The rules are yet to be disclosed, but it's known that the Taco Challenge will consist of combining Spanish and Mexican ingredients in the traditional taco. (Frankie López/Unsplash)
Mexico has set the table for its upcoming role as partner country at the world’s largest tourism fair by announcing a “Taco Challenge.”
The event will be part of a record-breaking showcase planned by Mexico for when it takes center stage at FITUR 2026 — which stands for Feria Internacional del Turismo, or International Tourism Trade Fair, always held in Madrid, Spain.
Tourism Minister Josefina Rodríguez stressed that in addition to a valuable cultural exchange, Mexico’s partnership in the 2026 Fitur is a chance “to consolidate strategic markets and reinforce our international presence.” (Fitur/X)
The fair, slated for Jan. 21-25, will feature a huge Mexico pavilion and a delegation of more than 800 people representing each of its 31 states and Mexico City.
The size of the pavilion — 1,780 square meters of display area along with an office — will make it the biggest ever presented at FITUR by any country from the Americas.
The 2026 fair will be the 46th annual FITUR, which continued in person even during the COVID-19 pandemic (the 2021 edition was moved from its usual January slot to May and held with safety measures).
Mexico will also spotlight the relatively new Maya Train and the country’s role as a co-host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup next summer. Its pavilion will include a section for the soccer tournament’s three host cities in Mexico: Mexico City,Monterrey and Guadalajara.
And then there’s the Taco Challenge, which will focus on adding ingredients from Spain into traditional Mexican tacos, resulting in unique creations meant to highlight both countries’ gastronomy — while also generating buzz.
Specific details such as the exact rules, participating chef lineup and judging criteria are expected to be revealed closer to the event.
The promotion comes amid growing momentum for Mexican tourism, which welcomed 47.4 million international visitors from January through June 2025, up 13.8% from the year prior.
The United States, Canada, and Argentina remain the main sources of visitors to Mexico, so officials are excited to expand their country’s presence in Europe — and open up people’s eyes that there are destinations beyond Cancún.
FITUR 2025 drew more than 250,000 attendees from 156 countries. The partner country was Brazil.
Ricardo Salinas, one of Mexico's wealthiest businessmen, owes unpaid taxes that AT&T inherited when he sold Grupo Iusacell to AT&T in 2014. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Billionaire businessman Ricardo Salinas, one of Mexico’s richest people, posted a US $25 million bond in the United States to avoid arrest over a debt some of his companies owe to the telecommunications company AT&T, according to a Bloomberg report published on Tuesday.
Grupo Salinas, a conglomerate headed up by Salinas, confirmed in a statement that it had paid a bond, but didn’t refer to the amount.
In August, Masley ordered Salinas to “either pay AT&T $20 million within two weeks or be jailed until he did so,” Bloomberg reported. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Bloomberg reported that Salinas — the owner of companies including electronics retailer Elektra, Banco Azteca and TV Azteca — and his companies “posted a joint $25 million bond” before the expiration of a two-week deadline set by Judge Andrea Masley of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
In August, Masley ordered Salinas to “either pay AT&T $20 million within two weeks or be jailed until he did so,” Bloomberg reported.
The dispute between Salinas and AT&T stems from AT&T’s purchase of Salinas’ Mexican telecom business in 2014. In 2020, AT&T sued Salinas, “alleging it was owed money over unpaid taxes dating back to previous ownership,” according to Bloomberg.
“Salinas’ companies disputed this but lost, and were found to be in contempt of court,” the news agency reported.
“When that finding of contempt also failed to recover payment,” Masley “found Salinas personally to be in contempt” and thus ordered him to make the $20 million payment, Bloomberg reported.
“The previously unreported order also included Francisco Borrego, a top Salinas operative who serves as the general counsel to his companies,” Bloomberg reported.
“… Salinas and his companies posted a joint $25 million bond before the two-week deadline set by Masley, but are also appealing the ruling. A representative for Grupo Salinas did not respond to a request for comment,” stated the news agency’s report.
Grupo Salinas expressed confidence that the “definitive ruling” will be “favorable to us.”
A section of the court order demanding that Ricardo Salinas pay his debt or face incarceration. (@mrochabrun/X)
Marcelo Rochabrún, Bloomberg’s bureau chief in Peru and the author of the report, shared on social media the final page of Masley’s court order from August.
It states that Grupo Azteca, Banco Azteca, Salinas and Borrego are “in contempt of the court’s Turnover Order” and “are fined “$20 million jointly and severally.”
It also says that Grupo Azteca, Banco Azteca, Salinas and Borrego “shall pay the $20 million within 14 days of the date of this order [Aug. 12] or Salinas and Borrego shall be incarcerated until such time as they either pay the entirety of the penalty resulting from this decision or they comply with the Turnover Order.”
Sheinbaum weighs in
President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has accused Salinas and his companies of failing to pay billions in taxes allegedly owed in Mexico, was asked at her Wednesday morning press conference whether her government had information about the bond Salinas posted.
“The information we have is that which everyone knows about,” she said.
“We don’t have specific information,” Sheinbaum said, adding that her government is requesting more details, presumably from authorities in the United States.
She said that Salinas sold his telecommunications company — Grupo Iusacell — “with debts to tax authorities.”
Sheinbaum accused the 69-year-old businessman of committing fraud in the sale of his telecommunications company to AT&T. She asserted that he sold the company (for US $2.5 billion) “without informing all the conditions of the sale.”
Salinas launches counterattack accusing Sheinbaum of lying about ex-security minister’s extradition
On Wednesday morning, Salinas responded to Sheinbaum’s remarks in an X post in which he referred to her as “la presidente” instead of the correct “la presidenta.”
“La presidente, instead of defaming me, should explain to the Mexican people how it’s possible that in the transfer of the criminal accomplice of @adan_augusto, the criminal Hernán Bermúdez, it took 33 hours to bring him from Paraguay to Mexico,” he wrote.
The extradition flight of former Tabasco security minister Hernán Bermúdez from Paraguay to Mexico on Sept. 17 took over 24 hours. (SENAD Paraguay/Cuartoscuro)
Salinas’ post included a video of Sheinbaum’s remarks at her press conference that was posted by another X user, who asserted that “there is no evidence of the supposed “$25 million bond in New York.”
On Tuesday night, Salinas had appeared to deny that he had paid a bond in the United States.
“The information that spokespeople of @JesusRCuevas circulated today about a supposed payment to the USA is nothing more than another disinformation campaign of the 4T,” he wrote on the X social media platform.
Jesús Ramírez Cuevas is President Claudia Sheinbaum’s coordinator of advisors. The 4T, or Fourth Transformation, is the name of the political project Sheinbaum leads.
In its statement, Grupo Salinas said that it was “deeply” concerned that the Supreme Court of the State of New York had declared “highly respected foreign citizens” — Salinas and Borrego — to be in contempt of court.
Those two people “haven’t been part of the trial,” the conglomerate said.
Later, Grupo Salinas posted a follow-up statement titled “Lying Has a Cost,” declaring that the conglomerate would pursue a defamation lawsuit due to harassment from President Sheinbaum.
“Once again, we are being used as a distraction to divert public attention and prevent discussion of what is truly important: the highly unusual nine-hour stopover in Chiapas, where, coincidentally, former President López Obrador resides, of the plane that transported Hernán Bermúdez Requena,” the statement reads.
According to available flight information, the airplane returning Bermúdez to Mexico made two layovers before arriving in Toluca, the capital of México state, on the evening of Sept. 18. After departing Asunción, Paraguay, on Sept. 17, flight XB-NWD spent 12 hours in Bogota, Colombia, before making an additional six-hour layover in Tapachula, Chiapas.
The statement from Grupo Salinas also accuses the former and current administrations of mentioning its CEO on over 200 occasions just during morning press conferences.
Often referred to as Las Bocas for its location on the Gulf Coast, the Olmeca Refinery was inaugurated in 2022 and began production in 2024. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
The Olmeca refinery, Pemex’s recently activated crude oil processing plant in the southern state of Tabasco, won third place in the megaproject category at the 2025 International Project Excellence Award granted by the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
The award, presented on Friday in Berlin, Germany, places the Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) project among the most outstanding worldwide.
Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador attended the August 2024 initiation of production at his flagship energy project, the Olmeca refinery, just weeks before the end of his term. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
The Olmeca refinery, also known as Las Bocas for its location at the Port of Las Bocas in the southern Gulf Coast municipality of Paraíso, competed with more than 150 large-scale projects from around the world and was recognized for its best practices in planning, technological innovation, and execution capacity.
The first two places went to the French company Alstom for the Wanda Zhonghe Shulin Line project, and the Chinese company CNOOC for the Daxie Petrochemical Refining project.
Pemex said IPMA’s recognition underscores the refinery’s importance as a strategic project for Mexico’s energy sovereignty.
Some of the fuel produced by the Olmeca refinery includes Pemex Magna gasoline, Pemex Premium gasoline, ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), eco-friendly diesel (EDE), coke, sulfur, LP gas and propylene.
According to Pemex, Olmeca is the only refinery in Mexico that produces eco-friendly diesel, supplying the Yucatán Peninsula and strategic projects like the Maya Train.
However, since going online in August 2024, Olmeca has yet to reach its processing capacity of 340,000 barrels per day across 17 state-of-the-art processing plants. According to Pemex, the refinery processed 156,200 barrels of crude oil per day during July, down 18.4% compared to the previous month.
Production is expected to gradually increase to 158,000 barrels of gasoline per day and 122,000 barrels of diesel per day, strengthening the country’s fuel market.
Olmeca was one of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s flagship projects, officially inaugurated on July 1, 2022. The more than two-year delay in starting operations has been blamed on technical problems, poor performance and environmental roadblocks.
The project was controversial from the start, and seen by many as a symbol of López Obrador’s reluctance to embrace clean and renewable energy sources. But Olmeca came in for its heaviest criticism when huge overruns more than doubled its cost to US $20 billion from the budgeted US $8 billion. According to the Mexican Institute of Chemical Engineers (IMIQ), that figure makes it one of the most expensive refineries in the world.
While we might think of Peso Pluma today, the history of corridos goes back centuries. Here's how a Mexican legend was made.
Talking about music and the effect it has on humans is complex. Music shapes brains and communities: it forges neural connections, helps regulate emotion and offers a language for belonging. The corrido — Mexico’s narrative ballad — embodies all those powers. It has been a walking newspaper, a moral pamphlet, a protest song, and, increasingly, a contested cultural weapon. So why does the Mexican state practice a veiled censorship of this genre today, and what does the corrido tell us about modern Mexico?
Jugglers and corridos
To find the corrido’s origin, we must look to medieval jugglers. Before newspapers and radio, itinerant narrators moved from town to town, recounting events and epics with a vihuela, a precursor to the guitar. That practice evolved into the Spanish romancero of the 15th and 16th centuries: eight-syllable verses delivering current events in a direct, emotional tone. Some scholars trace a specific Andalusian strain — marked by a “correntío” or accelerated rhythm — as a key progenitor.
As far back as medieval Andalucia, jugglers and court entertainers were accompanied by lively music — the earliest form of corridos. (Prairie Rose Publications)
Arriving in New Spain, the romancero did not remain pure. It fused with Indigenous oral forms and Afrodescendant rhythms, folding pre-Hispanic narrative techniques into a hybrid vernacular that became uniquely Mexican. In Northern Mexico, a further infusion came from German, Swiss and Austro-Hungarian immigrants who introduced polkas, mazurkas, redovas, the violin and the accordion.
The guitar, bajo sexto, accordion, and polka and waltz-derived meters together formed the musical DNA that allowed Spanish-inflected corridos to evolve into the Northern Mexican styles now among the genre’s most recognizable variants.
The 19th-century corridos
Under Porfirio Díaz, European refinement was idealized. As a result, the corrido became a popular countervoice. In a mostly illiterate society, corridos functioned as both information and entertainment — often carrying clear moral lessons. They narrated land disputes, banditry, and local injustices in compact, episodic verses that crystallized communal memory.
The corrido of Heraclio Bernal (circa 1870–1880) exemplifies this. Bernal — cast as a bandit and a kind of proto Robin Hood who opposed Díaz’s order — was immortalized in song as a brave, authentic figure unafraid of death. Contemporary corridos were pamphlets set to music: instruments of social critique and folk memory.
Revolutionary corridos (1910–1920)
During the Mexican Revolution, the corrido flourished. Thousands of ballads recounted the deeds and deaths of Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Francisco I. Madero, Venustiano Carranza and countless local actors. Corridos appeared in newspapers and on loose broadsheets advertised as “new corridos,” and for many they were a primary source of news.
But the songs did more than report events: they authorized new imaginaries. Much as muralists refigured the nation — elevating peasants and laborers into civic icons — the corrido became the musical narrative of rural life, a sonic repository of popular values. La Adelita, Valentina, the Corrido de la Toma de Zacatecas, and an adapted La Cucaracha (used to lampoon President Victoriano Huerta) entered a shared cultural lexicon that helped legitimate postrevolutionary ideologies.
1930–1960
El Pablote - Francisco El Charro Avitia - Primer Corrido de Narcotrafico "Narcocorrido" 2da version
After the Revolution, Mexico experienced a profound transformation in its political, social and demographic landscape. Urban centers — especially Mexico City — began to attract large numbers of newcomers lured by promises of modernity and a better future, fueling rapid city growth and social change. At the same time, rural Mexico acquired a romantic-epic image, with inhabitants stereotyped as “rough, direct, uncivilized, but kind-hearted.” This dual narrative — that of proud countryside and modern city — would shape Mexico’s cultural landscape for decades.
In both music and cinema, rural people were portrayed as humble yet proud, embodying virtues that contrasted with urban sophistication but also contributed to a shared national identity. To legitimize this collective vision, the Mexican state deployed culture as a tool of consolidation: literature, cinema, theater and especially radio were used to craft and disseminate a unified image of Mexico. Corridos, alongside genres such as huapango, banda, sones and rancheras, transitioned from local, fiery oral traditions into part of a broader, state-backed cultural repertoire — an effort to forge a common cultural fabric across regional boundaries.
This period also marks the emergence of the first narcocorridos, even as they continued to contain cautionary messages. The earliest recorded narcocorrido, El Pablote (1931), tells of Pablo González, known as “The Morphine King,” and functions primarily as a warning: emphasizing the tragic, often deadly consequences of criminal life rather than glorifying the outlaw. Unlike the narcocorridos of later years, which would celebrate criminal figures and their deeds, these early songs served to dissuade people from following in such dangerous paths. As radio and cinema standardized and disseminated these songs, local variations and rough edges of regional narratives were smoothed, turning them into a national storytelling tradition — yet still rooted in the social realities of marginalized communities.
1960–1980
By the late 1950s, many regarded the corrido as folklore in decline — a nostalgic but dated taste of Mexican peasantry gone by. Themes shifted toward migration, identity and the reality of drug trafficking. The late 1980s brought a pivotal rupture in the figure of Chalino Sánchez. His unpolished delivery and raw narrative aesthetic cut through studio gloss; he popularized the practice of composing commissioned corridos for criminal figures and, crucially, normalized a celebratory tone toward illicit actors. That normalization carried risks — several singers and composers of the time paid with their lives.
Infamously, Sánchez is said to have been handed a note before performing his final song, informing him that he would be executed at the conclusion of his concert. A video of him receiving and reading the note, before launching into a spirited final performance, has become an important part of Mexican folklore. Regardless of the contents of the note, Sánchez was shot and killed immediately after leaving the stage.
2008 and the ‘altered corrido’
President Felipe Calderón’s militarized offensive against cartels in the late 2000s altered the cultural ecology. Corridos evolved from chronicling social life to entering criminal ecosystems. New singers — sometimes commissioned by cartels, sometimes seeking notoriety — produced explicit songs that described organizational structures, operations, and personalities. In some regions, corridos functioned as targeted messages among rival groups or as status instruments within criminal networks.
Chalino Sánchez - Alma Enamorada (En Vivo) Video Oficial con Letras
Mainstream radio and public venues — conscious of safety and reputation — began to restrict such songs. The state framed these restrictions as public safety measures: songs that normalize criminality can arguably promote recruitment or confer legitimacy on violent actors. Yet the evidence for direct causality is weak; cultural products shape imaginaries but do not by themselves produce armed actors. What bans often achieve is displacement: corridos migrate to pirate radio, local stations and online platforms where they can become more clandestine and, in some cases, operational.
New media and corridos
Digital platforms have proven more permissive than traditional broadcasters. Streaming, social networks and video sites have decentralized control, allowing subgenres to proliferate and cross borders. Corridos tumbados — a hybrid of trap, hiphop cadence, autotune and corrido storytelling — illustrates the genre’s current elasticity. It speaks to urban youth experiences of identity, marginalization and aspiration.
The growth of his genre, and major singers Natanael Cano, Junior H, Fuerza Regida, and Peso Pluma, reflects Mexico’s continuing appetite for corridos — more specifically, narcocorridos. Peso Pluma’s appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show in 2024 represented the moment at which the genre became mainstream among not only Northern Mexicans but also younger Mexican-Americans on the other side of the border.
Made in Mexico: Corridos
Beyond the obvious parallels to urban music genres in the United States, their success underscores a deeper truth: in a country of nearly 130 million, stark economic inequality (INEGI figures show only about 1.2 percent in the upper class while 56.6 percent fall into lower brackets) makes narratives of rapid ascent and alternative forms of capital especially resonant.
Do corridos cause violence?
The government’s justification for restricting corrido broadcasts is straightforward: songs that glorify crime can normalize and celebrate violence. Cultural expressions do shape worldviews. But violence has multiple and deeper causes — poverty, impunity, institutional weakness, and the lucrative rewards of illegal markets. To treat songs as primary causal agents is naive. Moreover, suppression can backfire: making content forbidden can enhance its allure and shift it into darker channels where it accrues different kinds of power.
Why are narcorridos being censored?
The state’s veiled censorship is partly symbolic: controlling the airwaves is a visible way to contest narratives that valorize criminal actors. But censorship addresses a symptom, not the structural conditions that make criminal economies attractive. A more effective public strategy would combine cultural measures — support for alternative narratives, protection for artists and journalists, media literacy — with robust action on inequality, corruption and impunity.
Is Mexican corrido sensation Peso Pluma an entertainer or public menace? The debate has been raging in Mexico for some time. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)
The continuing importance of the corrido
The corrido endures because it is a living archive. It records who people were, whom they admired, whom they feared and whom they aspired to become. Attempts to erase the genre will not silence the stories; they will only change their modes of circulation and, perhaps, their social meanings. If policymakers seek to blunt the corrosive effects of glamorization, they must address both symbolic and structural realities. Otherwise, the corrido will continue to sing Mexico’s contradictions — unaltered in form, but perhaps louder in the shadows.
The corrido’s long road — from medieval jugglers to global streams — reminds us that music is both history and argument. It is a conversation about memory, identity, and legitimacy; censoring verses is a poor substitute for fixing the conditions that give those verses their force.
María Meléndez is a Mexico City food blogger and influencer.
Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and the Sinaloa Public Security Ministry (SSP) said on Tuesday that two police officers were receiving medical care following the attack. (José Betanzos Zárate/Cuartoscuro)
Two police officers were wounded on Tuesday when a vehicle in which a granddaughter of Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya was traveling came under fire in Culiacán.
Respecto a la agresión sufrida a elementos de la SSP Sinaloa en Culiacán, derivada de un intento de despojo de camioneta, informo que los agentes lesionados ya reciben atención médica. En el vehículo viajaba mi nieta, quien resultó ilesa. Seguiremos trabajando con firmeza para…
Rocha said in a social media post that his granddaughter was not injured. The name and age of his granddaughter have not been publicly disclosed. She is the daughter of the governor’s daughter, Eneyda Rocha, who is the president of the DIF family services agency in Sinaloa. The newspaper El País reported that “the minor” was being taken to her home in an upscale housing estate in Culiacán when the attack occurred.
Rocha — who has faced criticism for his government’s response to violence in Sinaloa — said that the attack was related to an attempt to steal the SUV in which his granddaughter and the two police officers were traveling. That claim amounted to a denial that his granddaughter had been targeted.
The vehicle was hit by at least eight bullets. The police officers returned fire, but there were no reports of the aggressors having sustained any injuries. The Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office is investigating the crime.
The governor and the Sinaloa Public Security Ministry (SSP) said on Tuesday that the injured police officers — who both belong to the state police force’s protection services division — were receiving medical care. One officer was reported to be in serious condition.
The SSP said that a bus was also hit by bullets during the attack, but no one in that vehicle was injured.
The attack occurred amid tightened security in Culiacán as members of the federal security cabinet, including Security Minister Omar García Harfuch and National Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, were in the Sinaloa capital on Tuesday for a meeting. The assault on the vehicle in which Rocha’s granddaughter was traveling came hours after that meeting, the Reforma newspaper reported.
Two police officers were escorting the daughter of Eneyda Rocha (pictured above) when they were hit by eight bullets yesterday. (sinaloa.gob.mx)
Eneyda Rocha expressed her gratitude to the police officers who were with her daughter when the attack occurred.
“To them and their families, all my recognition and solidarity. Thank you,” she wrote on social media.
Questions arise
In its report about the attack, Reforma raised questions about Rocha’s claim that the aim of the aggressors was to steal the SUV in which his granddaughter and the police officers were traveling.
The newspaper questioned why the attackers would attempt to steal a vehicle in which armed police were traveling. Reforma also questioned why the assailants would attempt to steal a vehicle on a busy avenue, and wondered whether they would have taken “a shot-up, unusable truck.”
In addition, the newspaper questioned why the aggressors would attack an “official vehicle” on a day when García Harfuch was in Culiacán.
Several major projects are currently underway in Puerto Vallarta, as the city continues to refine tourist infrastructure offerings. (Unsplash/Emmanuel Appiah)
Puerto Vallarta and Nayarit are currently advancing several major projects, including airport and highway construction, water system improvements and tourism-related initiatives. Officials say the developments are intended to expand infrastructure, address service demands and respond to changes in the region’s economy and visitor profile.
Puerto Vallarta airport expansion reaches 54% completion
Construction of the new terminal at Puerto Vallarta International Airport has reached 54% completion, according to operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP). The 9.2 billion peso project is scheduled to begin phased operations in late 2026, with full use expected in 2027.
The expansion project at the Puerto Vallarta International Airport is now 54% complete (X, formerly Twitter)
The terminal will add 74,000 square meters of space, expanding the airport’s total surface area to 119,114 square meters. Once complete, it is expected to double passenger capacity, accommodating 6 million additional travelers per year. The design includes eight new jet-bridge gates and up to seven remote positions, bringing the total to 19 contact and 13 remote gates for domestic and international flights.
The project incorporates sustainability features aimed at LEED Gold certification, including rainwater harvesting, solar panels and solar-control glass facades. GAP describes it as part of a wider program to expand capacity across several airports, with major investments also underway in Morelia and Aguascalientes.
Puerto Vallarta handled 6.8 million passengers in 2024, a record high, and 4.3 million between January and July 2025. The airport serves 18 airlines and 52 routes in peak season, with new services scheduled from Porter Airlines in late 2025 and Southwest in early 2026.
Puerto Vallarta marks 3,355 free pet sterilizations
Puerto Vallarta has surpassed 3,300 free sterilizations of dogs and cats, reaching 3,355 procedures during the first week of September, according to Bienestar Animal Puerto Vallarta.
The program, led by department head Roberto Ornelas, provides free sterilization services across the municipality to help control overpopulation, prevent disease and reduce pet abandonment. Officials highlight that each procedure supports animal health, as well as eases the financial burden on families who may otherwise struggle to afford veterinary care.
The city hosted its first Animal Welfare Fair, where volunteers carried out 229 sterilizations over three days. The event took place at multiple sites, including Linear Park, the Ixtapa Dome, La Lija Sports Center and the Agustin Flores Contreras Stadium. Alongside the surgeries, residents participated in education activities on pet care and responsible ownership.
So far this September, volunteers have sterilized over 3,000 animals for free in Puerto Vallarta. (Unsplash/Andrew S)
They hold the free campaigns every Thursday at rotating locations. Residents can find details about upcoming venues, fasting requirements and hygiene guidelines on the Animal Welfare Department’s social media channels.
Puerto Vallarta business groups present joint tourism initiatives
Puerto Vallarta’s main business groups have presented a series of proposals aimed at strengthening the city’s tourism sector, citing concerns over declining hotel occupancy, lower visitor spending and a shifting tourist profile. The initiatives were outlined at a press conference on September 17 by Carlos López Aranda, president of Canaco; Francisco Gabriel Vizcaíno, president of Coparmex; and Jorge Luis Carbajal, vice president of Canirac.
The leaders emphasized that the project reflects collaboration between business groups, academia, civil society and government, to revitalize Puerto Vallarta’s Malecón, the Cuale River and the Cerro neighborhood. They noted that the area has faced challenges from limited infrastructure, insufficient promotion and reliance on peak tourist seasons.
The organizers have structured the proposals around four main pillars: upgrading infrastructure and mobility, implementing training and marketing programs for local businesses, coordinating among key visitor entry points such as the port, bus station, and airport, and promoting sustainable tourism practices. Additional efforts will focus on showcasing Puerto Vallarta’s culinary scene through tours, festivals and training in sustainable restaurant practices.
Final phase of Tepic-Compostela highway underway
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) reports that construction is advancing on the Tepic-Compostela highway, with completion targeted for October 31, 2025. The current work focuses on the final tunnel in the municipality of Tepic, marking one of the last major steps before delivery.
The 26-kilometer section will feature a 2.4-kilometer branch to Tepic Airport, a toll plaza, 10 bridges, two railroad crossings, 19 intersections and a loop junction. It will also link to the Las Varas-Puerto Vallarta highway, reducing travel time between Tepic and Puerto Vallarta International Airport from three and a half hours to approximately one hour and 15 minutes.
Work on the Tepic-Compostela Highway (pictured here) will include a link to the Las Varas-Puerto Vallarta Highway. (Gobierno de Mexico)
They plan to open the road to the public on November 1.
A new branch of the highway, from Las Varas to San Blas, is in the study phase as well. Construction teams expect to begin work in 2026.
Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com.
The president spoke about two separate murder cases on Tuesday, one in which two Colombian nationals were killed and another in which a young student was stabbed to death. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Violence in the Mexico City metropolitan area reared its head at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday mañanera.
The president spoke about two separate murder cases, one in which two Colombian nationals were killed and another in which a young student was stabbed to death.
Sheinbaum: Murder of Colombians ‘an unfortunate episode,’ but it won’t affect Mexico-Colombia relationship
Sheinbaum noted that the bodies of two Colombian artists — a singer known as B King and a DJ who performed under the name Regio Clown — were found “some time after” the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office began a search for the two men and issued “all the alerts” to assist in their location.
Sánchez is the nephew of the Colombian cartel leader Camilo Torres, alias “Fritanga,” according to media reports cited by the Reuters news agency.
Sheinbaum said that she would leave it to the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office and her security cabinet to provide more information about the case, but she noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in contact with the government of Colombia.
She described the murder of the two Colombians as “an unfortunate episode,” but said there was no reason it would affect the relationship between Mexico and Colombia.
Before the discovery of the bodies was made public on Monday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro requested assistance from Sheinbaum in the search for the two men.
“I ask the President of the United Mexican States, Claudia Sheinbaum, my friend and comrade in struggle since M19 [sic], and the entire diplomatic corps of Colombia in Mexico, to ensure that the singer Bayron Sánchez and his fellow band member Jorge Herrera appear alive,” Petro posted on X on Sunday, four days after the bodies of the men were found.
M-19 was an urban guerrilla group active in Colombia in the 1970s and 1980s, before it transitioned into a political party. Petro has asserted that Sheinbaum was a member of M-19, a claim she rejected — including with a hearty laugh — on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to get into a debate with President Petro,” she added.
Sheinbaum laments murder at her alma mater
Sheinbaum also commented on an attack on Monday at the southern campus of the College of Science and Humanities (CCH Sur), a high school-level educational institute run by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City.
On Monday, a student was murdered at the College of Science and Humanities (CCH Sur), a high school-level educational institute run by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
She said that her government was waiting for the investigation into the deadly attack to conclude.
“I asked the interior minister to approach the family [of the student who was killed],” Sheinbaum said.
A reporter told the president that CCH Sur students had previously reported other students taking bladed weapons into the school, but the director of the educational institute allegedly didn’t take any action in response.
Sheinbaum said that her government is willing to assist the CCH Sur students and the school itself in any way it can.
Know a case of water theft? Citizens can report illegal water use via Conagua's National Water Complaints Portal linked below. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Water has effectively been stolen on a large scale in Mexico by concession-holders, according to a senior official with the National Water Commission (Conagua).
In an interview with the newspaper El Universal, Conagua’s deputy director for water management, Mauricio Rodríguez Alonso, said that the federal agency has detected more than 52,000 irregularities related to water concessions, including cases in which water was being exploited by people whose concessions were no longer valid.
The review of water use permits is a key focus of the National Water Plan that was presented by the federal government last November. (Gob. de CDMX/Cuartoscuro)
In other cases, Conagua has found that water was being used for purposes unrelated to the applicable concession, Rodríguez explained.
The review of water use permits is a key focus of the National Water Plan that was presented by the federal government last November.
Rodríguez told El Universal that Conagua has so far reviewed 90% of 536,000 water concessions.
Efforts to save water and stop the illegal exploitation of the essential resource are much-needed.
Who holds water concessions in Mexico?
Rodríguez said that water use permits have been issued to farmers, factories, hydroelectric power plants and municipal governments.
Around two-thirds of concessions were issued for agricultural purposes, he said.
Rodríguez said that each concession stipulates the amount of water the holder is permitted to use and is valid for varying periods of time ranging from 10 to 30 years.
The expiration and misuse of concessions
Rodríguez said that during the current federal administration, Conagua “realized” that many water concessions “lack validity.”
He didn’t specify how many expired concessions were being used to access water, but described the number as “large.”
According to Rodríguez, some of the water concessions in question are being used for “huachicoleo de agua” (water theft). (@CDHCMX/X)
Farmers and municipal governments are among those who have failed to renew their concessions on time, the official said.
Rodríguez said that Conagua has also detected that the geographic coordinates associated with some water concessions “are wrong,” while some permits that were issued for agricultural purposes are being used to divert water to real estate developments, golf courses and water parks and other swimming areas (balnearios).
“We detected more than 52,000 inconsistencies, of which not all were specifically related to the issue of change of [water] use, but also to validity, wrong coordinates and other details,” he said.
Rodríguez said that people found to be using an agricultural water permit for other purposes are asked to apply to change the concession and pay the applicable fees.
If a person doesn’t follow Conagua’s directive, “we begin an administrative process against [him or her],” he said.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that people who have misused water concessions also have to pay a fine.
Where is illegal water use most common?
Rodríguez told El Universal that Conagua commences operations “every week” to detect where water is being illegally exploited.
He said that the problem is “more pronounced” in certain states, including Chihuahua, Guanajuato, México state and Michoacán.
What has Conagua done to combat the illegal use of water?
Rodríguez said that Conagua has shut down 256 wells from which water was being illegally extracted. He said that water was being extracted from some of the wells to fill up water tankers known as pipas.
“Last week we detected … [a water source] in Puebla, where one well supplied 300 pipas,” he said.
“That’s why we closed it. We notified the Attorney General’s Office and began a [criminal] procedure. This is a business we call huachicoleo de agua [water theft],” Rodríguez said, using a colloquial word (huachicoleo) that usually refers to fuel theft.
He said that security forces, including the National Guard, accompany Conagua personnel during operations to “block illegally established wells.”
Rodríguez also said that Conagua “recently signed an agreement to make use of satellite images” to help the agency detect where water is being illegally exploited.
“We get a complaint practically every week,” Rodríguez said.
Conagua calls on water concession-holders to get their papers in order
Rodríguez said that Conagua will carry out an “information campaign” to inform water concession-holders, including the owners of small and medium-sized farms, how they can “regularize” their permits.
“They’ll have a period of three months,” he said, adding that concession-holders will be able to carry out the necessary bureaucratic procedures online via Conagua’s website or in person at Conagua offices.
“Our objective is to put the concessions in order,” Rodríguez said.
“We make a respectful call to everyone to put … [their] concessions in order,” he said.
Conagua ‘recovers’ 4 billion cubic meters of water
El Universal asked Rodríguez how much water Conagua has “recovered” since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024.
“Four billion cubic meters,” the official told the newspaper, explaining that “a large part” of that amount was recovered from “irrigation districts” where Conagua is assisting farmers to use new irrigation technology.
Rodríguez said that Conagua has also recovered water via “administrative procedures” that enabled the “return” of water from hydroelectric plants, and as a result of the National Human Right to Water Agreement, in which the private sector joined federal and state authorities as a voluntary participant.
“[There are] business owners who return the water they don’t use,” he said.
At her morning press conference on Monday, Sheinbaum said “there has been a lot of cooperation from a lot of business owners.”
She said that many factories and large-scale farmers, including milk producers, have “returned” to Conagua part of their authorized water allotment so that the federal agency can allocate the water to “other uses,” including human consumption.
Both the IMF and the OECD attributed Mexico's upward trend to its strong external market, with exports so far holding their own despite U.S. trade policy uncertainty. (Shutterstock)
Noting that the global economy has demonstrated surprising resilience, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) raised its forecast for Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 0.4% to 0.8% for 2025.
The OECD also projected a 1.3% increase in the Mexican economy in 2026, an improvement compared to that body’s previous forecast of 1.1%.The positive news comes just days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its Mexico GDP forecast to 1.0% this year — up from -0.3% in April — while projecting 1.5% growth in 2026.
In upgrading Mexico’s GDP outlook for the rest of the year, the OECD noted that U.S. tariffs haven’t yet had their full effect. (File Photo)
However, the organization did note that “the full effects of tariff increases have not yet been felt, although they are becoming increasingly evident in spending decisions, labor markets and consumer prices” around the world.
As for inflation in Mexico, the OECD bumped up its forecast for this year to 4.2% (its previous estimate was 3.4%), but foresees improved containment in 2026, projecting inflation of 3.6%. This reflects persistent cost pressures that should gradually moderate in the coming years, it said.
While inflation remains a challenge, the OECD called for a “vigilant” monetary policy, urging Mexico’s central bank (Banxico) to “react promptly to shifting risks to price stability.”
The organization foresees Banxico continuing its monetary easing policy with additional rate cuts in its effort to moderate inflationary pressures. Along with Mexico’s resilient export sector, it said, lower interest rates could provide additional support to domestic demand in 2026, complementing the ongoing momentum from trade, paving the way for more stable growth.
Given the global outlook, the OECD urged policymakers to observe fiscal discipline to safeguard long-term debt sustainability and maintain room for maneuver to respond to future crises.
It also warned of downside risks in the short-term, citing additional tariff hikes and increased concerns about fiscal liabilities, including volatile crypto-assets, all of which could pose additional financial stability concerns.
The upward trend is based on the strength of Mexico’s external sector which the OECD regards as a stabilizing force, despite the increasing trade frictions.
The 29-year-old educator described his AI-powered student as "inquisitive and persistent, demanding clarity and coherence.” (Andres Ta Chikinib/Instagram)
An educator in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is bridging the gap between Indigenous language and artificial intelligence by teaching Tzotzil to ChatGPT.
Andrés ta Chikinib, a 29-year-old teacher and poet, had an amused grin on his face as he described his unusual pupil.
Chikinib says he wants to ensure that the language of more than 400,000 people in Chiapas has a presence in the digital world and is accessible to future generations. (Instagram)
“ChatGPT has become another student, inquisitive and persistent, demanding clarity and coherence,” said the resident of Zinacantán, a municipality of 45,000 in the Chiapas highlands predominantly inhabited by Tzotzil Maya.
Chikinib has spent nearly a decade promoting Tzotzil literacy — despite only learning to read and write in his own tongue at age 19.
A lack of classroom materials led him to a novel solution: “As a Tzotzil language teacher, I couldn’t find any material to share, so I started creating it myself. But this work takes a lot of time.”
Chikinib began by feeding ChatGPT — an online, AI-powered chatbot — his dialect’s vocabulary, grammatical structures and core rules. He deliberately avoided any translations into Spanish.
He said he’s been using the Tzotzil dialect spoken in his own village or region. Tzotzil is made up of several distinct regional dialects that can differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and some grammar; intelligibility between them varies.
He said ChatGPT responded not only by repeating what was taught, but by asking questions, recognizing linguistic patterns and even catching roots unique to Tzotzil.
His goal extends far beyond novelty, nor is it to translate Tzotzil into Spanish or create a structured learning model.
Rather, he wants to ensure that the language — spoken by more than 400,000 people in Chiapas — has a presence in the digital world, is accessible to young people and future generations, and gets the same respect as it does in the community.
However, it is unclear exactly how his work will benefit others in the short term. Interactions with ChatGPT generally improve the AI’s performance only within that user’s session or context — unless the data is specifically used to retrain underlying models or converted into face-to-face teaching materials.
“If we don’t share, how can we demand institutional respect or visibility?” Chikinib said, responding to critics who question digitizing languages — such as José Daniel Ochoa Nájera, a linguist in Chiapas at the State Center for Indigenous Languages, Art, and Literature (CELAL).
Ochoa warned of a “linguistic colonialism,” in which “some languages” get expanded through digital technology, while others “remain marginalized.”
“AI can tell our stories, yes,” he added. “But who decides which stories and how they are told? Technology can be a tool or a dispossession.”
According to the latest figures from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico boasts 68 Indigenous languages (encompassing 364 variants) spoken by some 7 million people. Mexico is among the top 10 nations globally with the most Indigenous languages, ranking second in Latin America behind Brazil.
About 6% of Mexico’s population of 132 million can speak Nahuatl, Tzeltal, Maya, Zapotec, Tzotzil, Mixtec or another Indigenous language. Still, language loss remains a serious concern, as nearly 300 Indigenous languages have disappeared historically in Mexico. The global rate is about 25 languages disappearing annually.
