This week in Mexico, bilateral trade talks with the United States continued to ramp up ahead of the formal review of the USMCA free trade pact. Mexico’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente sat down with U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson early in the week for their first formal meeting, signaling a reset in the bilateral relationship. De la Fuente and Johnson discussed migration, security cooperation, and trade, with the foreign minister making clear that Mexico would engage the United States as an equal partner on all fronts. That framing was quickly tested by developments on the border and in U.S. detention facilities.

On Tuesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum used her daily press conference to demand consular access to ICE detention centers after the 15th Mexican national died in U.S. immigration custody. Sheinbaum said Mexico has the right — and the obligation — to monitor the conditions in which its citizens are held, and that her government would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels. The same week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection construction on a border wall segment damaged Cuchumá Hill near Tecate, Baja California — a site considered sacred by the Kumeyaay people on both sides of the border. Indigenous leaders and Mexican officials protested the work, calling it a violation of Indigenous rights and binational cultural heritage.

Indigenous people in Mexico protest the U.S. blasting a sacred ceremonial site with dynamite to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The Kumeyaay people consider Cerro Cuchumá a sacred site where they hold rituals and shamans hold initiations. It also functions as a cemetery. pic.twitter.com/Y2rIAixRsO

— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 16, 2026

Also on Tuesday, Mexico and the United States moved closer to a critical minerals agreement that both governments want folded into the USMCA framework, covering lithium, copper, and other resources central to the clean-energy supply chain. Shortly after, officials announced that U.S. Trade Representative would visit Mexico City early next week for a second round of talks ahead of the USMCA’s mandatory joint review, which officially launches July 1. Not all the trade news was forward-looking: A Canadian court reopened a US $270 million NAFTA-era arbitration case against Pemex, a legacy dispute that had appeared settled. Late in the week, more troubling news emerged for Pemex: A panel of government experts determined that the state-owned oil company was responsible for a February oil spill that affected 700 kilometers of Mexico’s Gulf Coast — and that groups within the company had deliberately covered it up. 

Didn’t have time to catch this week’s top stories? Here’s what you missed.

Pemex admits cover-up as two separate incidents draw scrutiny

Pemex this week admitted what environmental groups had been saying for months: that a leak in a pipeline near the Abkatún-Cantarell complex in Campeche Bay, first detected on February 6, was responsible for an oil spill that spread across 700 kilometers of Gulf coastline across Veracruz and Tabasco, affecting seven protected natural reserves. CEO Víctor Rodríguez said an internal review found the leak had gone unreported within the company; three high-ranking officials were fired and a criminal complaint was filed with the Attorney General’s Office. For weeks, senior officials — including Sheinbaum and Veracruz Governor Rocío Nahle — had publicly attributed the spill to passing tankers and dismissed NGO evidence of Pemex involvement; the admission reverses that position entirely.

In a separate incident, Pemex’s jointly operated Deer Park refinery in Texas activated emergency protocols after a diesel spill at the facility, with cleanup operations underway on the U.S. side of the border.

Sheinbaum addressed questions Wednesday about whether the government is moving toward allowing hydraulic fracturing — fracking — in the Gulf of Mexico. She did not rule it out, saying studies are underway and that any decision would be based on technical and environmental assessments. The comments generated pushback from environmental groups, who noted that fracking was effectively prohibited under the previous administration. The issue is unresolved, and Sheinbaum did not provide a timeline for a final determination.

• Michoacán town makes Guinness World Record-breaking guacamole — A town in Michoacán set a new world record with a massive communal guacamole, drawing international attention to the avocado-producing region.

• Authorities find narco-tunnel leading to the U.S. in Sonora — Security forces discovered a drug-smuggling tunnel in Nogales running beneath the border into Arizona.

• Mexico sweeps PanAm Artistic Swimming Championships with 13 golds — The national team dominated the Pan-American championships in Santiago, Chile.

• Abandoned baby monkey Yuji steals hearts at the Guadalajara Zoo — A six-week-old patas monkey rejected by his mother and cared for by zoo staff has gone viral, clinging to a stuffed dog for comfort.
• Pre-Columbian rock art found along Mexico City–Querétaro train line — INAH recorded 16 petroglyphs and cave paintings, some more than 4,000 years old, during construction work in Hidalgo state.

• Mexican-American Gabriela Jáquez makes history in the WNBA draft — Jáquez was selected fifth overall by the Chicago Sky, the highest WNBA draft pick of Mexican heritage.

• Michoacán releases 1,000 achoque salamanders into Lake Pátzcuaro — Conservation authorities returned a thousand of the critically endangered endemic species to their native lake habitat.

Mexico News Daily