JULY 22 2010     See Tara Spears' Mexican White Gold Part 1 & 2 Below

Sex to Die For: Romance Insect Style

                     © Tara A. Spears

There is a North American species of March flies in the insect family Bibionidae that is known as Lovebugs because of the large swarms that fly about ‘in flagrante delicto,’ oblivious to their surroundings. In the tropics, they herald the change of seasons as they mature only twice a year.  Lovebugs survive because they mainly exist to reproduce. After they grow from larvae they spend the rest of their brief lives attached to the opposite sex. Soon after mating, the male dies and is dragged around by the female, which is perhaps the Lovebugs’ one similarity to humans. The proliferation of the species occurs because the adult bugs have no natural enemies (automobiles are considered manufactured enemies). When the bugs are gone that just means all the adults of that generation have died, and it will be a matter of months until the larvae that were left will mature into adults. Still, what a great way to live: have sex until you die.

 The actual bug “relations” can take anywhere from 1.5 to 10 minutes. Scientists at the Florida Department of Agriculture have determined that most lovebugs emerge from the pupal stage from 6 to 9 PM with a smaller number emerging from 8:00 AM to 12 Noon. Emergence from the pupal stage requires only about 5.2 hours at 27°C for males and six hours for the females. Both sexes become fully mature within two hours. Current research does not report any positive evidence of a lovebug sex pheromone emission by either sex during or proceeding copulation. The males apparently hover near their emergence site and use visual and perhaps auditory cues to locate the opposite sex.

Copulatory behavior begins with the male darting and grasping a female that is flying through the swarm. The pair falls to the ground where they couple. Initially the male is positioned on the back of the female and both sexes face the same direction. After coupling, the male turns 180° and faces the opposite direction. There is intense competition among males for females at emergence sites. Hovering males may grasp and attempt to disrupt copulation pairs flying in the vicinity. Larger males are more successful in disrupting copulating pairs.

Not all Bliss

The species’ reputation as a public nuisance is not due to any bite or sting (it is incapable of either), but to its slightly acidic body chemistry that can damage paint finishes.  Because lovebugs can exist in enormous numbers near highways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills.  If left on the vehicle for more than an hour or two, especially in the tropic sun, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove.   In the past, the acidity of the dead adult body, especially the female's egg masses, often resulted in pits and etches in automotive paint and chrome if not quickly removed.  Of greater concern is the excessive clogging of vehicle radiator air passages with the bodies of the adults, which causes a reduction of the cooling effect on engines, and the obstruction of windshields when the remains of the adults and egg masses are smeared on the glass.

Lovebug adults are attracted to light-colored surfaces, especially if they are freshly painted, but the adults can congregate almost anywhere by reacting to the effects of sunlight on automobile fumes, asphalt, and other products. Besides, in the heat of the moment the bugs are just not watching out for moving objects.

As annoying as these romantic insects can be, just remember that their life cycle is short: the adults live just long enough to mate, feed, disperse and deposit a batch of eggs in about 3-4 days per generation. In the Riviera Nayarit, seasonal residents and visitors usually miss the swarm weeks although a few ‘late bloomers’ occur in every month. 

 Canadian Mining Crimes in Mexico
uan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara - Upside Down World
go to original
July 22, 2010

Mexican activists are poised for an International Day of Action against Open Pit Mining. A major focus will be New Gold’s mine in Cerro de San Pedro, in San Luis Potosi. The Canadian company, New Gold Inc. continues to operate, despite autumn rulings by the Ninth Circuit Administrative Court, and the Federal Tribunal of Fiscal and Administrative Justice, that the mine is operating illegally.

Across the globe, metallic mineral mining has caused environmental degradation, community displacement and the loss of cultural heritage. The exorbitant daily amount of water required for processing, coupled with the use of toxic chemicals such as cyanide needed to extract gold and other minerals from rock, dually threatens local water supplies, which can already be on the brink of scarcity. The use of explosives in mines that directly abut communities negatively impacts the structural integrity of local buildings, and disrupts everyday life.

In April, Juan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara, a professor and historian from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, visited Canada to speak with Canadian officials and the public on the adverse and illegal actions Canadian company New Gold has had in his area. He is a member of the FAO (Frente Amplio Opositor) who has been active in the ongoing legal battles against the company.

Juan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara, speaking at McGill University in Montreal, in April 2010:

Good evening. I am going to talk about a situation very similar to what my colleague from El Salvador just talked about. [El Salvador is currently being sued under the Central American Free Trade Agreement, by Canadian mining company Pacific Rim, for not issuing the company an exploitation permit for gold extraction. They are suing through a US subsidiary.] They are based on a similar paradigm. The case I am going to summarize for you has to do with a mega project, an open pit mine, with cyanide drainage, within the high plateau of Central Mexico. This case involves the co-responsibility of the government of Mexico and the government of Canada.

The ways of evaluating things are different. For some in the government, there isn't a whole lot to preserve in this high plateau. However, like many of these types of mega projects, it is based on a paradigm that isn't rational or sustainable.

This project came in 1995 to the town of Cerro de San Pedro in San Luis Potosi. It was first a project owned by Cambior Inc, later Metallica Resources and Glamis Gold, and now New Gold Inc. There Mexican subsidiary is Minerva San Xavier (MSX).

It set itself down on the edge of the Valley of San Luis Potosi. The valley of San Luis Potosi has a population of over one million three thousand people. The open pit mine in the town of Cerro de San Pedro is located less than five kilometers from the large urban center of San Luis Potosi.

At the beginning, mining interests projected they would be able to get a million and half ounces of gold in the zone, based on a calculation of a half gram of gold per ton of ore. The only method to getting to this half gram of ore, is a process that means the entire destruction of the zone. When the company came in 1995, they projected they would stay until 2005. In only 10 years, they were going to take out this million and a half ounces of gold, which would add up to 3 cubic meters of gold. In exchange, they would leave us a crater one and a half kilometers in diameter and 300 meters deep, and they would have a daily water use of 32 million liters, which would be mixed with 16 tons of cyanide.

There would be an irreversible loss of a large area of land that, since 1993, had been declared under a state law to be a region of natural restoration and preservation. It is also a region with endemic cactus species, which are in danger of extinction. This open pit gold mining operation also threatens the complete destruction of a historical city, Cerro de San Pedro, which was constructed in 1592, and which includes national historic monuments. All of this takes place, I am going to reiterate, less then 5 kilometers from a great urban center with over 1 million three thousand people. A series of technical reports, that have been produced both independently and by the company, indicate that the area of environmental impact includes 5 municipalities, one of which is the urban area which I mentioned.

From any perspective it was an arbitrary and irrational project. The company did not have a single argument. Not even one, to insist on developing this project. In fact, the only way this company had of pushing this project forward in the region was illegality, was evading the law. And so this is exactly what the company dedicated themselves to doing, from 1995 to the present day. First it was the company Metallica Resources, and now it is New Gold.

In response, there was a massive opposition organized by local people in the town of Cerro de San Pedro, and throughout the San Luis Potosi Valley. This open pit gold mine has generated one of the most emblematic and dramatic legal fights in Mexico.

Civil society organized, researched, documented, contracted independent studies from a scientific prospective, a historical perspective and a social perspective, that all demonstrated that this project would be a complete disaster for the country, and that we were facing the greatest environmental disaster in the history of this region.

The strategy employed by the local population was a legal strategy, trying to find justice through Mexican tribunals. But they were facing a transnational Canadian power that had great experience in Africa and India, a very rich experience of knowing how to fracture a community in order to impose their plan. And this is exactly what they've done to fight the work we've done over the past 15 years to try to stop them.

In the first phase of the resistance, from 1995 to 1999, civil society worked to promote the scientific findings, to work this out in a rational way. There were consultations, and a lot of information was shared with people in the valley of San Luis. Through out this time, the company, which was Metallica Resources at this time, because Glamis Gold had sold their part, put their attention on the same very small community, to see how they could fracture the community and take advantage of any conflicts that existed within it.

They also continued their criminal conduct, presenting a fraudulent contract of title for the land the mine is on, signed by people they had paid off. They were also connected to the murder of the municipal president, who in 1998, convinced by all of the arguments against mining, had finally declared himself opposed to the project. In this year, 1998, Baltasar Loredo , the municipal president, had proof of how the company had illegally acquired the title to a number of historic lands within the region. We were asking for further investigation by the state congress of San Luis Potosi, when he was assassinated. [No one has been charged in this case.] In 1999, however, the federal government, through the Ministry of the Environment, granted the exploitation permit to Metallica Resources, completely disregarding all public consultation mechanisms and ignoring all arguments of the population that was going to be effected; The government supported the company, under the premise that international investment is of the top priority.

With this began the second phase of resistance to the project. This phase began in 1999 and went until 2005. Throughout these six years, together, with the help of lawyers and activists, we pushed forward an exemplary legal fight. On one hand, we proved that the company had falsified contracts, giving them title to communal lands. On the other hand, we demonstrated that this project was in violation of a number of very important environmental laws. Through this legal process, we demonstrated that mining project was not viable and entirely absurd.

In 2004, the result of this legal struggle was that a federal tribunal definitively declared that, under no conditions, should an open pit mine be operated in this region. Between 2004 and 2005, Metallica appealed the decision. They put all their resources behind the appeal; but in 2005, they lost again. So this means, at this point, in 2005, it has now taken us 10 years, since the company arrived in 1995, to nullify the project. However, throughout these 10 years, the impact of the company having been there, and of the ways the project had moved forward, were irreversible.

Between 2005 and 2006, the company strengthened their position with the head of the Mexican state, a criminal known as Vicente Fox, the first president not of the PRI party of Mexico, and who represented the possible transition to democracy in my country. Vicente Fox declared at the beginning of his regime, however, that his government was of the businessmen and for the businessmen; and in 2004, despite our legal victory against this mining company, Fox declared his total support for all foreign investment in open pit mining, because, according to him , they were completely ecologically sound. This was a completely political declaration in the context of a project that was on the verge of being nullified, thanks to citizen and civil participation.

In 2005, with the reaffirmation of our legal victory, the company simply didn't leave. And not only that, Vicente Fox made an official visit to Canada and visited the offices of Metallica Resources, telling them that he would fix the situation. At the same time, the government of Canada put all their diplomatic resources at the service of their companies, in this case Metallica., against the law, against what the citizenry said, against everything.

In 2005 and 2006, Vicente Fox, the governor of San Luis Potosi, and the businessmen who were part of Metallica Resources in San Luis Postosi, Mexican businessmen, bought influences, corrupted tribunals, and corrupted the Ministry of the Environment. The result was, in 2006, instead of being denied their permit by the government, they were granted a new permit.

And so how did they do that? You might ask that. We have proof of this corruption. Similar to the case of El Salvador, the lawyer of Metallica Resources was also the lawyer for the governor of San Luis Potosi. And the general director of Metallica Resources in San Luis Potosi, has close family members that are active in the same political party, the PAN. We have copies of correspondence, of emails, written between the manager, the lawyer, the president of Mexico and the governor of San Luis Potosi asking for a new permit to be given to the company.

And so then, from 2006 to 2009, we were entered the third phase of our resistance, within this context of social decomposition. With this illegal permit they acquired in 2006, at the end of that year, the company began to use explosives in the zone to open the mine(28:08), and began destroying the area. Also in 2006, there began to be a series of persecutions against citizens who were involved in opposition to the mine, and local violence against opposition members began to grow. In 2007, it got to be such a high level of conflict that in a demonstration, the government arrested 5 students, and once they were in jail told them in exchange for their release, they would be required to give statements incriminating three of the main local leaders opposing the mine. (One of those leaders, Enrique Rivera, was recently granted political asylum in Canada. Rivera had been severely beaten in Mexico and threatened for his work opposing the mine. ) This is one thing among many others. It would take me a long time to give all the details. But the thing I want to say that is important about this third phase, is that we continued. We returned to appeal against this new permit in other tribunals, and in a demonstrate opposition in a peaceful manner.

While the company operated with an illegal permit, we took three years, up until September of 2009, to get a new sentence that established, not only that this project had been annulled since 2005, but that the new permit that the company had received in 2006 was illegal. [In November, 2009, Mexico’s environmental enforcement agency, PROFEPA, shut down the New Gold mine, enforcing the decisions of the Ninth Circuit Administrative Court and the Federal Tribunal of Fiscal and Administrative Justice, that the mine had been operating with out legal environmental permits. Mexico’s Federal Agrarian Courts also nullified New Gold’s land use contract with ejidatarios, communal land owners, when it was discovered that number of the signatories to the contract were fraudulent. In November the FAO filed a complaint with the British Colombia Securities Commission accusing New Gold of withholding information regarding these problems from their shareholders. A month after, the Federal Tribunal’s decision, New Gold issued a press release stating : “New Gold , Inc. confirms that all permits, licenses, concessions or authorizations that are required to operate its Cerro San Pedro Mine are valid and in force.”] It was also in this 3rd phase of our struggle, that we began to internationalize it, involving civil society in Canada.

So, while the company continued to work with an illegal permit, and to finalize a merger with two other small companies, which was finalized in 2008, we continued to communicate our position to the Canadian embassy in Mexico, as well as Montreal and Toronto. Our first objective was to find out what Canadian society knew about this struggle; and, secondly, to ask for the support of the Canadian society. And we discovered, that in Canada, just like in Mexico, there are many sectors that are very conservative, that support this type of irrational mining; but we also discovered that there is a very strong civil society, maybe a minority, but who are very committed to fighting these projects. Those are the people who we are interested in working to fight together with.

And so, these were the things that characterized this third phase of our resistance, which basically wrapped up in September 2009, when the last court ruling was made against the company .All of this was a very long process, a very exhausting process, because none of us are professionals activists. We're just people who live in this region who are effected by this project. So, workers, farmers, academics, they are all part of this broad opposition front, the FAO( Frente Amplio Opositor) against the New Gold San Xavier mining project. Through all this, we have brought our own economic resources, our time and our own will and commitment. And we're conscious that we are not only working to preserve one region, which is very important, but we are also working to preserve the sovereignty of Mexico.

So what happened? On the 20th of November in 2009, after a strong campaign of media pressure, after three years of international pressure, after radio coverage on Radio Canada, CNN and Al Jazerra, the federal government finally reacted. They sealed up and closed the gates of New Gold San Xavier mine. But this wasn't the end of the story.

Because what we thought was the beginning of the end of the story, what we thought was the beginning of a big investigation into all the crimes committed by New Gold and their buddies in Mexico, instead turned into a big disaster. Because the company on the 20th of March, began operating again. Having lost in litigation, without a valid permit, without a permit to use dynamite, but with the complicity of the state and federal governments of Mexico, it proceeded to mine. Through out December, January, February and part of March, the Canadian embassy, Canadian diplomacy, the Mexican elite, the mining lobby, the chambers of commerce for mining, had operated to nullify the environmental protection laws that had made the permit invalid.

Since December, they have invested millions of pesos in a publicity campaign to say that a small group of enemies of development, of crazies, of hippies.. they call us hippies...had worked to stop a mining project that would produce gold. They invested a huge amount of money trying to convince the local population that all of the studies that we had done were invalid and incorrect, and that the company had the resources to make sure that this site would not be irreversibly damaged.

So, in general terms, the message we have gotten, as an organized resistance to this project, as an organized local community, the message that we've gotten from New Gold and from the government of Mexico, is that you are not going to get us out of here through a legal process. The message is very clear. It's that if you want us to get out of here, you're going to have to throw us out. And that's the moment we find ourselves right now.

We've entered the fourth stage of this resistance, where any outcome is possible. It is either going to be them or us.

So this is our situation, and this is the message we are bringing to Canadian civil society, to students, to everyone: that you be attentive to what is going on, to what is about to happen, that it is a situation, from my point of view, that does not look like a very good one.

And so, I'll end with this. What we know facing the situation, is that we are facing a new and emerging form of organized crime, similar to narco-trafficking. These mining companies have the power to fracture communities and corrupt. They have the will and determination to get gold out at any cost. F acing this new form of organized crime, we, as organized communities are at a loss. Do we return to the tribunals, or do we turn to other methods of resistance? Thank-you.

(On the spot translation by Emily Carpenter, edited by. Meredith DeFrancesc

The Palace at Edzna in the State of Campeche,, an ancient Mayan site. Photography by Bill Bell

Mexican White Gold PART 1

© Tara A. Spears

We foreigners might take sugar with our coffee and appreciate the many delectable Mexican sweet treats and pastries that are sold along the beach or on the Riviera Nayarit streets, but have never given a thought to the economic significance of sugar.  Living in or visiting Nayarit, one of the 12 sugar cane growing states, one can’t help but notice the ubiquitous overloaded sugar cane trucks clogging the roadways.  According to government sources, sugar cane production is the first and most important financial crop in Mexico, generating twice the income of tomatoes, corn, carrots, potatoes, or tropical fruits sales combined. The National Bureau of Sugar and Alcohol (Camara Nacional de la Azucarera y Alcoholera) says that sugar cane crops cover over 611,000 ha, employs 2.5 million people, with 61 sugar cane mills nationally. As with so many facets of Mexican culture, the establishment of the sugar cane industry is a melodramic blend of politics and history.

Although sugar cane originated in southeastern Asia and the Pacific around 6000 BC, its cultivation gradually spread along human migration routes throughout the world. Sugar was introduced into Mexico more than 480 years ago. Unlike many of the other countries that began sugar cultivation, Mexico had a large native population to supply the labor besides the necessary growing conditions for successful sugar cane production.  In 1535 the Spanish explorer Cortez established the first North American sugar mill in Mexico. By 1600, sugar production in the tropical Americas had become the world’s largest and most lucrative industry, bringing great wealth to England, Spain, and France.

 The ruling Spaniards added the sugar output to their European exports of other Mexican commodities such as minerals, precious metals, and other agricultural products without a significant social impact on the peasants. Sugar remained a precious trade commodity during the colonial period, fostering the establishment of the hacienda agricultural system with its strict caste system.  The European conquistadores were able to accumulate great fortunes and power; the average Mexican farm worker, peon, owned nothing.

As Mexico became an independent country, the haciendas passed from Spanish to Creole hands, but most of the population didn’t reap any benefit from their long hours in the cane fields producing ‘white gold.’ The workers’ unrest culminated in the 1910 Mexican Revolution that brought land ownership reform and the death of the hacienda system. It was at this time that the Mexican sugar industry was divided into sugar cane growers and the sugar cane mill owners.

Since their inception, the sugar mills had numerous economic problems. Not even with Mexico's rapid industrialization did the mills become more efficient. By mid-twentieth century, the industry's infrastructure still needed updating and the powerful sugar administration was still self-serving and corrupt as during the hacienda system. In 1982 the government stepped in and nationalized the existing mills.

 A federal bank was created in order to provide government loans to be used on sugar industry infrastructure improvements in an effort for Mexico to become more competitive in the world market and to increase sugar production. But as is the tradition here, a lot of the money was siphoned to private accounts with no benefit to the mills or to the struggling cane farmers. By the early 1990s, the sugar industry was mired in a deep economic crisis: old and sometimes obsolete infrastructure, no money to repay previous loans that had only benefited private individuals, and the country was falling in the worst economic crisis since the 1920's.

From the beginning, the privatization of the mills was done in a dubious way. Private companies bought mills with government loans. The government hoped that in the long run, after modernizing the mills' infrastructure, the companies would be able to repay those loans. The national economic crisis compounded the existing financial problems of the industry despite an increased world demand for sugar products. The sugar cane monopoly saturated the domestic market, further plummeting the wages of the agricultural workers. The independent growers are usually small scale farmers who are not paid until the cane is processed. The condition of the mills’ infrastructure, machinery, and warehouses continued to decline, making it impossible to maximize production.  As if the situation wasn’t bleak enough, increased pressure from the public’s awareness of pollution from sugar growing and milling process forced the sugar producers to pay large fines for environmental damage. Many of the disgruntled cane workers sought better wages north of the border or traded their machete for working in factories.

Today's sugar industry situation is a reflection of its metamorphosis from the political and social interests that lay behind it. Instead of thinking of sugar as calories, think of it as a catalyst for social unrest. For nearly five hundred years, those who have worked to bring the cane from seedling to final product have marginal economic lives while the owners flaunt their power and wealth derived from others’ labor.  Mexican sugar is more than a sweet, it is a bitter economic situation.

Part 2

Mexican White Gold: The Country’s Largest Agri-Business

                   © Tara a. Spears

Sugar cane is the mainstay crop of Mexico, employing 2.5 million people mostly in the rural areas. Traveling around Nayarit, one can’t help noticing the cane fields with the workers swinging machetes to the rhythm of banda music or the slow moving, overloaded trucks on the serpentine mountain roads taking the harvest to the refineries in Tepic. As with farmers in any country, many Mexican families have worked the same fields for generations: it is a way of life besides a livelihood. The cultivation of sugar cane here has changed little since the 1500s when it was first introduced.

Sweet Tropical Grass

Sugar cane is a genus of tropical grasses which requires strong sunlight and abundant water for satisfactory growth. The cane itself looks rather like bamboo cane. The sucrose, which is what is marketed,  is stored in the cane itself. In the right climate cane will grow in 12 months and, when cut, will re-grow in another 12 months provided the roots are undisturbed.

The Latin names of the species include Saccharum officinarum, S. spontaneum, S. barberi and S. sinense. As with most commercial crops, there are many cultivars available to the cane farmer, usually hybrids of several species. Sugar cane is a perennial crop that takes more than a year to mature. In most of the Mexican tropics, cane is usually planted during the rainy season to mature 15-16 months later. The farm needs to be planned so that there is a constant supply of canes maturing throughout the milling period, which is usually five to six months in the winter.  

There are few crops that need a higher proportion of their final product price to pay for the production labor than sugar cane. Weed control is necessary, particularly in the early stages; if new land is used, it must be cleared completely. The new cane is planted manually. Only the richest growers can afford to plow their fields with a tractor, and most of the Mexican can is grown on small, independent farms.  As the canes grow, it becomes too tall to be plowed, and must be weeded by hand. Whole families will be hired, at a very low fixed rate per hectare, to go through the field manually removing the weeds. The farm workers and farmer do not get paid for the tons of cane delivered, but only for the kilos of sugar that come out of the mill. . While the yield of cane from the field varies considerably, a rough overall value to use in estimating sugar production is 100 tons of cane per hectare or 10 tons of processed sugar product. This yield is the result of lots of hands and lots of hours for low pay to the worker and farmer.

By law, mills must buy cane at 57% of the market price of refined sugar; and they must buy all the cane from a catchment area around each mill. These rules make it impossible for mills to compete internationally, says Juan Cortina, spokesperson for the sugar industry, Grupo Azucarero Mexico.

The cane is usually burnt the night before cutting to get rid of underbrush, vermin, and snakes so the workers can more readily swing those machetes. The cane must be harvested as soon as possible after the burn for best quality sugar. All harvesting in this country is done by hand. Additionally, the preparatory burning is carefully regulated and coordinated with the processing schedule of the sugar mills, which run 24-7 during the harvest months. The typical sugar content for mature cane can be 10% by weight but the figure depends on the cane variety. The sugar content also varies from season to season and location to location.

Mill Processing:

Cane sugar is processed in the field by stripping the cane of its sharp leaves and cutting it into lengths. The lengths are taken to the sugar mill where they may be further chopped up and shredded in preparation for their journey through the mills. The cane is milled and crushed, leaving sucrose rich juice which will be refined into sugar, and bagasse, which is the fibrous material left over from the sugar cane. Bagasse (photo, right)is now considered to be a worthy product in its own right and is finding applications as a fuel source, amongst other things.

The raw sugar juice is carried away for processing. At this stage it contains quite a lot of contaminants, and is a brown color. Processing methods vary from mill to mill, but generally speaking will follow the outline listed here.

The sugar juice is boiled, or sometimes simply left in evaporation tanks. Once most of the liquid has been removed, dark brown raw sugar is left behind. This sugar is heavily contaminated, and must undergo further processing to make it suitable for human consumption.

In the first stage of refining, called ‘affination’, raw sugar is mixed with a high syrup juice to protect the sugar crystals. The mixture of sugar juice and raw sugar is known as magma. The magma is sent into a centrifugal chamber and spun at high speed to remove the liquid and separate out the sugar crystals. The result of this stage of processing is a batch of lighter brown sugar crystals. After the centrifuging, the crystals are then washed and dissolved in water, ready to move on to the next stage, either packaging or refinement.

The vast majority of cane sugar commercially produced today is known as 'centrifugal'. With this process, the pH is raised with lime and the mixture is heated to around 100 degrees centigrade for several hours. The lime causes suspended materials, proteins, waxes, and fats to separate out. Further impurities are allowed to settle in large containers and are removed from the bottom. This residue is known as filter-cake or press-mud. The clear juice is evaporated off to form crystals. Sugar crystals are separated from the molasses, or brown syrup, by centrifugation. This raw brown sugar can be refined to produce white sugar, which is almost 100 per cent sucrose.

Products from Cane:

Sugar cane has many other uses besides the production of various types of eating sugar. One manufacturing by-product is molasses: a residual syrup from which no more crystalline sucrose can be obtained by simple techniques. Molasses left over from sugar production has many uses such as animal feed, fertilizer, or even for adding to tobacco. Molasses, along with cane juice and other by-products can be fermented and then distilled, to produce an alcoholic distillate known as rum. The history of rum dates back to the West Indies in the 17th century. Pure alcohol (ethanol) is another alcohol produced from molasses, which in itself has many uses. The main uses are in vinegar, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, cleaning preparations and solvents, and coatings. One of the future uses of ethanol which is currently being studied is as a extender for car fuel. Still other products produced from molasses are butanol (a solvent), lactic acid (a solvent), citric acid (mostly for foods and drinks), glycerol, yeast, and many others. The mill in Tepic primarily manufactures the non-editable products from the harvested regional cane.

Sugar cane has long been a precious commodity and continues to be a significant agricultural business in Mexico.  With its favorable climate, steady pool of farm workers, and increased world demand for cane products, if Mexico could overcome the traditional political interference and reorganize its sugar industry, there could be huge social and economic rewards.                                                                                     

THE MEXICAN FLAG

 The Mexican flag has changed over the course of the country’s history. When Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared independence in 1810, he carried the standard of the Virgin of Guadalupe. This is considered to be the first Mexican flag. In 1813, the revolutionaries designed a new flag.

They used white silk with a border of blue and white squares. In the center, an eagle perched on a cactus. This image was encircled by a Latin motto, Oculis et unguibus asque victrix (victorious with both eyes and talons), and was topped with the Spanish crown.

The national flag was created in 1821 and adopted by the “Army of Three Guarantees,” which took its name from the guarantees of religion, independence and union promised by the Plan of Iguala. The three colors of the Mexican flag were adopted at that time: green for independence, white for religion, and red for union.

During the short-lived first Mexican empire, the stripes changed position. The eagle was placed alone on the white band, facing forwards with its wings spread. Its head was shown in profile bearing a crown.
Later, in 1823, Congress decreed that the emblem on the flag should conform to the indigenous myth: an eagle in profile perched on a cactus, eating a snake. The crown was eliminated.

The national seal was first added during Maximilian’s rule, when a flag bearing the eagle under the crown of the French empire was adopted. Porfirio Diaz subsequently ordered that the eagle on the seal be shown facing forwards with its wings extended. Later, under Venustiano Carranza, it was modified again: the eagle is now shown in left profile and reflects the Mexica legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan.  A green, white and red ribbon representing the patriotic nation was added, shown tying together branches of oak and laurel.

Flag Day has been celebrated in Mexico every year since 1937 in a ceremony at the monument to General Vicente Guerrero, the first military leader to swear allegiance to the flag in Acatempan on March 12, 1821.

Thanks to All Who Donated to Ana’s Kids     

 © Tara A. Spears

While most tragedies do not have a happy ending, this situation does. Suyin and Kenia Auilo continue to blossom into responsible, caring young ladies thanks to the support of the community. “We try everyday to be the kind of person our Mother wanted us to be… we want to fulfill her dream that we complete our education and get good jobs,” said older sister Suyin. “We want everyone to know that without their support we would not have been able to stay in LaPenita or to stay in school.”

It was the concern of three friends, (above photos) Lupita, Jane Flowers, and Jane Kelly, that initiated efforts to help the sisters that were orphaned when their mother died unexpectantly.  The ladies got the word out and organized fundraisers besides setting up a supervised account for the many donations. They continue to oversee the budget that helps with the girls’ living expenses and tuition for this year. Jane Kelly said, “We want to thank all the individuals that put something in the collection jars around the area, the local businesses, and the many volunteers that worked so hard at the fund raising events held at Petra’s Deli, Crazy Nellie’s, and Mateja’s. The ongoing support of The Sol Ezine and Roger Ulrick of Bold Development has had a huge impact.”  The majority of the donated funds were used to construct a house for the girls on land that their mother had purchased before she died. The girls feel secure and close to their mother in the house. Kenia quipped, “I like having a backyard and my own bedroom.” It is Suyin who does the cooking but Kenia is responsible for the cleaning up.  In addition to concentrating on being strong students, both young ladies also regularly attend a Christian group for social activities. Suyin teaches Bible study class to 7-9 year olds on Sunday.

        Petra & Lucy                                                      Natalie                                                 Mateja

Bold Development                 The Sol Ezine

Kenia is taking weekly English classes because “meeting so many international people has shown me the importance of knowing more than one language.”  Suyin works at a real estate office besides attending university, where she will graduate in December with a degree in Buisness Administration. She is already enrolled for January to begin the certification program. In the meantime, Suyin is the local distributor for Herbalife products: “The real estate business is very slow this time of year so I need to supplement our income another way. My mother taught me the importance of good health and relaxation techniques, which is why I believe so strongly in the products I sell.”  You can contact Suyin at Oceano Pacifico #50A to view products or a catalog; telephone for an appointment: 322-171-5810, or email her: suuyiin@hotmail.com.

As with all the other Jaltemba Foundation member charities, the good time fundraising event was  not the point; helping these deserving young ladies have a chance to succeed in life is the real reason for the party.  It is a good time that continues to do good, right here in our community.

 Kenia (15)                         Sponsors with sisters at a benefit                    Suyin (22)

Mayan Mask Edzna Campeche mexico bill Bell Photo

Be on the Lookout for the     Guayabitos Flasher

                   © Tara A. Spears      

It’s such a pleasure to stroll around the Guayabitos residential neighborhood enjoying the tropic weather and admiring the lovely homes. A quick movement, a glint of gold in the cobalt sky, streaks by.  Humm, the birds that landed in the near trees are black, guess I imagined it. But no, the birds take flight, and sure enough, a brilliant yellow tail and underside. Meet the flashy tropic member of the North American blackbird family, the Oropendola. (oro is Spanish for gold)  These energetic medium sized birds have several unique features besides their vivid coloration: charming songs and weird nests of fibers and woven vines at the end of a branch that sway in the breeze.   

According to my field guides and online research, the oropendolas make up three genera of South and Central American passerine birds in the New World blackbird family.  Passerine is the scientific designation for perching songbirds. Another characteristic of passerines is that they have a specially adapted foot with three toes pointing forward, and one toe directed backwards to enable them to perch on vertical surfaces such as trees and cliffs. All types of oropendolas have pointed bills and long tails that are always at least partially bright yellow.  The males are larger and a different color that the females. They are social and tend to gather in flocks: I am fortunate to have undeveloped land on three sides of my house, and I have groups and nests on all sides- being flashed and serenaded is a great way to enjoy morning coffee on the patio.

The favored habitat of the Oropendolas is forest or open woodlands, such as edging a highway or field. It is very vocal, with a wide range of songs and even mimicry-whistle a tune and they will respond with a similar tone. These gregarious birds eat large insects, seeds, grain, fruit, and nectar.

Each colony has a dominant male, which mates with most of the females in the flock following an elaborate bowing display. The female lays two dark-spotted white or buff colored eggs which will hatch in about 15 days.  The babies mature and fledge in about four weeks.  Young birds are much duller body color and bill.  Outside of the breeding season, Oropendolas are mobile and follow some seasonal movement. They are still very active in my area.