Agents of the Tourist Auxiliary Unit (TAU), as part of their ongoing training, recently concluded two courses, earning them International Certifications in the Use of the Police Baton and Certification in Use of Handcuffs by the ASP of the United States, informed TAU Director, Carlos Bravo Ramírez.

The Director of the TAU explained that the purpose of this training in police techniques is to reinforce skills and preparation in security matters through the Puerto Peñasco Seguro strategic plan coordinated by Mayor Kiko Munro.

The public servant pointed out that Master Sergio Camacho, President of the International Association in Special Tactics and Police Instruction of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, was in charge of training the agents of this Unit during the later part of December, 2020.

“Thanks to Mayor Kiko Munro's commitment to important issues such as citizen and visitor safety, this Tourism Police Unit continues to be trained and educated, with the aim of continuing to offer the best services by developing agents with a profile of respect and kindness, however having been trained for a quick response in the case of an emergency call”, expressed Carlos Bravo.

Among other courses and training for the operational personnel of the TAU and Public Security are, special techniques and tactics, defense, disarmament, arrest tactics, bodyguards, and firearms use, as well as training in search and rescue, taught by personnel of the Secretary of the Navy of Mexico.

February 5th is a national holiday in Mexico that marks the enactment of its Constitution, Día de la Constitución.

Mexico’s Constitution was drafted in the colonial city of Queretaro, north of Mexico City. It was legalized on February 5th, 1917, by the country’s Constitutional Congress. Venustiano Carranza was the first President to serve under the terms of the new constitution.

In years past, Mexico would have marked this holiday on February 5th but, in 2006, Congress approved an initiative whereby a number of official holiday dates would be observed on the nearest Monday to the official date, thus creating long holiday weekends. This year, the observed day is Monday, February 1.

2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Constitution and to commemorate the centenary, the Bank of Mexico issued a limited edition 20-peso coin and a limited edition 100-peso banknote celebrating the date. On the centenary of the revolution in 2010, the bank issued a 100-peso commemorative banknote for that occasion as well but, although they remain legal tender, they are rarely if ever seen in trade now and have become a collector’s item.

The Mexican Constitution was drafted following the Mexican Revolution, led by Francisco Madero against the dictatorial regime of Porfirio Diaz (an era known in Mexico as “El Porfiriato”), in pursuit of political and agrarian reforms, and social justice.

Although it took several years for Mexico’s political upheaval to settle down following the revolution and subsequent enactment of the Constitution, to this day the document continues to rule and shape Mexico’s social, political, and economic landscape.

One of the key Articles of the Mexican Constitution to come to light in recent years is Article 27, which deals with the ownership of land in Mexico. Specifically, it states, foreigners may not own land within 100 km of a land border or 50 km of a sea border. In a bid to open up land development to foreign direct investment the administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari introduced ‘Land Trusts’ (fideicomisos) in the 1990s; administered by banks, they provide foreigners with title and rights of the land in all but direct name. Before this law came to pass, foreigners who bought land near the border in Mexico used a ‘presta nombre’ (borrowed name)—a Mexican national whom the buyer could trust to hold title of the land, with a gentleman’s agreement existing between the buyer and the title holder. Obviously, the current system is much more secure for foreign buyers and investors.

The US-Mexico land border is the world’s busiest land crossing. Data reveals the colossal volume —and types— of crossings traversing the land border each year

Mexico and the United States share a 1,954-mile land border, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. This land border (parts of which encompass the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo) is the busiest land border in the world and strategically important to both countries for their shared interests in commerce, culture, and tourism. The movement of people and vehicles across this land space is a cornerstone of the economic well-being of all Mexican and US border states.

The US Department of Transport collects detailed records of border crossings every day and very helpfully makes those data available via its website.

To better understand the scope of these pedestrian and vehicle crossings, here is the downloaded data for 2019 —before things became more restricted in 2020— to get a handle on how much traffic typically crosses the US-Mexico land border.

This is what the data reveals:

US-Mexico land border crossings by type (2019)

The US DOT’s data classifies ‘crossing types’ into the groups listed in the table below. The numbers represent ‘crossings’ not unique numbers of people and vehicles. The data reveal that in 2019 there were:

Crossings Type Volume

Passengers in Personal Vehicles 136,890,096

Pedestrians       49,175,926

Bus Passengers 2,153,331

Train Passengers             9,568

Personal Vehicles            73,085,262

Buses   151,541

Trains   11,673

Trucks  6,440,255

Truck Containers (Full)  4,766,152

Truck Containers (Empty)            1,754,507

Rail Containers (Full)      491,994

Rail Containers (Empty) 607,840

Summary analysis of land border crossings (2019)

There were 239,567,746 passenger crossings in 2019, of which:

188,228,921 (79%) were Passengers in Personal Vehicles; and

49,175,926 (20%) were Pedestrians;

there were 2,153,331 Bus Passengers (1%), and

9,568 Train Passengers (negligible %).

There were 79,828,599 vehicle crossings in 2019, of which:

73,085,262 (92%) were Personal Vehicles;

6,591,796 (7.8%) were Commercial Trucks; and

151,541 (0.2%) were Buses.

Related to the transportation of goods by road and rail, in 2019 there were:

6,520,659 Truck Container crossings of which 4,766,152 were full and 1,754,507 were empty;

in addition, there were 1,099,834 Rail Container crossings of which 491,994 were full and 607,840 were empty.

Busiest US-Mexico land border crossing points

This table shows the the top 10 border crossings along the US-Mexico land border in 2019, by volume and type. San Ysidro is the busiest crossing by far, followed by El Paso. Most of the the annual crossings are made by personal vehicles and their passengers, and pedestrians.

Crossing Name Crossing Type   Volume

San Ysidro          Personal Vehicle Passengers      25,845,348

El Paso Personal Vehicle Passengers      18,703,243

San Ysidro          Personal Vehicles            14,979,363

Otay Mesa         Personal Vehicle Passengers      11,372,048

San Ysidro          Pedestrians       10,799,398

El Paso Personal Vehicles            10,528,448

Laredo Personal Vehicle Passengers      10,373,765

Brownsville        Personal Vehicle Passengers      9,416,489

Calexico              Personal Vehicle Passengers      9,005,892

Hidalgo Personal Vehicle Passengers      8,267,555

Data Source: You can learn more about border crossing volumes and types and download the data from the US DOT website. The data sets also contain crossings between the US and Canadian land border, which are not included in the data presented in this article.

Technology and gastronomic cultural diffusion come together in this project that revalues ​​what is born and made in Mexico.

The Mexperience Company, together with Huawei, promotes a new way of exploring Mexican gastronomy through virtual experiences through which you can learn to prepare recipes as well as investigate what is behind the culinary identity of a state or an area from the country.

The pandemic forced us to change schemes and The Mexperience Company is proof of this. Faced with the impossibility of traveling and living in person, this alternative takes advantage of the technology and the push of an international brand such as Huawei, to reach any corner of Mexico in order to spread the cultural, gastronomic, and tourist diversity of the country.

When you buy a Mexperience, you receive at the door of your house everything you need to know up close what the cuisine of a certain place is like, depending on the theme of the event. On a specific day and time, you can connect via video call with an expert, and possibly other fellow travelers.

In each Mexperience the role that the selected elements play within Mexican culture is explored, it is shared about their current condition, the communities from which they come and the recipes that make the gastronomy of Mexico have been considered as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, according to Unesco, since 2010.

According to Laura Pastrana, who is the founder of The Mexperience Company, all the edible supplies, beverages, and crafts that come to the participants’ homes are purchased through a fair trade scheme with small producers throughout Mexico. This, according to her, is a way to revalue her work and give it a greater projection.

The Mexperiences may differ, depending on the nature of the subject and the desire of viewers. The same can be Mexperiences live by Zoom, Mexperiences classes to learn how to prepare recipes, or even Mexperiences on demand, which can be experienced without the need to connect in real-time.

They all have different themes depending on the season, for the moment they will remain virtual until the pandemic subsides enough to allow us to have physical encounters, and they cost around 1800 pesos for two people.

The role of technology has always been important for the current development of the world; however, when you team up with the gastronomic culture of a country like ours, the match becomes perfect and safe.