Latin America’s top five politicians under 40: Pedro Kumamoto
Pedro Kumamoto was the first independent candidate ever elected to Jalisco’s state congress.
At just 26 years old, Pedro Kumamoto flipped the script on Mexico’s governing elite when he helped lead a successful crusade against their most sacred privilege. When the Jalisco state legislature voted in July to strip all public officials of their immunity to prosecution while in office—a measure that he sponsored—the state became the first in the country to do away with what had become a symbol of Mexico’s political impunity.
The achievement came just 13 months after Kumamoto made history as the first independent candidate elected to the western Mexican state’s legislature. That Kumamoto, a great-grandson of a Japanese immigrant with no ties to any political party, was able to convince some legislators to essentially vote against their own interests testifies to his powers of persuasion and the strength of his vision…
This article is part of Americas Quarterly’s list of the top five politicians in Latin America aged under 40. Click here to read the article in full in English or in Spanish. The full list appears in AQ’s most recent issue, “Fixing Brazil” and is available online here.
The wording on the t-shirts that Cucapá sold changes to an anti-Trump message in hot temperatures.
“Donald Trump is going to pay for our beers—he just doesn’t know it yet.”
That’s the message from Cerveza Cucapá, a Mexican craft brewery that has tricked Trump supporters into financing a massive fiesta to be held south of the border later this month.
In a Spanglish-language video published on the day of the first presidential debate, Cucapá revealed its staff had conned Trump supporters in Los Angeles into buying what appeared to be T-shirts proclaiming “I Support Donald.” What the buyers didn’t know was that in hot temperatures the wording on the T-shirts transforms into an anti-Trump message and his face resembles a clown’s.
Cucapá have produced a number of border-related beers such as this Green Card barley wine.
Cucapá founder Mario García tells me the idea for the campaign came about “after that infamous clip where he said, ‘Mexico will pay for the wall, they just don’t know it yet.’ So we decided, ‘Well, Donald Trump is gonna pay for our beers, even though he doesn’t know it yet.’”
While Cucapá could not force the weasel-haired tycoon to open his checkbook, they decided that the next best thing would be for Trump supporters to cover the costs. So they began hawking what looked like pro-Trump T-shirts in affluent areas like Venice Beach, Hollywood Boulevard, and Huntington Beach…
The best way to drink tequila is out of a casserole dish
The bartender at El Abajeño prepares a cazuela. All photos by Ulises Ruíz Basurto.
Forget margaritas, tequila slammers, or the frankly terrible tequila sunrise. There’s a much more fun and refreshing way to enjoy Mexico’s most loved spirit: out of a clay casserole dish.
Native to the western state of Jalisco, where the majority of tequila is produced, the cazuela is a potent mixed drink that takes up a lot of table space but boasts a wonderfully explosive citrus flavor.
Named after the ornate, locally made stewpot in which it is served, the drink is also sometimes referred to as a cazuela voladora—literally a flying casserole dish—because it either leaves you feeling slightly dizzy or as if you can fly.
The cazuela is made by filling the dish with ice cubes, chunks of orange, lime, grapefruit, and a dash of sea salt to counter the acidity, as well as a generous serving of tequila, and an even bigger dose of Squirt. Having spent six years living in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco and the heart of tequila country, I’m convinced that this is one of the most enjoyable ways to mix the spirit.
El Abajeño restaurant sells 500 to 800 cazuelas per day at weekends.
A close relative of the classic Paloma cocktail and the Cantaritos de Amatitán, a similar local specialty served in large clay cups, the cazuela was invented more than 30 years ago in La Barca, a small town about 50 miles southeast of Guadalajara…
The Tequila Files 