Saturday, June 28, 2025

After a divided vote, Bank of Mexico announces surprise interest rate cut

By
MND Staff
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Bank of Mexico building in Mexico City
The Bank of Mexico decision to cut benchmark interest rates to 10.75% despite high headline inflation shocked some analysts. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) announced a surprise cut to its key interest rate on Thursday, just hours after data showed that headline inflation reached its highest level in over a year in July.

In a split decision, the Banxico board voted to lower the central bank’s benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 10.75%. It was the second cut this year, after a 25-basis-point reduction in March.

In a statement announcing its latest cut, Banxico said that decreasing core inflation “better reflects the inflation trend” than headline inflation, which has been increasing.

It noted that the annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, declined for an 18th consecutive month in July to reach 4.05%.

The annual headline rate was much higher at 5.57%, increasing for a fifth consecutive month in July to reach its highest level since May 2023.

Banxico said that its board “assessed the behavior of inflation and its determinants, as well as of inflation expectations” before three of the five members, including Bank Governor Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, voted in favor of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut.

Fruit and vegetable market in Mexico with prices posted
Banxico said its decision was based on declining core inflation rather than headline inflation. Core inflation does not take into account food and energy prices due to their variability. (Cuartoscuro)

The bank said that headline inflation is still expected to converge to its 3% target in the fourth quarter of 2025, although it acknowledged that its forecasts for this year and next are subject to a range of upside and downside risks.

Banxico said that the upside risks include persistence of core inflation; greater foreign exchange depreciation; greater cost-related pressures; climate-related impacts; and the intensification of geopolitical conflicts.

It also noted that Mexico’s economy slowed in the second quarter, “thus prolonging the weakness that has been observed since the end of 2023.”

“The balance of risks to growth of economic activity remains biased to the downside,” Banxico added.

Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, governor of the Bank of Mexico, which recently announced an interest rate cut.
Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, governor of Mexico’s central bank. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)

The bank said that “although the outlook for inflation still calls for a restrictive monetary policy stance, its evolution implies that it is adequate to reduce the level of monetary restriction.”

“Thus, with the presence of all its members, the Board decided by majority to lower the target for the overnight interbank interest rate by 25 basis points to 10.75%,” Banxico said.

The central bank also said that its board “foresees that the inflationary environment may allow for discussing reference rate adjustments” at future monetary policy meetings.

The interest rate cut ‘doesn’t make sense’

Some economic analysts asserted that the Bank of Mexico’s decision to lower its key interest rate lacked logic.

Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Mexico’s Banco Base, said in a post to X that it “doesn’t make sense” for Banxico to cut its interest rate given that it increased its forecast for headline inflation in the final quarter of this year to 4.4% from 4%.

In a subsequent post, she described the decision as a “mistake” and asserted that it could diminish the central bank’s reputation.

Abraham Vela, an economist and academic, said that simultaneously increasing the forecast for inflation and lowering interest rates was a “monetary aberration.”

Alfredo Coutiño, Latin America director at Moody’s Analytics, wrote on X that Banxico had taken “an unnecessary risk.”

“In the face of turbulent financial conditions and deteriorating expectations for the peso, today’s monetary decision is imprudent and shows a lack of commitment with the top mandate of price stability,” he said.

“… The monetary decision is completely inconsistent with the inflationary conditions. On one side, Banxico ‘significantly’ corrects to the upside inflation estimates for the rest of the year and on the other it eases monetary conditions. Apparently the monetary [policy] work of the three members of the board [who voted in favor of a cut] is not governed by the monetary mandate of price stability,” Coutiño wrote.

“The sole mandate of Banxico doesn’t include economic growth or public finances as a priority,” he added.

Alfredo Coutiño, Latin America director at Moody’s Analytics, an analyst who commented on the interest rate cut
Alfredo Coutiño, Latin America director at Moody’s Analytics, called the rate cut and “unnecessary risk.” (Alfred Coutiño/X)

Some analysts predicted that the central bank would cut its key interest rate today, but the majority of those surveyed by both Citibanamex and Reuters forecast that the second reduction of 2024 would come later in the year.

Peso strengthens after Bank of Mexico announcement 

Reuters reported that the Mexican peso depreciated immediately after the announcement of the interest rate cut to trade at 19.01 to the US dollar.

However, the peso subsequently strengthened to reach 18.90 to the greenback at 5 p.m. Mexico City time. That rate represents an appreciation of just over 2% for the peso compared to its closing position on Wednesday.

The Bank of Mexico’s decision to cut its key rate — which will take effect on Friday — will reduce the difference between the Banxico rate and the United States Federal Reserve’s rate from 550 to 525 basis points.

The large gap between the two rates has benefited the peso for an extended period as it has made Mexico an attractive destination for investors, including those engaged in carry trade. In that context, it is somewhat surprising that the peso appreciated on the same day that Banxico announced an interest rate cut.

The central bank’s new inflation outlook

Banxico increased its headline inflation forecasts for the current quarter as well as Q4 of 2024 and Q1 of 2025.

  • Q3 2024: forecast increased to 5.2% from 4.5% at the end of June. 
  • Q4 2024: forecast increased to 4.4% from 4% previously. 
  • Q1 2025: forecast increased to 3.7% from 3.5%. 
  • Q2 2025: forecast maintained at 3.3%.
  • Q3 2025: forecast maintained at 3.1%.
  • Q4 2025: forecast maintained at 3%.  

Core inflation forecasts 

Banxico made just one change to its core inflation forecasts, making a lower prediction than previously for the current quarter.

  • Q3 2024: forecast decreased to 4% from 4.1% at the end of June.
  • Q4 2024: forecast maintained at 3.9%.
  • Q1 2025: forecast maintained at 3.6%.
  • Q2 2025: forecast maintained at 3.3%.
  • Q3 2025: forecast maintained at 3.1%.
  • Q4 2025: forecast maintained at 3%.

Mexico News Daily 

Are you a chairo, a godinez or a fifí?

By
MND Staff
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Fifí
In a land filled with stereotypes, what even is a fifí? (Denisse Hernández/Cuartoscuro)

We Mexicans love giving things and people fun nicknames. And few things get as many nicknames in Mexico as stereotypes of other Mexicans. 

Living abroad, I’ve come to understand that as much as we dislike stereotypes, they tell us a lot about the society we live in. And Mexican stereotypes are no exception. Understanding them gives foreigners valuable information, not only about the complex world of classism in Mexico but also about Mexican politics, religion and even workplace dynamics.

We have a lot of nicknames for a lot of people. Some of them are actually quite funny. (Cris la huarachita/Instagram)

They’re also a great window into Mexican humor, because as you’ll see, they are a major source of satire. 

The following are the most common stereotypes you’re likely to come across on social media, in casual conversations between Mexicans, or even in statements from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

But the most important question: Which one are you?

Godinez

Do you work in an office? Do you bring food to your job in Tupperware? Do you work a 9 to 5? Then you are a godinez. And if you wear an office badge, you’re in the top ranks.  

The telltale sign of a nearby “godinez.” Tread carefully. (Kate Trifo/Unsplash)

Before working from home became a thing, I was once a godinez, too. I used to arrive at the office by 9 a.m., wear formal attire, store my food in the office fridge and have a drawer full of snacks (yes, that included chips and salsa Valentina). 

In the morning, my work friends and I would prepare coffee in the kitchen and have our usual dose of I-hate-my-godinez-life conversation before diving right into work, just as any responsible godinez would do.

When I couldn’t make it home for the two hour lunch break, I would eat from my Tupperware or have lunch with my other godinez colleagues at the same old restaurant around the corner. 

As any godinez, the quincenas (paycheck day every fortnight) were my favorite days of the month and “ya depositaron” (they’ve paid) my favorite words.   

In the drawer of any good godinez, Valentina, candies and a topper are a must. (María Ruiz)

Despite every Mexican knowing what a godinez is (besides a surname) it’s still unclear why we chose this name. What we know is that godinez is not derogatory and is always a great way to add humor to any conversation.

Some examples of godinez in TV shows are Hugo Sánchez from “Club de Cuervos” and Betty in “Betty La Fea” (the original, Spanish language version of Ugly Betty).

Mirreyes 

This stereotype only applies to men. But if you’re a woman, read on to find out if your man is a mirrey. 

Mirrey is a combination of two words: “mi” which means “my,” and “rey” which means “king.” So, it literally means My King. The term originated as a greeting among the elite young male descendants of Lebanese immigrants in Mexico, spreading across the country through social media in 2010. 

Javi Noble from the movie Nosotros los Nobles. He is whitexican AND a mirrey. Double whammy. (Nosotros los Nobles)

It describes a distinct stereotype within the whitexican and fresa realm: rich guys who lead an ostentatious and arrogant life. They wear shirts unbuttoned halfway down. Expensive loafers, lotions and watches. They are typically tanned. Some even call themselves entrepreneurs, making and breaking businesses sponsored by their family’s wealth.

They also use a specific lexicon, calling themselves papá (dad), lord or príncipe (prince) and using suffixes like “uki” and “irri” – they don’t go to Acapulco, they go to “Acapulquirri.” They don’t date girls, they date “lobukis” (chicks/babes). 

Actor and businessman Roberto Palazuelos is constantly the object of memes representing mirreyes. Another particuarly notable example is Mexican singer Luis Miguel.

Princes and princesses strive for happiness, not perfection. Except for myself, of course, because I’m perfect. (papipalazuelos/Instagram)

The term mirrey is usually inoffensive because many mirreyes take pride in being one. 

Fifís

Fifís is a term that we’ve used in the Hispanic world for years to refer to refined people in high-class society. It is even in the dictionary. The Real Academia Española (RAE), the equivalent of the Oxford dictionary in the Spanish speaking world, defines a fifí as “a pretentious person interested in being fashionable”. 

In Mexico, the term was never political and wasn’t used as an insult. But then López Obrador happened. 

President López Obrador began to use the term during his 2018 presidential campaign, to refer to the opposition. He has also used it to accuse the press of being fifí. However, in a morning press conference in July 2022, he changed criteria and narrowed the requirements to be a fifí, arguing that “there are levels of fifís.”

Meet the enemy of the Fifís, President Andres Manuel López Obrador. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)

According to him now, to be a fifí one must:

1)    Own an airplane.

2)    Own a yacht.

3)    Live in the Mexico City neighborhoods of Las Lomas, Santa Fe “but in La Toscana,” or El Pedregal. He remarked that living in Del Valle (a middle-class neighborhood), “is not enough” to be a fifí. 

López Obrador has also associated fifí with negative traits like selfishness, materialism, unscrupulousness and superfluity, adding that “one must look to improve oneself, but never aspire to be a fifí.”

Calling someone fifí is offensive. However, we have found ways to satirize it.

Now, if fifí defines the opposition of López Obrador, what term is used for his supporters? 

Chairos

Chairo has various meanings across the Hispanic world and four meanings in Mexico alone. One of those meanings (someone who supports socialist causes) has developed into a pejorative noun to describe people who passionately adhere to ideology but lack real commitment to action. 

Since the presidential campaign in 2018, the term has increased in popularity as a pejorative noun for the president’s followers, who largely tend to be low-income and darker-skinned. As such, chairo may have class and racial connotations, too. 

Chairo and fifís are antagonists, frequently appearing on ‘X,’ in political conversations among Mexicans and in López Obrador’s speeches. 

The Royal Mexican Academy of Language has recognized chairos and fifís as antagonist terms.

Earlier this month, López Obrador said that he is a “chairo” president and remarked that he is not a “fifi.” However, he added that he “respects fifís.”

Whether the term is offensive depends on whether you are a proud supporter of López Obrador.

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

Querétaro airport’s international passenger traffic grew over 60%

By
MND Staff
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Front entrance of Queretaro International Airport
International passenger numbers at Querétaro International Airport are way up in the first semester of 2024. (Google)

If you think you’ve seen more international flights at Querétaro International Airport (AIQ) than ever, it’s probably not your imagination: federal data shows a spike in international travelers passing though AIQ in 2024. 

According to data from the Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation Ministry (SICT), the number of international passengers traveling through AIQ went up by 60.3% in the first half of the year to 313,832. In 2023, it saw 195,836 international passengers. 

People waiting for passengers at the international arrivals area of Queretaro International Airport
Querétaro International Airport’s international passenger numbers are increasing enough that the airport has had to respond by increasing its parking areas and reconfiguring its international arrivals area to accommodate more passengers between 2023 and 2024. (Wikimedia Commons)

Domestic passenger traffic at AIQ also increased this year, by a more modest 10.1%, from 563,056 passengers in the first semester of 2023 to 619,678 in the same period of 2024, the newspaper El Economista reported. 

International AIQ travelers represented 33.6% of total passenger traffic at the airport in 2024 (up from 25.8% in the same period of 2023), while domestic travelers represented 66.4% of passenger traffic (down from 74.2% of AIQ’s total traffic), El Economista said.

So far, June has been the airport’s best month this year, with a total of 171,427 passengers (domestic and international) passing through the airport. The monthly average for 2024 at AIQ stands at 155,585 travelers, according to El Economista.

In 2024, with its increase in international travelers, AIQ has become Mexico’s ninth top airport in terms of international passenger traffic. The top airport is the Cancun International Airport, with 32.7% of the market share of international travelers. AIQ has 1.2%.

Nationwide, according to SICT, international passenger traffic grew by 5.5% in June alone, part of an overall growth trend in 2024, in which international passenger traffic increased by 8.8% between January and June.

Cargo down at AIQ

Cargo at AIQ told a slightly different story. According to SICT figures, AIQ handled 37,658 tonnes of cargo from January to June 2024, which made it Mexico’s fifth busiest airport in terms of total cargo traffic and No. 2 in the country in terms of domestic cargo, handling 25,502 tonnes.

Cargo handlers standing on an open plane in front of large cargo on the ground below them.
Overall, Querétaro’s airport has seen fewer tons of cargo pass through in 2024 than in 2023, although domestic cargo numbers are up. (Vota Querétaro)

Nevertheless, total cargo numbers for AIQ in the first semester of 2024 decreased by 6.3% from last year, from 40,184 tonnes in 2023. This is clearly due to a decrease in international cargo handling numbers (down 24.8% in 2024, from 16,615 tonnes in 2023 to 12,156 tonnes in 2024). Domestic cargo at AIQ actually showed a modest increase of 8.2% from 2023 (23,569 tonnes) to 2024 (25,502 tonnes).  

AIQ wasn’t the only airport showing an overall downward trend in cargo traffic in 2024: the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) saw the largest drop in the same period (38.8%), decreasing from one year to the next from 42,996 tonnes to 26,301 tonnes.

Other airports that reported drops in total cargo traffic included Toluca (2.9%), San Luis Potosí (3%) and Monterrey (1.5%).

The SICT attributed the AICM drop to the transfer of international cargo airline operations to AIFA, after President López Obrador issued an executive order in 2023 prohibiting cargo airlines from using AICM in order to ease what Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) declared to be air traffic saturation there.

Cargo handling numbers at AIFA did grow by 7,051 tonnes in the measured period, but that doesn’t account entirely for AICM’s year-to-year drop of 16,694 tonnes.

With reports from El Economista

Power outages in Cancún, Playa del Carmen affect 277,000 homes and businesses

By
MND Staff
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Tourists on a beach in Cancún
The outages affected residents and visitors in Cancún and other areas of Quinana Roo. (Cuartoscuro)

A Wednesday afternoon power outage lasting more than two hours affected thousands of tourists and residents in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and other areas of Quintana Roo, according to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

The power outage, which according to the CFE started at 4:13 pm local time, affected 277,052 power users in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujeres.

Local newspapers and social media users reported issues including traffic light failures, air conditioning malfunctions, tourist service disruptions and problems at hotels and shopping malls. The outages also affected services such as ATMs and mobile internet services.

According to a statement issued by the CFE on Wednesday evening, electricity services were gradually reinstated that same day starting at 4:48 pm. By 6:14 pm, electrical service was back to normal.

The CFE explained that weather damage to a high voltage line running from Valladolid to Nizuc caused the blackout.

However, newspaper La Jornada Maya and El Economista reported that in recent weeks, power outages have been recurring in Cancún and the Riviera Maya. Some business owners in Playa del Carmen told La Jornada Maya that they experienced another power outage on Monday, causing them considerable economic losses.

Power outages affected more than half of Mexico's territory in May
In May, a heat wave and subsequent increase in energy demand strained the national grid, causing blackouts in Quintana Roo and elsewhere. (Jorge Ortega/Cuartoscuro)

On June 21, another series of blackouts occurred in the Yucatán Peninsula. At that time, the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) reported that the operational reserve margin dropped to less than 6% due to the high demand for energy to power air conditioners in homes, businesses and other urban infrastructure.

The region, along with several other states, also experienced power outages during an early heat wave in May.

Sergio León, president of the Entrepreneurs for Quintana Roo Association, said  at the time that the power outage caused losses amounting to 500 million pesos (US $23.6 million). The economic loss caused by Wednesday’s power outage is yet to be reported.

According to the report “Mexico and Electrical Deficits” published by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), the Yucatán Peninsula has a fragile electrical infrastructure with a weak interconnection compared to the rest of the country.

Currently, the installed capacity in operation amounts to 5,693.71 megawatts, with some 847 megawatts planned for construction.

With reports from La Jornada Maya and El Economista

Chinese-owned MG Motor to build a manufacturing plant in Mexico

By
MND Staff
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MG Motor signage
Founded in Great Britain in 1924, MG Motor was acquired by Chinese SAIC Motor Corp in 2007 and has made significant inroads in the car market in Mexico. (Shutterstock)

Chinese-owned automotive company MG Motor has announced plans to build a manufacturing plant and research and development center in Mexico.

Zhang Wei, president of MG Motor México, announced the plans on Wednesday in a statement that highlighted that the company has now sold 150,000 vehicles in Mexico just four years after entering the market.

Zhang Wei, President of MG Motor Mexico
Zhang Wei, the president of MG México, said “we’re excited” to turn Mexico into a hub for Latin America. (Zhang Wei/LinkedIn)

“Looking to the future, we’re excited to announce plans to establish Mexico as a hub for Latin America. This includes not just a manufacturing plant, but also a research and development center,” Zhang said.

“This move will allow us not only to produce vehicles, but also generate market intelligence specifically designed for and by Latin America,” he said.

Zhang didn’t say how much MG planned to invest in the plant and R & D Center, where the facilities would be located or when construction will commence.

However, the El Economista newspaper reported that the plant will be located in central Mexico or the Bajío region and produce 100,000 vehicles per year in an initial phase of operations.

MG Motors car on display
MG Motors is one of the top-selling Chinese brands in Mexico. (MG Motors/Instagram)

MG makes internal combustion engine vehicles as well as electric and hybrid models.

Reuters reported earlier this year that pressure from United States authorities had led the Mexican government to refuse to offer incentives to Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers planning to invest in Mexico. United States presidential candidate Donald Trump has pledged to impose heavy tariffs on cars manufactured in Mexico by Chinese companies if he returns to the White House next January.

The announcement by MG —  a company established in the United Kingdom in 1924 and acquired by state-owned Chinese company SAIC Motor Corp in 2007 — comes after major Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD confirmed in February that it will open a plant in Mexico. BYD Americas CEO Stella Li said that the company’s Mexico plant will only make vehicles for the Mexican market, not for export to the United States or other countries.

Zhang said that the decision to establish an MG/SAIC plant in Mexico demonstrates “our commitment to stay and prosper” in the Mexican market and “our dedication to our customers and the country.”

He said MG’s aim is to “make Mexico a pole for growth and expansion for SAIC Group and MG Motor in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Zhang also said that MG stablemate IM (Intelligent Mobility) is planning to sell its premium electric vehicles in Mexico.

With reports from El Financiero, El Economista, Reuters, El CEO and AS

The biggest prize in fishing gets underway for 2024

By
Chris Sands
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Bisbee’s Los Cabos Fishing Tournaments
The biggest prize in sport fishing is back underway, with Bisbee's Los Cabos ready for the 2024 tournament season. (Pelagic)

Everything about Bisbee’s trio of annual fishing tournaments in Los Cabos is outsized. The fish caught by competing teams of anglers are enormous. Qualifying billfish, for example, must be at least 300 pounds, and many, like the record 993-pound blue marlin reeled in at the Bisbee’s Black and Blue event in 1994, are preposterously large. 

The cash purses disbursed to winners are likewise immense. In 2023, the winning team at Bisbee’s Black and Blue, Stella June, received a record-breaking check for US $4.4 million (yes, the check itself was huge, too), representing just under half of the tournament’s 9 million dollar purse. The Los Cabos Offshore (LCO) and East Cape Offshore (ECO) tournaments produced purses of US $2 million and $1.8 million, respectively. That’s nearly US $13 million in combined payouts to teams given out last year — despite scheduling difficulties caused by Hurricane Norma — making Bisbee’s tournaments the most profitable way to spend one’s vacation time in Los Cabos. If you win, that is.

Fishing rods are at the ready in Los Cabos, in the hope of landing a winning catch. (Pelagic)

Naturally, the entry fees are big, too. That’s what generates the headline-grabbing purses. With that in mind, here’s what participants – and those who simply want to watch big fish straining dockside scales – can look forward to for the 2024 editions. 

The East Cape Offshore kicks off Bisbee’s 2024 tournament season

The East Cape Offshore is traditionally the first of the three Bisbee’s organized tournaments to be staged. This year is no exception, with the ECO slated for three days of fishing (July 31st to August 2nd), In fact, by the time you read this, the tournament will have already concluded … likely with record-breaking results.  

Why am I so sure of this? Because that’s been the pattern. The 2023 record purse of US $1,803,300 was substantially more than the $1,286,385 paid out in 2022 (a 40% increase, in fact), and ever since the ECO first surpassed the million-dollar mark in 2020, the trend has been for purses to climb steadily higher, with a new record established almost every year.

The ECO, notably, is the only tournament not centered in Cabo San Lucas. Instead, teams take to the Sea of Cortez from Buena Vista, a small town of less than 1,000 people that has been a legendarily abundant sport fishing destination since the 1950s, to seek their prey. The latter include gamefish like tuna and dorado, billfish like blue, black, and striped marlin, and sailfish and spearfish.

The record 704-pound blue marlin caught at Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore in 2020. (Cortez Cowboy Sportfishing)

Billfish brings the biggest rewards at all Bisbee’s tournaments, with the purses based on the number of participants and the respective entry fees. Across-the-board entry, including daily jackpots, is US $36,000 per team at the ECO and LCO, but $84,500 at the Black and Blue ($144,500 including the daily “Chupacabra Challenge”). These enormous entry fees combined with robust participation (203 teams competed in the tournament in 2023) account for the Black and Blue’s reputation as “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament.”

The LCO and Black and Blue Tournaments will take place in October

Although the ECO typically takes place in late July or early August, Bisbee’s LCO and Black and Blue tournaments are fixtures of the October calendar, and help to usher in high tourist season in Los Cabos. The former is scheduled for October 14-19 2024, and the latter for October 21-26. 

No, it’s not too late to enter. Registration continues until the day before the shotgun start of each tournament, and there’s no limit to the size of your team save the space available on the boat. Boats can range up to 50 miles from Cabo San Lucas to catch fish. 

Why Bisbee’s Black and Blue is the gold standard of sport fishing

When the late Bob Bisbee Sr. organized the first Black and Blue marlin fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas in 1982, the purse was a modest US $10,000. But participation and payouts soon skyrocketed upwards. The purse had doubled by 1984. However, the first seven-figure plus payout for an individual team didn’t occur until 2003, when team Que Sera earned a check for US $1.16 million. Many more seven-figure checks have followed, with the success of the tournament leading to the founding of the ECO in 2000 and the LCO in 2002.

Winner’s checks for the 2023 Bisbee’s Black and Blue tournament. (Bisbee’s Offshore Fishing Tournaments)

Is it the richest fishing tournament in the world? The answer is yes. In 2022, the Black and Blue’s US $11.65 million cash purse was the largest ever offered by a fishing tournament. The White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland gave the most ever to its winning team in 2023, $6.2 million, but its cash purse of $10.5 million fell more than a million dollars short of surpassing Bisbee’s record. Bisbee’s has also paid out more during its history – more than US $100 million versus $95 million — than the White Marlin Open, despite holding its first tournament eight years later.

There’s also no disputing the other oft-cited nickname for Bisbee’s Black and Blue: “The Super Bowl of Sport Fishing.” The tournament is more lucrative for its winners than the NFL Super Bowl. The seven team members of Stella June took home US $4.4 million in 2023, an average of over $625,000 each. Players on the 2024 Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs pocketed only $164,000 each. 

Bisbee’s tournaments give back in a big way, too

Bisbee’s tournaments are millionaire makers for winners and bring a lot of positive publicity to Los Cabos, but their value to the community goes far beyond the good press. It’s been estimated, for example, that the economic benefit to Los Cabos was about US $50 million in 2023. This figure includes the money spent by participants on hotel accommodations and boat rentals and the money spent by visiting fans while the tournaments were taking place. 

The fish caught during tournaments also go to a good cause — over 20,000 pounds of fish per year are donated to feed local families — while Bisbee’s non-profit Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fund is dedicated to protecting sporting habitats on land and sea.

Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.

US judge dismisses majority of Mexico’s claims in suit against gun manufacturers

By
MND Staff
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A sign in San Diego, California, warns against bringing guns and ammo into Mexico, where such products can only be legally purchased at an army-run store in Mexico City.
A sign in San Diego, California, warns against bringing guns and ammo into Mexico, where such products can only be legally purchased at an army-run store in Mexico City. (Shutterstock)

A United States federal judge dismissed on Wednesday most of the Mexican government’s US $10 billion lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers it accused of negligent business practices leading to violence in Mexico.

District Judge Dennis Saylor threw out claims against six of eight companies Mexico sued in 2021.

Saylor, a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, previously dismissed Mexico’s lawsuit in October 2022, saying that U.S. law “unequivocally” prohibits claims that seek to hold gun manufacturers responsible when people use their products for their intended purpose.

The Mexican government appealed the decision, and in January a U.S. appeals court ruled its lawsuit could proceed.

On Wednesday, Saylor once again dismissed Mexico’s lawsuit against Sturm, Ruger & Co.; Barrett Firearms Manufacturing; Glock; Colt’s Manufacturing Company; Century International Arms; and Beretta U.S.A. Corp.

In early 2022, those companies filed to have the lawsuit against them dismissed based on the broad protection the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act provides to gun manufacturers.

A press photo of high caliber guns from US Customs and Border Protection
Mexico wants arms manufacturers to take responsibility for playing a part in the smuggling of guns like these, which were seized in Nogales, Arizona.(@CBPPortDirNOG/Twitter)

Saylor said Wednesday that the six companies’ connection to Massachusetts — where Mexico filed its case — was “gossamer-thin at best.”

“The government of Mexico is obviously not a citizen of Massachusetts. None of the six moving defendants is incorporated in Massachusetts, and none has a principal place of business in Massachusetts. There is no evidence that any of them have a manufacturing facility, or even a sales office, in Massachusetts,” the judge said in a written ruling.

“None of the alleged injuries occurred in Massachusetts. No Massachusetts citizen is alleged to have suffered any injury. And plaintiff has not identified any specific firearm, or set of firearms, that was sold in Massachusetts and caused injury in Mexico.”

The Mexican government’s legal team argued that it was statistically likely that some firearms sold in Massachusetts were trafficked to Mexico, but Saylor said that Mexico didn’t have sufficient evidence to establish jurisdiction.

A "made in the U.S.A." label on a Smith and Wesson gun.
Mexico’s lawsuit named Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Colt’s Manufacturing Company and Glock Inc, among other gun makers, arguing that they knew their business practices caused illegal arms trafficking to Mexico. (Shutterstock)

Mexico still has an active lawsuit against gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson Brands and gun wholesaler Witmer Public Safety Group.

Saylor’s decision on Wednesday “does not affect the lawsuit against these two companies nor does it absolve the other six companies of responsibility,” Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) told Reuters.

The SRE also said it was considering filing an appeal against the latest decision, or taking its case to other courts in the United States.

Mexico accused the gun manufacturers of deliberately designing and marketing weapons to appeal to criminal organizations in Mexico, where guns smuggled into the country from the U.S. are used in a majority of high-impact crimes such as homicide.

Colt’s, for example, manufactured a pistol embellished with an image of Emiliano Zapata, a hero of the Mexican revolution. That weapon was used in the 2017 murder of Chihuahua-based journalist Miroslava Breach.

In a court document filed in 2021, the SRE said, “Mexico is denouncing these promotional practices, along with other examples of negligence, like multiple weapons sales to a solo buyer, and the absence of background checks.”

A Colt Aztec .38 caliber pistol
The Colt Aztec .38 caliber pistol features a design inspired by Indigenous Mexica stonework. (File photo)

The Mexican government filed a separate, as yet unresolved, lawsuit against against five Arizona gun stores for alleged involvement in trafficking firearms from the U.S. to Mexico.

In Massachusetts, it argued that more than half a million guns are trafficked annually to Mexico, where firearms can only be purchased legally at one army-run store.

The Mexican government also argued that the smuggling of weapons into Mexico has contributed to high rates of gun-related deaths, negatively affected the economy and investment and precipitated a need to increase spending on public security. Data published by the national statistics agency INEGI last week showed that 70% of more than 31,000 homicides in Mexico last year were perpetrated with firearms.

Lawrence Keane, general counsel of the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, welcomed Saylor’s Wednesday decision.

Keane said the judge had rejected Mexico’s “obvious forum-shopping,” and expressed confidence that courts will also dismiss claims against Smith & Wesson and Witmer Public Safety Group.

He has previously said that “the crime that is devastating the people of Mexico is not the fault of members of the firearm industry, that under U.S. law, can only sell their lawful products to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights after passing a background check.”

In an X post in January after the Boston-based United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that Mexico’s case could proceed, Keane wrote that “Mexico should spend its time enforcing its own laws and bring Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courtrooms, instead of scapegoating the firearm industry for their unwillingness to protect Mexican citizens.”

With reports from Reuters and AP

Mexican diver Osmar Olvera wins bronze at the Paris Olympics

By
MND Staff
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Mexican diver Osmar Olvera with the bronze medal
Mexican diver Olvera won a bronze medal in the men's 3-meter springboard event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. (Conade/X)

Mexican diver Osmar Olvera won Mexico its fourth medal in the Paris Olympics on  Thursday, earning a bronze in the 3-meter men’s springboard competition. Last Saturday, Olvera teamed up with Juan Celaya to claim a silver medal in the 10-meter men’s synchronized diving event.

Another Mexican diver and Olympic debutante, Alejandra Estudillo, remains in the running for a medal. Estudillo, 19, qualified for the finals of the women’s 3-meter springboard competition after finishing in fifth place in the semifinal round on Thursday. She’ll go for the gold on Friday.

Osmar Olvera at the Paris Olympics 2024
Olvera is just the second Mexican diver to win two medals in the same Olympic Games. (Conade/X)

Olvera, 20, joins the legendary Joaquín Capilla as the only Mexican divers to win two medals in the same Olympic Games. Olvera has a chance to add another medal beginning Friday when the individual 10-meter platform competition begins.

Capilla, who won four Olympic medals in his career, claimed a gold (10-meter platform) and a bronze (3-meter springboard) at the 1956 Melbourne Games. Capilla also won a silver at the 1952 Games in Helsinki and another bronze at the 1948 Games in London, both in the 10-meter platform event.

Olvera earned a total of 500.40 points for his six dives in the finals, finishing 43.20 points behind China’s Siyi Xie, who defended his Olympic title from Tokyo three years ago. Siyi’s teammate Zongyuan Wang completed the podium, replicating the silver medal he won at the Tokyo Games with a score of 530.20 points.

A Mexico City native, as was Capilla, Olvera was the youngest diver on Mexico’s diving team at the Tokyo Games. He then went on to win two silver medals (1-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard) at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. 

This post shows video footage from Joaquín Capilla’s diving performance at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

Olvera followed that up with three gold medals (1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and 3-meter synchronized) at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Olvera warmed up for the Olympics by earning a gold medal (1-meter springboard) and a bronze (3-meter springboard) at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, in February.

With his triumph in Thursday’s 3-meter springboard competition, Olvera has become the fifth Mexican to win multiple medals at a single Olympics. Olvera joins Humberto Mariles (two golds and a bronze in equestrian events) and Rubén Uriza (a gold and a silver in equestrian events) who medaled at the 1948 London Games, Capilla and Raúl González (a gold and a silver in race walking) who starred at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Mexican athletes have won more Olympic medals in diving than in any other event. With the two medals earned in Paris, Mexican divers have now won 17 Olympic medals.

With reports from El Economista and Aristegui Noticias

Inflation keeps climbing, reaching highest level in over a year

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MND Staff
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Fruits and vegetables on a market stand in Mexico
Prices of fruits and vegetables again drove an increase in the annual headline inflation rate in Mexico last month. (Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate increased for a fifth consecutive month in July to reach its highest level in more than a year.

The national statistics agency INEGI reported Thursday that the annual headline rate was 5.57% in July, up from 4.98% in June.

The reading is slightly higher than the 5.53% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The last time headline inflation was higher was in May 2023, when the rate was 5.84%.

INEGI said that month-over-month inflation was 1.05%, the highest increase for July since 1996 and the highest increase for any month since November 2021.

In better news, the closely-watched annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, declined for an 18th consecutive month to reach 4.05% in July, down from 4.13% in June. That rate was just above the 4.02% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The central bank's headquarters in Mexico City.
The Bank of Mexico will hold a monetary policy meeting later on Thursday, but a rate cut seems unlikely. (Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0)

The higher-than-expected increase in consumer prices in July further reduces the probability that Bank of Mexico (Banxico) board members will vote to cut the central bank’s benchmark interest rate at their monetary policy meeting later on Thursday.

The key rate is currently set at 11%, just below the record high 11.25% rate that was in effect between March 2023 and March 2024. The decision to cut rates in March came after annual headline inflation declined to 4.40% in February.

Banxico targets a 3% annual inflation inflation rate, with tolerance for one percentage point in both directions.

The consensus forecast among more than 30 banks, brokerages and research organizations recently surveyed by Citibanamex is that the central bank will make its second interest rate cut this year after its board’s meeting on Sept. 26.

Fruit and vegetable prices continue to fuel inflation 

INEGI data shows that fruit and vegetables were 23.55% more expensive in July than in the same month a year earlier. Inflation for those products rose almost four percentage points from a 19.73% reading in June.

Drought followed by widespread heavy rain in June affected crops — and prices in markets and supermarkets.

The rise in the cost of fruit and vegetables was the driving factor in the 13.72% annual increase in prices for agricultural products. Prices for meat — the other component in the category — were 5.36% higher in June than the same month last year.

Payment of electricity through a CFE ATM machine
Energy prices increased by 7.31% annually in July. (Misael Valtierra/Cuartoscuro)

INEGI also reported that energy prices, including those for electricity and gasoline, increased 7.31% annually in July. Services were 5.22% more expensive than a year earlier, prices for processed food, beverages and tobacco rose 4.03% and the cost of non-food goods increased 1.95%.

Mexican peso strengthens on Thursday morning 

The Mexican peso appreciated against the US dollar on Thursday morning after the publication of the latest inflation data.

It was trading at 19.09 to the greenback shortly before 10 a.m. Mexico City time, an appreciation of 1% compared to its closing position on Wednesday.

The peso benefited for an extended period from the broad gap between the Bank of Mexico’s key interest rate and that of the United States Federal Reserve, currently set at a 5.25%-5.5% range.

However, the peso depreciated to above 20 to the US dollar late Sunday as fears of a recession in the United States upended markets around the world, and Japanese investors cut bullish bets on the Mexico peso against the yen after the Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate on July 31.

With reports from El Financiero, El Economista and Bloomberg

2 US college students fall ill at Cancún resort, blame spiked drinks

By
MND Staff
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Zara Hull and Kaylie Pitzer
U.S. college students Zara Hull (left) and Kaylie Pitzer (right) became severely ill at a resort near Cancún. (GoFundMe/Facebook)

A 20-year-old Oklahoma college student had convulsions and was hospitalized in Cancún after she and her friend both became ill after consuming what they believe were spiked drinks at a resort in the Caribbean coast city.

Zara Hull and Kaylie Pitzer, both of whom are students at Oklahoma Christian University, traveled to Cancún last Thursday with their boyfriends and another couple, according to Oklahoma’s News 9.

Oklahoma college student Zara Hull on News 9
College student Zara Hull speaks in a video on News 9 from a hospital in Dallas. (Screen capture)

On Friday, the two women “headed to their resort’s pool, had a few drinks, but can’t remember much else after they were served waters,” reporter Sylvia Corkill said in a television news report.

News 9 didn’t identify the resort or say whether Hull and Pitzer consumed alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks at the resort’s pool bar. A Facebook post by Pitzer’s aunt indicates that were staying at Planet Hollywood Cancún.

“Whoever did this or was involved needs to be brought to justice!!! Praying Planet Hollywood Cancún has record of who the server was that day and deals with them accordingly!!!” wrote Stephanie Pitzer.

Planet Hollywood Cancún didn’t immediately respond to Mexico News Daily’s request for comment.

Planet Hollywood Cancún resort
According to a post by one of the victim’s aunts, the students were staying at the Planet Hollywood in Cancún. (Planet Hollywood Cancún)

Hull, speaking from a hospital in Dallas to which she was medevacked after spending time in a Cancún hospital, said the water she was served at the resort’s pool bar “was fizzing and after we drank our water we both [were] knocked out.”

Both Hull and Pitzer were reportedly taken to their rooms in wheelchairs after losing consciousness for an unspecified period of time.

“I started having convulsions in my stomach. I was shaking really bad and couldn’t snap out of it so they called 911,” Hull said.

News 9 reported that Hull and Pitzer were told by doctors in the U.S. that “they believe their drinks may have been spiked with synthetic fentanyl.”

According to a GoFundMe page set up to raise money to get Hull back to the United States, Hull was taken to an unnamed hospital in Cancún by ambulance last Friday afternoon after she started having seizures.

“Upon arriving at the hospital there was a [US] $10,000 deposit required for treatment to start. Over the next few hours her seizures continued. A CT was done and showed no cause. She was placed in ICU,” the page says.

An update posted to the page on Monday night says that Hull was moved out of ICU in the hospital in Dallas and was “spending time in the neurology unit while her body continues to detox from being over medicated in the Mexican hospital.”

According to News 9, Hull’s family “says they were forced to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for unknown medical treatment and medical evacuation to the U.S.”

Pitzer told News 9 she is certain that she and Hull were drugged.

Oklahoma college student Kaylie Pitzer on News 9
Pitzer told News 9 that she’s certain she and her friend were drugged. (Screen capture)

“There is no other explanation for this. Two girls don’t just drop at the same time,” she said.

Pitzer said her “last memory” before blacking out was “walking in the pool.”

“We were out. We couldn’t talk, we couldn’t walk, we couldn’t do anything,” she said.

Similar cases at Cancún resorts have been reported previously, including by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2017.

‘They were pumping her full of so many drugs to keep her sedated’ 

Stephanie Snider, the mother of Hull’s boyfriend Jake Snider, also asserted that Hull and Pitzer were drugged.

“Zara, along with her friend, Kaylie, were given a drug while they were at the resort in Cancún this past Friday. It was in their drinks. Both girls passed out at the exact same time,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

Snider also asserted that the Cancún hospital where Hull was taken “was NOT treating her.”

“They were pumping her full of so many drugs to keep her sedated. They intubated her and told Jake it was ‘sedation’ for the MRI. There was no reason to sedate her, let alone intubate her. We knew we needed to get her out and back to the U.S.,” she wrote.

Mexico News Daily has been unable to determine the Cancún hospital at which Hull was treated. Neither Snider or Hull immediately responded to our inquiries.

In another Facebook post on Tuesday, Snider said that Hull’s condition had improved.

“Her speech is almost back to normal, just a little slower at times when she starts to get tired. She’s remembering more things that happened before their trip to Mexico, yet still no memory of what happened since she had that drink at the resort,” she wrote.

“… She is still having convulsions although they are spacing further apart. … They are having difficulty trying to figure out what is causing the convulsions other than just still a reaction to all the heavy duty drugs that were put into her while in Mexico. It’s unbelievable the impact all of this has had on her little body,” Snider said.

With reports from News 9

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