Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez reports on public security at Tuesday's presidential press conference. Presidencia de la República
Homicides declined 8.4% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period of 2021, the federal government reported Tuesday.
Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez presented data that showed there were 20,722 homicides between January and August, 1,909 fewer than in the first eight months of last year. On average, there were 85.6 murders per day between January 1 and August 31.
Last month, there were 2,624 murders, a 7% decline compared to August 2021. Rodríguez highlighted that it was the least violent August of the past five years in terms of the total number of homicides. She also emphasized that murders were down 14.6% in August compared to the most violent month on record – July 2018 – when 3,074 homicides were recorded.
“We have advanced in the tasks of peace-building and security in the country,” the security minister told President López Obrador’s morning press conference.
“… Today we live in better conditions of peace and it’s clear that the national security strategy is working,” Rodríguez declared, even though cartels ran riot in four states in August and this six-year period of government is likely to be the most violent in decades.
“Every government … does its work, with challenges, but also with clear advances,” she said, referring to federal, state and municipal authorities.
“It’s a collective achievement that benefits the population. The heart of the national security strategy is attention to the causes that generate violence,” Rodríguez said, alluding to the federal government’s so-called “hugs, not bullets” security approach.
“… We continue to coordinate actions to combat all criminal structures so that there is zero impunity and zero corruption.”
The security minister reported that 48.7% of all homicides in the first eight months of the year occurred in just six states. Guanajuato was the most violent with 2,115 murders between January and August, followed by Baja California, Michoacán, México state, Jalisco and Chihuahua.
Rodríguez also reported statistics for various other crimes. Among those that declined in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period of 2021 were cattle theft, vehicle theft, burglaries and drug trafficking. Among those that increased were firearms offenses and property crimes.
The used-car sales company isn't yet profitable, but claims it now will be within six months. Kavak/Facebook
Mexico’s first “unicorn” company – a startup valued at more than US $1 billion – has secured US $810 million in additional funding.
Kavak, which runs online used-car marketplaces in seven countries, said Tuesday that it had secured $675 million in funding from the bank HSBC.
Kavak – Latin America’s largest unlisted company – previously announced that it had reached credit line deals with Goldman Sachs and Santander bank for US $100 million and US $35 million, respectively.
The HSBC financing will allow Kavak to increase its car loan offerings, while the funds provided by Goldman Sachs and Santander are for business development and to increase inventory.
Kavak, which was founded in Mexico City in 2016 and operates in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Turkey, said that its agreement with HSBC will increase the number of drivers in Latin America, where only 1.5 in 10 residents have a car according to Kavak’s research team. The funding is in the form of a forward flow agreement in which HSBC will buy collection rights for Kavak’s loans.
“My understanding is that this had never been done with a portfolio like this, for cars,” Moises Flores, Kavak’s chief financial officer, told the news agency Reuters.
Kavak is aiming to lower barriers for access to car loans in Latin America, where many people don’t have bank accounts and are unable to access traditional lines of credit.
Flores indicated that the company – which says it’s worth more than $8.7 billion – had little trouble securing the additional funding. “The risk of lending to Kavak is low,” he said. “[The banks are] also looking at our portfolio, our financing, and they say, ‘Looks good.’”
Flores told Reuters that the company could have access to a total of $1.2 billion in additional funding by the end of the year and hinted it could move into more markets. “We’ve financed ourselves pretty cheaply. Our debt is cheap,” he said.
Despite its high valuation, Kavak is not yet profitable, but Flores said that should change soon. “[The first profitable month] is going to be in the next six months for Mexico for sure,” Flores told Bloomberg. “And then, in the other countries, we will need a bit more scale.”
The CFO claimed that Kavak is “revolutionizing” the used-car market in Latin America, adding that “these kinds of credit lines help us to deepen the change.”
“In Latin America today, 90% of used car transactions are between private individuals,” he said. “In general, it tends to be a very stressful time with several risks. … That’s why for us, there’s an opportunity to offer a completely innovative experience that … eliminates mechanical and documentation frauds that usually occur in these kinds of transactions and also provides financing, mechanical guarantees and post-sale services that are unique in the market.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, left, announced his executive order on Wednesday. The state doesn't have terrorism-related statutes, making the order apparently largely symbolic. Gregg Abbott/Twitter
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations and ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to establish a Mexican cartel division.
In an executive order, Abbott said that Mexican cartels are responsible for trafficking hundreds of millions of lethal doses of fentanyl into Texas and the United States and that 1,600 Texans were fatally poisoned by drugs containing fentanyl in 2021, “an increase of more than 680% since 2018.”
The governor also said that Mexican cartels smuggle humans across the Texas-Mexico border and generate “deadly violence.”
Citing powers vested in him by the U.S. constitution and laws of the state of Texas, Abbott designated the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and “any similarly situated Mexican drug cartels who may be identified in subsequent proclamations” as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
In one incident last month, U.S. border authorities seized US $11.5 million worth of cocaine in Laredo, Texas. According to CBP South Texas officials, fentanyl seizures increased by 1,066% and cocaine seizures increased 98% in fiscal year 2021. CBP South Texas/Twitter
He said that the designation would “target [cartels] for enhanced apprehension, prosecution, and disruption, while heightening awareness of their deadly activities for our citizens and the international community.”
Abbott ordered the DPS to “establish a Mexican Cartel Division within the Texas Fusion Center to collect and analyze intelligence that will enable further apprehension, prosecution, and disruption of these foreign terrorist organizations.”
Among six other orders, he directed the DPS to “identify, arrest, and impede the gangs in Texas that support the drug and human smuggling operations of these foreign terrorist organizations.”
The Texas Tribune described the governor’s designation as “largely symbolic” because Texas doesn’t have terrorism-related statutes.
Gov. Abbott also sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, calling on him to follow suit with Abbott’s declaration of Mexican cartels as terrorists. deposit photos
Abbott also wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to urge them to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.
“Mexican drug cartels terrorize the United States and its citizens every day, leaving thousands of dead bodies in their wake. Their latest weapons of choice are the millions of tiny pills laced with fentanyl that they pour across our southern border. As a result, it is necessary, now more than ever, for you to designate the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and any similarly situated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” he wrote.
“This move would help us fight back against these terrorists and disrupt their deadly attacks on America.”
At a roundtable discussion with DPS Director Steve McCraw and other officials, Abbott declared that “cartels are terrorists, and it’s time we treated them that way.”
Activist Adrian LeBaron, whose nine family members were slain in 2019 by an organized crime group, said he agreed with Abbot’s declaration of cartels as terrorist groups.
“In fact, more Americans died from fentanyl poisoning in the past year than all terrorist attacks across the globe in the past 100 years. In order to save our country, particularly our next generation, we must do more to get fentanyl off our streets,” he said.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG are considered Mexico’s largest and most powerful criminal organizations. The United States Congressional Research Service said in a recent report that the CJNG operates in Mexico City and 27 states, while the Sinaloa Cartel is believed to have a presence in about half of Mexico’s 32 federal entities.
Adrian LeBaron, an anti-violence activist who lost nine members of his extended family in an armed attack near the Sonora-Chihuahua border in November 2019, indicated he agreed with Abbott’s designation of Mexican cartels, writing on Twitter that they are indeed terrorists.
Damage in downtown Uruapan, Michoacán. Civil Protection Michoacán
Two deaths were reported in Mexico City after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred just after 1 a.m. Thursday, the largest aftershock of Monday’s powerful temblor.
The National Seismological Service (SSN) said the quake occurred at 1:16 a.m. and had an epicenter 84 kilometers south of Coalcomán, Michoacán. By 4 a.m. Thursday, there had been 1,295 aftershocks of the 7.7 magnitude quake that rocked central Mexico on Monday, the SSN said.
The Mexico City Security Ministry said that a woman died shortly after the earthquake alarm was activated when she fell on stairs in her home and hit her head. A man died of a heart attack after the quake struck.
President López Obrador told his regular press conference Thursday morning that there were no reports of major damage or deaths beyond those that occurred in the capital.
Hablé con el general Luis Cresencio Sandoval, secretario de la Defensa Nacional y hasta ahora sin novedad; se está recabando información. pic.twitter.com/CqBBZjwHpY
President Lopez Obrador conferring this morning by phone with Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval.
National Civil Protection authorities said that the quake was felt in 12 federal entities: Jalisco, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Colima, Michoacán, Guanajuato, México state, Mexico City, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla and Tlaxcala.
Power went out in parts of Mexico City and neighboring México state, but the Federal Electricity Commission reported just after 8 a.m. that service had been re-established.
Mexico City’s earthquake alarm roused slumbering chilangos, as residents of the capital are known, causing many to jump out of bed and evacuate their homes. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Twitter that 98% of the loudspeakers that amplify the alarm functioned correctly.
Earthquake lights – a luminous phenomenon that appears in the sky after seismic activity – were visible in Mexico City. The Twitter account Webcams de México and numerous social media users posted footage of the blue lights that appeared to radiate upwards.
From left to right: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his wife Elke Büdenbender with President López Obrador and his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller.
Trade, human rights and the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) were among the topics discussed at a meeting between President López Obrador and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Mexico City on Tuesday.
President Steinmeier, Germany’s head of state and a former vice-chancellor of that country, is in Mexico with his wife for a three-day state visit.
López Obrador said on social media that his meeting with the German president, his wife Elke Büdenbender and representatives from the German public and private sector was “very important.”
“We discussed issues of economy, trade, human rights, justice and peace,” he wrote.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany in discussions with President López Obrador.
His tweet came hours after he described Germany as an “important partner” and longstanding investor in Mexico during remarks at his regular morning press conference.
The meeting between the two heads of state came after a formal welcoming ceremony at the National Palace, the seat of executive power and López Obrador’s residence. Steinmeier, whose role is more ceremonial than political, was scheduled to visit Mexico over two years ago, but his trip was postponed due to the pandemic. His visit is the first to Mexico by a German president since 2011.
After meeting with López Obrador, Steinmeier told reporters that “the Mexican president offered to step up cooperation on liquid gas,” but didn’t offer additional details.
Germany and other European countries currently face a LNG supply squeeze as Russia has progressively cut off access to the fuel via pipeline. LNG can be transported in tanker ships, but Mexico doesn’t currently export the gas commercially, the news agency Reuters reported. It was unclear whether Mexico planned to begin shipping LNG to Germany, although Steinmeier seemed to suggest that it would.
In addition to meeting with López Obrador, the German president addressed Mexico’s Senate, where he noted that his trip to Mexico had been postponed and acknowledged that the world has changed due to the pandemic.
“… For decades, our countries have stood side by side in both the political and the economic context,” he said. “Our economic relations are strong and close: over 2,100 German companies operate in Mexico, employing some 300,000 people, and I am pleased that many of them are trainees, learning and working in the dual vocational training system,” Steinmeier said.
“There are just under 470 cooperation partnerships between higher education institutions in Mexico and Germany,” he added. “And German companies, too, value the great potential demonstrated by this country, by its young people, in research and development. Our two countries share close ties – 70 years of diplomatic relations speak for themselves – and Mexico is an important, highly valued partner for us.”
Steinmeier also addressed Mexico’s senate on Tuesday.
“The aim must be to keep this partnership fit for the future,” Steinmeier said. “And so it would be very gratifying if the modernized [free trade] Global Agreement between Mexico and the European Union could be concluded soon.”
A new trade agreement between Mexico and the EU was reached in 2018, but it hasn’t yet been ratified by lawmakers.
Continuing his address, Steinmeier condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and declared that “the democratic world,” including Mexico, must stand together in opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal violation of the rules.”
“If we, Germans and Mexicans, are to emerge stronger from this conflict, if the democratic world is to emerge stronger from this conflict, then we must maintain a common line,” he said. “We must be united in our response to an aggressor who is trying to replace the strength of the law with the law of the strong.”
Steinmeier also spoke about environmental issues, including climate change and declared that the world is grateful that Mexico is “a pioneer in seeking an international biodiversity agenda for the UN.”
“We are grateful that you are protecting your country’s vast treasures for the benefit of the whole of humanity,” he said, although Mexico’s government has faced criticism for its alleged lack of concern for the environment and global warming.
“In doing so, you are, in fact, protecting the livelihoods of all people, whether they live in Mexico City or Berlin, Islamabad, Kyiv or Moscow. I firmly believe that if we work together, we can slow down climate change with its repercussions,” the German president said.
Steinmeier also said that Germany wants an enhanced partnership with Mexico, declaring that “we want to expand our social, political and, not least, economic ties.”
“That is why I am here – and that is why I thank you for the honor of addressing the Senate,” Steinmeier said.
For his part, Senate President Alejandro Armenta Mier highlighted that two-way trade between Mexico and Germany was worth almost US $25 billion last year. He also said that Mexican lawmakers are working through the ratification process of the new free trade deal with the EU with a view to approving the agreement and thus contributing to “the strengthening of the ties” between Mexico and Germany.
Aleksander Tokarz creating plans for reconstruction after the 2017 earthquake. Photos: Aleksander Tokarz
Who really could blame those who decided to leave Mexico after S19 (more commonly known to expats as the earthquake of 2017) destroyed their basic sense of safety? But not only did many foreigners decide Mexico was worth it, some found in it a reason to let Mexico change them for the better.
This is the story of one of those people.
Polish architect Aleksander Tokarz’s Mexico story is a bit unique. He and his mother migrated to the United States when he was eight, shortly after the end of the Cold War. He spent the next 15 years of his life there, growing up and then getting a degree in architecture at the California College of the Arts.
The 2008 financial crisis made him return to Europe, where, as a Polish citizen, he had the right to work. He developed his career and got a master’s degree over five years.
Volunteers learning to build for a housing project in México state after the earthquake.
Returning to the New York area, he found out the hard way that he had lost his permanent residency in the U.S. Uncle Sam told him to leave or be deported.
Tokarz decided not to return to western Europe because, well, life can be difficult for Polish people there. Almost like throwing a dart onto a map, he saw that Mexico City was the largest metropolis in Latin America and close to his family in the U.S., so he went.
Once there, he simply knocked on the doors of architectural firms. His confidence paid off, and he landed a job in 2015 with one of the firms frantically trying to save the Texcoco-based Mexico City airport project.
Candidate and then incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador was threatening to cancel it; the firm’s strategy was to have it so far completed by the time he took office that he would not dare.
That strategy did not work.
What it did do was create an extremely high-pressure work environment, affecting Tokarz’s mental and physical health.
The quakes of September 2017 were like a one-two punch. The first on September 7 rocked and damaged his 12th-floor apartment in the Roma neighborhood. Then, on September 19, he and his coworkers were told to keep working when the city did its annual earthquake drill at 11 a.m. But two hours later everyone spilled out into the street among falling windows and facades on Reforma avenue.
Tokarz ran to his apartment, only two blocks away, to find that his building, already damaged before, was far worse. He was able to stay in the building, but without water, electricity or elevator.
Tepalcingo chapel, the project that changed Tokarz’s life.
The architect had reached his limit.
“I finally cracked; I quit. After two years of intense work, I stepped away from the project and left the office. I needed this time to reflect about who I was, how I was going to get healthy again…” he said.
Such a process for him did not mean leaving architecture. Instead, he found his skills in desperate need since so many suddenly needed to rebuild.
Tokarz was impressed by the outpouring of support among neighbors, foreign residents and international organizations but found that it was too focused on Mexico City when communities in Puebla, Morelos and even México state had been devastated.
He was not the only one to notice. Calls appeared on expat groups in Facebook, looking for volunteers to go out to these areas. This is how Tokarz became involved in the nearly leveled small town of Tepalcingo in southern Morelos, whose 400-year-old church lay in ruins.
Although there was a dire need for housing, residents decided that the first priority was an alternative to the church in order to provide a focus for the community and long-term relief efforts; rebuilding the old church to historical specifications would take too long.
Tokarz’s role here was obvious.
“I arrived and was able to sketch out an idea right then and there.” The new church was built in six months with volunteer labor, donated land and donated materials.
A “Chicken Itza” coop inspired by the Mexican pyramid built with donated wood for Huerto Roma in Mexico City. Huerta Roma
Although there were many requests to do the same in other communities, Tokarz decided that his efforts were most effective when joining with other organizations, especially those creating temporary shelters.
But the church project was both a personal and professional shift for Tokarz. He was no longer interested in megaprojects done by massive corporations. He needed to be hands-on and dealing with the people who would benefit from his work, not just stare at a computer screen all day.
And although he was working just as hard as before, he found his health issues diminishing and energy returning.
The result was a changed portfolio and the founding of Archiguru, an architectural firm that does both non- and for-profit building. His first clients were the owners of the Pinche Gringo BBQ chain, who were impressed with his post-earthquake projects and work ethic. Since 2018, Tokarz has been helping them convert an old factory to a restaurant and corporate offices in the rapidly gentrifying Anahuac I neighborhood.
Tokarz says he has no desire to return to corporate architecture. The 2017 earthquake made him reevaluate his priorities.
He has several “normal” projects, such as a new apartment building in Roma, but it is his community-minded projects that make him stand out. Much of this work has been with Huerto Roma Verde, a community garden project in Colonia Roma. Tokarz has built several structures on their land in Mexico City and is the project manager for their new, ambitious 2.5-hectare facility in Cuernavaca.
He has no desire to return to corporate architecture. The earthquake made him reevaluate his priorities and find a balance in both life and work that is far healthier than what he had before.
He still lives and rents in quake-prone Roma because that is where most of his clients are, but he has become something of an expert in evaluating buildings that have sustained earthquake damage.
Unfortunately, he says, there are many occupied buildings, even in upscale neighborhoods, that have not been properly repaired.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
El Popo blowing off some steam at around 7 a.m. this morning. Photos: Webcams de México
It’s been a busy week for Mexico’s agency in charge of civil protection: first there was Monday’s 7.7. earthquake, which was felt in several states, and now the federal authority is exhorting people to stay away from Popocatépetl, a volcano in central Mexico where at least two minor eruptions occurred early Wednesday morning.
The eruptions with low ash content were reported by the National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) in two tweets that included videos showing columns of smoke estimated to be 800 meters high and blowing in a southwest direction.
The first eruption occurred at 4:48 a.m. and the second at 7:17 a.m. CNPC said the volcanic alert traffic light is on yellow, which is phase two. The National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) also issued warnings to not approach the volcano, which is located in the states of Puebla, Morelos and México.
Falling ash from Popocatépetl was reported shortly after the center of the country was shaken on Monday by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Coalcomán, Michoacán.
— Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil (@CNPC_MX) September 21, 2022
Live-action footage of the Popocatépetl volcano this morning shown on Webcams de México.
At 4:20 a.m. the next morning, the volcano emitted an exhalation with low ash content and a plume of smoke estimated to be 1,200 meters. Later that day, there were minor eruptions at 7:39 p.m. and 7:42 p.m.
Cenapred noted that Popocatépetl’s monitoring systems detected 45 exhalations that were accompanied by water vapor, volcanic gases and light amounts of ash in a 24-hour period that started at 10 a.m. Monday (shortly before the earthquake). Additionally, eight minutes of high-frequency tremors were recorded.
Geophysicist Carlos Valdés, former director of Cenapred, said that “if the volcano is in a more or less uneasy situation, an earthquake can modify its behavior and increase activity.”
However, it has not been determined one way or the other if the Coalcomán earthquake had any effect on Popocatépetl or the Colima Volcano,which are both active and periodically exhale ash (and are both in or near the earthquake zone).
Not to be outdone, Jalisco’s Colima Volcano, which may have been affected by Monday’s earthquake, showed off its might. Mexico’s most active volcano, it’s currently in a passive degassing period.
Any earthquake-volcano effect will only be observable as the days go on, Valdés stressed. “It has been seen in other volcanoes in the world, and also in Popocatépetl,” he added.
After the earthquake, and a 5.3 aftershock in Colima, the National Meteorological Service did issue a special warning due to the activity of the Colima Volcano, which was in the stage of passive degassing.
Additionally, about four hours after the earthquake, Mexico City’s office of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection (SGIRPC) activated the volcanic alert traffic light (yellow) and announced that ash might fall in any area of Mexico City. Popocatépetl is 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Mexico City and can be seen from the capital depending on atmospheric conditions.
People were asked to stay informed through official channels, cover their noses and mouths with a handkerchief or wear a face mask, clean their eyes and throat with pure water and use eyeglasses rather than contact lenses to reduce eye irritation.
Similarly, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) recommended that people refrain from outdoor activities, keep pets from moving too much and sweep and remove ash from roofs, terraces and streets.
Popocatépetl — known colloquially as “El Popo” and “Don Goyo” — stands at 5,426 meters (17,802 feet), making it the fifth highest peak in North America and the second highest in Mexico behind Citlaltépetl (aka “Pico de Orizaba”) at 5,636 meters (18,491 feet). The Colima Volcano is the 14th tallest peak in Mexico, standing at 3,830 meters (12,566 feet).
Meet Travis Bembenek, the new CEO of Mexico News Daily
Mexico News Daily…..the next chapter begins!
I want to start by thanking our readers for the support that you have given us over these past 8 years. I am very excited to be taking the baton of Mexico News Daily from its founder, Tony Richards, and leading the next laps of our journey. I would like to share with you a little bit about me, the motivation behind the acquisition, and the vision we have going forward.
My first connection with Mexico came during my junior year of college in January of 1996. The NAFTA Free Trade Agreement had been recently signed and there was great enthusiasm in the media about the business opportunities between the US, Canada, and Mexico. I thought that learning about Mexico and learning Spanish in Mexico would be a great complement to a business degree and spent a semester in Guadalajara. From that point on, my life was forever changed.
I fell in love with Mexico’s people, culture, music, history, food, beaches, pyramids – pretty much every aspect of the country. Upon graduation, I made it a priority to stay connected professionally and personally to the country and over the past 25 years have spent at least 25% of my time in Mexico either on business or vacation. On the personal side, my wife and I have traveled extensively throughout the country, got married on the beach in Playa del Carmen, and currently live full-time in San Miguel de Allende.
Professionally, I have been able to be a part of some impactful work in the country in very different ways. I began my career by being a part of the leadership team that brought TAZOS (a plastic round shaped toy) to the country. Anyone who lived in Mexico during the late 1990s and early 2000s certainly would remember the love that most children in Mexico (and in fact throughout much of the world) had for these toys.
I then transitioned to the water industry – and over 15+ years worked in two companies in different global, Latin American, and Mexican leadership roles. In these companies, I led teams that worked with large industrial companies to significantly reduce water consumption in their operations – saving billions of gallons of water in many water-scarce parts of the country.
With Mexico News Daily, it’s time to make an impact in a very different way. My motivation for wanting to acquire Mexico News Daily is actually quite simple: I think that Mexico has incredible potential and is at an inflection point in its relationship with the rest of the world.
More expats than ever – digital nomads, younger families, retirees – are moving to Mexico in cities and towns as varied as Mexico City, Tulum, Merida, and San Miguel de Allende
More businesses from more countries than ever are recognizing that Mexico, especially in a post-Covid world, is a great option for a more balanced and reliable supply chain
More tourists than ever are coming to Mexico and beginning to discover more parts of the country previously undiscovered by most people
More investors than ever are seeing that Mexico – whether in commercial projects, residential real estate, or startups – has great potential
In my frequent conversations with people throughout the country, there is a clear sense that it is a unique and exciting time for Mexico.
Despite these positive trends, most media continue to paint a very simplistic and often extremely negative portrayal of the country and its people. Mexico is not perfect – no country is – but there are many stories to tell beyond those of violence and cartels. Our mission is to broaden our coverage to tell these stories and help increase Mexico’s profile as a premier destination for expats, tourists, businesses, and investors.
In addition to our news coverage of Mexican current events, we will publish additional relevant content on topics of interest to the foreign community in Mexico such as real estate, health care, wellness, tourism, business, culture, and lifestyle. We are investing in the team and technologies to bring you more complete information and a better reader experience.
Stay tuned…it’s going to be a great journey together!
Governor Alfredo Ramírez toured the damaged Community Hospital of Maruata, in Aquila, Michoacán, where an state of emergency has been declared. ARBedolla/Twitter
Michoacán and Colima bore the brunt of Monday’s powerful earthquake, with thousands of homes damaged in each Pacific coast state.
The epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude quake was near the Pacific coast in a part of Michoacán just south of the border with Colima.
More than 3,000 homes in Michoacán and over 2,000 in Colima were damaged, according to authorities. Other buildings, including schools, hospitals and churches, also sustained damage, as did some highways and bridges.
The worst affected municipality in Michoacán was Coahuayana, where over 1,100 homes were damaged and almost 400 completely collapsed. Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla visited the municipality on Tuesday.
A collapsed home in Michoacán is a testament to the effects of Monday’s 7.7 earthquake in the state, which saw over 3,000 homes damaged.
“In Coahuayana, we toured the municipal seat and surrounding areas affected by the earthquake, where we reiterated to residents our fraternal support to repair the damage and attend to their needs,” he wrote on Twitter.
Michoacán authorities approved an emergency declaration for that municipality as well as Coalcomán, Chinicuila and Aquila, all of which are on or near the Pacific coast and close to the border with Colima. The declaration will unlock government resources for repair and reconstruction efforts.
The quake didn’t claim any lives in Michoacán, but numerous injuries – mainly caused by falling objects – were reported.
Ramírez said that 26 people required medical treatment in Coahuayana, but only one person remains hospitalized after suffering injuries caused by a gas tank explosion.
In Manzanillo, Colima, Monday’s quake took part of the facade of a Coppel department store, pieces of which hit a woman who was killed.
“Michoacán is strong, united and standing,” the governor declared Tuesday, adding that land travel is possible throughout the state and that “all the affected areas are connected.”
In Colima, Governor Indira Vizcaíno said that some homes suffered only minor earthquake damage while others were rendered inhabitable by the powerful quake, the third to hit Mexico on September 19 in the past 37 years.
Vizcaíno toured the municipality of Tecomán on Tuesday to inspect damage and meet with victims. The municipal palace was among the buildings that sustained damage in Tecomán, which borders the Pacific Ocean and Michoacán.
“To Colima residents I say: you are not alone. The commitment we have to help from our trench is real, and we will continue working … for you,” she said in one Twitter post.
Monday’s earthquake was felt in several states and in Mexico City but only claimed two lives. Both fatalities occurred in Manzanillo, Colima, where a man died after the roof of a gym collapsed on top of him and a woman was killed when she was hit by a section of a Coppel department store facade that detached during the quake.
The woman, Sonia Sánchez, 61, was laid to rest on Tuesday. Her widower, fisherman Luis Manuel Gómez, said that their home was severely damaged and that he hoped to receive financial support from the state and federal governments to carry out repairs and pay for other expenses.
In addition to the two fatalities, close to 20 people in Colima sustained quake-related injuries.
Meanwhile, aftershocks of Monday’s powerful temblor continue to occur. Mexico’s National Seismological Service said on Twitter there had been 1,049 aftershocks as of 12 p.m. Wednesday, the largest of which was a 5.8 magnitude quake with an epicenter 72 kilometers south of Tecomán just after 3:15 a.m. Tuesday.
U.S. authorities intercepted 2.15 million illegal crossings in FY 2022. It was first fiscal year in which Border Patrol encountered more than 2 million attempts. CBP
United States authorities made over 2 million arrests of migrants near the U.S.-Mexico border in the 11 months to the end of August, the highest number ever recorded during a U.S. fiscal year (which doesn’t end until September 30).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows that just over 2.15 million migrants were detained along the United States southern land border between October 1, 2021 – the beginning of fiscal year 2022 (FY2022) – and August 31.
It is the first time that more than 2 million migrants have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border during a fiscal year. The FY 2022 figure includes repeat crossers, meaning that the total number of migrants who have been arrested is somewhat lower.
“The large number of expulsions [to Mexico rather than repatriation to countries further afield] during the pandemic has contributed to a higher-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border,” CBP said.
Migrants near the Mexico-U.S. border in Tijuana. The pandemic meant U.S. authorities deported some migrants to Mexico rather than their home country, leading to repeat crossing attempts. Barbara Sandoval/Unsplash
The Title 42 emergency public health policy put into place in the U.S. at the start of the pandemic allowed border authorities to send some migrants immediately back to Mexico, rather than to their home countries, which appeared to contribute to high numbers in FY 2022 and FY 2021 because migrants dumped near the U.S. border in Mexico then tried to cross into the U.S. again.
CBP is on track to make some 2.3 million arrests of migrants at the United States’ southern border by the end of September, exceeding the previous record set in FY 2021 by about 35%.
Another reason the U.S. has cited for the increased numbers in FY 2022 is a surge in migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.
“Failing communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are driving a new wave of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including the recent increase in encounters at the southwest U.S. border,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement Monday.
“… At the same time, the number of migrants entering from Mexico and northern Central America has decreased for the third consecutive month, as the Biden-Harris Administration works with our partners in the region to address the root causes of migration, facilitate repatriation, and take thousands of smugglers off the streets. More individuals encountered at the border without a legal basis to remain will be expelled or removed this year than any prior year,” Magnus added.
A record high of more than 1.3 million migrants has already been expelled from the United States during FY 2022 after being detained shortly after crossing into the country.
CBP data shows that more than 200,000 arrests have been made at the United States’ southwest border every month since March. The total for last month was 203,597, a 1.8% increase compared to July but a 4.7% decline compared to August 2021.
CBP said that the number of unique individuals encountered in August 2022 was 157,921 and that 35% of the total – 55,333 – were migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.
“Individuals from Mexico and northern Central America [mainly Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador] were down for the third month in a row and accounted for just 36% of unique encounters, marking a decline of 43% in unique encounters from those countries compared to August 2021,” CBP said.
Mexican migrants were arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border over 700,000 times in the past 11 months, meaning that they have accounted for about one-third of all CBP detentions so far in FY22.
While Mexico and the United States have cooperated on efforts to stem irregular migration, push factors including poverty and insecurity remain strong here and in many other Western Hemisphere countries, including those mentioned by the CBP.
