Xii - 2011/ i - 2012

From the CEO 6

Briefs 7

Business Tips Mexico,coMMitedtotheenvironMent 11

Special Report MexicoGoinGGreen 19

Figures MexicofacinGcliMatechanGe 28

2 Negocios

31Cover feature

Mexicans by choice

Contents

Green GiantInvestment levels show Mexico is more engaged than ever in the battle to combat climate change.

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50 The Lifestyle Briefs

52 Filmmorelia international film festival

68 Destinationsan miguel de allende

70 FeedbackfundaCión del Centro históriCo

de la Ciudad de méxiCo

72 Mexico According to... trista (giovanni estrada and José alfredo silva)

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48 hours In Tijuana

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ProméxiCo

carlosGuzmánBofillceo

ilseoehlerGrediagaimageandcommunicationsdirector

SebastiánescalanteManagingcoordinator

MiguelÁngelSamayoaadvertisingandSuscriptions

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emmalucilalópezvaltierraPublisher

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thisisaneditorialprojectforProMéxicobyQ-10 comunicación.downloadthePdfversionandreadtheinteractiveeditionofnegociosProMéxicoat: negocios.promexico.gob.mx

Negocios ProMéxico es una publi-cación editada mensualmente eninglés por ProMéxico, camino aSanta teresa número 1679, coloniaJardines del Pedregal, delegaciónÁlvaroobregón,c.P.01900,México,d.f.teléfono:(52)5554477000.PáginaWeb:www.promexico.gob.mx. correo electrónico:negocios@promexico.gob.mxeditor responsable: Gabriel Sebastián esca-lante Bañuelos. reserva de derechos al usoexclusivo no. 04-2009-012714564800-102.licituddetítulo:14459.licituddecontenido:12032,ambosotorgadosporlacomisiónca-lificadoradePublicacionesyrevistasilustra-dasdelaSecretaríadeGobernación.iSSn:2007-1795.Negocios ProMéxico año4,númeroxii-2011/i-2012,diciembre2011-enero2012,seterminódeimprimirel11dediciembrede2011,conuntirajede 13,000ejemplares. impresaporcía.impresoraelUniversal,S.a.dec.v. lasopi-nionesexpresadasporlosautoresnoreflejannecesariamentelaposturadeleditordelapu-blicación. Queda estrictamente prohibida lareproduccióntotaloparcialdeloscontenidoseimágenesdelapublicación,sinpreviaauto-rización de ProMéxico. Publicación Gratuita.Prohibidasuventaydistribucióncomercial.ProMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. The institution might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the respon-sibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it states otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the infor-mation printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, in-accuracies or mistakes. This publication is not for sale. Its sale and commercial distribution is forbidden. December 2011 - January 2012.

4 Negocios

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Over the past three years, Negocios has featured a business savvy and creative Mexico. Every issue has highlighted success stories of Mexicans who reinvent their country from the trenches, others who travel abroad to find partners and ideas or those who decide to stay in Mexico to support an increasingly competitive country. All

of these resourceful entrepreneurs have something in common: they were born and raised in Mexico.

In this issue, Negocios introduces you to other Mexicans; those who are Mexican by choice, because they found the country to be a place where they could develop professionally or personally. Current data indicates that nearly one of every 100 Mexicans is a foreign national that chose to make Mexico his or her home. Some of them saw this country as a place to develop their art; others found the best university or academic program for their area of study, while others discovered a market niche for their business. Regardless of the reasons, all of them have fallen in love with Mexico, its people, its culture and the endless possibilities the country offers. This issue is dedicated to them.

Mexico is eternally grateful to these foreign-born contributors as they are strategic advocates for Mexico at the global scale.

Welcome to Negocios!

Carlos Guzmán BofillCeOProMéxico

From the CeO.

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reneWabLe enerGY

Winds of ChangeThe Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a loan of up to 72 mil-lion usd to help finance the construction of a 396-megawatt wind farm in Mexico, a project that will expand renewable energy supply in the country and contribute to re-duce emissions of greenhouse gases.

The project, the biggest wind farm in Mexico and one of the largest in Latin Amer-ica, will be located in the La Ventosa region of Oaxaca, one of the world’s best regions for wind resources. The farm will supply energy to subsidiaries and affiliates of Fo-mento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA) and Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma (CCM-Heineken) under 33 self-supply agreements, helping the beverage companies save an esti-mated 10% of their total energy costs.

The project, forecast to reduce emis-sions by up to approximately 1 million

metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, will be made up of 132 towers with tur-bines and include the construction of a 52-kilometer transmission line linking the farm with the electricity grid.

The operation is part of growing IDB support to help Mexico develop its renew-able energy industry.

The Bank has been supporting Mexico in developing the regulatory and institu-tional framework necessary to incorporate renewable sources of energy into the ener-gy matrix as well as implement its Renew-able Energy Law.

In 2009 the IDB approved 101 million usd in partial financing for two private sec-tor wind power projects in Oaxaca, with a total installed capacity of 318 MW.

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China-based Risen Energy and the state government of Duran-go in Mexico have signed an agreement for the construction of 200-megawatt solar power plant. Risen Energy is a company en-gaged in manufacturing and providing solutions for solar pho-tovoltaic energy. The project in Durango will be constructed in different phases. The first of them will require an investment of 60 million usd.

www.risenenergy.Com

With an investment of 3 million usd, Erreka Mex has inaugurated an expansion of its plant in the Bernardo Quintana Industrial Park in Querétaro, which is focused on the production of small, preci-sion, technical parts, injected in thermoplastic material, with very demanding requirements in terms of precision and safety. Erreka Mex’s production is basically aimed at the domestic appliance and automotive sectors. The company’s major customers include Copreci Mexico –also an MCC company, which produces electrically operated pumps for washing machines and various components for the cooking area in Guadalajara– and Mabe.

www.matz-erreka.mCC.es

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Erreka Mex Expands

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Power Deal

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8 Negocios8 Negocios brieFs.

Ternium Finalizes Steel Parts Imports to Mexico

Ternium México is seeking to position itself as the main supplier of steel parts to Mexico’s automotive industry and is in the process of building a complex of eight industrial warehouses with a production capacity of 400,000 tons per year of such products by 2013.

A leading company in Latin America in the manufacture and processing of steel products, Ternium saw a business opportu-nity in the foreign auto manufacturers that have assembly plants in Mexico and that

The state government of Baja California saved a total of eight million pesos this last year in the municipality of Mexicali by switching from electricity sup-plied by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to energy generated by the Rumorosa wind farm. Of that amount, the Baja California Energy Commission will be returning 3.5 million pesos to consumers –35,000 families will receive a rebate in the form of a 100 peso card to help pay their electric-ity bills during the six hottest months of the year.

www.energiabC.gob.mx

reneWabLe enerGY

Turning Wind Energy into Cash in Hand

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import 1.2 million tons of steel products from Europe and the US every year.

The Tenigal complex, as it has been named, is a joint venture between Ternium México and Nippon Steel of Japan. A total of 2.07 billion usd will be channeled into the 437-hectare project, 35% of which has already been constructed in Nuevo León, eight kilometers northeast of the munici-pality of Pesquería and 14 kilometers from Monterrey’s International Airport.

By June 2013, Tenigal is expected to manufacture galvanized steel for auto frames, with production of cold-rolled high-strength steel for auto parts begin-ning the following August. Potential cus-tomers include Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, Nissan and the new Mazda and Honda plants in Salamanca and Celaya, Guanajuato.

www.ternium.Com.mx

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Unstoppable Growth

TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., the global leader in automotive safety systems, will open a new facility in the state of Que-rétaro, to produce a range of advanced brake systems.

The 150,000 square foot facility will manufacture hydraulic control units for a variety of electronic stability control sys-tems including TRW’s Slip Control Boost system, which works as an integral part of

regenerative braking systems in hybrid and electric vehicles. The plant will also produce brake actuation units including boosters and master cylinders.

Production at the new plant is expected to begin near the end of the first quarter of 2012, with an estimated total employment of 450 people when full production is reached.

www.trw.Com

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GE to Repower Thermoelectric Plant

General Electric (GE) has signed a long-term services agreement with the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), which covers six GE gas turbines installed to repower the Manzanillo Thermoelectric, the largest ther-mal power generation project undertaken by the Mexican government in the last two de-cades. This is the first time that an entity of the Mexican government has signed an agreement of this scope and type for power plant services.Under the terms of the contractual services agreement (CSA), valued at approximately 200 million usd, GE will provide a wide range of services to support the efficient perfor-mance of the gas turbines for 15 years.

Six GE Frame 7FA Gas Turbines were recently installed at the site and the first three units are scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2011. The full plant is expected to be run-ning by the summer of 2012, adding 900 mega-watts of power for the CFE grid and bringing the total site output to 1,500 megawatts. The new GE gas turbines are replacing two con-ventional boilers currently operating on fuel oil at the Manzanillo site, as part of the larg-est repowering initiative ever launched by the Mexican government. The repowering project is expected to improve plant efficiency by 50% and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2,000 tons per year.

GE employs more than 10,700 people in Mexico and operates 21 manufacturing plants and eight service centers as well as 10 manu-facturing centers with local partners.

www.ge.Com

tOUrisM

Intercontinental to Open 12 New Hotels in 2012The Intercontinental Hotels Group has an-nounced that it will open 12 new Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Indigo ho-tels in Mexico in 2012. The new hotels will be located in destinations like Mexico City, Nogales and Guaymas, in the state of So-nora; Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, and Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, as part of a 500 million usd investment plan geared toward opening 49 new properties in Mexico over the next four years.

www.iChotelsgrouP.Com

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More States to Have Access to Natural GasMexico’s federal government will be invest-ing 10.5 billion usd as part of a six year project to bring natural gas to states cur-rently lacking the infrastructure.

A combination of public and private sector funds will be used to build some 4,374 kilometers of new pipelines (a 38% increase) by 2018, while the existing distribution network will be expanded by 56,000 kilometers (a 125% increase), giving consumers access to quality natural gas at affordable prices.

The new pipelines will also serve as an incentive for companies engaged in heavy industrial and manufacturing activities, like petrochemical plants, to open facilities in these states.

www.sener.gob.mx

it

Telmex Launches Higher Education Technological PlatformDeveloped by Telmex to promote research, innovation and the sharing of know-how among higher education and research centers in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, Aca-démica boasts universities of the stature of the Cataluña Open University, Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Berkeley among its 160-strong membership.

That technological platform has strengthened ties between academic institutions and pro-ductive sectors and facilitated the creation of a virtual community of students, teachers and researchers, who enjoy free access to contents, innovative educational practices and projects, digitalized and specialized educational resources and virtual and physical academic reunions, as well as training and postgraduate programs.

www.aCademiCa.mx

10 Negocios10 Negocios brieFs.

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Inalfa’s New Facility Inalfa Roof Systems, one of the world’s leading suppliers of sunroofs and open-sunroof sys-tems for the automotive industry, has started operations in Mexico with the construction of a plant –the company’s 9th manufacturing facility worldwide– in Irapuato, Guanajuato.

www.inalfa-roofsystems.Com

Mexico’s Industrias CH, the largest pro-ducer of engineered bar (SBQ) for the auto-motive and industrial equipment sectors in the US and Mexico, will invest more than 500 million usd in a new wire rod and rebar plant in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

The operation will be carried out through Industrias CH’s California-based

siDerUrGiCaL

Growing Towards the South

Simec Steel and Simec USA subsidiaries.On a first stage, the new plant will have

production capacity of over 500,000 tons annually. The facility will be built over the next 20 months and is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of 2013. www.industriasCh.Com.mx

aUtOMOtiVe

Hella Continues Rapid Growth in Mexico

Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., developer and manufacturer of lighting and electronics components and systems for the automotive industry, will open a product development center and expand its manufacturing facili-ties in Guadalajara.

The company’s new 9,000-square-foot design and development center for lighting technology is expected to open in March 2012. Hella is also scheduled to complete a 15,000-square-foot expansion of its Gua-

dalajara manufacturing complex for the production of automotive reflectors for cus-tomers based throughout the Americas.

Working within Hella’s global product development network, the new development center will allow the company to work more closely with its customers in Mexico and elsewhere throughout the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region.

www.hella.Com

teLeCOMMUniCatiOns

Virgin Mobile Lands in MexicoVirgin Mobile Latin America (VMLA) has received regulatory approval from Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transpor-tation (SCT) to provide wireless communica-tions in Mexico as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).

VMLA will begin service in the country approximately six months after completing a wholesale agreement with one of Mexico’s mobile network operators.

www.virgin.Com

iPhoto archive

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The 16th session of the Confer-ence of the Parties to the Unit-ed Nations Framework Con-vention on Climate Change for 2010, better known as COP16,

ended in December 2010. It resulted in a glob-al environmental commitment: the Cancún Agreement. A non-binding agreement, it is of great importance given that it changed the course of environmental negotiations, a most relevant situation after the failure of Copenhagen’s COP15 the previous year when participating countries were discouraged, at best.

MEXICO, COMMITTED TO THE ENVIRONMENTMexico’s leadership and interest in environmental matters are clear. The country has had an active role in the international arena through the continuous subscription of international documents, financial proposals and the integration with other countries to establish common positions. In addition, this environmental activism has entailed a legal and programmatic base in the interior that is clearly referenced in various documents published in recent years.

SoMeofcoP16’SMoStiMPortant

aSPectSWere:

The United Nations (UN) was confirmed as an exceptional forum for negotiations and agreement on pressing topics such as the environment.

A common ground was reached in which developing countries agreed to cut CO2 emissions, a step that developed nations had been demanding in order to move forward in negotiations. Countries such as China and India no longer held the same positions as when the Kyoto Pro-tocol was signed and, therefore, had to

subscribe to an economy that reduces pollutant emissions. Although many insisted that Cancún’s COP16 could have reached more commitments, it was hard to move forward in negotiations because environmental responsibility was con-ceived as the sole domain of developed countries.

The agreement sets the foundation for companies to gain more confidence to in-vest in environmentally friendly technol-ogies. Events such as the World Climate Summit proved that many corporations are willing to contribute to the mitiga-

by MaríacriStinaroSaS*

12 Negocios

tion of pollutant emissions, which cre-ates numerous opportunities for green businesses.

In addition, an agreement was reached to reduce deforestation, currently the main cause of 15% of annual CO2 emis-sions, which establishes the commitment to provide funds and respect native com-munities.

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The creation of plans and strategies to reduce pollutant emissions, by both developed and developing countries, in which the former countries will provide economic aid to the latter.

The commitment to voluntarily reduce pollutant emissions by 55 countries and the European Union. It is worth noting that some of these are developing coun-tries and that Mexico was the first nation to announce the voluntary reduction of its pollutant emissions.

All the participants promised to com-municate their actions and develop-ments periodically in order to promote transparency.

The parties agreed to continue with the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol, given that its first stage expires in 2012.

The intentions expressed in the preced-ing Copenhagen Agreement were ratified as far as developed countries providing funds for 30 billion usd until 2012 and for 100 billion usd until 2020 to help de-veloping countries begin to adapt. It is

notingworthy that the source of these funds, whether private or public, was not defined.

The creation of a Green Fund was an-nounced, with a board of directors rep-resenting developed and developing countries.

Under the REDD program (United Na-tions Collaborative Initiative on Reduc-ing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), funds and technical support will be provided to countries to help them protect their native forests and jungles.

Organizations were established to facili-tate cooperation and technology trans-fer for adapting and mitigating climate change between countries.

Undoubtedly, the achievements of COP16 were good news for COP17, held from No-vember 28 to December 9, 2011, in the city of Durban, South Africa. In fact, COP17 was basically developed from what was agreed in Cancún, for instance, the creation of the Green Fund, whose characteristics, oper-ating rules and evaluation, among other things, have demanded additional negotia-tions in Durban. The Green Fund, therefore, should start operating in early 2012.

In addition, COP17 worked on aspects such as:

Turning the intentions expressed in Can-cún into binding agreements for all the parties involved.

A ceiling for global emissions was not established in COP16 and voluntary cuts so far would only reduce emissions by

15% in terms of levels from 1990 to 2020 (when a reduction of at least 40% is re-quired), so clearly developed and devel-oping countries must forge a deeper com-mitment. That is a crucial point: if only the commitments announced so far are kept, the world’s average temperature could increase by 3.5 degrees, with seri-ous consequences for the planet. And the COP16 document invites countries to re-duce their pollutant emissions even more although, to avoid controversies such as the ones that arose during COP15, spe-cific amounts or figures for reducing emissions were not mentioned.

That is where the Kyoto Protocol comes in because it is the only binding agreement that forces countries to reduce green-house gas emissions. Therefore, COP17 led to a discussion on whether this agree-ment should continue after the first com-mitment period, which ends in 2012.

Mexico’s leadership and interest in this matter are clear. It is well known that the Green Fund is a Mexican initiative to en-courage commitments from every country in the world, towards a common end. That is because if we ignore the deterioration of the environment, life on Earth would be at risk.

From that premise, Mexico was the first country that announced voluntary reduc-tions of its pollutant emissions during COP16, setting the foundations for further negotiations. In fact, one cannot deny Mex-ico’s active role in the international arena in terms of climate change through the continu-ous subscription to international documents,

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financial proposals and the integration with other countries to establish common posi-tions (such as the negotiation group known as the Environmental Integrity Group, which began operations in 2000). In addition, this environmental activism has entailed a legal and programmatic base in the interior that is clearly referenced in various documents published in recent years.

In terms of international agreements and commitments signed, the adoption, follow-ing ratification, of the two main legally bind-ing documents, namely the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the Kyo-to Protocol. For the latter, it is worth noting that Mexico was among the first 30 countries to deposit the instrument of ratification of the 191 that have now done so. In addition, several international commitments (agree-ments, memoranda of understanding, let-ters of intent) have been adopted in coopera-tion with clean development mechanisms (CDM). Thus, inter-institutional agreements have been executed between Mexico’s Minis-try of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and various ministries, es-pecially environmental, of other countries. For example, in 2004, Mexico signed inter-institutional agreements with the Neth-erlands, Italy, Canada and Spain, in 2005 with Germany and Denmark and in 2006 with Portugal. Another inter-institutional agreement was executed in 2004 between the Mexican Committee for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction and Capture Programs and the Japanese Bank for International Co-operation. An international agreement was

also executed, approved by the Senate on March 17, 2005 and published in the Fed-eration’s Official Gazette on June 30 of the same year, between Mexico and France as part of CDMs.

Another important aspect of Mexico’s en-vironmental conduct is that it has fulfilled the commitments it assumed during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change regarding the updating of its greenhouse gas emission inventories and the periodic delivery of various national commu-nications which also include the measures adopted to confront global warming, based on the principle of common but differenti-ated responsibilities.

If that were not enough, at the invitation of the United Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP) in 2007 to plant one billion trees every year in the world, Mexico com-mitted to plant one fourth of that number of trees in its own territory. In fact, Mexico informed the UN department that it planted 250,000 trees in 2007, that is 25% of the goal set for the entire world.

In terms of environmental programs de-veloped by Mexico, in addition to general references to climate change in sectoral environmental programs, two documents are particularly outstanding: firstly, the National Strategy for Climate Change 2007, which contains a summary of Mexico’s and the international community’s responses to the issue of global warming; a diagnosis of greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation opportunities (related to the generation and use of energy as well as vegetation and use of

land); a description of conditions of vulner-ability and adaptation needs and Mexico’s position facing the international climate regime.

And secondly, the Special Program for Climate Change 2008-2012, which has 106 objectives and 303 goals, and is divided into four components: long term vision (which includes Mexico’s commitment, among other things, of the indicative goal to reduce its emissions by 50% compared to 2000, by the year 2050); mitigation (which with 41 objectives and 95 goals aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching the so-called “decarbonization of the Mexican economy”); adaptation (which establishes 37 objectives and 143 goals that focus on re-ducing vulnerability and the need to develop integral risk management) and, finally, trans-verse policy elements (covering 28 objectives and 65 goals that design and group elements of policies and actions and deal with topics of foreign policy, institutional strengthening, climate change economy, education, training, information and communication and tech-nology research and development).

Thus, Mexico, which is responsible for 1.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, has been setting the standard in terms of en-vironmental responsibility, committing to providing solutions to a complex issue and, undoubtedly, inspiring other developing and even developed countries to follow suit. n

*Professor and researcher in the Political and Social

Sciences Faculty, National Autonomous University of

Mexico (UNAM).

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illustration archive

A GREEN GIANT Investment levels show Mexico is more engaged than ever in the battle to combat climate change.

by Gustavo aréchiGa

14 Negocios

sPeCial feature GreenGiant

As host of the 16th United Na t i o n s Fr a m e wo r k Convention on Climate Change (COP16), in 2010, Me x i c o u n de r t o o k a

commitment to promote strategies to address climate change.

The primary goal of the Convention was to urge the international community to adopt concrete decisions to mitigate the effects of climate change. From a pragmatic standpoint, one of its greatest achievements was to secure political and monetary support to ease adaptation to climate change and to facilitate the transferral of technology and finance projects, especially in developing nations.

One year later, Mexico has laid firm foundations for a green future, earmarking over 6.25 billion usd that will be channeled into projects to combat climate change over the coming years.

“Mexico is a country blessed by nature. We have significant renewable energy resources distributed throughout the entire country,” says Sergio Alcocer Martínez, undersecretary of Energy Planning and Technological Development at the Ministry of Energy (SENER).

“Not only do we have 12,000 kilometers of coastline capable of generating wave, tidal, thermal and salinity gradient or osmotic power but also 20 states in the country have wind power potential and we receive 50% more insolation than countries like Germany, for instance, which are more advanced in

terms of solar energy. Virtually the whole country has geothermal water resources and biomass is another renewable energy we should be exploiting.”

The move toward cleaner, renewable sources of energy has been coupled with greater awareness of the need to make more efficient use of the energies already at our disposal.

For example, under the so called Green Mortgage program introduced by the National Workers’ Housing Institute Fund (INFONAVIT), some 122,000 houses have been built to incorporate energy saving technologies such as solar water heaters, compact fluorescent lamps and smart windows. Property developers Geo, Homex, Urbi and Grupo Ruba spearhead the program, accounting for almost 30% of these affordable green homes.

Another point in Mexico’s favor is the credit line granted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to combat climate change.

Since 2008, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has received a total of 1.2 billion usd from the IDB, which will be channeled into specific projects to address climate change.

The IDB loan has also served to bolster confidence among companies with an environmental focus, like Rubenius of Arabia, which specializes in utility efficiency and energy storage solutions. During COP16, Rubenius announced plans

to invest 4 billion usd over seven years to set up an electricity bank in Mexicali, Baja California.

“In general, Mexico’s renewable energies are of very high quality, which facilitates diversification within the industry and the broadening of the production chain,” says Alcocer, adding that in Mexico, investors have the “certainty of a legal framework and a public utility electricity law that acknowledges and encourages the participation of the private sector in electricity generation activities, be it for self consumption or sale to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Furthermore, Mexico has workers that are highly skilled in the manufacture of components and systems and the assembly of parts for renewable energy products.”

what the wind is blowing inAnother project that makes Mexico a viable player in the green energies business is the Eurus wind farm in Juchitán, Oaxaca. Financed by the Mexican cement company Cemex, Eurus has a capacity of 250 megawatts, enough to meet 25% of the electricity requirements of Cemex’s Mexican operations. Eurus began operating in 2009 and has 167 wind-driven generators, making it the largest wind farm in Latin America to date.

Oaxaca is one of the states with the greatest potential in that respect, with average wind speeds capable of generating up to 5,000 megawatts a year, enough to light up a city the size of Paris.

16 Negocios16 Negocios illustration archive

It is estimated that Eurus will soon be generating enough electricity to supply a city of half a million inhabitants, preventing some 600,000 tons of CO2 –approximately 25% of total emissions generated by a city of that size– from entering the atmosphere each year.

According to data furnished by the Ministry of Energy, as of 2010, Mexico had an installed capacity in the region of 500 megawatts, including both government and private sector wind energy projects. However, an estimated 5.5 billion usd will be channeled into similar projects with a view to pushing that figure up to 2,200 megawatts by 2012, with wind generated electricity accounting for 4% of total installed capacity by the end of the current government administration.

The pressing need for new paradigms in the search for environmental sustainability continues to fuel renewable energy and other green initiatives.

For instance, the North American Development Bank (NADB) has announced that it has 450 million usd in capital and

another 3 billion in green credit lines up for grabs and that it will be promoting the use of renewable energies on the Mexico-US border. Baja California and Tamaulipas are contenders for wind energy projects, while Sonora and Chihuahua could well catch the solar power fever that is going round.

In the meantime, investment –mainly in wind and geothermal energy projects– continues to increase, more than quadrupling to 2.32 billion usd last year compared to 2009, according to a report published by the UN Environmental Program (UNEP).

That is partly because Mexico’s authorities aim to raise the use of renewable energies as a percentage of all energy utilized from 3.3%, where it currently stands, to 7.6% by 2012, mirroring the global trend in which developing countries are gaining an edge over developed ones in the use of fossil fuel alternatives.

“The point is that reducing CO2 emissions will become increasingly important, which puts pressure on clean energies to be more

MExICO’S GREEN FEATSMuch of the progress Mexico has made in the battle to address climate change can be attributed to the drawing up of a regulatory framework and projects implemented by states and municipalities, many of which enjoy the backing of the private sector.

For instance, the federal government has implemented the lines of action of the 2011 National Strategy for Energy Transition and Sustainable Energy Use and introduced laws for the development of renewable energies and financing mechanisms as part of a long term plan to ensure that the country is producing sufficient energy using efficient, environmentally sustainable methods by 2024.

In addition to anticipating the depletion of oil reserves, diversifying energy sources, encouraging more efficient energy use and reducing the environmental impact, the regulatory framework is built around the development of new technologies and human capital within the industry and aims to grant marginalized sectors of the population access to competitively priced sources of energy.

cost competitive compared to gas, for example, which is the cheapest fuel,” says Alcocer.

In the renewable fuels race, wind energy takes the green star, although solar energy also has the potential to overtake countries that are presently light years ahead of Mexico in the development of such technologies.

Insolation averages 6 kilowatts per hour per square meter (kWh/m2) in the Mexican states of Sonora, Durango, Chihuahua, Baja California and Baja California Sur alone –50% higher than the mean in several European countries that have invested heavily in solar energy infrastructure.

That means that just 25 kilometers of desert have the capacity to generate enough solar energy to meet all of Mexico’s electricity needs, according to estimates by Nobel Prizewinner Al Gore.

In light of its enormous renewable energy potential and the number of projects already in operation or underway, Mexico is a green beacon for Latin America and the rest of the world. n

sPeCial feature GreenGiant

4%of the electricity Mexico produces should be wind-generated by year-end 2012, according to government estimates.

5,000megawatts of electricity could be generated every year in Mexico by harnessing wind energy.

2.32billion USD have been invested in wind and geothermal energy projects in Mexico.

25km of Mexico’s deserts receive enough solar insolation to meet all the country’s electric-ity needs, according to estimates by Al Gore.

Tail Winds

Wind projects

8 Underconstruction (911.2 MW)

27 Underdevelopment

(7039.9 MW)

Sources: Mexican Wind Energy Association, IDB, Eurus, UNEP.

Eurus Leads the Way

Eurus prevents 600,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year.

25% of the total emissions generated by a city of 500,000 inhabitants.

The Eurus wind farm generates enough electricity to cover

25%of Cemex’s energy requirements.

Juchitán, Oaxaca.

State-financed 3

Export 5

Self-sufficiency 30

Independent producer 5

8In operation

(518.63 MW)

Baja California

Nuevo Léon

Tamaulipas

Jalisco

OaxacaChiapas

States withwind projects

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18 Negocios

T o support its actions to mitigate climate change, in conjunction with the private sector, Mexi-can federal government organ-ized the 2011 Green Solutions

expo in Mexico City, to encourage dialogue and promote business, investment and tech-nological initiatives that help mitigate climate change.

More than 250 officials from three levels of government participated in Green Solu-tions 2011. In addition, the event received the visit and participation of close to four thousand people, among which were 750 presidents, vice presidents and general di-rectors of various companies.

The forum, which included a technology showcase with more than 132 exhibition spaces, welcomed the participation of 115 companies from 10 countries and 12 Mexi-can states as well as eight education institu-tions and seven financial institutions.

Companies like CocaCola-Femsa, Sie-mens, Toshiba and FedEx shared the ac-tions they have taken to fight climate change, the best practices they have imple-mented, the products and solutions they have developed and their experience with projects to reduce electricity consumption.

Numerous strategic partners were also involved in the event, such as Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM), GreenMomentum,

Green Solutions,Green Dialogue

Photos courtesy of green solutions

the Mexican Association for Private Capital (AMExCAP), American Chamber of Com-merce (AMCHAM), New Ventures, World Bank, Business for the Environment (B4E) and Reforestemos México.

During Green Solutions 2011, 35 round tables and analysis and discussion work-shops were held to exchange views on envi-ronmental topics, such as: Energy Efficien-cy as a Tool for Innovation; Sustainability as an Essential Action for the Future of Valua-ble Brands; Negotiations of Climate Change; Opportunities and Challenges for Durban; Green Business Summit: Agreement for a Sustainable Mexico; B20 Green Agenda: From Cannes to Mexico; Large Companies as Sustainability Leaders, among others.

Havas Media picked up on Green Solu-tions 2011 as the perfect platform for divulg-ing the results of its “Meaningful Brands for a Sustainable Future” study, which meas-ures the perceived impact of brands on our personal and collective wellbeing, while automobile lovers were treated to a Green Autoshow showcasing the industry’s latest sustainable technologies. n

35roUndtaBleSandanalySiS

anddiScUSSionWorkShoPSWere

heldtoexchanGevieWSon

environMentaltoPicS.

sPeCial rePort MexicoGoinGGreen

The Mexican government has taken clear-cut actions to address climate change and achieve environmental sustainability. As individuals, we are all responsible for supporting these efforts. What is encouraging, how-ever, is the growing number of Mexican companies that are joining envi-ronmental protection efforts, be it via social responsibility programs, the

use of renewable energies or the introduction of environmentally friendly production processes. Some have implemented programs to teach their employees respect for the environment; others have gone one step further and aim to raise environmental aware-ness among their customers.

Likewise, more and more environmentally conscious organizations have sprung up to promote recycling, public transport and efficient use of energy.

Negocios chose six green initiatives that are destined to turn Mexico into a cleaner, more prosperous country.

MEXICOGOING GREEN

20 Negocios20 Negocios

For the next 18 years, Grupo Bim-bo will be relying on Aeolus for its energy. By 2012, the Piedra Larga wind farm in Oaxaca will be supplying all the electricity

required by the group’s facilities in Mexico and half of the power required by its plants abroad.

In late 2010, Bimbo’s CEO Daniel Servitje announced a partnership with Desarrollos Eólicos Mexicanos (DEMEx), a subsidiary of the Spanish-based Renovalia Energy, for the construction of a wind farm. At an es-timated 200 million usd, the Piedra Larga wind farm will be the largest of its kind sup-plying the food industry and should be up and running by the end of this year. Bimbo has signed up for 18 years’ worth of wind-generated electricity.

Initially, Piedra Larga will have a capacity of 90 MW, which will gradually increase to 227 MW –enough to cover the electricity re-quirements of the company’s 39 production

the sWeet taste OF CLean enerGYGrupo Bimbo set to be fully wind-powered by 2012

byvaneSaroBleS

facilities in Mexico and 26 of its 59 plants op-erating abroad.

The wind farm is a natural progression in Bimbo’s efforts to make its production processes cleaner. In 2002, an environmen-tal management system was implemented to reduce electricity and water consumption, cut down on emissions and properly dispose of solid waste. The system was also made to advance social responsibility toward the en-vironment through a partnership with the Reforestamos México conservation group.

As of 2004, Bimbo had channeled 3.5 million usd into electricity saving systems and technology.

To ensure no energy is wasted at its facil-ities, heat generated at certain stages of the production process is captured and used to fuel combustion systems and heat water and oil.

According to Bimbo’s 2007 Social Re-sponsibility Report, other environmental

measures the group has taken include the use of renewable energy, like solar power, to heat water and the installation of skylights at its administrative buildings and factories to provide a source of natural light.

Together, these measures have reduced the company’s electricity consumption by 13% and the use of thermal energy by 34%.

But these figures are just the tip of the ice-berg. Piedra Larga’s 114 wind-driven genera-tors will produce roughly the same amount of electricity consumed by 200,000 homes, pre-venting some 500,000 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere every year.

Bimbo expects its agreement with Renovalia Energy to cut its electricity bill by 5%. A sweet deal for both the company and the environment; as sweet as the bread it has been putting on the tables of millions of homes worldwide since 1945. n

www.gruPobimbo.Com.mx

initially,PiedralarGaWillhaveacaPacityof90MW,WhichWillGradUallyincreaSeto227MW

–enoUGhtocovertheelectricityreQUireMentSofthecoMPany’S39ProdUctionfacilitieSinMexico

and26ofitS59PlantSoPeratinGaBroad.

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FeMsa, a LOnG-heLD traDitiOn OF sOCiaL resPOnsibiLitY

Latin America’s largest beverage company operates a squeaky clean business.

by vaneSaroBleS

Few companies can boast 200 million consumers worldwide but even fewer can claim to have channeled 21 million usd into environmental protection

programs. Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA), the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler –and also, a holding com-pany for OxxO convenience stores and the Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma brewery– is said corporation.

FEMSA’s friendship with the environ-ment dates back to the 1960s when it in-stalled waste-water treatment plants at its Coca-Cola plants to prevent river pollu-tion. Today, it has branched out into refor-estation, energy saving, energy efficiency

and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) re-cycling programs.

According to the group’s spokesman, Car-los Velázquez, FEMSA has been “a socially re-sponsible company for more than 100 years, even before the term was coined.” As a result of policies like waste-water treatment and rainwater collection, the group estimates it has saved some 15 billion liters of water over the last six years at its plants in Latin America.

To honor its commitment to return to Mother Nature the same volume of water its Coca-Cola production processes con-sumes, 99.5% of all waste-water ended up at the group’s 28 treatment plants in 2010.

And because forests play such a vital role in protecting water supplies, FEMSA

By2013,theGroUPProJectSthat85%ofitSelectricityreQUireMentSWillBecoveredByWindfarMS

inoaxaca.theaiMiStoPrevent690,000tonSofco2froMenterinGtheatMoSPhereByMaintaininG

eMiSSionSGeneratedByitSSaleSandManUfactUrinGProceSSeSat2004levelSallthroUGh2015.

reforested 25,000 hectares of land with some seven million trees in 2010.

But it doesn’t end here. By 2013, the group projects that 85% of its electricity re-quirements will be covered by wind farms in Oaxaca. The aim is to prevent 690,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere by maintaining emissions generated by its sales and manufacturing processes at 2004 levels all through 2015.

When it comes to environmental and social responsibility, the company’s motto is to “expand the business, not its carbon footprint.” So far, it’s doing pretty well on both fronts. n

www.femsa.Com

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22 Negocios

Have you ever gone out and ac-cidentally left your lights on? It’s at times like these we wish there was such a thing as a light fairy to come along and

turn them off. That fairy exists, except it goes by the very unfairylike name of Eneri. Short for Energy Management Systems, in just two years, Eneri’s bright ideas have helped busi-nesses slash their electricity bills.

Institutional capital and the brainpower of 24 Mexicans are behind the company that develops software and hardware to measure, monitor and control electricity consumption via remote systems.

From the Federal Electricity Commis-sion (CFE) –the largest electricity company in Latin America– to the air conditioning of banks and, in the not too distant future, your own apartment, this invisible technology is as green as it gets.

“We have achieved electricity savings of up to 32% at bank branches, 20% at restaurants

the LiGht FairYEneri steals the limelight

byvaneSaroBleS

and 15% at convenience stores,” says Ernesto Sánchez Proal, director and one of the two founding partners of the Zapopan, Mexico, based company.

Like other developing countries, Mexico obtains 80% of its energy from fossil fuels, with the already established toll on the envi-ronment. But Eneri has proven it deserves a place in the major leagues when it comes to the quality and efficiency of its energy saving technology.

In April 2011, Eneri outsmarted the inter-national competition and won a CFE tender to install and supervise the functioning of digital meters in a residential area of Mexico City. The first phase of the project will hook 7,000 users up to smart meters that take readings every 15 minutes. That information is then relayed to the system, making it easier to detect leaks and remotely connect or disconnect supplies where necessary. It also provides more precise readings, helping the CFE reduce invoicing er-rors and theft.

The system has attracted interest abroad and Eneri is currently working on a pilot project in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic, with the possibility of distributing meters to 25,000 users, and has quoted 10,000 smart meters in Santo Domingo. It is also in ne-gotiations with the Philippines and India.

During the first half of 2012, the company plans to take on the north. Suppliers in the US tend to cater to large buildings but: “We are about to launch a more economical system for banks and convenience stores. Our wireless system is ideal for chain stores because infor-mation on all their branches is concentrated on the same Internet site, which is what makes it so smart,” says Sánchez Proal.

It looks like Eneri will continue focusing its energies on saving energy. “We believed it was possible, we took on the challenge and we pulled it off […] This is just the beginning,” Sánchez Proal concludes. n

www.eneri.Com.mx

inaPril2011,enerioUtSMartedtheinternationalcoMPetitionand

WonacfetendertoinStallandSUPerviSethefUnctioninGof

diGitalMeterSinareSidentialareaofMexicocity.

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hP, Green PrintinG sOLUtiOns The company plans to expand its cartridge recycling program in 2012 to prevent tons of plastic ending up in Mexico’s landfills.

byvaneSaroBleS

Mexico has proven to be an invaluable ally of HP’s Planet Partners pro-gram in Latin America. Introduced in 1992, the

program provides for the free collection of used ink and toner cartridges for recycling purposes.

But that is just the final step in a complex process that begins with the selection of the plastics used to manufacture the cartridges. According to company sources, not only are HP cartridges made from recyclable materials; they also consume less than half the fossil-fuel energy required in the manu-facture of virgin plastics.

The Planet Partners program emerged from the global citizenship goals and De-sign for the Environment (DFE) policies in place in over 50 countries where HP has a facility and that the company takes very se-riously, says HP spokeswoman for Mexico, Cristina Chao.

The mechanics of the program are sim-ple: once any company has accumulated five empty HP ink and toner cartridges, it can request their free collection. These are triturated to recover plastics and metals that are then used to manufacture new car-tridges of the same quality as those of the first generation.

HP has found no shortage of partners willing to help it reach its global citizen-ship goals. Since Planet Partners was launched, HP customers worldwide have returned 389 million LaserJet cartridges for recycling.

In 2010 alone, the company collected 69 million cartridges (21,000 tons) and used 8.8 tons of recycled plastics in the manufac-ture of new cartridges – the equivalent of 490 trailer loads that would otherwise have ended up in landfills.

In Mexico, HP’s customers range from corporations to small and medium enter-prises (SMEs) and final users. “We are

launching a pilot program together with a retail chain, which has agreed to place containers in its stores for the disposal of cartridges. The plan is to extensively ex-pand coverage of the program in 2012,” says Chao.

Planet Partners has yielded exceptional results in Mexico and, judging from the number of cartridges collected, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the im-portance of disposing of their waste prod-ucts properly, be it out of personal convic-tion or because they are required to comply with corporate or government regulations, in some cases, as a prerequisite to environ-mental certification.

Whatever the reason, it’s a win-win situation all around: consumers have an in-centive to do their bit for the environment, while helping HP meet ISO 14000 environ-mental management standards. n

www.hP.Com

hPhaSfoUndnoShortaGeofPartnerSWillinGtohelPitreachitSGloBal

citizenShiPGoalS.SincePlanetPartnerSWaSlaUnched,hPcUStoMerS

WorldWidehaveretUrned389MillionlaSerJetcartridGeSforrecyclinG.

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Cts MéxiCO, the JOUrneY tOWarD sUstainabLe Cities Improve air quality in Mexico’s cities, introduce sustainable transport solutions and combat global warming are just some of the goals of this NGO.

byvaneSaroBleS

Getting from point A to point B in most of Mexico’s ma-jor cities can be painful, but the Center for Sustainable Transport (CTS, according

to its Spanish acronym) is working hard to make it a pleasurable experience by the year 2050.

Starting with the premise that cities were built by people for people, the task of this particular non-governmental orga-nization (NGO) is to advise local transport authorities on public transport, urban de-velopment, air quality, climate change and other related public policy issues.

Brazil, Turkey, India and the Andean Region have similar centers that are part of the EMBARQ network, a program created by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington D.C. to help implement en-vironmental and financially sustainable

transport solutions to improve quality of life in our cities.

CTS has its work cut out in Mexico, where people have become so dependent on auto-mobiles that there is one vehicle for every two or three people in the metropolitan areas of cities like Monterrey and Guadalajara.

But rather than considering this as an insurmountable obstacle, the center views it as an opportunity. Under the guidance of former EMBARQ consultant Adriana Lobo and with the firm conviction that sustainable transport and quality of life in our cities should be recognized as basic rights, some 50 experts in city planning and social sciences are working together with academic bodies, government agen-cies, the private sector and society at large, on sustainable transport solutions.

CTS has facilitated portable classrooms for the city of Monterrey and been involved

in transport audits for local governments, like that of León, Guanajuato. It has also worked beyond Mexico’s borders, helping create SIBRT –an association that aims to advance the quality and affordability of public transport in the continent’s largest cities– in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2010. Like-wise, it has shared its experiences with the Metrobús and Macrobús bus systems implemented in Mexico City with Istanbul and Kocaeli via EMBARQ Turkey.

These contributions earned CTS the 2009 Roy Family Award presented by Harvard University –the award for Best Environ-mental Performance– and a Transparency Certificate from Fundación Mapfre in 2010.

Yet the greatest reward CTS could ever hope for is to help make our cities people-friendly in the medium term. n

www.CtsmexiCo.org

SoMe50exPertSincityPlanninGandSocialScienceSareWorkinGtoGetherWithacadeMic

BodieS,GovernMentaGencieS,thePrivateSectorandSocietyatlarGe,onSUStainaBle

tranSPortSolUtionS.

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bikLa, bankinG On the trUstY biCYCLe

byGUStavoaréchiGa

Getting around Guadalajara couldn’t be easier. You can simply grab a bike at one of the city’s 300 terminals, pedal to your heart’s content and drop

it off at another terminal within three hours.The child of two industrial designers and

a business administrator, the Bikla network, as this free bike-sharing system is common-ly known, was born on October 25, 2008 to encourage city dwellers to leave their cars at home and use bicycles for short journeys. The idea caught on and soon spread to sev-eral of Guadalajara’s trendier residential and commercial areas.

“Bikla emerged five years ago when we started to build infrastructure for cyclists. We realized the bicycle culture was making

a comeback worldwide and decided to create a bike-sharing network with the support of local enterprises,” says Bikla founder José Bru Villaseñor.

“Three years ago, we had 200 terminals. Today we have 3,500 users, 35 stations in the city and a terminal network that has grown substantially to 300. Guadalajara’s City Council has offered to fund another 180 ter-minals to expand the network to other parts of the city.”

One of the project’s goals was to raise en-vironmental awareness and Bikla has indu-bitably contributed to making Guadalajara a cleaner city to live in. Since the system was introduced, users have pedaled a total of 320,000 kilometers, preventing some 54 tons of CO

2 from polluting the atmosphere.

With the support of cyclists, graphic de-signers, illustrators, engineers, program-mers, baristas, chefs, musicians, consul-tants, mechanics, students and a long list of other private sector actors, Bikla has gradu-ally reduced traffic jams on the streets of Guadalajara.

“We’re proud because we’ve changed the city’s transportation paradigm,” says Bru, adding that “people are becoming much more aware of the environmental factor, of the benefits for their personal health and that of their community and of how using a bicycle can help optimize the time and ener-gy it takes to get to and from their home and the workplace.” n

www.bikla.net

SincetheSySteMWaSintrodUced,USerShavePedaledatotalof320,000

kiloMeterS,PreventinGSoMe54tonSofco2froMPollUtinGtheatMoSPhere.

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Photo courtesy of fide26 Negocios

A Bright IdeaUnder the Sustainable Light Program, 47 million incandescent light bulbs will be replaced with energy saving Philips lamps in homes across Mexico.

by GUStavoaréchiGa

LIGHT FOR EVERYONE

According to the Electric Power Sav-ing Trust Fund (FIDE), as of Novem-ber 24, approximately 2.5 million Federal Electricity Commission users had traded in their incandescent light bulbs for energy saving ones under the Sustainable Light Program, which has handed out over 10 million compact fluorescent lamps, making it the most extensive initiative of its kind in the world to date.

The incandescent light bulbs we’ve all been using for years –the traditional ones which have a metal filament wire en-cased in a glass globe– were in-

vented more than 120 years ago by Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, although it was Thomas Alva Edison who had the foresight to patent the invention in the US and proclaim himself its author. But that’s old hat, just like the incan-descent light bulb, which hasn’t undergone any major transformations since 1930.

The latest technological development in the lighting department are compact fluo-rescent lamps (CFLs), which will be pro-moted by Mexico’s federal government un-der its Sustainable Light Program –the most ambitious lamp substitution program to be implemented worldwide.

During the first phase of the program, some 23 million traditional 100W light bulbs will be replaced with 23W Philips energy saving lamps and by the time it comes to an end in 2012, 47.2 million CFLs will have been distributed throughout the country.

If your bi-monthly electricity consump-tion is less than 250 kilowatts, you can trade in up to four incandescent bulbs for four white-light energy saving lamps manufac-tured by Philips, the supplier that won the tender. Simply locate one of the 1200-plus exchange centers that have been set up na-tionwide to receive your free lamps.

It is estimated that the program will pre-vent 2.78 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere –equiva-lent to 36% of the carbon dioxide emitted ev-ery year by all the cars in Mexico City– and reduce oil consumption by 7.44 million bar-rels a year – equivalent to all the crude re-fined in Mexico over a period of six days.

“As you can see on the electricity bill sent out by the CFE (Federal Electric-ity Commission), electricity consumed by Mexican homes is heavily subsidized by the federal government. It relieves the bur-den on the family budget but it requires public resources that belong to all Mexi-cans. Reducing electricity consumption by replacing lamps will allow the federal gov-ernment to redirect these funds to other programs and projects for the benefit of all Mexicans,” says Demián Sánchez Yeskett, consultant coordinator at the Presidential Office.

“When all 47.2 million CLFs are in use, the federal government will see annual savings of approximately 369.5 billion usd –twice the funds allocated to the Crèche Program this year, more than what will be spent on the 2011 Food Program that repre-sents a lifeline for 670,000 Mexican fami-lies living on or below the poverty line and roughly the same as what has been chan-neled into the refurbishment of some 3,400 public spaces over the last four years.”

Spain, India and Cuba have implement-ed similar programs. In India, approxi-mately three million energy saving lamps were distributed, compared to nine million replaced in Cuba and Spain.

In Mexico, some 5.7 million families are expected to save money on their electricity bills as a result of the program.

How can changing an incandescent light bulb for an energy saving one help the plan-et? The answer is as clear as day: lighting accounts for a fifth of the electricity gener-ated worldwide and represents 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. n

www.luzsustentable.gob.mx

sPeCial rePort MexicoGoinGGreen

28 Negocios

85%

Establishment of 170,000 hectares of commercial

forestry plantations

1.48 | 0.61 | 43.29

100%21.63 | 7.37 | 50.65

84%

Hydro-electrical power project “La Yesca”

0.81 | 0.81 | 42.68

64%

Operational efficiency in Pemex

4.96 | 1.24 | 32.30

66%

Construction of 38 new highways

1.20 | 1.20 | 33.50

69%

Green buildings and green mortgages

2.10 | 1.20 | 34.70

61%

31%

Landfill sites with controlled methane combustion or

energy generation

Mexico has set out as an indicative or aspirational target, a reduction of 50% in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, compared with the volume emitted in 2000. In doing so, Mexico aspires to contribute to a potential stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations at a level not exceeding 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), compatible with limiting the Earth’s average temperature increase to between 2° and 3°C, and a flexible convergence towards global average per capita emissions of 2.8 tons of CO2e, in 2050.

Mexico Facing

CLIMATECHANGE

27.60 | 6.90 | 6.90

Reinjection of sour gas in Cantarell

14%

7.56 | 4.44 | 11.3422%

Incorporation of 2.95 million hectares to Sustainable

Forest Management

11.88 | 4.37 | 15.7144%

Promotion of self-supply projects for

reducing emissions from deforestation

and forest degradation

8.97 | 2.99 | 22.3449%

Energy savings through new household appliances and

incandescent light bulb replacement programs

4.73 | 2.68 | 25.0253%

Installation of 600,000 efficient

wood burning stoves

1.62 | 1.62 | 26.6456%

Increased use of railroadsfor freight transport

3.90 | 1.60 | 28.2459%

Additional 2,175 million hectares incorporated in environmental services

payment programs

6.27 | 1.43 | 29.67

Additional 2.5 million hectares of terrestrial

ecosystems incorporated as Wildlife Conservation

Management Units

4.19 | 1.39 | 31.06

71%

Wind power generation

by CFE

2.40 | 1.20 | 35.9073%

Incorporation of 750,000 hectares of forest ecosystems

as Natural Protected Areas

3.36 | 1.12 | 37.0275%

Thermoelectric plant in Manzanillo,

Colima

1.10 | 1.10 | 38.1277%

Scrappage of old motor vehicles

1.10 | 1.10 | 39.2279%

Cogeneration in Pemex

3.77 | 0.90 | 40.1281%

Clean highway cargo and passenger

transport program

2.70 | 0.90 | 41.0283%

Sustainable planned grazing strategy in five

million hectares

2.05 | 0.84 | 41.87

The remaining 15% of reductions expected by 2012 will be achieved via an additional 31

goals, grouped in four emission categories:

4.4%Energy

production

3.1%Energy

use

5.0%Agriculture, forestryand other land use

20%Waste

18.03 | 36%Energy

production

15.29 | 30%Energy

use

11.87 | 23%Agriculture, forestryand other land use

5.46 | 11%Waste

TOTAL EMISSIONS REDUCTIONSBy Category in 2012

0.00%

0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00

GOAL

Cumulativeto 2012 MtCO2e

Mitigation MtCO2e:

2008 2012

Cumulativepercentage

G O A L SMITIGATION

GOALS 2008-2012:

Full implementation

of the Special Climate

Change Program

could achieve a

reduction of around

51 million tons of

CO2e in total annual

emissions in 2012.

Source: Programa Especial de Cambio Climático (Special Climate Change Program, PECC).

infoGraPhic oldemar

85%

Establishment of 170,000 hectares of commercial

forestry plantations

1.48 | 0.61 | 43.29

100%21.63 | 7.37 | 50.65

84%

Hydro-electrical power project “La Yesca”

0.81 | 0.81 | 42.68

64%

Operational efficiency in Pemex

4.96 | 1.24 | 32.30

66%

Construction of 38 new highways

1.20 | 1.20 | 33.50

69%

Green buildings and green mortgages

2.10 | 1.20 | 34.70

61%

31%

Landfill sites with controlled methane combustion or

energy generation

Mexico has set out as an indicative or aspirational target, a reduction of 50% in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, compared with the volume emitted in 2000. In doing so, Mexico aspires to contribute to a potential stabilization of atmospheric GHG concentrations at a level not exceeding 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), compatible with limiting the Earth’s average temperature increase to between 2° and 3°C, and a flexible convergence towards global average per capita emissions of 2.8 tons of CO2e, in 2050.

Mexico Facing

CLIMATECHANGE

27.60 | 6.90 | 6.90

Reinjection of sour gas in Cantarell

14%

7.56 | 4.44 | 11.3422%

Incorporation of 2.95 million hectares to Sustainable

Forest Management

11.88 | 4.37 | 15.7144%

Promotion of self-supply projects for

reducing emissions from deforestation

and forest degradation

8.97 | 2.99 | 22.3449%

Energy savings through new household appliances and

incandescent light bulb replacement programs

4.73 | 2.68 | 25.0253%

Installation of 600,000 efficient

wood burning stoves

1.62 | 1.62 | 26.6456%

Increased use of railroadsfor freight transport

3.90 | 1.60 | 28.2459%

Additional 2,175 million hectares incorporated in environmental services

payment programs

6.27 | 1.43 | 29.67

Additional 2.5 million hectares of terrestrial

ecosystems incorporated as Wildlife Conservation

Management Units

4.19 | 1.39 | 31.06

71%

Wind power generation

by CFE

2.40 | 1.20 | 35.9073%

Incorporation of 750,000 hectares of forest ecosystems

as Natural Protected Areas

3.36 | 1.12 | 37.0275%

Thermoelectric plant in Manzanillo,

Colima

1.10 | 1.10 | 38.1277%

Scrappage of old motor vehicles

1.10 | 1.10 | 39.2279%

Cogeneration in Pemex

3.77 | 0.90 | 40.1281%

Clean highway cargo and passenger

transport program

2.70 | 0.90 | 41.0283%

Sustainable planned grazing strategy in five

million hectares

2.05 | 0.84 | 41.87

The remaining 15% of reductions expected by 2012 will be achieved via an additional 31

goals, grouped in four emission categories:

4.4%Energy

production

3.1%Energy

use

5.0%Agriculture, forestryand other land use

20%Waste

18.03 | 36%Energy

production

15.29 | 30%Energy

use

11.87 | 23%Agriculture, forestryand other land use

5.46 | 11%Waste

TOTAL EMISSIONS REDUCTIONSBy Category in 2012

0.00%

0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00

GOAL

Cumulativeto 2012 MtCO2e

Mitigation MtCO2e:

2008 2012

Cumulativepercentage

G O A L SMITIGATION

GOALS 2008-2012:

Full implementation

of the Special Climate

Change Program

could achieve a

reduction of around

51 million tons of

CO2e in total annual

emissions in 2012.

Source: Programa Especial de Cambio Climático (Special Climate Change Program, PECC).

negocios figures

30 Negocios

China

1,684

CleanDevelopment

MechanismNumber of Registered Projects by Country:

Source: UN Clean Development Mechanism.

rodaucE

71

India 746 Brazil 198

Viet Nam 82

Colombia 36

Arg

entin

a 25

Peru 25

l earsI22

Indonesia 72Korea 64

Tha

iland

60

Philippines 57

Chile 51 al a

met auG

11

Mex

ico

134

Malaysia 103 Hon

dura

s 21

Sout

h A

fric

a 20

Egy

pt 1

0

Pakistan 12

Uzbekistan 12

162Other 50countries

infoGraPhic oldemar

negocios figures

MEXICANs by

CHOICE

Negocios selected 15 foreigners who have chosen Mexico as their second home. Artists, entrepreneurs, students, teachers, retirees, all of them have found in

Mexico a place where they feel free to express themselves and an opportunity to put their talents to good use.

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

Almost one out of every 100 people living in Mexico is a foreigner. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geogra-phy (INEGI) , in 2010 there were 961,121 for-eigners living in Mexico, equivalent to 0.9% of the total population. The majority come from the US, making Mexico the country with the largest population of American citizens outside their own country.

Spaniards and citizens of other Latin American countries –Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina, Cuba, Honduras, Venezuela and El Salvador– appear next on the list, with Ca-

nadians coming in 10th. Further down on the list are Europeans, followed by Asians, main-ly residents of Japanese and Chinese origin.

Mexico has a tradition of taking in im-migrants. During the Spanish Civil War and the Chinese Revolution, refugees came here in their droves but the last two de-cades have seen an influx of immigrants. Some 151,793 foreigners made Mexico their home between 1990 and 2000, rising to 468,504 –more than double– between 2000 and 2010. And every day there is another knock at Mexico’s door.

32 Negocios32 Negocios Photos Álvaro argüelles

CÉSAR OLGUÍNProving it takes two to tango

byoMarMaGaña

Olguín relieves his nostalgia by promot-ing the music of his country. More recently, he has embarked on a musical expedition of sorts, compiling, adapting and playing tangos composed by Mexican musicians.

The list is long and includes bolero and ranchero composers who flirted with the tan-go at some point or another in their careers: Agustín Lara, Tata Nacho, Luis Alcaráz and María Grever; and singers such as: Pedro Vargas, Jorge Negrete, Cuco Sánchez and Los Panchos. Olguín and his Mexican Tango Orchestra have already recorded a small se-lection of these songs and the album should be available by Christmas 2011.

“I’ve tried to give expression to the songs within my reach. The record includes a cou-ple of contemporary Argentinean composers, who wrote their music in Mexico for Mexican audiences,” he says.

Only a talented musician and self-con-fessed lover of Mexico like Olguín could put together such an album. Influenced by the films produced during the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema in his childhood and teenage years, he first came to Mexico in the late 1970s, not to escape the military dictatorship govern-ing Argentina at the time, but as any young traveler: to pursue his thirst for adventure.

“Back then, Mexico was known for grant-ing asylum to South Americans. There was a large community of some 75,000 Argentin-eans here, according to the figures circulating at the time.”

Initially, it wasn’t easy for him to get by but in the end he was able to make a living off the bandoneón, an accordion-like instrument he had learned to play at a young age.

Indubitably, Olguín is the musician who has done the most to popularize the music of tango composer Astor Piazzola in Mexico; although he can also turn his bandoneón to jazz. For decades, he has played with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico, the Fine Arts Chamber Orchestra, the UNAM Phil-harmonic, the Latin American Tango Quartet ensemble and the Mexican Tango Orchestra, which he co-founded with young musicians interested in learning about the sensual sub-tleties of tango.

César Olguín brings a piece of Argentina to Mexico to keep him company when he can’t make the trip back to his homeland.

A busy schedule of concerts and studio sessions has prevented César Olguín from setting foot in his native city of Río Cuarto, Argentina, for more than four years. “I’d give anything for a good Argentinean roast,” he sighs.

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

Mr. Shimizu used to travel regularly to Mazatlán to visit an uncle who was a “very prominent” doctor. He would help him out in

the pharmacy and at his practice and, at 19, his father told him to “go to Mexico.” To save him the embarrassment of disembarking in Man-zanillo in a kimono, they bought him his first western style suit in Yokohama before shipping him off. The young Mr. Shimizu apparently enjoyed a “very happy” youth in Sinaloa.

He arrived in 1930, when Japan was embarking on an imperialist expansion project that was to end in defeat, the atomic bomb and recession. Meanwhile, Mexico was enjoying a period of peace and prosperity. Mr. Shimizu returned to Japan briefly in 1940 to get married. One year later, the bombing of Pearl Harbor made going back unthinkable. And so he embraced life in Mexico and the smell of chili chicken that invaded the streets of Sinaloa, a smell Mr. Shimizu would forevermore associate with his arrival.

Mrs. Shimizu was averse to the weather on Mexico’s Pacific coast, so the couple decided to move to Mexico City, where they settled in the Doctores neighborhood. According to their son Roberto, as Japanese they led a “somewhat stigmatized” life due to the war “for instance, eating soy sauce or sushi in front of people was unheard of and chopsticks were only used behind closed doors.” Even so, the family gained a certain degree of prestige that made up for it. They opened a candy store, which became a stationery store and did well. “I’d invite everyone at the Colegio México to taste our sandwiches. I was the first one at school to have a transistor radio, the first to have a robot and the first to have a car.”

Those childhood years were an idyllic period in Roberto’s life. It was the 1950s and Mexico was at once an island and a whole world waiting to be discovered. “We’d play in the street from six in the evening until midnight and again the next day and the next and the next. A tin can was enough to entertain 50 of us guys and 50 girls would play with one rope.” Innocence, spontaneity, even poverty –at least in the memory of Roberto Shimizu– rallied to cast an aura of magic over that chapter of his life.

Unwilling to let that irresistible world slip away, Roberto Shimizu has collected every object that reminds him of those golden years. In his efforts to gather tangible proof that such

a world once existed, he has amassed the largest collection of Mexican toys in the world. To him, they are relics of a paradise lost. “It never occurred to me to start a museum. I just held on to the things that made me happy. You could say this museum is a reminder of that happy Mexico.”

Roberto Shimizu’s collection is shown at the Mexico Museum of Antique Toy, a family-run museum in the Doctores neighborhood, where Shimizu grew up. The museum exhibits thousands of old Mexican toys, as well as one

of the most important collections of El Santo and Cantinflas personal objects.

“When I started studying at the UNAM, the first car my father bought me was a brand new Mercedes Benz and then he bought me a Porsche, then a Ferrari. Imagine, a Ferrari in the Doctores (neighborhood)!” The funny thing is, a skate scooter makes Roberto just as happy, if not more.

Mr. Shimizu Sr. returned to Japan in the 1980s but Roberto and the rest of his children chose to remain in Mexico.

ROBERTO SHIMIZU the ColleCtor

bydieGofloreSMaGón

Photo Álvaro argüelles34 Negocios

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

A huge pink package that stops traffic on the streets of Lima; 3,000 public school students in Mexico City cre-ating mosaics of Malevich’s

Red Square and Mexican icons like El Santo; and a play of visuals and sounds that take their cue from the lush natural scenery of Las Po-zas, xilitla in Jalisco.

These three video works, along with a series of paintings and an installation, form Red Square, Impossible Pink, a piece by Melanie Smith that was chosen to participate in the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice.

This is the first time a non-native artist has represented Mexico at the Venice Biennale but Smith is Mexican by choice.

The economic recession that hit Great Britain in the late Eighties made life com-plicated for artists, so Smith and a group of students fresh out of art school decided to test their luck in Mexico. The idea was to spend six months far from Europe and live an adventure. But Smith was taken by Mexico’s art scene and came to the conclu-sion it would be better for her to settle on this side of the Atlantic.

The Randolph Street Gallery, Project Room in Chicago, the Peter Kilchmann Gallery in Zu-rich, L’ Escaut in Brussels and Galería OMR in Mexico have all staged solo exhibitions by Melanie Smith, who has also participated in numerous collective exhibitions.

It was an uphill slog for Melanie when she first arrived in Mexico but upon discovering interest in her work, people like her with a

MELANIE SMITHin the Pink and rePresenting mexiCo

by eUGeniacaBrera

passion for art and endless materials to work with, it was almost inevitable she would stay.

Born in 1965 in the English city of Poole, Smith left Great Britain before the Young British Artists movement that catapulted several contemporary artists to fame in the early Nineties took off. She may have missed one boat but another was waiting for her. These were exciting times in Mexico, too, when a new generation of artists was just beginning to emerge.

“It’s not that it’s easier or harder. No mat-ter where you are, it’s never easy as an art-ist. You have to work to make things happen where you are,” says Melanie when asked about the difficulties of building a career in a foreign land.

That was 23 years ago. Today Melanie has a husband, two children, Mexican nationality and no plans to leave.

It’s been tough for her parents to come to terms with the fact that their daughter would choose to make a career and a life for herself so far from home but they’ve finally come to understand her calling.

Straddling the New World and the Old Continent, Melanie is in a unique position to criticize Eurocentrism, which she does from an artistic perspective.

Oaxaca is one of her favorite places in Mexico, while her most popular hangouts in Mexico City are the Escandón district and the Historic Center. She actually lived near the Historic Center a few years back, where she found a wealth of objects, materials, textures and colors that served as her inspiration.

36 Negocios

SHUNSUKE KUBOTAsoCCer as a language learning tool

by oMarMaGaña

Soccer was the bridge that con-nected Shunsuke Kubota with Mexican culture, so different from that of his native Japan.

For the last year, Shun-suke Kubota has been studying Spanish and struggling with the concept of hugging and kissing –the accepted form of greeting in Mexican society– alien to his Japanese upbringing.

Yet Kubota is not exactly a foreigner to Mexican culture. After work, he used to play for Chivas in an amateur soccer league formed by Mexican workers in Ohio, in the US.

At the time, he had just graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a Master’s in Economics and was working for a Japanese company that imported car assembly machinery.

But Spanish was the first language in the parallel universe he went into once his working day was over. “I had lots of friends who spoke only Spanish,” he recalls.

A professional soccer player in Japan’s second division, Kubota’s knowledge of the sport and his inklings of the language from his student years at Hokkaido’s Doh-to University, where he took International Business Administration, enabled him to build bridges with his Mexican team-mates.

After six years in Arkansas and Ohio, returning to Japan was not on the books, so he decided to learn Spanish in Guadalajara, birthplace of the original Chivas first divi-sion soccer team.

As soon as he concludes his course at the Study Center for Foreigners (CEPE) at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), Kubota plans to look for work at one of the Japanese companies that have set up shop in Mexico. “I don’t know in which city, maybe Aguascalientes because there are lots of companies there,” he says.

His long term plan is to work for three years in Mexico so he can become fluent in Spanish and then return to the US and open an office to help young athletes apply for scholarships at American and Japanese universities. He expects a large percentage of them to be Spanish-speaking students.

“I’m studying Spanish because the US has a large Hispanic community that is still growing, so it’ll be useful to be able to speak both English and Spanish,” he says.

Until that time comes, 28-year-old Kubota is enjoying his stay in the Ladrón de Guevara district of Guadalajara, a quiet residential area within easy reach of the high street banks and stores.

And while he claims he is not a support-er of any Mexican team in the professional soccer league, not even Chivas of Guadala-jara, he keeps track of mini league matches and has acquired an uncanny taste for tacos and tortas ahogadas.

Photos Álvaro argüelles

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

JUSTUS HAUSERthe german who tasteda new mexiCo

byoMarMaGaña

Justus Hauser has experienced first hand changes for improvement in Mexico’s markets and legal system. A few years ago, when he attempted to start a real estate business, tworivals shut the door in his face. Hauser took his case to the Federal

of all the potential it has, which is why its laws and regulations have adapted. Plus, young Mexicans are much more engaged than before.”

Hauser was 27 when he quit his job as a financial consultant in Hamburg. He spent the next two and a half years traveling the US and Canada. Then he read about Mexico and enrolled in Spanish classes in Guadalajara. Pretty women and good weather are two of the reasons he cites for staying but he was also interested in the business opportuni-ties a developing country like Mexico had to offer a young man with a background in economics.

Not yet fluent in Spanish, Justus earned his keep by working as a dog trainer. Then one day a friend invited him to work in real estate in the Ribera de Chapala area of Jalisco, where Canadian and American retirees have contributed to a boom in the local property market.

In 2005, he decided market conditions were ripe to start his own company. That was when he came up against age-old practices while witnessing the changes taking place within Mexico’s legal system in the flesh. “As a result, the onus was on me to be successful. ‘I have to find my own friends,’ I thought and that’s when I began franchising,” he says.

Today, Hauser’s company, All–in–1, has agents working throughout the Ribera area, in Zapopan and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and in Michoacán. “The market has changed,” he says. Now, 70% of his customers are Mexi-can. All-in-1 also acts as a go between with Mexicans that reside in the US who plan on returning some day and who want to buy or sell property in Mexico.

Hauser believes Mexico has a promis-ing property market and he clearly knows what he’s talking about. From his home in the indigenous community of Tlachichilco del Carmen, facing the island of Mezcala, Hauser is privy to great views and warm weather all year round.“Other countries have per-fect economies, but they can’t change their weather,” he concludes.

Competition Commission (CFC), filed a law-suit and won.

“I’ve been living in Mexico for almost 17 years and I’ve seen how the country has changed. I’ve seen interesting economic and business opportunities arise,” he says, add-ing “Mexico is in the global spotlight because

38 Negocios

During the 1980s, Thomas Legler was living in Holland. There he met a girl from Ni-caragua whose stories about the Contras fascinated him.

That was his introduction to Latin America, one that was to define the course of his life.

Today, Thomas Legler is a research pro-fessor at the International Studies Depart-ment of the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) in Mexico City.

He came to Mexico in 1990 on a scholar-ship to study at the Colegio de México (COL-MEx). NAFTA negotiations were in full swing at the time, so he opted to focus his academic efforts on the subject of economic cooperation. He had no special interest in Mexican culture but immediately fell in love with the country.

Originally from Brampton, Ontario, upon his arrival Thomas was taken in by a family who showed him the meaning of Mexican hospitality. He stayed with a single mother, who adopted him as her “Canadian son.” She and her daughter are like family to Thomas, to this day.

After completing his studies at the COL-MEx, Thomas enrolled in the North Ameri-can Research Center at the UNAM and after a two-year stint in Guadalajara he went back to Canada to finish his doctorate.

Having earned his PhD, he took up a teaching position at a small university in Can-ada. Not long afterwards, in 2006, he learned of a vacancy at the UIA and applied. He got the job and returned to Mexico.

“Professionally, it’s been a really valu-able move. Teaching here in Mexico as an expert in international relations has given me a much higher profile than teaching in a town of 5,000 inhabitants on Canada’s At-lantic coast,” says Legler on the advantages of pursuing his career in Mexico.

The thing he appreciates most is the Mexi-can character. “I admire the enormous pa-tience Mexicans have, their capacity to put up with adversity. It is a quality I don’t see

THOMAS LEGLERa Canadian adoPtee

by eUGeniacaBrera

in Canadians. People here face adversity on a daily basis and manage to survive it with a healthy dose of humor. I admire that a lot.”

Thomas has settled down in Mexico, by all accounts. Two years ago, he married a girl from Puebla. “I married a Mexican woman from Puebla. I am extremely happy with her.”

So adapted is Legler to life in Mexico City that he’s only too happy to play the tourist guide to friends who visit him from abroad. When asked what word best describes Mex-ico City, he replies “alive.”

“It’s a cosmopolitan city. I always tell people there’s no such thing as boredom in Mexico City. Obviously there are things we complain about but, on the upside, it’s a city where there’s always plenty to do.”

Legler teaches “Latin America and the Caribbean,” an introductory course to the

region’s politics, history, economy and soci-ety. In his expert opinion, however, placing emphasis on its problems only serves to re-inforce the general notion that this is a region of failures, injustices and violence, which is why he asks his students to write essays on its achievements.

Thomas watches the news and is worried about what is going on in the province but he too has acquired that most Mexican “ability to smile and carry on.”

He has no short-term plans to leave. “Something that annoys me a lot is when people ask –and they constantly do– ‘When are you going back to Canada, Thomas?’ as if living in Mexico was somehow inferior to living and teaching in Canada. Quite hon-estly, I don’t feel much of an urge to return,” he says.

Pho

to Á

lva

ro

ar

gü

elle

s

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

Philippe Ollé-Laprune has opened the floodgates of litera-ture, inundating Mexico and France with a mutual apprecia-tion for poetry and prose.

Antonin Artaud, André Breton and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio are just a few of the French authors whose sojourns in Mexico

PHILIPPE OLLÉ-LAPRUNEmexiCo and franCe, a literary liaison

byoMarMaGaña

have had a profound influence on their works. But the inspiration cuts both ways.

Since his arrival in Mexico in 1994, cultural promoter Ollé-Laprune has devoted himself to strengthening ties between France and Mex-ico, either by translating new French writing into Spanish or promoting Mexican literature in France.

“These are two countries with a very strong mutual attraction. In 2009, I had the honor of representing the Mexican delega-tion at the Paris Book Fair, where we had a warm reception, just as the French are well received at similar events in Mexico,” says Ollé-Laprune, who has been director of the Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl cultural center since 1999.

According to an article published in the Mexican daily El Universal, Mexico’s pres-ence at the Paris Book Fair –the most im-portant literary event of the year in France– sparked off renewed interest in Mexican novelists. The works of 42 Mexican authors have since been translated and published in French.

A writer and essayist in his native Paris, Ollé-Laprune came to Mexico as director of the French embassy’s Book Office and decided to stay on once his tenure was up.

“I got the impression there was still rela-tive freedom and support for projects and ideas, especially cultural ones, and that’s what I liked about the country,” he says.

Judging from his prolific output since his arrival, Ollé-Laprune’s intuition was spot on. His writings have appeared in literary publications like Letras Libres, Fractales and Líneas de Fuga, the magazine he edits for Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl, located in the Condesa district in Mexico City.

Aside from promoting literature, the mission of Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl is to provide a safe haven for writers persecuted in their homelands. Authors from countries like Syria, Russia, Iraq, Algeria and Sub-Saharan Africa have found a home here.

The center has also hosted conferences by literary giants like Antonio Tabucchi, Ricardo Piglia and Gonzalo Rojas, and is open to visiting foreign authors interested in adding some Mexican flavor to their works.

“They like being in a place where they can settle down and get on with their work,” says Ollé-Laprune.

Some are just passing through while others extend their stay indefinitely and make Mexico their second home. Like Ollé-Laprune, who is so well versed in the litera-ture and culture of Mexico City that he was invited to co-edit a second edition of Mexico City Government’s New Guide to the Historic Center, which will be in bookstores soon.

Pho

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ua

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40 Negocios

FEDERICO MASTROGIOVANNI a Certain tyPe of italian Journalist

bydieGofloreSMaGón

Federico Mastrogiovanni took up permanent residence in Mexico in late 2009. The first time he visited the country was with a classmate in 1999. Back

then his knowledge of Mexico was about the same as the average Italian student –practi-cally non-existent. He’d heard of the Mexi-can Revolution, maybe even seen a photo of Pancho Villa, but what attracted “a certain type of tourist” at the time was the Zapatista

movement and, in 1999, Federico was exactly that type of tourist. Aside from the usual cul-tural sights like the pyramids –a must for an Italian tourist who didn’t plan on returning any time soon– Federico was interested in: “the people and in what made this complex country tick.”

For the last 10 years, Federico has been working as a journalist, a profession that is hard to make a living from in Italy. “Top class journalists receive huge salaries but they’re a tiny elite. In Italy, it’s a very corporate pro-fession in which the troops barely earn 800 Euros a month, which in Italy isn’t enough to pay your rent,” he says. Another factor that contributed to his general disillusionment with his home country was “the curtailing of democratic spaces” and mounting social frustration he sensed. “Lots of my friends left Italy: anywhere was better,” he adds.

The decisive factor, which triggered his decision to move, was losing his job in 2008. “I spent my savings just to survive. I lost ev-erything, including the house where I lived.” After the initial blow, “I came to see it as an opportunity because that’s what it was. There was nothing holding me back anymore. I lost faith in my country and thought that a radical change was my only alternative, which is how I got the idea of moving to another country.” He considered other options outside Europe, like Brazil, but he wanted a country where he could use his Spanish language skills.

“Today in Mexico I work mainly for other foreign media. Here I have been able to po-sition myself as a foreign correspondent, I address issues that aren’t widely covered and are of interest to international dailies.” From his base in Mexico, Federico freelances for a paper in Sao Paulo, a monthly magazine in Switzerland, Radio France Internacionale, Italian media in Rome and a Mexican publi-cation, something that would be unthinkable in his native Italy. “In Mexico there’s always something going on, which opens up the pos-sibility to let the rest of the world know about it,” he says.

Federico’s first son, Emiliano, was born on March 2011, and has Mexican nationality. In the immediate future, Federico plans on staying in Mexico because he wants his son to spend “at least the first years of his life here, where he was born.”

Photos Álvaro argüelles

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

DEBORAH SILBERERa german whose heart belongs to mexiCo City

by eUGeniacaBrera

Curiosity brought Deborah Silberer to Mexico from her native Germany 11 years ago. A pianist and composer who specializes in silent film

scores, she found herself in a country where there was a complex relationship between filmmaking and music.

It took patience and a lot of hard work. “In Mexico there is a lot of talent. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but I felt a connec-tion,” she says.

Things got off to a painfully slow start. Work was scarce on the ground and Debo-rah devoted her time and energies to found-ing and managing Cinematógrafo Folía Lu-mière, Mexico’s first silent film center.

Silberer is an expert in film and docu-mentary scores whose 20 years of experi-ence in silent movies earned her the position of lead pianist of Brussels’ Cinemathèque Royale. She is currently lead pianist of the UNAM Filmoteca, the Cineteca Nacional de México and the Morelia International Film Festival.

Improvisation is key to Silberer’s work, which is as eclectic as it is original. Along with Gaishi Ishizaka and his Japanese per-cussion, she set the music to Sergei Eisen-stein’s silent classic The Battleship Potemkin to mark the 45th anniversary of the UNAM’s Filmoteca. Other silent films she has writ-ten music for include Napoleon at St. Helena (Lupu Pick, 1926) and A Man There Was (Vic-tor Sjöström, 1917), screened at the First Las Cases Memorial Award ceremony. In 2009, she performed at Madrid’s Cine Doré with her score to The Fall of the House of Usher and has worked on silent film treasures like One A.M. starring Charlie Chaplin.

She has also composed music for plays like Vicente Quirarte’s Hay mucho de Pené-lope en Ulises, directed by Mario Espinosa, and is currently working on La dama de las Camelias.

Silent films weren’t very popular in Mexi-co. “But bit by bit, a cultural channel opened

Although she would probably have found it easier to forge a career for herself in Eu-rope, Deborah felt she needed to break away from her orthodox conservatory education and it was in Mexico that she managed to do just that, thanks to “everything I’ve dis-covered and learned from my comrades and the difference in cultures,” she says, adding that Mexico City is a place full of passion and contrasts. “One minute you can be walking past a row of ugly buildings and the next you’ll find yourself on a beautiful street.”

up and they began to catch on,” says Silberer. At first, she was lucky if she got a film to work on every three months, but now the Cineteca Nacional keeps her busy and when she isn’t performing at festivals in Mexico, she can often be heard at events in Spain.

Over the years, Deborah has noticed a growing interaction between film and mu-sic, with more soundtracks and projects open to artists. “It’s a very musical country. You can tell there’s so much talent. My heart belongs to Mexico City.”

42 Negocios Photo Álvaro argüelles

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

On his first visit to Mexico, Daiwon Moon devoured 52 tacos. Accustomed to the spicy food of his native Ko-rea, he’d walk around with

a bottle of Tabasco sauce in his pocket when he lived in the US. When he ordered food, he’d ask if they had Tabasco. If not, he’d pro-duce his own. The year was 1968 and Daiwon Moon was 29 years old. He had already won the US Taekwondo Championships three times in a row and “had very ambitious plans.” He was lying in wait, biding his time like a true strategist. And when he learned that the local taekwondo school in Houston had closed, he opened a center of his own.

Although taekwondo was a relatively unknown discipline in Mexico at the time, Daiwon Moon’s name was familiar in ka-rate circles and in 1968 a group of karateists invited him to teach a course on Korean ka-rate, as it was known then. The course was a resounding success and his students begged him to open a school in Mexico, but he turned down the offer and went back to Houston. Then he had second thoughts.

“I thought… Mexico is virgin territory. They don’t have taekwondo. Maybe it would be easier to fulfill my dream there than here in Houston.” His Mexican students finally managed to persuade him to burn his boats in Texas and conquer uncharted lands on the other side of the border.

From a business perspective, it was a calculated risk but there was also the hu-man and cultural factor. “In the US –how can I put it?– people were more educated (laughs), more polite, if you will, but colder. I always felt I was different: there was a cer-tain distance between me and them.” But in Mexico, it was “like in Korea.” For example,

DAIWON MOONthe father of mexiCan taekwondo

by dieGofloreSMaGón

a student invited him to his parents’ house out of town and he thought it was strange that this elderly couple lived alone but they owned a table that could seat 50 people. Un-til his student explained that on weekends some 50 relatives would come over.

“I really loved that aspect.” And for the man who hankered after Korean food, solace was to be found in charcoal grilled tacos.

In Mexico, Daiwon Moon devoted him-self heart and soul to teaching. He was in his element. And in 1973, when Korea held its first Taekwondo World Championships, he returned to Seoul after a 10-year absence as coach of the Mexican team. He remembers it was May when he got off the plane and took a deep breath of air that smelled “like the countryside,” a smell he’d almost forgotten. No one in Korea had heard of him because he’d left the country to study architecture in the US. No one even knew where Mexico was. But when Mexico came in third, after Korea and the US, it became clear it was a taekwondo force to be reckoned with.

Daiwon Moon’s chain of Moo Duk Kwan schools has expanded over the years. Now, he has 350 taekwondo centers, across the length and breadth of the country. But the maestro is far from satisfied. He wants to open an international center for the mar-tial arts in Querétaro, the geographic center of Mexico, which is, in turn, the center of Latin America and, according to Daiwon Moon, the center of the world because this is where East meets West. And, as anyone who knows Daiwon Moon will tell you, that is no pipedream. He already has plans and a scale model in the shape of a pyramid that replicates the proportions of Chichén-Itzá and that has symbols of Asia and America on each side.

44 Negocios

BORIS GOLDENBLANKdoCumentary of a translated life

by vaneSaroBleS

Institute between 1946. In 1952, Goldenblank founded the Bachelor’s degree in Audiovisual Arts at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) in 1997 and then the Master’s in Film Studies and the Department of Image and Sound at the Art, Architecture and Design University Center (CUAAD).

That is not to say Goldenblank neglected his craft. On the contrary, in 1993 he released Abril, el mes más cruel (April the Cruelest Month), which was followed by several short films, and in 2010, Voces del subterráneo (Underground Voices) won the International Human Rights Film Festival –just one more in a string of accolades for the director who has made 100 films in his time and earned the respect of audiences at festivals in England, Hungary, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Uruguay and Argentina.

So if the world is your oyster, why choose Mexico? “In other countries you always feel like a foreigner but in Mexico I stopped feel-ing like that very quickly: there’s a wonderful spiritual openness. At first I’d make the trip back to Moscow every year but when the de-gree course began it was like a child had been born. We now have a school that enjoys great prestige in Latin America and students who are recognized in other countries. I have every-thing I need here to do what I love doing, which is making films and teaching.” And that’s not to mention the other perks that Mexico offers to a Russian: unbeatable weather, delicious food and fresh fruit and vegetables all year round.

Now and then, Boris Goldenblank gets nostalgic for Moscow’s chilly air and when that happens, he goes back to visit his former students. “But my home is here and in Decem-ber friends come to escape the cold and I take them to the beach.”

Boris Goldenblank isn’t going anywhere. He may be 83 but he has several projects in the pipeline and he loves Mexico much like a grandfather dotes on his grandchildren. “I feel very grateful towards Mexico. In the latter years of my life, it’s given me the opportunity to feel needed and do what I love doing.”

There is a lot of filmmaking talent in Mexico and we need more schools, universities and education centers to channel that talent, says Boris Golden-

blank, who sounds more like a humanist giv-ing a speech than an acclaimed documentary filmmaker.

Goldenblank’s accent immediately reveals his Russian ancestry, yet it’s a far cry from

the one he had back in 1991 when he came to Guadalajara to teach a diploma in film studies. Back then, he didn’t speak a word of Spanish and all his classes had to be translated.

Yet that first film course in Russian met with an understanding that went beyond words. Goldenblank stayed in Jalisco, initially for months at a time and then on a permanent basis. That is how the man who studied under Serguéi Eisenstein at the Moscow State Film

Photos Álvaro argüelles

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

No matter how many countries she lives in, Mexico will al-ways have a place in Sylvie Milverton’s heart.

Sylvie Milverton admits she loves the beaches, food and people of Mexico, but her connection to this country where she has lived for the last six years with her husband, Damian Milverton, runs deeper. The Canadian-born financial operations di-

SYLVIE MILVERTONfor a higher Cause

byoMarMaGaña

rector of Laureate Education for Mexico and Central America gave birth to her first son, Jack Felix, here.

“My son is going to have Mexican national-ity, so we have to make sure he speaks Spanish and is familiar with his birthplace. Even if we take him somewhere else, he will always have this connection and we will always remem-ber having him in Mexico, the doctor and the hospital,” recounts Milverton.

Sylvie is 38 and has a background in Hu-manities, French Literature and Business Ad-ministration. And with 15 years’ experience in finances, the world is her oyster.

In Mexico, her professional accomplish-ments are on a par with her personal ones. Milverton has managed to reduce the cost of higher education at the three private uni-versities that belong to the Laureate Inter-national Universities network: Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC), Univer-sidad del Desarrollo Profesional (UNIDEP) and Universidad del Valle de México (UVM).

“When we acquired UNITEC, the first thing we did was lower the fees to make it accessible to more students. As a result, the population at that university has grown con-siderably over the last three years,” she says.

Founded in the US in 1998, Laureate Inter-national Universities is a network of quality higher education institutions that has more than 55 credited universities spanning over 27 countries.

It was the board that suggested Milverton to uproot from the US and make the move to Mexico.

“In Mexico, we saw an opportunity to help people improve their patrimony and that of their children,” she says, adding that in Mexico, where growing investor confidence is spawning new enterprises, it is essential to sponsor economic growth by educating the new workforce.

Milverton and her family take to the road whenever they get the chance, visiting places as far flung as the Sea of Cortés in Sonora and Playa del Carmen at the other end of the coun-try. She also enjoys visiting the colonial towns of San Miguel de Allende, Puebla and Gua-najuato in the surroundings of Mexico City.

And although she plans to spend some time in Europe or Asia, Milverton has no doubt whatsoever she will return to Mexico.

“When I think about retiring, I’d much rather return to Mexico than the US. I love the people and the respect they have for their culture, museums, pyramids and history.”

46 Negocios

Gregory Pereira is an ac-claimed archaeologist whose passion is poking around in the dirt in an effort to come to grips with Mexican culture.

For the last 20 years, he has literally been dividing his time between Mexican soil and that of his native France.

The dead are Pereira’s specialty. Day in, day out, he toils the earth, excavating Pre-Columbian burial sites in an attempt to gain better knowledge of the funeral rites of indig-enous Mesoamericans prior to the Conquest.

Funded by the Paris-based National Sci-entific Research Center (CNRS), in coopera-tion with Mexico’s National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH) and other aca-demic institutions, Gregory’s current dig in the municipality of Zacapu, Michoacán, is just the latest chapter in what has been a lengthy encounter with Mexico’s cultural diversity.

Gregory Pereira first came to Mexico in 1988 as a young European tourist with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Not long afterwards he returned, this time with a de-gree in archaeology under his belt. He had come to write his thesis, for which he needed access to the libraries and archaeological sites of Oaxaca. “It was important for me to be here, to be able to consult the records at first hand, talk to researchers and visit the sites,” he says.

Ever since then, Mexico has been closely tied in with Gregory’s professional and aca-demic career. He chose to write his doctorate thesis on funeral rites in the state of Micho-acán, in Central Western Mexico, and ended up staying here for three whole years doing research.

During that time, he collaborated with academic and scientific institutions on a series of projects, some in Michoacán and Guanajuato and others in the Maya region of Southeast Mexico.

GREGORY PEREIRAa frenCh arChaeologist big on bones

byvaneSaroBleS

Gregory Pereira has seen Mexico on every level, from the surface to what lies beneath, so he speaks from experience when he says it is a country with “enormous wealth and po-tential and people you easily get attached to.”

Best of all, he says, that wealth is very much alive. In the course of his research, Gregory has found utensils, garments and foodstuffs at grave sites that are still used today, just as they were hundreds of years

ago by the inhabitants of these same regions. “It’s not just about finding dried out bones but interpreting them and going beyond the hard data.”

So what’s Gregory Pereira’s fantasy as an archaeologist? “I have lots. One is to discover the burial site of a Tarascan ruler,” he replies with a laugh.

What about gold? “I’d rather not find gold. Mexico’s wealth lies elsewhere,” he concludes.

Photo courtesy of gregory Pereira

Cover feature MexicanSBychoice

There are plenty of people who would pay good money to know what Hardy Milsch has learned the hard way. The son of a German man whose

business ventures in Mexico were a flop, he knows how important human relations are to corporate success. Having spent part of his adolescence in Mexico, he is familiar with the idiosyncrasies of this complex culture, which means he is more than qualified for his job as president of the Guadalajara chap-ter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).

HARDY MILSCH the industrial entrePreneur by vaneSaroBleS

Born in Chicago to a German father and a Mexican mother, Hardy Milsch was raised in the US but could easily pass for a Mexican, due to his command of the Spanish language and his insight into Latin American culture.

Yet Hardy will tell you his knowledge hasn’t come cheap. His father was a strict German who opened two restaurants in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes. While his father’s businesses floundered, 12-year-old Hardy learned the language and how to build bridges between three cultures: the German traditions his father taught him, the American lifestyle he’d grown up in and the

Mexican social rituals his father had never understood.

His father took the family back to the US when his restaurant businesses failed. But 20 years ago, destiny came knocking on Hardy’s door and he returned to Mexico to take on a job as a hotel manager. Eight years later, he was appointed regional director of Prologis, a company engaged in the development and sale of industrial warehouses in Guadalajara and El Bajío region.

The business has enormous potential and is highly profitable, says the former president of the Jalisco State Association of Industrial Parks. “It’s the first link in the production chain; it simplifies things. As such, its growth is guaranteed in a country that is attracting more and more projects.”

Just what are those projects? Logistics firms looking to sell merchandise; the auto-motive industry, which is expected to begin supplying the US and Canada in a few years’ time; the aerospace industry and computer manufacturers. “You can order a computer with the characteristics you want. There are people here who can design and assemble it.”

When asked what advice he would offer foreign entrepreneurs who aren’t familiar with the Mexican way of doing business, Hardy says: “It’s not that it’s better or worse. It’s just different and you have to have the ability to follow protocol,” which in this case means putting human relations first. “At a business lunch, 90% is about the food and 10% is about business.” It’s also important to form close ties with coworkers, “who will always respond with a level of commitment hard to find in other countries,” adds Hardy.

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48 Negocios Photo Paloma lóPez

MICHAEL HOGAN a novelist in the Classroom

by GraeMe stewart

Michael Hogan seems to have been born a teacher. Perhaps a teacher and traveler. Or what is even more: a teacher who travels and writes.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1943, Hogan is the author of 16 books, including a collection of short stories, six books of po-etry, collected essays on teaching in Latin America, a novel and a book on the his-tory of the Irish battalion in Mexico, which formed the basis for an MGM movie star-ring Tom Berenger.

Years ago, after having lived and trav-elled through many countries, Hogan moved to Guadalajara, Mexico.

“I wanted to research the Irish partici-pation in the War of Intervention (1846-48) more fully. My book, The Irish Soldiers of Mexico is a result of that ambition after six years of research. It also provided the ba-sis for a documentary film. I was offered a two-year contract by the American School of Guadalajara to come set up an Advanced Placement program [university level cours-es for high achieving students] and start a literary magazine at the school”, he says.

Regardless of his work as a published author, Hogan has remained and educa-tor, with a career spanning 25 years. “There used to be a saying: ‘Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.’ I would amend that to say: Those who can, do. Those who can do more, teach,” Hogan says. For him, teaching is no ordinary job, but one of the most demanding and challenging ones.

“I’m not talking about covering the sub-ject matter, using the text and the lesson plan, listing benchmarks and goals, and collecting the check at the end of the month. I’m talking about the ongoing challenge to expand our knowledge of our subject matter and the world in general, to reaffirm the im-portance of the precision of language and, most importantly, to teach from the heart with genuine care for our children,” he says.

His work as an educator at the American School of Guadalajara has already proven successful. Sin Fronteras, the literary maga-zine he founded has since wontwelve in-ternational awards, including the Highest Award for student international magazines from the US National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Hogan thinks his Irish background has helped him get along with Mexican people and live in Mexico. “I think that both the Irish and the Mexicans share a humorous side as well as a melancholic side,” he says.

Hogan lives in Guadalajara with his wife, quiltmaker Lucinda Mayo, who shares his passion for books. Their house is awash in colorful fabrics and books. He is now work-ing on a crime novel, a poetry book and a second novel based in Nicaragua. n

the lifestyleThe Complete Guide of the Mexican Way of Life.

p. 68

Looking Back on 2011People who made this a memorable year for Mexicop. 57

The New San Miguel de Allende!

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fashion

JULIA & RENATAMexico’s Representatives on the World Fashion Organization

In the past, Mexican fashion designers had a hard time making a name for themselves on their home turf, but it looks like things are changing for good. For the first time ever, two homespun designers –Julia and Renata– were chosen to represent Mexico at various events on the official World Fashion Week 2012 program. One such gala event was “Olympic Style,” held by the World Fashion Organization (WFO) in New York on November 11 in the run up to World Fash-ion Week. Here, Julia and Renata rubbed shoulders with international fashion icons at the prestigious Cipriani lounge, where Mexico’s Liliana Domínguez modeled the fabulous haute couture dress the duo de-signed and donated. You can view the dress at selected museums as it travels the world during fashion weeks before being auctioned off to raise funds for The Art of Living Foundation, a charity whose mission is to eradicate poverty and help women bet-ter themselves.

arChiteCture

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Museum in Guadalajara by Snøhetta

In late 2010, the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta won the tender for the new Environmental Sciences Museum in Gua-dalajara.

One of five buildings that will comprise the University Cultural Center (CCU) at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), ground has been broken on the project and the new museum is scheduled to be completed by 2013.

Snøhetta, a firm famed for its vanguard

and futuristic creations, has recreated the relationship between city and environment as its main design concept. One of the fea-tures that have raised the greatest expec-tation is the rooftop terrace that will com-mand a panoramic view of the city.

The English firm ARUP has been invited on board to provide support in areas such as sustainability, acoustics and the design of the museum’s theater.

design

Fábrica Mexicana Expo at the Modern Art Museum in Mexico City

brieFs.The Lifestyle

For an interesting and extremely comprehen-sive introduction to contemporary Mexican design, visit the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, where pieces by designers like Emiliano Godoy, Héctor Esrawe, Omelette by Héctor Galván, Productora, Ezequiel Farca, Orfeo Quagliata and Mauricio Lara will be showcased until February 12, 2012. An excellent exhibition with well-chosen pieces is certainly not one to be missed if you happen to be in the area.

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BARRANCA Contemporary and Modern Art Museum by Herzog & De Meuron

Herzog & De Meuron, winner of the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2001, has been commissioned to build the Barranca Con-temporary and Modern Art Museum in Gua-dalajara. Located in Barranca de Huentitán on a 6.4-hectare plot of land, construction began in early October and the museum is expected to open its doors in September 2012. Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have lived up to their reputation with a building designed to showcase both contemporary art and the city’s natural sur-roundings in their best possible light.

Mexican designer Ariel Rojo has announced a second A+B=D workshop for industrial design students at the UNAM. Based on a simple formula, A+B=D, where A is a cul-tural, contextual or historic reference and B is an object like a chair, a lamp or a cup. The exercise consists of incorporating these references into the object to imbue it with new meaning, in this case represented by the letter “D” for design. As an extra incentive, Rojo has found com-panies willing to produce the best piece cre-ated in the workshop, the goal is to com-mercialize Mexican design on international markets.

design

ARIEL ROJO AND THE A+B = D WORKSHOP Return to the UNAM

brieFs.The Lifestyle

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52 Negocios i the Lifestyle Photo archive

MOreLia internatiOnaL FiLM FestiVaL aWarDs a MexiCan FiLM abOUt arGentina El premio, which won Best Feature Film at the 9th Morelia International Film Festival, depicts the repression of the Argentinean dictatorship through the eyes of a seven-year-old girl

byeUGeniarUiz

Cecilia is a seven-year-old girl growing up during the Ar-gentinean dictatorship. Her “reward” for keeping quiet about the reasons for her fa-

ther’s absence is her family’s safety.In her latest film, El premio (The Prize),

director Paula Markovitch portrays the repression of the Argentinean dictator-ship.

Co-produced by Mexico, Germany, France and Poland, El premio won the award for Best Mexican Feature Film at the Morelia International Film Festival, plus the “Canana/Ambulante Distribu-ción Digital” award which guarantees its screening in Mexico in digital format and a 120,000-peso award presented by Ci-népolis.

This is an important award in a long list of prizes for El premio, which won Best Film at the Guadalajara Internation-al Film Festival and was nominated for a

Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

As the film unfolds, we see Cecilia (Ceci) struggle with the absence of her father, a militant who has gone into hiding to escape the strong arm of the dictatorship.

At school, Ceci must not breathe a word about anything she hears at home. Her own identity not yet fully formed, at the tender age of seven, she already knows the meaning of repression and secrecy.

Markovitch is all too familiar with the cruel world Ceci is forced to contend with. Mexican by naturalization, she grew up during the days of the dictatorship in the small Argentinean province of San Cle-mente del Tuyú where the film is set.

Written, produced and directed by Markovitch herself, El premio follows in the footsteps of screenplays like Elisa antes del fin del mundo and Temporada de patos, whose protagonists are not much older than Ceci. n

film MoreliainternationalfilMfeStival

mature beyond its years

In just nine years, the Morelia International Film Festival has earned itself a reputa-tion as one of the most prestigious festivals of its kind in Latin America, with film-makers competing in four official sections: Short films, Documentaries, Features by Mexican directors and the Michoacán section.Every year since 2003, visitors have been flocking to the capital of Michoacán, eager to see the very best of Mexican and international cinema.Special guests this year included directors of the stature of Hungary’s Béla Tarr, Germany’s Volker Schlöndorff and France’s Michel Gondry, as well as Mexican writer Luis Valdez, Mexican actor Gael García and the Spanish actress Marisa Paredes.

aMonGtheManyaccoladeSEl PrEMIohaSWon,PaUlaGalinellihertzoGtookhoMethe

aWardforBeStactreSSattheGUadalaJarainternationalfilMfeStival.

54 Negocios i the Lifestyle

48 HOURS IN TIJUANAby MarianaMartínezeSténS

Friday After a day of back-to-back meetings, make tracks for Vía Corporativo, an eco-building in Tijuana’s financial district. And if you can’t face the traffic, take an independent cab –recogniz-

able by their bright orange or yellow markings– for a quick, safe ride.

Vía Corporativo, Misión san Javier 10643, Zona Urbana río

7:00 P.M. On the second floor of Vía Cor-porativo is the Vía Gourmet zone, where you’re guaranteed to get your weekend off to a great

start. Hook up with your date at Contra for a drink, or sample some Mediterranean delicacies and fine regional wines.

8:00 P.M. Before you leave, stop off at the Vía Arte 2 56 Galería to catch a sight of local art. Groups like La Ballena de Jonás and Mad-ama Ur y sus Hombres some-times play free concerts here

or you might even catch a set by a local DJ of international repute.

Mérida 256, Chapultepec t. +52 (664) 621 86 54

9:00 P.M. You’re probably hungry by now. Yet, you’re in luck, be-cause you’re a stone’s throw from Misión 19, written up as one of the best restaurants in Mexico by the New York Times. Famous for his signa-ture cuisine, Chef Javier Plas-cencia uses fresh regional ingredients to create unfor-gettable dishes like his Kuma-moto oysters, served with rib

cracklings, grapefruit and soy sauce. We also recommend the beef tongue with blood sausage vinaigrette and roasted garlic and the roast suckling pig tacos with brown sugar and tama-rind sauce. Simply delicious! Be sure to make a reservation.

Vía Corporativo 10643 2nd Floor, Zona Urbana río t. +52 (664) 6342493

12:00 A.M. Round off the night with a martini at Le Container, a highly original restaurant-bar built entirely of shipping con-tainers. A series of lounges, balconies and booths ensure

an atmosphere to suit every mood.

Paseo de los héroes 9110 Zona río t. +52 (664) 2002650

Photos archive

48 hours in... tiJUana

Saturday10:00 A.M.

For a relaxing start to the day, enjoy a fresh brew at Sospeso, one of the city’s best-kept se-crets. This small coffee shop owned by Alberto Song is the only one in Mexico and the first in Latin America to win the Golden Cup Award presented by the Specialty Coffee As-sociation of America (SCAA). Sospeso offers blends from

Tanzania, Burundi and Ethio-pia, among others. A quiet spot where you can read the paper or surf the net in peace, as you sip on a French press coffee or cappuccino served with a fruit tart or Nutella crepe. Joaquín Clausell 10342Zona río t. +52 (664) 6343184 www.CaffesosPeso.Com

12:00 P.M. After such a light breakfast, you’ll probably be craving something more substantial by now. La Querencia offers tasty main courses like beef in pesto sauce and roast duck but is fa-mous for its manta ray tacos and burritos and its abalone

or beef sopes, all served with a selection of special chipotle, habanero and morita salsas for that authentic regional flavor.

escuadrón 201 #3110t. +52 (664) 9729935 www.laquerenCiatJ.Com

2:00 P.M.

Next it’s off to Pasaje Rodríguez in downtown Tijuana. This un-derground arcade connects the streets of Revolución and Cons-titución where yesterday’s arts and crafts stores have now been replaced with the modern ateliers and studios of artists, writers, de-signers and photographers.

Here you’ll find El Grafógrafo, a small bookstore that deals in second hand books and that op-erates a bartering system. There are also art workshops for kids and graphic design firms whose

doors are open to the general public, as well as boutiques sell-ing the work of local designers and vintage clothes. You might even be lucky enough to see a street artist decorating a mural with spray paint or some street theater.

el Grafógrafo, revolución and Constitución, parallel to Calle tercera. Opening hours vary.

After leaving the arcade, if you walk along Revolución in the direction of Calle Cuarta, you’ll notice that the facades of its build-ing have been “intervened” all the way up to Calle Séptima.

The area is popular among tourists, which explains the abun-

dance of gift and souvenir stores. On Calle Octava is the historic Antiguo Palacio de Jai Alai, where this sport, also known as pelota vasca, was played. If you retrace your steps to Calle Cuarta on Re-volución, you’ll come to Caesar’s, a restaurant with a 1930s-inspired menu that has been restored to its former glory by a local business-man. The Caesar salad, prepared table side using the original rec-ipe, is a must. In Tijuana, it’s not common to make a reservation, so don’t worry about turning up unannounced.

Caesar’s, revolución 1059, on the corner of Calle Quinta t. +52 (664) 6855608 www.CaesarstiJuana.Com

5:00 P.M. Moving slightly away from the beaten tourist track is Galería La Caja, a gallery created by Gracia Estudio out of recycled materi-als such as old wooden doors and the walls of a supermarket

cold room. Doors appear in un-expected places and the walls move around to accommodate cutting-edge exhibitions, confer-ences and workshops. Its most recent invention is a series of multidisciplinary events where 20 dinner guests are invited to partake in an intimate, sensori-

al, culinary experience. Call the number below if you’re inter-ested in knowing when the next “surprise” is going to take place.

Callejón de las Moras 118-b20 de noviembre t. +52 (664) 6866791 www.laCaJagaleria.Com

56 Negocios i the Lifestyle56 Negocios i the Lifestyle Photos archive

7:00 P.M. Back in the downtown area, a good place for lunch is the very hip Cevichería Nais on the cor-ner of Calle Sexta and Madero. Decorated in the traditional style with palm roof and the works, this seafood restaurant offers a menu of red snapper tostadas, fresh clams, spicy shrimp tacos and fried fish, plus a selection of mezcalitas – mixed beverages with intriguing names like De la Verde

(peppermint) and Pulp Fiction (chamoy and tamarind). And if you feel like dancing after a few mezcalitas, you won’t have to go far because there’s a bar out back. El Tinieblo is the favorite haunt of local musicians and a great place to dance till dawn.

Madero 8320, on the corner of Calle sexta t. +52 (664) 6850555

Sunday10:00 A.M.

If the night at El Tinieblo has left you with a bit of a hangover, Al-Fresco has the cure. A bistro and juice bar all in one, their fresh juices with all natural in-gredients like orange, ginger, spirulina and wheat grass will revitalize you and make you feel brand new. Try an Oasis

(tomato, celery, cucumber and lime) or choose from a selection of breakfast bagels and omelets if you need something solid in your stomach.

avenida de Las Ferias 35-bLomas hipódromot. +52 (664) 3795612

12:00 P.M. A few blocks away is the Ca-sino Caliente at the Hipódromo Caliente sports betting center. The largest of its kind in Latin America, the center has its own greyhound track and broadcasts horse and greyhound racing,

jai alai and live sporting events. There are restaurants to suit ev-ery palate, as well as every bever-age under the sun to choose from.

boulevard agua Caliente 12027, hipódromo.

3:00 P.M. If all that gambling has put you in the mood for a beer, drop into Cervecería Tijuana. Here you can watch your beer being made as you sip on a selection of unpasteurized brews avail-able only for consumption at the adjoining pub. Cervecería

Tijuana also does some great cuts of beef, pasta and cheese dishes.

boulevard Fundadores 2951 Juárez. t. +52 (664) 6388662 www.tJbeer.Com

6:00 P.M. El Cubo is the latest addition to the Tijuana Cultural Center. As well as a bookstore and three exhibition halls, it has a terrace with an awesome view of the city from where you can watch the

sunset and bid Tijuana goodbye.

Paseo de los héroes 9350Zona Urbana río t. +52 (664) 6879600 www.CeCut.gob.mx

the lifestyle feature Mexico’SBeStof2011

LOOKING bACK ON

2011People who made this

a memorable year for Mexicoby PíalaU

This was the year when our women’s basketball team took home the silver medal after a really close game with Puerto Rico in the 2011 Pan American Games in

Guadalajara.Perhaps you’re thinking a silver medal isn’t exactly synonymous with

resounding victory but the way these girls went out on the court and delivered against all odds, pays tribute to the spirit of an entire country.

That is the perfect example of the hard work and sheer determination shared by other Mexicans who made 2011 a year to remember.

58 Negocios i the Lifestyle

01 determination

the Pan ameriCan games

When this issue went to print, the end of the Pan American Games was headline news in all of Mexico’s dailies. At the final count, the Mexican delegation appeared fourth on the list of medal winners, breaking its own record by pocketing 42 gold medals, 41 silvers and 50 bronzes.

The most outstanding performances were given by the gymnast Cynthia Valdez and racewalkers Horacio Nava and José Liar, who put Mexico back

on the map of that sport after a 12-year absence. But water was most definitely our element. Paola Espinosa dived her way into three gold medals and the rest of the Mexican team nabbed all eight golds up for grabs in the aquatic disciplines, as well as three silvers.

Players of non-Olympic sports –racquetball, squash, pelota vasca and fronton– also did Mexi-co proud, netting 14 gold medals in all.

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the lifestyle feature Mexico’SBeStof2011

02 enterPrising sPirit

Christian Cota

If you visited vogue.com in October, you may have seen the photos of the cocktail party thrown by Donna Karan for inductees of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Among these so-called “New Kids on the Block” was a tall, slender young man who chose to wear a white tie for this special occasion. That may not seem at all significant, were it not for the fact that the young man in the white tie was a Mexican by the name of Christian Cota.

A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, in 2007 Cota embarked on an ambitious project.

Like his rivals in the fashion industry, he had plenty of good ideas and inspiration to spare. But what set this newcomer apart was that he had a business plan. With style and intelligence, Cota has carved himself out a place on fashion circuits. His collections have been shown at New York’s Fashion Week and he is one of Anna Wintour’s favorite designers.

Yet Cota plans to use his hard earned prestige to meet a higher calling: “My mission,” he says, “is to ensure something positive is always said about Mexico.”

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03 audaCity

antonio ortuño

Last summer saw the launch of Antonio Ortuño’s latest novel, Ánima, which ventures into the back-stabbing world of filmmaking. Author of El bus-cador de cabezas and Recursos humanos, the preci-sion of Ortuño’s prose, coupled with his sarcasm and black humor, have won over the critics and earned him a loyal following of readers. In 2010, his name appeared on Granta magazine’s Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists list, making him a compulsory read for anyone interested in contemporary Spanish fiction.

60 Negocios i the Lifestyle

And while Ortuño is not averse to tackling complex realities, unlike the small-minded char-acters in Ánima, he is the first to acknowledge the achievements of his fellow writers. His irony is never without a cause and at every available opportunity Ortuño praises the work of his con-temporaries. Brenda Lozano, Heriberto Yépez, Emiliano Monge, Daniela Tarazona and Tryno Maldonado are just a handful of writers, who, to-gether with Ortuño, confirm that contemporary Mexican literature is thriving.

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the lifestyle feature Mexico’SBeStof2011

Milan is an industrial design capital and every spring the Salone Internazionale del Mobile showcases the vanguard creations of the world’s top furniture designers.

This year, Mexico entered the Salone and Mi-lan through the front door thanks to Pirwi, a line of furniture created in 2007 by Emiliano Godoy and Alejandro Castro. More than a brand with a clear statement, Pirwi is a platform and a labora-tory for the work of Mexican designers and has produced everything from pieces by established designers such as Héctor Esrawe to the work of young talents like Ian Ortega.

04 ethiCs

Pirwi

It is also a brand with an environmental con-science. Pirwi employs state-of-the-art technol-ogy yet takes pains to ensure its processes are ecologically safe and uses non-toxic materials to manufacture recyclable or biodegradable end products.

That philosophy has consolidated the brand on the Mexican market, giving it the incentive to show the rest of the world what it does best. Pir-wi presented its collection at the 2011 Salone and opened a showroom in Milan. They have plans afoot to open stores in Lebanon and Dubai in the near future.

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62 Negocios i the Lifestyle

05talent

rolando villazón

October 2, 2011. A young man with curly hair stands on the stage of Berlin’s Konzerthaus and sings Werther’s aria Pourquoi me réveiller? Shivers run down the spines of every member of the audi-ence with each perfect note.

Compared by many to Plácido Domingo, it was by chance that Rolando Villazón discovered his passion for opera. Once he realized he had a gift, all that remained was hard work. In 1999, he came second in Operalia, the World Opera Competition for young opera singers founded by Plácido Do-

mingo. And from then on, there was no stopping Villazón.

A native of Mexico City, he has performed on some of the world’s top stages and has an impres-sive repertoire. Shrewd, yet willing to take risks, this Mexican tenor is famed for his brilliance and panache.

This year, he won an Echo Klassik Award, Germany’s most coveted prize for a classical mu-sic recording. We can safely say this is one man with a reason to get up in the morning.

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the lifestyle feature Mexico’SBeStof2011

06 global thinking

international arChiteCture in mexiCo City

Not many people know that Tadao Ando, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, is build-ing a house in Mexico. And he’s not alone. Several acclaimed architects have selected Mexico to ma-terialize their projects.

The ground was broken in 2007 when it was announced that Rem Koolhaas would design a building to commemorate the bicentenary of Mex-ico’s independence. And although that particular project never made it past the drawing board, it paved the way for today’s architecture boom.

Among the international architects who turned their gaze to Mexico in 2011 were David Chipperfield, another Pritzker prizewinner who is currently involved in large scale real estate proj-ects and who is building a new museum to house the Jumex art collection; Bjarke Ingels, who has teamed up with Michel Rojkind to build a new Tamayo Museum in Atizapán; and superstar ar-chitects Jacques Herzog and Pierre DeMeuron, who have pooled in their talent to give Guadala-jara a much needed contemporary art museum.

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64 Negocios i the Lifestyle

07loCal aCtion

miChel roJkind, fernando romero and mexiCan-made arChiteCture

If you visited Tokyo’s Ga Gallery between June 18 and August 7, 2011, you would have caught an ex-hibition of the work of emerging architects who are changing the skylines of major cities world-wide. There, keeping company with the likes of MVRDV, SANAA, Alejandro Arabena and Bjarke Ingels, were Mexican architects Michel Rojkind and Fernando Romero.

Mexico has a long and solid architectural tradi-tion and while the Legorretas, Ramírez Vázquez and González de León of the trade can be credited with shaping our cities into the modern era, now the time has come to pass the baton.

Architects like Michel Rojkind and Fernando Romero, amongst others of their generation, be-gan forging reputations in the late 20th century

and although the scope of their projects was still modest at the time, that in no way detracted from their importance.

Today, they enjoy international recognition: in 2003, New York’s P.S. 1 museum organized an exhibition showcasing the work of several young Mexican architects and Javier Sánchez won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architec-ture in 2006.

Those of us who live in Mexico City have seen firsthand how that new brood of architects is sculpting our cityscape with projects like the Sou-maya Museum, designed by Fernando Romero, and Torre Reforma 432, which only make sense within the context of a bolder, more cosmopolitan trend in Mexican architecture.

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the lifestyle feature Mexico’SBeStof2011

08disCiPline

elisa Carrillo

This July, the dream of one Mexican ballet dancer came true when she was named prima ballerina of the Berlin State Opera Ballet. Just a year before, her impeccable performance in the lead role of “Snow White” –staged by the same company with costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier– was ap-plauded by audiences and critics alike.

Elisa Carrillo’s is a story of hard work, disci-pline and courage. Born in Texcoco, she left her family and her country behind to pursue her training. Never before has a Mexican ballerina en-joyed such international acclaim; yet for Elisa her accomplishment comes with more responsibility due to the exigencies of being under the limelight.

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66 Negocios i the Lifestyle

09 originality

young mexiCan art

Artforum is a reliable source of information on the contemporary art scene, with renowned critics fill-ing us in on the artists worth keeping an eye on.

For some time now, one of its recurring themes has been contemporary Mexican art, which has been making headway on international circuits since the 1990s. Foreign curators seek after homegrown artists like Gabriel Orozco, Gabriel Kuri, Francis Alÿs and Damián Ortega and their

exhibitions have met with success worldwide. Furthermore, according to an article on Anto-nio Vega Macotela, published in the May issue of Artforum, “we should be bracing ourselves for another wave of original creative talent.”

Vega Macotela and others of his generation are beginning to make ripples on international waters –ripples that could swell into tidal waves if Artforum’s instinct is right.

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the lifestyle feature Mexico’SBeStof2011

10Courage

miss bala & Presunto CulPable

The year 2011 witnessed the release of two films that tackled controversial subjects and managed to do so successfully, at the national and international arenas.

Miss Bala, a fictional feature directed by Ge-rardo Naranjo, and Presunto Culpable (Presumed Guilty), a documentary by Layda Negrete and Roberto Hernández, recreated thought provoking scenarios most Mexicans can identify with.

These maverick directors hail from a new gen-eration of Mexican filmmakers, whose courage and outspokenness has won them prestigious awards and nominations at festivals all over the world. Presunto Culpable was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, while Miss Bala will be representing Mexico at the Goya and Oscar awards in 2012.

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68 Negocios i the Lifestyle

This is The New saN Miguel de alleNdebyPaolavalencia

hotel matildaModernization is not always synonymous with a loss of tradition, as you’ll discover when you enter the small door of Aldama 53 and arrive at Hotel Matilda.

In 1940, Diego Rivera painted a por-trait that depicts the powerful presence and rectitude of Matilda Stream –mother of the hotel’s present day owners, Harold and Jamie Stream.

That portrait is now the centerpiece of the family’s private collection and gives its name to a hotel where art is the guest of honor.

From the moment you set foot in the lobby, you are bombarded with fabulous contemporary art. Plastic artist Nacho Rordríguez created the welcome wall: a digital screen that projects an ever-chang-ing mosaic of traditional hand painted Mexican tiles, while Aldo Chaparro’s fiber optic sculpture that lights up the vault in

San Miguel de Allende is a popular destination among foreign tourists, boasting as it does a wealth of well preserved baroque and colonial buildings that have earned it a place on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. But beyond its historic importance –San Miguel de Allende played a major role in Mexico’s War of Independence– the city features many well kept contemporary secrets.

Photos courtesy of hotel matilda and casa dragones

destination SanMiGUeldeallende

the lounge explores the visual relation-ships between natural and man-made ob-jects.

Iconic black and white picture post-cards of Mexico, captured by the sharp eye of photographer Eduardo Dayán, dec-orate each room. But it is Mexico’s Bosco Sodi who provides the real burst of color with his two untitled pieces known as Blue and Pink Pangea in reference to the splitting of the huge mass that gave rise to the continents in the Mesozoic era. A photograph by Daniela Edburg hangs in one of the corridors and Angelo Musco’s multidimensional works are on display at the hotel spa.

Every piece in this eclectic collection has been carefully chosen but Spencer Tunick’s famous photo, taken in Mexico City’s Plaza de la Constitución in 2007, de-serves a special mention. The only Ameri-can artist represented in Matilda’s collec-

tion, a detail of Tunick’s photograph was used to design the wallpaper that deco-rates one of the bathrooms in the main building of this contemporary art haven.

So if you thought San Miguel de Al-lende was all about the past, Hotel Matil-da will force you to think again. Just be choosy about who you tell.

hotel Matilda, aldama 53, Col. Centrot. +52 (415) 1521015 / hotelmatilda.com

Casa dragonesIn last month’s issue we proposed Tequila Casa Dragones as the perfect Mexican gift for the more sophisticated palate - but you may not be aware of the brand’s history.

Tequila Casa Dragones is the result of a partnership between master tequila maker Bertha González and Bob Pittman, creator of the MTV channel and owner of the Pilot Group private equity firm. What

sets this tequila apart is its quality and its bottle, which won the 2010 Grand Prix Luxe Stratégies in the Product Design category.

To guarantee a consistent quality stan-dard, production of Tequila Casa Drag-ones is limited to 12,000 numbered bottles that sell for 275 dollars apiece. There can no disputing the superiority of the prod-uct or its wrapping but what’s with the name, you may be asking yourself ?

Casa Dragones is the name of Bob Pit-tman’s home in San Miguel de Allende, which is now home to Tequila Casa Dra-gones. It is here that this premium te-quila is tasted by the experts before being bottled. A suave secret shared by only a handful of connoisseurs.

Casa Dragones, reservations via e-mail only to sandra Vázquez tastings@casa-dragones.com / casadragones.com

70 Negocios i the Lifestyle

Fundación del Centro Histórico, to the Rescue of Mexico City’s Historic Center

aN auspicious eNcouNTer beTweeN The public aNd privaTe secTors

There was a time when the residents of Mexico City only visited the Historic Center under duress. Once dirty and dangerous, since 2002 this part of the city has taken on a new lease of life, to the point where it is now a trendy place to live, work and play. Today there are plenty of good reasons to visit downtown Mexico City!

by iSaíGonzÁlezvaladez

Ten years ago, a board was set up to support the cause of Mexico City’s Historic Center, an inno-cent victim of decades of abuse and neglect. It was the Mexico

City government that took the first step but it needed the backing of several other players: the private sector, citizens, intellectuals and shopkeepers.

Fundación Telmex, owned by Carlos Slim, jumped right in at the deep end and came up with an ambitious project to re-vamp the Historic Center. One year later, the Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, A.C. was created.

With funds put up by Grupo Carso orga-nizations –Fundación Telmex, Inmobiliaria del Centro Histórico and Fundación Carlos Slim– the foundation has improved condi-tions not only for those who live and work in the Historic Center but also for local and foreign visitors and tourists.

The four programs implemented by the Foundation cover everything from safety, healthcare services and the refurbishment of public spaces to the promotion of cul-tural events and the participation of citi-zens.

These programs are already beginning to yield results in the areas of:

Economic Development. Training pro-grams to help local residents, especially young people, develop the technical skills needed to get ahead in the job mar-ket or start their own business.

Social Development. This program draws on the tools of social psychology and art workshops, together with the services of civil and government organizations to encourage the development of residents of the Historic Center as individuals, family and society members.

Community Development. The foundation holds capacity-building talks at schools

and businesses in the squares of the Historic Center to reinforce positive ex-periences in an effort to prevent criminal behavior.

Culture. Casa Vecina, a cultural center for contemporary art research and produc-tion, is one of many centers that organize activities like art exhibitions and competi-tions to encourage children, students and parents to visit the Historic Center, learn about its cultural wealth and participate in a revival of its traditions.

To date, an estimated five million peo-ple have benefited from the foundation’s work: some 22,000 people now have access

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to healthcare services; 300 scholarships have been awarded; and 2,000 credit lines have been granted to micro companies. Yet these figures fade in comparison to the 1,725,000 people who have attended exhi-bitions in public spaces and squares since the foundation was created.

The ambitious program undertaken by Fundación Carlos Slim extends to the renovation of over 60 apartment buildings that are home to 620 families and the res-toration of architectural treasures like: the Rule building; the Casa Vecina; the atrium of the Church of San Francisco; the Hotel Bamer; the old stock exchange building;

the Torre Latinoamericana; the building that houses La Nacional, the YMCA and NAFINSA; Hotel Virreyes; Casa de los Condes del Valle de Orizaba (also known as Casa de los Azulejos); and Casa de los Condes de San Bartolomé de xala. Nearly all these historic buildings are now popu-lar venues for expos, concerts, workshops, fashion shows and other cultural events.

The transformation continues to take place before our very eyes and the streets of Mexico City’s Historic Center are clean-er and safer with each passing day. n

www.fundaCionCentrohistoriCo.Com.mx

72 Negocios i the Lifestyle

Giovanni Estrada and José Alfredo Silva (Josa) are the creators and designers of the TRISTA clothing brand.

The pair met up as students at IESModa Casa de Francia in 2002 and have worked together ever since. TRISTA is not their first project but it is the one that has brought them internation-al recognition in countries like Spain, Ja-pan, Colombia and Brazil where their col-lections have been shown. We visit Mexico through their eyes.

—Your favorite place in Mexico to relax?Josa: Any small town where you can walk and read in peace. Giovanni: Oaxaca, because the food is deli-cious and the mezcal is excellent.

Mexico According to

tristabyPaolavalencia

—Your favorite beach in Mexico to unwind?Josa: I recently discovered a small but magical beach called Todos Santos in Baja California Sur, overlooking the Pacific but just a stone’s throw from the Sea of Cortes. It’s a great place to read, walk, eat and relax. I loved it.Giovanni: I like the beaches on the Caribbean.

—the best place to buy traditional arts and crafts?Josa: Oaxaca.Giovanni: San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

—Your favorite Mexican dish? Josa: It has to be chiles en nogada but I could very easily come up with an exten-sive list of competing soups and stews. Giovanni: Mole poblano and seafood cooked Pacific style.

—a restaurant in Mexico where the food is fabulous?Josa: It all depends on the time of day but, since I’m an early bird, I’ll say breakfast at either El Cardenal or Maque (both in Mexico City). But I also love the tostadas at the Coyoacán Market in Mexico City, which has been one of my favorite places to eat since I was a kid. Giovanni: Contramar and Merotoro in Mexico City.

—a place you would recommend for everyone who visits Mexico City?Josa: I’m from the south of Mexico City, so Coyoacán is an obvious choice. Giovanni: The night life in the Roma district.

—somewhere in Mexico that features on your list of “Places i must visit”?Josa: I’m ashamed to say it but I’ve never been to the Yucatán! Giovanni: Campeche and La Paz, Baja Cali-fornia Sur.

—What do you miss about Mexico when you are abroad?Josa: Breakfast. Giovanni: Definitely, the tacos.

—What do you love most about Mexico?Josa: Its energy and sensuality. Mexico forces you to live with all your senses! Giovanni: The diversity and enormous cultural wealth that comes with all the dif-ferent races. —Who is your favorite artist?Josa: My favorite writer is Fernando del Paso and my favorite plastic artist is Héc-tor Zamora.Giovanni: I love the work of a lot of contem-porary Mexican artists, including Gabriel Orozco, Joshua Okón and Pedro Reyes.

—Who is your favorite architect?Josa: Taller de Arquitectura x (TAx) by Alberto Kalach. Giovanni: Félix Candela.

—and your favorite furniture designer? Josa: EOS and Ariel Rojo.Giovanni: The guys at EOS in Guadalajara and Emmanuelle Picault in Mexico City. n

www.trista.Com.mx

Photo courtesy of trista