Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
All the entries posted in July.
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > July
July 2007
The New Bootlegging Frontier
Bootleggers in Mexico are nothing if not creative.
The latest fad in piracy is putting a recording artist’s entire discography in MP3 format, burning it onto a single disc, and selling it for $2.
In downtown Mexico City, you can find everything recorded by bands like The Strokes, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, both live and in studio, in one neat little package.
Just the logical culmination of technology and ingenuity. I guess.
I’ve also stumbled on workshops dedicated to making the PlayStation 2 bootlegger-friendly. The game console won’t play cloned games unless, that is, a special chip is welded into its motherboard. On Saturdays at certain markets, you can find lines of kids and grownups alike with their PS2s in hand waiting to see the repairman. After he’s done re-wiring their machines, they can buy burned copies of Madden 2007 or Guitar Hero for less than $1.
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Majorly awesome: Mexico can’t get enough of Lorena
Mexico awoke Monday to one giant lovefest with golfer Lorena Ochoa, who on Sunday became the first Mexican golfer to win a major tournament. “Grand Goddess” thundered the sports section of the Mexico City daily Reforma. Ochoa managed to knock the opening weekend of the Mexican soccer league off the front pages of most sports sections, a feat almost as difficult as winning the British Open.
Why all the hubbub in a nation that can be accused of a lot of things, but certainly not of being golf crazy? Peruse the nation’s sports sections and you quickly learn the performance of Mexican athletes on the international stage means a lot to the national psyche.
Here in Mexico City, you won’t find many recaps of Major League Baseball games, but you will find daily updates on Mexican players like rookie phenom Yovani Gallardo (tearing it up for the Milwaukee Brewers) and the frustratingly inconsistent Oliver Perez (pitching for the New York Mets). Good, or even decent, performances bring banner headlines.
The same holds true for basketball. You might not be able to find your hometown scores, but you can count on daily stats for native son Eduardo Najera, the Denver Nuggets bench player and certified basketball god south of the border.
Ochoa seems acutely aware of the pressure and expectations her countrymen place on her, and her failure to win majors despite being ranked number one for most of the year was widely lamented here.
“I was playing for all of Mexico and hopefully [as a result] there will be many more Mexicans playing in the future,” Ochoa told The Times of London.
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This Just In: Stereotyped Headlines Cause No Stir
Walking around Mexico City last week, I saw a banner headline that made me stop in my tracks.
Zhenli Ye Gon, a suspected pseudephedrine importer who was busted a few months back with more than $200 million stashed in his Mexico City house, had just been arrested in the United States.
The cover of La Prensa, a Mexico City daily, shouted “Aplesado!” That’s just a slightly racist version of Apresado, the Spanish word for captured. The clever editors at La Prensa switched the “r” with an “l,” playing on the stereotype of how Chinese people talk.
It would be like an American newspaper using the headline “Plisoner!” instead of “Prisoner!” or “Rocked Up!” instead of “Locked Up!” above a picture of an Asian person.
It was another reminder that political correctness has yet to take root south of the border.
The headline created nary a stir (although it did provoke lots of chuckles from passersby).
It was slightly reminiscent of the Memin Penguin affair of two years ago, when the Mexican government decided to place the beloved comic book character on a set of stamps.
Memin Penguin is drawn as a highly stereotypical black boy, complete with big lips and bug eyes. Many Mexicans couldn’t understand how Memin Penguin could be perceived as offensive outside of (and inside) Mexico and were infuriated by the controversy.
The Ye Gon case has become a fascinating tale of intrigue: Ye Gon claimed top officials in the Mexican government ordered him to hide the money, which he said was used as a campaign cash box; the government says Ye Gon was working with the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
But the case is also opening a small window onto how Mexico views minorities inside the country.
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Graffiti Dreams Part II
In the second in a very occasional series on street art in Mexico City, I present another sampling of the D.F.’s best graffiti.
As in the first post, these shots are from the wall behind the North Bus Terminal, as depressing a place as you’ll find in the city, until you come upon these gems.
I’ll be off on vacation next week, but will check back in at the beginning of August. Hope you enjoy.
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Oaxaca Rumbles Again: Whither Gueleguetza?
For weeks, tourism officials have been running TV ads announcing the return of Guelaguetza, Oaxaca’s signature cultural festival and a highlight on the state’s tourism calendar (it will be held the next two Mondays).
Last year, Guelaguetza was canceled amid a six-month rebellion that scared off tourists and nearly toppled Gov. Ulises Ruiz. But all that nastiness is behind us, the ads seem to be telling us. Don’t worry, buy your tickets now!
Well, things aren’t looking so rosy in Oaxaca after Monday’s violent confrontation between police and members of the APPO, an umbrella group of protesters that seized control of Oaxaca City last summer.
APPO members attempted to march on the official Guelaguetza auditorium to stage a “people’s Guelaguetza.” The APPO has blasted the official ceremony as the “commercial Guelaguetza” and say it only enriches state officials and hoteliers while exploiting indigenous cultures who live mostly in grinding poverty.
Tourism accounts for much of Oaxaca City’s economy and many were counting on Guelaguetza to signal the re-birth of tourism industry.
On Monday, about halfway up the hill leading to the outdoor auditorium, APPO members were blocked by police, who are fiercely guarding the location. Then things got hairy: Protesters threw rocks as police fired tear gas. APPO members set fire to some buses and reportedly sent others hurtling into nearby businesses.
The battles spilled into a nearby hotel lobby and guests were evacuated. Eventually tear gas-wielding police dispersed the crowd. Dozens were wounded.
According to Mexico City newspapers, the police then went on the offensive, scouring the city for people who looked as though they might be APPO members or with dirty hands (from throwing rocks).
The Reforma newspaper reported that police boarded city buses and arrested suspicious-looking characters. Apprehended APPO members showed signs of beatings, the press reported. In the end, APPO members retreated to downtown Oaxaca and held their version of Guelaguetza in a public plaza.
The APPO has said it will continue its resistance to the official Guelaguetza (insisting it will be non-violent) and the government has guaranteed the event will be safe for tourists.
It should be an interesting week.
When Different Worlds Meet: Mennonites in Mexico
It was with some trepidation that my wife and I traveled last week to a remote Mennonite community in Zacatecas to do a story on a local dairy farmer who was elected to the state legislature. Mexican Mennonites are notoriously closed from the rest of society and I had images of being chased out of town by angry locals - or at least being given a nasty cold shoulder.
It was Sunday morning when we pulled into La Honda in our rental car and our first glimpse of the Mennonites was a huge line of pickups and SUVs driving down a dirt road from a severe-looking, unmarked church.
Our cell phone didn’t work and we set out in search of a pay phone. After the church procession passed, the streets were completely deserted and the few stores in town were locked up tight (it was Sunday after all). We eventually stumbled on the La Honda Hotel (who would have imagined?) and I went into the office in search of a phone to call the newly elected congressman.
A redheaded, freckle-faced boy of about 16 whipped the cell phone off of his belt and handed it to me. He spoke a heavily accented Spanish and wore the distinctive blue overalls that seem to be a uniform for Mennonite men.
In the parking lot were three vans with Ontario plates (the Mexican Mennonites came from Canada in the 1920s and families still travel back and forth). A group of men chatted in a mix of Spanish, English and Low German about the farm business.
Over the next 24 hours we ran into our share of surly, uncooperative folks (taking pictures was particularly difficult), but found most of the Mennonites open and willing to talk. We didn’t get the vibe that we were unwanted outsiders. At times people would crowd around us and even offer up juicy community gossip, like the fact that some Mennonites had romantic relationships with Mexicans. Kids waved at us as we passed. Some older residents wanted to make sure we didn’t work for the TV news before talking to us (television is still prohibited there).
The next day, a Monday, held more surprises: the number of Mexicans from nearby towns working in or visiting La Honda. Most were laborers on the prosperous Mennonite farms or workers in the various dairies (Mennonite cheese is highly regarded throughout Mexico), but a good number were on family outings. The town’s only pizzeria was catering almost exclusively to Mexican customers - parents with their kids, obviously dressed up for the day.
We didn’t see too much conversation between Mennonites and Mexicans, but the interaction helped break the myth of the hermetically sealed Mennonite community.
Did Mexican Drug Cartels Agree to a Truce?
Could the Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels, whose bloody 3-year-long war has left thousands dead, be in peace negotiations?
Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border say Mexico’s largest cartels have discussed a truce, and violence - though still high - has decreased over the last month.
Drug killings have included decapitations, menacing letters attached to dead bodies and dozens of dead cops. But executions have slowed in recent weeks, averaging about 40 a week, according to Mexican media estimates. That’s down from as many as 95 a week earlier in the year.
According to the Proceso magazine, complementing information first reported by the Dallas Morning News, cartel leaders met last month on a ranch in Tamaulipas and discussed dividing Mexico into zones of control and limiting the violence. Apparently the large number of killings had become bad for business, prompting cartel leaders to take action.
The cartels began battling for control of Nuevo Laredo, the most coveted crossing along the border, about three years ago. Since then, the cartel feud has spread to nearly every corner of the country. President Felipe Calderon sent the military to confront the cartels, which led to more drug violence. According to the press reports though, the military action may have helped coax the cartel leaders to the negotiating table.
Officials insist the possible truce is “fragile.” Mexico can only hope it is real and it lasts. According to many drug war experts, an agreement between cartels may be the only way to slow the violence.
Biker Mayor Rides Again
It’s the first Monday of the month, so that means Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is biking to work.
In an oft-ridiculed directive, meant to stimulate bicycle riding and cut emissions in the smog-choked megalopolis, Ebrard has ordered government functionaries to bike to work once a month.
Providing an example to his troops, Ebrard dons his helmet, jumps on his mountain bike and pedals to the office. It’s always a big media event, accompanied by much snickering in the Mexican press. Here’s the photo Ebrard’s photographer e-mailed the media about an hour ago.
While Ebrard gets kudos for promoting environmentally friendly programs in one of the world’s most polluted cities, detractors say Mexico City is simply not fit for cycling. With 4 million cars slicing through traffic with an aggressiveness that would make a New Yorker cringe, the city’s streets are a scary place for anything with two wheels.
But Ebrard seems determined to change the city’s car culture.
He recently began pushing hybrid cars and has closed downtown streets on Sundays for big bikefests.
It’s a Really Bad Sign(ature)
A year ago, when I got my Mexican work permit, I never imagined my financial future hung in the balance. As I signed the work visa, I didn’t think twice. The passport-sized visa booklet is small, the signature line even smaller and I was slightly rushed as I hunched over it at the immigration office in Mexico City.
The result was a signature with only a slight resemblance to my normal John Hancock, the letters at the end of Schwartz strangely mangled and truncated. But who cared anyways?
Well, the Mexican banking system, that’s who.
A few months later I opened a Mexican bank account and was forced to fill out multiple signature cards. But the signatures had to match the work visa signature EXACTLY.
I went through about 10 attempts in the bank manager’s office, my hand shaking and thoroughly rattled. It’s pretty hard to copy an abnormal signature (forgery really is a skill). I finally managed to squeeze out a few copies that slightly resembled the abomination on my work visa, but my nightmare was just beginning.
In the U.S., it seemed to me, bank signature cards were thrown in a vault somewhere and only dug up when you closed an account.
In Mexico, signature cards are scanned, downloaded and called up by tellers when you cash a check. The slightest variation in the signature is cause for the bank to reject the check.
Needless to say, I have written a good number of checks with signatures that don’t match that monstrosity on my work visa. I have had checks rejected throughout Mexico City, leaving a trail of unhappy folks. Every month I write a check for office expenses and every month go through the harrowing experience of trying to mimic that signature. I have had to tear up dozens of checks in the process.
I thought the nightmare would end when my work visa expired. I dreamed of the day I would sign it with fluid, normal strokes. But alas, the renewal consists of a stamp inside the booklet.
It seems I am stuck with my mutant signature until I leave Mexico.