Mexiconews

On Sunday, Feb. 22, the Mexican Army killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes — founder and supreme leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the world’s most powerful and violent criminal organizations, and a man who had evaded capture for more than a decade. What followed was one of the most intense weeks in recent Mexican memory: narco-blockades, arson attacks on stores, buses and at least one Costco , a flood of misinformation that state authorities scrambled to debunk and a high death toll among security forces. By Friday, the question had shifted from whether El Mencho was really dead to who would replace him. The events of the week put Mexico’s cartel crisis back at the top of international news feeds — often inaccurately. Foreign headlines ranged from alarmist to outright wrong, with AI-generated images of burning airports and firefights on runways circulating as fact. The reality on the ground told a different story: the worst of the unrest was concent...

As we assess the aftermath of the Feb. 22 events in Jalisco, the consistent narrative from most pundits and experts is that we should now expect a new wave of violence across the country. Anyone who has watched the Netflix Narcos series as well would expect this, and the sad reality is that the trend for decades has been just that. “If the leader is taken out, the violence will only increase as others vie for control and until new leadership is regained,” conventional wisdom dictates. But what if this time is different? What if, this time, history did not repeat itself? At the risk of being called overly optimistic, I am going to lay out my case for why I think this time could be different. Of course, it would be easy for me to write what everyone else already has, caution against any optimism, and say I now expect a spiral of increasing violence. But given that pretty much everyone has already said exactly that, I see no point. And in fact, I think there is a real chance that things...

Mexico’s central bank and one of the world’s leading economic bodies both upgraded their growth outlooks for the country this week, offering encouragement for an economy that grew just 0.8% in 2025. The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) raised its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 1.6% from 1.1% in its quarterly report for October–December 2025 , published Thursday. The central bank also revised its projected range upward to between 1% and 2.2%, abandoning its previous range of 0.4% to 1.8%. Banxico governor Victoria Rodríguez Ceja said that the 2026 forecast improved thanks to strong GDP performance in the last quarter of 2025. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro) Separately, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its Economic Survey of Mexico 2026 on the same day, projecting GDP growth of 1.4% this year and 1.7% in 2027. That compares with the OECD’s December forecast of 1.2% growth for 2026 — meaning the Paris-based organization has also nudged its outlook highe...

The Diving World Cup event scheduled to take place next week in Jalisco has been canceled, but Mexico’s National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (Conade) and the Jalisco state government are lobbying World Aquatics to continue with the event as planned, or, failing that, change the venue. World Aquatics — the international federation that administers international swimming and diving competitions — announced its decision on Wednesday after consultations with Aquatics Mexico, the Mexican Federation of Diving and High Diving and the Jalisco Council for Sports Development (CODE Jalisco). Conade president Rommel Pacheco, a former Olympic diver himself and a gold medalist at the 2016 World Diving Cup, has joined President Claudia Sheinbaum in efforts to get the international diving authority to keep the event in Mexico, perhaps by selecting an alternative site. (Conade) The event was scheduled to take place at the Zapopan Aquatic Center, Mexico’s national diving training hub,...

A plane in flames on the tarmac at Guadalajara Airport. Smoke billowing from a burning church in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta. Images of these scenes appeared on social media on Sunday as members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) reacted violently to the death of their leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who was shot by soldiers during an operation in Jalisco . This fake image of a plane burning at the Guadalajara airport went viral on Sunday. (Social media) They added to fear and panic in Mexico at a time when fiery narco-blockades were appearing in states across the country and cartel members were setting banks and OXXO stores on fire and engaging in gunfights with National Guard officers . Both images, however, were fake, apparently created with the assistance of artificial intelligence, but nevertheless serving to make a very bad situation look even worse. They were among a plethora of fake news that proliferated online on Sunday, and it wasn’t co...

Mexico’s lower house of Congress approved on Wednesday a constitutional reform bill that will gradually reduce the standard workweek from 48 hours to 40. All 469 lawmakers present in the Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of the bill when it was considered en lo general , or as a whole. ¡Felicidades trabajadoras y trabajadores de México! ¡La semana laboral de 40 horas será una realidad! Reconocemos el trabajo de las y los legisladores del Congreso de la Unión que ha permitido avanzar en el compromiso 60 de la Presidenta @Claudiashein . pic.twitter.com/G5NeGAg0WF — STPS México (@STPS_mx) February 25, 2026 In a second vote held after consideration of the legislation’s individual articles, 411 deputies supported the bill while 58 opposed it. The bill was first presented by the federal government in December and approved by the Senate earlier this month. It now needs to be ratified by at least 17 of Mexico’s 32 state legislatures in order to become law. That is expected to happe...

A national survey has found that seven out of 10 Mexicans have a favorable opinion of the military operation that led to the capture and death of Nemesio “El Mencho” Rubén Oseguera Cervantes , founder and top leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). At the same time, nearly half of respondents said their approval of the president increased following the operation. Conducted by De las Heras Demotecnia , a Mexican company that conducts political and electoral research, the survey also found that 88% of respondents were aware of El Mencho’s death. The level of awareness reflects the media and political dimension of the federal deployment, which involved armed forces and federal authorities in one of the most significant actions against organized crime in Mexico in recent years. When asked how participants rated the military operation against the CJNG and its leader, 69% of respondents gave the operation a rating of eight or higher out of 10. The average rating was 8.3. ...

Reducing the number of federal senators from 128 to 96 and cutting election costs by 25% are among the objectives of the federal government’s electoral reform proposal. The constitutional reform proposal was unveiled on Wednesday, ahead of its submission to Congress next Monday. As executive president of the Presidential Commission for Electoral Reform, longtime politician Pablo Gómez is one of the architects of the proposed reform. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro) “Rosa Icela [Rodríguez], the interior minister, will present the proposal,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said at the start of her morning press conference, noting that the proposed reform has 10 key points. Fewer lawmakers, lower election costs  Rodríguez explained that the government is proposing that the Chamber of Deputies continue to be made up of 500 lawmakers, all of whom would be directly elected by citizens, including proportional representation ( plurinominal ) candidates, whose names would have to appear on b...

Mexico has sent a new shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba, a country plagued by fuel and food shortages and frequent blackouts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said on Tuesday that two Mexican Navy ships carrying 1,193 tonnes of provisions had set sail for Cuba from the Gulf coast port city of Veracruz. The Papaloapan and Huasteco logistics support vessels are expected to take four days to reach Cuba, meaning they should arrive this Saturday. The SRE said that the Papaloapan is carrying 1,078 tonnes of provisions, including beans and powdered milk. The ministry said that the Huasteco is carrying 92 tonnes of beans and 23 tonnes of other foodstuffs that were donated by “various social organizations.” The SRE said that the food aid has been dispatched to Cuba on the instructions of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has pledged to continue supporting the communist-run Caribbean island. “The people of Mexico maintain their tradition of solidarity with the peoples of Latin Ameri...