Ten people have been killed and at least four injured during two confrontations in agrarian conflicts between communities in Oaxaca’s Sierra Sur The first clash on Friday night killed seven and left three injured Another confrontation late Sunday night killed three and left another person with gunshot wounds One dispute is between San Agustín Rancho Viejo located in the municipality of Villa Sola de Vega and San Vicente Coatlán; another is between the community of El Guayabo and the town and municipality of Santa María Sola The three people injured in Friday’s shooting were taken to hospital on Saturday night but armed men later entered the hospital and forcibly removed them and members of their families “They were taken away to an unknown destination and we were told that if we continued treating them we would have consequences that we’d better do nothing,” said one of the nurses He added that the director of the hospital immediately sent everyone home and closed the facility the Oaxaca state Congress has disbanded the local government in Villa Sola de Vega Sources: El Universal (sp) ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Woodsmoke is deeply woven into the fabric of Oaxacan life It hovers over the market stalls of food vendors It infuses weddings and birthday parties It's the impetus of the barbecues that spring up around traditional wood-fired mezcal distilleries very social things and usually you invite everyone your family," said the Oaxacan-born Luis Martinez "And there is not a single barbecue without mezcal." Mezcal makers in Oaxaca still roast maguey agave in wood-fired earthen pits The resultant heat and smoke create the perfect environment for cooking ribs or the fleshy cactus pads called nopales, all of which become infused with the flavor of mezcal Martinez recently visited Villa Sola de Vega in Oaxaca where his import company Tequio Foods is helping local farmers revive mezcal traditions to diversify their revenue streams distillers shoveled live coals into a wheelbarrow There they grilled adobo-rubbed ribs called costillas enchiladas and charred fresh nopales pads their spines scraped off with a knife.  tlayuda come together on a large tortilla spread with lard The leftover fat is traditionally stirred with salt and left to ferment for a few days to become asiendo "You take that and put it on a tortilla with beans cooked with avocado leaves," Martinez said On goes Mexican quesillo and cabbage then it's all cooked to a crisp on the grill over live fire perhaps a piece of meat sizzling right next to it.  "A Oaxacan barbecue doesn't exist without tlayuda." Brand: Mezcal FaneKantsini Mezcal Master: Sosima Olivera Brand: Mezcal La Locura Mezcal Brand: La Neta Mezcal Mezcal Master: Hermógenes Vásquez Oaxacan chorizo Costillas enchiladas, or grilled chile-marinated pork ribs  Grilled salsa roja and nopales Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Monday World Subscribers only Friedrich Merz bets on two private sector converts to revive the German economy and reform the state World Subscribers only 'A Pope in the tradition of Francis': From New York to Ghana Catholics hope for continuity at the Vatican World Subscribers only Chancellor Merz's diplomatic first week 2025."> World Trump's proposal to reopen Alcatraz deemed 'absurd' in San Francisco World Subscribers only Founder of Sant'Egidio community fears next pope could undo Francis's legacy Opinion Subscribers only 'Russian gas and Europe is an old story that ended badly Economy Subscribers only Europe's steel industry flattened by crisis World Subscribers only How European countries 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Occupation Magazine Subscribers only Eve Rodsky the American helping couples balance the mental load Magazine Subscribers only Desecration or more glory Joan Didion's private diaries are revealed Magazine Subscribers only For Jewish cartoonist Joann Sfar 2025."> Pixels Subscribers only Golden Owl solution is revealed but leaves players of 31-year hunt disappointed Pixels Subscribers only Secrets of decades-long Golden Owl treasure hunt to be revealed Lifestyle Inside Chanel's French leather workshops Culture Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris The production of this spirit has increased tenfold over eight years Agave monocultures have been expanding across the country By Anne Vigna (Mexico a member of a collective that runs a mezcal factory in a field of espadin agave in Villa Sola de Vega PEDRO PARDO / AFP On hillsides agaves are now abundant in the Mexican countryside The fruit of these majestic succulent plants native to Mesoamerica contains a nectar which you had to climb into the woods or wander the deserts to see them Agaves were wild and grew freely among trees and cacti which was given away more than it was sold Only the Tequila region in the state of Jalisco already had intensive agave monocultures to produce the tequila so highly prized on the American market since mezcal has become just as sought-after internationally the landscape of the Mexican countryside has been turned upside down The number of producers has risen from 3,000 a decade ago to over 25,000 today "This commercial success has blinded producers to the environmental damage of the activity The creation of a controlled designation of origin has made no difference: Both the surface area and land expansion have only increased," explained José Blancas Vazquez an ethnobiologist at the University of Cuernavaca You have 80.11% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial The construction of a highway connecting Oaxaca city to the beach resort of Puerto Escondido has hit a snag due to a land dispute between rival towns in the Oaxaca Sierra Inhabitants of the bordering municipalities of Villa Sola de Vega and San Vicente Coatlán both about 95 kilometers south of Oaxaca city have a longstanding dispute over 20,000 hectares of land which is holding up the construction of 13 kilometers of the Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway which authorities plan to open in August next year A court ruling in 2003 awarded the territory to Sola de Vega, but people in San Vicente Coatlán have not given up their claim to the area. The conflict has frequently turned violent, as it did most recently in April, when seven people were killed in a confrontation between communities in the two municipalities the conflict has taken more than 50 lives over about 60 years Residents of both municipalities have at different times in 2021 blocked various federal highway construction projects in an attempt to get the state and federal governments’ attention regarding the conflict Agrarian conflicts of this kind are common in the largely rural state. On Sunday, in another part of the state, part of a road to an isolated village in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec — which had been paved via a federal public works program — was destroyed by rival villagers due to a conflict over land cutting off another eight rural communities President López Obrador addressed the dispute during his morning news conference in Oaxaca city on Monday The inhabitants of San Vicente “don’t want the work to conclude,” he said he visited the municipality on a tour of infrastructure projects in the area and promised to help resolve the conflict in exchange for residents lifting a blockade on another construction project — the Oaxaca-Isthmus highway They acted well and we reached an agreement to find a solution but the problem is not the road but an agrarian issue a conflict about the limits of Sola de Vega and San Vicente Coatlán which comes from a long time ago,” López Obrador said depending on their goodwill and good faith and the highway inaugurated in August 2022 The 20-year-old project has seen presidents come and go: Vicente Fox Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto all failed to fulfill their promises to complete it Sola de Vega’s inhabitants share their neighbors’ tendency to take matters into their own hands. In January, residents put a rope around the neck of their mayor, Esaú Núñez, and threatened to hang him arguing that he was corrupt and did nothing for the community With reports from Proceso  A dispute over territory has been terrorizing multiple families in tiny southwestern Oaxaca communities who say their homes have been burned down or they’ve been given two weeks to abandon the land they’ve lived on for a century The 10 remote communities that are part of the municipality of Villa Sola de Vega and are made up of 10–15 families say they have been living in fear for two months and all point to one source of that fear: armed gangs of residents from the nearby municipality of San Lorenzo Texmelucan who claim that the land belongs to them thanks to an agrarian court decision The small community of El Sargento was targeted first The latest aggression happened on December 8 when residents of Santa Caterina La Cañada say an armed gang arrived in the community threatened the local police officer and his family and told him to inform the town’s residents they all had 15 days to evacuate prompting some residents to leave town the next day Residents in the community of El Anis say they have received the same ultimatum Those who remain in the 10 communities say they live in fear of being chased out at any point Some told the newspaper El Universal that they would be willing to acquiesce to legal claims to the land by San Lorenzo Texmelucan residents if those claims were backed with documents are located far from the municipal seat in Sola de Vega which residents feel leaves them without law enforcement Some say they do not believe the municipal government cares about what is going on and have petitioned the federal government for a resolution and to bring in the National Guard to protect them It would not be the first time that the federal government has had to intervene in the area a federal agrarian court ruling regarding a land dispute between San Lorenzo Texmelucan and another municipality in the same area noted that a violent dispute between the two entities had lasted nearly two years and had resulted in several deaths in both communities forcing the federal government to intervene and mediate A Senate document in 2009 noted that the two communities had been fighting over the land as far back as 1935 a member of the Sola de Vega municipal council who represented the communities He had been heavily involved in trying to find resolutions to the ongoing issue There were at least 400 outstanding land disputes in Oaxaca They had cost the lives of 78 people in the preceding three years Source: El Universal (sp) The completion of a new highway in the state of Oaxaca — from the inland city of Oaxaca to the state’s beachside tourist areas on the Pacific Coast — is being held up by residents of two communities who have set up a blockade “There are 15 km left to finish this work, however, an old agrarian conflict between Sola de Vega and San Vicente Coatlán is at stake,” President López Obrador tweeted earlier this week “We made a good proposal to the towns,” he added the president said that a dialogue is being held with representatives of the two highlands communities and that he had met personally with both sides a day earlier we will make a new route — a bypass,” he said The project has been fraught with problems for some 20 years, especially since the original contract was awarded in 2009 that concessionaire ceded the rights to the project to another company; then in 2016 the project was about halfway done when it suspended and passed to the National Infrastructure Fund (Fonadin) An original completion target of July 2015 now seems like a bad joke — though as recently as last August, officials were expecting the highway to open by the end of 2022. The project is a two-lane highway measuring 12 meters wide stretching roughly 102 kilometers (64 miles) and supplanting what for years has been a treacherous mountain road It is said that the new highway will slash travel time from the capital city of Oaxaca to the coastal destinations of Bahías de Huatulco and Puerto Escondido from 6 to 8 hours down to 2 to 3 hours The 26-kilometer segment from Barranca Larga in the mountains to Ventanilla on the coast is what is holding things up Ventanilla is where the highway will hit the coast — 17 kilometers from Puerto Escondido 58 kilometers from Mazunte and 100 kilometers to Santa María Huatulco The “agrarian conflict between two localities” (San Vicente Coatlán and Villa Sola de Vega) “dates back 47 years and prevents work from continuing on [that] stretch,” according to Infobae The INPI statement noted that the peace process had experienced “advances” after a mandate by AMLO had brought Indigenous leaders to the bargaining table with municipal “Dialogue and conciliation are the way to achieve lasting peace,” it stated noting that the local leaders had pledged to maintain peace and de-escalate the conflict zone while continuing talks The statement also pointed out that Adelfo Regino Montes spoke of a presidential proposal to provide financial compensation if the communities can halt their dispute AMLO recalled two famous phrases: “Nothing by force everything by reason and law,” by Oaxacan-born Benito Juárez (Mexico’s president from 1858 to 1872) and “a problem that is avoided explodes” by the late Jesús Reyes Heroles (a prominent Mexican politician jurist and academic in the 1960s through 1980s) Oaxaca Governor Salomón Jara Cruz said after he and other government officials completed a tour of the Barranca Larga–Ventanilla section earlier this month and is expected to be used by 4,253 vehicles per day The toll plaza at Barranca Larga was only 38% complete at the time of the governor’s tour The plaza will include a National Guard base an administration building and a control center On a recent airing of his television show “Jueves de Gozona,” Governor Jara said he anticipates the highway being completed within six months and that he will work with the groups that have shown resistance to its construction With reports from Infobae and El Universal Oaxaca There are 59 main opium poppy-growing municipalities across six states according to a new project that mapped production of the illicit crop in Mexico one of the world’s largest heroin producers Produced by Noria Research in alliance with Mexico United Against Crime, the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego, and the magazine Espejo, the Mexico Opium Project determined through data analysis that the efforts of the National Defense Ministry to eradicate poppies between 2003 and 2019 were concentrated in 59 municipalities in three large regions Twenty-nine are located in the northwestern region that includes parts of the states of Chihuahua Among the municipalities are Ocampo and Guadalupe y Calvo in Chihuahua Culiacán and Badiraguato – the municipality where convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was born – in Sinaloa Canelas and Topia in Durango and La Yesca and Compostela in Nayarit Twenty-three of the municipalities are located in the southwestern region which encompasses a group of Guerrero municipalities and two in Oaxaca Chilapa and Chilpancingo in Guerrero and Coicoyán de las Flores and San Martín Peras in Oaxaca Its municipalities are Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz The report said the mountainous geography of the three regions is similar with elevations of up to 3,400 meters in the southern and southwestern regions and up to 3,200 meters above sea level in the northwestern region It said that on average one hectare of opium poppies was recorded as destroyed in the 59 municipalities for every 38 hectares of legal crops planted between 2003 and 2019 Presented on Wednesday, a section of the report entitled Why is opium production crucial to better understand the War on Drugs in Mexico? noted that poppies have been cultivated in the Golden Triangle region of Chihuahua Sinaloa and Durango for over 60 years and for almost 40 years in Guerrero “This activity is deeply integrated into society between 70% and 95% of the population – men activities directly or indirectly related to opium,” it said which is also based on 15 months of fieldwork in opium-producing states also said that the army reported destroying poppies in 835 of Mexico’s 2,465 municipalities between 2003 and 2019 That means that poppies have been grown in at least one-third of the nation’s municipalities government affirms that in 2016 Mexico had 32,000 hectares of opium production which increased to 44,100 in 2017,” the report said the report also said that heroin produced in Mexico is exported almost in its entirety to the United States and Canada where it represents around 90% of the consumption market While opium gum prices plummeted in recent years partially due to the rise in popularity of the synthetic opioid fentanyl The Mexico Opium Project estimated that growers are currently paid up to 21,000 pesos (about US $1,000) for a kilogram of opium paste The report said “illicit economies constitute one route for escaping from a subaltern position in a context of chronic economic and social crises in the Mexican countryside.” much of the money generated is captured by legal and illegal intermediaries This means that the fantastic profitability of the final product has an almost null structural impact on inequalities Many poppy growers say they are forced to cultivate the crop due to a lack of other opportunities and government support. Farmers in Guerrero have appealed to López Obrador to legalize the cultivation of opium poppies for use in the manufacture of legal pharmaceuticals The president indicated earlier this week that the government is prepared to consider legalization of the crop for that purpose “With regard to the commercialization of marijuana and poppies the decision has been taken to initiate a thorough analysis of these crops considering that [the growers] are being left behind and they’re being used for the production of [illicit] drugs,” he said Interior Minister Olga Sánchez, who said before the current government took office that López Obrador had given her a “blank check” to explore the possibility of legalizing drugs as well as any other measures that could help restore peace to the country said in January that legalization of poppy production for medicinal purposes was possible “This opiate could be regulated by legislation so that we can obtain all kinds of medicines,” she said Guerrero Governor Héctor Astudillo supports legalization of poppy production which he says could help to reduce violent crime but an initiative to that end has stalled in the state Congress The area covered by marijuana and opium poppy plantations that were destroyed by the military between January and May was the lowest in five years Information provided to the newspaper Milenio by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) shows that the army destroyed 615.5 hectares of marijuana crops between January 1 and May 9 an average monthly eradication of 143.1 hectares The monthly average is 70% less than the area of marijuana plantations destroyed in the same period of 2014 and 33% less than that eradicated from January to May of last year Information supplied by Sedena also shows that Oaxaca has become a major marijuana-producing state seven of the 10 municipalities where the largest areas of marijuana plantations were destroyed were located in the so-called Golden Triangle region of Chihuahua The other three municipalities in the top 10 were Álamos six of the 10 municipalities with the largest areas of plantations destroyed by the military were in Oaxaca Villa Sola de Vega and Santa Lucía Miahuatlán The other four municipalities in the top 10 this year were Badiraguato Chihuahua – which took out the top three spots; and Guachochi the military destroyed 774 hectares of marijuana in Sinaloa 432 hectares in Durango and 408 hectares in Chihuahua Almost 90% of all marijuana crops eradicated last year were located in those four states Sedena data shows that the military destroyed 6,704 hectares of poppy crops between January 1 and May 9 more than 10 times greater than the area in which marijuana plantations were destroyed the monthly eradication average of 1,559 hectares was the lowest in the past five years the military destroyed an average of 1,804 hectares of opium poppies per month the military has eradicated large areas of poppy plantations in the mountains of Guerrero and the Golden Triangle region the army destroyed 7,495 hectares of the plant in Guerrero 5,740 hectares in Durango and 4,917 hectares in Chihuahua Source: Milenio (sp)  winding road through the mountains is a wonderland of sweeping vistas and regional specialties that are more than worth the time If you buy something from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy Ivan Vásquez hopped on a recycled bike made from a refurbished frame and scraps and headed off to ride 118 miles along treacherous high-altitude mountain roads from Oaxaca City to Iglesia de Santa Catarina Juquila a black “Venice” hoodie his aunt had sent him from LA Vásquez made the exhausting trip — which takes a full 24 hours — as part of a grueling ritual pilgrimage that ends at the feet of the Vírgen de Juquila The petite wooden figurine of the Virgin Mary was given to a local Indigenous man in the 16th century by Fray Jordán de Santa Catalina and became an even greater object of devotion after surviving a fire in 1633 that decimated the church but left the statue intact — with a new morena complexion that resembled the native Chatinos and other Indigenous groups Each year in the days leading up to the Virgin of Juquila’s Day worn Federal Highway 131 that rises and falls with the contours of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains accommodates thousands of Zapotecos and Maya groups from Guatemala and Chiapas as well as other Indigenous people from the region they make the trek for all sorts of reasons — to pray for a loved one or to make a vow of self-change Vásquez made the journey with the hope of helping his father overcome his alcohol dependency and to somehow come up with the money to make the payments on their family home The trip was undoubtedly hard — at one point Vásquez’s cousin found him stalled on the road leg muscles burning and cramped — but it was also riddled with pit stops that served a vast array of fortifying Oaxacan delicacies Vásquez remembers stopping roadside for memelas brushed with salty lard and topped with black bean puree and cheese helped along by the nourishment of good food he successfully completed the journey that year and repeated it twice more before ultimately leaving Oaxaca for the States at the age of 16 Vásquez now owns a mini-chain of acclaimed Oaxacan restaurants in Los Angeles known as Madre and cramps were preparing me to leave Oaxaca,” he says “It gave me the courage to come to the U.S Today, in addition to serving as the challenging path for thousands of religious pilgrims each year, the 131 Highway is one of two main roads from Oaxaca City to the Oaxacan coast and its beautiful beach towns of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco Those who choose to drive the six-plus hours to the beach and back pass through the same small villages and roadside food stands that Vásquez and his fellow journeymen stopped at during their trips the long-awaited Oaxaca-Barranca Larga-Ventanilla superhighway is slated to open nausea-inducing 131 and 175 highways and turning the trip to the coast into a short two-and-a-half-hour drive shortcuts in Oaxaca are ill-advised; what one saves in time Should you then choose to embark on your own pilgrimage down the 131 an itinerary of mouthwatering dishes awaits — as well as welcoming villages full of talented local cooks ready to cure your road weariness Vásquez shares his favorite stops and dishes found along the way wistful memories formed during childhood treks Note: You can complete this itinerary in as few as two days or up to a week depending on how long you want to stay on the coast or in any of the scenic villages Also note that while the mileage may look low Pancita de res with all the fixings at the cliffside Comedor “el rincon del sabor.” Eat this: Antojitos at Empanadas y Memelas Irlanda After you leave Oaxaca International Airport your first taste of Oaxaca is just 20 minutes down the highway at the Mercado Gastronómico in the small town of Villa de Zaachila — specifically the antojitos at Empanadas y Memelas Irlanda empanadas de verde are filled with a pungent green mole that’s tart and minty from a mixture of green tomatoes Irlanda’s giant memelas — big enough to share — come coated with porky asientos (unrefined lard) but add an upgrade in the form of a huevo de comal: a fried egg cooked hard over a wood fire on a clay comal Eat this: Pollos Asados a la Cubana Lencho Verano Just a little farther down the highway at Ñatipaa, a rare taste of the Cuenca del Papaloapan region can be found at Pollos Asados a la Cubana Lencho Verano wood-fired roasted chicken and whole suckling pig make for an exciting break from the mostly Valles Centrales cuisine you’ll be eating the rest of the way The crispy birds and pigs are marinated in Cuban mojo de ajo a recipe adopted by Oaxacans in Papaloapan from Cuban immigrants “Arriving in Sola de Vega in the morning was a great feeling of accomplishment of completing the first leg of the ride,” remembers Vásquez of his first trek. “Then I had a café de olla, frijoles de la olla, surrounded by the beauty of the Sierra Madre Sur.” After your first ascent up the lush, green mountains, it’s time for a café de olla at Comedor Juquilita a humble blue-painted restaurant obscured by a large tree with leaves that stretch over the restaurant’s quartet of parking spaces There are also fortifying bowls of pollo enchilado — browned chicken legs and stock in a salsa of pure chile guajillo garnished with epazote — and caldo de pollo (chicken soup) bulked up with Mexican rice with a side of black beans with tortillas blanditas Drink this: Mezcal de marihuana at the roadside market sample a flight of mezcals at the small stand on the market’s right Among the many unlabeled bottles are mezcal infusions like gusano (grubs) and showstopping glass carboys loaded with pounds of mountain marihuana floating in espadin mezcal but don’t expect much in the way of mind-altering effects it’s not a bad bet to grab some chips and Maruchan to go Eat this: Sopa caldosa and café de olla at Comedor Emi Comedor Emy and Comedor Beather are just past the intersection of the roads to Juquila and Puerto Escondido “Here is where we’d always stop for one last café de olla before arriving in Juquila and this is also the first time you feel the cooler climate of La Costa,” says Vásquez A jolt of cinnamon-spiked café de olla is best enjoyed with sopa caldosa the next-level fideo soup from the Valles Centrales made with an anise- and eucalyptus-scented chicken stock with hierba santa leaves and served with cilantro and a dash of hospitality to sustain the descent into Puerto Escondido Eat this: Check out the city’s essential destinations here Once you settle into your lodging for the night it’s time to explore the trendy scene on the beaches of Puerto Escondido — to sip tropical cocktails enjoy the local seafood at popular restaurants and dance to electronic music with your feet in the sand Eat this: Piña rellena at Ay Caray and pancita de res and agua fresca de guanabana at the unnamed morning stand unnamed morning stand encircled by a parade of colorful aguas frescas and a pair of anafres asadores (stainless steel charcoal grills) where women cook memelas and goat barbacoa tacos There is also a large bubbling pot of inky pancita de res (menudo) stained a dark red by chile cascabel Finish with a refreshing cup of agua fresca de guanabana Save room for a second breakfast in the mountains Eat this: Oaxacan breakfast at Comedor “el rincon del sabor” Just an hour or so drive up the mountain overlooking a cliff is a quiet wood-framed hut lined with aluminum siding that offers perhaps the best breakfast on planet earth: a plate of warm “Memories of special places like this are why I’ll still be using the old highway,” says Vásquez echoing the sentiments of many who worry what might be lost with the new road Peer through the open window at hazy mountains and the forest obscured by morning fog as winding plumes of steam waft from your plate Indigenous communities throughout Oaxaca cook a similar breakfast of black beans with epazote with dry cooked eggs that soak up the bean liquid and a side of tasajo of course — shaped from masa made with landrace corn — and stone-ground salsas of foraged fresh chiles and dried ones from the local market If there’s one meal that’s worth the extra miles The early morning sun shines on the simple breakfast offerings at Comedor “el rincon del sabor.” Eat this: Los hongos sagrados in San José del Pacífico if you so wish; mole coloradito at Comedor Familiar Legend has it that the Beatles’ George Harrison and John Lennon came to this sacred land of magic mushrooms in 1969 to expand their minds in ritual ceremony under the guidance of the high priestess of psilocybin mushrooms The city has since become a favorite of spiritual seekers but its status as a drug tourism hot spot has its drawbacks — namely the overharvesting of the mushrooms and a lack of infrastructure for dealing with inexperienced trippers there are plenty of nonhallucinogenic things worth eating here “because of the altitude and cold weather in San José del Pacifico but also because the people eating those mushrooms really were in the clouds.” a cozy restaurant at the entrance to the adjacent town of San Mateo Rio Hondo home to many of Oaxaca’s most revered maestro mezcaleros and wild agaves STOP 4: San Guillermo, Municipality of Mihuatlán de Porfirio Dīaz (35 MILES before Oaxaca City)Drink this: Mezcal at Palenque de Francisco Garcia Léon (Cuishe) “The terroir in Mihuatlán has been an essential stop for me in learning about mezcal and represents the historical taste of Oaxaca,” says Vásquez “It’s the town of great mezcaleros: Francisco García While the Cuishe property is now more inviting for new customers the rugged copper stills — and García himself — keep this heritage brand true to tradition but I imagine now he’ll have to get used to it,” says Vásquez Buy a few bottles to take back to your hotel in Oaxaca City — it’s the ideal cap off to all the flavors Bill Esparza is a James Beard Award-winning writer and author of LA Mexicano, covering Latino food and culture. Juan de Dios Garza Vela is a photographer specializing in food and travel When he isn’t doing photo work he also does illustration work and murals The freshest news from the food world every day The 87th edition of the Guelaguetza kicked off yesterday in Oaxaca city where the annual celebration of the indigenous traditions of Oaxaca’s eight regions drew a record-breaking 15,000 visitors the star of Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and the face of this year’s Guelaguetza accompanied by Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat and federal Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco Marqués The delegation of Chinas Oaxaqueñas from the state’s Central Valleys region launched the festivities with a lively jarabe balancing baskets of flowers on their heads as they whirled around the auditorium with giant paper-mâché figures huge paper lanterns and decorative symbols They were followed by representatives from Chicapa de Castro in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec who delighted the audience with The Kidnapping and the Carrying of the Trunk a representation of a traditional wedding in the region Huautla de Jiménez and Tlaxiaco also presented traditional dances from each of their regions culminating in an emotional performance of Canción mixteca a famous song by Oaxacan composer José López Alavez that evokes the loneliness and longing he felt while living far from his home state The audience gave loud approval for the myriad colors and intricate choreography displayed in other spectacles from the dancers of Santa María Tlahuitoltepec with their sones mixes to a feather dance by representatives from Zaachila and even The Taking of the Turkey by the delegation from Ocotlán de Morelos during the presentation of the delegation from Putla Villa de Guerrero the dancers invited the representatives from the other 22 delegations to join in the fun Even Governor Murat could not contain himself from moving to the happy rhythms of the Mixtecan sones and chilenas kindling the celebration’s festive spirit in one of the largest crowds of spectators the Guelaguetza has ever seen A variety of other festivities will follow throughout the week until next Monday when the dancers will once again meet at the auditorium to continue with the second show Source: Milenio (sp) ShareSaveCommentLifestyleSpirits4 Great Mezcals And Tequilas To Try Right NowByErik Ofgang Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights Erik Ofgang is a Connecticut journalist who writes about drinks 08:28pm ESTShareSaveCommentPicture of a field of espadin agave (Agave angustifolia) taken at the mezcal factory Tres Colibries .. More (Three Hummingbirds) in Villa Sola de Vega Mezcal and tequila are the second most consumed category of spirit in the U.S (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images) To understand the difference between mezcal and tequila Nelson Nieves co-founder of Bosscal Mezcal advises people to think of relationships “Tequila’s like your spouse and mezcal is like your lover and a little bit more dangerous,” he told me during a recent interview over Zoom Tequila and mezcal were also the second fastest-growing spirits category I’ve been doing my part to fuel this growth Here are some of my recent favorite tequilas and mezcals Cocktail to try it in: Naked and Famous Made with 90 percent Espadín and 10% Barril agaves the mezcal is mild enough to appeal to new mezcal drinkers but also has complex floral and fruit notes that make it appeal to connoisseurs This mezcal is fermented in open-air wooden vats and utilizes wild yeasts Cocktail to try it in: The Greenbelt Enrique Fonseca was inspired to create his tequilas by Scottish distillers who blended scotches made with alembic and column stills to create a product that had the intense character of the former with the higher alcohol content and lightness of the latter Cimarron is made with natural fermentation and wine yeasts and was designed to be dry with mixing in mind so bartenders can control the level of sweetness in each drink Though not as agave-forward as some tequilas it has a wonderful oak fruit notes and is always a favorite when I have informal blind taste tests at my house Cocktail to try it in: Mezgarita Naturally fermented with wild yeasts from wild foraged agave plants in Durango it has delightful citrus-forward flavors against a smoke backbone that lets you know you are drinking mezcal but doesn’t hit you over the head with that fact it’s a fun substitution for many cocktails that ordinarily call for tequila The spirit is also organic certified and for every agave plant harvested Cocktail to try it in: Carajillo A premium brand from a legendary tequila family LALO is named in honor of Eduardo “Lalo” González Made from hand-harvested mature agave plater yeast and water without preservatives or added flavors LALO was originally started as a small private batch project has grown into a widely available and widely sought-after tequila Photograph: Claudio Vargas/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Eduardo Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Alberto Millares/Demotix/Corbis Residents in Acapulco look on as a crocodile thrashes around on a pavement in the city's centre Storms leave 40,000 holidaymakers cut off and locals in shelters with supplies running short and airports waterlogged Hurricane Ingrid and tropical storm Manuel result in blocked roads landslides and 60,000 tourists being stranded in Acapulco Puerto Escondido has a very high level of seismic activity Based on data from the past 55 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900 there are about 1,100 quakes on average per year in or near Puerto Escondido Puerto Escondido has had at least 7 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900 which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently probably on average approximately every 15 to 20 years The quake had a very shallow depth of 30 km (19 mi) and was not felt (or at least not reported so) Puerto Escondido was shaken by 9 quakes of magnitude 4.0 or above 2025 at 4.36 am local time (America/Mexico City GMT -6) The quake had a very shallow depth of 5.7 km (3.5 mi) and was reported felt by some people near the epicenter.