MEXICO CITY – Perhaps one of the most heated debates in Mexico during the pandemic — after disagreements about personal protective equipment and testing — is the burning issue of whether beer should be considered an “essential” item during the lockdown. “Beer supplies should be guaranteed, because beer helps people get through quarantine on better terms,” the National Alliance of Small Business said in a press statement Tuesday.
After Mexico ordered the closure of most “non-essential” industries in late March, including the country’s major breweries, the prospect of a looming shortage of brew turned into a heated disagreement within the government.