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IMF lifts Mexico’s growth forecast up a tick, while reducing global expectations

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Even as it reduced its global growth forecast for the year to 3.1%, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded Mexico’s forecast by one-tenth of a percentage point, to 1.6% for 2026, recognizing its recovery from a year of stagflation. The IMF’s lowered expectations for the world as a whole were based on the Iran war. “Before the war, we were preparing to revise our forecasts upward to 3.4%,” the IMF’s chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, was reported as saying. Kristalina Georgieva heads the IMF, which issued economic forecasts for Mexico, Latin America and the world as its annual meeting began on Monday in Washington, D.C. (IMF) But the pessimism is expected to be temporary. “Our baseline forecasts are based on a relatively short conflict, with a temporary disruption to the energy market that would disappear next year,” Gourinchas added. As for Mexico, the IMF raised its growth expectations to 1.6%, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than projected in January. A...
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US Treasury sanctions casinos and human rights activist linked to Northeast Cartel

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday announced sanctions against three men and two casinos in Tamaulipas for their alleged involvement with the Cartel del Noreste, or Northeast Cartel (CDN), one of six Mexican cartels that the U.S. government has designated as foreign terrorist organizations . The individuals sanctioned include the president of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee, Raymundo Ramos, against whom the Ministry of National Defense used Pegasus spyware during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency (2018-24), according to a 2022 investigation by three civil society organizations . (U.S. Treasury) The Treasury Department said in a statement that Ramos is in fact “a CDN associate that leads the CDN disinformation campaign against Mexican authorities while posing as a ‘human rights’ activist.” “Under the guise of human rights activism, Ramos solely advocates for violent cartel members by filing false complaints against the Mexican military, paying individua...
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Taxco mayor and father rescued from kidnappers in 500-agent security operation

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The mayor of Taxco, a popular tourist town in Guerrero, and his father were rescued on Monday after both men went missing, authorities said. Juan Vega Arredondo, a 68-year-old doctor and director of a hospital in Taxco, was allegedly abducted by armed men on Saturday after he was intercepted while driving on the Taxco-Cuernavaca highway. Morena party Mayor Juan Andrés Vega Carranza set out to find his father but was allegedly kidnapped while he was trying to negotiate his release. Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch announced on social media on Monday afternoon that both men had been located alive. He said that México state police found the men after a federal operation that involved a ground deployment of security forces supported by helicopters. “Both are safe. Operations to detain those responsible will continue,” García Harfuch wrote. The mayor and his father were found in the México state municipality of Zacualpan , which borders Guerrero. The motive for their alle...
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Authorities find narcotunnel leading to the US in Sonora

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Authorities credited recently increased federal security operations in Sonora and neighboring states, as well as smoothly coordinated intelligence collection, for their ability to discover and seal off a tunnel in Nogales leading into Arizona. One individual was arrested during last week’s operation, according to a joint statement from the Navy, Security and Defense Ministries that attributed their success to inter-agency cooperation with assistance from the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Sonora Security Ministry. The discovery of the narcotunnel and detention of a suspect were the latest examples of multi-level security cooperation, with federal and state agencies working together both to gather information and carry out the operation. (Gabinete de Seguridad de México) As a result of investigations conducted in the office and in the field, a property in the Centro neighborhood of Nogales was linked to a criminal group. After fixed and mobile surveillance provid...
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Search groups plan pick-up soccer matches to keep Mexico’s disappeared in public eye

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Groups searching for missing persons in Mexico say they will take advantage of the presence of international press during the World Cup to expose the problem of disappearances in the country. As a first step to build awareness of the situation, members of several search groups on Sunday organized pick-up soccer matches at the Glorieta of the Disappeared on the iconic Paseo de la Reforma avenue in Mexico City. At a press conference, Jorge Verástegui, who has been searching for his brother and nephew since 2009, described the groups’ “Let’s make it happen. Until we find them” initiative as an effort to break the information blackout they allege the government’s discourse is creating. “The government intends to use [the World Cup] as a showcase of normality,” he said. “We, the families of the missing, will take to the streets to remind them that Mexico ought not to be a sports venue while it remains a clandestine grave.” The groups said they will stage a demonstration on June 11 in th...
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MND Local: Jalisco’s skyrocketing measles cases and updates on Guadalajara’s new bus line construction

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Construction teams are now in a race against time to complete key mass transit initiatives to connect the Guadalajara International Airport to the metro area’s existing infrastructure network, with the World Cup kicking off in less than eight weeks. In other news, state fines went up a bit if you’re caught using a mobile device while driving, Zapopan’s Centinela Forest may get environmentally protected status and federal authorities have reported that Jalisco is the state with the highest number of total measles cases in 2026. Guadalajara’s rapid transit bus system is getting a new line that will connect Guadalajara’s metropolitan zone to the international airport. But the million-dollar question is, will it be ready in time for the arrival of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games happening here? (Siteur/Wikimedia Commons) Construction update on new transport lines to GDL airport  This spring, significant progress has been made on the new Line 5 of Guadalajara’s Macrobús , known...
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Michoacán town makes Guinness World Record-breaking guacamole

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The city of Tancítaro in the state of Michoacán — the world’s largest exporter of avocados — earned a Guinness World Record after whipping up the world’s largest serving of guacamole on Friday, weighing 7.2 tonnes.   The feat was achieved by 800 volunteers that included students and administrative staff of the Tancítaro campus of the College of Scientific and Technological Studies of Michoacán (Cecytem), in a mashing and mixing session that lasted approximately two and a half hours. During the event, participants mixed fresh avocados in hundreds of containers while attendees witnessed the guacamole grow in real time on screens installed across the venue. Its final weight, including the container, was 7.2 tonnes, though its qualifying weight was recorded at 6.8 tonnes. Cecytem Principal Luis Enrique Toscano Servín noted that the students’ and staff’s participation reflected the strong commitment and sense of identity of Tancítaro. “Our students demonstrated teamwork, dedication...
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