Ok, so today I got nailed for a propina (tip) by the same mailman who has been delivering 66.66% of my mail for the last few years. The other 33.33% never arrived here. Must be a problem in AmeriKa, said the local postmistress.
In 1931 the Mexican government instituted the Dia del Cartero (Mail carrier day) allegedly to honor 2 Mexican postmen who used their uniforms to cover their mail to protect it from rain, after some revolutionaries dynamited the train they were riding.
Curiously, in my first Mexican sojourn in the mid 1960's I received all my mail, including my subsistence check. In the 2000's in beautiful downtown Catemaco, Veracruz I get maybe 6 out of 10 pieces of mail, and fortunately do not depend on subsistence checks anymore.
I don´t want to be too critical of the Catemaco mail, because I might only get 2 out of 10 pieces. Fortunately most of my local bills arrive by private carrier.
For more or less guaranteed delivery, several international carrriers, including FEDEX, UPS and DHL, plus Mexican companies like ESTAFETA and Multipack are nibbling on Mexico's delivery system.
Unfortunately their postage stamps only come in 100 peso and much higher sizes.
Reference: Filatelia en Mexico
