"We're afraid of the night," says Mexican physicist Omar López-Cruz of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN). This could explain why stars can't be seen from Mexico City. (Jesus Toledo/Pexels)
For researcher Omar López-Cruz,Mexico City “is a peculiar place.” As an astronomer dedicated to observing the celestial vault, the Mexican capital “is completely off the radar,” because it’s impossible to view the night sky as it originally appeared. Light pollution makes it impossible. This is one reason why the stars cannot be seen in Mexico City.
The researcher insists that “there is so much artificial light” that even astronomical research cannot be carried out properly. It seems that billboards, corporate buildings and other luminous elements have suffocated the stars. And, although it may not seem like it, this is terrible news for the capital’s residents. In an interview with Mexico News Daily, López-Cruz explained why.
Mexico City drowned her stars in the night sky
Billboards, corporate skyscrapers and other sources of artificial lights have drowned Mexico City’s celestial vault. (Gobierno CDMX/Wikimedia Commons – Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication)
Regarding why the stars cannot be seen in Mexico City, López-Cruz has a clear answer. Capital dwellers cannot see the Milky Way “due to the enormous amount of lights inMexico City.” This phenomenon is known as light pollution, the result of the excessive and inefficient use of electricity to artificially light up the capital.
“It is only natural that we’re afraid of the night,” he explained. Evolutionarily, humans had to face their predators in the dark millions of years ago. Although “no one hunts us anymore,” the Mexican astronomer added, the fear of the dark still haunts us. “That’s why we get rid of the night.”
As a mathematical physicist who graduated from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico, López-Cruz earned his doctorate in astronomy from the University of Toronto (Canada). To explain the phenomenon of light pollution, he draws an analogy with the Sun. “When you go out during the day, you see that the Sun is illuminating the atmosphere.” Because the Sun’s intensity is so great, it’s impossible to see the stars during the day.
In Mexico City, in addition to an excess of suspended particles, “the sky lights up too much [at night].” This has made it impossible to see the stars as they naturally appeared in Mexico City. However, this isn’t the only place where this happens: the world’s major capitals also suffer from this problem. Those who live there are missing out on the natural brilliance of the celestial vault — and perhaps aren’t even aware of it.
Light pollution is a political issue in Mexico City
In April 2022, the Mexico City Congress approved the initiative to reform the Environmental Law for the Protection of the Earth in Mexico City. Specifically, according to anofficial statement, “on the matter of light pollution, proposed by legislator Jesús Sesma Suárez.” Mainly due to the environmental impacts it is causing in the Mexican capital:
It compromises bird migration
It disrupts the circadian cycle of the species that inhabit the city
It inhibits deep sleep for the capital’s residents
Suspended particles and excessive light pollution have made it impossible for capital dwellers to enjoy a clear, starry night. (Rafael Aparicio/Wikimedia Commons – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)
Since then, restoring natural darkness in the Mexican capital has become a legal issue. As if the inherent well-being that the natural night brings to human beings — and any living being that inhabits Mexico City — were not enough of an argument, the issue was raised before Congress as a political matter.
To support the initiative, a year after its publication, Sesma Suárez pointed out that light pollution in Mexico City prevents astronomical observation for scientific research. Furthermore, he noted that “energy expenditure” is inefficient, since “up to 50% of lighting is used in unwanted or unnecessary areas.” So far, no more recent updates have been made to this reform.
“You have never seen the Milky Way.”
“You belong to a generation,” López-Cruz laments, “that hasn’t seen the Milky Way.” Despite the celestial bodies being there, light pollution caused by humans has created an impenetrable veil, preventing us from seeing them in all their natural splendor.
Although the evolutionary path of our species has encouraged us to follow the cycle of night and day, the alterations we have made to the ecosystem have caused the natural darkness to disappear. Now, “there are people who haven’t experienced dark skies from childhood to adulthood,” the specialist notes. “Now, we have to travel very far to experience them.”
In Mexico, some uninhabited areas of the northern states of Baja California Sur, Coahuila and Chihuahua, the researcher shares, have become dark sky sanctuaries. Devoid of public lighting and population, they are the ideal place for unobstructed astronomical observation. Considering the heavy light pollution that haunts my convoluted hometown, Mexico City will perhaps continue to be blind to the Milky Way, its stars and the cosmos.
Thanks to a clever marketing campaign, the NFL is big business in Mexico, as a recent Day of the Dead themed event proved. (David Villavicencio)
If you ever hear the word “football” in Mexico, it’s more than likely in reference to “fútbol” — or soccer — and not to the other North American sport, which is instead known simply as “Americano.”
Traditionally, the National Football League (NFL) hasn’t merited the same kind of reverence among Mexican fans as it has for those in the United States. But that’s starting to shift in recent years, with the NFL’s increased efforts to reach a Latin American viewership culminating with the recent announcement of Bad Bunny — the Spanish-speaking pop star from Puerto Rico — as the Super Bowl’s coveted half-time performer.
The last time Mexico hosted an NFL game was nearly three years ago, when the Arizona Cardinals lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City. (Galo Cañas / Cuartoscuro)
In fact, Spanish-speaking fans are the NFL’s fastest growing audience, with Mexico ranking as the largest international market for the NFL, with a reported 39.5 million fans (Brazil ranks second, followed by Germany, China and the United Kingdom). The league’s growth across the border is largely due to strategic initiatives meant to engage Latinos — particularly Mexicans — through ongoing, creative marketing campaigns rooted in Mexican culture and fandom.
For starters, the league has played four games in Mexico City dating back to 2005, when the first NFL regular season game took place at Estadio Azteca. The 2005 game was the first ever NFL game played outside of the U.S., and drew a record-breaking 103,467 fanatics.
Surprisingly, the earliest records of the NFL’s attempts to play in Mexico go much further back to 1968 — for a pre-season clash that was scheduled between the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions that actually never came to be. In 2026, the NFL has declared they will return to Mexico City after the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
The NFL’s fan engagement in Mexico hasn’t only been limited to playing games on the field, though. Earlier this year, the league partnered with six Kentucky Fried Chicken locations throughout the nation to offer an NFL-themed dining experience (I visited the San Francisco 49ers site in the suburbs of Mexico City; many enthusiastic fans flocked there to take selfies with the museum-like memorabilia, which included a gigantic team helmet and a completely decorated building that was visible from the adjacent freeway).
Most recently, “Hasta La Muerte” — the NFL’s latest collaboration with Mexican fans and artists — once again highlighted the league’s interest in their neighbors to the south. The colorful and festive series included limited-edition clothing and merchandise (created by Mexican designer, Atrapaluz), custom NFL altars, catrinas, and a massive party in Mexico City hosted by NFL México. The campaign involved 10 NFL teams — the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, and San Francisco 49ers — each with their own legacy of Latino fandom.
The designs feature classic Dia de Muertos elements like cempasuchil petals, bright colors, papel picado, and calaveras. The graphic print style was inspired by Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe Posada, and plays on the idea of fandom as a tree of interconnected family members.
The work was led by an all-Mexican team — most notably, the designer himself, Atrapaluz, who was tasked with designing the artistic vision for 59 original items. Raised in the state of Mexico, he notes that the NFL’s popularity has grown signficantly in his lifetime, and that it is a way for families to connect.
By embracing Mexican culture, the NFL hopes it will attract more fans to the game. (David Villavicencio)
“The idea was to highlight how in a family-centered country like Mexico, the NFL and its teams are passed down from generation to generation, becoming a symbol of identity for many families, a tradition for getting together and a way to keep our loved ones alive when they’re gone,” he says.
It was all on display at a special event that took place in October at Fronton Bucarelli in Colonia Juarez for an estimated 2,000 attendees, including a range of influencers and local figures like Caro Diaz, Brayan Skabeche and Karen Tapia. Anna Laura Ramirez was one of the many Mexican NFL fans who attended the event. Ramirez flew into CDMX from Veracruz, and has been a fan of the Cardinals because of her father’s fandom of the team.The Arizona franchise (who are coincidentally also Atrapaluz’s favorite team) became the first NFL team to play a regular season game in Mexico in 2005, making them a popular choice among today’s Mexican fans.
Each of the ten NFL teams in attendance collaborated with fans to make unique ofrendas, where fans could add photos of family members, friends, and even former players who are no longer living.
“Although a lot of brands are now creating products around Día de Muertos, we tried our best to stay true to our reasons for making this,” says Atrapaluz. “To represent our tradition in the purest and most sincere and respectful way possible, [to share] our stories and give NFL fans in Mexico a way to celebrate and remember their loved ones who loved the game and created a legacy.”
The NFL shows no signs of switching up their playbook. If anything, they’ve continually increased their offensive surge into the Latin American market, with more and more games being hosted not only in Mexico, but in Brazil. They’re now even blitzing Spanish-speaking audiences outside of the American continents, too, with a 2025 regular season game between the Dolphins and Washington Commanders scheduled for Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on November 16.
Alan Chazaro is the author of “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album,” “Piñata Theory” and “Notes From the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and a former Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow at the University of San Francisco. His writing can be found in GQ, NPR, The Guardian, L.A. Times and more. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he is currently based in Veracruz.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, which is hosting COP30, which opened Monday in the Amazonian city of Belém. (UNFCCC)
As COP30 opens Monday in the Brazilian city of Belém, Mexico’s national climate plan still faces criticism, but there is also reason to hope that President Claudia Sheinbaum will continue to strengthen Mexico’s climate change commitments at this year’s conference. She has much to undo.
In 2022, the government of former president Manuel Andrés López Obrador — frequently referred to as AMLO — weakened Mexico’s original 2020 commitments to environmental institutions and infrastructures while boosting fossil fuels usage, a breach of both Mexican law and the Paris Agreement.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the COP30 delegates at the opening plenary Monday.
Critics also cried foul on Mexico’s current National Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitment, which they say gives the impression of climate change ambition but is an illusion. They have accused the former administration of manipulating the math to make Mexico’s NDCs appear more effective than they are in reality.
Mexico’s behavior at COP30 is likely to reveal where Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum — who has a background as a climate scientist — is going long-term in addressing global climate change. She already took some steps at COP29 to strengthen Mexico’s commitments, so there is reason to believe she may authorize further steps forward.
Sheinbaum, however, is not one of the world leaders attending COP30. Like last year, she has sent her Environment Minister, Alicia Bárcena.
What is COP?
The annual Conference of the Parties (COP) is an international summit organized by the United Nations, involving the 198 parties (mostly nation-states) that agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 1992 international treaty that was the foundation for subsequent international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol.
The UNFCCC’s primary objectives are the global stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions and finding sustainable solutions to prevent the consequences of human-induced global warming.
Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva has called COP30 “the COP of implementation.” (UNFCCC)
The annual COP summit — attended each year by world leaders, politicians, U.N. delegates, scientists and activists — is where the UNFCCC’s signatory parties negotiate new climate-change agreements and also hold each other accountable to fulfilling past commitments.
This year’s conference is when the parties, including Mexico, are expected to present their updated national climate plans for 2035 under the 2015 Paris Agreement, which committed parties to a goal of collectively limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius — and ideally 1.5 C.
Mexico was one of many countries to miss the formal deadline to submit its climate plan in February.
What did countries pledge at COP29?
At COP29, which took place in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, the parties agreed to the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), allocating an annual collective US $300 billion in international climate financing to developing countries by 2035.
The purpose of this financing is to assist developing countries reach their global climate goals and help them implement strategies to protect from floods, storms and rising temperatures. The financing will also help lower-income countries fund the switch to clean energy and recover from disasters and losses caused by climate change.
President of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev of Azerbaijan, reminds COP30 delegates of their previous climate change commitments via the New Collective Qualified Goals agreement, made at COP29. (UNFCCC)
The NCQG is to be implemented through these methods:
Bilateral finance, a type of corporate lending that involves a single lender and a single borrower.
Multilateral finance, which is corporate lending involving a single borrower but multiple lenders.
Private finance mobilized by the public sector — essentially, incentives to invest offered to private companies by a government.
In signing on to the NCQG, contributing nations agreed to the possibility of “alternative sources,” such as international carbon taxes or solidarity levies, that is generating funding by imposing taxes on business sectors that benefit from globalization and generate significant environmental or social costs.
While marking a threefold increase in money from the previous year, many observers widely regarded the agreement reached at COP29 — known as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) — as falling far short of the figure required for the clean-energy sector’s growth and the effective and sustainable protection of people and the environment. Experts calculated this at US $1.3 trillion by 2035 — an amount that COP29 did set as a looser, less binding goal.
Many have also deemed the scaling up of private investment critical if we are to close the $1 trillion gap between the agreed-upon targets and the recommended ones.
AMLO’s numbers game
As stated above, Mexico’s current climate plan faces criticism, thanks to the actions of the previous government. To make its emission reduction percentage target appear higher, López Obrador’s government changed the emissions baseline. This, said activists, gave the impression that Mexico’s emission reduction percentage target was actually higher than it was, when in fact, net emissions would rise.
Mexico’s former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was a vocal proponent of fossil fuel use in Mexico, has been accused of fudging Mexico’s numbers on its climate commitments. (Government of Mexico)
Beyond this, NGOs such as Oxfam Mexico have warned of Mexico’s persistent disparity between the authorization of particular laws on climate and the budget Mexico says it’s prepared to commit to the cause. And the Sustainable Finance Index has documented that only 0.47% of the country’s budget goes to climate mitigation.
While Mexico’s calls for humanistic climate change policies were received well enough at COP29, there is currently discussion among observers that President Sheinbaum needs to prove her commitment to climate change with real figures and substantive action, not just words.
The Escazú Agreement
One area in which Mexico could do that is by pushing for the ratification of the Escazú Agreement, a landmark treaty that stemmed from the Rio+20 Conference, pioneering “access to justice” and the legal protection of environmental defenders.
According to the NGO Global Witness, at least 196 environmental activists were killed in 2023 alone, with 85% of those in Latin America. Eighteen of those were in Mexico. The reality is that this number is likely far higher as many attacks on environmental activists fly under the radar or go unpunished.
The Agreement’s ratification could ensure more safety and justice for land defenders in Mexico and across the Americas. Mexico supporting the Escazú Agreement at COP30 would be a way for Sheinbaum to send a powerful statement in support of Mexico’s environmental activists and show that addressing climate change is important to her administration.
Many Indigenous environmental activists are in attendance at COP23, representing communities that are highly impacted by climate change. (UNFCCC)
Preparations for COP30
In August, representatives from 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries attended a preparatory meeting for COP30, organized by the Mexican government and the COP30 president, André Corrêa do Lago. The goal of the meeting, dubbed The Latin American and Caribbean Ministers’ Meeting for Implementation of Regional Climate Action, was to fortify regional coordination at COP30 in the face of the structural and historical climate inequalities faced by the region’s countries.
The notion of climate inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean is nothing new. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the region accounts for just 11.3% of greenhouse gas emissions, yet 75% of its nations are facing the brunt of more extreme and frequent climate events. However, the region still needs to increase its expenditures significantly to meet its climate commitments.
“Faced with the multiple crises we are experiencing, it is more important than ever to engage in dialogue on our common challenges,” Bárcena said at this meeting, which ended with a declaration by the parties that could bode well for Mexico’s performance at COP30.
In that declaration, the countries expressed support for the Paris Agreement’s NDCs and the need to transition away from nonrenewable energies. The declaration also highlighted the importance of respecting and empowering Indigenous peoples, local communities and Afro-descendants, as well as supporting climate-affected human rights.
In addition to acknowledging the parties’ agreement that climate change action must address economic, social and environmental inequalities, Sheinbaum identified a fourth pillar necessary for sustainable development: “the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.”
In August, Sheinbaum, center, hosted a meeting of environmental ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean to get on the same page for COP30. (Government of Mexico)
What can we expect at COP30?
As laid out by the U.N., COP30 will focus on:
The efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to at least 1.5 C.
The presentation of new national action plans (NDCs).
The progress on the monetary pledges made at COP29.
In regard to the NCQG, COP30 will see the delegates finalize the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap to strategize how the finance goal will be mobilized and monitored. Yet, what seems to be clear is the need for accountability and true commitment to cover the costs of loss and damage due to climate change in developing countries.
Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, has designated COP30 as “the COP of implementation.” Promises of budgets, policies and protection now need to be enacted on the ground.
Mexico had no official space at COP29, but this year, delegates are changing that: Mexico will have a 200-square-meter National Pavilion at the conference, with a press room to boost media coverage on sustainability. Climate investment initiatives and opportunities will be at the forefront: Mexico’s government has already promised over $32 billion of public investment in renewable energy infrastructure.
Mexico’s Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena, left, at COP30 with Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, center. (UNFCC)
A promising start, but while Mexico has also recently made progress on its National Restoration Plan — 30% of Mexico’s land is currently degraded — Climate Action Tracker still terms Mexico’s overall climate progress as “critically insufficient.”
COP30 will hopefully encourage Mexico to increase its financial commitment to its climate goals across public and private sectors — and strengthen its participatory environmental governance with non-state players and Indigenous communities. And based on Sheinbaum and Barcena’s statements at the regional meeting in August and since, there’s hope to be had that Mexico is turning toward a more environmentally proactive course.
But phasing out fossil fuels by 2050, scaling up climate finance for people and the environment and implementing strategies to build a more climate-resilient society remain critical goals for Mexico. These next 12 days of COP30 are likely to tell the world whether Mexico plans to truly step up to the challenges of climate change or continue to rely on numbers games.
Jalisco is already a leading center of chip design and production, and the new park is expected to help move Mexico to a global leadership position in the semiconductor industry. (@PabloLemusN/X)
Jalisco plans to develop the first state-owned semiconductor design park in Latin America to expand Mexico’s semiconductor production capacity, Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro announced on Thursday.
The project is in line with the national Kutsari project, a government initiative aiming to coordinate the efforts of the public and private sector, along with academia, to strengthen Mexican semiconductor design and production.
Part of the nation’s top scientific academy, the Cinvestav center in the Guadalajara metropolitan area will be a key element in the development of the Kutsari project to strengthen the semiconductor industry in Mexico. (@PabloLemusN/X)
“Jalisco is home to 70% of the national semiconductor industry, which is why today we celebrate partnering with Cinvestav [the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute], one of the country’s most renowned scientific institutions, to establish the Jalisco State Semiconductor Park, which will also host the federal Kutsari project,” the state government wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
The state government and Cinvestav signed an agreement to develop the park in Mexico’s Bajío region over two phases.
The first phase includes an 18-million-peso (US $979,000) investment to adapt the second floor at the existing Cinvestav facilities in Zapopan, Jalisco, by March 2026.
The second phase is the 50-million-peso (US $2.7 million) development of a permanent 4,600-square-meter design park within the same complex.
“The national Cinvestav will be in charge of running the Kutsari project… through the Cinvestav Guadalajara campus,” Jalisco state Economic Development Minister Cindy Blanco Ochoa said. “What we, as the State Semiconductor Design Park… are going to do is to boost the industry because this curriculum and these courses are created by industry, taught by academia and facilitated by the government.”
In February, President Claudia Sheinbaum presented the new semiconductor initiative that plans to make Mexico’s industry a key player in the global chips industry.
Mexico currently imports more than US $20 billion worth of integrated circuits annually, and the national Kutsari project aims to reduce the dependency on semiconductor imports while strengthening Mexico’s participation in the global chips supply chain.
By 2030, the Jalisco park is expected to support the specialization of 3,000 semiconductor design engineers, the creation of 10 Jalisco-based startups dedicated to semiconductor design, and to triple foreign direct investment.
Jalisco already plays a major role in the design stage for semiconductors and is home to around eight companies dedicated to semiconductor manufacturing.
The government hopes the park will strengthen Mexico’s reputation as a global semiconductor power through the focus on four strategic pillars: creating specialized talent, fostering new businesses, attracting more private investment and developing a specialized curriculum in design.
The official 2026 FIFA World Cup mascots — Maple the Moose (Canada), Zayu the Jaguar (Mexico) and Clutch the Bald Eagle (USA) — joined Mexico's president and other officials at a formal presentation of the event on Monday. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
In lieu of a regular press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum and other federal officials gave a presentation on Monday morning about the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Mexico will co-host with the United States and Canada.
The presentation, held outdoors at the Los Pinos Cultural Complex on a cold Mexico City morning, had been scheduled for last Monday, but was postponed due to the Nov. 1 murder of the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán.
⚽️ Jugadoras y jugadores de futbol en estilo libre de la FIFA México realizaron una exhibición durante la presentación de la Copa Mundial FIFA 2026, encabezado por la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum
Sheinbaum noted that it will be the third time that Mexico hosts a FIFA men’s World Cup, known as la Copa Mundial, or simply “la mundial,” in Spanish. Mexico previously hosted the event in 1970 and 1986, and will co-host the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031.
“This mundial is shared with the United States and Canada, and it represents a very special moment for our country,” Sheinbaum said.
She highlighted that the opening ceremony of the World Cup will be held in Mexico City for the third time ahead of the first match of the tournament at the Estadio Azteca on June 11, 2026.
The president noted that a total of 13 matches will be played in Mexico, including all of the Mexican team’s group matches. In addition to “El Azteca” in the capital, stadiums in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Monterrey, Nuevo León will also host matches in 2026.
Sheinbaum said that 5.5 million football fans will come to Mexico for the World Cup.
“[It will be] a very special time with a very significant economic spillover,” said the president, who declared that “Mexico is ready” to host the event.
‘A new opportunity to show the world the greatness of Mexico’
Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez, one of the federal officials closely involved in the organization of the World Cup in Mexico, highlighted that the commencement of the quadrennial event is just 213 days away.
“This is a new opportunity to show the world the greatness of Mexico, its pre-Columbian richness,” she said before noting that the Mesoamerican ballgame has been placed here “since ancestral times.”
When it comes to football (or soccer if you prefer), “we carry it in our roots,” Rodríguez said.
‘We share the same goal: to organize the best World Cup ever’
The federal government’s World Cup coordinator, Gabriela Cuevas Barron, highlighted that Mexico will become the first country to host la mundial on three separate occasions.
Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez (center), FIFA’s executive director in Mexico Jurgen Mainka Ruiz (left) and Gabriela Cuevas Barron (back right) joined the president for the FIFA-focused mañanera on Monday held at Los Pinos. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
“Three countries — Mexico, the United States and Canada, [and] we share the same goal: to organize the best World Cup ever,” she said.
“In Mexico, it’s possible. We have the passion and experience, our heart and professionalism set us apart,” Cuevas said.
She said that Mexican authorities from all three levels of government are drawing up a “comprehensive” security plan for the World Cup.
“Our objective is to guarantee that this event is carried out in a safe environment for everyone,” Cuevas said.
FIFA’s Mexico chief claims 2026 World Cup will be ‘most ambitious event in the history of humanity’
Jurgen Mainka Ruiz, FIFA’s executive director in Mexico, thanked Sheinbaum on behalf of FIFA president Giovanni Infantino for her “leadership and daily commitment” to making the 2026 World Cup “a truly shared success.”
“As the general director of FIFA’s Mexico office, but also as a Mexican, I am very excited to be able to report that we’re taking firm steps toward delivering a historic project that will be remembered for many years,” he said.
“This edition of the FIFA World Cup will be the most ambitious event in the history of humanity. We’re talking about 104 matches in 39 days, 48 national teams,” said Mainka Ruiz.
Whether the 2026 mundial will actually be “the most ambitious event” in human history is perhaps debatable, but it will at least be the first World Cup to feature 48 teams, 16 more than the number that participated in recent editions.
Mainka Ruiz said that 28 teams have already qualified. That number includes the Mexican team, known as “El Tri,” which qualified automatically as one of the three hosts of next year’s event.
Mainka Ruiz: FIFA is ‘very confident’ in Mexico’s security plans
Asked whether FIFA has any concerns about hosting World Cup matches in Mexico due to the insecurity that plagues the country, Mainka Ruiz first noted that the football federation’s Mexico office has been collaborating with Mexican authorities on “the issue of security” for three years.
“We’re very certain, very confident that the protocols and all the plans that are being implemented for the World Cup will provide the security framework [needed] for all the fans, all the teams and all the referees in 2026,” he said.
Sheinbaum: Ticket prices are a matter for FIFA
A reporter noted that the government is speaking a lot about an “inclusive World Cup,” but asserted that the prices of tickets — in the hundreds or even thousands of US dollars — “are not at all inclusive.”
#EnLaMañanera | “La organización del Mundial es de la FIFA. La decisión del precio de los boletos es de la FIFA, no es algo en lo que intervenga ningún gobierno”, explicó Claudia Sheinbaum, ante el cuestionamiento sobre el alto costo de boletos para el Mundial 2026 pic.twitter.com/MxFqZjcQ9h
A person who earns the minimum wage, who lives day-to-day, who gets up at four in the morning to go to work, has no way of paying the price of a ticket, the reporter said.
In response, Sheinbaum emphasized that FIFA sets ticket prices and the government of Mexico and other governments have no power to “intervene.”
“What are we doing so that people can … [watch the matches]? … What we’re doing is working with FIFA so that there can be a lot of [public] spaces in the three [host] cities and in other cities so that people can watch the matches [on large screens],” said the president, who acknowledged that not all matches will be shown on free-to-air television.
As part of the government’s efforts to host a mundial that is as inclusive as possible, Sheinbaum said that her administration is also planning various World Cup-related “activities” in which ordinary citizens will have the opportunity to participate.
Sheinbaum reiterates that she will give away her World Cup ticket
“I’m going to give my ticket to a girl, to a young lady who … [wouldn’t] have the opportunity to go and see the opening ceremony [and match] and who is a football lover,” she said.
‘When you step onto the field, think of the great country you represent’
Asked what her message was for the Javier Aguirre-managed Mexican team ahead of next year’s World Cup, Sheinbaum first wished El Tri “a lot of luck” at the tournament.
“And secondly, when you step onto the field think of the great country you represent,” she said.
“Mexico is an extraordinary country with exceptional people. Every time they step onto the field, they should think of that,” Sheinbaum said.
El Tri is currently ranked as the world’s 14th best team. Spain, winner of the 2010 World Cup, is ranked No. 1 followed by Argentina, champions in 2022, and France, which prevailed at the 2018 mundial in Russia.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
Juan Martín Díaz Martínez, wrapped in the Tricolor, stands on the podium along with the other high finishers in the kneel division of the World Para-Surfing Championships. (Facebook)
The 2025 Para-Surfing World Championships were held in Oceanside, California, last week, and the Mexican flag had a place on the podium thanks to Juan Martín Díaz Martínez taking a bronze in the men’s kneel division.
Díaz, a seasoned surfer from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, scored 9.20 points in the final on Friday to secure third place.
Martyn Shutama Diaz Martinez (his Facebook name that he prefers to go by) is captured in action at the end of a ride during the Championships. (Facebook)
“It was a very strategic final, but we are happy with this medal,” Díaz said following Mexico’s only top-three finish in the six-day event.
The gold medal went to Wales’ Llywelyn Williams, who dominated the kneel class with a 13.67, earning his fourth consecutive world crown. Brazil’s Dijackson Santos took silver.
Díaz’s achievement, including a strong showing in the semifinals, was especially hard-fought, as he edged out talented Frenchman Maxime Cabanne.
The championship drew 137 para surfers from 24 countries, reinforcing the sport’s push for Paralympic inclusion, according to the International Surfing Association (ISA).
With a total of 12 medals, France became the first nation ever to claim three consecutive team championships.
Díaz, 31, has a left-leg amputation, allowing him to compete in para events, but a press release from Mexico’s National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (Conade) lauding his bronze made no mention of how or when he lost his leg.
A report last year in the newspaper Noreste said he lost the leg after suffering a motorcycle accident at age 16, and that he has spent more than a decade practicing kneel surfing.
“I used to surf, but it seems that after the accident … I started to delve deeper,” he told the newspaper. “I met new friends and [heard] impactful life stories that helped my emotional development and willpower to keep going.”
According to his Facebook page, he is a digital creator as well as the founding owner of Blue Therapy Surf, a program in Mazatlán that integrates surfing, meditation, environmental conservation and leadership through surf camps and lessons.
It also says he teaches at Smart Fit México and studied for a bachelor’s degree in physical education and sport at Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa.
During a week of shifting swells at the Oceanside Pier, Díaz maintained his poise, tackling the often unpredictable break with precision and resilience.
“What we saw this week in Oceanside was truly special,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “These athletes keep pushing the sport to new heights, and the world is watching.”
Jalisco is already a leading center of chip design and production, and the new park is expected to help move Mexico to a global leadership poistion in the semiconductor industry. (@SIAAmerica/X)
A central aim of the plan is for North America to reduce its reliance on Asia for semiconductors, vital components in a vast range of products, including computers, smartphones, electric vehicles and advanced medical devices.
The framework of the USMCA free trade pact — which will be reviewed by its three signatories in 2026 — will provide crucial support for that objective.
In that context, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), a Washington, D.C.-based trade and lobbying group, wrote to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to comment on “specific USMCA provisions of interest to the semiconductor industry,” including the pact’s rules of origin.
In a Nov. 3 letter addressed to Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere Daniel Watson, the SIA wrote that “the USMCA is vital to the success of the U.S. semiconductor industry,” and noted that “Canada and Mexico are close U.S. trading partners in semiconductors,” with each playing “a distinct but important role in North America’s semiconductor supply chain.”
“The USMCA supports a competitive and resilient North American semiconductor supply chain that is tightly linked throughout the production process, with subcomponents and semiconductors crossing between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico before being integrated into a wide range of downstream industries such as automotive, industrial manufacturing, telecommunications and consumer electronics,” the association said.
SIA: Rules of origin should encourage investment in North American semiconductor supply chains
In order for North America to become the world’s top chip-producing region, significant investment in the semiconductor sector will be required, including from major Asian companies such as Taiwan’s Foxconn.
Third quarter global #semiconductor sales were $208.4 billion, an increase of 15.8% compared to the second quarter of 2025. September 2025 global sales were $69.5 billion—an increase of 25.1% compared to September 2024. Market growth was driven by increased demand across a range… pic.twitter.com/4aEKBKkcf3
When launching the joint semiconductor action plan in October 2023, then U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken noted that among the aims of the initiative were “to accelerate” semiconductor sector integration between the United States and Mexico and “to scale our efforts to attract new investment.”
For its part, the SIA urged the USTR to “ensure the USMCA’s rules of origin strengthen U.S. semiconductor competitiveness, encourage greater investment in North American supply chains, and account for differences in existing and planned supply chain operations to produce different types of semiconductors.”
“Tailored rules of origin can play an important role in encouraging the integration of U.S. semiconductors into various finished goods manufactured in North America,” the association said.
The SIA said that, “should USTR consider any potential changes to rules of origin and related calculations during the [USMCA] review process” in 2026, “we strongly recommend U.S. negotiators hold meaningful consultations with strategic sectors, including the semiconductor industry.”
With regard to “any potential changes,” the SIA said that the “negotiating parties should ensure a realistic timeline for implementation and compliance by North American companies.”
Asian semiconductor companies will invest in North America if it makes economic sense for them to do so. A major incentive to manufacturing in the region is preferential access and proximity to the United States, the world’s largest economy and a leader in technological innovation, including AI, which ensures a huge demand for semiconductors.
Within North America, Mexico can be a particularly advantageous place to manufacture due to factors including its privileged access to the United States market, via the USMCA, and the affordability of labor costs.
However, that privileged access has been undermined to some extent this year by the Trump administration, which has imposed tariffs on a range of imports from Mexico.
The SIA indicated that it would not like to see any U.S. duties on semiconductors and related components that are made in North America and which comply with the USMCA.
“As the U.S. government considers potential tariff actions, we hope the USMCA review process ensures the U.S. semiconductor industry retains its pole position in the race to be the most globally competitive. Given the far-reaching consequences of imposing tariffs on semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and related parts and components, maintaining a straightforward tariff regime for semiconductors and related technologies, including appropriate treatment of products that are compliant under USMCA, is crucially important,” the association said.
In response to the USTR’s call for public comment on the USMCA ahead of its scheduled review in 2026, the SIA also referred to a range of other “provisions of interest” in the trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020.
With regard to “economic security,” the association encouraged the Trump administration “to align with the governments of Canada and Mexico on … measures to address content from countries of concern.”
“… We encourage the Administration to work with Canada and Mexico to align enforcement and compliance rules that strengthen regional economic security. For example, continued customs cooperation can help combat diversion, prevent trade in stolen IP [intellectual property], and facilitate goods shipments,” the SIA said.
“… Harmonization is needed across North America to avoid costly and diverging economic security regulations and practices. We applaud the Canadian government’s efforts to strengthen its foreign investment screening mechanism in recent years,” the association said, adding that “we hope the U.S. government can continue to make progress in working with the Mexican government on similar foreign investment screening measures.”
In late 2023, Mexico and the United States agreed to cooperate on foreign investment screening as a measure to better protect the national security of both countries. The plan appeared to be motivated to a large degree by a desire to stop problematic Chinese investment in Mexico, which U.S. President Donald Trump and other politicians in the U.S. and Canada have expressed concern about.
Among other comments, the SIA urged the USTR to “preserve the integrity of Chapter 19 (Digital Trade) [of the USMCA] to support North American innovation and competitiveness.”
“The semiconductor supply chain relies on open and secure data flows across international borders, as virtually every step in the value chain involves the electronic transmission of data,” the association said.
Telefónica and its brand Movistar have publicized the "Transform & Grow" strategic plan, which promises a focus on Spain, Germany and the UK — and a departure from Latin America. (Shutterstock)
Spanish telecom Telefónica, which serves 23 million customers in Mexico under the Movistar brand, will withdraw from the Mexican market to focus on its European business.
The departure doubles down on Telefónica’s strategic plan, known as Transform & Grow, which focuses on strengthening operations in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom between 2026 and 2030.
Telefónica CEO Marc Murtra says his company is also leaving Chile, Venezuela and Colombia, and has already left Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador. (Javier Matuk/X)
Telefónica also plans to exit the Chile and Venezuela markets and is in “an advanced state of exiting” Colombia, according to the firm’s CEO Marc Murtra. It has already sold its operations in Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador.
“We are going to leave Latin America,” Murtrasaid during a conference in which he presented Telefónica’s financial results.
No specific exit date has been stated for the three remaining Latin American countries, including Mexico, so as not to interfere with negotiations with potential buyers, according to Murtra.
The revenue of Telefónica’s Latin America unit has fallen in recent quarters, with a 3.6% decrease in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 compared to the same period last year. However, Telefónica Movistar México’s Q3 results were positive, as service revenues grew 2.7%.
While Telefónica’s Movistar has a strong user base in Mexico, its market share has fallen in recent years due to the historical dominance of other companies, as well as the growing popularity of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
At the end of Q3 of 2024, Mexico’s mobile market consisted of 148.3 million lines, 56.18% of which belonged to Telcel, 15% to AT&T and 14.57% to Telefónica. Meanwhile, MVNOs contributed 14.22% of the market share.
It is currently unclear what will happen to the millions of Movistar users once the company leaves the Mexican market.
Analysts, however, expect that Movistar Mexico users will be automatically transferred to Virgin Mobile’s network, allowing them to keep their phone number and SIM card, as has been the case with other Latin American markets where Telefónica has withdrawn services.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot (right) and Mexican Navy Minister Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles display the bilateral agreement to cooperate in combating transnational maritime organized crime. (@SEMAR_mx/X)
Navy Minister Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles announced Friday an alliance between Mexico and France to confront transnational criminal organizations.
The accords were finalized during a meeting at the National Palace between the Mexican and French presidents, accompanied by their respective delegations. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Morales and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot signed a letter of intent with the aim of strengthening cooperation and joint capabilities in maritime security. Roland Lescure, France’s Economy Minister, also signed the document.
During a press conference alongside Sheinbaum in the National Palace, Macron said the fight against drug traffickers “unites all of us.”
“We are preparing greater cooperation on customs and security matters … but the sovereignty of each country must be absolutely respected,” he said.
Barrot said France will mobilize its diplomatic network in Latin America against drug trafficking, tripling its intervention resources while also increasing the number of specialized personnel in its embassies by 20%.
As France faces an increase in cocaine trafficking and consumption, Barrot said he was getting his ministry “in battle shape to fully assume its role in the fight against drugs.”
Insisting that cooperation between its embassies and drug-producing countries “yields results,” Barrot told the magazine Journal du dimanche that his ministry will create a regional academy for combating organized crime.
The academy — which will be based in the Dominican Republic — “will train 250 investigators, magistrates, customs agents and financial analysts from the security and justice forces of allied countries each year,” Barrot said.
“Latin American countries are at the forefront of the fight against this scourge and against the criminal groups that have turned it into a global industry,” he said. “That is why we want to strengthen our alliances with these countries.”
The two countries also forged cultural agreements
In addition to the anti-drug trafficking accord, Mexico and France finalized agreements concerning cooperation in science, culture and diplomacy.
The allies agreed to the temporary reciprocal exchange of the Azcatitlan and Boturini Codices as part of a cultural exhibition to be held in both countries next year, the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mexico and France.
A page of the Azcatitlan Codex, thought to depict Hernán Cortés, la Malinche and possibly Juan Garrido, a conquistador of African descent. (Wikimedia Commons)
“This reaffirms … that there is no future of shared prosperity without acknowledging history,” Sheinbaum said. “Every codex, every stroke, every symbol reminds us that we are heirs to civilizations that flourished long before Western modernity.”
The Azcatitlan Codex — held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1898 — is an Aztec manuscript detailing the history of the Mexica (Aztecs) and their migration journey from Aztlán up to the Spanish Conquest. It is thought to have been produced in the first 100 years or so after the Conquest.
The Boturini Codex — held in Mexico’s National Anthropology Museum — details the origin of the Mexica and is thought to have been produced around the time of the Spanish Conquest.
Saturday’s screening included previously unseen footage from the artist’s personal archive, as well as restored shots from the original concert. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
A showing of Juan Gabriel’s iconic 1990 concert at Mexico’s Palace of Fine Arts drew approximately 170,000 people to Mexico City’s Zócalo on Saturday night, making for a special evening for fans of the “Divo de Juárez.”
Mexico City’s Culture Ministry, in collaboration with Netflix, organized the free event, erecting four giant screens and a powerful sound system in the capital’s main plaza.
Attendees — many dressed in the style of the beloved singer — sang along to the rerun of Juanga’s culture-shifting performance. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Juan Gabriel (1950-2016) made history when he performed at Palacio de Bellas Artes in May 1990. Until then, few popular artists had been invited to perform at the distinguished venue, which typically hosted operas, symphonies and classical music performances.
With his unparalleled stage presence and symphonic arrangements, Juan Gabriel’s recital with the National Symphony Orchestra — often called one of the most memorable nights in the history of Mexican popular music — marked a turning point.
The show — which was preceded by petitions to cancel the “pop concert” at Mexico’s premier cultural venue — demonstrated that the music of the people deserves a place on the country’s most important stages, according to the newspaper Vanguardia.
The concert “not only transformed the way Mexican popular music was perceived, but also opened doors for other artists to cross those same cultural borders,” Vanguardia reported.
The Bellas Artes show was such a smash hit that three additional performances were added. Seven months later, a live recording from the concerts — Juan Gabriel en el Palacio de Bellas Artes — was released.
A year ago, 70,000 people flocked to the Zócalo to see a showing of Juan Gabriel’s 2013 concert “Mis 40 en Bellas Artes.”
Netflix promotes its Juanga documentary
The Saturday night showing also served as a promotional event for Netflix’s documentary “Juan Gabriel: I must, I can and I want to.”
The four-episode series traces the life and career of Alberto Aguilera Valadez from his humble origins in Parácuaro, Michoacán, to his consecration as one of the most beloved figures in the world, known fondly as Juanga.
According to director María José Cuevas, the daughter of famed Mexican artist José Luis Cuevas, the film offers an intimate portrait of the artist, his life and his legacy, while also highlighting his fight against social stigmas and his influence as an icon of diversity and Mexican identity.
The documentary — which went online on Oct. 30 — has become a global hit for Netflix, reaching the top 10 in the non-English language series category.
Saturday’s screening included previously unseen footage from the artist’s personal archive, as well as restored shots from the original concert.
The event, which also features a photographic exhibition at the Bellas Artes Metro station, aims to introduce Juan Gabriel’s work to new generations and solidify his presence as a central figure in Mexican culture, said Laura Woldenberg, a member of the team behind the audiovisual project.
Early next year, the photo exhibit — which includes never-before-seen material from Juan Gabriel’s personal archive, photographs of his performances, and portraits captured throughout his artistic career — will move to twin displays along Reforma Avenue at the Angel of Independence Monument and the Diana the Huntress Fountain.
