"The civilian searchers found the graves by inserting simple metal rods into the earth and smelling their tips to detect the stench of decomposing bodies."

I'm reading "Inside a Mexican cartel ‘extermination’ camp: Ovens, shoes and teeth/A civilian search group found a gruesome site near Guadalajara, sparking outrage as authorities had raided the area months earlier but did not uncover the graves" (WaPo)(free-access link).

Mexico has grappled for years with a crisis of disappearances, with more than 110,000 people reported missing.... [A civilian search group] arrived on March 5 at an abandoned ranch outside La Estanzuela and started poking around. They dug up three underground ovens. They found hundreds and hundreds of singed bone shards — from skulls, fingers, teeth.... 

"The cartels are waging war in America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing."

Said Trump, in his speech last night.

Five nights ago, Mexican authorities, because of our tariff policies being imposed on them, think of this, handed over to us 29 of the biggest cartel leaders in their country. That has never happened before. They want to make us happy. First time ever. But we need Mexico and Canada to do much more than they’ve done.... I have sent Congress a detailed funding request laying out exactly how we will eliminate these threats to protect our homeland and complete the largest deportation operation in American history.... Americans expect Congress to send me this funding without delay so I can sign it into law.... I’ll sign it so fast you won’t even believe it....

He said "war," but then it didn't sound like a war.  

Trump also said: "The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control. They have total control over a whole nation, posing a grave threat to our national security." 

"The territory" — that makes it sound as though that place isn't even Mexico at all, and yet our approach is to squeeze the Mexico, the land south of the territory, with tariffs. Is it "time for America to wage war" or not? Mexico needs "to do much more," but what? I'm not asking for a real war. I'm just irritated by the disconnect between declaring This is war! and then merely asking Mexico and Canada to "do more" and Congress to fund deportations. What about the "war" being "waged" from "the territory"?

"President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico struck a deal with the Trump administration to delay stiff tariffs, which were set to take effect on Tuesday, for a month..."

"... as the two countries reached a series of agreements on border security. Ms. Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 troops, who President Trump said would be designated to stop the flow of migrants and illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border... She said it was important for 'humanitarian' reasons for Mexico to help control the flow of fentanyl into the United States, and she said there was a plan to deploy the troops immediately."

From "Live Updates: Mexico Reaches Deal With U.S. to Delay Trump Tariffs/President Trump said he would pause tariffs on Mexico for a month, but levies on Canada and China were still set to take effect on Tuesday. U.S. shares fell at the opening bell, following drops in Asian and European markets, amid fears of a trade war" (NYT).

A success for Trump. I hope this goes well.

"Let's just take Superbowl Sunday. Mmkay? It's gonna affect beer. Mmkay? Most of it — Corona, here — comes from Mexico. It's gonna affect your guac. Because what is guacamole made of? Avocados. Both from Mexico."

Chuck Schumer claims that President Trump's tariffs will raise the price of beer because "most of it comes from Mexico" while holding a can of corona.

This might be the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen a politician do lmfao. pic.twitter.com/z4Z0W22gUe

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 3, 2025

Chuck Schumer is attempting to lure Americans away from Trump by tempting us with the humble indulgences beer and guacamole — drinking and snacking — paired with watching television. But even if Americans were hopelessly addicted to these fattening pleasures, we could still, easily, choose a non-Mexican beer and serve those tortilla chips with melted cheese instead of that avocado paste. That might work out well for Wisconsin — home of beer and cheese — and quite badly for Mexico. What is it going to do with all those avocados if we say we'd rather push for Mexico to help us with the border problem than continue to mindlessly consume that that green goo... that sludge... that guck... 

This is fresh fruit, farmed in vast quantity in Mexico, where it will rot if not sold. What am I missing? We will easily win this trade war. And I'm sure Schumer knows all this and is embarrassed to be smarmily plying us with a beer and an avocado.

By the way, Americans didn't use to care about avocados at all. Here's an 2015 article in The Atlantic — "The Selling of the Avocado/How the 'alligator pear' went from obscure delicacy to America's favorite fruit":

"[T]hese criminal networks have extended their operations far beyond drug trafficking and human smuggling. They are now embedded in a wide swath of the legal economy..."

"... from avocado farming to the country’s billion-dollar tourism industry, making it hard to be absolutely sure that American companies are isolated from cartel activities. 'This has come up in previous administrations across the political spectrum and from members of Congress who have wanted to do it,' said Samantha Sultoon, a senior adviser on sanctions policy and threat finance in the Trump and Biden administrations. 'But no one has done it because they have looked at what the implications would be on trade, economic and financial relationships between Mexico and the United States.'..."

From "How Labeling Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could Hurt the U.S. Economy Isolating U.S. companies from cartel activities could be almost impossible given that the criminal groups operate in sectors like agriculture and tourism, leaving some American businesses vulnerable to sanctions" (NYT).

"But no one has done it"... until Trump. I wonder how many of Trump's innovations are things the others have thought of but rejected. 

"Almost impossible" — that makes me think of this part of Trump's inaugural speech:

"They never fired one person. They didn't fire anybody having to do with Afghanistan and the Taliban..."

"They should have fired all those generals, all those top people because that was one of the most incompetently handled situations anybody has ever seen. So when somebody does a bad job I fire them. And you take a guy like Esper. He was no good, I fired him. So he writes a book. Another one writes a book. Because with me they can write books. With nobody else can they. But they have done such a poor job. And they never fire anybody. Look at the economy. Look at the inflation. They didn't fire any of their economists. They have the same people. That's a good way not to have books written about you."

From Tuesday night's debate, that's Donald Trump, accepting the consequences of firing people. They write books and get back at you. In that structure of cause and effect, not firing people is a subtle form of censorship, and we the voters ought to notice the silence and think about what we are not hearing.

Esper is Mark Esper, who wrote "A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times." Wikipedia says:

"Gunmen have killed the female mayor of a town in Mexico just hours after the country celebrated the election of Claudia Sheinbaum as the nation's first woman president."

"Yolanda Sánchez was ambushed by gunmen in the centre of Cotija, Michoacán, on Monday. Local media say she was shot 19 times and died in hospital shortly after the attack. Her bodyguard was also killed in the gun battle.... More than 20 people running for office have been killed since September according to official figures, but independent surveys have put the number closer to 40...."

BBC reports.

"So many senior positions in government here are held by women that gender wasn’t a big topic in the presidential race...."

"[T]here was nothing like the sense of anticipation that accompanied Hillary Clinton’s presidential run in 2016. 'For most of the population, the gender theme isn’t all that important in and of itself,' said Lorena Becerra, a prominent pollster. 'We had already internalized the idea that the next president would be a woman.'... Sheinbaum’s gender hasn’t attracted much fanfare in part because her political career has developed in López Obrador’s shadow. During the campaign, the low-key Sheinbaum emphasized she would continue the policies of the popular leader.... About 25 percent of voters surveyed during the presidential campaign, for example, said it would be harder for a woman to address problems of security or organized crime. There was almost no difference on issues like health or the economy. But it was difficult to gauge whether Sheinbaum’s gender helped or hurt her in the election because her top competitor was also female.... Sabina Berman, a writer and feminist who supports López Obrador’s Morena party, said... 'In every household, in every classroom across the country, the idea that a woman exists to serve and please a man is going to crumble'...."

From "How Mexico, bastion of machismo, got a female president before the U.S./The election of Claudia Sheinbaum caps a decades-long campaign for gender parity in politics, a key element of the country’s transition to democracy" (WaPo).

"This year’s election season has been particularly bloody, with dozens of mayoral candidates and local officials killed."

"As Mexico headed to the polls, voters were deeply concerned about rising cartel violence, which has emerged as a top election issue. Despite some efforts, the current government has struggled to curb the rampant killings, disappearances and extortion that plague the country."

From "Mexico Election Results: Sheinbaum Wins" (NYT).

"No Mexican is out there chanting 'From the Rio Grande to Portland, Oregon.'"

Otis.

Wow...seeing #HurricaneOtis rapidly strengthen from a Tropical Storm yesterday at noon to a Category 5 Hurricane at midnight is astounding...almost mind boggling. #Acapulco #Hurricane pic.twitter.com/9jgOu1F8Bg

— Meteorologist Zach Maloch (@ZachMalochWX) October 25, 2023

"More alienated Latinos are turning to unofficial saints."

Axios reports. 

La Santa Muerte, a skeleton figure that resembles the Grim Reaper, is the most well-known.... Although originally tied to cartels, devotees now include members of LGBTQ+ communities and the middle class.

"When boys express effeminacy, some Zapotec mothers will begin to train them in traditional female roles."

"Similarly, many mothers do not disavow young men who show an interest in work traditionally assigned to women. Notably, muxe children are traditionally forbidden from leaving their parental homes to start their own families, or to live independently with their partners. Even here, tolerance and acceptance, it seems, have their limits."

 
From "Intimate Portraits of Mexico’s Third-Gender Muxes/On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, a community of the local Zapotec people has long accepted — and celebrated — gender nonconformity" (NYT).

This topic is incomplete without information about how this group treats gay people. The phrase "When boys express effeminacy" might hide a lot. Are these people "accept[ing] — and celebrat[ing] — gender nonconformity" or are they erasing homosexuality? Why is a boy being called "effeminate" and why is effeminacy something to be dealt with by channeling young people into what their culture deems the woman's role? Is that "gender nonconformity" or a particularly rigid idea of gender roles? 

I have the feeling that the NYT fails to explore these questions because it is romanticizing and otherizing native people.

"If there is a message, it is to look at the leadership of Mexico here: This is possible, it is happening. When you have adverse conditions, like in Texas, you need to double down on your efforts."

Said Giselle Carino, head of the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s Western Hemisphere region, quoted in "Mexico’s Supreme Court Votes to Decriminalize Abortion/The ruling, which sets a precedent for the legalization of abortion nationwide, follows years of efforts by a growing women’s movement in Mexico" (NYT). 

In its ruling, the Supreme Court had considered a challenge to the law in the northern state of Coahuila, which had set prison penalties of up to three years for having an abortion. The justices struck down the state law, finding broadly that any criminal penalization of abortion violated Mexico’s Constitution.

"A statue of divisive European explorer Christopher Columbus that was on prominent display in Mexico City will be replaced with a figure of an Indigenous woman..."

"The looming Columbus figure had stood tall on the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard for over 100 years, but on Sunday the mayor of the capital city, Claudia Sheinbaum, said it was time for a change of landscape and to make way for a monument that delivers 'social justice.'... Last month, [President Andrés Manuel] López Obrador asked the country’s Indigenous peoples for forgiveness for the abuses inflicted on them during the bloody 1521 Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. He has previously called on Spain’s royal family and Pope Francis to formally apologize for atrocities committed during the Spanish conquest at the beginning of the 16th century.... For Mónica Moreno Figueroa, a Mexican academic in the United Kingdom and co-founder of the Collective to Eliminate Racism in Mexico (COPERA), the removal of the Columbus statue is 'symbolically important.'... However, simply replacing Columbus with a possibly anonymous Indigenous woman, in a country that is home to at least 50 Indigenous groups, lacked nuance...."

From "Statue of Christopher Columbus in Mexico City to be replaced by Indigenous female figure/The removal of statues of the explorer has been common in the United States and elsewhere as countries reckon with the public commemoration of their past" (WaPo).

"The evening’s first ritual was a name-changing ceremony: The desert became the ocean; peyote became chayote squash."

"Name changing helps the pilgrims envision entering a new world. The pilgrims also underwent a public confession around midnight, during which each person listed all their past and present sexual relationships. The names were then publicly read around the bonfire; the intention was to let go of the past. Each of the relationships was tied as a knot on individual palm branches. The branches were then burned in the fire."

From "Inside a Peyote Pilgrimage/Drug tourists, mining companies and farming encroachment are threatening the Wixárika people’s annual hunt for the psychedelic plant in the Mexican desert" (NYT). 

From the comments: 

The premise of the article is that drug tourists are threatening the abundance and stability of this fragile ecosystem and the indigenous sacred practices that belong there. Got it. So the NYTimes sends a writer and photographer who microdose and tell the reader exactly where the peyote fields are. Cue the stampede for the Burning Man crowd. I’m just wondering if there were any discussions in the editorial office about the ethics of this piece?

What is "the Biden wall"?

I'm trying to read "Mexico’s coronavirus deaths are plummeting. The ‘Biden wall’ could be a factor" (WaPo) — just trying to understand what the headline means.

I'm glad to hear that the coronavirus situation in Mexico has improved, but why bring Biden into the picture and attempt to give him credit? He could be a factor. Because something he did is susceptible to being called a "wall." Can't we just be happy for Mexico and give credit to Mexico for competence? Why must it be about us? I have to presume that we are self-obsessed and partisan and WaPo is dedicated to making us click and then feeding us with pro-Democratic Party material.

Let's see if my presumption holds up. There's this in the 4th paragraph:

In addition [to things Mexico has done to control the virus], U.S. vaccinations appear to be blocking the southward spread of the virus.

Then, finally, in the 8th paragraph, we encounter the term the "Biden wall":

There may be another, intriguing factor. Malaquías López-Cervantes, a professor of public health at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, dubbed it the “Biden wall.” With nearly half the U.S. population vaccinated with at least one shot, he said, fewer infections are being carried to Mexico....

So... the "wall" is the way there are lots of people going back and forth between Mexico and the United States but because of vaccinations in the U.S., there is less virus going along with them. Quite aside from whether Biden deserves to have his name on the vaccination effort — why not Trump's?! — it's perfectly silly to call the continued flow of people between the 2 countries a "wall." 

I hope Professor López-Cervantes intended to make fun of Americans when he chose that hot word "wall" to hook us into his theory. I'm not doubting that the theory is correct — that less virus in the U.S. means less virus carried into Mexico — I'm just interested in his deployment of the term "Biden's wall" and the way The Washington Post snapped it up and propagated it. It's an idea-virus that made its way from Mexico to the U.S.

"If you’ve been to Mexico, you know that noise levels are often through the roof. Speaking of roofs, in many towns, 'watchdogs' are kept there..."

"... and they bark all the time — at nothing or at everything. And then there are the parties, for birthdays, quinceneras, religious and other holidays. Often these events include rented speakers as big as refrigerators set up in the street in front of their (and your) house. You might find your street blocked by a bounce house or funeral memorial for a day... or three. Strolling musicians are common and can be lovely, but sometimes you might prefer a quiet conversation at dinner or listening to waves at the beach instead of a 10-piece, horn-heavy band. In Mazatlán, open-air taxis, called pulmonias, have gigantic sound systems with speakers that blast music as they make their way through the neighborhoods...."

From "64-year-old retiree who left the U.S. for Mexico: 7 downsides of living in a beach town for $1,200 per month" (CNBC). 

I quoted the material on the noise downside. There are 6 more downsides at the link. But the author, Janet Blaser, says she's got no regrets about her decision.

(To comment, email me here.)

"A second worker at Mexico’s famed monarch butterfly sanctuary has been found murdered..."

"... sparking concerns that the defenders of one of Mexico’s most emblematic species are being slain with impunity.... The deaths again called attention to the disturbing trend in Mexico of environmental defenders being killed as they come into conflict with developers or local crime groups, who often have political and police protection."

From The Guardian.

"Trump calls for 'war' against Mexican drug cartel 'monsters' after Americans murdered."

Fox News reports.

The Trump tweets quoted at the link read:

A wonderful family and friends from Utah got caught between two vicious drug cartels, who were shooting at each other, with the result being many great American people killed, including young children, and some missing. If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army! This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president!

The quotes around "war" in the Fox News headline are not scare quotes. They are quote quotes. Trump said "WAR" and he means literally war. I say that because: 1. He put the word in all caps, 2. The phrase "you sometimes need an army to defeat an army," and 3. "wipe them off the face of the earth."

ADDED: The NYT has a long article about the massacre, "At Least 9 Members of Mormon Family in Mexico Are Killed in Ambush."

Members of the LeBarón family, dual Mexican and American citizens who have lived in a fundamentalist Mormon community in the border region for decades, were traveling in three separate vehicles when the gunmen attacked, several family members said. They described a terrifying scene in which one child was gunned down while running away, while others were trapped inside a burning car.

The cousin of the women is quoted: “When you know there are babies tied in a car seat that are burning because of some twisted evil that’s in this world... it’s just hard to cope with that.... We need the Mexican people to say at some point, we’ve had enough... We need accountability; we don’t have that on any level."

The NYT links to this video at Facebook, which includes this text: