General News

More than 50 of Jalisco’s leading business leaders met with Mexican President Enrique Peñã Nieto during a visit to Guadalajara made prior to his state visit to the United Kingdom.

As almost every corner store owner in Mexico knows, success breeds imitation, and tequila’s push into the Asian continent has brought a bevy of knockoffs sporting a minimal percent maguey juice, but proudly sporting the name “Tequila” on the label. Of particular ire to the Tequila Regulatory Board (Consejo Regulador de Tequila -CRT) are the 18 fake brands they found on Malaysian liquor store shelves. “They make it smell, taste and look like Tequila, but it isn’t,” said CRT director Ramon Gonzalez Figueroa.

Jalisco lawmaker Roberto Mendoza last week submitted a bill to Congress hat he says will allow those suffering with a terminal illness to “die with dignity.” 

The next few weeks are likely to prove the wisdom of the familiar Mexican proverb: Febrero loco y marzo otro poco. Weathermen at Mexico’s national meteorological service are forecasting sporadic rains and shifting climatic conditions for the remainder of February and into next month. 

It is not uncommon for February weather in our part of the planet to be marked by intermittent drizzle, cloudbursts and overcast skies, frequent low range temperatures mixed with abrupt jumps on the thermometer that may occur from one day to the next or within a 24-hour period, and powerful winds that seem to suddenly come out of nowhere.

However, in the overall forecast for the first three months of 2015 forecast, the El Niño phenomena rising from the Pacific Ocean is expected to provoke episodes of rain that will exceed the historical trimestral average. 

Over the first week of this month temperatures in Guadalajara have registered below the norm, with occasional showers.  And while predictions for next week anticipate sunnier skies bringing on a spike in daytime temperatures, it would be advisable to keep sweaters, jackets and umbrellas handy over the coming days.

Talking on the phone and texting at the wheel aren’t the only “no-nos” that can distract drivers and provoke accidents, some Jalisco state legislators are pointing out.

Jalisco’s offer of a 15% discount on the yearly refrendo (yearly auto sticker) payment has come and gone as of February 3. A 10-percent discount is in effect through the end of February and a five-percent discount in March. After March 31 car owners must pay the 476-peso fee before fines begin to mount at the end of June. Payment can be made at any of 135 state recaudadora offices open 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In the metro area and until 2:30 p.m. in other municipalities. Lines may be long (1/2-2 hours) so go early and take a something to read with you to avoid boredom. To find a list of recaudadora offices nearest you go to http://sepaf.jalisco.gob.mx and at the right of the site click on the image at right. Where to pay If you pay at the recaudadora, you will get your tarjeta de circulation and your window sticker immediately. If you’d rather pay at your bank or Oxxo (fewer lines than the recaudadora) you can print out a payment sheet from the same website, but expect to wait months for the sticker and tarjeta de circulacion to arrive at your domicle. This newspaper had to go down to the city’s main recaudadora last year and have them search for the documents, which were never delivered as promised. A copy of your receipt kept in your glove box will suffice in lieu of the tarjeta in any dealings with transit police, but after a certain point in the year, you risk being stopped for not having the sticker. To print out your payment sheet, at the website, scroll down to the image above and click. At the next window (see right) type in your plate number and then the last 5 digits of your car’s serial (VIN) number, which can be found on your previous tarjeta de circulacion, and click on Consultar. A list of any parking and traffic fines will be included with your refrendo charge and sort-of-obligatory 40-peso Red Cross fee. (See image at right) Click on TODO and a total will show up. Then where it says Eliga un banco para pagar (see image above), hold down the cursor and move it to generate un formato de pago and then click on PAGAR. Save the PDF file (see image at right), print it and with it pay at any of the options listed: seven different banks, Oxxo, 7-11, Comercial Mexicana and the Telegraph office. According to a legend at the bottom of this form, three days after payment is made, you can solicit the tax office to deliver your paperwork to your address by returning to the website. Good luck!

Recently videos posted online show a man feeding and petting crocodiles in the Boca Negra estuary in the area between the Airport and the mouth of the Rio Ameca on Banderas Bay in Puerto Vallarta. He has even invited tourists to mount crocodiles and have their photo taken. 

The Chinese market for Mexican raspberries and blackberries has opened and is expected to lead to skyrocketing profits and significant growth in the sector. The first batch was sent from Jalisco this month after a deal was signed in November 2014.

According to forecasts by the Ministry of Rural Development (Seder), the Chinese deal could triple the current 20,000 Jalisco berry jobs and lead to a rapid expansion in the acreage devoted to the sector.

“Entering China is a great opportunity to increase our acreage to 6,000 hectares in the coming years and then to 10,000 hectares.” said Seder Commercial Director Rene Lopez Ruelas. “There are many benefits, these berries are replacing some consumer habits; for example, they are being sold in theatres in the United States instead of popcorn and they are replacing bananas at breakfast, because they have less calories, taste great, and provide energy to live day by day.” 

Jalisco and Michoacan are leaders in the production of strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry. Last year, Mexico produced a total of 538,000 tons of berries with a value of US$9 billion.