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Yucatán cracks open a new market for mamey with first-ever shipment to UK

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MND Staff
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mameys on tree
The sweet tropical fruit, native to Mesoamerica and cultivated in half of Mexico's states, has been exported to several countries across continental Europe in the past, but the United Kingdom has only now received its first shipment. (Shutterstock)

Mexico has exported mamey to the United Kingdom for the first time, opening a new European market for the sweet tropical fruit grown in southern Yucatán and elsewhere in Mexico.

This week’s inaugural shipment — about two tonnes from Huertas Magaña, an orchard in the municipality of Akil, Yucatán — marks the culmination of more than two years of work to meet Britain’s strict phytosanitary requirements. “It’s quite a complicated job,” said Julio Magaña, marketing manager of Huertas Magaña. “Part of it is getting there, which is what has been achieved so far, but now we need to start positioning this product.”

mamey producer
It took a couple of years for the crew at Yucatán mamey producer Huertas Magaña to negotiate and organize the first exportation of Mexican mameys to the United Kingdom, but the historic shipment finally happened last week. (Huertas Magaña)

The achievement secures Yucatán’s position as Mexico’s leading mamey producer and adds the U.K. to a growing list of destinations that includes France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

State officials hailed the milestone as part of a strategy to expand Yucatán’s agricultural reach.

“This shipment represents a historic step for Yucatecan agriculture,” said Roger Góngora García, the state’s deputy minister of investment, commerce and industry. “It is the result of years of work, meeting international standards, and demonstrating that the quality of our products can compete in the most demanding markets.”

Native to Mesoamerica, the mamey (or mamey sapote) thrives in Yucatán’s southern municipalities of Akil, Oxkutzcab, Tekax and Maní, where state officials say more than 5,000 producers cultivate roughly 3,000 hectares. The production season runs roughly from January to June, with peak output around January through March.

With rough brown skin and vivid orange flesh, the fruit is creamy and sweet when ripe but bruises easily, making long-haul shipping a delicate operation.

Exporters say packing houses have had to fine-tune temperatures, cushioning and box design so that each fruit can endure the journey, ripen on schedule and still arrive with unblemished pulp.

Studies describe Mexico as the world’s leading mamey producer, with about 15 states growing the fruit, and Yucatán ranks as the top-producing state by both planted area and yield, according to published data.

Huertas Magaña, a family-run orchard founded more than 50 years ago, markets its exports through an alliance with Sweet Seasons, which also distributes the fruit across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The U.K. shipment follows broader federal efforts, led by the Agriculture Ministry and its agrifood department, to expand export protocols for tropical fruits and strengthen the competitiveness of small producers in Mexico’s south.

With reports from La Jornada

Vehicle explodes on highway near Mexico City’s AIFA airport, killing 2

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MND Staff
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Vehicle that exploded near Mexico City's AIFA airport
The México state Attorney General's Office said on Monday that it had opened an investigation into the vehicle explosion. (X)

Two alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel were killed on Saturday when the vehicle they were traveling in exploded on the Mexico City-Pachuca highway in México state.

Video footage filmed from another vehicle shows that there was an explosion in the rear of a black SUV as it traveled on the Mexico City-Pachuca libre (non-toll) highway in the municipality of Tecámac. The vehicle subsequently veered out of control before coming to a halt on the opposite side of the highway.

The cause of the explosion has not been confirmed. Various media reports pointed to the apparent presence of an explosive device inside the vehicle. It was unclear who may have placed the device in the SUV, or what caused it to detonate.

The two victims were identified as Francisco Beltrán, known as “El Payín,” and Humberto Rangel Muñoz, who was reportedly driving the vehicle. The two men were from Sinaloa and were allegedly Sinaloa Cartel operators, according to media reports.

Rangel is believed to have picked up Beltrán at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) prior to their death. The airport is located in the municipality of Zumpango, which borders Tecámac.

The México state Attorney General’s Office said on Monday that it had opened an investigation into the vehicle explosion. Emergency services and security forces from all three levels of government responded to the incident, the newspaper El Financiero reported. Forensic experts collected evidence from the scene.

For well over a year, rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been engaged in a bloody conflict related to the alleged kidnapping in 2024 of cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera. Both men were detained after arriving at an airport in New Mexico on a private plane in July 2024. There was no immediate indication that the vehicle explosion last Saturday was linked to the dispute between the “Los Mayos” and “Los Chapitos” factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

With reports from El Financiero, La Jornada and UNO TV

World Cup: Sheinbaum meets with FIFA president following Mexico-Portugal ‘trial’ match

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MND Staff
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CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 30MARZO2026.- Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Presidenta de México, se reunió con Gianni Infantino, presidente de la FIFA, para seguir trabajando en la organización de la Copa del Mundo 2026, cuyo partido inaugural será en el Estadio Banorte.
The visit was the latest hurdle Mexico had to clear ahead of the World Cup, particularly after the violence that erupted in late February in and around Guadalajara. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino on Monday gave President Claudia Sheinbaum — and Mexico — a vote of confidence as preparations for this summer’s World Cup continue apace.

In a video posted to social media, Sheinbaum said, “Everything will go very well during the World Cup,” while Infantino asserted that the tournament would be “a fiesta, a big success for Mexico.” 

Infantino had been in Mexico since last week when he attended two World Cup qualifiers on Thursday — one in Monterrey, the other in Guadalajara — and spent the weekend meeting with Mexican Soccer Federation officials before visiting Sheinbaum at the National Palace.

The visit was the latest hurdle Mexico had to clear ahead of the World Cup, particularly after the violence that erupted in late February in and around Guadalajara.

Of equal concern was Saturday night’s international friendly between Mexico and Portugal (a game that ended in a scoreless draw), which served as the re-opening of the Estadio Azteca, which has been undergoing extensive renovations for nearly two years.

Slow construction progress prompted concerns that the stadium could be stripped of hosting duties, but Infantino expressed satisfaction in an Instagram post after the match.

“It was a pleasure to be at the Mexico City (Banorte) Stadium, a true cathedral of football, as it reopens following its modernization,” he said.

Over 80,000 people attended the Mexico-Portugal friendly at Banorte Stadium on Saturday in Mexico City. Another 10,000 watched from the Zócalo in the historic center.
Over 80,000 people attended the Mexico-Portugal friendly at Banorte Stadium on Saturday in Mexico City. Another 10,000 watched from the Zócalo in the historic center. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)

Although the game itself went off without a hitch, logistical issues were evident (the parking lots are unfinished, new public transport routes and terminals are not yet ready) at the iconic venue which is slated to become the first stadium in the world to host three separate World Cups.

Still, Sheinbaum praised the traffic control operation that “prevented congestion and facilitated access to the stadium for attendees.” 

Others were less sanguine, with the sports journal Esto describing the scene as chaotic. Some of the mobility problems were caused by protesters who accuse the government of gentrifying the neighborhood trying to block roads south of the stadium.

A large part of the credit for the “success” of the operation must go to the commuters who, Sheinbaum admitted, parked at some distance from the stadium and approached on foot, entering the grounds at controlled access points.

Sheinbaum also said she would talk with Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada about necessary improvements though she declined to elaborate.

The night was further marred by the death of a fan who fell from box seats in the upper deck before the game began.

“Although this was an isolated incident, security measures will be reviewed and reinforced,” Sheinbaum said.

Monday’s meeting demonstrated that Mexico is on track to carry out its hosting duties beginning with the inaugural World Cup match on June 11 when El Tri takes on South Africa in Estadio Azteca.

With reports from La Jornada, Excelsior, Infobae, Inside FIFA, Esto and ESPN

Mexico eases measles crisis with 17M vaccines: Tuesday’s mañanera recapped

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MND Staff
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Deputy Health Minister Clark reported that health authorities have administered 17.2 million vaccines against measles since Feb. 12.
Deputy Health Minister Clark reported that health authorities have administered 17.2 million vaccines against measles since Feb. 12. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 🚆 AIFA’s rail link hits another delay — The train connecting Buenavista in CDMX to the Felipe Ángeles airport has completed testing but is still awaiting certification, pushing the opening back by a few weeks. The line was originally meant to open under AMLO; Sheinbaum had promised it before Holy Week.

  • 🛢️ Gulf oil spill probe ongoing — Investigators are weighing whether natural seeps in the Cantarell Field or a Pemex infrastructure leak caused contamination along roughly 630km of Veracruz and Tabasco coastline. Sheinbaum says the natural seep hypothesis looks most likely.

  • 💉 Measles outbreak turning a corner — 17.2 million vaccines administered since mid-February, and Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Clark says transmission is now declining in all 32 states. New cases have been falling for four consecutive weeks.

Why today’s mañanera matters

Updates on three matters of great public interest were provided at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference.

Sheinbaum spoke about the opening of the long-awaited rail link to the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and an investigation into widespread oil contamination in the Gulf of Mexico, while Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Clark gave an update on the national measles situation.

Today’s mañanera served as a reminder why the federal government so highly values the direct, unfiltered communication to the Mexican people that a daily press conference affords. The presser allows the government to get key information to a significant audience of viewers and listeners on mediums including television, radio and social media. At the same time, the mañanera enables the government to largely set the national news agenda.

AIFA has now been open for 4 years, but passengers are still waiting for a rail link 

Sheinbaum told reporters that testing of the rail link between central Mexico City and AIFA in México state has been carried out but the related “certification” hasn’t been issued.

As a result, the opening of the train line will be delayed by a few weeks, she said.

“We want it to be certified so that it can operate,” Sheinbaum said.

The train line connecting northern Mexico City and the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport has suffered many delays, keeping transport to and from the airport long and costly. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

The president said earlier this year that the rail link from the Buenavista station to AIFA would open “before Holy Week.” The train line — an extension of the existing Mexico City suburban railroad — was originally expected to open during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-24), whose government built the airport.

Just over four years after AIFA opened, Sheinbaum presented an infographic that showed that more than 18 million passengers have used the airport since March 21, 2022. She reported that the top five states for flights to and from AIFA are Quintana Roo, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Yucatán and Oaxaca. The airport is a hub for the state-owned Mexicana airline, which began operations in late 2023.

Investigation into cause of oil spill continues 

Sheinbaum said that the government, in collaboration with scientists, is investigating whether natural oil seeps in the Cantarell Field of the Gulf of Mexico are the cause of the widespread oil contamination along the coasts of Veracruz and Tabasco.

She said that investigators are also considering the possibility that oil leaked from Pemex infrastructure.

“For this they have to inspect all the facilities,” Sheinbaum said.

“So far no leak has been reported,” she added.

oil on a beach in Veracruz
The government’s official hypothesis is that the oil spill resulted from a “natural” seep. Environmental experts and activists say the extent of the damage is too great for that to be true. (Cuartoscuro)

Sheinbaum said that the “hypothesis” that natural oil seeps caused the contamination appears most likely.

Mexico News Daily reported last Thursday that Veracruz Governor Rocio Nahle — a former energy minister with close ties to Pemex — blamed a privately owned vessel operating off the coast of Campeche for the oil spill, but an inspection revealed the ship in question was not responsible. Before she made that allegation, Nahle raised the possibility that a natural oil seep caused the Gulf of Mexico contamination.

On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum said that the government has done a lot of work to contain the contamination and clean up affected beaches.

“There are lot of people from Pemex working, a lot of people from the Ministry of the Navy, a lot of people from the Environment Ministry working to contain and clean up the contamination through different methods,” she said.

Last week, more than a dozen environmental organizations accused the government of covering up an oil spill that has despoiled some 630 kilometers of beaches along the Gulf coast.

Measles transmission on the decline 

Deputy Health Minister Clark reported that health authorities have administered 17.2 million vaccines against measles since Feb. 12.

“In seven weeks we reached this number and for that reason, the transmission of measles today is on the decline in each and every one of [Mexico’s] 32 federal entities,” he said.

“… This is very good news,” Clark said, adding that new cases have been declining for four weeks.

Mexico has faced a concerning outbreak of measles, with almost 15,000 confirmed cases reported across the country so far this year.

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

Mexico’s eagerly awaited supercomputing program launches

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MND Staff
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Beyond weather forecasting, the program ultimately aims to put Coatlicue's processing power to work across a range of sectors such as agriculture, energy, customs and anti-corruption. (ATDT)

Mexico’s ambitious supercomputing program — first announced last November — has officially gotten underway, with Mexican researchers now working at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) in Spain on a new climatological investigation protocol.

The Mexican Supercomputing Program, a collaboration between Mexico’s Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency (ATDT) and the BSC, was unveiled by President Claudia Sheinbaum late last year with the long-term goal of building Mexico’s own supercomputer: Coatlicue, named after the Aztec mother of the gods, which would be the largest in Latin America.

Mexico is less than 3 years away from having Latin America’s largest supercomputer

The program’s first phase is now active. Researchers from Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN) have begun working at BSC facilities to standardize Mexico’s meteorological data, gaining access to the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer — a machine capable of performing 314 quadrillion calculations per second — to process millions of data points that would otherwise take weeks to analyze.

Furthermore, BSC specialists will train Mexican scientists on how to build Coatlicue’s hardware and software in Mexico, thereby retaining Mexican talent. 

Beyond weather forecasting, the program ultimately aims to put Coatlicue’s processing power to work across a range of sectors such as agriculture, energy, customs and anti-corruption.

“Having Coatlicue means that for the first time, we will have the real ability to address problems that, in theory, we already know how to solve, but we have never had access to the technology needed to tackle them,” Jorge Luis Pérez Hernández, the National Coordinator of Digital Infrastructure at ATDT, told Wired magazine in an interview. 

With an estimated investment of 6 billion pesos,  Mexico’s supercomputer will reportedly be seven times bigger than Pegaso — Brazil’s largest supercomputer — and will be among the 10 largest in the world. 

Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2026 and could take up to two years. 

“Coatlicue will allow Mexico to fully embrace the use of Artificial Intelligence and data processing, which we currently lack the capacity to do because we don’t have sufficient computing power,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said last year. “It will help us tremendously, not only in the development of science and technology, but essentially in the development of the country.”  

The location for Coatlicue is yet to be determined. Mexican authorities are searching for a site with access to water and energy, low seismicity and high connectivity.

With reports from Wired, El Financiero and Agencia de Noticias Científicas

Manufacturing drives Mexico’s export surge in February, even as production stalls

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MND Staff
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TIJUANA BAJA CALIFORNIA, 01JUNIO2018.- Camiones de carga forman largas filas en la garita de Otay, la cual representa el tercer acceso comercial más importante entre México y Estados Unidos con un cruce de 800 mil camiones cada año. Este viernes México y Canadá se unieron en contra de los aranceles impuestos al acero y aluminio por el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump. FOTO: OMAR MARTÍNEZ /CUARTOSCURO.COM
More than 80% of Mexico's export earnings come from goods shipped to the United States. (Omar Martínez/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s export revenue surged almost 16% annually in February, the second-highest increase for any month in the past three years.

The national statistics agency INEGI reported on Friday that Mexico’s exports were worth US $56.85 billion last month, an increase of 15.8% compared to February 2025.

The newspaper El Economista reported that the annual increase was the second-highest in the past 37 months after a 17.2% jump last December.

The dollar total was the highest on record for February, but Mexico nevertheless recorded a $463 million trade deficit last month as the value of imports increased 20.8% annually to $57.31 billion.

The export figures contrast with January and February reports that manufacturing output is declining, as U.S. tariffs and weakening employment weigh on the sector.

Mexico’s manufacturing sector has slow start to 2026

According to INEGI, Mexico’s export revenue increased 12.2% annually in the first two months of 2026 to reach $104.85 billion. The outlay on imports increased 15.2% to $111.8 billion in the same period, leaving Mexico with a trade deficit of $6.94 billion.

More than 80% of Mexico’s export earnings come from goods shipped to the United States. The North American neighbors are each other’s largest trade partners.

Manufacturing exports increase 17%, despite drop in auto sector revenue 

INEGI’s data shows that Mexico’s manufacturing exports were worth $51.77 billion in February, a 17.1% increase compared to the same month of last year. That total represents 91% of Mexico’s total export earnings last month.

The value of non-automotive sector manufacturing exports increased 26.7% annually to $38.13 billion, while auto-sector export earnings fell 3.4% to $13.64 billion. U.S. tariffs on light and heavy vehicles made in Mexico have affected Mexico’s auto sector.

INEGI’s data also shows that Mexico’s agricultural export earnings fell 12.8% annually to $1.77 billion in February, while revenue from international oil sales declined 24.2% to $1.48 billion.

Revenue from mining sector exports soared 107.6% annually to $1.8 billion in February. El Economista reported that the value of mining sector exports exceeded revenue from international oil sales for a third consecutive month in February. The federal government is aiming to have more crude refined in Mexican refineries as it seeks to achieve self-sufficiency for fuel.

Mexico’s outlay on imported intermediate goods increases 27%

INEGI’s data on imports shows that Mexico spent $46.24 billion on intermediate goods in February, an increase of 27.2% compared to the same month last year. The outlay on intermediate goods — including raw materials and semi-finished products — accounted for over 80% of Mexico’s total spending on imports last month.

Mexico imported consumer goods worth $7.05 billion last month, a 5.2% annual increase, and spent $4.02 billion on foreign capital goods, a year-over-year decrease of 8.1%.

Of Mexico’s total outlay of $57.31 billion on imports in February, $53.81 billion was spent on non-oil goods, while $3.49 billion was spent on products derived from petroleum, including fuel for motor vehicles.

With reports from El Economista and La Jornada 

Skull found 25 years ago leads scientists to identify new species of ancient sea monster

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MND Staff
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rendering of species
WIth only a skull for information, paleontologists say the Prognathodon cipactli was perhaps 20 feet long with powerful, animal-devouring jaws, and roamed the sea that covered northeastern Mexico some 70 million years ago. (Pavel Galván/MUDE)

A skull dating back to the age of the dinosaurs — pulled from Cretaceous-era rock in northern Mexico 25 years ago — has led to the definition of a new species of marine reptile, scientists announced earlier this month.

The fossil from the newly named species, Prognathodon cipactli, was unveiled by a team of Mexican and British paleontologists as part of a study in the German geosciences journal Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie.

After 25 years, scientists discovered that the fossilized skull from Nuevo León’s Méndez Formation belonged to a mosasaur, a group of large, extinct marine reptiles related to modern lizards and snakes. (MUDE)

The unveiling occurred on March 17 at the Desert Museum in Saltillo, the capital of the northern state of Coahuila.

Estimated at 5 to 6 meters (16 to 20 feet) in length with powerful jaws, the prehistoric “sea monster” — so deemed by the Mexican newspaper El País — existed about 70 million years ago, when ocean waters covered much of what is now northeastern Mexico.

The fossilized skull belonged to a mosasaur, a group of large, extinct marine reptiles related to modern lizards and snakes that dominated the oceans near the end of the age of dinosaurs, researchers said.

It lived alongside dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous period (roughly 100.5 million to 66 million years ago) but is a separate branch of reptiles.

With deep jaws, robust teeth and a short snout, P. cipactli was adapted to crush and seize large, resistant prey such as big fish, other marine reptiles and shelled animals.

The skull was discovered in 2001 in outcrops of the Méndez Formation, a geologic area in northeastern Mexico composed mainly of marine sedimentary rocks (good for preserving fossils). It’s near Linares, Nuevo León.

Only the skull was recovered, and the original site has not been refound, but the fossil is considered relatively complete for a mosasaur skull.

Héctor Rivera-Sylva, chief of paleontology at the Desert Museum, said mosasaurs “dominated the world’s oceans, occupying the ecological role now held by large marine predators such as sharks or orcas.”

He added that the “relatively small size of the animal suggests that adaptations for capturing large prey evolved first, and only later did some species reach gigantic sizes.”

After being described for years as coming from an indeterminate mosasaur, the specimen was reexamined in the new study, which identified features firmly placing it in the genus Prognathodon, known for its powerful bite.

Its new species name has a strong cultural resonance. Cipactli refers to a primordial aquatic creature of Aztec mythology, a half‑reptile, half‑fish being that the gods split to create the Earth and the sky. It is also a Nahuatl word often translated as “crocodile.”

The discovery adds to a growing list of fossils from Coahuila and neighboring states, where land predators such as Xenovenator espinosai and marine hunters like Prognathodon cipactli point to a complex web of top-of-the-food-chain predators in sea and on shore.

With reports from El Universal, Infobae and El Sol de Laguna

New poll suggests 54% approve of Sheinbaum — her lowest rating yet

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MND Staff
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Sheinbaum walking among people
The highest approval ratings the Atlas Intel's LatAm Pulse poll has yielded for the current president since she was sworn in on Oct. 1, 2024, was 66.7% in October 2024 and 66.3% in April 2025. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

Amid heightened corruption and crime concerns, President Claudia Sheinbaum’s approval rating has sunk to its lowest level since she took office 18 months ago, according to the results of a poll conducted for Bloomberg News.

Conducted by Brazilian company AtlasIntel between March 20 and 24, the LatAm Pulse México survey yielded a 53.9% approval rating for Sheinbaum, down from 56% in February and 62.8% in January.

Sheinbaum presented a poll on Tuesday in which 56% of respondents said that the security situation has improved (52%) since she took office or remains "just as good" (4%) as before.
Sheinbaum sometimes takes the opportunity to present polls favorable to her government’s performance. Security is one area that can weigh heavily on the president’s approval. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)

Until February, Sheinbaum’s approval rating had remained above 60%, according to LatAm Pulse results. The highest approval ratings the poll has yielded for the current president since she was sworn in on Oct. 1, 2024, was 66.7% in October 2024 and 66.3% in April 2025.

The latest LatAm Pulse poll surveyed 3,263 people in Mexico using an online polling method called “random digital recruitment.” The sample size is larger than many other telephone and in-person polls that have consistently yielded an approval rating of around 70% or higher for Sheinbaum.

The president’s disapproval rating rose to 40.9% in March, according to LatAm Pulse, up from 36.1% in February and 30.5% in January.

What are Mexico’s most significant problems? 

Asked to identify Mexico’s most significant current problems, 55% of survey respondents nominated corruption, an increase of nine points compared to the previous LatAm Pulse poll.

Insecurity, crime and drug trafficking were the second most commonly cited problems, nominated by 49% of those polled. That percentage rose 10 points compared to February.

The next three most commonly cited problems were:

In its report on the poll results, Bloomberg noted that the 10-point increase in the percentage of respondents who identified insecurity and crime as a major problem came despite the killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera in a military operation in Jalisco on Feb. 22. The operation targeting the notorious cartel boss triggered a very violent and widespread response from the CJNG, a factor that fed into the security concerns of poll respondents. The death of “El Mencho” could possibly lead to an increase in violence in Jalisco and other parts of the country in the coming months.

The increase in the percentage of respondents who identified corruption as a significant concern in Mexico came a month after Transparency International published its latest Corruption Perceptions Index, which showed that Mexico had slid down the rankings to 141st out of 182 countries and territories.

Bloomberg reported that corruption concerns “have lingered at a time when members of Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party have been involved in a series of scandals.”

They include the arrest in February of the mayor of Tequila, Jalisco, and other municipal officials on extortion charges, and allegations that members of the Mexican Navy and others were involved in a fuel smuggling/tax evasion scheme known as huachicol fiscal.

Bloomberg wrote that Morena officials have “denied wrongdoing and Sheinbaum has moved to aggressively combat the practice” of huachicol fiscal.

Mexico News Daily identified the huachicol fiscal scandal as one of Mexico’s 10 biggest news and politics stories of 2025.

10 other poll results 

Below is a summary of 10 other results from the latest LatAm Pulse México survey.

  • Around four in 10 respondents (39.5%) believe that the Sheinbaum administration is doing an “excellent” or “good” job. Almost one-third of those polled (31.7%) said the government is doing a “bad” or “very bad” job, while 28.8% rated the federal administration’s performance as “fair.”
  • Almost half of those polled (47%) said that Mexico’s current economic situation is “bad,” while 26% said it is “good” and 26% said it is “normal.”
  • Almost eight in 10 respondents (78.1%) said they were in favor of the military operation that resulted in the death of “El Mencho.”
  • More than six in 10 respondents said they were either “concerned” (37.1%) or “extremely concerned” (25.3%) about “the violence unleashed in Mexico since the death of ‘El Mencho.'”
  • Just over four in 10 respondents (42.4%) said that military operations that result in the death of cartel leaders constitute the “most effective policy” to combat drug cartels. One-third of those polled said that such operations are effective only when implemented with other policies.
  • Forty-five per cent of respondents said that Security Minister Omar García Harfuch is doing an “excellent” or “good” job dealing with violence in Mexico. Only 38% said the same about Sheinbaum, even as homicide numbers trend down.
  • More than six in 10 respondents (62.4%) said that the United States’ provision of intelligence for the operation against “El Mencho” was a positive thing, compared to just 8.5% who had a negative view.
  • More than four in ten respondents (43.4%) said that Sheinbaum is doing an “excellent” or “good” job managing the relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. Three in ten of those polled said she is doing a “fair” job managing the relationship, while 22.7% said she is doing a “bad” or “very bad” job.
  • Just over five in 10 respondents (51.5%) said they wouldn’t support U.S. military action against cartels in Mexico “under any circumstance.” Just over a quarter of those polled (27.5%) said they would only support U.S. action in operations that are coordinated with Mexico. One in six respondents (16.7%) said they would support U.S. action against Mexican cartels, including a “prolonged deployment of troops” in Mexico. Sheinbaum is vehemently opposed to U.S. military action in Mexico.
  • Around four in ten respondents (42%) believe that it is “very probable” that there will be “revelations about large frauds or corruption schemes” in Mexico in the next six months. Similar percentages believe it’s “very probable” that robberies and muggings will increase in the next six months (40%), and that “attacks or murders related to criminal factions” will increase (39%). More than one in five respondents (21%) said that a coup is “very probable” in Mexico in the next six months, although 51% said that such an eventuality is not at all likely.

With reports from Bloomberg 

1 of 4 trapped miners pulled to safety in Sinaloa

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MND Staff
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rescue workers at mine site
The three remaining miners have been trapped 250 feet below the surface since Wednesday. (SSPC)

One of four miners trapped in a Sinaloa mine since Wednesday was pulled to safety just after midnight Sunday. 

With more than 300 rescuers on site in the municipality of El Rosario, the authorities are hopeful the other three miners can be rescued. 

rescue workers at ine site
After 100 hours of uninterrupted work by emergency crews, José Alejandro Cáustulo, 44, was pulled from the mine at 12:25 a.m. local time. (SSPC)

Shortly after a tailings dam collapsed, rescuers had located the four miners and were delivering water, food and oxygen to the men. At the time, officials said one of the miners was 100 meters below the surface, while the other three were about 250 meters farther inside the mine.

After 100 hours of uninterrupted work by emergency crews, José Alejandro Cáustulo, 44, was pulled from the mine at 12:25 a.m. local time. He was transported by helicopter to Mazatlán General Hospital for treatment. 

Twenty-five mine workers were excavating inside the mine on Wednesday when the collapse occurred at 2 p.m. The accident was reported to National Civil Protection (CNPC) authorities around noon Thursday after initial rescue efforts were unsuccessful. 

A unified command post immediately established a structural reinforcement plan aimed at ensuring the safety of the rescuers and the trapped miners.

“The efforts of more than 300 personnel and 42 units are working around the clock, organized in operational rotation periods,” the CNPC said in a statement, adding that rescue teams are operating with controlled ventilation and temperatures close to 25 degrees Celsius. “An alarm system remains active … to issue timely warnings of any risk and carry out immediate evacuations if the situation requires it.”

As the rescuers work to clear a path along 1.5 kilometers of ramps and tunnels to reach the deepest point of the mine, the internal structure will be reinforced with cement mixtures and expansive resins to guarantee the integrity of the escape route.

A mine official said tunnels deep inside the mine did not collapse, but escape was made difficult by muddy materials that made the ramps slick, trapping the men below the collapsed areas.

The Santa Fe gold mine is operated by Industrial Minera Sinaloa, located in the town of Chele, Sinaloa.

With reports from La Jornada, El Universal, El Financiero, Expansión and El País

25 tonnes of counterfeit World Cup-related products seized in CDMX

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MND Staff
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counterfeit goods seizure
Personnel from the Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property, the Security Ministry, and the city Attorney General's Office haul off 25 tonnes of counterfeit merchandise, mostly bogus athletic clothing with fake famous brand logos, worth an estimated US $850,000. (Axel Sánchez/Cuatrocuro.com)

Authorities seized in Mexico City’s Tepito neighborhood Thursday at least 25 tonnes of counterfeit products related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, valued at an estimated 15.3 million pesos (US $850,000). 

The action by the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), known as “Operation Cleanup,” forms part of the government’s crackdown on piracy, illicit trade and product smuggling. 

counterfeit clothing seized
Most of the confiscated property was sports-related, as the perpetrators clearly intended to cash in on the World Cup. (Axel Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)

On Thursday, 80 IMPI inspectors led the operation, seizing 80,973 counterfeit products of Asian origin branded with logos of such well-known brands as Adidas, Nike, Puma and Reebok, among others, from several warehouses on Aztecas Street in Tepito. 

“With a global event like the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching, we reiterate that IMPI, in coordination with the federal government and state authorities, will combat the sale of pirated or counterfeit goods head-on in order to protect intellectual property, safeguard consumers and guarantee fair competition for creative industries,” said IMPI’s head, Santiago Nieto Castillo, in an official statement. 

Operation Cleanup was launched by the government in 2024, led by the Economy Ministry, to combat piracy and the massive smuggling of illicit goods, including textiles, toys and electronics, primarily of Asian origin. 

The operation has resulted in historically high seizures of illicit goods, with the confiscation of merchandise valued at 935 million pesos ($52 million) in the 20 operations across 11 states that took place before the Tepito operation.

While some of the confiscated goods have been destroyed, roughly 96.8% of the products remain in IMPI warehouses for safekeeping while they are processed. 

IMPI is preparing additional measures for tackling the sale of counterfeit items ahead of the World Cup, including inspections, greater surveillance, crackdown operations and the seizure of illicit merchandise around participating stadiums and at Fanfests, to deliver a message of zero tolerance of the sale of illegal goods.

“This operation today in Tepito represents the beginning of a series of coordinated actions that the Mexican government will carry out within the framework of the FIFA World Cup,” said Nieto. 

“These actions will consist of permanent operations around the stadiums and at Fanfests to protect intellectual property rights, preserve the integrity of the event, and guarantee a safe and authentic experience for fans.”

With reports from Infobae and Puente Libre

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