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Sheinbaum condemns US boat strikes near Mexico’s waters: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped

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MND Staff
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Sheinbaum mañanera Oct. 29, 2025
Sheinbaum stressed on Wednesday that "we do not want there to be a violation of our sovereignty, nor for there to be these kinds of operations in ... [Mexico's exclusive] economic zone." (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)

The U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats transporting alleged “narco-terrorists” in the Pacific Ocean on Monday were a key focus of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Wednesday morning press conference.

Two days after the lethal, contentious — and quite possibly illegal — strikes occurred in international waters, many unanswered questions remain. Information from the Mexican Navy indicates that at least one of the strikes occurred in international waters off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast.

The only official U.S. government information on the attacks comes from a single social media post by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Sheinbaum acknowledges that US attack occurred off Mexico’s coast

Sheinbaum said that a U.S. military strike on at least one of the alleged drug boats occurred in international waters off the coast of Mexico.

“There had been [U.S. attacks on boats] further south but now it was in the location, in latitude and longitude, of our country,” she said.

“We don’t agree with these interventions,” Sheinbaum added.

The U.S. attack on the alleged drug boats claimed 14 lives, according to Hegseth. He said on social media site X on Tuesday that there was one survivor and that Mexican authorities “assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue.”

Hegseth said that the strikes occurred in the “eastern Pacific,” but didn’t provide the exact location.

The Mexican Navy said Tuesday that it was carrying out a search and rescue mission 400 miles southwest of Acapulco, indicating that the boat the survivor was on was off the coast of Mexico when it was attacked.

Sheinbaum said Wednesday that the navy “failed to rescue” the survivor, leaving their fate unclear.

On social media on Wednesday morning, José Díaz Briseño, a U.S.-based correspondent for Mexico’s Reforma newspaper, wrote that “thanks to Mexico’s Navy we know that one of the Pentagon’s lethal strikes vs an alleged drug boat this week occurred close to Mexico’s exclusive economic zone in the Pacific.”

Sheinbaum: We don’t want ‘these kinds of operations’ in Mexico’s exclusive economic zone

Sheinbaum spoke out in favor of arresting suspected drug traffickers at sea, rather than killing them.

“We have a model, a protocol, that has produced a lot of results. If, in international waters, the United States sees a boat that is allegedly carrying drugs, an agreement is reached and either the Mexican Navy or U.S. government institutions [should] intervene to arrest the alleged criminals,” she said.

Sheinbaum said that she had asked her foreign affairs minister, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, to convey the message to the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ron Johnson, that what the Mexican government wants is for the aforesaid protocol to be improved “within the framework of the security agreements we have with the United States.”

De la Fuente and Mexico’s Navy Minister Raymundo Pedro Morales met with Johnson on Tuesday.

Sheinbaum said that the ambassador “agreed in principle” with Mexico’s position.

However, she noted that he has to discuss the issue with “different authorities of the U.S. government.”

“But in principle he agreed with promoting the continuation of a protocol” favoring the arrest of suspected drug traffickers, Sheinbaum said.

She stressed that “we do not want there to be a violation of our sovereignty, nor for there to be these kinds of operations in … [Mexico’s exclusive] economic zone.”

Sheinbaum explained that another reason why her government opposes military strikes of the kind the U.S. military has been conducting in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean is that there could be Mexicans on board the boats that are targeted.

Hegseth said on X that 14 people had been killed in “three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.”

However, he didn’t say where the victims came from or where the vessels departed and where they were headed. Hegseth didn’t provide any specific evidence to support his claim that the boats were carrying “narco-terrorists,” saying only that “the four vessels were known by our intelligence apparatus, transiting along known narco-trafficking routes, and carrying narcotics.”

Recent U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats have killed a total of 57 people.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that “a broad range of experts in laws governing the use of armed force have said the strikes are illegal.”

The Times also wrote that the Trump administration “has offered tenuous legal rationales” for its attacks “while releasing little evidence to support its smuggling allegations.”

Mexico seeking information from US about victims of strikes 

Sheinbaum said that her government is asking the Trump administration to provide details about the nationalities of the people killed in, and the survivor of, the military strikes in the Pacific Ocean on Monday.

Mexico searches for lone survivor of US strikes on alleged drug boats that killed 14

Asked whether the survivor, if rescued, would be handed over to the U.S. government, the president said that her government would have to look at the relevant Mexican and international laws.

Earlier this month, the United States repatriated two survivors of a strike in the Caribbean Sea to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that his government was “totally prepared” to start targeting alleged drug traffickers on land as well.

So far in 2025, the Trump administration has designated 10 Western Hemisphere crime groups, including six Mexican cartels, as foreign terrorist organizations.

Sheinbaum has ruled out the possibility of U.S. armed forces targeting Mexican cartels on Mexican soil.

“Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country, and no foreign government would dare to violate our sovereignty,” she said in August when asked whether a U.S. strike against Mexican cartels was a possibility.

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

Trump administration revokes 13 flight routes from Mexico to US

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MND Staff
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volaris plance in air
The revoking of route permissions affects major Mexican airlines such as Aeroméxico and Volaris, as well as both of Mexico City's international airports. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)

The Trump administration has revoked approval for 13 routes operated by Mexican airlines from Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to the United States, affecting both currently available flights and planned new routes for Aeroméxico, Volaris and Viva.

The move eliminates all combined passenger and cargo flights – known as “belly cargo” – between the U.S. and AIFA, and freezes the growth of those services by Mexican airlines between the U.S. and AICM. Additionally, the U.S. has proposed banning all belly cargo transport between AICM and the U.S., which would take effect in about three months if finalized.

Sec. Duffy
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy used bold language in announcing the flight bans: “Until Mexico stops the games and honors its commitments, we will continue to hold them accountable. No country should be able to take advantage of our carriers, our market and our flyers without repercussions.” (Transportation.gov)

According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the decision responds to Mexico’s non-compliance with the 2015 U.S.-Mexico Air Transport Agreement, saying that Mexico “illegally canceled and froze U.S. carrier flights for three years without consequences.” 

The Transportation Department said Mexico breached the aviation agreement starting in 2022, when it rescinded U.S. passenger carriers’ slots and forced U.S. all-cargo carriers to relocate operations. 

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg were too weak to stand up to Mexico when they walked all over our bilateral aviation agreement,” Duffy said in a statement. “These deals are binding, and like our trade agreements, President Trump is going to put America First and enforce them.”

Duffy’s announcement affects existing flights, but also routes scheduled to be launched by Aeroméxico, Volaris, and Viva between now and the end of the year, one of the peak seasons for the tourism sector. 

“Until Mexico stops the games and honors its commitments, we will continue to hold them accountable,” Duffy said. “No country should be able to take advantage of our carriers, our market and our flyers without repercussions.”  

U.S. authorities have said the affected flights include Aeromexico routes between AICM and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and between AIFA and the Texas cities of Houston and McAllen. 

Volaris flights between AICM and Newark, New Jersey were also cancelled, as well as Viva flights from AIFA to Austin, Texas, New York-JFK, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver-Houston, Los Angeles and Miami and Orlando, Florida.

U.S. authorities have advised American citizens to contact “their carrier for specific re-accommodation information,” as they are aware this decision may impact their travel plans.

Meanwhile, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced Wednesday morning that she will hold a meeting with Aeromexico, Volaris and Viva, to create a joint strategy in response to the restrictions imposed by the U.S. government.

With reports from Reuters, El Universal, and El País

Cartel drone attacks force residents to flee El Chapo’s hometown in Sinaloa

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MND Staff
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drone
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Rocha said that state and federal authorities had responded to the situation and seized "a lot of drones." Residents say the attacks started in September. (Juan José Estrada Serafín/Cuartoscuro)

Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya acknowledged on Tuesday that drone attacks have recently been carried out in Badiraguato, a municipality in Sinaloa where convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera was born and grew up.

He noted that the attacks have generated fear among residents of Badiraguato and forced some families to leave their homes to seek refuge in safer places.

Some of the attacks reportedly targeted a property in the village of La Tuna where Guzmán Loera’s deceased mother formerly lived.

There are no reports of the drone attacks having caused fatalities or injuries.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Rocha said that state and federal authorities had responded to the situation and seized “a lot of drones.”

Citing unnamed security sources, Aristegui Noticias reported that authorities have seized seven drones as well as material used in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices.

Rocha didn’t specify when the drone attacks took place. However, displaced residents said they began in September.

The governor said that displaced residents have received assistance from the Sinaloa Welfare Ministry.

Rocha didn’t say who was responsible for the drone attacks, but they could be linked to a long-running and very bloody battle between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

One of those factions, Los Chapitos, is controlled by two of the sons of “El Chapo” Guzmán. Two of the notorious trafficker’s other sons are in custody in the United States, as is Guzmán, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on a drug trafficking conviction in 2019.

The mountainous municipality where he was born in 1957 has long been associated with the drug trade in Mexico.

Cartels’ use of drones 

Mexican cartels have been carrying out attacks with explosive-laden drones for several years. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has allegedly used the unmanned aerial devices to carry out attacks in the state of Michoacán, while La Familia Michoacana has reportedly used drones in Guerrero.

Earlier this month, a crime group in Tijuana used three drones to launch a crude improvised explosive device attack on the Baja California attorney general’s offices in the northern border city.

In July, a senior Trump administration official said that it was “only a matter of time” before Mexican criminal organizations carried out drone attacks against U.S. citizens and law enforcement authorities.

“Nearly every day, transnational criminal organizations use drones to convey illicit narcotics and contraband across U.S. borders and to conduct hostile surveillance of law enforcement,” said Steven Willoughby, a high-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In September, The New York Times reported that drug smugglers and cartel gunmen in Mexico are using “improvised explosive devices to kill their rivals and modifying drones bought online to make attack drones, loaded with toxic chemicals and bombs.”

“… Just as drones, cheap and easy to modify, have proliferated in the battlefields of Ukraine, their use by cartels — for surveillance and precision bombing — has surged drastically in recent years,” the Times reported, citing government officials, security experts and analysts.

With reports from Milenio, Aristegui Noticias, El Universal and CBS

Oaxaca’s Centro Cultural del Mezcal wins Paris Design Award

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MND Staff
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Interior of Centro Cultural del Mezcal
Traditional materials used in the space include black clay, artisanal textiles and locally treated tropical woods. (Centro Cultural del Mezcal)

The Mezcal Cultural Center (CCM), a space celebrating Oaxaca’s mezcal heritage, came out on top in the 2025 DNA Paris Design Awards on Monday for its innovative mix of traditional and modern Oaxacan design. 

The awards recognize architectural and design projects that combine creativity, functionality and respect for cultural identity. The CCM, which opened in October 2023, won in the Interior Design/Renovation category. 

The design team, led by Alonso de la Fuente Obregón and made up of Itzel Paniagua, Andrés Vivanco and Mariana Forzán, carefully restored a 17th-century building in the heart of Oaxaca city to create the venue. 

The team aimed to promote and preserve the state’s long history of mezcal production, a spirit produced from the maguey plant — known scientifically as agave. The CCM’s Head Chef, Itzel Paniagua, and partners wanted to raise awareness about the cultural and historical importance of mezcal and to put a spotlight on the region’s master producers.  

“I see the project as a work of art,” Paniagua told the newspaper Milenio. “As a group, we want to contribute in every way; ensuring everything is well looked after and curated; not just offering delicious food and drinks but having a cultural space… that would showcase the richness of Oaxaca.” 

 

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The team preserved materials, textures and colors typical of the building’s era and incorporated contemporary elements to combine tradition and modernity. The designers used the maguey plant for inspiration, with furniture and other pieces that mirror the plant’s leaves and heart. 

Traditional materials used in the space include black clay, artisanal textiles and locally treated tropical woods. The CCM showcases art and handicrafts from local artisans and artists, as well as 95 plant species endemic to Oaxaca.  

The venue includes an interactive museum, the El Gallo bar, the Alambiq restaurant and a mezcal shop with over 320 Oaxacan mezcal labels. All the mezcal is purchased at a fair price directly from producers, who have committed to planting an agave for every mezcal sold. 

Mezcal producers across the state’s seven regions continue to use ancestral techniques for the alcohol’s complex production process, but they are often overshadowed by major mezcal brands, according to Paniagua.  

“We take it as if it were just another thing, and people don’t realize all the effort and work a master mezcalero puts into it so you can have a glass of mezcal on your table.” 

The team hopes the venue will celebrate mezcal’s community roots as well as raise awareness about its cultural importance.  

With reports from López-Dóriga Digital, Culinaria Mexicana and Milenio

Gulf of California’s vaquita population inches higher, giving some hope for recovery

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MND Staff
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Marine scientist surveying vaquitas
Mexican and international marine scientists carried out visual monitoring throughout September afer five months of acoustic monitoring to estimate the current vaquita population in the Gulf of California. (@seashepherd/X)

Between seven and 10 vaquitas — the world’s most endangered marine mammal — have been confirmed alive in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California following a joint monitoring effort by the federal government and scientists, officials announced Tuesday.

Details of the 2025 Vaquita Marina Observation Cruise, presented at the facilities of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), also heralded the birth of at least one new calf, giving hope to a species on the brink of extinction.

The visual monitoring from Sept. 2 to 30, following five months of acoustic monitoring, was supported by Mexican and international marine scientists aboard two vessels of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. 

Last year’s annual vaquita census expedition counted only six to eight individuals, down from between eight and 13 in 2023.

Though this year’s slight increase offers hope for recovery, scientists note that returning to the 2015 population of 60 would take up to 20 years

These figures are for the entire global population, since vaquitas are found in only one location: Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez.

They are shy, small porpoises whose full name in Spanish is vaquita marina, which translates to little sea cow.

Their population’s severe decline over the last two decades is largely due to a boom in the illegal fishing of totoaba, whose bladders are prized in traditional Chinese medicine and can fetch very high prices.

Totoaba are commonly caught using gillnets, which also indiscriminately trap and kill vaquitas.

Marina Robles García, undersecretary of Biodiversity and Environmental Restoration, a division of Semarnat, said the monitoring allows scientists to adjust their strategies and reinforce positive actions in specific areas.

But mainly, she added, the survey confirms “that the vaquita is still [out] there, that it persists, that the downward trend has not continued, that there are even individuals we hadn’t seen for several years — that were evidently in some other location where we haven’t been monitoring — and that it continues to reproduce.”

Using 1,228 detectors at 497 sites, acoustic monitoring recorded 254 encounters between May and late September.

Local fishermen and youth in the region participated in aspects of the monitoring.

Visual efforts identified at least one or two calves — including a juvenile swimming alongside its mother, a 1.5-meter female named Frida who is possibly pregnant again — signaling reproduction is underway. 

The newly reported population is based on a 67% probability that the number of vaquitas is between seven and 10, according to a structured process of consensus called Expert Elicitation.

With reports from López-Dóriga and La Jornada

Unemployment rate reaches 3%, continuing 6-month climb

By
MND Staff
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Person attending a job fair in Mexico
In September, Mexico's unemployment rate among men was 2.9% and 3.1% among women. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s unemployment rate rose in September compared to the previous month, even though the size of the national workforce increased by more than 700,000 positions.

The national statistics agency INEGI reported on Tuesday that the unemployment rate was 3% in September, up from 2.9% in August and 2.9% in September 2024.

The unemployment rate last month was 0.8 percentage points higher than the all-time low of 2.2%, recorded in March 2025. The 3% rate was the highest since August 2024.

Although the size of Mexico’s workforce grew by 744,998 positions last month to reach just over 60.24 million, the unemployment rate increased slightly because the economically active population (PEA) — people aged 15 or over in jobs or looking for work — rose by an even higher number.

The PEA increased by 793,353 people compared to August to reach 62.09 million people.

Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base, said on social media that there was a “clear deterioration” of the Mexican labor market in September. She noted that Mexico’s unemployment rate, underemployment rate and informality rate all increased last month.

The financial group Monex said that INEGI’s latest employment data reflects “a mixed evolution of the labor market.”

“On one hand, the unemployment rate continues an upward trend, reaching its highest level in thirteen months. However, labor force participation and the [size of the] employed population … showed a slight improvement,” Monex said.

Unemployment in Mexico has trended up in 2025 as the pace of economic growth slowed markedly compared to 2024.

Source: tradingeconomics.com

More than 1.8 million Mexicans are looking for work 

INEGI’s data shows that just under 1.85 million people were unemployed in September.

That figure increased by more than 52,000 compared to August. In March, when Mexico’s unemployment rate declined to its lowest level on record, only 1.35 million people were unemployed.

Around one-third of the 1.85 million people looking for work in September fall into the 15-24 age category. Around half are aged 24-44, while the remainder of the unemployed population is 45 or older.

In September, just over 1 million men were unemployed while close to 800,000 women were jobless. The unemployment rate among men was 2.9% and 3.1% among women.

INEGI also reported that 7.3% of workers were underemployed in September, meaning that they were working fewer hours than they wanted. That figure increased by 0.2 percentage points compared to August.

More than half of Mexican workers are employed in the informal sector 

INEGI reported that 33.1 million people worked in informal sector positions in September.

That figure represents 54.9% of all people in jobs last month. The percentage of workers in informal sector jobs was slightly lower in August at 54.8%.

Informal sector workers, including street vendors and many domestic workers, generally don’t pay income tax and don’t have access to formal sector employment benefits such as IMSS or ISSSTE medical insurance and paid vacations.

Among female workers, 55.3% were in informal sector positions last month, while the rate among men was slightly lower at 54.6%.

Beatriz Robles, a director with the staffing and recruitment firm Manpower Group México, said that reducing informality in the Mexican labor force “is not just an economic goal, but a strategy to build a more competitive country.”

Employment by sector 

  • More than four in ten workers — 44.2% — were employed in the services sector in September. A total of 26.6 million people were working in this sector last month.
  • One in five workers (20%) were employed in the “commerce” sector, which includes retailers and wholesalers. This sector includes many informal workers, such as street vendors.
  • Just under 16% of all workers were employed in Mexico’s manufacturing sector, an export powerhouse.
  • Almost 11% of workers worked in the agriculture, ranching, fishing and forestry sectors.
  • Just under 8% of workers were employed in the construction industry in September.

How much do minimum-wage and informal workers earn in Mexico City? We asked.

Employers vs. employees 

In September, 6% of the members of Mexico’s workforce were employers, according to INEGI, while 69.4% were employees.

Just over 21% of workers were classified as independent or self-employed. Just over 3% of workers did not receive remuneration for their work, INEGI said.

How much do Mexican workers earn? 

  • Almost 40% of workers earn the minimum wage or less, according to INEGI’s data for September. Mexico’s minimum wage is currently set at 278.80 pesos (about US $15) per day, or 8,364 pesos per month (US $454), in most of the country.
  • Almost 31% of workers earn 1-2 minimum wages (US $454-$908 per month).
  • Just over 6% of workers earn 2-3 minimum wages ($908-$1,362 per month).
  • 2.5% of workers earn 3-5 minimum wages ($1,362-$2,270)
  • Less than 1% of workers earn more than 5 minimum wages (more than $2,270 per month)
  • The salary of almost 15% of workers was “not specified,” according to INEGI.

With reports from Reporte Indigo and Debate

The contest in which women cry for money

By
MND Staff
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Professional mourners
In the town of San Juan del Río, Querétaro, aspiring mourners take turns competing for a cash prize. (Maribelandia)

The expression “only in Mexico” holds true in many instances. To exemplify it, let me tell you about a very peculiar event that takes place every year during the Day of the Dead celebrations (and that only makes sense in Mexico): The National Mourners Contest, where participants compete to deliver the most authentic display of grief. 

Historically referred to as plañideras in Spanish (mourners), these women were hired to weep inconsolably and theatrically during funerals to enhance the atmosphere of pain and sorrow. The tradition can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where women would join the funerals of royals and the elite to cry for the deceased. 

María Ofelia Ramírez in Queretaro mourning contest
Previous winner María Ofelia Ramírez. (María Ofelia Ramírez/Facebook)

How professional mourning arrived in Mexico

The tradition arrived in Mexico with Spanish colonization and flourished during the Mexican Revolution. It particularly thrived in the states of Michoacán, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Mexico City and México state.

Although the tradition is not originally from Mexico, this is the only country in the world where the practice still survives, albeit with a comic twist — as a contest. 

“I like people to applaud me,” Amelia Rodríguez, a professional mourner with 17 years of experience and five winning titles, told the Mexican newspaper Nmás. “Even if I don’t win, the audience’s applause is my biggest satisfaction.”

Since its inception in 2005, the competition has been held annually as part of the Day of the Dead festivities in the small city of San Juan del Río, Querétaro. The event is now a tourist attraction that receives hundreds of attendees from all over the country. 

Comedy, not tragedy

But far from being a tragic event, the atmosphere has a somewhat comical feel. Karla Alvarado, who has won several editions, said that people go see the women cry not to dwell on their pain, but to have fun. 

“There was one edition in which the environment was more serious, but I don’t think it was as successful because people are looking to have fun and a pleasant time with their family, with their children, not to feel more pain than what they’re already carrying. So, it’s funny now,” Alvarado told the news agency EFE in 2022.

 

Plañideras, el oficio que persiste en Querétaro y del cual hay hasta un concurso

Alvarado, along with her mother, Ana Patricia, has competed in the contest for 10 years. 

How does the contest work?

At the event, the competing mourners dedicate their tears to two deceased individuals. One is previously assigned, while the other individual is revealed onstage. The crying performance lasts one minute.  

To add to the drama, a coffin is typically installed on stage. Participants typically recite dramatic laments, pray, but also insert more theatrical elements, such as throwing themselves to the floor or over the coffin, pounding their chest, and whatever else it takes to achieve a crying victory. 

A panel of judges evaluates the participant’s overall crying display, her creativity, outfit, authenticity, acting skills and body language. 

“Crying cleanses the soul,” Olga Ibarra, winner of the 2022 edition, said. “And to make other people cry and shudder also cleanses the soul.”

Recognition, plus prizes

Winners take home not only audience recognition but also a monetary prize. 

San Juan del Río, Querétaro
San Juan del Río, Querétaro, is the site of Mexico’s annual crying contest. (X)

This year, the top winner will win 6,000 pesos (US $324), while second place gets 4,000 pesos (US $216) and third place 2,000 pesos (US $108). A recognition award is also granted to the most original outfit. 

If you want to see the action for yourself, the contest takes place on Nov. 1 at 8:30 p.m. at the Plaza Independencia in San Juan del Río, Querétaro. Admission is free.

With reports from EFE and El Sol de México

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

Monterrey youth-led team wins Iris Prize for Santa Catarina River conservation project

By
MND Staff
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Team behind Journey to the Microcosm of Nuevo León
Through a series of workshops and walks, the project invites people of all ages to use DIY microscopes and the iNaturalist app to observe and document the river's biodiversity. (The Iris Project)

A group of young Mexicans has been awarded the globally recognized Iris Prize in the STEM category for a project that seeks to reconnect a community with its local river through citizen science. 

Dubbed Journey to the Microcosm of Nuevo León, the project invites residents of the Monterrey metropolitan area and beyond to get to know the Santa Catarina River, which in recent years, has been seen more as a flood risk than a valuable part of the city’s ecosystem.

 

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Running from Guadalupe through the southern boroughs of Monterrey, the Santa Catarina River is home to over 1,200 documented species — including the monarch butterfly, the American beaver and the spiny soft-shell turtle — but was essentially paved over as Monterrey expanded its sprawl beginning in the 1950s. Since Hurricane Alex in 2010, the riverbed has been rewilding, aided by initiatives like Journey to the Microcosm of Nuevo León.

Through a series of workshops and walks, the project invites people of all ages to use DIY microscopes and the iNaturalist app to observe and document the river’s biodiversity. Launched in 2021, the project has formed a community of 600 observers and increased the number of recorded species from 781 to 1,126, strengthening legal efforts to protect them.  

“The 2025 winners remind us why supporting youth leadership is one of our most urgent commitments to the planet,” Millie Edwards, director of The Iris Project, said. “With the climate and biodiversity crises accelerating, supporting young innovators is not optional: it is essential if we want a safer and more sustainable future.” 

Led by Marbet Aguilar Higrodo, Lizeth Ovalle Saldaña, Andrea Villarreal Rodríguez, Alma Arredondo Medellín and Eduardo Rivera García, the Monterrey-based project is joined by a prize-winning initiative in Mongolia working to fight air pollution and another project in the Philippines, aimed at marine conservation.

This year’s winners and finalists will collectively receive US $43,000 in funding and additional support to scale their work in the coming years. The Journey to the Microcosm of Nuevo León, in particular, will receive $10,000.

 

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“In Mongolia, Mexico and the Philippines, young leaders are tackling toxic air, restoring rivers and protecting endangered species, proving that youth-led action creates impact where it matters most,” the Iris Project said in a statement. “They don’t just give us hope, they deliver results.”

The Iris Project is a youth-led, trust-based grantmaker that supports collective leadership in young people to drive environmental change. With less than 1% of institutional climate funding allocated to young people, the Iris Prize aims to tackle this issue and support environmental projects led by young people. 

Mexico News Daily

Farmers end highway blockades after ag ministry agrees to 950 peso per tonne corn subsidy

By
MND Staff
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A farmer protesting corn prices in Mexico sits in his tractor during a blockade in León, Mexico
Farmers across Mexico took to the streets and highways on Monday to protest what they see as low and unsustainable prices for their produce. (Jorge Ortega/Cuartoscuro)

The Mexican government reached an agreement early Wednesday morning with corn producers, offering 950 pesos per tonne in direct support — 800 pesos from the federal government and 150 pesos from state governments.

The deal will benefit 90,000 small-scale producers with plots of up to 20 hectares and cover up to 200 tonnes per producer.

Farmers across Mexico took to the streets and highways on Monday to protest what they see as low and unsustainable prices for their produce.

Their central demand was that the federal government raise the guaranteed purchase price for corn to 7,200 pesos (US $391) per tonne — 23% higher than the current guaranteed price of 5,840 pesos per tonne.

Thousands of farmers protested in more than 20 states, blocking highways and toll plazas and demonstrating in front of the National Palace in Mexico City. Farmers also attempted to break into federal Interior Ministry offices in the capital. 

Among the states where protests occurred on Monday were Guanajuato, Querétaro, Michoacán, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Morelos and Jalisco. Farmers took their protests to federal Agriculture Ministry and National Water Commission offices in some states, the newspaper El Universal reported. 

Protests continued in some parts of the country on Tuesday. In Michoacán, a blockade on the Morelia-Zinapécuaro highway surpassed the 24-hour mark on Tuesday morning. Some motorists and bus passengers had been stranded for an entire day “without water, food and medicine,” according to journalist Joaquín López-Dóriga. 

Disgruntled farmers say that their production costs have increased in recent years, but prices for agricultural goods haven’t kept pace. 

A corn farmer in Guadalajara sits by a protest sign that says: "What would happen if we stopped producing corn next season?"
A corn farmer in Guadalajara sits by a protest sign that says: “What would happen if we stopped producing corn next season?” (Fernando Carranza Garcia/Cuartoscuro)

According to an analysis conducted by the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA), agricultural production costs have increased by more than 46% in the past five years, while international prices for corn, wheat and soybean have fallen between 30% and 50% since 2022.  

“The result has been a collapse in the profitability” of Mexican farms,” according to the news outlet Revista Espejo, which reported on the GCMA analysis. 

“In the case of white corn, the average national [profit] margin has declined from more than 50% in 2022 to barely 12% in 2025. Similar cases are observed in bread wheat and sorghum,” Revista Espejo reported. 

It said that the situation “threatens the viability of thousands of medium and large producers” in Mexico who “supply more than 75% of the national and export market.” 

Another Revista Espejo article republished by GCMA states that “Mexico is going through one of the worst agri-food crises in more than four decades.”

“Corn producers, who sustain the national diet and rural identity, face an unprecedented scenario of high costs, low prices, and a lack of effective public policies. The combination has triggered what experts are already calling ‘the perfect storm’ for the Mexican countryside.” 

The government led by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador introduced guaranteed prices for agricultural products, including corn, beans, wheat and rice in 2019. 

The guaranteed prices have increased since then, but in the same period, farmers have faced a range of challenges, including high inflation that peaked at close to 9% in 2022 and severe drought in much of the country. For some farmers, extortion and violence make farming — and life — even more difficult.  

What’s a fair price for a tonne of corn?

During the president’s Wednesday morning press conference, Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegué explained that the 950 peso per tonne support package represents a response to global market conditions that have severely impacted Mexican farmers.

He noted that international corn prices currently hover around 3,400 pesos per tonne, reaching 4,850 pesos once logistics costs are included — levels that “don’t cover production costs for many Mexican producers.”

“We’ve had an enormous increase in the availability of corn worldwide, with a record stock of 1.3 billion tonnes. Mexico will also have a very high harvest this year, which has pushed international prices downward,” Berdegué said.

The agreement also includes the expansion of the “Cosechando Soberanías” (Harvesting Sovereignties) program, which will offer credit at an 8.5% annual interest rate — half what commercial banks charge — along with agricultural insurance covering losses from droughts, floods and pests.

Additionally, President Sheinbaum announced the creation of a Mexican System for Market Organization and Corn Marketing, which will seek to establish reference prices, direct agreements between producers and industry and clear rules to make the marketing chain more transparent.

“We cannot continue in a country where farmers plant without knowing at what price they’ll sell their harvest,” Berdegué said.

The agriculture minister indicated that producers told government officials they don’t want a fixed price, “because they have the expectation that in these dialogue tables, which we’re going to set up starting now, they can still push the price up a bit.”

President Sheinbaum emphasized that the support will go directly to producers without intermediaries, and noted that major flour companies agreed months ago, following negotiations led by the Agriculture Ministry, to purchase corn at prices higher than international market rates.

The president also announced that in 2026, an additional support program will be presented for producers who continue growing native corn, especially in the south and southeast of the country. “We want to preserve native corn because it represents the biodiversity and cultural richness of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.

On Tuesday, the federal government had offered to set a minimum price of 6,050 pesos per tonne of white corn grown in the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco and Michoacán. The Movimiento Agrícola Campesino (MAC), an umbrella group of Mexican agricultural associations, had described the government’s initial price as “a mockery” and a “pittance.”

It is a “direct insult for those who feed this country,” MAC said.

With reports from El País, N+, Aristegui Noticias, El Universal and La Jornada

CDMX-QRO train route will take a detour to save ancient rock art

By
MND Staff
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a person laying train tracks
In Mexico, train tracks for a new line aren't just laid over the earth's surface; they're laid over 10,000 years of history. Route adjustments, therefore, are inevitable. (STE/Cuartoscuro)

As the government continues to secure rights-of-way and conduct environmental impact studies for the 3,000 kilometers of railway track it intends to build during the current administration, some route alterations are inevitable.

The most recent modification was announced last week when President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that an 8-kilometer detour will be designed to protect petroglyphs along the proposed Mexico-Querétaro rail line.

Construction machine
The route detour, which begins 4 kilometers before the petroglyph site and ends 4 kilometers after it, will not significantly add to the project’s budget. (Demián Chávez/Cuartoscuro)

The El Venado petroglyphs are etched onto a rock wall in the municipality of Atotonilco de Tula, 88 kilometers north of Mexico City in the state of Hidalgo. 

The track will be rerouted beginning about 4 kilometers before the site — which is roughly 70 meters long — and return to the original line about 4 kilometers beyond the petroglyphs. 

Sheinbaum said that not only is it impossible to safely move the artifacts to a museum, but the site is also considered a sacred space by local residents. In addition to the petroglyphs, ancient pottery and utensils have been found in the area, which also features hiking trails maintained by the municipality’s Culture and Tourism Ministry.

“So, the route will be modified slightly,” Sheinbaum said, “but it does not represent a significant expense.” 

Complementing the government’s land acquisition activities, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) are carrying out exhaustive field research — as they have been doing along the proposed routes of all the rail projects — to identify, assess and salvage artifacts of historical significance.

Archaeologists work to preserve 200 historical sites as Mexico’s northern train line breaks ground

INAH has classified the El Venado site, as well as nearby petroglyphs known as El Chamán and El Nahual, as sites of archaeological importance. A total of four rock art elements categorized as petroglyphs were identified, along with movable and immovable archaeological monuments — including basalt stone terraces — related to Mesoamerican cultures of the Epiclassic period (600–900 AD).

Nearly a decade ago, construction of the region’s new wastewater treatment plant uncovered human and animal bones, dating back to the late Pleistocene period (more than 10,000 years ago). Some of the fragments were identified as bones from a mammoth, camel, deer, bison, horse, mastodon and glyptodon (an extinct mammal related to modern armadillos).

At the time, archaeologist Alicia Bonfil Olivera said it was “the largest and most varied discovery of extinct megafauna remains in the Basin of Mexico.”

Officials said last week that nearly 120 kilometers of the proposed 226-kilometer Mexico City-Querétaro train line have been formally acquired and cleared for construction, while environmental studies and archaeological prospecting continue on the remaining track.

With reports from Milenio and Infobae

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