President Claudia Sheinbaum has now completed nine months in Mexico’s top job, having been sworn in as the country’s first female leader on Oct. 1.
Following in the steps of her predecessor and political mentor Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Sheinbaum holds weekday morning press conferences (mañaneras) at the National Palace in Mexico City.
At the president’s 21 mañaneras in June, journalists and media outlets that have declared themselves to be in favor of the federal government were given the opportunity to ask 39% of the questions, according to the fact-checking unit of the news publication Animal Político.
Here is a recap of some of the issues Sheinbaum spoke about at her first mañanera in July.
Sheinbaum defends decision to cancel Peña Nieto’s airport project
A reporter noted that former president Enrique Peña Nieto “reappeared” in a documentary about the cancelation of the Mexico City airport project in Texcoco, México state.
Construction of what was called the new Mexico City International Airport (NAICM) began during Peña Nieto’s 2012-18 presidency, but ex-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador canceled the partially built project after a controversial public consultation held in October 2018, before AMLO had taken office.
About 70% of just over 1 million citizens who voted in the consultation favored the conversion of a México state air force base as a commercial airport over the completion of the NAICM.
The administration of López Obrador — who argued against the Texcoco project on the basis that it was corrupt, too expensive and being built on land that was sinking — consequently went ahead with the construction of a new airport on the Santa Lucía Air Force Base. The army-built Felipe Ángeles International Airport opened on the site in March 2022.
On Tuesday morning, the aforesaid reporter asked the president how she interpreted the “reappearance” of Peña Nieto, who asserted in the documentary that claims of corruption related to the construction of the airport have not been confirmed or proven.
“It’s too early to know why he appears in this … documentary,” Sheinbaum said.
“The important thing about the airport, regardless of whether there was mismanagement [of resources]; … the essence is that they were going to build an airport on a site with subsidence, a site that is a regulating reservoir for water that leaves the Valley of Mexico metropolitan area in the rainy season,” she said.
Sheinbaum asserted that flooding that has recently occurred in Mexico City “would have been worse” if there was an airport in Texcoco “because there is no channel for the different rivers that flow into this area.”
The site where the NAICM was being built is now the Lake Texcoco Ecological Park, a massive parcel of land that includes a UNESCO-designated Ecohydrology Demonstration Site.
Sheinbaum said that another reason for canceling the NAICM was because “they wanted to turn the current Mexico City airport into a real estate development.”
“That was where the big business was,” she said, insinuating that corrupt dealings would have taken place if the Mexico City airport had been closed and redeveloped.
“They wanted to turn 700 hectares [of land] into a new Santa Fe,” Sheinbaum said, referring to the business district on Mexico City’s westside.
“… So those were the reasons it was decided — that the people of Mexico decided because there was a consultation — to build the airport at Santa Lucía,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum asked about ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
A reporter asked the president her opinion on the United States government’s plans to lock up immigrants at a detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
On Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump toured the facility, where he declared it would soon house the most “menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.”
“Alligators, crocodiles and pythons in the surrounding wetlands are expected to keep detainees from escaping the centre, which is being built on an old airfield,” the BBC reported.
Sheinbaum didn’t make any direct comment about “Alligator Alcatraz,” but said that her government doesn’t agree with “treating migrants as criminals.”
📍 ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ — The Florida Everglades pic.twitter.com/FoUtuQQLPx
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 1, 2025
“… The United States was built by migrants, it’s a country built by migrants from many places around the world. … In particular, the Latino and Mexican migrants are very important for the United States economy, that’s what we’ve been saying,” she said.
Sheinbaum advocated respect for immigrants’ human rights, and reiterated that her government will defend all Mexicans in the United States, whether they’ve been there for “a month, two months, three months, a year, two years, 10 years or 20 years.”
Sheinbaum: The increase in the use of motorbikes ‘has caused many problems’
A reporter noted that emergency room visits due to motorcycle accidents are on the rise, and mentioned that ridesharing companies such as Uber and Didi now offer trips by motorbike.
Sheinbaum said that the growing prevalence of motorbikes on Mexican roads “has caused many problems.”
“Here [in Mexico City] the doctors are saying it because trauma care due to the use of motorbikes has indeed increased a lot,” she said.
“We’re working on a [safety] campaign … but we want it to be more than a campaign,” Sheinbaum said.
“Normally, the regulations related to the use of motorcycles are state regulations,” she added.
“So we have to work with the states and see if national regulations can be made. It’s not about banning motorbikes, but rather, what are the regulations for using a motorcycle. And second, what fines will there be if it not used in the [correct] way,” Sheinbaum said.
“And the other thing is education. If you have a motorbike, [you have to know] how to use it,” she said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
