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Mexico’s obesity rate triples Diet-related illnesses rise after food system transformation By Andrew Jacobs and Matt Richtel N EW YORK T I ME S
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico — William Ruiz Sánchez spends his days grilling burgers and slathering fried hot dogs with pepperoni and cheese at his family’s restaurant. Refrigerators and fireengine red tables provided by Coca-Cola feature the company’s logo in exchange for exclusive sale of its drinks. Though members of the Ruiz family sometimes eat here, they more often grab dinner at Domino’s or McDonald’s. For midday snacks, they buy Doritos or Cheetos at Oxxo, a convenience store chain so ubiquitous here that nutritionists and health care advocates mockingly refer
to the city as San Cristóbal de las Oxxos. The family’s experience in food service began in the 1960s, when Ruiz’s grandmother sold tamales and home-cooked food made with produce from a nearby farm; those same ingredients sustained her boys with vegetable stews, beans, tortillas and eggs. Meat was a luxury. Since then, the Ruizes have become both consumers and participants in an extraordinary transformation of the country’s food system, one that has saddled them and millions of other Mexicans with dietrelated illnesses. It is a seismic shift that some nutritionists say has an underappreciated cause: free trade. Mexico began lifting tariffs Obesity continues on A9
Noel St. John/The National Press Club / AP
Advocates for a Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto asked the U.S. government to grant him asylum instead of deporting him to a country where he believes he'll be killed. Adriana Zehbrauskas / The New York Times
People have pizza and soft drinks for lunch at a Sam's Club Cafe in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. Few predicted when Mexico joined the North American Free Trade Agreement that it would transform the country in a way that would saddle millions with diet-related illnesses.
ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR
CHRISTMAS PARADE
Rosa Saenz / Courtesy photo
The Zapata County Fair Royalty float is pictured Monday during the Christmas Parade. After the parade, a Christmas tree lighting ceremony was held as well as gifts with Santa.
Journalist fears death if deported Articles alleged corruption in Mexican military HOUSTON — Advocates for a Mexican journalist detained in a remote West Texas facility asked the U.S. government to grant him asylum instead of deporting him to a country where he believes he’ll be killed. Emilio Gutierrez Soto fled to the United States a decade ago after articles he wrote alleging corruption in the Mexican military caused his name to end up on a hit list. Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalism, likened to countries such as Syria and Iraq. At least 11 journalists have been killed in Mexico this year. After coming within hours of possible deportation, Gutierrez, 54, is now appealing that denial. The National Press Club and other press freedom advocates held an event Monday highlighting Gutierrez’s case and those of other reporters whose lives were in danger. Speaking by phone from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Sierra Blanca, Texas, Gutierrez accused Mexican leaders of being complicit in the violence of drug cartels and the murders of journalists, though he did not make specific allegations. “The biggest criminal organization is the government,” Gutierrez said. “I’m afraid to take one step into Mexico.” The U.S. government historFears continues on A9