cont. from front page,
 |
 |
According to Arellano, most of the Mexican workers in the US work in construction, agriculture and service, areas that according to statistics have been hardest hit by the economic crisis in that country. |
The poor economy has also resulted in a decrease in the remittances sent back home from workers abroad.
Millions on the other side
Arellano said that according to the Consejo Nacional de Población, CONAPO (National Population Council), around 11 million Mexican nationals live in the US. “But because millions of immigrants cross illegally into the country, it is impossible to know how many Mexicans are living abroad. It is estimated that the number is around 30 million,” he said.
According to 2000 statistics from CONAPO (the most recent available), the municipality of San Miguel de Allende has an intermediate level of emigration, 0.285 emigrants per 1,000 inhabitants. The municipalities of Abasolo and Acámbaro have the highest rates, with more than 100 emigrants per 1,000 inhabitants.
In San Miguel, more that 27,000 families have members who are working abroad. Six percent of them rely on the remittances their relatives send them.
Decline in remittances
| According to information from the Banco de México, the remittances received from Mexican workers living in the US in 2007 were higher than the foreign investment and were equivalent to almost 10 percent of the total national income from exports and more than 50 percent of the oil industry income. |  |
According to studies by the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo and Banco de México, these resources have a direct impact on the incomes of millions of Mexican families and stimulate economic activity in general.
The Banco de México said remittances from January to August 2008 decreased 4.2 percent compared to the same period in 2007. The state of Guanajuato receives around 9 percent of the total remittances. This year, according to information provided by the Economic and International Relations Department of the local government, Guanajuato has already lost US$230 million in remittances.
According to Arellano, this decrease in remittances is due to two main factors: low salaries or lack of jobs and new immigration policies. “It is much more difficult for Mexicans to cross the border illegally, since the border patrol is larger,” he said.
Workers come home
 |
|
According to Fernanda Esparza, head of the International Relations Office, not many immigrants have returned to their homes in San Miguel. |
“We are currently doing a study to measure the flow of returning immigrants and determine who comes only for Christmas and who stays in San Miguel,” she said. “We will probably have the first results next week. However, I think that not many have come yet this year because the ones who still have a job want to keep it. If they were to come, it would very difficult to go back because of the increased border patrol.”
David Vázquez, a 20-year-old from the rural community of Santa Elena, worked illegally in the US for almost two years and has just come back. “I only went to the US once—with my uncle, who knows how to cross the border. We spent 10 days in the hills until we arrived at the border. I used to work as a roofer, but in recent months the work has begun to decrease. At the beginning, we worked six days a week, but since a few months ago we only work three or four days. I’m not sure if I would go back. Even the cost of the coyote (transporter of emigrants) has increased about 70 percent. Besides, there is more immigration patrol all along the border,” said David. He used to send part of his salary to his mother, who is a widow. “Currently, one sister and I are the ones who are still single. All my other brothers and sisters have married, so I’m the one who helps my mother.” David said that he has an uncle and an aunt in the US who have already arranged their papers. “They both lost their jobs. My uncle was a construction worker and now he is unemployed; my aunt worked in a restaurant, but it closed and she is now also unemployed,” he said.
| Higinio Pérez, 27, from the rural community of La Luz, has been a construction worker in Maryland for four years; he returned two months ago. He said that he is not going to go back to the US until the economic situation is resolved. “I’m planning to stay in Mexico and look for a job in construction. | |
 |
The salaries are not as high as in the US, but currently the situation there is difficult. All the prices have raised, mainly gasoline and food,” he said, and added that he used to earn about 600 dollars a week, whereas here the salary for a construction worker is around 1,500 pesos a week (150 dollars). Higinio is not married, and he used to send part of his salary to help his mother. He saved some money to live on while he looks for a job in San Miguel.
Dolores Granados, a resident of Ejido de Tirado, said that her husband lost his job in the US and he is on his way back to San Miguel. “I am a domestic worker, but my pay is low. My seven children and I lived mostly on the money that my husband sent. He has been unemployed for six months and his savings are almost gone, so he decided to come back,” she said.
Don Jorge worked illegally in the US in the eighties. He currently works painting houses, but his 27-year-old son is still working in the US. “My son had a seasonal visa to work in the US but it expired before he came back to renew it, so he probably will lose it. I do not know what he will do, since he has a wife who has papers and a daughter who was born in the US. Now he is coming back because my wife has cancer. We depended greatly on the money he sent for my wife’s treatment,” said Jorge.
No plan for coming crisis
According to Julián Villalba, in charge of the Labor Exchange Department of the local government, of the 70 to 80 workers who come each week to the department in search of work he is able to place only half of them in a job. “From these 80 people, six to eight were immigrants who had just come back from the United States. They began arriving about two months ago,” he said.
According to Saúl Arellano, the government has not yet proposed any emergency plan for the coming job crisis. “Once the 2009 budget is approved, it will be very difficult to include an emergency program.
 |
|
What has been done to protect and support the clothing industry in Morleón, or the shoe industry in León? Nothing! The government needs to recognize the importance of this coming crisis,” he said. |
Remittances
Total remittances received in 2007: US$23,978 million, equivalent to:
2.69 percent of Mexico’s gross national product
9.18 percent of total exports
55.9 percent of oil industry incomes
.03 percent more than income from foreign investment
More than 85 percent greater than international tourism income
Remittances received from January through August, 2007: US$16,230 million
Remittances received from January through August, 2008: US$15,553 million
Decrease: 4.2 percent
Source CONAPO, courtesy of Fernanda Esparza.
Construction begins on access to Cañada de la Virgen
By Jesús Ibarra
 |
|
After nearly eight years of work, the archeological site of Cañada de la Virgen, located southwest of San Miguel on the road to Guanajuato, may finally open to the public in about eight months. |
Construction on the access road to the site began December 4, following successful negotiations with the owner of El Gachupín, a private property that abuts the site. The city council and state public works department agreed to jointly fund the initial construction phase of the 8.2-kilometer road, a 4.7-kilometer stretch from kilometer 11 on the road to Guanajuato to the entrance to El Gachupín. This phase is expected to cost 10 million pesos.
| “The opening of Cañada de la Virgen will benefit all the rural communities in the area by bringing in money. It will also add to San Miguel’s cultural and historical identity, since here in Cañada de la Virgen lie the roots of the city. | |
 |
The site should increase tourism to the area,” said Cristóbal Finkelstein, city secretary, who officiated at the groundbreaking. Finkelstein added that it is important to have an appropriate tourism management plan and a training program for the people in the rural communities so they can benefit from the site.
 |
|
According to Finkelstein, the road must fit in with the landscape. |
It will be four meters wide, paved with cobblestones, and will have a separate lane for slow-moving vehicles or parking. He said that construction on this first stage will last about six months, but that he expects that bids for the second stage would be accepted during this period and the site could be opened in no more than eight months.
| Research at Cañada de la Virgen was undertaken by a team of 60, headed by archeologist Gabriela Zepeda. | |
 |
This included 8 architects and archeologists, 5 assistants, and 46 field and construction workers. In addition to Cañada de la Virgen, the team has studied other archeological sites in the area, including San Miguel el Viejo; Agua Espinosa, located in the upper part of San Luis Rey; and Cuisillos de Malanquín, a ceremonial temple located on a 52-hectare private property near the Club de Golf Malanquín.
 |
|
Finkelstein said that the museum project selected for the former presidencia building, overseen by Gabriela Zepeda and her team and to include an area devoted to Cañada de la Virgen, has not gone forward because of a lack of money. “We are trying to manage the funds through the bicentennial programs,” said Finkelstein. |
Power cut in Presidencia
By Jesús Ibarra
On Tuesday, December 2, from 8:30am through noon, the Presidencia building on Salida a Querétaro ran out of electricity service from CFE. Some media spread the news that the suspension was due to an old debt of 9 million pesos the local government had with CFE. Eduardo Soria, head of the Treasury Department, announced that there is indeed a possible debt of 9 million pesos that, according to CFE, was generated because of excessive energy consumed by the whole municipality, referring to the public lightning in the city and rural communities. Soria said that the local government is negotiating this possible debt with CFE and they are taking corrective measures, like changing the public lights on Insurgentes for energy-saver lights. “CFE are inflexibly intending to charge us this debt, but we are taking measures and negotiating this situation, which was totally unrelated to the suspension of energy service in the administrative building on December 2,” said Soria. “That was due to line repairs CFE was performing, although they did not even notify us they were going to suspend the service. The Presidencia building pays its energy bills regularly and the next payment is mid-December.”
Opportunities at the Biblioteca Pública
The Biblioteca Pública de San Miguel de Allende has served the community for over half a century—served so well and for so long, in fact, that many of us take it for granted. We read or study in the courtyard and watch the joy of the youth in the computer center or Sala Infantil. We meet friends for lunch in the café. We find great books to fill our leisure hours. And sometimes we forget that it is all made possible by the generous gift of time from many people.
For all of you who have given this gift in large and in small ways, we want to express the gratitude of the many users of the Biblioteca.
Many appreciate the plentiful contributions the Biblioteca offers to the culturally enriched life we enjoy in San Miguel, but have not yet participated in making it the cultural center that it is. We want to extend an invitation to do so. It is a rewarding experience!
Two important positions currently need to be filled.
A Volunteer Coordinator is needed to support and properly match volunteers in the areas their skills, talents, and desires can best be utilized.
We also seek a candidate for Vice-president of the Board of Directors. This is an extremely important position and highly gratifying in that it offers the opportunity to participate in policy decisions that determine the future of the entire operation.
If you are interested in either of these positions, please contact Gregory Diamant, President of the Board of Directors, Biblioteca Pública, at
gdiam@aol.com. Thank you.
Good luck, Miguel
Miguel Kegel, General Manager of the Biblioteca Pública for the past two years, resigned last week to pursue other projects. The Board of Directors thanks him for his excellent service to the Biblioteca and to the community at large. We wish him all the best in his endeavors and look forward to seeing him at community events in the future.
San Miguel in the News
San Miguel de Allende constantly makes the international news. Here is a brief compilation of November’s top stories about this World Heritage city we call home. This month stories on local NGO’s Casita Linda and Santa Julia orphanage receive great press as well as a feature on Cielito Lindo’s assisted living concept.
In Mexico, Casita Linda is building hope
By Jeff Spurrier, November 29, 2008, The New York Times
With the help of Rhode Island School of Design students, American expats and other volunteers are helping to house the poorest of the poor in San Miguel de Allende.
http://www.latimes.com/features/
home/la-hm-casita29-2008nov29,0,5853439.story
For Mexican orphanage, lots of love from Texas
By Jeremy Schwartz, November 22, 2008, Associated Press
In a unique collaboration, that expat community of San Miguel de Allende has helped to transform the lives of about 30 other girls at Santa Julia, in Guanajuato state. The effort is largely driven by Robin Loving, the former executive director of Keep Austin Beautiful, who moved from Texas with her husband to San Miguel four years ago.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday
/lifestyle/stories.nsf/lifestyle/parenting
/story/6287c3c71a7ed8a68625750a0001f02b?OpenDocument
The New Old Mexico
Jim Atkinson, November 20, 2008, The New York Times
What has time done for San Miguel de Allende, the 16th-century colonial Mexican hill town that shelters a happy crowd of American retirees and part-time residents?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/
21/greathomesanddestinations/21expat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
The Voices of San Miguel de Allende
November 21, 2008, The New York Times
About four hours from Mexico City, San Miguel’s cobblestone-and-cathedral charisma has attracted Americans as early as the fifties. But in the past decade, a steady stream of American immigration turned into a surge, and with it has come trappings of a modern city. From the architecture to the people, residents explain why they’ve made this Mexican town their home and how recent developments are changing the colonial facade.
(This piece contains interviews with locals Sallie Osborn, Jane Sallis, Bill and Pepe Anderson, Norm and Pam Lacayo and John and Elaine McLeod.)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/
2008/11/21/greathomesanddestinations
/20081121_SAN_MIGUEL.html
Mexico's growing assisted-living market targets U.S. retirees
By Laurence Iliff, November 16, 2008, The Dallas Morning News
San Miguel de Allende offers Mexico’s first assisted-living development aimed at the U.S. market, Cielito Lindo. “This is not going to be a niche market; this is going to be an entire industry,” said Eduardo Alvarado, chief executive officer of La Moreleja, a residential development in San Luis Potosí, a colonial city in northern Mexico that also sports Wal-Mart, Home Depot and many other businesses familiar to Americans.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/
dws/news/world/mexico/stories/
111608dnintassisted.3dddb5c.html
Casa de Sierra Nevada makes Top 20 list
Mercado de Convenciones, a magazine specializing in conventions, business meetings, incentive trips, fairs and expositions, has selected the Orient-Express hotel Casa de Sierra Nevada for its 2008 list of “Top 20 Small Luxury Hotels for Meetings” in Mexico.
A readers’ survey of meeting and incentive trip planners, and private companies who plan large events, recognized hotels for their ideal infrastructure for groups and conventions, along with their high standards of quality and service.
The survey considered hotel and installations, food and beverage, and hotel staff to grade hotels of special category or of five-star rating. Magazine readers responding to the survey ranked such concerns as condition of golf course, spa, tennis courts and gym.
Maroma Resort & Spa, the other Orient-Express property in Mexico, also made the list. Maroma is a luxury beach resort hotel on the Riviera Maya.
Other winners were Avándaro Hotel Golf & Spa Resort, El Careyes Beach Resort, La Casa de Marquesa and Las Ventanas al Paraíso. No large-scale international chains made the cut.
|