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Two years after landmark judicial overhaul, Sheinbaum proposes sweeping changes

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MND Staff
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Chief Justice Hugo Aguilar presides over an April 27 session of the Mexican Supreme Court
Chief Justice Hugo Aguilar presides over an April 27 session of the Mexican Supreme Court (SJCN). (SJCN via Cuartoscuro)

President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday submitted a proposal to Congress that seeks to postpone Mexico’s next judicial elections to 2028 and make other changes to the judicial reform that took effect in 2024.

The president’s reform bill effectively recognizes that there were a range of deficiencies in the 2025 judicial elections and seeks to address them.

Presidential Legal Counsel Luisa María Alcalde, one of the architects of the new judicial reform proposal, shared some details of the plan at Monday’s morning press conference. (Juan Carlos Ramos Mamahua /Presidencia)

Mexico held its first ever judicial elections in 2025 and citizens were scheduled to go to the polls to elect more judges in 2027.

However, Sheinbaum said on Monday that she would submit a proposal to Congress to postpone Mexico’s second judicial elections to 2028 in order to avoid a clash with municipal, state and federal elections that will take place in June 2027. The president cited logistical difficulties related to holding judicial elections and other elections on the same day as the main reason why she was proposing the postponement of the former. She is now proposing that the second judicial elections be held on June 4, 2028, a date on which a presidential recall election could also be held.

The constitutional reform bill Sheinbaum sent to Congress on Wednesday proposes a number of other changes to the judicial reform that former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed into law just two weeks before his six-year term ended on Oct. 1, 2024.

The proposal to amend the 2024 reform comes after just 13% of eligible voters participated in the 2025 judicial elections. Those who participated faced the gargantuan task of electing almost 2,700 judges, including nearly 900 federal ones. Complicated ballots with large numbers of candidates led many voters to make use of cheat sheets, some of which were handed out by people affiliated with the ruling Morena party.

Despite the low turnout, Sheinbaum declared the elections a success, although she conceded that the process could be “perfected.”

Still, Sheinbaum has maintained that judicial elections were — and are — necessary to rid Mexico’s judiciary of corruption, nepotism and other ills. She has rejected claims that the motivation for holding judicial elections was to seize control of the judiciary. That said, many judges who were elected last year, including Supreme Court justices, have links to the government and/or Morena.

What does Sheinbaum want to change?

The federal government is now proposing that each individual judgeship race be limited to two candidates. Selection committees would choose the four best-qualified would-be candidates from a list of aspirants and that number would be reduced to two via sortition. The number of candidates allowed to vie for positions in courts that need to find people to occupy numerous judgeships would also be reduced, although they would still number in the dozens in various cases.

The El País newspaper reported that “the government’s bet is to transform a saturated and unreadable ballot into a more manageable” one. Sheinbaum is also seeking to ensure an equal number of male and female candidates on ballots.

Among the government’s other proposed changes to the 2024 judicial reform is one aimed at ensuring that judicial election campaigns and the voting process itself take place “without the intervention of political party representatives.” The National Electoral Institute would be tasked with ensuring that interference by political parties is avoided.

Drawn up by officials including presidential legal adviser Luisa María Alcalde, Sheinbaum’s reform bill also seeks to ensure that judicial election candidates are well-qualified to become judges. In 2025, requirements for candidates included having a “good reputation,” holding a law degree and presenting five letters of recommendation from neighbors and colleagues. If Sheinbaum’s proposal passes Congress — as is expected given Morena’s congressional strength — candidates would be required to have the “necessary technical knowledge” to serve as a judge and possess qualities such as “honesty,” which isn’t currently specified as an essential trait.

With judicial elections approaching, Mexico struggles to vet candidates with criminal ties

Sitting judges who want to contest judicial elections with the aim of winning a different judgeship would be required to resign from their current position. In accordance with the proposed changes to the judicial reform, which could be approved as soon as next week, appraisal and oversight of judges would be more stringent than is currently the case, with judges to be subject to performance reviews from their first year in the job.

In addition, Sheinbaum’s reform bill proposes that the Supreme Court return to what would essentially be a dual-chamber system of the kind that existed prior to the 2024 judicial reform.

El País reported that the proposed modification “represents a significant change to the redesign promoted by López Obrador, whose bet had been to centralize all [Supreme Court] decisions in a single plenary as part of his narrative of austerity and institutional simplification.”

Judges’ association: Postponement of judicial elections is a sign of the ‘inviability of the original design’

In a statement issued on Monday, the National Association of Federal Circuit Magistrates and District Judges (JUFED) said that postponing the next judicial elections to 2028 is “the clearest confession” from the federal government “about the inviability of the original design” of the elections.

Released two days before Sheinbaum submitted her reform proposal to Congress, the statement also said that delaying the elections by one year is equivalent to “postponing a systemic mistake without addressing the underlying causes.”

The reduction of candidates and the “simplification” of ballots are “insufficient measures,” JUFED argued.

Sheinbaum points to a sample ballot projected on a large screen
A sample judicial ballot presented by President Sheinbaum in May 2025, ahead of the country’s first judicial elections. (Gabriel Monroy/Presidencia)

“These changes do not address ballot fatigue or the risk that the judicial election will become entangled in the dynamics of political parties,” the association said.

“… Furthermore, the creation of a ‘Coordinating Commission’ to standardize evaluation criteria confirms that the 2025 Evaluation Committees lacked the technical methodology necessary to ensure profiles of excellence” among judicial election candidates, JUFED said.

Before last year’s judicial elections were held, civil society organizations filed complaints against some candidates, alleging that they had links to organized crime or the Guadalajara-headquartered La Luz del Mundo religious sect, whose leader is a convicted sex offender.

In its statement, JUFED also said that if judicial elections have to be held, their purpose should be limited to filling “real vacancies” created by “natural causes (resignation, retirement or death).”

JUFED expressed its opposition to other aspects of Sheinbaum’s reform bill, and asserted that the staging of more judicial elections “without specific criteria regarding functionality” will cause Mexico’s justice system to “collapse.”

Bloomberg News reported in February that just over five months after the judges elected last year were sworn in, Mexico’s court system was “in disarray,” and that companies operating in the country were “increasingly steering clear” of it.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, JUFED referred to what it called “the dismantling of the professional justice system in Mexico” — i.e. the replacement of long-serving judges with people with limited or no experience in the judiciary.

It also said that hundreds of judges who lost their jobs after last year’s elections are still owed “extraordinary payments.”

“It is imperative that the public see an undeniable reality: The current authorities are not even complying with what they themselves designed to their liking. The 2024 judicial reform was promoted under the banner of ‘justice,’ but today, in practice, it has become an instrument for persecution and dispossession,” JUFED said.

With reports from El País and AP

Baja California Sur governor will seek to keep heavy maritime traffic out of Loreto, a Pueblo Mágico

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MND Staff
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Loreto BCS
As a Magical Town, Loreto is committed to low impact development. It is also the gateway to Loreto Bay National Park, a protected natural area and UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Loreto, BCS)

Following a month of protests and demonstrations, Baja California Sur Governor Víctor Manuel Castro on Wednesday agreed to formally request President Claudia Sheinbaum to repeal a decree that had opened the port of Loreto to large-scale maritime traffic.

Environmentalists swiftly objected to Sheinbaum’s April 10 decree, arguing that the new designation would put at risk the habitat of various endangered species and threaten the livelihoods of local communities.

Descubre Loreto en Baja California Sur

By amending the Federal Public Administration Law and the Ports Law, Sheinbaum’s decree converted Loreto into a deep-sea cabotage port, thereby authorizing the entry of international vessels — including cruise ships — and allowing for expanded foreign trade activities, such as the transit of national ships for the transport of goods, fuel and passengers.

The coalition “Whales or Gas?” — comprising more than 40 civil society and environmental protection organizations — led the protests demanding immediate revocation of the decree, which “gravely endangers the habitat of the blue whale and the local economies that depend on the arrival and presence of the world’s largest animal and other equally important species.”

After weeks of rallies and marches, the governor agreed to meet with the protesters along with representatives of the federal, state and local governments. 

The Navy Ministry sought to negotiate modifications to the decree as an alternative to its cancellation, but the community flatly refused to budge from its demand of a full repeal. Castro accepted the legitimacy of the community’s mobilization efforts, saying that he and Loreto Mayor Paz Ochoa will sign the petition and send it to the president.

The petition, which had received 440,000 signatures as of Tuesday, reads in part: 

“By decision of the community assembly in defense of the Loreto Bay National Park, I hereby express my commitment to preserve the Natural Protected Area and support the request for the repeal of the decree.”

It concludes by saying that “the municipal and state authorities trust that our proposal will be duly and respectfully acknowledged.”

The petition points out that Loreto was designated a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town), fostering the development of an economic model based on low-impact, community-oriented tourism. The port also serves as a gateway to Loreto Bay National Park, declared a protected natural area three decades ago and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for over 20 years.

Environmentalists also point out that the decree contradicts the conservation vocation of the area by going against the principles established in the Loreto Bay National Park Management Program, published in 2019, while also describing the operation and transit of cruise ships and mega-cruise ships as a direct threat to the survival and habitat of the blue whale.

In addition to the blue whale, Loreto is home to several other protected species, including some types of dolphins, sea turtles, birds and sharks.

While the protesters celebrated the agreement with the governor as a community victory, they insist they will remain vigilant until the cancellation of the decree is officially published.

With reports from Milenio, Wired and Sudcaliforniano

Mexico will host only 6 World Cup teams, as the majority choose US lodgings

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MND Staff
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hidalgogov, so Afria ambassador
Shown here with Hidalgo Gov. Julio Menchaca is Beryl Rose Sisulu, ambassador to Mexico from South Africa, one of the few nations whose World Cup teams are staying in Mexico rather than the United States. Ambassador Sisulu said Pachuca, Hidalgo was chosen for the team´s camp because "here the air is as clean as the state is safe.” (Julio Menchaca)

Mexico will host just six of the 48 national teams during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the overwhelming majority opting to set up their base camps in the United States — a lopsided distribution that leaves half of Mexico’s prepared training sites unused.

According to announcements this week, only Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay, South Korea, Tunisia and Colombia selected base camps in Mexico.

atlas CF academy in Zpapopan
Colombia will be seting up camp at the academy in the greater Guadalajara area belonging to Atlas FC of the Liga MX. (Atlas FC)

By contrast, 40 teams chose U.S. locations, while just two — Canada and Panama — will be based in Canada.

Co-hosted for the first time ever by three countries, the 39-day men’s soccer extravaganza will begin June 11 with two games: Mexico vs. South Africa at 1 p.m. local time at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, and South Korea vs. Czechia at 8 p.m. at Estadio Akron in Zapopan, a city of about 1.3 million adjacent to Guadalajara.

The Mexico City match will be preceded by a “star-powered” opening ceremony at 11:30 a.m.

As for team practices, South Korea and Colombia will set up camp at the training academies of metro Guadalajara’s two Liga MX teams, CD Guadalajara (aka Chivas) and Atlas FC, respectively.

El-Tri, the Mexican national team, will train at the Mexican Football Federation’s High-Performance Center in southern Mexico City.

South Africa will train in Pachuca, Hidalgo, and Tunisia in the Monterrey metro area — both at Liga MX team facilities — while Uruguay will be just outside of Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, at a field and training complex next to the Mayakoba Fairmont resort.

Meanwhile, six of Mexico’s 12 proposed base camp sites will sit empty: facilities in Querétaro, Puebla, Tijuana, Toluca and Torreón, as well as a specially built training complex at the Moon Palace all-inclusive near Cancún.

Teams that have at least one scheduled game in Mexico but opted to stay in the U.S. are Uzbekistan, Czechia, DR Congo, Spain, Sweden and Japan.

National team officials cited logistics, infrastructure and travel considerations as key factors in choosing their locations.

South Africa’s decision to base in Pachuca stood out, driven in part by security considerations.

“The perception regarding crime and other very important reasons are what led us to choose Hidalgo,” said South Africa’s ambassador to Mexico, Beryl Rose Sisulu. “The people who made the decision visited Cancún, they visited Puebla [and] Hidalgo as well, and besides the altitude and other things that Hidalgo has, I realize that here the air is as clean as the state is safe.”

Sisulu also pushed back on perceptions of insecurity in Mexico, saying, “there’s crime in Mexico and all over the world.”

With reports from Diario AS, Fox 5 DC and Criterio Hidalgo

Moody’s cuts Mexico’s credit rating to the lowest investment-grade level

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MND Staff
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A view of downtown Mexico City at night
Moody's is the third major credit-rating firm to assign Mexico a low grade recently, although it did nudge the country's outlook up to stable from negative. Pictured: Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. (Shutterstock)

Credit rating agency Moody’s cut Mexico’s credit score to Baa3, its lowest level of investment grade and just one notch above junk status.

On the positive side, it revised Mexico’s outlook from negative to stable.

In announcing the reduction, Moody’s said Mexico’s weak economic growth reduces the government’s ability to generate revenue, while also dealing with an increasingly rigid budget, which notably includes financial support for the state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Pemex station
Moody’s, like S&P and Fitch earlier, minced no words in placing a good share of the blame for Mexico’s sinking credit-rating on the drain on the public treasury caused by government support of Pemex, the state-owned oil company. (Camila Ayala Benabib / Cuartoscuro.com)

In its statement, Moody’s said the lower sovereign rating “will be partially offset by Mexico’s macroeconomic stability, policy responsiveness, and underlying economic strength, adding that “Mexico does not face macroeconomic imbalances that amplify fiscal risks.”

However, Moody’s warned that “continued support for Pemex will continue to limit fiscal consolidation.”

The Moody’s downgrade comes just eight days after S&P Global Ratings revised Mexico’s outlook to negative, citing weakening fiscal flexibility.

S&P also cited Pemex as a reason for its action, saying that “expected continued substantial fiscal support for Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission would continue to aggravate Mexico’s fiscal rigidities.”

The Moody’s rating is now in line with Fitch Ratings, which reduced Mexico to “BBB-” in April 2020 (reaffirmed this year), and is one notch below S&P’s BBB rating.

Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P are the three largest global credit rating agencies, and all three now rate Mexico near the line between investment grade and speculative (aka “junk”). But while Moody’s has now joined Fitch in giving Mexico a Stable outlook, S&P recently dropped it to negative.

After Moody’s issued its latest decision, the Finance Ministry responded by outlining recent measures it has taken to keep public finances healthy, including a push for fiscal consolidation and a plan to lure more investments.

“Mexico maintains its investment-grade rating from all eight agencies that assess its sovereign debt, reflecting its commitment to responsible economic policy and the sustainability of public finances,” it said.

Last week after the S&P cutback, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico would demonstrate that there are clear signs the economy is doing well.

Mexico’s economy contracted 0.8% in the first quarter this year, the worst result for the Mexican economy in any first quarter since 2020.

With reports from Bloomberg News, El Economista, The Wall Street Journal and El País  

Morelos mayor and 5 other officials arrested in anti-corruption operation

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MND Staff
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Agustín Toledano Amaro, mayor of Atlatlahucan
Agustín Toledano Amaro, mayor of Atlatlahucan, was arrested Wednesday along with five other officials from the central state of Morelos. (Agustín Toledano Amaro / Facebook)

Security Minister Omar García Harfuch announced Wednesday that federal authorities had arrested various officials from the state of Morelos, including the mayor of one municipality and the former mayor of another.

A total of five men and one woman were detained in Morelos and Querétaro during raids that were carried out as part of Operación Enjambre (Operation Swarm), a federal security strategy aimed at combatting collusion between organized crime and municipal government officials. More than 140 officials, including a number of mayors, have reportedly been arrested as part of Operación Enjambre since it began in November 2024.

Those detained on Wednesday were:

  • Agustín Toledano Amaro, mayor of Atlatlahucan, a municipality about 50 kilometers east of Cuernavaca.
  • Irving Sánchez Zavala, former mayor of Yecapixtla, a municipality about 60 kilometers east of Cuernavaca.
  • Horacio Zavaleta Malacara, municipal secretary in Cuautla, a municipality about 50 kilometers southeast of Cuernavaca.
  • Jonathan Espinoza Salinas, municipal treasurer in Cuautla.
  • Pablo Adrián Portillo Galicia, a businessman and high-ranking municipal official (oficial mayor) in Cuautla.
  • Arisbel Rubí Vázquez Amaro, a former mayoral candidate in Atlatlahucan.

García Harfuch announced four of the arrests on social media on Wednesday morning.

“Within the framework of the National Strategy against Extortion and as part of the continuation of Operación Enjambre, in Morelos, officers of the Federal Attorney General’s Office, the Security Ministry and the National Guard, with information from the National Intelligence Center, executed four arrest warrants,” he wrote, adding that the mayor of Atlatlahucan and the former mayor of Yecapixtla were among those detained.

García Harfuch also wrote that “actions” aimed at arresting the mayor of Cuautla, Jesús Corona Damián, were continuing.

On Thursday afternoon, the security minister told a press conference that six people accused of involvement in organized crime had been arrested.

He also said that the government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) would block the bank accounts of 22 individuals and 10 companies related to a “corruption network” in Morelos.

“Among them are mayors, officials from the Cuautla municipal government and economic, political and social actors allegedly linked to a regional operator of the Pacific Cartel in the eastern region of [Morelos],” García Harfuch said, using an alternative name for the Sinaloa Cartel.

He subsequently confirmed that the alleged cartel operator he was referring to was Júpiter Araujo Bernard, a man known as “El Barbas” (The Bearded One). García Harfuch said that the UIF would also add Araujo and other “principal targets” to its list of “blocked persons.”

The allegation outlined by García Harfuch is that municipal officials in Morelos, including at least some of those arrested on Wednesday, and the mayor of Cuautla, have aided and abetted the criminal operations of the Sinaloa Cartel in the central Mexican state, including extortion schemes. There is video evidence that Corona, the mayor of Cuautla, and Toledano, the mayor of Atlatlahucan, and other officials met with “El Barbas” in 2024. Both mayors were backed by opposition parties when they were elected in recent years, namely the PAN, the PRI and the PRD. However, Corona first assumed the mayorship of Cuautla after winning a 2019 election as a candidate for Morena, Mexico’s current ruling party.

Cuautla, the second-largest city in Morelos, has been described as a “capital of extortion” by crime journalist Ioan Grillo. García Harfuch said on Wednesday that extortion in Cuautla and other municipalities in eastern Morelos has “directly affected” many people and sectors, including business owners, public transport operators, “productive sectors” and members of ordinary families.

FGR: Presence of organized crime detected in at least 8 municipal governments in Morelos 

On Wednesday night, Ulises Lara, a special prosecutor in the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR), said that the FGR’s organized crime unit (FEMDO) had detected the presence of organized crime within the municipal governments of at least eight municipalities in Morelos, including Cuautla, Atlatlahucan and Yecapixtla.

He said that the arrests on Wednesday were possible thanks to investigations carried out by FEMDO.

Lara said that an organized crime group — allegedly the Sinaloa Cartel — “managed to penetrate the structure” of municipal governments in Morelos by providing campaign funds to candidates who “today serve as public officials.”

He also said there is “information” that members of that criminal group “intimidated” the political opponents of the candidates they supported.

“It is very important to note that … as a result of such infiltrations into municipal structures — which were aimed at securing permissiveness and freedom to commit criminal activities — the state of Morelos has faced various situations of violence, in which crimes such as extortion … as well as homicide, drug dealing, robbery and kidnapping occurred,” Lara said.

With reports from Sin Embargo, Aristegui Noticias, El País and El Economista 

Mexico City airport races to finish remodel as World Cup draws near

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MND Staff
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Passengers walk past orange construction cones and a construction worker in Mexico City International Airport (AICM)
Three weeks out from the World Cup's kickoff match, construction continues at Mexico City International Airport (AICM), seen here on May 14. (Camila Ayala Benabib / Cuartoscuro.com)

Mexico City International Airport (AICM) is in a race against time to finish a thorough renovation before millions of visitors land in Mexico’s busiest air terminal for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The construction began in May 2025 with the understanding that they would be completed by May 30 this year — that is, in less than two weeks. With less than a month to go for the tournament’s inaugural match in Mexico City, President Claudia Sheinbaum has said that the renovations would be completed within the set deadline.

“The works will be completed on time and in good condition […] to receive millions of tourists and athletes,” Sheinbaum said at her May 11 press conference, referring as well to the various renovation projects currently being done across the city.

However, Director General of AICM Admiral Juan José Padilla recently told the Associated Press that while the main construction projects would be completed by the end of May, some renovations would continue behind the scenes without disrupting passengers.

“Starting June, passengers will not see any construction at the airport.” Padilla said. “There will be some areas that we will continue working on, but these are areas that do not affect the comfort of the experience of passengers,” he added.

Currently, the airport’s users in Terminals 1 and 2 share the space with some 2,000 construction workers who have been working day and night for the past year in an effort to finish the construction on time.

“We guarantee [passengers] that the restrooms, parking lots, everything will be operational,” Padilla stressed.

What will change with the renovation?

Once the renovation is completed, Padilla said that passing through security would be a “very quick” experience for passengers.

“We envision it taking 5 or 10 minutes at most, even when the airport is very crowded,” he said.

Padilla also  said travelers “won’t need to seek out a VIP lounge to enjoy comfort, internet access, or to sit comfortably and enjoy a coffee.”

Renovation Coordinator Arturo Flores Melgoza told the newspaper El Universal in March that the main objective of the remodel is to give the airport a unified visual identity. He also apologized to passengers for any inconveniences caused by the renovations, and promised it would be worth the wait.

“The airport is being remodeled for Mexicans, not just for the World Cup,” he said.

With reports from El Universal and AP

Mexico in Numbers: El Tri’s checkered World Cup record

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MND Staff
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A man wearing a Mexico soccer jacket watches a World Cup match on a screen in a crowd
Mexican fans in Toluca gathered to watch Mexico's first match in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. (Crisanta Espinoza Aguilar / Cuartoscuro)

The start of the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup is now just three weeks away. Mexico will co-host the 39-day tournament with the United States and Canada, and the first match will be played in Mexico City on June 11.

Exactly 21 days before El Tri (the Mexican national team) takes on Bafana Bafana (South Africa) at Mexico City Stadium (aka Estadio Azteca), today we take a look back at the Mexican team’s World Cup record since the first tournament was played 96 years ago.

Mexico will participate in the World Cup for the 18th time this year

Mexico's World Cup appearances from 1930-2022, showing participation and non-participation.

To date, Mexico has played at 17 World Cups, including the inaugural edition in Uruguay in 1930.

Mexico missed five of the 22 World Cups held between 1930 and 2022. The national team didn’t play at the 1934 World Cup in Italy, the 1938 World Cup in France, the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, the 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

Only 4 countries have played in more World Cups than Mexico 

The only countries with more World Cup appearances than Mexico are Brazil (22), Germany/West Germany (20), Argentina (18) and Italy (18). Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Italy have each won the World Cup on multiple occasions, meaning that Mexico is the country with the most World Cup appearances without having ever won the tournament.

Mexico has won fewer than a third of its 60 World Cup matches 

Of the 60 World Cup matches it has played since 1930, Mexico has won just 17. It has lost 28 matches while 15 matches ended in ties.

In percentage terms, Mexico has won 28.3% of its World Cup matches, lost 46.7% and tied 25%.

Mexico’s first World Cup win came in its fifth appearance

Mexico didn’t win any of its matches in its first four World Cup appearances. Of a total of 11 matches played in Uruguay (1930), Brazil (1950), Switzerland (1954) and Sweden (1958), Mexico recorded 10 losses and one tie. It lost its first nine World Cup matches before a 1-1 tie with Wales in Sweden.

Mexico finally had a World Cup victory in its third match in Chile in 1962. After losses to Brazil and Spain, Mexico defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 on June 7, 1962. That victory came in Mexico’s 14th World Cup match.

Mexico has scored 39 fewer World Cup goals than it has conceded 

In its 60 World Cup matches to date, Mexico scored a total of 62 goals for an average of 1.03 goals per match. It conceded 101 goals in the 60 matches. Therefore, an average of 1.68 goals per match got past the Mexican goalkeeper.

Mexico’s biggest World Cup victory came during the 1970 tournament when El Tri defeated El Salvador 4-0 at Estadio Azteca. Its biggest defeat came against West Germany in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. The scoreline was an embarrassing 6-0.

Two players share the honor of most World Cup goals for Mexico 

Mexico’s top World Cup goal scorers are Luis Hernández and Javier Hernández, both of whom found the back of the net on four occasions on football’s biggest stage. The two men aren’t related.

Luis Hernández, nicknamed “El Matador,” scored all four of his World Cup goals in France in 1998. He also played in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, but went goalless in that tournament.

Javier Hernández, nicknamed “Chicharito” (Little Pea), scored his four World Cup goals at three separate tournaments. He scored two in South Africa in 2010, one in Brazil in 2014 and one in Russia in 2018.

Resumen Rusia 2018: ¡'Con 'Chicharito' y Vela! Así venció México a Corea del Sur | TUDN

Two Mexican players, Cuauhtémoc Blanco (a former governor of Morelos) and Rafael Márquez, have scored three World Cup goals.

No Mexican man has played more World Cup matches than Rafael Márquez 

In addition to being one of Mexico’s top World Cup goal scorers, Márquez holds the record for the most World Cup appearances for El Tri. The Michoacán native played in a total of 19 World Cup matches across five consecutive tournaments: South Korea and Japan in 2002; Germany in 2006; South Africa in 2010; Brazil in 2014; and Russia in 2018.

Mexico’s second most-capped World Cup player is Andrés Guardado, who played in 13 matches across five consecutive tournaments between 2006 and 2022.

The fifth game curse

As you might know, Mexico is considered to have a “fifth game curse” at the World Cup as it has only played a fifth match at a tournament once. That match was a quarterfinal against West Germany at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. El Tri lost on penalties after the match ended in a 0-0 tie after extra time.

Students watch Mexico tie with Poland during the 2022 World Cup.
The fifth game curse has long tormented Mexican fans of all ages. Pictured: Students watch Mexico tie with Poland during the 2022 World Cup. (Fernando Carranza García / Cuartoscuro)

Mexico also reached the quarterfinal stage at home in 1970. El Tri’s loss to Italy in that match was just its fourth game in the tournament, which featured 16 teams.

Mexico may have a good chance of reaching a fifth World Cup game for just a second time this year as for the first time ever, 48 teams will take part in the tournament. As 32 of those teams will progress to the knockout stage, El Tri will only have to reach the last 16 to make it to a fifth game, rather than the final eight, as was the case between 1986 and 2022.

Mexico News Daily 

* Information sourced from “Mexico at the FIFA World Cup” Wikipedia article and fifa.com

New ambassador approved to represent Mexico in the US: Thursday’s mañanera recapped

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MND Staff
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President Sheinbaum at her morning press conference May 21
President Sheinbaum celebrated the U.S. confirmation of Mexico's new ambassador and shared that her Security Cabinet would meet with the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security on Thursday. (Juan Carlos Buenrostro / Presidencia)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 🇲🇽🇺🇸 New ambassador confirmed: The U.S. approved Roberto Lazzeri as Mexico’s next ambassador to Washington. Sheinbaum said he will head to D.C. in the coming weeks. A key part of Lazzeri’s mandate is likely to be trade diplomacy, including negotiations related to the ongoing USMCA review. He replaces Esteban Moctezuma, ambassador since 2021.
  • 🤝 Sheinbaum meets Mullin: The president will meet on Thursday with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, accompanied by her Security Cabinet, with talks centered on the bilateral security “understanding” reached last year. Sheinbaum said she would also raise the deaths of Mexicans in ICE custody, but would not broach the U.S. case against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, noting it falls under the U.S. Department of Justice, not Homeland Security.

Why today’s mañanera matters

Among the topics discussed at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference was the appointment of a new Mexican ambassador to the United States and the president’s imminent meeting with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

The appointment of a new ambassador and the meeting with Mullin come at a time when the Mexico-U.S. relationship is strained in light of the revelation that CIA agents participated in a drug lab raid in Chihuahua last month without the knowledge or authorization of the Mexican government.

Sheinbaum has accepted that the CIA participated in the operation in Chihuahua, but last week rejected a CNN report that claimed that the CIA “facilitated” a “targeted assassination” of an alleged Sinaloa Cartel member in México state in March. Meanwhile, Mexican authorities continue to maintain that there is insufficient proof to arrest Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and other current and former Sinaloa-based officials who U.S. prosecutors accuse of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel.

The security-related bilateral tension and other pressure points in the Mexico-U.S. relationship, including ones related to the USMCA review, make Mexico’s dispatch of a new ambassador to Washington and meetings between Mexican and U.S. officials particularly consequential.

On Thursday, Sheinbaum stressed that Mexico wants security cooperation with the United States to take place within the framework of a security “understanding” the two countries reached last year.

The president has stressed on countless occasions that said understanding is based on principles such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as mutual trust. The U.S. appears to have violated those principles with the CIA’s involvement in an operation in Chihuahua.

Mexican ambassador approved by US

National Financiera and Bancomext Director Roberto Lazzeri
The U.S. has now approved National Financiera and Bancomext Director Roberto Lazzeri to replace Esteban Moctezuma as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States. (Bancomext)

Sheinbaum noted that the U.S. government had accepted the nomination of Roberto Lazzeri as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States.

“We received approval,” she said, adding that the incoming ambassador will be heading to Washington, D.C., to take up his position in the coming weeks.

Sheinbaum announced on April 23 that the government was proposing Lazzeri, the head of two Mexican development banks, as Mexico’s next ambassador to the United States. At the time, the president suggested that Lazzeri, a former Finance Ministry official, was well-qualified to engage with the United States on trade issues as this year’s review of the USMCA free trade pact takes place.

Lazzeri will replace former Education Minister Esteban Moctezuma, who has been Mexico’s ambassador to the United States since 2021.

Sheinbaum to meet with Markwayne Mullin

Sheinbaum noted that she would meet later in the day with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

She said that members of the federal government’s Security Cabinet would accompany her in her meeting with Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary in March.

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin Official Portrait
US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is scheduled to visit Mexico City and meet with President Sheinbaum on Thursday. (Tia Dufour/DHS)

She said that the U.S. official would remain with Security Cabinet members after her meeting with him to continue working.

Sheinbaum indicated that the focus of the meeting with Mullin would be the security “understanding” that Mexico and the U.S. reached last year.

“What we want is for us to continue working within the framework of this agreement,” she said.

Later in her press conference, Sheinbaum said that she would speak about a range of issues with Mullin, including the death of Mexicans in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

She said that she wouldn’t ask the Homeland Security secretary about the case against Rocha and the other officials as it corresponds to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“It’s another area of the U.S. government,” Sheinbaum said.

She also said that her planned meeting with Sara Carter, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, may be postponed.

Sheinbaum said that Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco told her that Carter may not make it to Mexico City next Monday due to a scheduling conflict.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

Neza’s urban forest and the architecture of urban climate action in Mexico City

By
Katy Alivraz
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Green spaces in Nezahualcóyotl
There aren't a lot of trees in Nezahualcóyotl, but thanks to nonprofits like SUGi, there are more than there used to be. (SUGi)

A year ago, a network of reforestation workers embarked on a challenging mission to plant a pocket forest in Nezahualcóyotl, an area located on the periphery of Mexico City.

Andrea Guzmán, the urban planner behind the project, realized during her studies that most city layouts were driven by architectural design rather than by the biology of the environment. When she heard about SUGi, a nonprofit that has fostered the creation of over 263 pocket forests across 62 cities, she decided to propose the creation of an urban forest in Neza. “The truth is, everything happened very quickly. They already had a funder. And within months, we were planning the project,” she said of the process.

Planting Trees in ‘Neza York’

Urban forestation in Nezahualcóyotl
Located on the periphery of Mexico City, Nezahualcóyotl is an area badly in need of more green spaces. (Mexico News Daily)

Nezahualcóyotl, also known as “Neza York,” is a densely populated urban settlement located on the former bed of the saline Lake Texcoco. It suffers from the urban heat island effect, in which concrete and asphalt absorb and re-emit the sun’s energy, creating “islands” of intense temperatures, often between 1–7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than surrounding areas. Marginalized communities are especially at risk. Due to environmental injustice, these communities often receive little to no investment in green space, which offers relief through shade and heat absorption. In Nezahualcóyotl, residents have access to just a fraction of the green area considered adequate, far below the roughly 100 square feet per person recommended by the World Health Organization.

But soil conditions in Neza are also part of the problem. “Because of the high level of soil salinity, we first needed to validate that planting an urban forest would work,” said Diego, co-founder of the Chilean reforestation company Simbiótica, who was hired for the project.

Reforesting with the Miyawaki method

Funded by Steve Madden, under the direction of Andrea and Symbiotika’s team, consisting of Diego, Gabriel and Nicolás, and with the help of over 300 volunteers, the bare soil near the university campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyot was transformed into a living ecosystem. The technique used is inspired by the Japanese Miyawaki method, a “high-intensity” reforestation process mimicking forest structures in urban environments. The soil is decompacted, reoxygenated and revived with large amounts of compost. Between three and five different trees and shrubs are planted within roughly 10 square feet. The dense planting encourages vertical growth and an irrigation system supports the plants during their first three years. From the third year onward, the best management becomes no management, as the forest becomes autonomous and self-sustaining.

One year after the painting, the urban forest in Neza thrives, with a plant survival of more than 90% and some trees having reached over 10 feet. The circular green space with multi-layered vegetation holds over 25 native plants that tolerate soil salinity. The project in Neza is considered a success, proving that an urban forest, if designed purposefully, can even grow in saline soil.

What trees bring to Mexico City

“In cities, the marginal value of every new tree is higher than in landscapes that are already heavily vegetated because they provide more ecosystem services,” says Amelia Harvey, an urban planner and data analyst who created a dataset analyzing tree density, marginalization and surface temperatures in Mexico City and the peripheral area to identify the areas most in need of vegetation, such as Nezahualcóyotl and Ecatepec.

Urban forests can reduce noise pollution and capture harmful air particles. They attract biodiversity, enhance soil health, store carbon and allow water to infiltrate, helping to prevent flooding. Surface temperatures within the pocket forest can be significantly lower than in the surrounding area.

Nezahualcóyotl urban forests
Planting urban forests has several positive effects, from reducing noise pollution to lowering the depression and anxiety levels of city residents. (SUGi)

Another benefit of green spaces in cities is their contribution to residents’ mental health. A growing body of research shows that people with little or no access to green space tend to have higher levels of depression and anxiety.

“An urban forest is a healthy place that can inspire and surprise you. A place where you can spot insects you have never seen before, different colors … where suddenly a purple flower grows. We need to be part of a world that still holds magic,” explains Andrea about the forest’s impact.

“When everything is so controlled, when you know in how many minutes the Uber will arrive or when your coffee will be ready, nothing surprises you anymore. But the natural world can still surprise us every day.”

Micro-ecosystems, ‘urban acupuncture’ and biodiversity corridors

From a global perspective, the carbon capture of urban forests may be limited, but at the local level, green spaces are a powerful solution. Climate change must be addressed in two ways: through large-scale reforestation and through the creation of biodiversity corridors and vegetation within cities.

“You cannot care for something you don’t know,” says Andrea when we talk about climate change. The urban forest becomes a teacher and reference point for city residents, who are often disconnected from the natural environment.

To help cities counter the negative effects of urbanization and climate change, she suggests “urban acupuncture,” a strategy in which small green spaces are distributed across the city to help it recover and heal. The introduction of biodiversity corridors is also crucial to help reconnect the fragmented wildlife habitats that are a consequence of urbanization. The next urban forest is planned for Iztapalapa.

Nezahualcóyotl
Nezahualcóyotl’s green spaces relative to those in neighboring Mexico City. (SUGi)

But installing urban forests is not the only goal.

“We also want to change the perception of green areas,” says Gabriel, co-founder of Simbiótica. A green space with a lawn and a few trees does not hold the ecosystem that existed before urbanization. Andrea is working on projects that will reintroduce bountiful vegetation into existing parks and lawns in Miguel Hidalgo and Cuauhtémoc. She is convinced these micro-ecosystems work. “The response we’ve received from people has been incredible. There’s been an impressive sense of ownership over these forests, a level of participation that exceeds our expectations. People are eager; once you place it in their neighborhood, they want it and take care of it.”

Katy Alivraz is a contributor to Mexico News Daily.

Is the Mexican version of ‘The Office’ any good?

By
MND Staff
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The Mexican version of "The Office," "La Oficina"
"La Oficina," the Mexican version of the hit U.K. and U.S. shows "The Office," is good ... almost surprisingly so. (IMDb)

I was very skeptical when Amazon Prime announced “La Oficina,” the remake of the classic comedy “The Office,” which began in the U.K. and went on to become an even bigger hit in the U.S. version starring Steve Carell.

As the name suggests, “The Office” — which has remakes in at least a dozen countries, including Australia, Germany and France — follows the day-to-day life of an office, its employees and their boss in a satirical documentary-style format known as mockumentary.

La Oficina | Tráiler Oficial | Prime Video

As a fan of the U.S. version myself, I cringed the first time I saw an ad for “La Oficina” in my Amazon Prime account.

“Why are they doing this? We don’t need a Mexican version of ‘The Office,'” I thought, considering the intent to be a profanation of the hugely successful show.

Still, I decided to give it a try.

The format works in Mexico, too

So, with the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing what to expect and fully anticipating turning the TV off within the first five minutes, I pushed my prejudices aside and watched the show.

To my surprise — and to the surprise of many Mexicans — the show was a joy to watch.

“‘La Oficina’ (México) is really well done!” said a user on social media.

“I finished it in one afternoon. It’s really good,” another chimed in.

Even specialized media like El Saber del Todo called the show “a pleasant surprise to anyone who had no faith in the project.”

In fact, the show was so well received by Mexicans that a few weeks after it was released, Amazon Prime announced it would be renewed for a second season.

Upon learning the news, I felt thrilled about what any of the employees of “La Oficina” would’ve felt if “corporate” had decided to give them an unexpected bonus.

Why did ‘La Oficina’ work so well?

When I discovered that the production behind “La Oficina” was Gaz Alazraki, it all made sense. He is the creator of two of Mexico’s most successful productions in modern times: the film “Nosotros los Nobles” and Netflix’s first Spanish language show, “Club de Cuervos.”

In an interview with Sopitas, Alazraki said that what they had created with “La Oficina” was something Mexicans had never seen before. And he was right, because I can’t recall any show that depicted office reality in such a precise and humorous way.

"La Oficina" still
Gaz Alazraki is as successful at capturing office dynamics in “La Oficina” as he was with soccer in “Club de Cuervos.” (IMDb)

Throughout the whole first season, I found myself nodding and almost clapping at scenes that felt strangely familiar, as if they were taken from real-life events from my days in a Mexican office environment (yes, I was a godín once).

One of the things that the show depicts really well is the reality of Mexico’s business scene.

With “The Office” franchise, the lead character is always an incompetent boss who somehow manages to successfuly run his office, despite his personal shortcomings. For “La Oficina,” however, the boss — Jerónimo, nicknamed Jero — is the grandson of the founder of Jabones Olimpo, a fictional company that sells soap. In a country where most companies are family-run businesses, this couldn’t have been better thought out.

Having the son of the owner as the boss means that no matter how hard the employees try, they’ll never succeed him. It also means that no matter how bad he messes up — or how inappropriate he may be — he’ll never be let go, which gives “La Oficina” a unique plot that accurately, and uncomfortably, represents how many offices in Mexico work.

An uncomfortable familiarity

Another thing the show did really well was choosing Aguascalientes as the setting. The original two series also take place in slightly off-kilter locations, with the fictional Wernham Hogg offices in Slough (a town so legendarily ugly that the UK’s national poet, John Betjeman, called for it to be bombed) and the U.S. version being set in Scranton, Pennsylvania. These quiet corners of the country help establish the characters that inhabit them further and it’s no different for the cast of “La Oficina,” who feel like ordinary Mexicans, not characters in a Netflix drama.

promo for "La Oficina" on Amazon Prime
The characters will seem very familiar to those who have actually worked in a Mexican office. (IMDb)

Even the intro scene depicts ordinary streets and public bus rides that reflect how most Mexicans commute to work. In that sense, Aguascalientes accurately conveys the story’s premise:  an ordinary city with ordinary people working at ordinary companies. And this feeling of “familiarity” wouldn’t have been possible without the show’s characters.

Alazraki and his team created each of the characters so masterfully that any one of them could fit perfectly into a real office. Because if you’ve ever worked in a Mexican office, you’ve surely had a colleague who does her entire make-up sitting at her desk, or you’ve seen the corporate lawyer in brightly colored shirts with white collars and the paranoid colleague spraying the entire office with disinfectant.

You’ve probably also seen Pope John Paul II’s blessing framed and displayed in a glass case (what Mexican family or company doesn’t have this image on display?) as well as the gigantic portrait of the company’s founder at the backdrop of the boss’s office.

Because if you’ve worked in a Mexican office, I’m sure the show would make you feel — even during the most bizarre moments — that this could be, in fact, your office.

Gabriela Solis is a Mexican lawyer turned full-time writer. She was born and raised in Guadalajara and covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her lifestyle blog Dunas y Palmeras.

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