Rebelde with a cause - Rebelde en Canada

Hot Mexican TV soap opera becomes an ad for Alberta tourism

By David Agren

When Lorena Rochin, a university student in Guadalajara, Mexico, flipped on her television set recently to watch her favourite telenovela (soap opera), images of the snow-capped Canadian Rockies flashed across the screen.

"It's gorgeous," she says of the Lake Louise scenery, used as a backdrop for a clandestine make-out scene.

Through a partnership deal with the Canadian Tourism Commission, the hit teen telenovela Rebelde (Rebel in English) filmed episodes in Calgary and the Canadian Rockies in early March, which aired in Mexico in late April.

The show is so popular, even guys are into it, says Rochin. "(At least) 80 per cent of my friends watch it."

The show's success and audience demographics captured the attention of the Canadian Tourism Commission, which saw it as a vehicle to launch Canada's immense popularity to even greater heights in Mexico.

"Rebelde has a very nice peculiarity… middle classes are watching, also (upper-class) Mexicans, including parents," says Jorge Morfin Stoopen, Mexican director for the Canadian Tourism Commission, who is based in Mexico City.

More than 10 million Mexicans watch the show weekly and it's aired throughout Latin America. "This is exactly the target we are looking for," says Morfin Stoopen.

More than 173,000 Mexicans visited Canada in 2004, making it the nation's sixth largest source of tourists. "In 2004 we increased our number of Mexican travellers to Canada by 22 per cent," says Morfin Stoopen. "For Canada, Mexico is a very important market."

In the Canadian-made episodes, Rebelde actors frolicked in powdery snow, skied in the Rockies and rode on dogsleds. Along with capturing Alberta landmarks like the Banff Springs Hotel, Lake Louise and downtown Calgary in Rebelde episodes, cast members posed for Maxim-style photo shoots – complete with bikinis and fur coats – and filmed a music video.

Some of the cast members recently formed a pop group called RBD, whose sappy hits top the Mexican pop charts. In Alberta, the RBD members donned western duds for their videos: jeans and leather trench coats for the guys and a pink cowboy hat for the female lead singer. The show's theme song is incessantly played on the radio and in clubs in Mexico.

Set in an exclusive private school, the show captures the melodramatic antics of teenagers often locked in class-driven feuds and delivers a heaping dose of eye candy in nearly every scene.

Take, for example, Diego, a baby-faced kid whose dad thought his son was gay.

"He's super hot," gushes Rochin, adding she would watch the show less often if Diego weren’t a cast member. In a typical telenovela twist, the father set his son up with his trophy girlfriend – who, says Rochin, "looked like a slut" – to ensure Diego wasn't gay. Predictably, the pair fell for each other, creating a rather bizarre love triangle.

Rebelde also exposes class schisms in Mexican society, pitting the fresas – snobs from rich families – against the becados (scholarship winners). Never mind the nacos, the newly rich who try too hard to fit in with the old-money set and come across as gauche in the process.

Rebelde naturally draws comparisons to popular teen series like Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek and The OC, but surpasses them all in sheer tackiness. Only in a telenovela would the school uniforms consist of short denim skirts, super high boots, white- or blue-collared shirts, red neckties and jackets for the girls. The guys' uniforms, which feature a similar necktie and jacket combination, are somewhat bland in comparison. Even the heartthrob teacher resembles a rebel, with his long hair and casual work attire.

Besides the racy plot lines, the show sets trends for young Mexicans. Shortly after premièring last fall, guys began wearing red ties similar to the show's school uniforms. Girls put star stickers on their foreheads, mimicking Mia, Rebelde's lead fresa. Both genders began sporting yellow Lance Armstrong Livestrong bracelets after some characters on the show donned the bands.

Canadian Tourism Commission officials expect to capitalize on the show's incredible trend-setting ability, increasing Canada's lustre among young Mexicans, who already possess positive attitudes towards the country.

In a recently published magazine profile, Diego – played by Christopher Uckermann – called Calgary his favourite city. After reading the piece, Rochin says, "It's my favourite (city), too. That's where I'm going next year."

Actually, her student exchange will land her in Edmonton in January.


Published in FFWD (Calgary).

UPDATE: Rebelde went off the air in Mexico, but it continues in other countries.

Pulque tradition fades in Mexico City

Story by : David Agren

A toothless waiter, wearing a blue puma T-shirt, in La Elegancia, a pulqueria in Mexico City's historic center, dropped a large glass containing a smelly, milky, alcoholic liquid on the rustic wooden table, charging 20 pesos. It smelled like an armpit, tasted astringent -- even with the peanut flavouring mixed in - and had a texture like spit. An old-timer standing at the bar dipped his fingers into his drink, pulling out long strands of gooey liquid, akin to egg whites.

Pulque, a 2,000-year-old beverage made from fermented maguey (a type of cactus) juice, once fueled the Aztec elites. The governing classes strictly forbade commoners from drinking it, punishing offenders with cruel beatings. Preferring stronger drinks, the conquering Spanish introduced distilling methods, producing mezcal —- and later tequila —- from the maguey plant.

Despite its noble origins, pulque has been steadily falling in popularity. More than 1,000 watering holes, known as pulquerias, blanked Mexico City a century ago. Large haciendas sent fresh pulque by the trainload from the central Mexican states of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Morelos into the capital, creating a pulque aristocracy. Nowadays less than 100 pulquerias remain, catering to mostly older crowds in rather seedy settings. Freshly harvested agua miel (honey water), the non-fermented version of pulque, is still fairly common in rural communities.

"Not many people drink pulque anymore," said Juan Vaca (the name he gave), a somewhat loaded patron in La Elegancia, wearing a Don Quixote T-shirt and Superman cap, who had trouble staying coherent with his answers.

"It was a tradition before."

Young Mexicans have moved on to other alcoholic drinks like beer, wine and tequila. Besides its offensive taste, rumors of using a sack full of human feces to speed up the fermentation process also dampened pulque's appeal. For many, it has simply become a novelty beverage.

"I hate pulque," said Juancho Nuñez, 29, a deejay who spins records in Mexico City's trendy Condesa neighborhood, adding some of his friends occasionally imbibe in rundown establishments like La Elegancia to be "cool.

"The style in Mexico is to be naco (tacky or lacking class)."

Despite its name, La Elegancia is anything but classy, selling only pulque trucked in daily from nearby Tlaxcala state.

A stench, reminiscent of an old hockey bag, wafts into the street. Behind a pair of swinging doors -- the kind from a western movie -- inebriated men standing by the bar call out a friendly, if not alcohol-induced, welcome. The bartender ladles glasses of pulque out of white barrels. Inside, shoes stick to the floor. A shrine to the Virgin Mary sits directly across from the bar. Pancho Villa and Bob Marley pictures cover the dated off-white tiled walls. A corner jukebox cranks out banda music and romantic ballads. A steel trough-style urinal runs along the side wall, where customers relieve themselves in plain sight of their fellow drinkers.

La Elegancia sells natural pulque for a mere eight pesos per glass. Equally viscous, but somewhat more palatable flavours include pineapple, tomato, oat, nut and peanut.
Most pulquerias open early in the day. By Noon, ten tipplers held court in La Elegancia, paying no attention to the smelly atmosphere. Others, however, popped in for a quick pick-me-up.

Jesus Garcia, a rail-thin employee at a taco stand downwind from the stench, loads up on pulque three times daily.

"It's refreshing," he said, finishing the final gulp, his jaw shaking the entire time.

A supposedly healthful drink, legend has it pulque boosts libido and is beneficial for nursing mothers.

"Pulque is much better than Viagra," said Celia Peña, a vendor selling kites in the Zocolo district with her husband Marcos, who flashed a shy grin.

"Pulque is natural. Viagra is a chemical."

She lamented though that the pulquerias sell such an awful product, saying homemade pulque from her pueblo in the State of Mexico tastes so much better.

With the alcohol content ranging from two to eight percent, it takes some serious drinking to get a good pulque buzz.

"It's not like tequila," said Jorge Menchaca, a Mexico City cab driver, who grew up drinking pulque.

"But if you drink a liter of it, you can't feel your legs."

Published in the Ottawa Citizen.

Memo to dope smokers: Your vice stinks too

By David Agren

A person who dabbles in recreational drugs recently berated me at a party for stepping outside to light up a cigarette - a legal, expensive and increasingly socially-unacceptable vice in Canada. After her lecture on the ills of tobacco use, its impact on non-smokers and supposed burden on the social safety net, she toked from a marijuana pipe.

Smoking has become so vilified that many thrill-seekers who indulge in self-destructive vices, ranging from drug use to drinking alcohol to promiscuity, condemn tobacco users, parroting the harsh rhetoric of the anti-smoking lobby. Even worse, they downplay the health risks of their own behaviours and break out amusing libertarian rhetoric to quite accurately observe that the state has no business in prohibiting their bad habits - while castigating tobacco users at the same time.

Stranger still, a growing number of recreational drug users justify their habits by trumpeting the supposed health benefits and organic origins of cannabis.

Last fall, a Calgary Herald contributor recommended marijuana as an alternative to Vioxx, an anti-inflammatory drug recently pulled off the market. But medical marijuana is a red herring. While it offers relief to some, most proponents have no need for it. Instead of making moral arguments to justify their choices, an increasing number of healthy - if not slightly fuzzy headed - pot smokers make unsubstantiated medical claims for their drug of choice. Health Canada would crack down on any nutritional supplement manufacturer making such wild claims for a non-hallucinogenic herb.

Nowadays, much of the smoking criticism comes from the political left as high-minded liberals fret over binge-drinking, long buffet lines, pop machines in schools, caffeine consumption by children and, now, cigarette smoking. The detrimental effects of marijuana use hardly ever get mentioned. "For many left liberals, marijuana has a positive connotation," said Jacob Sullum, a syndicated columnist and the author of For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health. "It's a function of its legal status that makes marijuana cool. ... If tobacco were banned, it would become cool too." If marijuana is so helpful, what about tobacco use? Some tobacco users claim smoking heightens mental acuity and curbs their appetite. Many smokers gain weight upon quitting. Furthermore, a small body of research demonstrates a few surprising side-effects from smoking tobacco.

In a controversial letter published in The Daily Telegraph in 2003 titled: "Smoking is not all evil," Dr. K.W. E. Denson, a tobacco researcher, claimed cigarettes offered redeeming qualities to some. "Compared with non-smokers, smokers have half the risk of Parkinson's disease and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. Women who smoke after their first full-term pregnancy have half the risk of developing breast cancer," he wrote. "Would it not be more honest to allow smokers the choice of an increased risk of lung cancer and heart disease, or an increased risk of Parkinson's or Alzheimer's diseases?"

And contrary to popular belief, smokers do not burden the social safety net the way anti-smoking groups claim. If anything, they may save the system money. Smokers usually die sooner and thus forfeit most pension plan contributions, underwriting the retirements of their non-smoking counterparts. "By their logic, the government should be encouraging smoking," Sullum said. As for evil cigarette companies, governments at all levels in Canada profit more from smoking than tobacco manufacturers - and not all of that money goes towards health care. Many of these same people who heap scorn on cigarette companies, laud their local drug dealer and electricity-stealing cultivator for supplying a quality product.

"Tobacco to them ... has connotations of big business," Sullum explained. "Of course, if marijuana were legal, it would be sold by big corporations." Unlike perfectly healthy and able-bodied pot users who promote their vice as a panacea for all sorts of ills, no cigarette smoker cites any kind of medical claim to justify his habit. Most smokers would probably concede claims of supposed benefits sound rather spurious. Instead of castigating smokers, could pot users and their ilk please respect the rights of others to pollute their bodies with equally foul things? Marijuana smokers should step back in rare moment of mental clarity and realize that their vice stinks too.

Originally published at the Calgary Herald Q blog.

Political Drama Grips Mexico

Many Latin American nations, including Argentina, Brazil and most notably Venezuela, have drifted left in recent years, electing leaders with unfavourable views towards the United States and skeptical opinions on the liberal economic policies it advocates.

Until last week, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the populist mayor of Mexico City and the leading contender in next year's presidential election, stood poised to take Mexico in the same direction, capitalizing on discontent over years of meager economic growth and ineffective governance.

A four-member committee of federal deputies threw a potential roadblock in his path to power, recommending last Friday the mayor be stripped of his immunity from prosecution – a privilege enjoyed by most politicians – for his alleged tardiness in obeying a court order in a land expropriation case. Anyone facing criminal charges is
ineligible to pursue elected office. The Institutional Party of the Revolution (PRI)-dominated lower house of Congress votes on the recommendation later this week in a process known as desafuero(removing a privilege).

The emergence of a free-spending, left-leaning populist who could undo recent economic liberalization and stall necessary energy-sector reforms unsettles the Mexican business and political classes.

President Vicente Fox – himself ineligible to seek a second term in office – in an obvious reference to Lopez Obrador's populist tendencies, remarked: "Here come the messiahs who offer the earth and the sky … populists with magic recipes for everything.

"In the end they are only cheating people."

Emotions run high over the desafuero across Mexico. U.S. officials have even taken notice. CIA director Porter Goss cited unrest in Mexico resulting from a contentious 2006 election as a concern. President George W. Bush later clarified things, saying he would work with whoever was elected.

Since being elected in 2000, Lopez Obrador has spent generously on social programs and infrastructure projects, running up large budget deficits in the process. The Mexico City government now cuts each senior citizen a small cheque. To pacify the middle and upper classes, it constructed new viaducts to ease traffic gridlock. Large groups, bolstered by seniors and city employees, regularly flood the streets at Lopez Obrador's beckon, decrying legal and legislative verdicts against the mayor.

Aloof and tough to read, his antics confound many. He has made few policy announcements, spare expanding his social programs beyond the capital and keeping Pemex, the notoriously inefficient oil monopoly, in government hands. He lives in a modest apartment and drives a 1999 Nissan Sentra to work.

Lopez Obrador has accumulated enormous political capital and popularity through his governing style and enormous deficit spending. He currently tops virtually every opinion poll by at least ten points. In recent weeks, Mexicans have rallied across the Republic against the desafuero. Banners and pro-Lopez Obrador stickers blanket Mexico City. Even the Judas character in the country's biggest passion play (Easter
week re-enactments of Christ's crucifixion) wore an anti-desafuero ribbon.

Lopez Obrador's legal problems stem from land expropriated to build an access road to a hospital. He allegedly disregarded a court decision, ordering his government to address the original property owner's complaints. The attorney general has promised to charge Lopez Obrador the moment the mayor loses his immunity from prosecution.

For many Mexicans, the case against the mayor reeks of sleazy politics – especially in a country where many crimes go unsolved and justice is dispensed slowly. The desafuero also puts two of Mexico's major parties in awkward positions, appearing to sideline the presidential front-runner for purely political reasons.

The ironies are hard to ignore. The PRI, after decades of dirty tricks, now advocates enforcing the law. President Fox's National Action Party (PAN), which only recently toppled the PRI, is seen to be thwarting a rival. For Lopez Obrador's Democratic Party of the Revolution (PRD), it's falling short of power once again; it led the early returns in the 1988 election until a mysterious computer crash wiped out the results.

In the meantime, the desafuero has united the normally disparate PRD and buoyed the mayor's poll numbers.

Ultimately though, the campaign against Lopez Obrador could backfire.

If convicted, Lopez Obrador promised to campaign from behind bars, seemingly anxious to play a martyr's role. A spell in prison could work in his favour, making him a stronger and more sympathetic candidate.

Published in the Calgary Herald.

Hockey, Mexico-style: The Zamboni is broken, and the players are on strike. Sigh

From the Ottawa Citizen

David Agren
Citizen Special

GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- The old barn looks like something from the Canadian Prairies with its rounded roof and small ticket booth next to the front door. Inside, a sprinkling of fans shiver on the wooden bleachers, sipping coffee and eating doughnuts. Players in full equipment chase the puck up and down a dimly lit rink.

Welcome to Ice Land in Guadalajara, where turmoil over money plagues the local hockey scene -- just like in Canada. The four adult teams in Mexico's second-largest city packed up their skates and sticks two months ago to protest high rink fees and ice conditions that could charitably be described as horrible.

"The owner doesn't care about maintaining (the rink)," complains Omar Guzman, a defenceman in the recreational league and coach of the peewee and bantam teams here. "The Zamboni doesn't work properly."

The surface in Ice Land is carved to shreds. Puddles cover the back portions of the faceoff circles in the rink's south end. Tire marks from the Zamboni mar the centre ice area. Several feet before the end boards, the ice is a tangled mass of impassible shards. One corner lacks proper boards and glass is missing from behind one of the nets.

Although the rink is third-rate by Canadian standards, the rental fee is high. "It's expensive, Guzman explains. "If this was good, (the price) would be fine."Despite the actions of their adult peers, the peewee and bantam squads still practice on the substandard surface, providing Western Mexico's only live ice hockey fix.

At first glance, these guys resemble a decent Canadian house team. Take number 19: he looks like an average hockey player with his green Dallas Stars jersey, black CCM pants and and white helmet. But while leading a two-on-none break he fans on a pass, loses an edge and slides on his backside into a giant puddle behind the net. With the rink in a state of disrepair, the players move one of the nets 10 feet toward centre to avoid the mess. The puck jumps haphazardly over the players' sticks all practice long.

Obviously, not many youngsters take up ice hockey in soccer-mad Mexico. About 80 players, covering all age groups, skate regularly in Guadalajara, a city of almost five million people. A team from the city travelled to the famous Quebec International Peewee Tournament earlier this year, losing all of its games, including a 14-0 thrashing by a French squad.

Guzman, 25, has suited up for Mexico in several lower-tier world championship tournaments. The team finished in last place on one occasion and near the bottom the rest of the time.

"We have good players," he contends, but the team needs "more support."

Sporting dreadlocks, jeans and a blue Disneyland pullover, he puts the 13 youngsters through a standard series of skating and shooting drills, but takes time during water breaks to make out with his girlfriend, who watches all of his practices and plays with the city's lone female team.

He idolizes New Jersey Devils defenceman Scott Stevens for the way he hits. As practice winds down, he introduces a contact drill; he bodychecks each player -- some half his age -- trying to get by him with the puck. Disgusted with one slacking player, he crosschecks him from behind into the boards -- an infraction that would bring a five-minute major in any Canadian league.

Still, it's a reminder of home for this Canadian -- until the practice ends and the players leave the cold, dark rink for the gentle breeze of a warm Mexican evening.

David Agren is a Canadian writer living in Mexico.

Sheltering dogs causes friction with neighbors for retired priest

Story by : David Agren

Lawrence Gerard, a retired Catholic priest from New York, shelters more than 60 dogs in his yellow and blue home across from the U.S. consulate on Calle Libertad. He rescued most from the street. Some were dumped at his home by their owners. Many have been abused at some point.

"I keep hoping the number goes down," he said in his living room, where small dogs, ranging from poodles to a cocker spaniel covered the floor and a black Scottish terrier, fresh from getting a bath and a haircut, chewed on a knapsack. He locked two overactive mutts in the bathroom, where they scratched at the door.

"Every time I go somewhere, there's a dog waiting to be rescued."

Sheltering so many dogs has caused quarrels with two local business owners who have complained to city hall. A restaurateur across the street objected to the smell and noise coming from Gerard's property. The owner of the vacant building next door, which has a side patio overlooking Gerard's front yard, also complained.

"He’s blaming me because he can't rent the place," Gerard said of his neighbor.

The owner of a restaurant operating on the other side of his home has never voiced displeasure with the dogs. A tarp blocks the patrons’ view of Gerard's place.

According to Gerard, the business owner across the street wanted to adopt a pet husky four months ago, but the former priest declined his request. Gerard recalled the man telling him at the time: "I'm going to bring you down."

The business owner, who runs a nameless loncheria on Calle Libertad, was unavailable for comment last week. David Arias, an employee, confirmed that someone at the small restaurant had lodged a complaint with city hall.

Gerard defended his dogs' behavior: "They're silent until the morning.

"All the dogs are in the house for the night."

During the interview, the large dogs in front of the house barked at the occasional passerby and a deliveryman bringing a sack full of lunches. But mostly, the canines inside napped while the outside dogs moped around the premises.

Shortly after the altercation with the business owner, Guadalajara bylaw officers paid Gerard a visit.

They slapped him with fines totaling 8,000 pesos, which he refuses to pay.
Gerard added that several officers quietly solicited bribes.

"I never offer a bribe. Never," he said adamantly.

The citations mentioned problems with noise and odors and allege he runs a business, but said nothing about having too many animals. One ticket, which a dog partially chewed up along with an envelope full of important documents, described Gerard as "an aggressive Gringo."

"It shows you the attitude they have towards me," he remarked.

Adding to his woes, he recently posted a sign in front of his house to encourage dog adoptions, but it prompted the health department to accuse him of running a business without the proper licenses. Even worse, the sign encouraged more people to leave unwanted dogs in his care than to take one home.

Caring for homeless dogs consumes Gerard's retirement. He seldom leaves the house, venturing out mainly to drop off packages at the post office, visit a nearby veterinary clinic and buy enormous amounts of dog food.

"I have to stay and watch the dogs so the city council won't come and take them away," he said, adding that some of the canines fight, requiring him to stay put and play peacemaker.

The financial costs are large. He spends 200 pesos to have each dog vaccinated and checked by Alberto Martin Cordero, a veterinarian at the San Francisco veterinary. All the bitches are spayed at a cost of 400 pesos each.

"I don't get that money back," he said.

He charges 200 pesos to adopt a dog, a sum he said shows a potential owner is serious about the decision and can afford to look after the new pet.

Although capable of receiving donations through his registered charity called Saint Vincent's, Gerard mostly finances his mission with his retirement income and by selling vestments, incense pots and chalices.

He acknowledged his house is less than ideal and would move if he could afford to.
"I'd rather be in a more secluded area," he said.

Until then, he promised to keep fighting city hall and living in Guadalajara, saying: "It seems to be my destiny to come here and do this."

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day arrives a little early in San Patricio-Melaque, Mexico.

Photo by Aaron Paton