Mexiconews

On a crisp, sunny morning in late January, retired broadcast journalist Martin Fletcher stood before a crowded assembly of students at secondary school Lic. Leobino Zavala Camarena   in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. As a renowned war correspondent , Fletcher for decades ventured into the most dangerous places in the world, dodging bullets, observing famine, and reporting on HIV-positive children, many themselves orphaned by AIDS.  No such peril greeted Fletcher at Leobino Zavala, but his visit did address a crisis: Convincing teenagers and elementary students that regular reading — books, not screens — would change the course of their lives.  In January, Fletcher gave a writing workshop to students of secondary school Lic. Leobino Zavala Camarena in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He had his work cut out for him. Just a smattering of hands shot up when Fletcher asked how many students regularly read more than 15 minutes a day.  Fletcher caught students’ inte...

Mexico’s lower house of Congress approved a constitutional reform sponsored by President Claudia Sheinbaum to ban the planting of genetically modified (GM) corn this week. The reform won passage on a 409 to 69 vote and must be approved by the Senate before it can be sent to Sheinbaum for her signature. Coming just two months after a trade dispute panel ruled that Mexico’s restrictions on GM corn violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), final passage of the bill could produce more tension with the United States, according to the news agency Reuters. Only three weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture celebrated Mexico’s acceptance of the ruling while conceding that it would continue to monitor Mexico’s compliance. As this reform advances, the relationship with the United States — from whom Mexico buys about US $5 billion of GM corn each year, mostly for livestock feed — will face “uncertainty,” the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA), a major consultancy in...

Mexico on Thursday extradited 29 cartel figures including notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero to the United States, a bold move by President Claudia Sheinbaum as her government faces pressure from the Trump administration to do more to combat transnational drug trafficking. In addition to Caro Quintero — the convicted murderer of United States DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena — the Mexican government sent various other imprisoned cartel operatives to the United States, including brothers Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales (Z-40) and Omar Treviño Morales (Z-42), both leaders of Los Zetas, and Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, the brother of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Caro Quintero appears surrounded by U.S. FBI and DEA agents Thursday night after his extradition. (X) The United States Department of Justice said in a statement that many of the 29 defendants “were subject to longstanding U.S. extradition requests.” It said...

The Mazatlán Carnival — especially important this year as the city attempts to revive its tourism economy — has been rocked by two prominent regional Mexican music acts cancelling performances due to narco threats. One of Mexico’s biggest celebrations of its kind, Carnival 2025 opened Thursday and runs through Tuesday in Mazatlán, the state of Sinaloa’s largest city behind the oft-narco-ravaged capital of Culiacán. Every year, Mazatlán hosts one of the world’s largest Carnival celebrations. (Esto Es Sinaloa) Grupo Firme, scheduled to perform on Saturday, canceled their show after a  narcomanta (narco banner) threatening the band was found in Tijuana alongside a severed head. The message warned, “Grupo Firme, if you play at the Mazatlán Carnival, we will kill you all … even the one who puts on the lights … remember that you live in Tijuana.” Hours later, singers Jorge Medina (who was born in Mazatlán) and Josi Cuen also canceled their performance, which was scheduled for ...

The federal government on Wednesday presented a 173-billion-peso (US $8.4 billion) plan to upgrade highways across Mexico, an initiative President Claudia Sheinbaum described as “extremely important.” At her morning press conference, Sheinbaum said that “expansion” and “major maintenance” projects will be carried out on a large number of Mexico’s highways, many of which are in “the most vulnerable areas of the country.” President Sheinbaum’s plan is expected to create nearly 330,000 jobs throughout Mexico. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro) “It’s a very interesting, extremely important program,” she said. “… We allocated a very large part of the resources to the most vulnerable areas — for the good of all the poor come first,” Sheinbaum said, using a favorite slogan of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, her predecessor and mentor. The highway plan “has to do with connecting the country to strengthen economic development and improve people’s living conditions,” Sheinbau...

A Mexico City zoo must implement measures to improve living conditions for an allegedly depressed elephant, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday — the high court’s first-ever ruling in favor of the rights of an individual animal. The SCJN ordered the San Juan de Aragón Zoo in Mexico City to improve the health and life quality of an African elephant named Ely, who was rescued from a circus 13 years ago. The Supreme Court did not find sufficient evidence to establish that the zoo had committed abuse or animal cruelty. (Lucía Hernández/X) The ruling confirms a lower court’s order last year in favor of the elephant, which instructed the zoo to “implement the required measures to guarantee the well-being of the elephant, as well as its living conditions and protection.” Experts say this ruling sets a precedent for future cases. “This is a relevant and important precedent in our country for all animals living in these types of centers, to ensure that they are properly treated...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico totaled US $36.87 billion in 2024, according to preliminary data published by the federal Economy Ministry (SE) on Tuesday. The figure is the highest preliminary FDI total on record, but falls short of the $48.35 billion Mexico received in foreign investment in 2013, according to Bank of Mexico (Banxico) data. The 2013 total got a significant boost from the sale of Grupo Modelo to Belgian beverage and brewing company AB InBev. As has been the case for several years, the United States was Mexico’s top FDI source, followed by Japan, Germany and Canada. (Economy Ministry/MND) FDI in 2024 was 2.3% higher than the preliminary total for 2023 and 1.1% higher than the updated total for that year. The 2024 preliminary total will also likely be revised upward. The SE’s preliminary data shows that almost half of the FDI in Mexico last year came from the United States. New investment accounted for less than 10% of the FDI total, with the bulk of th...

The Fyre Festival , a fraudulent luxury music festival held in 2017 that was the subject of documentaries released on Netflix and Hulu, is attempting a second edition on Isla Mujeres in Mexico’s Riviera Maya.  However, local Quintana Roo authorities say they have not authorized the forthcoming festival — which is scheduled to take place in just three months.   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE pic.twitter.com/8gnv6gNPb4 — Billy McFarland (@pyrtbilly) February 24, 2025 “Derived from information circulating in the media about the event ‘Fyre Festival II,’ the General Directorate of Tourism of Isla Mujeres informs that no person or company has requested permits from this office or Municipal Government department for said event,” the city government of Isla Mujeres said in a statement on social media.   News of the event’s return spread fast online after its 33-year-old founder — and convicted fraudster — Billy McFarland posted on X on Monday that the festival would take pl...

After a comprehensive restoration project, the archaeological zone of Dzibanché has reopened its doors to the public, as announced by the Culture Ministry and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) . This once-powerful city, located in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, was founded in the Late Preclassic period (300 BC) and was occupied as late as the 16th century. Three facades dating back to the Kaanu’l dynasty are now on view at Dzibanché following their discovery in October 2024. (INAH) Its status peaked during the Classic period (250-900 A.D.) when it was the capital of the ancient Maya civilization and the seat of the powerful Kaanu’l dynasty whose rule dates to the 5th century A.D., before power was moved to Calakmul. Dzibanché was given a major facelift as part of the Promeza program, a government initiative specifically designed to improve and preserve archaeological sites located along the route of Mexico’s Maya Train. The conservation effort a...