Posts

Judge reopens criminal case against former leader of Mexico’s Luz del Mundo Church

Image
A federal judge has ordered prosecutors to reopen the Mexican case against convicted child sex offender Naason Joaquín García who is serving a 16-year, eight-month prison sentence in California. Judge Juan José Rodríguez, based in the Puente Grande Prison Courtroom in the state of Jalisco, on Monday revoked the December decision by the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) not to file criminal charges against Joaquín in relation to the case of Sóchil Martín. Faithful followers of Naason Joaquín spelled out the word “innocent” at the international headquarters of Joaquin’s Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) Church in Guadalajara while the then-leader was on trial for child sex-abuse charges in California, on which he was ultimately convicted. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro) The FGR must now reopen the case against the former leader of the Luz del Mundo Church, which is headquartered in Guadalajara, western Mexico.  Earlier this month, President Claudia Sheinbaum told...

MND Local: Protests grow as luxury projects expand along Nayarit coast

Image
A surge of luxury developments along the coast of Nayarit is triggering a growing backlash from residents and environmental defenders, who accuse high-end tourism projects in the town of San Pancho and in the luxury resort peninsula Punta Mita of violating environmental law, damaging fragile ecosystems and eroding public access to federally protected beaches. What had been a largely underreported conflict has escalated sharply in recent weeks, fueled not only by protests and legal complaints but also by violence and a wave of public outrage spreading across social media. Environmental activist shot On March 11, environmental defender Erik Saracho was shot twice at his home in San Pancho by a hooded gunman. The attack came just two days after he met with authorities and representatives linked to proposed coastal developments, including projects associated with residential and hotel development, Litibú Bay Club. Saracho survived. But despite security footage capturing the attack, ...

Mexico lands 11 bars on North America’s 50 Best

Image
The 2026 ranking of North America’s 50 Best Bars is now live, and Mexican bars occupy one-fifth of the list with a total of 11 mentions, including three in the top 10.    The winners were announced at a ceremony in Vancouver, Canada, where bartenders from Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean came together to recognize the best bars in the region.    View this post on Instagram   A post shared by TLECĀN (@tlecan) The accolades were selected by a diverse panel of industry experts who voted anonymously for the places where they have had their best experiences in the last 18 months. Overall, the United States boasted the highest number of bars with 28, followed by Mexico with 11, Canada with eight and the Caribbean with three.    Remarkably, Mexico City got the largest number of mentions just after New York, including two bars in the top 5, reinforcing the city’s lively and evolving cocktail sce...

Mexico’s export revenue shot up 27.7% in March

Image
Mexico’s export revenue surged 27.7% annually in March, driven by a 43.7% increase in the value of non-automotive manufacturing sector exports, according to official data. The national statistics agency INEGI reported on Monday that Mexico’s exports were worth US $70.727 billion in March, easily the largest monthly total in 2026. Mexico’s export earnings have now increased in annual terms in each of the last 10 months. Six double-digit increases in revenue were reported in the period. INEGI also reported that Mexico’s export revenue totaled a record-high $175.586 billion in the first three months of the year, a 17.9% increase compared to the same period of 2025. It was the largest annual increase in export revenue for any first quarter since 2011. Mexico’s export revenue hit a record high in 2025 — despite the United States’ imposition of tariffs on various Mexican goods — and has continued to grow in early 2026. More than 90% of export revenue came from the shipment abroad of...

INEGI: Fewer Mexicans feel unsafe in their cities — but El Mencho’s death sparked sharp spikes in Jalisco

Image
Perceptions of insecurity in Mexico have fallen to their lowest level since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, but around six in ten Mexicans still consider their city an unsafe place to live, according to the results of the latest National Survey of Urban Public Security (ENSU). Conducted by the national statistics agency INEGI between Feb. 23 and March 13 with adult residents of 27,300 households in 91 urban areas across Mexico, the first quarter ENSU found that 61.5% of respondents consider their city an unsafe place to live. That figure declined 2.3 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2025 and 0.4 points compared to a year earlier. It is the lowest ENSU result since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024. The incidence of various crimes, including homicides , have declined over the past 18 months. The first quarter ENSU found that 67.2% of women and 54.6% of men consider their city an unsafe place to live. The figure for women declined 2.2 points compared ...

Last of 4 trapped miners found dead, ending 33-day rescue operation at Sinaloa mine

Image
The body of the fourth and final miner trapped in a mine in the northern state of Sinaloa was located early Monday morning. The victim, mine supervisor Leandro Isidro Beltrán, 54, was approximately 350 meters below the surface inside the Santa Fe mine when a tailings dam collapsed on March 25, flooding the mine with water and debris.  Twenty-four other miners were working inside the mine at the time, but four — Beltrán among them — were too deep inside to escape. A massive rescue effort, eventually involving state and federal authorities and emergency personnel — more than 300 people in all — began the following day.  José Alejandro Cástulo was rescued days later and Francisco Zapata was brought out alive on April 8. A third miner, identified as Abraham Aguilera Aguilera, was found dead. The discovery of Beltrán’s body comes 33 days — or 783 hours — after the accident at the mine operated by Industrial Minera Sinaloa.  A statement from the rescue team’s Unified...

MND Local: Guadalajara faces more water woes, a mayoral recall petition and crackdowns on out-of-state plates

Image
Major news this week in La Perla Tapatia includes continuing water challenges on the city’s east and south sides, a citizen petition to recall Guadalajara’s mayor, and a flurry of new rules for local drivers. Water scarcity fraying daily life in eastern Guadalajara  SIAPA, Guadalajara’s municipal water authority, is struggling with several challenges that are affecting residents water supplies. (gob.mx) Following the Semana Santa break, at least six schools located in eastern Guadalajara were forced to make attendance at in-person classes optional due to a lack of water in the school buildings and surrounding homes. Residents of Oblatos, Santa Rosa, Santa Cecilia, San Onofre, Guadalajara Oriente, and San Vicente complained to local news outlets Canal 44 and Radio UdG that they had been living without water in their homes for days.  At the José Clemente Orozco elementary school, a lack of water prevented students and staff from attending to basic hygiene, ...