The new Special Operations Force, comprised of 29 elite federal troops, will give Mazatlán another layer of enforcement against cartel-related crime and violence. (Seguridad Pública Sinaloa)
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After multiple deployments of troops to Mazatlán over the summer to combat the port and resort city’s escalating cartel-related violence, the federal government has taken a new approach by forming an elite Special Operations Group comprising 29 highly trained Defense Ministry soldiers who will operate within the municipal police department.
The most recent security reinforcement comes during a wave of homicides, armed attacks and explosive-based assaults across the city that led municipal Public Security Minister Gabino Ulises Jacobo Guerrero to urge the public to exercise extra caution between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m., the time period with the highest rate of criminal activity.
After the federal government sent thousands of troops to the city, the Mazatlán municipal government chipped in by supplying 50 specially designed bicycles for the soldiers to maneuver their way through congested streets. (Estrella Palacios/Facebook)
The elite force members are said to be highly skilled in night work, explosives handling, parachuting, sharpshooting and urban operations. They will be equipped with armored vehicles, weaponry, reconnaissance drones and technology to detect threats posed by unmanned aircraft.
During a ceremony Monday introducing the Special Operations Group at the Citizen Security Center, municipal Public Security Minister Sinuhé Téllez López explained that this addition stems from agreements reached during a visit by the federal Security Cabinet on Sept. 18. The deployment aims to strengthen coordination among the institutions responsible for addressing insecurity.
Mazatlán Mayor Estrella Palacios Domínguez added that its members will utilize intelligence and investigative work to carry out precision interventions.
In another security move, the City Council provided, at a cost of more than 457,000 pesos (US $25,437), 50 bicycles to Army and National Guard members to bolster preventive patrols in the coastal area, the Historic Center and tourist and commercial areas where vehicle access is difficult.
“These are bicycles designed for preventive patrolling, enabling soldiers and National Guard members to efficiently monitor the coastal area and the Historic Center,” Estrella said.
Minister Guerrero addressed a video showing armed men allegedly heading toward the port, though he clarified that its authenticity, date and destination had not been confirmed. Therefore, he said the recording does not constitute evidence of an incursion.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, well, we’ll be here waiting for them,” Guerrero said.
In a leaked letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco, Governor of Querétaro Mauricio Kuri wrote that on Oct. 2, "the executive power of the state of Querétaro" would host a visit by U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson, but the launch of a new international security collaboration was not expressly mentioned. (@makugo/X)
Querétaro Governor Mauricio Kuri notified Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco of U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson’s Oct. 2 visit to Querétaro, but he didn’t say that the ambassador would be laying the cornerstone of a new International Police Training Academy in the Bajío region state.
She declared that such an academy — which Kuri called “a home” for “cooperation between the United States and Querétaro in the area of specialized police training” — can’t be established without federal authorization, and questioned why the Querétaro government didn’t invite the Mexican military, the federal Security Cabinet or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the cornerstone-laying ceremony.
After Kuri’s letter was leaked on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) released an “informative note” acknowledging its receipt of the governor’s communication, while highlighting that as the International Police Training Academy is “a project involving security cooperation with a foreign government,” it is subject to “prior” federal approval — approval that has not been granted.
Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that a federal security group approved nine “cooperation projects” between the state of Querétaro and U.S. law enforcement agencies between December 2021 and October 2026. However, the International Police Training Academy was not one of them, she said.
In some ways, the United States’ collaboration with Querétaro on a police training academy is similar to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s alleged participation with state forces in a drug lab raid in the northern state of Chihuahua in April. The federal government didn’t approve the CIA’s participation in the domestic security operation, just as it didn’t authorize collaboration between Querétaro and the U.S. government on a new police training academy. Another similarity between the two cases is that they occurred in states governed by the opposition National Action Party (PAN), a party that includes politicians who would like to see the U.S. take a more active role in combating organized crime in Mexico.
While the Mexican president has been resolute in rejecting U.S. meddling in Mexican affairs, there are signs that her government doesn’t want to make a major issue of the unauthorized cooperation between Querétaro and the United States. Officials from the Sheinbaum and Trump administrations continue to speak positively about bilateral security cooperation, even though there are a range of tensions in the security relationship, including ones related to U.S. prosecutors’ drug trafficking accusations against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and other Mexican officials.
Kuri appears to contradict himself
In his letter to Velasco, Kuri wrote that on Oct. 2, “the executive power of the state of Querétaro” would host a visit by Johnson, “with whom various topics of common interest will be dealt.”
“It is important to point out that the interaction of local public servants and the [U.S.] diplomatic agent in the framework of said visits will be ceremonial in nature and in no way implies the establishment of direct mechanisms of international cooperation in the areas of security or administration of justice, nor the participation or intervention of foreign agents or governments in activities of investigation, prosecution of crime or roles reserved for the Mexican state or which correspond to Mexican authorities,” he wrote.
Despite writing that sentence in his letter to Velasco, Kuri wrote on social media on Oct. 2 that “the cooperation between the United States and Querétaro in the area of specialized police training now has a home in our state: the International Police Training Academy.”
Such cooperation would certainly appear to be an example of international cooperation in the area of security.
“Today we laid the cornerstone of this space where we will continue the effort we’ve been making for years: investing in the preparation of our police, raising our standards and seeking experiences that allow us to better defend and serve the families of Querétaro. I am enormously grateful to the U.S. government and the Ambassador Ronald Johnson for the collaboration we’ve built and for the trust placed in our state, chosen to establish this international academy, the only one of its kind in Latin America.”
La cooperación entre los Estados Unidos y #Querétaro en materia de formación policial especializada, tiene ahora una casa en nuestro estado: la Academia Internacional de Capacitación Policial.
Hoy colocamos la primera piedra de este espacio donde continuaremos con el esfuerzo que hemos estado realizando por años: invertir en la preparación de nuestros policías, elevar sus estándares y buscar experiencias que nos permitan defender y servir cada vez mejor a las familias queretanas.
Agradezco enormemente al gobierno de los Estados Unidos, y al señor Embajador Ronald Johnson, por la colaboración que hemos construido y por la confianza depositada en nuestro estado, elegido para establecer esta academia internacional, única en su tipo en América Latina.
The title of a statement released by Ambassador Johnson on Saturday provided additional — and very clear — support for the view shared by the federal government and others that Querétaro and the United States are indeed collaborating on security via the establishment of an International Police Training Academy.
That title? “The United States and Querétaro Expand Security Cooperation with New State Interdiction Academy.”
“On behalf of President Trump, I joined Governor Kuri for the groundbreaking of Querétaro’s State Interdiction Academy. This facility highlights that confronting cartels and terrorist groups requires action, resources, and strong institutions, as Querétaro is demonstrating by investing in this academy,” Johnson wrote.
“Querétaro is an example of what we can accomplish when we work together. Over the past decade, the United States has invested more than $10 million in training support and equipment in Querétaro,” he wrote.
“The new academy builds on that cooperation as the first facility of its kind in Mexico and Latin America dedicated specifically to training law enforcement authorities to detect and interdict dangerous drugs, weapons, illicit bulk cash, and other contraband. Officers trained at the new academy will be able to take those capabilities back to their units, states, and communities throughout Mexico,” the ambassador wrote, suggesting that police from across Mexico could receive training at the facility.
On Monday, Sheinbaum questioned why Kuri was collaborating with Johnson rather than the federal Security Cabinet on an international academy focused on training police to combat organized crime.
Organized crime-related offenses are “federal crimes,” Sheinbaum emphasized.
“These are examples where I believe the limit between what should be and what shouldn’t be is reached,” she said.
SRE offers to assist Querétaro in seeking approval for police academy
In its information note, the SRE wrote that “in accordance with the National Security Law, any training or security cooperation project with a foreign government requires prior approval from the High-Level Security Group (GANSEG), an auxiliary body of the National Security Council.”
“The Foreign Ministry assists state and municipal governments in seeking that approval,” the ministry said.
In point No. 3 of a four-point statement, the SRE wrote that the International Police Training Academy in Querétaro is “a project involving security cooperation with a foreign government, so it must be submitted to GANSEG.”
“On the instruction of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Secretary Roberto Velasco Álvarez spoke directly with Governor Mauricio Kuri González and sent him an official letter offering the foreign ministry’s assistance in seeking that approval, in a spirit of institutional coordination,” the ministry said.
Kuri recently participated in the 5th Binational Convention of the American Society of Mexico, along with other governors such as Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus (MC), Guanajuato Governor Libia Denise García (PAN), Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla (Morena) and Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos Galván (PAN). (Mauricio Kuri/Facebook)
The offer of assistance suggests that the federal government is prepared to authorize the International Police Training Academy in Querétaro, provided state authorities make a commitment to adhere to all relevant Mexican laws.
In point No. 2, the SRE acknowledged its receipt of Kuri’s letter, noting that the governor “specified” that the visit ‘in no way implies the establishment of direct mechanisms for international cooperation on security or law enforcement.”
In point No. 4, the Foreign Affairs Ministry made it clear that Mexico’s cooperation with the U.S. government on security issues is a federal responsibility.
“Mexico and the United States maintain strong security collaboration, based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual respect and trust, shared and differentiated responsibility, and cooperation without subordination. This collaboration is conducted through the institutional channels of the Government of Mexico, in coordination with the states,” the information note said.
Sheinbaum: Querétaro government must ‘follow the procedures’
In addition to pointing out that cooperation between Querétaro and the United States on the International Police Training Academy hadn’t been authorized by GANSEG, Sheinbaum on Tuesday also said that her government was aware that U.S. agencies were slated to “participate” in the academy. Such “participation” would violate Mexican law if the involvement of U.S. authorities wasn’t authorized by the Mexican government.
Sheinbaum said her government “knows” that U.S. agencies were slated to “participate in the academy,” as Querétaro Security Minister Iován Pérez said as much at last Friday’s event.
“It’s not an assumption,” she said before asking for a video of Pérez’s remarks to be played.
“This international training center represents an important step,” the state security minister said.
“It is designed to receive specialized training from U.S. agencies and put it within the reach of Mexican public security institutions,” Pérez said.
Sheinbaum said that “the only thing” being asked of the Querétaro government is that it “follow the procedures” and ask GANSEG and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to authorize the police training academy.
“If it’s going to receive support from the U.S. government, it should request authorization from the high-level group. Why? Because it’s the law,” she said.
“… Can [the Querétaro government] have this international academy? Yes. [But] under what conditions can it have the involvement of U.S. agencies? Under the authorization of the high-level [security] group and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — if they believe it’s within the framework of our constitution,” Sheinbaum said.
The 49ers were last invited to play at the Estadio Azteca in 2022 against the Arizona Cardinals. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
The return of the National Football League to Mexico after a four-year absence has prompted extraordinary ticket demand.
The Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers will square off in a Week 11 match-up on NBC’s Sunday Night Football at Mexico City’s Estadio Banorte (formerly Estadio Azteca). More than seven weeks before the Nov. 22 game, nearly 840,000 fans had registered to acquire the highly sought-after ducats, according to Ticketmaster.
The ticket sales company said that an average purchase is typically 2.6 tickets per person, thus calculating that the potential demand for the game would be 2.2 million. Ticketmaster said the NFL would have to stage 27 games to accommodate the estimated demand.
Breaking down the data further, Ticketmaster said 45% of ticket requests came from people outside of Mexico City, while 14% of the total came from abroad, including folks from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Slovakia and France.
The Vikings-49ers game will be the sixth regular-season NFL game in Mexico, which hosted the first NFL regular-season game outside the United States in 2005 with 103,467 spectators in attendance.
According to the league itself, Mexico is home to the biggest NFL fan base outside of the United States, estimated at between 23 and 40 million aficionados.
The game promises to be an attractive contest as both the Niners and the Vikings are undefeated through the first four weeks of the season. Tickets range in price from 2,108 pesos (US $117) to 11,656 pesos ($649).
The NFL announced last month that ranchera singer Majo Aguilar and MXKA, an African American singer-songwriter of Mexican descent, will perform the national anthems of Mexico and the United States, respectively.
The halftime entertainment will be supplied by The Warning, a hard rock and alternative rock band formed by three sisters from Monterrey.
At her Tuesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum also spoke about the upcoming commencement of the Universal Health Service and the issuance of universal healthcare cards. (Saúl López/Presidencia)
Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
🏥 Sheinbaum says universal healthcare card rollout is still limited to seniors: The president said the cards, which include each person’s CURP and will be linked to medical files with their consent, are the “first step” toward the Universal Health Service. She said authorities will gradually expand the card rollout to the entire population. A limited version of the new universal healthcare scheme begins Jan. 1, 2027.
🏠 Salud Casa por Casa has provided more than 27 million home consultations: Welfare Minister Leticia Ramírez said the free home healthcare program, which began in June 2025, serves seniors and people with disabilities. Of the consultations, 12.8 million were first visits, just over 8.3 million were second visits and 5.94 million were third visits.
🍺 Sheinbaum says government has no plans to cut alcohol taxes: Asked about a Labor Party bill to reduce the IEPS excise tax on alcoholic beverages, the president said the Finance and Health ministries would have to review it, but “for now we don’t intend to make any change.”
Why today’s mañanera matters
At her Tuesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about the upcoming commencement of the Universal Health Service and the issuance of universal healthcare cards.
As Mexico News Daily reported in April, the long-term goal of the Universal Health Service is to allow Mexicans (and eligible foreigners) to seek treatment at any public health institution — IMSS, IMSS Bienestar or ISSSTE — regardless of affiliation.
A limited version of the new universal scheme is set to commence in January 2027, with additional healthcare services to be universalized in the coming years, according to Sheinbaum.
The establishment of the Universal Health Service is one of various government healthcare initiatives. Another is the Salud Casa por Casa program, in which seniors and people with disabilities receive periodic visits from healthcare personnel in their homes. Welfare Minister Leticia Ramírez provided an update on the program on Tuesday morning.
Sheinbaum: Universal healthcare card rollout still limited to seniors
Sheinbaum told reporters that the universal healthcare cards currently being issued to seniors include people’s CURP, or Unique Population Registry Code. She said that the CURP will be linked to people’s medical files, provided they give their consent.
With the linking of medical files to universal healthcare cards, it becomes possible to commence the standardization of “healthcare services in the different institutions,” Sheinbaum said.
The “first step” in the process toward the commencement of the Universal Health Service is the issuance of universal healthcare cards, she said.
Sheinbaum said that authorities are currently issuing cards to seniors and will gradually extend the rollout to the rest of the population.
“We’re beginning with seniors and little by little we’re going to expand this to the entire population,” she said.
She said that when people are issued their universal healthcare cards, they will receive information about “which services will be universal” and how the system will work.
Sheinbaum displayed a slide with images of the card people will receive. Text on the same slide said that the Universal Health Service will commence on Jan. 1, 2027.
Sheinbaum said enrolled seniors will receive information about which services are universal upon receipt of their card. (Saúl López/Presidencia)
“This is the card that everyone will receive,” Sheinbaum said.
“… From Jan. 1 some services are going to be universal and we’re going to increase the [universal] services so that at the end of the six-year term of government, you can go to any healthcare center, doctor’s office or hospital regardless of which institution you are a beneficiary of,” she said.
Salud Casa por Casa program has provided more than 27 million free medical consultations
Ramírez told reporters that the Salud Casa por Casa program is “the largest health [promotion and disease] prevention program in the world.”
She said that more than 27 million free medical consultations have been provided in people’s homes since the Salud Casa por Casa program began in June 2025.
The welfare minister presented data that showed that 12.8 million consultations were first visits to the homes of seniors and people with disabilities. Just over 8.3 million consultations were second visits, while 5.94 million consultations were third visits.
Ramírez said that the data show that the Salud Casa por Casa program doesn’t entail the provision of single “isolated” medical consultations.
“It’s accompaniment, follow-up and prevention,” she said.
“This is possible because health professionals — nurses and doctors — go from street to street, neighborhood to neighborhood, knocking on the doors of adults aged above 65 and people with disabilities,” Ramírez said as a video showing health workers making home visits played on screen.
They provide “personalized care” on behalf of the federal government “for our mothers, grandparents, fathers, families and neighbors,” she said.
Disease prevention “is also social justice,” Ramírez said.
Sheinbaum says her government has no plans to cut alcohol taxes
A reporter noted that there is a legislative proposal to reduce the IEPS excise tax on alcoholic beverages. She asked the president her opinion about the bill, which, if enacted, could encourage higher levels of alcohol consumption and impact federal tax collection.
Sheinbaum said that the government has no plans to modify the IEPS tax that currently applies to alcohol.
The bill was presented by Francisco Javier Guízar Macías, a deputy with the Labor Party, an ally of the ruling Morena party. Sheinbaum appeared to indicate that Morena — which has a majority in both houses of Congress — won’t support the bill.
“The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health will have to review [the proposal], but for now we don’t intend to make any change,” she said.
A cliff diver launches into the ocean at La Quebrada (clavadistaslaquebrada.com)
There was a time when Acapulco was better known abroad than Mexico itself.
After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the world’s playboys made the city their party home. Everyone who was anyone wanted to be there. Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Johnny “Tarzan” Weissmuller were among the stars who bought homes in the city, with sparkling views over the golden beaches of a picture-perfect horseshoe bay.
Even in otherwise closed-off countries like China and the Soviet Union, people knew of Acapulco, largely thanks to a film, Paramount’s “Fun in Acapulco,” starring Elvis Presley and released in 1963.
However, behind the glitz and glamour of the global glitterati, something more humble and, quite literally, down-to-earth was making waves in Acapulco.
The arched diver of Acapulco
The symbol of Acapulco was, and still is, the silhouette of an arched figure diving from a cliff, pictured on everything from the city’s buses to its street signs.
It’s a dive from the towering cliff of La Quebrada, just a 10-minute walk from Acapulco’s cathedral, that provides the grand finale of the Elvis musical. Moisés García Flores, who died four years ago at the age of 88, served as the rock and roll legend’s double, performing a spectacular swan dive into the narrow, shallow channel of water.
That’s how millions of my generation, especially in Europe, came to know Mexico. The only rival image came from Hollywood westerns, where Mexico was the place to escape to, equal parts lawlessness and romance.
Acapulco cliff diver Héctor Miguel Nieves Jiménez Torres performs the cape dive to raise funds for reconstruction of Acapulco’s cathedral after Hurricane Otis. (Credit: Luis Arturo Aguirre)
This was Acapulco’s golden age, celebrated again and again on the silver screen.
For decades the saying went that you hadn’t even been to Acapulco unless you’d seen the cliff divers, or clavadistas, of La Quebrada — they were that integral to the resort’s allure.
Everyone wanted to catch a glimpse, from Elizabeth Taylor and the Shah of Iran to the Apollo 11 astronauts, who were photographed shaking hands with the “world-famous Acapulco cliff divers” shortly after their historic moon landing.
Now, for the first time, a new documentary captures the cliff divers as they see and understand themselves. In just 23 minutes, it captures with grace and honesty their inner lives, their struggles, their prayers, fears and hopes.
Co-directed by Víctor Rejón and Irving Serrano, “Las Voces del Despeñadero” (“Voices from the Abyss”) is an extraordinary work about life, death, courage, legacy and the human condition — with not a single tourist in sight.
It achieves on film much of what I attempted in my book, “Heroes of the Pacific: Entering the World of the Clavadistas of Acapulco.” That is, shifting the focus to the stars of the renowned spectacle, and to relay the individual voices and opinions of brave and remarkable people whom nobody had cared to listen to before.
“Las Voces del Despeñadero” has already racked up several accolades, including Best Documentary Short at Los Angeles’ HollyShorts festival last year. Perhaps more importantly, it won Mejor Cortometraje Documental at the 68th Ariel Awards — Mexico’s Oscars — held in Mexico City on Oct. 3.
Acapulco cliff divers get ready to rehearse the prayer scene of “Las Voces del Despeñadero,” with directors Víctor Rejón (left, in black) and Irving Serrano (with cap), in a still from the documentary. (Víctor Rejón and Irving Serrano)
‘¡Me aviento!’
The film begins with nothing more than sound. But it’s the sound the divers hear all their lives, the elemental roar of the Pacific Ocean. According to Rejón, the sound design is layered with the sonic texture of volcanoes, earthquakes and wind “to create an effect of respect and fear.”
From there, the opening shot forces the viewer to stare down a chasm, into the heaving waters of La Quebrada’s channel. This is what the clavadistas see as they risk their lives five times a day for the enjoyment of tourists.
It’s even more frightening than we might imagine, because the dive is far from vertical, impeded by large, looming rocks.
Then comes the human element — a bare foot perched on the edge of the cliff, naked and vulnerable, followed by voices:
“El cuerpo contra el viento. El azote en aspaviento.
“Me quedo sin aliento cuando el abismo enfrento.
“¡Me aviento!”
(The body against the wind, / The onslaught, in a flurry, / I am left breathless / when I confront the abyss, / I throw myself!)
The new generation of clavadistas who hope to carry on La Quebrada’s legacy. Still from the short documentary “Las Voces del Despeñadero.” (Víctor Rejón and Irving Serrano)
The lines, recited in turn by at least 10 different clavadistas — including a girl — with their recognizable costeño (coastal) accents, come from a poem by Bernardo Fuentes, which gives the film its title.
The next scene takes us into the shadows of the clavadistas’ changing room — another place outsiders never enter — where the divers describe how they came to join this dangerous and poorly paid profession.
Without sentimentality or grandiosity, we hear snippets about their family lives and the injuries they have suffered: Germán, who went deaf and could not afford hearing aids for nearly three years; Gustavo, who almost lost his life when the impact of a dive twisted his intestines so badly that he needed multiple surgeries.
We learn how they have struggled to recover, or were forced to adapt to the consequences.
It was hearing about such injuries — perforated eardrums, detached retinas and blindness, internal organs damaged when elbows are driven inwards by the impact — from veteran cliff diver Ignacio Sánchez in November 2004 that punctured my image of the sport’s Hollywood glamour.
It set me on a path of chronicling the long history — 92 years this month — of this rare community, while seeing their city, their country and the world through their eyes.
Author of the audiobook “Heroes of the Pacific,” Barbara Kastelein, returning to La Quebrada in March 2022. (Fabio Chiari)
At that time, the show was something everyone knew of. However, nobody knew anything about the divers themselves.
The paradox of being simultaneously visible and invisible runs deep. Some of the well-heeled in Acapulco were shocked that I went to the veterans’ homes, and that my children played with their grandchildren.
One prominent restaurant owner grumbled to me that “the clavadistas don’t deserve your book.”
This was when the cliff divers were protesting, I’m happy to say, effectively, over their earnings from the show. I learned then how isolated they were, and it motivated me all the more.
“Personally, I believe in documentary as a model of social intervention,” Rejón told me.
He and Serrano, whose family is from Guerrero, are proud that the cliff divers feel represented by the film.
“For us it was fundamental that they take ownership of their history.”
A tradition passed down through generations. Children learn to scale the cliff with the help of a clavadista father. (Eric Miralrio)
Leaving behind something heroic
Rejón told me he wanted the film to be a place “where the community can see itself reflected and rethink its own history.”
Perhaps more importantly, however, he wanted it to spark young people’s interest “so that this tradition would not be lost.”
It’s that sentiment that makes up the end of the film.
Tadeo, one of the child divers, says he wants to leave behind “something heroic… the courage I once had.”
Likewise, Gustavo Gatica Goroztieta, president of the Asociación de Clavadistas Profesionales de La Quebrada, describes the younger cliff divers as “the seed we are leaving in the ocean” and his “inspiration.”
Rehearsal for shooting the changing-room scene of “Las Voces del Despeñadero.” (Víctor Rejón and Irving Serrano)
However, independent of their continued efforts, there have been moments when the tradition was nearly lost to time.
In the aftermath of 2023’s Hurricane Otis, the chronic precarity of the divers’ lives was pushed to the limit when tourists, on whom they depend, could no longer visit the devastated resort.
This followed roughly 20 years in which Acapulco had been branded too dangerous to visit, through repeated U.S. government warnings and countless documentaries about drug cartels.
‘Don’t expect sanity’
Fuentes’ poem closes with the line “No le exijas cordura a quien ha escuchado las voces del despeñadero,” or “Don’t expect sanity from those who have heard the voices of the abyss.”
I asked Gustavo what it meant to him, and he echoed Don Peque, the veteran champion who told me years ago that only the insane face reality.
A stretch before the show in the Acapulco Cliff Divers’ changing room. (Fabio Chiari)
“Loco y valiente,” Gustavo said – crazy and brave.
“You have to be a bit of both to face the sea.” To know the consequences and dive anyway, he said, is itself a kind of madness.
Perforated eardrums, he added, are “the least of it,” and the challenges “will never end.”
And yet, the children keep climbing the rock, proud to follow in their forebears’ footsteps: heroes, in their turn, of a city that still needs them.
The 500 Mexican troops and 500 U.S. troops will be working right across the border from each other, cooperatively. (Defensa)
Mexico has sent 500 Army and National Guard troops to the U.S. border in the state of Tamaulipas as part of a joint operation with the U.S. military after U.S. officials were fired upon by unknown elements from the Mexican side on Sept. 26.
Media in Mexico, citing the Pentagon, said the U.S. government announced on Saturday that it had ordered 500 soldiers to the Texas-Mexico border in response to the shooting from Tamaulipas, during which U.S. Coast Guard personnel returned fire.
🚨 Refuerzan la seguridad en la frontera de #Tamaulipas.
500 efectivos del Ejército y la Guardia Nacional fueron desplegados con apoyo de dos #helicópteros de la Fuerza Aérea.
El operativo se realizará en cinco municipios fronterizos y deriva de la coordinación entre autoridades militares de #México y #EU.
Later that day, the Mexican Navy said in a press release that the U.S. troop deployment was “part of the mirror operations between both countries, which demonstrate their commitment to strengthening border security, improving detection capabilities, and safeguarding their respective sovereignty.”
On Sunday, the Foreign Relations and Defense Ministries confirmed the twin troop deployments in a joint communique, describing them as part of “Concurrent Operation,” a mission featuring coordination between Mexican and U.S. military authorities with the objective of helping to prevent drug and human trafficking.
The troops patrolling in five Tamaulipas municipalities along the border include 500 Army and National Guard personnel, supported by two UH-60 helicopters from the Air Force, drones and mobile and semi-fixed anti-drone equipment.
In a late Sunday night social media post, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson referenced Operation Concurrent, saying that the U.S. Embassy “was helping to coordinate with Mexican forces that are being deployed in the border area where shots were fired against elements of the United States Coast Guard.”
Johnson added that Mexican military commanders are communicating directly with the U.S. forces as they jointly patrol their respective sides of the shared border.
The Navy is also participating via “Operation Saber,” carrying out surveillance and security operations on the northern border with operational deployments of 159 naval personnel, 11 vehicles and two drones via the Naval Sector of Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
The Navy statement said “any cooperation mechanism or exchange of information is carried out through established institutional channels, with full respect for the sovereignty, powers and jurisdiction of each country.”
With regard to last month’s shootout, the U.S. military publication Stars and Stripes (cited by the newspaper Excelsior) said “no injuries were reported … and no damage to Coast Guard assets or equipment was reported.”
An unidentified U.S. officer told Stars and Stripes that the initial shots “came from the Mexican side and Coast Guard personnel returned fire.”
Better-than-expected figures for Q2 and a strong start to Q3 had a clear positive impact on Mexico's economic standing. (Victoria Valtierra/Cuartoscuro)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its projections for Mexico’s economic growth on Friday to 1.5% in 2026 and 1.8% in 2027, following a strong second-quarter economic performance, just three months after the organization had lowered this year’s growth forecast to 1.2%.
Achieving the forecasted economic growth will depend on Mexico making a greater effort to reduce its debt through fiscal consolidation, according to the IMF, which warned that growth will likely remain constrained by external uncertainties.
The recent revision follows an official visit for an Article IV consultation mission to Mexico City in September, led by Gustavo Adler, IMF Deputy Division Chief in the Western Hemisphere Department.
Mexico recorded the second-highest quarter-over-quarter economic growth among G20 countries in the second quarter of the year, at 1.4% on a quarter-over-quarter basis between April and June, recovering from a 0.6% sequential contraction in the first quarter.
Better-than-expected figures continued to come into frame in July, with Mexico’s economy growing by 3.3% in seasonally adjusted annual terms, marking the strongest growth of any month so far in 2026.
In its October assessment, the IMF highlighted that Mexico’s disinflation process has continued and headline inflation is near target, although some underlying price pressures persist.
Mexico should focus on much-needed growth-enhancing investment by mobilizing revenues, better prioritizing spending and allowing greater private-sector involvement, according to the organization.
Meanwhile, the government should fortify its disinflation efforts by maintaining a moderately tight stance until there is clear evidence that inflation is moving durably toward the target, the IMF advised.
Achieving greater financial growth will require Mexico to close infrastructure gaps, reduce regulatory burdens and strengthen trade integration, the IMF said. Improving security, combating corruption and lowering informality could also spur growth.
Mexico’s 2027 draft budget focuses more closely on gradual fiscal consolidation than previously announced, and on an upward debt trajectory, the IMF reported.
Nevertheless, the 2027 draft budget anticipates that public debt will increase to 55% of GDP from an estimated 54% at the end of 2026, even as it doubles down on its fiscal consolidation efforts.
"The party got it wrong. The party didn't rise to the occasion — neither for our president nor for the movement," Clouthier said. (Tatiana Clouthier/Facebook)
After losing the Morena party’s internal contest to become its presumptive candidate for governor of Nuevo León, Tatiana Clouthier announced the formation of a new “movement” in the northern border state.
Clouthier, a former federal economy minister who more recently headed up the federal government’s Institute for Mexicans Abroad, announced the “Todos Con Conciencia” (All With Conscience) movement in a social media post on Saturday.
“Today we had a meeting with the territory and air team,” she wrote on Facebook, referring to her campaign team.
“They reflected and shared their feelings. We concluded that we’re not going for [political] positions but rather to transform #NL [Nuevo León] and we began the #TodosConConciencia movement. Nuevo León doesn’t deserve to be surrendered. Welcome to the revolution of consciences; we’re ceasing to be inhabitants and becoming citizens,” wrote Clouthier, one of six aspirants to Morena’s gubernatorial nomination in Nuevo León.
“Our recognition of the progress with the arrival of the 4T and our support for the president,” she added.
The 4T is the “fourth transformation” political movement led by President Claudia Sheinbaum and supported by the ruling Morena party.
Clouthier’s Facebook post referred to the establishment of a civil society movement rather than a new political party ahead of the June 6, 2027, elections.
The 62-year-old Sinaloa native — daughter of 1988 presidential candidate Manuel Clouthier — is clearly disappointed that she wasn’t selected as the Morena and 4T candidate for the gubernatorial election in Nuevo León, a state currently governed by the Citizens Movement (MC) party under the leadership of Governor Samuel García.
That honor is set to go to Clara Luz Flores Carrales, a former federal deputy and ex-head of the National Public Security System. Last Monday, Flores was designated as Morena’s “state coordinator of the transformation and national sovereignty” in Nuevo León, making her the party’s presumptive gubernatorial candidate. She was Morena’s candidate at the 2021 gubernatorial election in Nuevo León, at which she attracted 14% of the vote to place fourth.
Morena ‘got it wrong,’ says Clouthier
After the meeting with her team on Saturday, Clouthier told the newspaper Reforma that Morena “got it wrong” in selecting Flores as its “coordinator” in Nuevo León. Flores and most of Morena’s other state coordinators were selected via surveys conducted by Morena.
Clouthier told Reforma that the “Todos Con Conciencia” movement “will work from a citizens’ perspective to transform Nuevo León.”
She said that “the common denominator” among the members of her team who attended Saturday’s meeting is that they feel “betrayed.”
Clouthier asserted that Flores “doesn’t represent the values for which we were invited” to participate in Morena’s selection process.
“The party got it wrong. The party didn’t rise to the occasion — neither for our president nor for the movement,” she said.
Sheinbaum: ‘It’s not a matter for the president, it’s a matter for the party’
“What I think is that a survey is the best way to see who can be the coordinator … of any political party, because it’s what the people think. One can have a perception as a person, but the survey gives you the people’s opinion,” Sheinbaum said.
She said that she had the highest regard for both Clouthier and Flores, and acknowledged that the former wants to speak to her. Sheinbaum said she was willing to speak to Clouthier, but reiterated that Morena’s selection of candidates or coordinators is “not a matter for the president,” but rather “a matter for the party.”
She also said that “personal ambitions should not be a cause of dispute.”
“That’s why I say the best ally is the people, and the best way to know what the people think when there isn’t a direct election is a survey. That’s my opinion,” Sheinbaum said.
Mexico had and continues to have what's called a "demographic dividend," meaning the country has much more people contributing to the growth of the economy than non-working or retired people. However, as Valeria Moy writes, the demographic dividend will generate economic returns only if that population develops its talents, works in productive jobs, saves and contributes to social security. (Victoria Valtierra/Cuartoscuro)
For decades, we’ve repeated this phrase: Mexico is a young country.
For a growing economy, we had an ideal demographic dividend — a large proportion of people of working age compared to those who depend on workers. The INEGI 2025 Intercensal Survey, published last week, should give us pause for thought. Mexico remains a young country and maintains its demographic dividend — but it is being depleted faster than we had anticipated.
Los datos de la Encuesta Intercensal el @INEGI_INFORMA dan información que nos debería llevar a una reflexión profunda sobre el cambio demográfico y sus implicaciones. Sobre eso mi columna en @El_Universal_Mx: https://t.co/njFGKqsJMN
The Intercensal Survey shows that in October 2025, our population stood at 130.9 million. The population in private households grew by 0.7% annually between 2020 and 2025, the slowest rate in the series dating back to 1990. In the first five-year period of the 1990s, the growth rate was 2.1% and the median age of Mexicans rose from 29 to 32 years.
The good news: we remain a young population compared to other countries. The median age in the United States is 39 years, in Germany it is 45.5 years and in Japan it is 49.8 years. The bad news: during the same five-year period (2020-2025), Germany’s median age increased by 0.6 years, Japan’s by 2.1 years and Mexico’s by 3 years. Mexico remains much younger, but it is aging faster than both countries.
Those aged 60 and older now account for 14.7% of the population, up from 12% in 2020. The most striking figure, however, is another one: the fertility rate fell from 1.9 children per woman in 2019 to 1.2 in 2024. In Mexico City, it is even lower, at 0.8. The fertility rate is equivalent to that of Japan, although we’ll have to wait and see if the trend holds. Being below the replacement rate — 2.1 children per woman — doesn’t mean the population will start to decline tomorrow, but the direction is clear and the pace is unusual. Mexico has reached this fertility level with a
fraction of the per capita income of those countries.
By the way, what did we do with that demographic dividend — that young population, ready to work and generate economic growth?
The demographic dividend is not an automatic gift; it will generate economic returns only if that population develops its talents, works in productive jobs, saves and contributes to social security. The emigration data are significant. Between October 2020 and the same month in 2025, 1.26 million people emigrated, compared to 803,000 in the previous five-year period. It does not, however, account for households that emigrated in their entirety. Seven out of ten were men, and four out of ten were between the ages of 20 and 29. The tax burden will begin to increase.
In 2025, half of all households had at least one member with non-labor income, compared to 38.5% in 2020, with transfer programs as the main source, followed by retirement benefits and pensions. The proportion of the population enrolled in public health services fell from 77.1% to 72.5%.
More older adults, more transfer payments and less formal coverage — this is a combination that public finances will struggle to withstand. What can be done? A national care system with a real budget is urgently needed. It is the most direct path to enabling more women to have paid work. We must discuss how pensions will be financed, especially in a country with low economic growth. We will also need a health care system prepared to handle chronic diseases as well as quality education.
Demographic data give us plenty of warning. And it’s already warned us.
Valeria Moy, an economist, columnist and director of the think tank Mexican Institute for Competitiveness. Follow Moy on X at @ValeriaMoy.
This article was translated, edited and republished with the permission of Valeria Moy, whose column regularly appears in the newspaper El Universal.
Mia Centro Cambiario, also known as "Magic Casa de Cambio," is owned by Ilia Elizabeth Félix Rivera, "a financial facilitator for Los Mayos," according to the Treasury. (Google Streetview)
Currency exchange businesses, gas stations and food and beverage establishments are among 25 entities in Mexico sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) last week for their alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Last Tuesday, OFAC also sanctioned 21 individuals who allegedly “serve as leaders or facilitators for the Sinaloa Cartel.” Among those people are Ismael Zambada Sicairos, son of imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, and Carlos Alberto Torres Torres, ex-husband of Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda.
The ex-husband of Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, Carlos Alberto Torres Torres, is featured prominently in this updated organizational hierarchy of Los Mayos’ maneuverings in the border city of Mexicali. (U.S. Treasury)
“The 21 individuals and 25 entities designated include cartel leader Ismael Zambada Sicairos (a.k.a. ‘Mayito Flaco’), members of his innermost circle, and the Tijuana-based cell leaders, money launderers, and corrupt politicians who permit the Sinaloa Cartel to operate with impunity just miles from the U.S.-Mexico border,” the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) said in a statement.
“… As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons … that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” Treasury said.
“In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.”
The U.S. sanctions are part of a broad crackdown on cartels by the Trump administration, which has designated the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and various other Mexican criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. prosecutors have also filed formal accusations of drug trafficking against various Mexican officials, including Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, who is on indefinite leave.
The sanctioned entities
The 25 sanctioned entities — almost all of which are located in Baja California — are affiliated with eight sanctioned individuals, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
One of the sanctioned entities is a Culiacán-based hotel business, Servicios Hoteleros Gastelum, which Treasury said is owned by Hildegardo Gastelum García, described as “one of Mayito Flaco’s most trusted advisors, as well as a significant narcotics trafficker.”
Known as “Aldo,” Gastelum García “uses his illicit revenue streams to finance Los Mayos’ war against the Chapitos,” according to Treasury.
Los Mayos, a Sinaloa Cartel faction affiliated with El Mayo and Mayito Flaco, and Los Chapitos, a faction of the same cartel led by sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, are engaged in a long-running dispute. The cartel infighting, frequently described as a “war,” intensified in 2024 after Zambada García was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of El Chapo’s sons, and forced onto a private plane that delivered both men to law enforcement authorities in the United States.
Among the other 24 sanctioned entities are the currency exchange businesses Galerias Centro Cambiario and Mia Centro Cambiario.
The former company, which is based in Tijuana and is also known as “Magic Casa de Cambio,” is owned by Ilia Elizabeth Félix Rivera, “a financial facilitator for Los Mayos,” according to Treasury.
“Félix uses her Tijuana-based money exchange … to work with complicit money exchanges in southern California to collect bulk cash narcotics proceeds from the United States, conduct mirror transactions, and transfer the funds back to Mexico, thus laundering the funds for Gordo Flubber and La Rana,” Treasury said, using the nicknames of two alleged Sinaloa Cartel operatives.
“Magic Casa de Cambio has a long history of ties to the Sinaloa Cartel; the money exchange’s previous owner and Felix’s former husband, Omar Guadalupe Ayon Diaz (Ayon), was arrested for laundering over $45 million through casas de cambio for the Sinaloa Cartel. Ayon was murdered in Tijuana in October 2023 on Gordo Flubber’s orders,” Treasury said.
Treasury said that Mia Centro Cambiario, located in the border city of Mexicali, is owned by “senior Sinaloa Cartel leader” José Ángel Rivera Zazueta. Zazueta uses the currency exchange business to “launder money for the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as a transportation company, Rivos Servicios,” Treasury said.
Rivos Servicios is also among the 25 sanctioned entities.
The other sanctioned entities include Xolo Gas de Baja California; Grupo Gasolinero Nueva Esperanza; The Woods Bar; Raes Restaurante; and Vida Orgánica Tijuana, a business that sells fresh juices and vegan products, among other goods.
Also sanctioned by OFAC for their alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel are businesses in sectors such as private security, entertainment and financial services.
The sanctioned individuals
The most notorious of the 21 sanctioned individuals is Zambada Sicairos, aka Mayito Flaco.
Treasury said that Zambada Sicairos, a dual Mexican and U.S. national, “has risen to fill the leadership void left by his father’s arrest and is now the undisputed head of Los Mayos.”
“Mayito Flaco was born in Anaheim, California, in 1982. Despite attempts to obfuscate his cartel bloodlines by filing a U.S. name change to Fernando Sicairos Aispuro in 2001, Mayito Flaco has remained a key figure in the Sinaloa Cartel operations for the last two decades under his father’s tutelage,” Treasury said.
“A federal grand jury in the Southern District of California (SDCA) indicted Mayito Flaco in July 2014 alongside other high-profile Sinaloa Cartel leaders on a variety of drug trafficking and money laundering charges,” Treasury said.
“While some of his family members have been brought to justice, Mayito Flaco remains a fugitive in Mexico. Today, Mayito Flaco retains command and control over Los Mayos and is responsible for directing the group’s criminal activities, including drug trafficking, murder, extortion, corruption, and kidnapping.”
Treasury said that “Mayito Flaco relies on a group of trusted individuals to provide counsel and essential support to his operations.”
Mayito Flaco is reportedly the current leader of the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. (U.S. Treasury)
Members of that group, including Gastelum Garcia, were among the 21 individuals sanctioned by OFAC last week.
Among the other sanctioned individuals are:
Brothers Jorge Luis Mendoza Uriarte (aka ‘Guero Chompas’) and Francisco Javier Mendoza Uriarte, described as “close associates” of Mayito Flaco.
Lorenzo Castillo Maldonado, who, according to Treasury, “works directly for Guero Chompas and provides protection for Mayito Flaco.”
Marco Antonio Moreno Gómez Santelices, a Tijuana-based associate of “a high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel money launderer” and the owner of “a network of security, real estate, and entertainment companies that also launder money for the Sinaloa Cartel,” according to Treasury. Moreno owns, controls or directs 10 of the 25 sanctioned entities, according to the Treasury.
Luis Alfonso Torres Torres, brother of Carlos Alberto Torres Torres, Governor Ávila’s ex-husband. Five sanctioned companies, including The Woods Bar and Raes Restaurante, are owned, controlled, or directed by Luis Torres, according to Treasury.
Pedro Ariel Mendivil García, former director of public security in Mexicali and owner of gas station operator Grupo Gasolinero Nueva Esperanza.
In its statement, the Treasury Department said that “Sinaloa Cartel-enabled narco-corruption has reached the highest levels of the Baja California state government” and alleged that “[a]t the center of this narco-corruption scheme is the ex-husband of the Governor of Baja California, Carlos Alberto Torres Torres (Carlos Torres) and his brother Luis Alfonso Torres Torres (Luis Torres).”
Treasury said that Carlos Torres, a former federal and state deputy, is “a cartel-linked political operator who has an alliance with El Ruso.”
El Ruso is Juan José Ponce Félix, alleged leader of Los Rusos, a “Sinaloa Cartel Los Mayos sub-faction” that currently dominates the Mexicali plaza, according to Treasury.
Treasury said that Carlos Torres “uses his political influence to facilitate cartel activities and protect the Sinaloa Cartel from government and law enforcement intervention in Baja California.”
“The U.S. Department of State revoked Carlos Torres’s U.S. visa in May 2025 due to his cartel affiliation and work on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel,” Treasury said. Torres denies the allegations leveled against him.
According to media reports, Avilá, a Morena party governor, was one of various people who originally invested in Vida Orgánica Tijuana, which was established in late 2020.
“A Sept. 10, 2026, rectification of deeds withdrew the governor from the company, just 19 days before the announcement of the U.S. sanctions,” the news outlet Infobae reported.
In its Sept. 29 statement, Treasury said that the “former Mexicali Director of Public Security, Pedro Ariel Mendivil García (Mendivil), also has an alliance with El Ruso.”
Mendivil, who was the public security director in Mexicali between 2021 and 2024, “received bribes from El Ruso in exchange for Sinaloa Cartel control of the Mexicali municipal police to facilitate drug trafficking and carry out cartel enforcement operations,” Treasury said.
“Carlos Torres also reportedly received monthly payments from Mendivil to allow the Sinaloa Cartel to operate with relative impunity in the state. Luis Torres was responsible for taking these bribes and laundering the illicit funds through companies and political campaigns,” the Treasury Department said.
