.

Who Are the Zapatistas?

The Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista National Liberation Army, or EZLN) is a guerrilla group in Mexico. It was founded in 1983 and named after the inspiring peasant revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution (1910-21). Zapata’s forces fought for land reform, with the goal of reclaiming communal lands (ejidos) stolen by large agricultural haciendas (encouraged by the national government).

On January 1, 1994, the Zapatistas initiated a rebellion from their base in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state. They aimed to protest against economic policies that they believed would harm the indigenous population of Mexico. This uprising later transformed into a powerful political movement, advocating for the rights and empowerment of Mexico’s marginalized indigenous communities.

Background

The Zapatista movement has a fascinating history that should be better known. Although they say they were founded in 1983, it was in the early 1990s that they started to gain followers. From their base in the Lacandón rainforest in eastern Chiapas, they called on Mexico’s indigenous people to rise up against the one-party rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

The Zapatistas wanted greater political and cultural autonomy for indigenous people in Chiapas and the rest of Mexico, and specifically to reform land ownership and distribution. The reason for their rebellion was a series of economic reforms introduced by the Mexican government to prepare for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would link Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The Zapatistas believed that these reforms would make indigenous people even poorer, especially a land reform bill that would privatize communal farms.

The Rebellion

On January 1, 1994, NAFTA came into effect. On that very day, the Zapatistas took control of four towns in Chiapas. Led by the charismatic Subcomandante Marcos (Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente), they called on indigenous people from all over Mexico to join their cause. The rebels bravely held these towns for several days, battling with Mexican troops before retreating into the surrounding jungle. Over a hundred lives were lost during these initial clashes.

The impact of this uprising was far-reaching, as it quickly spread to other parts of Chiapas. In the following years, insurrections erupted in adjacent and nearby states – Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Puebla. Numerous indigenous communities supported the EZLN throughout this time. In fact, many municipios (roughly equivalent to a US or Canadian county) even declared themselves autonomous from both the state and federal governments, demonstrating their solidarity with the Zapatistas.

In 1994, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari started peace talks, but the conflict with the EZLN was not resolved by the time Ernesto Zedillo became president later that year. In February 1995, President Zedillo tried to use military force against the EZLN and even issued arrest warrants for Subcomandante Marcos and other important Zapatistas. However, these actions were unpopular, so Zedillo changed his mind and resumed negotiations with the EZLN.

The talks continued until February16, 1996, when both sides signed the San Andrés Accords. These accords included plans for land reform, indigenous autonomy, and cultural rights. The Mexican government, unfortunately, showed no signs of initiating any of the agreement’s provisions, and the EZLN broke off talks on August 29, requiring that the government fulfill their obligations under the Accords before talks could resume. The Mexican government offered a new agreement that basically ignored the San Andrés Accords, despite the government’s declaration that it had fulfilled the Accords. In December of that year, Zedillo rejected the agreements.

In the meantime, the government was also involved in a secret war against the rebels. They provided weapons to paramilitary groups who fought against the Zapatistas and their followers, often targeting innocent civilians to punish them for supporting the rebels. On December 22, 1997, in the tiny village of Acteal, Máscara Roja (Red Mask) a paramilitary group called aligned with the PRI, massacred 45 people, including pregnant women and children. The victims were members of a pacifist group called Las Abejas (The Bees), attending an indigenous Catholic prayer meeting. Las Abejas supported the Zapatistas, and espoused the group’s rejection of violence.

The Political Movement

Despite occasional conflicts, the Zapatistas eventually moved away from using weapons and instead focused on peaceful political actions. At the local level, they established administrative systems within the villages they controlled. Over time, they also created various local centers of government called caracoles (snails – the Zapatistas specifically meant conchas; conch shells magnify sound, both incoming and outgoing). According to Subcomandante Marcos, the caracoles are an interface between the Zapatistas and the larger world; they are

like doors which allow entry to communities and allow the communities to exit; like windows so that people can look inside and so that we can see outside; like megaphones to project our words into the distance and to hear the voice of the one that is far away. But above all to remind us that we should watch over and be responsive to the totality of the worlds that populate the world.

On a national scale, in 1999, the group organized the National Consultation on Indigenous Rights and Culture. Thousands of individual Zapatistas carried out the National Consultation by visiting indigenous towns and villages to conduct discussions of the issues driving the San Andreas Accords. On March 21, 1999, the EZLN held a national poll on indigenous rights. Approximately three million Mexicans participated in the voting, and the overwhelming majority supported the implementation of the San Andrés Accords.

Since the 1990s, amid many political twists and turns, Zapatismo has evolved into a global social movement that has gained strong support from progressive groups in the United States and Europe. The new Zapatismo movement promotes indigenous rights, cultural diversity, and standing against globalization and capitalism. Instead of focusing solely on class struggle, they believe in the power of building broad coalitions and grassroots movements to challenge the neoliberal world order. Unlike resorting to armed conflict, their strategy revolves around capturing the attention of the international media, earning them the title of the world’s first “virtual guerrilla” movement.

How Does This Affect Mexico Today?

Ironically, this anti-globalism movement has formed strong connections with foreign organizations over the years, ties that have been crucial for the EZLN’s survival. International organizations have been generous in providing donations and platforms for selling products, such as coffee, in a manner that they claim offers an alternative to globalism without exploiting indigenous communities.

These connections with other worlds beyond Mexico has led the Zapatistas to take a stance on various issues, including gender identity, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, COVID policies, rail lines in Norwegian Sami territory, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Maya Train project.

While their autonomous strategy has aimed to address local needs like healthcare and education, its effectiveness in improving the situation remains a subject of debate. Chiapas, including the Zapatista territory, continues to face extreme poverty. Moreover, the absence of federal troops has made the area quite appealing to human and drug smugglers, which is ironic considering the international connections involved.

Paradoxically, Subcomandante Marcos could well be considered the most extraordinary tourism ambassador the state has ever had. Before 1994, there were some tourists and foreign residents in Chiapas, but the media coverage attracted even more curious or idealistic people. They came not only to experience the rich native cultures but also with the hope of encountering someone wearing a black Zapatista pasamontaña (balaclava).

Moral of the Story

The only constant is change, and only sometimes does what seems to be a noble cause yield the results a movement sought initially. The author believes that the only way we can effectively initiate change is within ourselves first, then within our homes, and slowly, within our community through example and concern for our fellow man. Maybe then we can eliminate the endless death and destruction that war and uprisings bring because of political differences.

Huatulco

Claudia Sheinbaum: The Next President of Mexico

Leave a comment

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

Unless there is a major political upset in the next eight months, Claudia Sheinbaum is on track to be elected in June 2024 as the next president of Mexico. A poll published in September by El Universal, a major Mexico City newspaper, indicated that she was then far ahead of her four opponents; in a four-way race, she garnered 50% of the vote. Her party, the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), in coalition with other parties, has captured the loyalty of the majority of Mexican voters; MORENA alone received 53% of the vote in the poll. And her champion, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), the current president of Mexico and founder of left-leaning MORENA, has such a high approval rating (60%) that it is a relatively safe bet to start planning to watch her inauguration.

According to The Times of Israel, not only would Sheinbaum be the first woman president of Mexico, she would join a very small number of Jews outside Israel who have become heads of state: Janet Jagan (Guyana), Ricardo Maduro (Honduras), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (Peru) and, of course, Ukraine’s own Volodymyr Zelensky; she would be the first Jewish person ever to head a country with a population over 50 million people. But Sheinbaum is very quiet about her Judaism, probably partly due to the adamant post-Revolution separation in Mexico between religion and state, the fact that most Jews in Mexico are politically very conservative and unlikely to vote for a MORENA candidate, and the misinformation and smear campaign used against her by her political rivals, notably the former president Vicente Fox. Although antisemitism rears its ugly head less frequently in Mexico than in many other countries, a rumor was started that she wasn’t a viable candidate for president since she was born in Bulgaria – ultimately squelched by the publication of Sheinbaum’s Mexico City birth certificate. And in response to Fox’s intimation that her rival, Gálvez, was a true Mexican (but implicitly not Sheinbaum), Claudia retorted that she was “as Mexican as mole.”

One might say that Sheinbaum has been on track to become the first woman president of Mexico since she was born, 61 years ago. Her parents, two super-achieving scientists affiliated with the National University of Mexico (UNAM), were themselves children of immigrants seeking refuge in Mexico from religious persecution. Her father’s family fled from Russian pogroms and forced conscription of Jews in Lithuania in the 1920s. Her mother’s family escaped the Holocaust, the systematic murder of Jews in Bulgaria in the 1940s. And since young Claudia was close to her grandparents and attended a Jewish secular coed elementary school, there is little doubt that she was imbued with a formative knowledge of the perils of rabid discrimination and the value of helping those who are being oppressed by powerful authoritarians.

After completing her secondary education at Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (CCH), a feeder school for UNAM, she matriculated at UNAM studying physics and simultaneously joining other student activists on campus. Her political activism continued throughout her undergraduate and graduate studies, and as a UNAM faculty member in 1998 she was instrumental in the founding of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). After completing her bachelor’s degree in physics in 1989, she went on to complete her master’s degree and Ph.D. in energy engineering, carrying out research at Lawrence Laboratories, UC Berkeley, on comparative international consumption of energy. She returned to UNAM when she accepted a faculty appointment in 1995.

As an undergraduate, Claudia met and briefly dated student Jesús María Tarriba Unger, currently soon to be her second husband; Tarriba completed his dissertation in physics at UNAM in 1987 and began an award-winning career in financial risk-model applied research. After breaking up with Tarriba, Claudia dated and in 1987 married Carlos Imaz Gispert. She became a stepmother to Imaz’s five-year-old son and in 1988 the couple had a daughter, Mariana, who carried out the Sheinbaum family’s multigenerational academic achievement, earning a BA in history from UNAM, a Master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Barcelona and a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Mariana currently is the Academic Coordinator of Humanities at UNAM-Boston. Claudia and Imaz were divorced in 2016 after 29 years of marriage.

One of the closest political ties Sheinbaum made during her political activism was with AMLO. As Mayor of Mexico City (CDMX), he appointed her as his environmental minister in 2000. In that position, she applied her academic knowledge to reshaping the city’s transportation system, including the installation of the highly efficient and easy-to-use MetroBus that quickly whisks passengers along many routes, including trips from the international airport to the central downtown area.

Claudia was once again back on the faculty of UNAM after 2005 when AMLO stepped down from being Mayor of CDMX to unsuccessfully run for President. She quickly shifted gears, but not fields, and became part of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, working on assessment of mitigation approaches; along with former U.S, Vice President Al Gore, the group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Her absence from the political arena lasted only a few years, and in 2015 she was elected Mayor of Tlalpan, a district of Mexico City. Three years later she was elected Mayor of the City itself, the first woman to hold that office. The processes leading to her election and the reforms she carried out as Mayor were described in The Eye by Carole Reedy (March and November, 2019) – but the bottom line is that she was elected by a large majority based on her platform, and she carried out the measures she promised.

Like all politicians, she has her detractors. She’s been blamed for the outcomes of natural disasters, smeared by some as being too instrumental in the success of her daughter, and accused by others as being simply the puppet of AMLO. Yet, her resume speaks for itself and she remains hugely popular. There is no doubt that she will continue to carry on some of the approaches initiated by AMLO – but given her research in and passion for mitigating climate change and building a sustainable world, one can be quite sure that she will be taking a different direction than AMLO did in supporting Mexico’s petrol industry.

Since we are not citizens of Mexico, we cannot vote for her. But given her past accomplishments, we are looking forward to seeing what successes she will have as President of Mexico.

Huatulco

COTTON: Politics and Production in Mexico

Leave a comment

By Julie Etra

Did the Mexican Revolution start with a prohibition on “underwear”?

Cotton, Coercion, Morality, and Modernization

Porfirio Díaz, the 33rd president of Mexico, was a complicated and controversial character; by the end of his seventh (and last) term, many considered him a dictator whose policies led directly to the Mexican Revolution. His successive administrations focused on modernization, economic development, and trying to “Europeanize” Mexico.

In the late 19th century, Díaz prohibited men from wearing the traditional white cotton clothing known as calzón de manta. This very Mexican clothing originated in pre-Hispanic times, particularly in the warmer regions of Mexico. It consists of loose-fitting, long-sleeved white shirts and pants, woven from 100% cotton and often tied with a colorful red or blue belt. The design promoted cooling airflow next to the body, and Porfirian administrators saw it as peasant underwear – immoral and definitely not modern.

Calzón de manta was worn particularly by campesinos (rural farmers), and Díaz associated these clothes with the backward, uneducated, and unrefined lower classes; from his perspective, calzón de manta symbolized a Mexico that prevented social and economic growth. Some urban communities, including Guadalajara, required that men arriving from the countryside remove their calzon de manta and rent more appropriate pants, including a type of denim, before entering the city.

Historian Florencia Gutiérrez, Ph.D., of the Colegio de México, ties the prohibition on calzón de manta to the Porfiriato’s concern with eliminating alcoholism and improving personal hygiene; as for calzado (footwear), huaraches were bad, too.

All about Cotton

But cotton, it turns out, is not just a peasant fabric despised by 19th-century elites. Cotton is called algodón in Spanish; the word is ultimately derived from the Arabic name al-qutun. Cotton is known as ixcaxíhuitl in Náhuatl, and taman, piits’ in Mayan.

The scientific name for the species cultivated in the western hemisphere is Gossypium hirsutum; its origin and evolution may be parallel to that of Gossypium barbadense, a cotton that emerged near eastern Sudan in the Middle Nile Basin around 5000 BCE.

The first cultivated cotton fabric of the species G. barbadense appeared around 3000 BCE in the Indus River Valley (present-day Pakistan). Around 2500 BCE, Chinese, Egyptian and South American civilizations begin weaving cotton fabrics. Although Mexico claims to be the origin in the western hemisphere, the oldest cotton fabric was found in Huaca Prieta, an archeological site in Peru, and dated to about 6000 BCE. It is hypothesized that Huaca Preita is the western hemiphere’s site of domestication; cotton seeds and rope dating to about 2500 BCE have also been found in Peru.

Some of the oldest cotton bolls (the mature flower) were discovered in a cave in the Tehuacán Valley in Puebla, Mexico, dating to about 5500 BCE. By 3000 BCE, cotton was being grown and processed in Mexico and the southern United States (the town of Algodones on the Arizona-Mexico border is currently dedicated to dental tourism). In the 1700s, cotton was grown in the Keres and Tiwa native American pueblos in southern Arizona, then sold to other pueblos. Drought and lack of arable land, combined with raids by the Apache led to the demise of cotton cultivation in the area.

Columbus found cotton growing in the Bahama Islands in 1492, and by 1500, cotton was known generally throughout the world. In the United States cotton is said to have been planted in Florida in 1556 and in Virginia in 1607. By 1616, colonists were growing cotton along the James River in Virginia.

Cotton’s Cousin – the Lovely Hibiscus

Cotton is closely related to hibiscus and they both reside in the mallow family, Malvaceae, which also includes the common hollyhock (Alcea rosea), globe mallows (Sphaeralcea), and checker mallows (Sidalcea).

Hibiscus plants are tropical ornamental shrubs, common around Huatulco, and one of my favorites, given all its varieties and showy flowers. Hibiscus is not native to Mexico, with India and Africa the disputed origins. However, we do have a beautiful native with sealed petals, Malvaviscus arboreus, found along trails and the forest edge. According to a 2007 article in the Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México (Bulletin of the Botanical Society of Mexico), the Malvaceae family comprises 2.7% of all species in the Huatulco National Park, with 11 genera and 18 species. (You can learn more from Diagnóstico de los Recursos Naturales de la Bahía y Micro-cuenca de Cacaluta (Assessment of the Natural Resources of the Bay and Micro-Basin of the Cacaluta River), available at the UMAR bookstore for 258 pesos).

The Malvaceae family also includes Hibiscus sabdariffa, aka flor de jamaica, whose fragrant and sticky calices are steeped to make the delicious beverage, agua de jamaica; this plant, however, is native to Africa, having found its way through trade routes to the West Indies and on to the tropics of Mexico and Central America.

Much to my irritation, hibiscus is also a favorite food of iguanas, and in my stubbornness, I continue to replant them and try to protect the younger plants, usually to no avail. I sometimes catch the athletic reptiles devouring the flowers and tender shoots. Our friend Juan just laughs at me, gestures, and points at his stomach, indicating that they make a fine stew and medicinal soup, at least the black and white iguanas.

Mexican Cotton Today

Today, all cotton is obtained from four domesticated species; of these, the Mexican highland cotton (G. hirsutum) comprises 90% of world production. Countless traditional Mexican clothes – way more than calzon de manta – and fabrics are woven from cotton. It is also used in the production of rope/twine, paper, banknotes, cooking oil, packaging, cosmetics, hammocks, and even livestock feed.

Cotton production in Mexico occurs primarily in the border states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and the centrally located Durango. Cotton requires both water and some fertilizer, along with a warm climate and full sun – these northern Mexico states provide ideal growing conditions. In 2021 approximately 164,000 hectares were under production, with the primary market being the U.S., followed by El Salvador.

In terms of world production, India and China vie for producing the most cotton worldwide, with India in the lead for the moment, followed by the U.S., Brazil, and Australia. In the 2018-19 growing season, Mexico was the world’s 9th-largest producer, but as Mexico has outlawed genetically modified (GM) cotton seed and the herbicide glyphosate, it has dropped back to 13th in worldwide cotton production. Press reports indicate that some Chihuahuan cotton farmers are looking for alternative crops, because non-GM cotton seeds don’t produce well enough to be profitable.

Mexican Cotton for Your Home

For excellent quality hand-woven cotton tablecloths, napkins, bedspreads, etc., you can look in any number of weaving shops in La Crucecita, mostly in the south end of town – for example, Casa Textil Escobar is located on the corner of Cocotillo and Bugambilia, while Textil Arte Huatulco is closer to the central square, at Flamboyan 116.

Huatulco

Into The Stretch: Year-End 2023 Notable Novels

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

Catch up on your reading now, because the last few months of this year are filled with new works from our favorite writers.

But who’s missing? Donna Tartt fans are combing the web in search of her next book. It seems she publishes one every ten years: 1992, The Secret History; 2002, The Little Friend; 2013, The Goldfinch. 2023? Tartt’s novels are long and lush with unforgettable plots that twist and turn. They always feature vivid characters and an imaginative writing style that captures the reader from the start. My search for her next work has been unsuccessful as of this writing.

In better news, here’s a selection of new books that have been published or will soon be during the second half of 2023. This list includes some of my favorite writers and, judging from your messages to me, yours too.

Provocatively, there are three books of short stories on this list. I consider myself and readers of this column literary novel admirers, but these brilliant collections just may just have turned my head.

Crook Manifesto: A Novel, by Colson Whitehead
Second book in the Harlem Trilogy

This is Whitehead’s second novel in his Harlem Trilogy. While you can enjoy Crook Manifesto on its own, for maximum pleasure take time to read Harlem Shuffle (2021) first. I like to call the Trilogy Whitehead’s love story to Harlem. This second novel takes place in 1976 as the bicentennial celebrations are in full swing. However, it’s business as usual for crooked politicians and the manipulation of the poor and disadvantaged by up-and-coming “wannabes.”

Ray Carney, everyone’s favorite furniture vendor, seems to find himself once again in the midst of the machinations of less-than-savory company, including a shady candidate for political office who is ironically actively supported by Ray’s wife Elizabeth. Ray’s family has a welcome presence in this second book, and we hope will again in the third.

Delightfully dark and mysterious characters, though tinted with affection, sprinkle the text. This is Whitehead’s magic: he gives us the harsh reality of Harlem from the inside out. He goes to the heart of the city, as well as to the heart of his characters, offering a glimpse into the soul of the ‘hood and the denizens who struggle there daily.

Zero-Sum: Stories, by Joyce Carol Oates
Despite more than 100 extant novels, short story collections, nonfiction books, and essays, Oates delivers every year new creations to equal and even surpass her past successes.

Oates is audacious and intrepid, conveying that which often goes unsaid. Her latest collection does just that with a wide range of characters, emotions, and settings in place and time.

The most memorable of these is a story called “The Suicide,” told from the point of view of the one attempting to commit it. He mesmerizes us with his confusion, determination, apprehension, and pain.

Three other stories especially will remain with us and even haunt our dreams. We who have experienced a pandemic now have visions of our future world. Oates delivers a triad of stories about the future years of our planet. Need I say more?

Cravings: Stories, by Garnett Kilberg Cohen
Garnett Cohen popped into my life several years when a Chicago friend gifted me her novella, How We Move the Air (2010). A collection of seven linked stories, it was an unusual and stunning read in many ways, leaving me craving (no pun intended) more from this author. Since then I’ve religiously read Cohen’s collections of short stories as well as her individual works published in a diverse range of magazines. I and my band of avid readers highly recommend her short story collection Swarm to Glory (2014).

Through the details of everyday life, Cohen opens up a character’s world. The slightest phrase evokes a flood of emotions. At one point I felt, “This author knows me; I feel this way too.” There is good variety in the selection of these stories: they’ll make you laugh, cry, or just sigh. Like Joyce Carol Oates, she can be dauntless, an admirable and necessary quality in a writer.

Thoughts of Proust and involuntary memory come to mind when reading these stories. From the end of “Hors d’oeuvres,” the first story: “Our memories travel with us over the years, popping up when least expected.” As an avid traveler, I love to think of my memories traveling with me, at home and abroad.

I would have liked to point to my favorite story from the collection, but I can’t. I admired them all, each in its own way.

Roman Stories, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Many of us were crushed a few years ago when Lahiri announced she was moving to Italy to write and publish her future books in Italian. This endeavor proved successful, and we’ve now been rewarded for our patience. Lahiri has created an homage, a collection of short stories where the main personage is the magical city of Rome. She wrote these stories in Italian and translated them to English with Knopf editor Todd Portnowitz.

Kirkus gives the collection a starred review, praising this new work from a veteran writer: “A brilliant return to the short story by an author of protean accomplishments … filled with intelligence and sorrow, these sharply drawn glimpses of Roman lives create an impressively unified effect.”

This is Lahiri’s first short story collection since she published Unaccustomed Earth in 2008.

It’s also appropriate to mention here Lahiri’s first novel written in Italian, which she then translated into English. Called Whereabouts (2021), it consists of 46 chapters, or rather entries into a diary, that are one woman’s reflections on her life. Highly praised by critics and a definite thumbs-up from me.

Baumgartener, by Paul Auster
One never knows what to expect from this icon whose repertoire over 38 years always surprises and never disappoints. His range of subject matter is vast, as are the style and breadth of his 18 novels.

This newest asks, “Why do we remember certain moments in our lives and not others?” The protagonist is a soon-to-be retired philosophy professor and phenomenologist. Auster’s prose takes us on a literary journey with characters Sy Baumgartner, his dead wife Anna, and his Polish-born father, a dressmaker and revolutionary.

This is his first novel since the extraordinary 4 3 2 1: A Novel was published in 2017.

Recently, Siri Hustvedt, Auster’s renowned philosopher/author wife, posted on Instagram that Auster is suffering from cancer and being treated with chemotherapy and infusions. As a fan since 1972, this news breaks my heart.

Day, by Michael Cunningham
It’s difficult to contemplate writer Michael Cunningham without conjuring up thoughts of an equally imposing author, the illustrious Virginia Woolf. Cunningham resurrected the memory of Virginia Woolf with his Pulitzer-winning novel The Hours: A Novel (2019). In The Hours, Cunningham relates moments in the life of Woolfe through three separate characters and stories. It is a tour de force that will haunt you long after you finish it.

In his newest novel, Cunningham takes us through three days (April 5 in 2019, 2020, and 2021) in the lives of a New York family.

The highest praise comes from another famous writer, Colum McCain (Let the Great World Spin, 2009) “Michael Cunningham crafts a glorious sentence, and at the same time he tells an achingly compelling story that speaks precisely to the times we live in. And it all flows so damn gorgeously that at times you just want to suspend the sacred day itself and hold it close, never let it, or the characters, go.”

The Bee Sting: A Novel, by Paul Murray
Rave reviews everywhere. Long waitlists at the library that include yours truly. The Los Angeles Times calls it a masterpiece, saying “it ought to cement Murray’s already high standing…it’s a triumph of realist fiction, a big, sprawling social novel in the vein of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom. The agility with which Murray structures the narrative around the family at its heart is virtuosic and sure-footed, evidence of a writer at the height of his power deftly shifting perspectives, style and syntax to maximize emotional impact. Hilarious and sardonic, heartbreaking and beautiful.”

Plus a sneak preview …

March 2024
James, by Percival Everett
Move over Demon Copperhead, James is coming. Everett reworks Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884 in the UK, 1885 in the US) in this most anticipated novel. We’ll be eager to see if he can accomplish what Barbara Kingsolver was able to achieve in her brilliant and award-winning novel Demon Copperhead: A Novel (2022), which possesses the bones and heart of the beloved Dickens classic David Copperfield.

Percival Everett’s most recent books include Dr. No: A Novel (2022, finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award), The Trees: A Novel (2021, finalist for the Booker Prize and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award), and Telephone (2021, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize).