Perilous time for Mexico’s democracy

Under AMLO, it's starting to look like an autocracy In the run-up to the 2000 presidential election Vicente Fox, candidate of the National Action Party (PAN) made an unprecedented campaign appearance at a meet-and-greet rally in Chicago, home to one of the largest Mexican-American populations in the U.S. Fox, a hulk of a man about …

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In the kitchen with Grandma

To remember her cooking and the family history The exploration of some people's fraught relationship with their mothers must be a leading topic of psychotherapy even if sifting through life's what-ifs and could-have-beens while lying on a couch often doesn't alleviate present-day anguishes. Grandmothers are a different story. Our memories of them are rose-tinted by …

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Tamales: The agony and the ecstasy

Everyday Mexican cooking is easy, except when it ain't Between the pandemic lockdown and remodeling of our kitchen and terrace, we hadn't done any entertaining for more than two years, not that we were ever a couple of gay Martha Stewarts who would whip up a Beef Bourguignon, set out the fancy china and tableware …

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Is paying higher wages bad for Mexican workers?

San Miguel is increasingly pricey but expat generosity is hardly the chief culprit Last Sunday Stew and I stopped at Querétaro's "Mercado de Flores," a hangar-size paradise of all things gardening located next to the city cemetery, that sells plants, pots and other supplies at noticeable lower prices than nurseries in San Miguel. If you …

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I read no news today, oh boy!

Consuming lots of news can make you a more informed citizen—or a neurotic zombie If there were a Twelve Step program to alleviate an addiction to news, I might qualify for membership. I already have had to deal with two types of addictions—booze and nicotine—so it's not much of a stretch that my well-nigh obsessive, …

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Looking a lot like Christmas

In this tiny Mexican town with an unpronounceable name, Christmas is a serious year-round business If you get to visit this lovely town, and you should, you need to remember two things. Its name is Tlalpujahua and that's pronounced something like "Tlal-poo-háh-wa." Practice, so if instead going through Atlacomulco on the way to Tlalpujahua, you …

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