Modelo's near-future spending plans in Mexico range from upgrading its breweries to presenting music and sports events. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s top beer maker, said it plans to invest US $3.6 billion over the next three years to renovate its Mexican plants, fund recycling initiatives and finance local producers.
In announcing the investment at President Sheinbaum’s Thursday morning press conference, Raúl Escalante, Modelo’s vice president of corporate affairs, said his company plans to help stores that sell its beer brands modernize their facilities. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Grupo Modelo’s investment lifts overall funding under the Plan México umbrella to US $300 billion.
Sheinbaum expressed gratitude to Grupo Modelo while highlighting the investment’s ecological focus, which includes reducing water use in production and promoting the use of returnable packaging and glass recycling programs.
“In the past decade, we have reduced by 30% the amount of water required to produce our beer,” Escalante said. “This has allowed us to fully adhere to the national right to water accord, ceding 20 million cubic meters of water to the [National Water Commission].”
The brewer will provide funding and credits to the 300,000 shops that sell Modelo beer brands. “We intend to help our clients modernize by sharing technology and encouraging the purchase of more efficient refrigerators,” Escalante said.
Modelo also aims to sponsor music festivals and sporting events, thereby promoting what Escalante called “positive experiences for Mexicans.”
“We are with Mexico for better or for worse,” Escalante said. He added that although 70% of goods used in Modelo’s beermaking process are produced in Mexico, “there is considerable opportunity to improve that figure.”
Sheinbaum praised Modelo’s commitment to Mexico, recalling that, while she was mayor of Mexico City (2018-2023), the company provided funding early in the COVID pandemic to finish building a hospital that had been left incomplete by the previous administration.
“That hospital helped treat victims of the pandemic and now specializes in breast cancer treatment,” she said.
Grupo Modelo is the national leader in production, distribution and sales of beer in Mexico, including such top brands as Corona, Victoria and Pacífico. It employs nearly 30,000 at its 10 breweries, including two artisanal breweries and one experimental brewery.
Modelo also owns bottle-making factories and malt-processing plants, and produces plastic bottle caps. The company also produces and distributes bottled water via a strategic alliance with Nestlé Waters.
“Mexico is our principal market,” Escalante said, adding that Modelo has confidence in Mexico and its people, and will continue building in Mexico over the next six years.
Among 29 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, only Haiti is forecast to record a worse economic result than Mexico this year. The World Bank is predicting that the economy of the troubled Caribbean country will contract 2.2% in 2025.
On the other end of the scale, it is predicting that the economy of Guyana will grow 10% this year and that Argentina will record a 5.5% economic expansion.
Though Mexico’s economic growth forecast was cut, there was a silver lining: Social programs and job growth reduced poverty by 7% in Mexico since 2018, the best improvement in Latin America. (Gobierno de la Ciudad de México/Cuartoscuro)
The World Bank’s downgrade of its growth forecast for Mexico comes just after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its outlook for Latin America’s second largest economy. The IMF is now predicting Mexico’s GDP will contract 0.3% this year, a downward revision of 1.7 percentage points compared to its January forecast.
The Mexican economy grew 1.5% annually in 2024.
‘A more challenging external scenario’
The World Bank also lowered its growth outlook for the Mexican economy in 2026. It is now forecasting 1.1% growth next year, down from a 1.6% forecast in January.
In “The State of the LAC Region” chapter of its upcoming report, the World Bank said that the outlook for the region “has become more uncertain as modest advances on the internal front are being compounded by a more challenging external scenario.”
“… The external environment … has changed substantially in the six months since the October 2024 Latin America and Caribbean Economic Review (LACER), with both short-term and long-term consequences,” the financial institution said.
“… The apparent shift toward higher tariffs by the United States casts uncertainty on the nearshoring project, the practice of bringing offshore operations to nearby or friendly countries, and global market access more generally,” the World Bank said.
With rising tariffs, the future of nearshoring in Mexico is uncertain, the World Bank reported. (Juan José Estrada Serafín/Cuartoscuro)
“… Even before the increased uncertainty introduced by the rising US tariffs, there was evidence that the region was potentially missing the boat on nearshoring,” the bank said.
In the three months since Donald Trump began his second term as president, the United States government has imposed tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars made in Mexico as well as Mexican goods not covered by the USMCA free trade pact.
The Mexican government is currently attempting to negotiate exemptions from the steel, aluminum and auto tariffs, which the United States imposed on imports from around the world.
The World Bank said “it is impossible to know where the new tariff regime will settle.”
For now, “higher tariffs, and the highest levels of trade uncertainty in a decade, impede further integration of the region into U.S. supply chains, as well as imperiling jobs in export-related industries,” it said.
The Mexican government is currently working to negotiate exemptions from U.S. steel, aluminum and auto tariffs. (Ricardo Gómez Ángel/Unsplash)
However, it added that “the emerging challenges require addressing a now decades-old agenda in infrastructure, education, regulation, competition, and tax policy to increase both productivity and the nimbleness of the region’s economies in the face of new uncertainty.”
Sheinbaum takes issue with World Bank forecast
At her Thursday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her disagreement with the economic forecasts of international organizations such as the World Ban, the IMF and the OECD, which is also predicting that the Mexican economy will contract this year.
International financial organizations “have economic models that don’t take into account what we are doing,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that if their models establish that “there is going to be inflation and economic recession in the United States,” they say “there will [also] be recession in Mexico” due to the “economic integration” between the two countries.
She asserted that international financial organizations also “don’t take into account” that “not everything is determined yet” with regard to the United States’ trade relationships with the rest of the world, and “particularly” its relationship with Mexico, which sends more than 80% of its exports to its northern neighbor.
Returning to her first claim, Sheinbaum said that international organizations fail to consider Plan México, the federal government’s ambitious economic initiative to grow the economy by boosting domestic industry and building new infrastructure projects, among other measures.
Sheinbaum criticized the World Bank forecast for not taking into account current economic development initiatives. (Presidencia)
The World Bank said in its report that public investment in Mexico “supported the expansion of aggregate investment and output growth during 2023,” — when the Mexican economy grew 3.2% — “but as it lost momentum during 2024, this stimulus weakened.”
Even though major projects such as the Maya Train and the new Pemex refinery on the Tabasco coast are now largely completed, Sheinbaum believes that her government’s investment in other infrastructure projects — including highway, rail, water and housing ones — will help spur growth in Mexico.
“If there wasn’t public investment, there would probably be the reduction in economic growth” that the IMF is forecasting, she said on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Sheinbaum highlighted the economic benefits of private investment as well.
Sheinbaum said that the Finance Ministry — which is forecasting that the Mexican economy will grow by 1.5-2.3% this year — “does take into account all these variables” and therefore comes up with “a completely different result.”
Major pubic infrastructure projects like the Maya Train have boosted the Mexican economy in recent years. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
“… The economy of Mexico is strong and the entire cabinet is working so that Plan Mexico becomes a reality,” she added.
New data released on Thursday show’s that Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate ticked up to 3.96% in the first half of April, from 3.80% across March.
“Pedir perdón” is an innately cultural experience in Mexico, deeply intertwined with our Colonial/Catholic heritage. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
When I first started dating my current partner, I had severaluncomfortable moments with his mother. Born and raised in the Soviet Union, she simply did not understand why I kept saying “I’m sorry” or “Excuse me” whenever I was in her way or accidentally tripped over her. As a clumsy person myself, it just came naturally. However, when she plainly asked why, I was unable to answer — immediately, at least. She was visibly uncomfortable with the matter, which only made it worse for me.
At first, I simply attributed this to the fact that I was raised as a “polite” person in a typical Mexican family. For her, who spent most of her life in a Soviet environment where people — and women, in particular — do not say sorry unless something is definitely wrong, the use of the expression was just unnecessary. In other words, it was a clash of cultures. However, this was not the first time this discomfort popped up.
Foreign ex-teammates, I know I say ‘sorry’ too much — sorry! (Chris Montgomery/Unsplash)
I’ve had the great fortune of working with people from the U.S. for a long time, particularly in the editorial roles I’ve undertaken for the greater part of my career in journalism. When there have been misunderstandings or miscommunication issues, my personal instinct has been to say, “I’m sorry” — as has been for my fellow Mexican teammates.
Foreign folk sometimes find this excessive. Some of them have simply said, “Oh, don’t say sorry!” I guess they’ve understood the cultural gap. The question, however, remains: Why do we Mexicans say we’re sorry all the time? The answer is far more complex than I envisioned in the first place, and has its roots in the Colonial/Catholic past we carry from the cradle.
What are we, Mexicans, sorry for?
Mexicans take pride in the fact that we’re polite, friendly and warm. In our minds, we’re the perfect hosts, super funny and simply the best company anyone could keep. Even though people from other parts of the world do feel we’re hospitable, some of our ‘politeness’ is not well understood by folk from abroad.
Though not necessarily baptized, every person born in Mexico is culturally Catholic. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
Psychiatrist Carl Jung once said that “the content of the collective unconscious is made up essentially of archetypes.” Archetypes arepatterns of thought and behavior that usually come from an individual’s context or environment, namely, mental representations of social phenomena that we’re not exactly aware of, but certainly feel and act upon unconsciously. In Mexico, some of the greatest archetypes come from the fact that we are innately Catholic. Let me explain myself.
Even though my partner was raised by a Soviet mother, who was taught that “religion is the opium of the people,” I’ve often heard him say, “¡Gracias a Dios!” (Thank God!) with great relief. He is not a Catholic practitioner, nor was he baptized into any religion. I’m pretty sure he does not believe in a patriarchal, almighty deity. However, he — like any other person born and raised in Mexico — was taught the Catholic way by the culture we share. Like me, who was raised in a very Catholic household, he feels shame and guilt — and yes: he, too, says “I’m sorry” too much.
‘Pedir perdón’ is a religious matter in Mexico
And how could he not? In a country that’s 77% Catholic, perINEGI’s latest figures, we Mexicans co-exist with Catholic values all the time, as if they were ingrained in our minds from the womb. Our references are inherently Catholic. In every corner in Mexico City, as in virtually every Mexican city, people place altars dedicated to their saint of choice. Cholula, in the central state of Puebla, has more churches than schools — 365 Catholic temples, to be precise, according to Universidad de las Américas, Puebla (UDLAP). Both men and women are named ‘Guadalupe,’ for Christ’s sake.
A great number of Catholic practitioners even identify themselves as ‘Guadalupanos’: those who believe in the Virgin as the supreme force in the Universe. She is the mother of God, after all. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro)
As you might have guessed by now,people in Mexico fear God. This does not mean — not exactly, at least — that we’re afraid of an almighty entity. On the contrary, as perBethlehem College and Seminary scholar John Piper, this implies a sense of awe and respect for the Christian God. And submission. Especially submission. Given the Christian principle that we are born sinners, and God forgives our imperfectness, we are taught that we must ask for His forgiveness — every time.
Growing up, I remember my mother urging me to confess my sins during Sunday service. After enlisting them all at the confessionary — God forbid! The child did not do her homework — the priest insisted I sincerely ask God to forgive me. I’m pretty sure that seven out of ten children in Mexico have had similar experiences growing up in Catholic households.
This religious practice almost naturally translates to the way we relate with each other. As much as asking for God’s grace and forgiveness, Mexicans — and people from any formerly colonized country in Latin America — feel the need to make amends for our social faults through attaining forgiveness of the Other.
In this context, the ‘Other’ is understood in psychoanalytical terms: an entity that exists beyond the Self and represents the moral duty and values of a society. Given the vertical arrangement we observe towards God — Catholic practitioners or not — it’s fair to say we bestow the great Mexican morale to the Other.
Mexico is a country of ancient rituals. Asking for forgiveness could perhaps be just another one of them, deeply influenced by the colonialist past that still weighs on us, very literally. (Elizabeth Ruíz/Cuartoscuro)
We Mexicans are submissive to others, and often sacrifice our own needs and desires to restore the social order. The way to rectify our mistakes, no matter how serious, is by asking for forgiveness. It is even expected of you, if you’re polite and willing to maintain certain personal and professional relationships.
Seen another way, the Mexican way of re-knitting the social fabric could very well be by asking for forgiveness. It is well known that we are a culture of ancient rituals. Asking for forgiveness would perhaps be just another one of them, deeply influenced by the colonialist past that still weighs on us as a culture and society.
¡Qué pena! — We do say ‘sorry’ a little bit too much
So now you know. The next time you hear someone say, ‘Disculpe’, ‘Qué pena’, ‘Una disculpa’ or any other forgiveness-seeking interjection, you are also having an anthropological experience. If these faults are not resolved, guilt comes into play. But the question of guilt is just another entire article by itself, sorry!
Andrea Fischer contributes to the features desk at Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to be an advocate for anything that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.
A new Four Seasons Resort on the coast of Baja California Sur won praise for offering an experience that is both grounded and luxurious. (Four Seasons Cabo San Lucas)
Every year as spring sets in, the magazine Condé Nast Traveler releases its Hot List, a collection of the best new (or renovated) hotels, restaurants and cruise lines in the world. This year, two hotels and one restaurant in Mexico made it to the list.
A Mexican chef in the United States also won recognition for her restaurant Acamaya in New Orleans.
Serving a novel menu that includes dishes like achiote-seasoned pig ears, oyster gorditas and savory churros, Voraz “is the most talked-about restaurant in the red-hot Roma Sur neighbourhood,” the magazine said. Housed in a former auto shop, Voraz’s kitchen is led by Mexican chef Emiliano Padilla, who has international experience in Michelin-starred restaurants such as The Breslin (NY), Fäviken (Sweden), Ryugin (Tokyo) and Noma (Copenhagen). Regarded as Mexico’s first gastro-cantina, Voraz’s inventive menu “expands diners’ understanding of Mexican cuisine” Condé Nast Traveler wrote.
The new Banyan Tree hotel opened in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, last summer. (Banyan Tree Veya)
Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, Mexico’s most famous wine region, is home to one of the world’s best new hotels: the wellness retreat Banyan Tree Veya Valle de Guadalupe. Featuring 30 earth-toned pool villas, five restaurants and various regionally inspired spa treatments, the property is the first international luxury hotel in the area, placing the “Napa of Mexico” in the global spotlight. “Purists may wonder whether a wellness retreat is the right place for a winery,” Condé Nast Traveler said. “One glass of post-hydrotherapy red will erase any doubts.”
Set on the coast between the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur, the new Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas won accolades for its locally rooted take on luxury hospitality. “What sets it apart is that it stays true to its location and history while feeling thoroughly grounded in the present,” Condé Nast Traveler said. Reminiscent of a traditional Mexican village square, the hotel features a cobblestone drive and whitewashed buildings. It is also home to an artist-in-resident studio, a gourmet deli serving coffee and regional wines and spirits, and a spa.
The coconut certainly isn't new to Xalapa, but La Tierra del Coco cafe in the city's downtown aims to make you see how many products can be made from Veracruz's plentiful fruit. (photos by La Tierra del Coco)
A few weeks ago, a new food venture opened up in downtown Xalapa, in an area of the city near the university with a high concentration of delectable cafes frequented by youthful couples, students and artists. Whenever anything opens in this part of town, I’m excited to see what it’ll add to an already impressive culinary scene.
What I wasn’t expecting was for the cafe to predominantly — practically only — sell coconut-based beverages, snacks, treats, candles (yes candles, not candies), cooking ingredients and even housewares.
Cozy, quirky, coconut-loving La Tierra del Coco cafe fits in perfectly among downtown Xalapa’s collection of cafes near the local university. But its specialty in coconuts distinguishes it from the competition.
La Tierra del Coco is a boutique cafe billed as a “new tropical concept” in Veracruz’s lush capital. The owner, Mario Leal, is a local who spent the past five years studying in Mexico City, where he both embraced the big city and missed the quaint tropics of his home state.
To understand Veracruz’s place within the sprawling context of Mexico, it’s important to know that this region has evidence of the earliest human organized existence on the continent, with a civilization in the Olmec dating back to 1200 BCE. The Olmec predate the Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs by thousands of years. Much later, in the 1500s, Veracruz is where the Spaniards initially landed when they reached modern-day Mexico, bringing their seafaring ways to Veracruz.
During the Spanish colonial period, coconuts eventually made their way to eastern Mexico by entering through both coasts of Mexico around the mid-1500s. Unlike the western edge of Mexico (whose Pacific shores brought imports from other parts of the globe), the coconuts in Veracruz hailed from West Africa via the Caribbean islands. Since then, they’ve flourished as one of the region’s prominent crops.
And yet, the ever-delicious coconut hasn’t always been given its respect and proper due. It is typically viewed as a roadside treat on the go, or perhaps it gets incorporated into a side dish to accompany a larger plate. It is rarely, if ever, the actual dish itself — let alone an entire cafe’s menu and purpose.
La Tierra de el Coco is changing that, one coconut at a time. Imagine a panadería — with its different varieties of breads in an assortment of sizes, flavors, styles, prices — but with coconuts.
There are the basic offerings: freshly poured coconut water in a ready-made to-go cup for convenience. There’s also prechopped coconut prepared daily (and iron branded by the workers across the counter with a La Tierra de el Coco logo).
Vegans, take note: La Tierra del Coco’s coconut ice cream is refreshing on a humid Xalapa day — and dairy free.
Though I love coconut water as much as anyone else, it’s the other stuff that makes me giddy: 100% vegan coconut ice cream. Gratis toppings include shredded and candied coconut, dehydrated coconut strips and peanut crumbles. The scoops are gratuitously large and the prices generously low.
From there, the tiny shop provides a variety of other coconut-based goods: chile de cacahuates with coconut oil and coconut bits mixed in (the coconut flavor is subtle but adds a refreshing touch to the thick spice); coconut-wax candles ; coconut soap; coconut toothpaste; coconut bowls and spoons; coconut flour; coconut sugar; even coconut deodorant — that must smell like coconut, right?). Everything is made locally for the shop in partnership with nearby artisans, and branded as Tierra del Coco.
On a humid, steamy day in Xalapa — of which, due to climate change and dangerously rampant deforestation, there is more heat here than ever — nothing really beats strolling down the block to get a scoop of coconut ice cream and sip on cold coconut water on a breezy covered patio surrounded by greenery.
Though coconut treats remain around the city and state in other forms (mostly at the parks, where coqueros gather to chop coconuts on the spot, or along the streets, where coconut candies can occasionally be had), I haven’t seen anything quite like La Tierre de el Coco elsewhere in Mexico. Yet another reason Veracruz’s culinary offerings are worthy of more attention.
If you’re in Xalapa and you like coconut, you owe it to yourself to check this place out.
Alan Chazaro is the author of “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album,” “Piñata Theory” and “Notes From the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and a former Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow at the University of San Francisco. His writing can be found in GQ, NPR, The Guardian, L.A. Times and more. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he is currently based in Veracruz.
Law enforcement personnel found the body in a vacant lot near the victim's home and have cordoned off the area for investigation.
(Yucatán Public Security Ministry/ssp.yucatan.gob.mx)
The body of 71-year-old Linda Louise Johnston was found in a vacant lot in Chicxulub Puerto, Yucatán, on Tuesday after she was reported missing on April 17.
According to the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE), Johnston’s son, Damon Anthony Martínez, has been arrested on suspicion of homicide.
— El Heraldo de México (@heraldodemexico) April 23, 2025
Johnston, a United States citizen and former Air Force member who lived in the Mexican coastal town of Progreso, was reported missing by a neighbor and friend who called 911 on Thursday.
The caller reportedly told police that a few days earlier, Johnston had been beaten by her son, Damon Anthony Martínez, who had previously been imprisoned in the U.S.
Responding to the call, the Yucatán Attorney General’s Office (FGE) published an Alba alert, similar to an Amber alert, but used exclusively in cases of missing women, girls and other vulnerable members of the population. The FGE also launched a search operation using drones, helicopters and canine teams to locate the missing woman.
The FGE confirmed the discovery of Johnston’s remains on Tuesday. The body was found dismembered in three black sacks in a lot three blocks from her home.
Members of the state’s investigative police force and forensic medical service cordoned off the area to conduct a full investigation and transport the remains to the morgue.
After Johnston’s son Damon was arrested by members of the FGE on suspicion of homicide, the suspect reportedly confessed to the crime during the police interrogation, according to an unconfirmed report published by the newspaper El Financiero.
On the night of the crime (April 16), Martínez reportedly requested a taxi using a ride-hailing app but the driver refused to accept him with large garbage bags.
Another news report, however, maintains that a taxi driver, named Ana “N,” had transported Martínez on April 16 at around 11 p.m. with three black bags and a backpack.
Local authorities did not provide any further information on the case as the investigation is ongoing.
In addition to leading the nation, the president somehow also finds time to read and work on her own forthcoming book. (Andrea MurciaL/Cuartoscuro)
Could some judicial election candidates be disqualified from running because they are “defenders of drug traffickers” (as one Morena party senator suggested)?
What does Mexico’s presidenta like to read?
Sheinbaum took a tough question about the upcoming judicial elections on June 1, which will open 881 judgeships to popular vote. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
They were among the questions President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to at her Wednesday morning press conference.
Are some judicial election candidates criminals?
A reporter noted that ruling party Senator and Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña said on Tuesday that some candidates vying to win judgeships at Mexico’s inaugural judicial elections on June 1 might not be suitable contenders as they may have criminal links.
The reporter asked the president whether there was still time for the National Electoral Institute to disqualify candidates.
“It depends on the superior chamber … of the Federal Electoral Tribunal,” Sheinbaum said.
She noted that the candidates for the elections have already been formally “selected” and “endorsed,” but added that “if there is any case in which it is found that [a candidate] … has some criminal relation or doesn’t have an 8 grade point average in their degree, as the constitution demands, [a complaint] can be presented.”
Sheinbaum said that from her “particular point of view,” a candidate “could” be disqualified if they are found to be an unsuitable or ineligible contender for a judgeship, even though they’re already on the ballot.”
“But all the proof would have to be presented, right?” she added.
Sheinbaum stressed that the Federal Electoral Tribunal will have the final say on the suitability of candidates.
One of the various criticisms of staging judicial elections is that drug cartels and other organized crime groups could effectively install judges by pressuring or coercing citizens to vote for their preferred candidates.
“We’re going to invite Paco Taibo … because there is a very significant effort to promote reading,” Sheinbaum said.
Paco Ignacio Taibo II is a writer, novelist and head of the government-affiliated non-profit publishing group Fondo de Cultura Ecónomica (FCE).
Sheinbaum noted that the previous federal government developed a National Reading Strategy in conjunction with the FCE, and said that her administration “wants to promote it more [with] reading clubs” and “reading groups.”
Estoy en las últimas revisiones del libro “Diario de una transición histórica”. Hoy terminé el prólogo; espero en unos meses ya pueda compartirlo con ustedes. pic.twitter.com/qq19Wx95QA
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) March 12, 2025
Sheinbaum posted an image of her working on her book, “Diary of a Historic Transition,” in early March.
Reading is “essential for the development of creativity, of minds with knowledge,” she said.
Sheinbaum noted that Taibo has sought to broaden Mexicans’ access to reading, including by endeavoring to make books cheaper to buy.
At the launch of the National Reading Strategy in 2019, Taibo said that “doors will be opened so that there is access to reading for millions of Mexicans who today don’t have access for different reasons.”
“We’re going to make books extremely cheap, we’re going to give books away. And not just that, we’re going to force the whole of the publishing industry to lower their prices,” the Spanish-born writer said.
Don’t call Sheinbaum ‘Mexico’s Merkel’!
Responding to a question from the same reporter about her personal reading habits, Sheinbaum revealed she is currently reading the autobiography of former German chancellor Angela Merkel.
“I’ve been reading it for a while because the truth is I sometimes don’t have a lot of time,” she said.
Merkel — chancellor between 2005 and 2021 and, like Sheinbaum, a scientist — released her book “Freedom: Memoirs 1954-2021” late last year.
“Although we don’t agree with her thinking on many things — she is a more conservative woman who promotes the neoliberal model, [Merkel] is a woman who had a very important significance, not just for Germany, but for Europe,” Sheinbaum said.
Perhaps the most direct comparison came in the headline of a 2024 Deutsche Welle article that read: “An ‘Angela Merkel’ in Mexico: that’s Claudia Sheinbaum.”
Mexico’s president made it quite clear on Wednesday that she is not particularly fond of the comparison.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
"The current moment offers an opportunity for President Sheinbaum to shift toward an economic model that ensures resilience in the face of short-term external threats and positions the country for long-term growth," José Bachur writes. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
In 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs represent an unprecedented threat to Mexico’s economy and manufacturing industry.
But, the potential for the door to close on easy access to the United States’ market for vehicles, auto parts and other manufactured goods should be a wake-up call for Mexico’s politicians and business leaders.
The Trump administration is threatening tariffs that could reshape North American supply chains and cripple what has become Mexico’s most successful economic sector: manufacturing. (Donald Trump/Facebook)
Mexico needs to seize this moment to focus on embracing digital marketing, expanding local e-commerce sales and working to diversify away from labor-intensive manufacturing into high value-added service exports in fields such as software design, engineering and tech support.
The glimmering glass and steel office towers, modern shopping complexes, and luxury apartment buildings that abut the business districts of Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara are a striking visual reminder of the benefits Mexico’s economy has reaped during the modern era of free trade and export-focused industrialization, which began with Mexico’s entrance into NAFTA in 1994.
In 2023, exports accounted for 36% of Mexico’s GDP, with a comparable result expected for 2024. But in 2025, the Trump administration is threatening new tariffs that could reshape North American supply chains and cripple what has become Mexico’s most successful economic sector.
As of April 3, vehicles exported from Mexico to the U.S. are subject to a 25% tariff — sort of. The OECD estimates Mexico’s economy could contract by as much as 1.3% in 2025.
Moving forward, it remains unclear whether global firms will continue to invest in manufacturing in Mexico if exports to the U.S. are saddled with permanent new punitive tariffs.
Up until this point, Mexico has defended the NAFTA-era status quo. Yet, the current moment offers an opportunity for President Sheinbaum to shift toward an economic model that ensures resilience in the face of short-term external threats and positions the country for long-term growth.
President Sheinbaum’s National Development Plan for 2025-2030 does promise to focus on making Mexico a center for “technology and innovation,” but it does not specifically mention the words “nearshoring” or “English.”
Overall, Sheinbaum’s plan puts a heavy focus on improving the highways and railroads used for shipping physical products out of the country but still lacks the inclusion of service sector exports. Trump’s tariffs provide a new incentive for Mexican companies to follow the successful examples of local firms such as UPAX and Unosquare in focusing on the niche of high-value-added service sector exports.
Rather than specializing in providing low-cost workers for labor-intensive processes, Mexican firms should invest in exporting business services.
Indeed, clusters of service-exporting firms are growing across Mexico. Thousands of English-speaking digital nomads already live and work remotely from cities like Mexico City and Guadalajara and other locations in Mexico, providing professional services.
Mexico should be doing more to cultivate this type of economic activity domestically.
To support this transition, Mexico’s federal government is investing significantly in education, specifically targeting secondary education.
This push aims to prevent students from dropping out before graduation and help young people develop technical and digital skills. The goal in Mexico should be to help connect students with opportunities to gain professional skills in tech-heavy fields. Schools need to prepare students for an increasingly digital future.
Many entrepreneurs in Mexico are already taking advantage of e-commerce. Young professionals in Mexico can see the ways platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and TikTok are transforming how local businesses reach consumers.
Young people are also embracing WhatsApp, the most popular social platform in Mexico. Mexico has 65 million WhatsApp users, the fifth highest total of any country in the world.
The shift away from traditional advertising towards digital tools is becoming a key driver of success for many emerging businesses in Mexico. One recent survey shows that 75% of small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico use social media for self-promotion.
Mexico’s government and private sector should pay close attention to the shift towards digital marketing and capitalize on Mexico’s growing internal e-commerce market. In 2024, e-commerce sales reached $38 billion, a 20% increase from the previous year. Mexico needs to further promote its reputation as the world’s most important Spanish-speaking e-commerce market.
While Mexico makes progress to embrace social media marketing for commerce, more needs to be done to boost English language skills.
Unfortunately, up until now, Mexico has broadly failed to focus on making English language training a priority within its education system.
While nearshoring hubs like Monterrey and Guadalajara have clusters of workers with good English skills, the country as a whole remains underprepared to compete in global service markets.
At a time when access to the U.S. market is under threat, entrepreneurs, executives and economic development experts in Mexico should be celebrating and strengthening our country’s internal e-commerce potential.
The Trump 2.0 era represents a new high point for political risk and uncertainty for traditional manufacturing in Mexico. But Mexico is also poised to use this crisis to strengthen and modernize its economy by pivoting towards service sector exports and online sales.
José Bachur is a Mexican e-commerce expert who transformed his early success as “Bachurito” on Vine into a digital marketing empire that now generates US $20 million annually across projects spanning Mexico, the UAE, the U.S. and Europe. In addition to leading digital strategies for major brands like Izzi and Penguin Random House, Bachur launched Businefy during the pandemic to help small businesses survive through digitalization.
The new San Miguel Home Depot is slated to open next year, while the León and Guanajuato city additions will follow in 2027, with 300 new direct jobs created as a result. (Shutterstock)
Retail giant The Home Depot has announced it will open three stores in the Bajío state of Guanajuato, including one in San Miguel de Allende.
With a US $61 million investment, new stores will also be located in León and the city of Guanajuato. According to a company statement, the San Miguel store will open in 2026, while the stores in León and Guanajuato are set to open the following year.
As they announced the new Guanajuato stores, company officials emphasized their social responsibility programs in the state, including donations of construction supplies and improvement of more than 50 schools. (Libia Deninse/Facebook)
The Home Depot currently operates five stores in Guanajuato in the cities of León, Salamanca, Celaya and Irapuato, employing a total of 500 people. With the new locations, the company expects to create 300 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs.
The investment in central Mexico is part of The Home Depot Mexico’s ambitious growth plan, which includes the opening of 25 new stores in the country over the next four years, requiring a total estimated investment of $1.3 billion.
State and municipal officials attended the store announcement, held on Tuesday in San Miguel de Allende, including Guanajuato Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo, and San Miguel Mayor Mauricio Trejo.
“We thank The Home Depot for this investment that creates jobs and opens up opportunities,” Governor García said. “This project reaffirms [Home Depot’s] commitment to sustainability, to the communities where it operates and confirms that Guanajuato is a reliable state to invest in.”
Since its arrival in the state in 2003, The Home Depot has held 286 volunteer days, donated more than 42 million pesos in construction supplies (US $2.1 million) and improved the facilities of more than 50 schools through its social responsibility programs.
“With this new investment, The Home Depot strengthens its long-term vision in Mexico, positioning itself as a key player in the country’s positive transformation through decent employment, domestic sourcing and social commitment,” the company said in a statement.
At the end of 2024, the retail company was operating 140 branches across all 32 states of Mexico.
The Aerospace Fair, inaugurated by President Sheinbaum on Tuesday, has attracted participants from 337 companies and 48 countries.(Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated the 2025 Mexican Aerospace Fair on Tuesday, the sixth edition of a major event aimed at promoting trade, investment and job creation in Mexico’s growing aerospace industry.
The fair, taking place this year at Military Air Base No. 1 in Santa Lucía, México state, is regarded as the most important aeronautical security and defense event in Mexico and will run through April 26.
President Sheinbaum tours the Aerospace Fair with Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla. In her opening remarks, the president said the value of Mexico’s aerospace industry could more than double from US $11.2 billlion to $22.7 billion by 2029.(Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
Participating in the 2025 Aerospace Fair are 337 companies, 48 countries, 20 air forces, 10 Mexican states, 18 municipalities, 12 universities and six aerospace organizations. Also on site are 67 domestic aircraft and six United States Air Force combat planes.
During her speech, Sheinbaum pointed out that the Mexican aerospace industry is valued at over US $11.2 billion, with the potential to reach $22.7 billion by 2029.
“Mexico ranks among the top five countries for foreign investment in the aerospace industry, and is the twelfth largest exporter of aerospace components globally,” the president said.
She added that by the end of Q2 of 2024, 386 manufacturing companies in the sector were operating in Mexico across 19 states. Currently, Mexico hosts 370 specialized plants that overall generate 50,000 direct jobs and 190,000 indirect jobs, she noted.
Head of the Mexican Aerospace Fair Committee, Disraeli Gómez Herrera, emphasized that the annual event forms part of Plan México — Sheinbaum’s economic project to support Mexico’s development as one of the world’s largest manufacturing hubs — as it seeks to position the country as a global leader in aerospace manufacturing and technology.
Querétaro in the Bajío region and Baja California are the states that have attracted the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the aerospace industry, concentrating 24.3% and 20.1%, respectively.
Oaxaca, one of the participating states at the fair, announced it will present the vocational training programs in technology offered in the state’s eight regions, as well as promote the development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT).
Finally, Gómez added that the Mexican Army’s “Guerreros Águila” (Eagle Warriors) jump team will make its first official appearance at this fair.
