Volunteering in Puerto Vallarta: How visitors and residents can get involved

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March 22, 2026

At some point, almost everyone who spends substantial time in Puerto Vallarta arrives at the same thought.

It might occur after your third winter season here or your fifth visit. Or maybe while grabbing a beer at El Solar, watching the familiar mix of tourists, vendors, dog walkers, retirees, remote workers and school kids pass by as the sun dips down into the Bay.

Vallarta is so much more than a vacation destination. It’s truly a beach city where everyone participates. That’s what drew me in 13 years ago, and it’s why I continue to love this city so much, even as it feels increasingly crowded by rising tourist numbers and developments, which have a direct impact, both positive and negative, on the local community.

Why Puerto Vallarta needs support

For expats, long-stay visitors, and repeat travelers, the question isn’t whether Puerto Vallarta needs support. Every growing city does. The question is where to begin. The good news is that Vallarta, despite its reputation as a tourism-driving beach destination, has a long-established network of nonprofit organizations that welcome volunteers.

One of the most visible organizations in the city is Vallarta Cares, known primarily for its community soup kitchen and food assistance programs. The organization’s 2024 Annual Report offers an important snapshot of conditions many visitors may not immediately notice.

According to CONEVAL (National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy) data, Puerto Vallarta’s poverty rate increased from 32.2% in 2020 to 36% in 2024. In neighboring Cabo Corrientes, the rate rose even more sharply, from 37.2% to 44.6%. These figures highlight a reality that often exists alongside Vallarta’s expanding tourism economy.

Vallarta Cares

Within that context, organizations like Vallarta Cares play a significant operational role. In 2024 alone, the group served more than 116,000 meals, supported an average of 628 people per month through its soup kitchen, delivered weekly food packages to 120 families and provided care to more than 170 patients through its medical and dental clinic.

For volunteers, involvement typically centers on practical tasks such as food preparation, meal service, logistics and general support. The structure is straightforward, allowing participation without specialized training or long-term commitments.

SPCA Puerto Vallarta

Another widely recognized entry point for volunteers is SPCA Puerto Vallarta. Animal welfare initiatives tend to attract immediate interest, and the shelter’s programs are designed with accessibility in mind. Morning dog walks enable volunteers to socialize animals by taking them beyond the shelter grounds, while seasonal outreach activities, including staffing booths at the Olas Altas Farmers Market, support fundraising and public education.

SPCA Puerto Vallarta also hosts regular spay-and-neuter clinics, where volunteers assist with animal monitoring during recovery. As with many Vallarta volunteer programs, experience is rarely required, and guidance is provided onsite.

International Friendship Club

Organizations such as the International Friendship Club (IFC) provide a broader framework for community involvement. Founded within Puerto Vallarta’s expat community, the IFC supports a diverse portfolio of initiatives, including medical assistance, educational support, food distribution and fundraising for local programs. Volunteer roles vary widely, ranging from event coordination and administrative support to skill-based contributions.

For many long-term residents, participation in IFC activities becomes part of everyday life in Vallarta, bringing together social connection and community engagement.

Limpia Tu Mar Puerto Vallarta A.C.

Among the organizations leading these efforts is Limpia Tu Mar Puerto Vallarta A.C., a civic association founded in 2022 dedicated to cleaning the sea and beaches while promoting waste reduction and responsible disposal practices. The group has become particularly well known for its international Litter Fishing Tournament, an event that combines environmental action with public awareness.

The tournament held its second annual competition in October 2025, drawing participants to the waters of Banderas Bay with the objective of removing, sorting and recycling at least 1 ton of solid waste from the ocean.

Organized in collaboration with local businesses, hotels, NGOs and tourism service providers, the event highlights a challenge familiar to many beach destinations.

While the tournament itself is a high-profile initiative, Limpia Tu Mar also offers year-round volunteer opportunities focused on beach cleanup and environmental education.

Exploring other volunteering opportunities

Beyond Limpia Tu Mar, Puerto Vallarta hosts a network of environmental and conservation groups operating throughout the region. Beach and bay clean-up initiatives, typically organized around seasonal transitions, continue to attract participation from both residents and visitors seeking tangible ways to engage.

For those exploring volunteer opportunities, logistics are relatively simple. Most organizations recommend contacting coordinators directly, as schedules and staffing needs fluctuate throughout the year. Volunteer commitments are typically short-term, unpaid and structured to accommodate Vallarta’s large population of seasonal residents and repeat visitors.

Participation can range from a single morning to recurring involvement over months or years. Many programs are structured around flexibility, allowing individuals to engage in ways that suit their personal interests, availability and comfort levels.

In a city best known for dining, leisure and beachfront, volunteering has become a familiar component of how many residents and repeat visitors experience Puerto Vallarta. It becomes another form of participation in a place that, for many, no longer feels temporary.

Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com.

How to swear in Mexico: Curse words for south of the border

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Sarah DeVries

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March 22, 2026

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salma-ebdd0d93255b40a6b40b85822bb6ba38 — Be warned: Our guide to Mexican curses could be very useful, but it certainly isn't polite. (YouTube)

The time has come, my friends: it’s time to talk about cursing and swear words in Spanish, and in Mexico particularly.

Several specific regions of Mexico are well known for their — ahem — colorful language. One of those places is my home state, Veracruz, where curse words flow as freely as the beer from our much-loved caguamas (those liter-sized returnable beer bottles), a mere expansion pack of our casual speech.

Mexico City is known for its colorful language, so knowing the right words will help you fit in with the chaos of big city life. (Isaac Esquivel/Cuartoscuro)

Other places, particularly those closer to the center of the country (save Mexico City), tend to be more conservative and proper in their speech, lest they be seen as crass or vulgar. Coastal cultures, particularly ones that became accustomed quickly to receiving “guests,” have by necessity developed a more open and relaxed attitude, pearl-clutching being something that just holds everyone up.

That’s my theory, anyway.

Anyway, let’s get this show on the road! Though before we begin, the necessary heads up: there are very bad words below; don’t read them if you’re easily offended by off-color language. Below each, I’ve given a non-cursing alternative.

Common variations of chingar

This is the closest Mexican Spanish equivalent to the word “f*ck” in English. And like its English equivalent, it’s both very rude and very common. Common variants include the insults chinga tu madre (“F*ck your mother” — yikes) and vete a la chingada (Go f*ck yourself), the exclamation chingada madre! (Motherf*cker!) and the more tame chingao, whose equivalent might be an emphatic “damn it!” in English. Chin is closer to “darn it” if you want to use something extra tame but still common.

Honestly, an entire book could be filled talking about just this word. It’s complex and varied, with plenty to unpack culturally. But we’ll let someone else write it.

Pendejo/pendeja

This is a common insult for calling someone something between an *sshole and an idiot. Incidentally, idiota sounds about as harsh to the Mexican ear as “*sshole” does to ours, so careful with that one! If you want to say something like “dummy,” tonto or zonzo are safe non-curse options, the latter being closer to “silly.”

Mexican swear words — Be careful with this alliterative threesome of Mexican Spanish swear words. (TeePublic)

No mames

This is also an exclamation you’ll likely hear pretty frequently that means, basically, “Come on,” or “No f*cking way,” or “You’ve got to be kidding me.” It literally means “don’t suck,” and you say it when you’re calling someone out on their bad joke or misbehavior, or when you’re in disbelief (usually disappointed disbelief). One way to take the cursing sting out of it is the more tame No manches (literally, “Don’t stain”), which means the same thing. No puede ser (“It can’t be”) is a good slang-free option. (Funny side-note: my partner, a native veracruzano, saw this list and said, “What? No mames isn’t cursing!” It is.)

Pinche

This word is an adjective meaning “bad,” and I’d put it somewhere between “damn” and “f*cking” in terms of rudeness. It typically precedes another word (Pinche comida fea — “f*cking disgusting food”), and is used to emphasize your distaste for something. Alternatives include any other negative adjective or adverb, like terrible or terriblemente, depending on which part of speech you need.

Desmadre

De…mother? Don’t ask me how anyone came up with that. Anyway, a desmadre is a big damn mess, or maybe even “sh*t show,” and can be used both for actual physical messes (Con la construcción el tráfico está hecho un desmadre — “With the construction going on, traffic’s just a big damn mess”) or for some kind of big blow-up fight. A tamer way to say it: desorden (literally, “disorder”).

As I’m sure you know, this isn’t anywhere near a complete list. That said, all the words and phrases above are quite common.

I personally curse quite a lot in both languages — I learned Spanish in Veracruz, after all. I’m neither proud nor ashamed of it; it’s simply part of my vocabulary. Here in Veracruz, nobody bats an eye, but I once said desmadre to a friend in Querétaro and promptly got a speech about how ladies don’t talk like that.

Just like in all languages, who is doing the cursing matters, as does the context. Hanging out with friends and having a few beers, fine; in a job interview or with someone’s grandma, not so smart.

Swearing in Mexico — You’ll hear this phrase a lot in Mexico, but wearing the shirt is not polite. (Amazon)

So go forth, my fellow compatriots, immigrants and visitors, and understand more of what people are actually saying!

Just be sure to proceed with caution if you plan to partake.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.

Mexico’s week in review: USMCA talks officially launch as Sheinbaum bets on a digital economy

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MND Staff

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March 21, 2026

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A branch of purple jacaranda blossoms hangs in front of the mural-covered UNAM library — Blooming jacaranda trees announce the arrival of spring on the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. (Tomás Pérez de la Cruz / Cuartoscuro.com)

Monday set an ambitious pace for the week. President Claudia Sheinbaum announced her scaled-back electoral reform plan, declared the start of formal USMCA review talks with the United States, and faced questions about a possible recall election after her original constitutional reform had failed in Congress.

The middle of the week brought two significant gatherings of Mexico’s business and financial establishment. On Wednesday — the 88th anniversary of Mexico’s historic oil expropriation — the American Chamber of Commerce held its annual assembly, where U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson struck an optimistic note on trade and the bilateral relationship. That same day, Sheinbaum traveled to Veracruz for an oil expropriation anniversary ceremony where she pledged to sharply reduce the country’s dependence on imported natural gas. On Thursday she addressed the 89th Banking Convention, announcing that cash payments at gas stations and highway toll booths would be phased out before the end of the year — part of Mexico’s push to digitalize its economy.

The week closed on a more difficult note. Friday found Sheinbaum in Cancún demanding a full U.S. investigation into the death of a 19-year-old Mexican in ICE custody in Florida — a sobering counterpoint to the week’s diplomatic optimism — as record-breaking spring heat blanketed more than a dozen states across the country.

Didn’t have time to catch this week’s top stories? Here’s what you missed.

Electoral reform and presidential accountability

The week opened with Sheinbaum laying out a legislative path forward after her original constitutional electoral reform fell short in the lower house of Congress. As MND reported, she framed her scaled-back “Plan B” proposal as a strike against political excess, targeting bloated state legislature budgets — some allocating up to 39 million pesos per deputy — and outsized politician salaries. On Tuesday, Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez presented further details of the plan, including that citizens would have the right to request a presidential recall election in either 2027 or 2028. The provision aligns with one of Sheinbaum’s 100 commitments on taking office. With her approval ratings consistently polling well above 60%, few expect such a vote to go against her.

Trade: USMCA takes center stage

The most consequential development of the week for Mexico’s economic future was the formal launch of USMCA review negotiations. Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard sat down with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Wednesday, with both sides marking the official start of talks that will shape North American trade for years to come. Canada is expected to join the process in May. Mexico’s stated priorities are the removal of U.S. tariffs on automotive, steel and aluminum. By Thursday, Sheinbaum said her government had responded point-by-point to the 54 non-tariff barriers raised by Washington, declaring the majority of concerns settled.

USMCA trade deal negotiations formally kick off in Washington

On the business community side, the American Chamber of Commerce held its 109th General Assembly, where U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson described the USMCA review as “an opportunity to deepen integration” and compared the bilateral relationship to a marriage with no prospect of divorce. The gathering also saw CPKC Mexico president Oscar Del Cueto named as AmCham’s new president for the 2026-27 period.

Mexico-U.S. relations: Cooperation rhetoric meets harder realities

Security Minister Omar García Harfuch traveled to Washington on Monday to meet with DEA Administrator Terrance Cole, with both sides proclaiming an era of “historic” bilateral cooperation on drug trafficking and weapons seizures. The warm tone was complicated by somber news later in the week. A New York Times investigation found up to 500,000 guns still flow from the U.S. into Mexico annually. Then on Thursday, Interior Minister Rodríguez reported that Mexico’s “Mexico Embraces You” repatriation program had registered nearly 190,000 returnees since January 20, 2025 — a measure of the scale of Trump’s deportation drive. The week ended on a still darker note when Sheinbaum demanded a full investigation into the death of 19-year-old Royer Pérez Jiménez, an Indigenous Maya man from Chiapas who died in ICE custody in Florida on March 16 — reportedly the youngest person to die in U.S. immigration detention under the current Trump administration. Mexico sent diplomatic notes to Washington and pledged to pursue all legal avenues.

Security and cartels: Mencho’s crime scene and El Mayo’s daughter

Fallout from the February killing of CJNG boss El Mencho continued on multiple fronts. The week opened with the Army arresting a key CJNG logistics operative known as “Pepe” — the man who had driven El Mencho’s romantic partner to the Tapalpa hideout where the cartel boss was ultimately tracked down and fatally wounded on Feb. 22. The Federal Attorney General’s Office also acknowledged that journalists freely entered the Jalisco cabin complex where Oseguera had been hiding, saying the site was too dangerous to secure immediately. The FGR conceded the scene was “altered and contaminated,” raising chain-of-custody concerns about evidence including alleged cartel payroll documents showing bribes to police and government officials.

In a separate cartel development, Mexican forces briefly detained Mónica Zambada Niebla — daughter of imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel boss “El Mayo” Zambada — during a Thursday raid near Culiacán that killed 11 cartel members, then released her within hours. Critics pointed out she remains on the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list, though she has no arrest warrant active in Mexico or the U.S.

Energy and economy: Sovereignty, a deadly fire and a digitalization push

On the anniversary of Mexico’s oil expropriation, Sheinbaum declared reducing natural gas imports Mexico’s next major energy goal, noting the country currently imports 75% of its consumption almost entirely via pipeline from the United States. That same week, the troubled Olmeca (Dos Bocas) Refinery in Tabasco became the site of tragedy when an oily water overflow sparked a fire that killed five people, prompting an FGR investigation. Pemex said the refinery itself was undamaged and operating at full capacity.

Also on the economic front, Sheinbaum used her address at the 89th Banking Convention to announce that cash payments at gas stations and highway toll booths would be phased out starting this year, part of a broader push to digitize the Mexican economy. Currently cash accounts for roughly 80% of all transactions in Mexico. The government is coordinating with the banking sector and Banco de Bienestar to ensure access to digital payments for all citizens.

Looking to an all-digital future, Sheinbaum plans to eliminate cash at the pump and the toll booth

Meanwhile, new INEGI data showed Mexico’s manufacturing sector contracted 1.8% in January — the steepest monthly drop since 2015 — with employment in the sector down 2.5% year over year, weighed down by U.S. sectoral tariffs on automotive and steel products.

International headlines: Spain, AMLO, FIFA and a UN win

In a diplomatically significant moment, King Felipe VI of Spain acknowledged the “abuses” and “moral controversies” of the Spanish conquest during a visit to a Madrid exhibition on Indigenous Mexican women. Sheinbaum called it “a gesture of rapprochement,” and Mexico formally extended an invitation to the king for the World Cup opener on June 11. FIFA, however, rejected Mexico’s offer to host Iran’s group-stage matches, which Iran had requested after Trump cast doubt on the team’s safety in the United States amid escalating Middle East tensions.

Former president AMLO broke his post-retirement silence for the third time, calling on Mexicans to donate to a newly created NGO supporting Cuba amid a U.S. fuel blockade. The appeal sparked controversy over how the association obtained fast-tracked tax-agency authorization to collect donations; Sheinbaum pledged a personal contribution while critics said she evaded the transparency questions. At the U.N., Mexico scored a multilateral win when the Commission on Narcotic Drugs approved a Mexico-led resolution aimed at preventing pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment from being repurposed for the production of synthetic drugs.

Society, health and the environment

It was a significant week for reproductive rights. Following court rulings won by activist coalitions, the national social security health system IMSS is now legally required to offer elective abortion services in the 25 states where abortion has been decriminalized. The rulings have broad effect, protecting not just the nearly 300 plaintiffs who filed the lawsuits, but all IMSS beneficiaries in those states.

Separately, the government was also studying setting a minimum age for social media use following similar moves by Australia and France, with concrete proposals expected by June.

Friday marked spring’s arrival, and with it came a record heat wave: 12 states recorded temperatures above 40°C (104°F) going into the weekend, with Hermosillo and Mexicali both setting new records for March. Climatologists warned that spring heat is now arriving weeks earlier than it did a decade ago, driven by climate change. On the coasts, researchers warned that the Riviera Maya could be heading into its worst-ever sargassum season, with seaweed arriving early and a record 9.5 million tonnes already spotted in the Atlantic — a worrying backdrop as spring break and Holy Week vacations kick off.

A map of sargassum arrivals in Quintana Roo — Masses of sargassum seaweed have already begun washing ashore in Quintana Roo, just in time for an influx of spring break vacationers. (Sargassum Monitoring)

Also in the news this week

Mexico City set a Guinness World Record for the largest soccer class ever, with 9,500 participants filling the Zócalo as a World Cup warm-up.
Carín León and Jelly Roll have teamed up on “Lighter,” the first official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, produced by Canadian hitmaker Cirkut — one artist from each host nation.
Four endangered Mexican wolves were released into Durango’s Sierra Madre Occidental, the species’ first return to the state in 50 years, under a binational U.S.-Mexico conservation program.
Mexico’s monarch butterfly colonies grew 64% this winter. Conservationists welcomed the rebound while warning the population still remains critically low, well below historic levels.
President Sheinbaum proposed a free BTS concert at the Zócalo after three stadium shows sold out instantly, writing to South Korea’s president to request his help arranging additional dates.
Hundreds of migrant children in Mexico City have been training since late February for “Goals for Inclusion,” an EU-funded soccer tournament in April aimed at integration and community-building for kids fleeing violence and poverty.

Looking ahead

Mexico enters the coming weeks with several high-stakes processes in simultaneous motion. USMCA working groups will begin drilling into the treaty’s 34 chapters, while Sheinbaum’s Plan B electoral reform heads to the Senate. The death of Royer Pérez Jiménez in U.S. detention will test the limits of bilateral cooperation rhetoric. Meanwhile the World Cup — and millions of arriving tourists — is now less than three months away, with sargassum, heat and security all posing potential complications for a government keen to show Mexico at its best.

Looking for last week’s roundup? Check it out here.

Mexico News Daily

This story contains summaries of original Mexico News Daily articles. The summaries were generated by Claude, then revised and fact-checked by a Mexico News Daily staff editor.

Insights from the oldest and most prestigious American School in Mexico: A new ‘Confidently Wrong’ podcast

By

Travis Bembenek

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March 21, 2026

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Portrait of Kolia O'Connor, Head of School at the American School Foundation in Mexico City — "Confidently Wrong" interviews Kolia O'Connor, Head of School at the American School Foundation in Mexico City, for this week's podcast episode. (Courtesy photo)

In this second season of “Confidently Wrong,” we are bringing you real life perspectives of raising and educating kids in Mexico. We have talked to parents as well as administrators of small schools on the Pacific Coast and in San Miguel de Allende. In this episode, we head to the big city and go straight to the leader of the more than century-old American School Foundation in Mexico City. The school had the first kindergarten in Mexico, as well as the first computer.

Of course a school like this isn’t for everyone. To begin with, it is not inexpensive compared to many other options in the country. But it gives an excellent comparison to the other schools (and the school leaders) that we have interviewed and provides some real insight into educating kids in another country.

The American School Foundation of Mexico City is a pretty special place. Located on the edge of the massive Chapultepec Park in the central city, I had the opportunity to visit it personally a few months ago and was totally impressed with the sprawling campus. Why did I go there? I had heard about the school for years, decades really, and wanted to check it out first hand myself.

The classrooms are impressive, as is the performing arts center. The sporting facilities, fields and the common areas are all first rate. The place exudes coolness and confidence. I was equally impressed that the entire campus is a “cell phone free zone.” Wow! Who would have thought you could get kids (and parents for that matter) to agree to do that in this day and age?

The impact of the policy is real. Kids talking, playing, making eye contact, laughing, flirting. Kids even seem to have normal posture, as they are not hunched over their cell phones. The energy of the place felt very different.

So check out the latest episode of “Confidently Wrong” on Spotify or YouTube, and be inspired by the possibilities and potential of educating your child in Mexico!

🎙️ Confidently Wrong Podcast – Episode 6: Insights from Mexico's first American school

Watch this video on YouTube

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

The AI fake news tsunami is upon us — what does this mean for kids? A perspective from our CEO

By

Travis Bembenek

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March 21, 2026

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punch_image — MND Kids reader Nathalie of Aurora, Illinois, recently wrote this article, titled "Punch, the Japanese monkey" as part of a school assignment to write a news article in style of MND Kids. (Courtesy photo)

Many people, including myself, have been thinking about the state of media a lot lately and people are increasingly asking me for my take on things. We all have had our “bunnies on the trampoline” moment, in which we were completely tricked by an artificial intelligence video on social media for the first time; mine was with that very video just a few months ago. What once felt like a novelty seemingly overnight has turned into a daily threat. Over the past few years, we have sadly become accustomed to seeing false content on social media, but now this content is often accompanied with a realistic-looking (but fake) video. This makes it even harder to distinguish what is real and what is fake.

The pace at which this is accelerating should alarm all of us. Just a few weeks ago, in the aftermath of the “El Mencho” killing in Jalisco, MND reported on the amount of fake news that was being produced, shared, and most troublingly, believed by people around the world. No, cartels were not running through the Puerto Vallarta airport shooting people. No, there wasn’t a passenger airplane lit on fire at the Puerto Vallarta airport. No, the Puerto Vallarta Costco wasn’t burned down. And no, President Sheinbaum didn’t have to spend the night on a Mexican Navy ship at sea to secure her safety.

Fake fires, real fear: Debunking the lies that went viral after ‘El Mencho’ fell

Yet these clickbait stories and videos “worked” well — devastatingly well. In a world of scrolling images that we often look at for just a second, they worked to create misinformation and misunderstanding, frighten people, and ultimately resulted in massive cancellations by visitors to Mexico. I have talked to people in the tourism and real estate sectors from across the country — Oaxaca, the Riviera Maya, Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta — who have all lamented the significant shock to their businesses that were suffered as a result of the “post-Mencho” fake news media circus. Real livelihoods, real financial losses — all caused by fake content created and spread in minutes.

If that wasn’t enough to make you stop and think, just weeks later, we are seeing it happen again on an even larger scale on the war with Iran. On March 14, the New York Times ran a comprehensive article titled, “Cascade of AI fakes about war with Iran causes chaos online.” The paper shared 37 fake images and videos falsely depicting active war, 5 fake images and videos falsely depicting war preparation, 8 fake images and videos falsely depicting war destruction, 43 memes made with AI, and on and on and on.

Which brings me to why I have been thinking so much about the media lately. Can you imagine if we did not have sources like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Mexico News Daily? (Yes, I am a bit biased on that last one.) This has nothing to do with being on the right or left side of the political aisle and this isn’t about opinion pieces that we agree or disagree with. This is about having trustworthy sources that help us make sense of the cesspool of misleading and fake AI-generated content flooding our feeds every single day. The misuse of AI is no longer a future concern — it is the defining information challenge of right now. In a world where actors are increasingly and deliberately trying to sow chaos and confusion (often for nefarious purposes), how will we know what to believe? This was a question just beginning to be asked not too long ago that is now an urgent, daily reality with real-world consequences.

Fortunately, us adults can turn to trusted sources that can help make sense of it all. Many of us know what “reliable” looks like and we search these sources out to help us understand what is going on. That’s why people are subscribing to media outlets like the NYT, WSJ, and MND faster than ever. But what about kids? How will they learn to differentiate what is real news from what is fake? How will they learn the importance of understanding the difference? How will they understand the gravity and implications of getting it wrong? How will they learn what media sources to turn to for clarity, for objectivity, for honesty?

It is with that backdrop that we created MND Kids last year and why we are further doubling down on this initiative today. Since the launch of this platform over 6 months ago, thousands of kids of all ages in both Mexico and the United States have used MND Kids to improve their media literacy. Both educators and parents are now using it to help their kids learn how to read the news, have conversations about fake versus real news, and to reinforce the importance of reading real, unbiased, apolitical news to help them learn how to think critically about things. Equally as important, our content has allowed kids to learn about the good things going on in Mexico that are so often missing from many media sources. MND Kids isn’t about clickbait; it’s about building media literacy, instilling a comprehensive understanding of Mexico, and being proud of Mexico’s historical and current accomplishments.

Today, we are taking our efforts even further. We just started a new pilot program called “MND Young Journalists.” This program encourages kids inspired by MND Kids content to write their own news articles. The program helps make reading and writing non-fiction content more accessible and relevant. It encourages active learning. It teaches kids the power of the pen.

Each week, the editors at MND will review the submissions from MND Kids readers and publish one of them on our MND Kids site under the “Young Journalists” tab. We believe — with conviction — that it has never been more urgent for the next generation to learn critical thinking, media analysis, and the ability to form and express an educated, thoughtful opinion about the world around them. The importance of learning to read to review the facts, form an educated opinion, and share that opinion in a thoughtful, logical way is one of the most important things we can teach our kids. It may also be one of the most important defenses we have against the AI misinformation epidemic bearing down on all of us.

The team at MND is very proud to help motivate and inspire the next generation of thinkers and leaders. We won’t pretend that it has been easy. Navigating the politics and bureaucracy of school systems is not something we have experience in. In truth, it has been painfully slow. But the urgency of what is happening in the world right now does not allow us to wait for the system to catch up. With that said, we continue to aggressively invest and grow this initiative as we feel that it is as important as anything else that we do.

You have a role to play in this too:

If you think your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews or friend’s kids would benefit by reading MND Kids, you can check out the site here: mndkids.com.

You can also add MND Kids to your MND subscription by upgrading to a family plan that includes MND Kids here: Upgrade – Mexico News Daily.

And if you know of a school district or after school program that would benefit from MND Kids, please email us at: kids@mexiconewsdaily.com.

You can learn more about MND Kids here: About MND Kids.

And by the way: The lead photo of this article shows a story written by MND Kids reader Nathalie of Aurora, Illinois, who wrote a recent news article about “Punch the Japanese monkey” as part of a homework assignment in class to write an article in style of MND Kids. Damn, that’s inspiring!

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

The rollercoaster relationship between Trump and Mexico

By

Sarah DeVries

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March 21, 2026

23

Donald Trump — From the perspective of Mexico, Trump's second term has been loony, erratic and yes, scary. (U.S. National Parks Service)

In Texas, where I’m from, we just had two primaries for the U.S. Senate: Republican and Democrat. Turnout was surprisingly good for the Democrats’ primary, which gives me hope. Might we finally get a Texas Democrat in the Senate?

Everyone, of course, is after “the Latino vote.” Because Latinos make up over 40% of the population in Texas, it makes sense: Get them on your side and you’ve nearly cinched the election.

Trump and the Latino vote in Texas

ICE activity in Texas — Trump did well with Latino voters in Texas in the last presidential election but is now deporting four people a day in the state on average. (Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research)

Much to my disappointment, Trump in particular and Republicans in general did just that in the last election. In my own opinion, a vote for Trump is a vote against one’s own self-interest… unless you happen to be a billionaire Scrooge McDuck-type whose mouth waters at the prospect of infinite tax breaks and zero social responsibility.

So on its surface, it’s a mystery. Didn’t he call them all “rapists and murderers”? Isn’t he directing untrained ICE thugs in masks to indiscriminately stop people who “look” like immigrants (i.e., Brown people)?

And while some are beginning to turn against him — mostly because prices haven’t gone down as he promised they would — plenty still say he’s doing “a great job.”

Oh, brother.

Trump and Mexico

In Mexico, the people I’ve met who like and admire Trump are pretty few and far between. But there’s a certain subset, on both sides of the border, that really seems to admire him.

It’s an enigma until you remember how many Latinos on both sides of the border are actually pretty socially conservative. I know several people who were won over to his side as a result of trans panic, convinced that unqualified people were getting jobs they didn’t deserve. (For that, of course, look no further than literally all of his political appointees.)

U.S. President Donald Trump — Trump has ratcheted up pressure on Mexico to catch the cartel kingpins supplying U.S. demand for drugs, and armed with U.S. weapons. (U.S. State Department)

And like it or not, the perception currently is that conservatives “own” God and religion. Plenty of people also believe that immigration can and does go too far and perhaps aren’t paying much attention to the specifics. There have also been many people perfectly happy to pull the ladder up behind them on the other side of the border.

Honestly, I’m sure plenty of us living in places where more and more of our own countrymen are showing up can relate.

Those who like Trump and those who don’t

The fact that men overwhelmingly approve of him also points to a real admiration for “tough guy” types. We may have a woman president and an active feminist movement in Mexico, but machismo has by no means died.

As you can see, I’ve thought a lot about what has inspired Latinos in the U.S. to vote for this guy.

But I’m proud to say that Mexicans, for the part, see the writing on the wall with this dude. They have resisted the seduction of the macho man up north, as Mexico often has.

Interestingly, Mexico seems to be becoming more liberal, while the U.S. becomes more conservative.

President Sheinbaum speaks into a microphone at a press conference — Trump’s definitely got his eye on Mexico, as much as Sheinbaum has expertly kept his worst actions at bay. So far, anyway. (Gabriel Monroy / Presidencia)

Seeing the writing on the wall is not hard, of course, if you’ve been paying even minimal attention. Let us count the ways!

Trump’s beef with Mexico

One of the first indications that he was ready to start poking was the petty name change from “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America.” (Supposedly, Google Maps in Mexico still calls it “Gulf of Mexico,” but on my own phone it says “America.” Maybe because I have the OS set up in English?)

Fine. A little too silly to take seriously, but a poke nonetheless.

The truth is, though, that everything that happens in the United States affects Mexico. As of this writing, I even see the peso losing value as a result of uncertainty regarding the war with Iran.

And Trump’s definitely got his eye on Mexico. As much as Sheinbaum has expertly kept his worst actions at bay, it’s hard to deny that the flip side of the coin of never assuming blame for anything is blaming others.

In Mexico, he’s done it quite a bit. How has Mexico “screwed over” (not my words) the U.S.? Let him count the ways.

A google maps screenshot showing the Gulf of Mexico — Whether it’s still the Gulf of Mexico depends on where and in what language you access your information. (Google Maps)

His main complaint, of course, is the passage of drugs from Mexico into the US. Obviously, no blame is accepted regarding the U.S. demand for drugs, or the fact that the weapons narcos use to run the show are primarily from the U.S.

Then there are the narcos. In his mind, he could wipe them all out in one fell swoop. “Just say the word, and we’re there!” he tells President Sheinbaum.

And, of course, the tariffs, where he could do real damage. His failure to grasp basic economic concepts has convinced him that everyone is cheating the U.S., and his use of the threat of excessive tariffs has incredibly real-world consequences down here.

How is Mexico (mostly) escaping Trump’s ire?

For one, we have a president who couldn’t be more different than her northern counterpart. To his bombastic posturing, Sheinbaum’s speeches are steady and measured. By comparison, she sounds downright sleepy.

She’s also good at giving him just enough of what he wants to placate him. As I’ve written before, Mexican politicians are experts at dealing with gangsters. And Trump is definitely a gangster.

So far, she’s doing great with her handling of him. And people are mostly happy with this “leftist” government. In Mexico, living conditions are improving and most of the ruling party’s policies are popular. Things are getting better, not worse.

A loony, erratic and scary presidency

sad, unhappy Trump — Mexico is on Trump’s list for a variety of reasons. (Shutterstock)

Alas, Mexico knows it’s on Trump’s list. He looks at us and licks his lips, surely fantasizing about being single-handedly credited with eliminating the narcos.

He’s claimed victory in Venezuela and is drooling over Cuba (citizen suffering be damned). He’s distracted now with Iran, but no doubt he’ll set his wolf eyes on us again soon.

Can Sheinbaum hold the line while we run out the clock on his loony and erratic presidency?

So far, so good. But let’s all keep our fingers crossed extra tight just in case.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.

Casa Holtz: The obsessive Art Nouveau dream hidden in Lomas de Chapultepec

By

Bethany Platanella

-

March 21, 2026

1

Casa Holtz in Mexico City was built for Ignacio Holtz and his wife Beatriz Mendívil. (Facebook)

On the corner of Mexico City’s Cerrada Monte Ararat, just one block off Paseo de las Palmas in Lomas de Chapultepec, is a house — but it’s not just any house. It’s a whimsical masterpiece of Art Nouveau design, with a honey-colored facade draped in ivy and curvaceous windows rising two stories. Rounded iron gates dwarf the entrance, the sidewalk undulates and bougainvillea and palms line the approach.

The house doesn’t seem to make sense in this part of town, in this city, in this country — but somehow, it fits because Mexico is full of surprises.

How Art Nouveau came to Mexico City

A lavishly decorated n interior of Casa Holtz, done in the Art Nouveau style, in Mexico City — The interior of Casa Holtz in Mexico City is awash in Art Nouveau objets d’art and furnishings. (Instagram)

Art Nouveau arrived in Mexico City at the end of the Porfiriato, a moment when the capital was reinventing itself as a modern, cosmopolitan city — a formidable rival to Paris and Brussels. The elite classes quickly embraced European-style architecture, commissioning mansions and apartment buildings designed by the finest architects of the day.

For a brief but dazzling moment, from Mexico City to Chihuahua, everything was flowing lines and floral ironwork. Mexico’s architecture had arrived on the world’s stage.

Casa Holtz: Mexico City’s most extraordinary Art Nouveau home

It would take almost 80 years for the most spectacular Art Nouveau creation of them all to come to fruition. The story begins, as many great collections do, with a single object. According to local lore, Ignacio Holtz and his wife Beatriz Mendívil — an art and antiques dealer — fell in love with an Art Nouveau vase they found at CDMX’s La Lagunilla flea market (tianguis) in the late 1960s. This would be the first of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of stylistic pieces they collected.

Two decades later, they had so much Art Nouveau paraphernalia that they needed somewhere to put it all. In 1985, they bought a corner lot in Lomas de Chapultepec and built their very own private museum.

Holtz, a Mexico City-born civil engineer who spent his career calculating seismic systems for high-rise buildings, handled the structural concept and reportedly produced more than 3,000 drawings for the house. He hired — and fired — dozens of metalworkers, carpenters and upholsterers until he found craftspeople skilled enough to execute a true Art Nouveau curve. It’s said he set up workshops in the basement so he could supervise every line himself.

If building the most magnificent home on the block was the goal, Ignacio and Beatriz certainly succeeded.

Inside Casa Holtz: A private Art Nouveau collection

Interior shot of Casa Holtz, decorated in lavish Art Nouveau style with multiple early 20th century traditional figurative portraits of owners Ignacio Holtz and his wife Beatriz Mendivil. — The one-of-a-kind house is no longer the home of the late engineer Ignacio Holtz and his wife Beatriz Mendívil, but it is still a private home, so be respectful when visiting it. There are no tours. (Webcams de Mexico)

The house remains privately owned and can only be viewed from the outside. Thanks to Grandes Casas de Mexico, we have a sense of what’s inside — and it’s exactly as flamboyant as you’d expect.

Inspired by European Art Nouveau masters like Victor Pierre Horta, Henry van de Velde and Hector Guimard, rooms are filled with customized furniture, Tiffany-style table lamps, Jean Béraud canvases and pieces of Albert Mayer silver. New pieces commissioned from local craftspeople reflect the signature “whiplash line” of Art Nouveau, so every corner participates in the couple’s original vision.

Art Nouveau in Mexico City beyond Casa Holtz

Aerial view of the Palacio Bellas Artes in Mexico City with the skyline of the city in the background — The Palacio Bellas Artes in Mexico City is an Art Nouveau masterpiece. (Carlos Sánchez/Pexels)(Mikhail Nilov/Pexels)

Casa Holtz may be the pinnacle, but Art Nouveau left its mark across Mexico City in many other ways.

The most obvious example is Palacio de Bellas Artes, built over the course of 30 years starting in 1904.

Italian architect Adamo Boari, known for Beaux‑Arts and neo‑medieval style, incorporated Art Nouveau details by wrapping the main doors and windows in floral garlands and female figures that morph into plant forms.

The project was stalled multiple times due to the Revolution, funding shortages and a famous sinking foundation; that’s why you’ll find Art Nouveau on the exterior and Art Deco inside.

More must-see architecture

Mexico City Wax Museum's Art Nouveau facade with pink and white cantera stone and tiling done in stripes and in Arab-style mosaic diamond patterns. The museum is right in front of a Mexico City street. — Mexico City’s Wax Museum is in a former home that is one of the few buildings left standing by renowned Art Nouveau architect Antonio Rivas Mercado (1853-1927). (Wikimedia Commons)

In Colonia Juárez, the building that now houses the Wax Museum is worth a stop for the architecture alone. It’s a turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau casona designed by Antonio Rivas Mercado, the same architect behind Mexico City’s Ángel de la Independencia monument.

The building nearly met its demise in the 1970s; it was slated for demolition, saved only when it was purchased and converted into a museum in 1979. Today, it’s recognized as part of the city’s historic heritage, and walking through its galleries means walking through one of the few intact residences designed by Rivas Mercado.

Head north to Santa María la Ribera and you’ll find Art Nouveau at an entirely different scale. The Museo Universitario del Chopo, known to locals as the Palacio de Cristal, is an iron-and-glass hall with twin towers designed in the German Jugendstil by architect Bruno Möhring. Prefabricated for a 1902 fair in Düsseldorf, it was later shipped to Mexico City and reassembled on Calle Dr. Enrique González Martínez, where it still stands today. In the middle of the century, the masterpiece was nearly abandoned, but it was thankfully restored in both the 1970s and 2000s by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and is today one of the city’s liveliest contemporary art spaces.

Visiting Casa Holtz: What you need to know

An intricate stone carved art nouveau window facade of the historic Casa Holtz building in Mexico City. — Although the house is private property, even passing by the outside is worth the trip. (Leminerai)

Details about Casa Holtz circulate widely on social media and in online architecture forums, but the building remains a private family residence in a quiet corner of Lomas de Chapultepec. There are no tours or visiting hours. You can glimpse the facade and ironwork from the sidewalk — and, honestly, that’s enough to make the trip worthwhile — but respect the privacy of the people who live there.

The story behind the house

The story of Casa Holtz doesn’t end there. Years after completing the house, Ignacio Holtz developed severe kidney disease. Beatriz donated one of her kidneys, allowing her husband to live a vibrant life for another 25 years.

The experience moved her to dedicate her time to kidney-transplant philanthropy, work that earned her Mexico’s Pro-Conciencia medal for helping facilitate more than 1,500 transplants.

“I always say that if God had given me more kidneys, I certainly would have given them all,” she once said in an interview with Conexión Hispanoamerica.

Holtz died in 2022 at age 86. His wife survives him.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog or follow her on Instagram.

MND Tutor | Colonialismo

By

MND Plus

-

March 21, 2026

0

Welcome to MND Tutor! This interactive learning tool is designed to help you improve your Spanish by exploring real news articles from Mexico News Daily. Instead of just memorizing vocabulary lists or grammar rules, you’ll dive into authentic stories about Mexican culture, current events, and daily news.

During a visit to an exhibition on Indigenous Mexican women at Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum, King Felipe VI of Spain publicly acknowledged — though stopped short of formally apologizing — that the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Americas involved “significant abuses” and “moral and ethical controversies,” marking the first time a Spanish monarch has directly addressed the subject.

What happened in Mexico during the Spanish colonial period has long been a point of contention between the two nations and Felipe’s admission of wrongdoing is important.

Find out about all this and more in this week’s edition of MND Tutor. To read the original article, click here.

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Protecting an endangered cloud forest on the edge of Mexico City

By

Tamara Blazquez

-

March 21, 2026

1

Blanco Pitaya, a natural cloud forest reserve with cinematic and unique landscapes is located in Teziutlán, Puebla, just four hours away from Mexico City. (Tamara Blazquez Haik)

Cloud forests make up just 1% of Mexico’s territory. They contain nearly 10% of the country’s plant species and shelter a remarkable range of wildlife species. These ecosystems are known for their foggy environments caused by the wet and rainy weather that prevails in regions such as the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre del Sur and Sierra Norte de Chiapas, where some of the last remaining cloud forests survive. The weather tends to be warm but humid, with nights becoming cooler, especially when the mist envelops the area.

Despite their ecological importance as biodiversity hotspots and for capturing water and carbon, helping regulate regional weather, Mexico’s cloud forests are sadly endangered. Illegal logging, cattle ranching and urban expansion continue to drive deforestation and place these fragile habitats at risk. As such, any action that seeks to protect these forests is of utmost importance.

@tamarablazquezhaik Únanse a los esfuerzos de conservación de Blanco Pitaya. Pueden encontrarlos en FB e Ig con ese nombre, “Blanco Pitaya”. La reserva está en Teziutlán, Puebla. #naturaleza #fotografía #animales #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #conservación ♬ swatting at flies – ethan mcneal

The effort to save Blanco Pitaya

One grassroots effort is Blanco Pitaya, a natural reserve founded by Ignacio Castillo in 2021 in Teziutlán, Puebla (just four hours away from Mexico City). The 16.5-hectare (40-acre) reserve preserves an almost pristine stretch of cloud forest where towering tree ferns rise above a dense understory. Bromeliads and other epiphytes blanket the trees, creating shelter for species such as the small-eared tree frog (Rheohyla miotympanum), countless insects, birds and mammals like ocelots that depend on the forest canopy to survive.

Blanco Pitaya protects the forest through low-impact ecotourism. Ignacio’s vision was to first create a small hotel-boutique in the area. However, after going through some intense personal situations and thinking about leaving a livable planet to his young son, he decided on a different future. Thus, Ignacio now aims to attract visitors through camping and spiritual retreats, bird and wildlife watching, and river cleanups along the Xoloatl River that runs through the reserve. The goal is to foster a connection strong enough that visitors leave caring deeply about these forests that are often overlooked or mistaken for generic rainforests or tropical jungles.

Ecotourism at Blanco Pitaya

With tree ferns evoking a prehistoric landscape, recalling an era when dinosaurs roamed the planet, visitors can enjoy open meditation spaces, marked hiking trails, spring pools, waterfalls and the river that cuts across the property. The reserve is equipped with a working toilet and hot showers as well as spacious camping tents. There’s also a kitchen and dining area designed to bring together travelers who share a love for the outdoors.

Ignacio’s guided experiences combine hiking with meditation, encouraging visitors to slow down and reconnect with the present moment. The trails take visitors to several waterfalls and a beautiful basin known as the “Poza de los sueños” where encounters with the local frogs are not uncommon.

Community-based conservation

Blanco Pitaya’s conservation work extends beyond tourism as well. Over the years, Ignacio and his team have recovered a significant amount of plastic waste and debris, like old tires, plastic bottles, and old remotes, just to name a few examples from the Xoloatl River. As nearby communities expand, untreated waste continues to reach the waterways that feed the forest.

Although a treatment plant exists near Teziutlán and the neighboring San Juan Acateno, it remains nonfunctional. allowing polluted runoff to flow directly into the river and threaten the forest’s long-term survival. This threatens both the local biodiversity and the long-term survival of Blanco Pitaya’s cloud forest. Local authorities have expressed interest in addressing the problem and supporting cleanup efforts. As have some universities like the Universidad de las Américas, which has participated in restoration activities.

Ignacio’s broader vision also includes supporting local communities by donating supplies to rural schools and involving the local children in environmental stewardship, thus ensuring that conservation becomes a shared community responsibility, with Blanco Pitaya representing a model for community-based conservation. Ignacio believes that through ecotourism, environmental education and collaborative projects, the reserve can become financially sustainable while supporting surrounding communities and safeguarding what remains of the cloud forests along the Puebla–Veracruz state line.

Tamara Blazquez Haik is a writer and photographer.

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Looking ahead

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A loony, erratic and scary presidency

How Art Nouveau came to Mexico City

Casa Holtz: Mexico City’s most extraordinary Art Nouveau home

Inside Casa Holtz: A private Art Nouveau collection

Art Nouveau in Mexico City beyond Casa Holtz

More must-see architecture

Visiting Casa Holtz: What you need to know

The story behind the house

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The effort to save Blanco Pitaya

Ecotourism at Blanco Pitaya

Community-based conservation

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