The insider’s guide to investing in real estate in Los Cabos

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March 19, 2024

Diamante (front) MLS #22-1748 — Luxury developments, such as Diamante (#22-1748), are making Los Cabos a great investment opportunity. (All photos courtesy of MLS )

Los Cabos is attractive to home buyers for many of the same reasons it is attractive as a vacation destination. The weather is warm year-round, the beaches and ocean views are spectacular, and lifestyle amenities are abundant, from world-class golf courses and a wealth of exceptional restaurants to soothing day spas and water-based activities options.

For prospective investors, however, there’s even more to like. For starters, buying a home in Los Cabos offers the same benefits as buying real estate anywhere: a chance to build equity and diversify one’s portfolio while establishing a hedge against inflation, and also opening up a potential new avenue of cash flow via rentals. Last summer, for instance, MND reported that Los Cabos had surpassed Mexico City as the premier short-term rental market in México.

Los Cabos has become a short-term rental hotspot in recent years – with prime plots of land available to develop. Pictured is Villa Blanca, just moments from the ocean. (MLS #24-442)

But there’s more. Ocean view properties in Los Cabos typically sell at lower prices than comparably vantaged properties in the U.S. and offer lower property tax rates, too. Of course, there are some exceptions. In 2022, for instance, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that a yet-to-be-completed luxury villa on Cabo San Lucas’ Pacific Coast had sold for over US $15 million. There are properties here as spectacular as any in the world and priced accordingly.

The evolution of the Los Cabos real estate market

Twenty years ago, The New York Times referred to Cabo San Lucas’ hillside Pedregal neighborhood as “the Beverly Hills of Los Cabos.” At the time, residential developments at Palmilla, El Dorado, and Pedregal were the real estate gold standard In the area, with each noted for its luxury homes and villas, and an exclusivity attested to by the number of A-list celebrities and big-name athletes who bought property there.

In the decades since, however, there has been a flurry of new residential developments throughout Los Cabos. Not merely in cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, either, but along lengthy stretches of previously undeveloped coastline. The Pacific Coast north of Cabo San Lucas, for example, has been the area of most explosive growth.

In many cases, a golf course from a legendary player-designer (Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have stayed busy in Los Cabos) was attached to spur interest in the development. As a knowledgeable local wag has noted, “Golf in Los Cabos is always a real estate play.” How else to explain a region with only 350,000 residents but a whopping 18 acclaimed golf courses? Four more, by the way, are currently in development.

Developments in Los Cabos have diversified, with properties of every type now available on the market. (MLS #24-1203)

Just as the geography of available properties expanded, so, too, has the type of properties on the market. Luxury homes and villas are still plentiful, but so now are condos and family-oriented residences. The condo market, in particular, has seen remarkable growth in recent years.

The reason, of course, is demographics. The population of Los Cabos has surged in recent years. In Cabo San Lucas, the number of residents nearly tripled between 2010 and 2020, jumping from almost 70,000 to over 200,000. The influx of new residents continued during the COVID-19 pandemic when Los Cabos became a popular landing spot for digital nomads. They joined retirees and seasonal residents among the groups most interested in purchasing secondary homes.

Where are the best places to buy right now?

Pacific Coast developments north of Cabo San Lucas – Diamante, Rancho San Lucas, Quivira, and Oleada, notably – are among the most popular home and condo sites at present, although Cabo del Sol – which like the other developments, boasts world-class golf access – is also attracting interest for its exclusive Cove Club property offerings in the Tourist Corridor that connects cape cities Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.

This three-bedroom, three-bath pre-construction home at Diamante, currently lists for $2,225,000. When completed it will feature amenities such as a swimming pool and hot tub, as well as access to world-class golf courses and other features of the 1,500-acre gated development.

Mavila Towers offers great location and a two-bed, two-bath layout at a reasonable price. (MLS #23-3255)

This two-bedroom, two-bath condo at Mavila Towers in Quivira is listed for US $625,000, including resort amenities courtesy of nearby Pueblo Bonito properties and golf access.

A three-bedroom condo at Cabo Peninsula Residences, a boutique development on Cabo San Lucas’ Pacific Coast featuring only 22 properties, lists for $795,000. Amenities include an infinity pool and an onsite gym.

The condo market, it should be noted, remains active throughout Los Cabos, with new properties available from about $300,000 to $1 million and up.

A two-bedroom condo at Blanc de Mar in La Playita, just outside of San José del Cabo, lists for $625,000, below the average list price in January 2024 of $722,748. The accompanying image is a rendering of the design.

Homes are typically more affordable outside of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. On the region’s less populated East Cape, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Los Barriles, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom Villa Blanca (with a main house and two rentable casitas) lists for only $429,000.

That’s well below the average home sale price in Los Cabos in January: $872,907.

What you should know before buying

“Unless you really understand the Los Cabos market, don´t rush to make a purchase,” advises Michael Mattos, Marketing Director at Cabo Properties. “Although the real estate market during the past few years has seen a 20% growth, you have to remember Los Cabos is a vacation / secondary real estate market. Flips or quick profits are risky and not recommended. Los Cabos is a lifestyle and a vacation paradise. A person’s investment in Los Cabos should be considered long-term with the ability to pass real estate on to the children.”

The latter point is a good one. A fideicomiso (or bank trust) is the only way for foreigners to buy property in certain areas designated crucial for México’s national defense (aka “the restricted zone) – meaning, close to the border (within 60 miles) and coastlines (up to 31 miles). Despite the bank’s trustee status, however, it bears noting that purchasers retain every right of ownership. Meaning they can sell their property or rent it out as they wish, and will it to heirs after their death. Buyers enter into the trust with a bank and must renew it every 50 years. Renewals may continue indefinitely.

The Cabo Peninsula makes for an attractive place to invest in real estate, with sites in view of the Pacific coast being amongst the most popular. (MLS #23-4721)

The costs associated with the trust are quite reasonable. It’s about $450 per year after an initial opening cost of around $2,500. In Los Cabos, naturally, every property of interest is close to the coastline, so finding a local real estate broker knowledgeable in the ins and outs of the fideicomiso process is highly recommended.

Property taxes in Los Cabos

Property taxes (called the predial in Spanish) are assessed but at much lower rates than in the U.S. In Los Cabos, for example, properties are taxed at 0.1% annually based on the property’s value when it was purchased. Compare that to Florida, where the rate is 0.91%, or California, where it is 1% – and the assessed value increases based on inflation – and Los Cabos’ favorable conditions are further highlighted. The purchaser of a $500,000 condominium with ocean views, for example, can expect to pay $500 (or less) in property taxes each year.

Property taxes are due at the same time each year (March 31) and discounts of up to 20% are offered to those who pay early.

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.

Sempra to invest US $550M in cross-border wind energy project

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MND Staff

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March 19, 2024

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The United States energy company Sempra Infrastructure has announced a US $550 million investment in the construction of a new wind farm in Baja California.

The Cimarron wind project is the third phase of the Energía Sierra Juarez (ESJ) wind complex and is expected to be operational by late 2025. It calls for the purchase and installation of 64 wind turbines.

Wind turbines at Energía Sierra Juárez, another Sempra-operated wind farm in Tecate, Baja California. — Wind turbines at Energía Sierra Juárez. (Sempra)

The 320-megawatt wind farm will primarily export clean energy to the Northern California city of Santa Clara under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Silicon Valley Power, a municipal utility owned and operated by the city. That deal was announced in 2022.

The project will utilize Sempra Infrastructure’s existing high-voltage transmission line to connect directly to the California Independent System Operator system.

The wind farm will be located just across the border from California in the municipality of Tecate, the birthplace of Tecate beer. It is 32 kilometers east of Tijuana.

Cimarron is projected to generate enough electricity to power over 84,000 homes annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 210,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. The population of Santa Clara is 127,000.

Cimarron is projected to generate enough electricity to power over 84,000 homes annually; in Santa Clara, a recent census put the number of residences at around 50,000. (Wikimedia Commons)

Construction is expected to create more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, with Sempra Infrastructure committed to further investment in the Baja California community.

The above figures were retrieved from a press release from Houston-based Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of San Diego–based Sempra. With nearly 40 million consumers, Sempra is reportedly one of the largest utility holding companies in the United States.

“We are excited to expand the ESJ wind complex and contribute to Silicon Valley Power’s clean energy needs,” Justin Bird, CEO of Sempra Infrastructure, said in the press release. “The Cimarron project represents an important step in our mission to become North America’s leading energy infrastructure company.”

With Cimarron, the ESJ complex will boast a total installed capacity of more than 580 megawatts, making it one of the largest commercial wind projects in Mexico.

Sempra Infrastructure has also filed an interconnection request for an additional 300 megawatts of capacity at the site, with the potential to expand to over 1,200 megawatts in Baja California.

Sempra said in the statement that it submitted an interconnection request to add 300 megawatts of capacity to the asset. If completed, the company would have an installed capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts of wind energy in Baja California.

The Cimarron wind project is one of the private projects related to the energy sector that have materialized in the six-year term of energy nationalist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“With this investment decision, Sempra Infrastructure shows its long-term commitment to Mexico, and takes another step to benefit the energy transition and decarbonization of the region’s economy,” the company said in a statement.

With reports from Expansión and El Economista

Mexico’s first hospice now under construction in San Miguel de Allende

By

Ann Marie Jackson

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March 19, 2024

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Architect’s rendering of Mitigare Hospice Care, now under construction in San Miguel de Allende. The site will be the first of its kind in Mexico. (All photos courtesy of Mitigare Cuidados Paliativos A.C.)

With the potential to change the paradigm of end-of-life care in Mexico, the country’s first hospice care center is now under construction in San Miguel de Allende. Phase One of Mitigare Hospice Care, a three-bedroom inpatient facility, should be completed by September 2024, and the second phase, a 400-square-meter training center with a 50-person classroom, is planned for 2026.

For the last eight years, Mitigare Cuidados Paliativos A.C. has provided palliative care to patients facing terminal diagnoses in the comfort of their own homes and offered support to their families. As Les Matthews, president of Mitigare’s board, explained, “Mitigare will still provide services in people’s homes, but now, when a patient’s caretaker needs a break, or when someone lives too far out in the campo (countryside) to receive regular care, they can come to our facility for dignified, specialized end-of-life care.”

Les Matthews, President, Mitigare Cuidados Paliativos A.C.

“We will continue to demonstrate that hospice is more humane and cost-effective than dying in a hospital. Most doctors at hospitals, whose goal is to cure, do not have the right mindset to treat someone who has accepted the fact that they are dying.” In Matthews’s view, they tend to keep ordering invasive tests and expensive, ineffective procedures. The facility will enhance Mitigare’s capacity to train doctors, nurses, and social workers in end-of-life care, a medical specialty that is practically nonexistent in Mexico.

Matthews has extensive experience with hospice care in the U.S. He was a partner in a company that operated five hospices and is also a founding board member of the Foundation for Hospice Care, an organization based in Kansas City. The foundation has provided US $100,000 to the Mitigare patient care fund as well as US $225,000 toward construction expenses, a grant which was conditioned upon the city of San Miguel de Allende donating the land for the facility.

The municipal government donated 1,480 square meters — nearly 16,000 square feet — of land. “We’re proud that this is a public-private partnership,” said Mitigare co-founder and board member Lee Carter. “The city’s generous donation of land is a wonderful endorsement of the project. We received the use of the land for 100 years, with taxes and permit fees included… this is the first property the city has donated for any purpose in 10 or 15 years.”

The location at Prolongación Cuesta de San José 92 near the turn-off for the Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden is ideal, as it is both near Centro (on a road easily accessible by ambulance) and is located within a five-minute drive of both the General Hospital and MAC Hospital.

Lic. Carla Cadena, Operations Director, and Dra. María de Lourdes “Lulu” Tejeida, Medical Director, Mitigare Cuidados Paliativos A.C.

Mitigare Cuidados Paliativos A.C. was founded in 2016, growing out of an earlier version of the organization, Hospice San Miguel, which was founded in 2009. The founders include Dr. Luis Vazquez, Martha Hamill Meléndez, Vicki Stein, Dra. María de Lourdes Tejeida Bautista, a Mexican palliative care physician and Lee Carter, an American with a passionate belief in the value of hospice care. Carter’s brother, who had pancreatic cancer, died with dignity in hospice, as did both of his parents. After moving to Mexico, Carter witnessed a friend die a difficult death without pain relief and became determined to provide hospice care in Mexico.

Of Dr. Tejeida, the organization’s medical director, Carter said, “She is amazing,” adding that she is board-certified in oncology and palliative care — one of the few physicians in all of Mexico to have both of those certifications, plus a master’s degree in public health.

Mitigare’s medical team consists of four doctors, a nurse and two thanatologists, social workers with extra training in the area of grief and death. Thanatos is the Greek word for death, and therefore thanatology is the study of death.

The team of thanatologists, led by Mtra. Martha Hamill Meléndez, help family members come together to create a familial environment in which the patient can have a peaceful, dignified death. They are also trained to help family members cope with anticipatory grief. After the patient dies, the team of thanatologists continues to provide counseling to family members for an additional six months or more. “This organization provides care equivalent in quality to that of any hospice in the U.S.,” affirms Matthews.

Lee Carter, co-founder of Mitigare Cuidados Paliativos A.C., at the construction site in San Miguel de Allende.

Carter reported that 90% of patients currently using Mitigare’s hospice services are Mexicans. “We charge according to a family’s ability to pay. Approximately 80% of our families receive financial assistance from our patient care fund, for which we are constantly fundraising. Currently, the average monthly payment is 2,000 pesos, although the average cost of services is 20,000 pesos. That’s a 90% discount. We’re happy to raise the money because we believe it is so important that anyone who needs hospice care can access it.”

A primary reason that hospice care is not widespread in Mexico is that, unlike in the United States, Canada and Europe, there are currently no government reimbursements for it. In the U.S., hospice became a Medicare benefit in the mid-1980s when the government saw that it was cost-effective. There are now 5,500 hospice programs in the U.S. — one for every 65,000 people — while for Mexico’s 130 million people, there is only one. The Mitigare team is confident that as more families begin to use hospice care and they experience how helpful it is to both the patient and family, it will become more commonplace in Mexico.

“It will also be of interest to the many expats living in San Miguel de Allende,” said Matthews, “that we have obtained Medicare approval. Qualified Medicare recipients can use their benefits to receive in-patient hospice care at our new facility.”

In addition to providing high-quality hospice care, Mitigare’s mission includes training doctors, nurses and other caregivers so that hospice becomes part of the fabric of Mexico’s end-of-life care. In 2019, the organization held a major conference, training 490 medical professionals from Mexico, the U.S., the Canary Islands and Costa Rica. “The typical medical school programs in Mexico and the U.S. really don’t train medical personnel in end-of-life care,” said Matthews. “So we will. We’ll be the epicenter for that critical training in Mexico.”

Phase 2 of the project is a training center planned for 2026.

Board member Laura Rodríguez recommends that readers in the San Miguel de Allende area attend one of Mitigare’s upcoming seminars on preparing legally and emotionally to reach a dignified, “good” death. Rodríguez also invites readers to view a powerful film on the topic, titled Mai Morire (Nunca Morir), which will be shown on Thursday, April 4, at 5 p.m. at the Santa Ana Theatre in San Miguel’s Biblioteca Publica.

After the screening, the film’s producer, Paola Herrera, and representatives of Mitigare will discuss hospice care. More information about these events as well as ways to make a tax-deductible contribution in support of the organization’s mission are available at mitigare.org.

Based in San Miguel de Allende, Ann Marie Jackson is a writer and NGO leader who previously worked for the U.S. Department of State. Her award-winning novel “The Broken Hummingbird,” which is set in San Miguel de Allende, came out in October 2023. Ann Marie can be reached through her website, annmariejacksonauthor.com.

Updated census shows nearly 100,000 missing persons in Mexico

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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There are currently just under 100,000 missing persons in Mexico, according to information presented by Interior Minister Luisa María Alcalde on Monday.

Speaking at President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference, Alcalde said that a total of 99,729 people were missing as of last Friday.

She acknowledged that Mexico’s national missing persons register shows that almost 115,000 people reported as missing since 1962 have still not been found.

However, Alcalde told reporters that more than 15,000 of that number have now been located or their deaths have been confirmed and they will therefore be removed from the register.

The interior minister reported late last year the results of a “massive” nationwide search for missing persons that was carried out as part of the government’s “National Generalized Search Strategy for Missing Persons.”

More than 16,000 people were located in their homes, in prisons or in other places, or were confirmed to have died, during search efforts in the second half of 2023. The search efforts have collectively been referred to as a missing persons “census.”

A woman holds a photograph of a disappeared loved one — Families of the disappeared frequently demonstrate in cities around the country, demanding action from law enforcement. (Cuartoscuro)

In the first three months of this year, an additional 3,512 people were located or confirmed as deceased, Alcalde said.

Data she presented on Monday showed that there are more than 10,000 missing persons in three of Mexico’s 32 federal entities.

Jalisco has the highest number of missing people with 12,389, followed by Tamaulipas with 12,219 and México state with 10,619. Campeche has the lowest number of missing people with just 88.

Alcalde said that 86% of people reported as missing but subsequently located were not victims of crime. Their disappearances were instead classified as “voluntary absences.”

The Baja California Missing Persons Search and Investigation Unit worked with a local missing persons search collection to scour the desert for human remains in February. (Isabel López/Cuartoscuro.com)

Alcalde said that 4% of those located were victims of forced disappearances, or kidnappings, while 10% were victims of “some other kind of crime, mainly domestic violence.

“There … [was] a crime and the absence … [was] for that reason,” she said.

Many of the people who disappear in Mexico as the result of kidnapping are never found, while it is rare for the perpetrators of such crimes to be held to account. The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances said in a 2022 report that impunity in missing person cases in Mexico is “almost absolute.”

Alcalde indicated on Monday that the government is hopeful it will locate more missing persons in the near future as it has obtained more than 31,000 “new addresses” and over 7,000 telephone numbers associated with people on the missing persons register.

On March 7, the government began a sixth “generalized search” campaign during which it will visit all those addresses and call all the numbers, she said.

Before the government began its “generalized search strategy” last year, López Obrador asserted that Mexico’s missing persons register wasn’t accurate, and advocated a new count.

Cecilia Patricia Flores of the Sonora search collective. — Cecilia Flores, founder of the search collective Searching Mothers of Sonora, displays a picture of her missing son. (Madres Buscadoras de Sonora)

He said last August that Karla Quintana’s resignation as head of Mexico’s National Search Commission (CNB) may have been “because of the [new missing persons] census,” which has been conducted by so-called “servants of the nation” — government officials who have mainly aided the implementation of social programs — and others.

Quintana, who became CNB chief shortly after López Obrador took office in late 2018, claimed in November that the aim of the missing persons census was to reduce the number of people listed as such across Mexico, and especially in states governed by the ruling Morena party.

Non-governmental organizations, search collectives and academics have also been critical of the census, warning that the government could be seeking to reduce the number of people officially listed as missing for electoral purposes.

López Obrador and other government officials including Alcalde have denied that is the case.

As of last June, more than 40,000 disappearances had been recorded during López Obrador’s presidency, a figure higher than the numbers recorded during the entire administrations of both Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-18) and Felipe Calderón (2000-06).

Mexico News Daily

Will soccer phenom Lionel Messi soon play his first official game in Mexico?

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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Messi faces two Orlando City players in a Round of 16 game for the Concacaf Champions Cup. (Shutterstock)

Will soccer great Lionel Messi play in Mexico, or won’t he?

The April 10 game in Monterrey, Nuevo León, is still three weeks away, but with the 36-year-old Argentine playmaker currently nursing a hamstring injury, fútbol talk in Mexico these days is all about will he or won’t he.

The matchup of Messi’s Inter Miami team against the Rayados of Monterrey became a reality last week when each team advanced into the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup — a knockout-style tournament for the best teams in North and Central America.

Miami, for whom Messi has played since last summer, dispatched fellow Major League Soccer (MLS) foe Nashville SC in a home-and-home series in the Round of 16, and Monterrey did the same to MLS squad FC Cincinnati. Monterrey plays in Liga MX, Mexico’s top pro league.

Messi was favoring his right hamstring during a March 7 match against Nashville, and in the return match last Wednesday, he left due to injury in the 50th minute — after scoring one goal and assisting another in Miami’s 3-1 victory.

Messi already sat out Saturday’s MLS match against DC United and expected to miss Miami’s next MLS match, as well. Argentina’s national team confirmed on Monday he will not suit up for a pair of friendlies against El Salvador (Friday in Philadelphia) and Costa Rica (March 26 in Los Angeles), due to what the team called a “minor injury.”

Messi and another soccer player in an ad for a Concacaf Champions Cup quarter final game — Messi appears in publicity for the quarter finals game, but will he appear on the field? (Concacaf)

The excitement over Messi in Monterrey is partially fueled by the fact that he has played on Mexican soil only twice, and both were charity/exhibition matches. The first was in Mexico City in 2011, when a team called “Messi and Friends” battled the “Rest of the World.” The following year, there was a similar match in Cancún.

Five times, Messi has played in matches against Liga MX teams, but four were in the United States and one was in Spain.

Miami head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino — the beleaguered manager of the Mexican national team from 2019 until after Mexico’s World Cup debacle of 2022 — says his goal is to have Messi ready for Monterrey on April 3 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and April 10 at BBVA Stadium in Nuevo León.

“We’ll continuously evaluate what he’s doing. The objective is for him to be able to play in the [Champions Cup] quarterfinals … We won’t do anything that involves running any kind of risk,” Martino said Saturday.

Should Miami get past Monterrey — with or without Messi — the superstar could get another opportunity to play in Mexico in the semifinals or finals. Half the teams still alive are Mexican sides: Tigres UANL of Monterrey, Club América of Mexico City and CF Pachuca from Hidalgo state.

Messi, who will turn 37 in June, might be nearing the end of his glorious career. Last month, he was also plagued by a groin injury.

The longtime star of FC Barcelona has scored more than 825 goals for club and country and has been named the world’s top player numerous times. He has the most recorded assists in soccer history.

The Copa America tournament this summer might be his last major international tournament. Argentina is the defending Copa America and World Cup champion. He’ll turn 39 during the next World Cup, being held jointly in Mexico, the United States and Canada in the summer of 2026.

With Miami, Messi has 16 goals and seven assists in 19 appearances dating back to his debut last July.

With reports from La Jornada, El Financiero, USA Today and BolaVIP

By Mexico News Daily staff writer Andy Altman-Ohr

Kidnapped Russian woman rescued in Tamaulipas

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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Russian tourist Maria Rigovich — Maria Rigovich, 23, was found late Saturday, three days after her disappearance was reported. (Via Komsomolskaya Pravda)

A 23-year-old Russian woman who was kidnapped in northern Mexico last Thursday has been rescued, authorities in the state of Tamaulipas said Sunday.

Maria Rigovich, a tourist, was abducted while traveling from Monterrey, Nuevo León, to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, with “Mexican acquaintances,” according to the Russian Embassy in Mexico.

Tamaulipas security authorities said on social media on Sunday that Rigovich was rescued on Saturday night.

“As a result of the coordinated work of the Specialized Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office, the female Russian citizen was rescued at approximately 23:00 on March 16,” said the office of the spokesperson for the state Security Ministry.

The social media post said that Rigovich was in good health and that authorities were carrying out the “corresponding formalities.”

No arrests were reported, and it was unclear where the woman was held during the period between her abduction and rescue.

Tamaulipas state security troopers and their vehicles — Tamaulipas authorities said Rigovich was rescued before her husband was able to pay the requested ransom. (Tamaulipas Public Security Ministry/Facebook)

In a post to the X social media platform on Sunday, the Russian Embassy said that Rigovich had been “released” by authorities.

“According to the information available at this time, the abducted Russian woman is now at a police station in Reynosa. She was released without paying the kidnappers the ransom requested,” the embassy said.

“The Embassy thanks the police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and other services for their collaboration in the release of the Russian citizen.”

According to a report by Russian media outlet Pravda, Rigovich published a message to her Telegram channel shortly before she was kidnapped.

“The cartel is chasing us. Pray. I’m writing this down in case I die. I love you very much, you are just wonderful. Most likely, we will be killed,” the Muscovite wrote.

She was reportedly traveling with a Mexican woman identified as Brenda, her nine-year-old son and Brenda’s father. Rigovich had been staying with the family in Monterrey prior to her abduction.

The three Mexicans and Rigovich were all forced out of the vehicle at gunpoint but the Russian was the only one who was kidnapped, according to Brenda’s version of events as reported by Pravda.

“What saved us what that there was a child in the car, my 9-year-old son got scared and started crying. One of the criminals said, ‘I also have two children, we’ll let you go, but she has to stay,'” Brenda said.

She said that the criminals asked Rigovich to pay a fee for passing through “their land,” but she didn’t have much money with her.

“Then they took her and our car,” Brenda said. The family’s car was later found by authorities.

After she was kidnapped, Rigovich contacted her husband, Alexey, and asked him to make a US $1,500 deposit to a bank account, according to Pravda.

Alexey reportedly told Russian media that he planned to pay the ransom, but the embassy indicated that he did not.

The same stretch of highway was the site of the kidnapping — and subsequent rescue — of 31 migrants in late December.

The newspaper El Universal reported Monday that just over 4,000 foreigners disappeared in Mexico between Jan. 1, 2019 and March 17, 2024 and remain missing.

Interior Ministry data published by El Universal shows that the nationality of 2,322 of the missing foreigners is unknown. The five foreign countries with the highest number of missing citizens in Mexico are Honduras, the United States, Guatemala, Colombia and Venezuela.

With reports from La Jornada, SDP Noticias, Reforma, Publimetro and Infobae

Rains and chilly temperatures in the forecast as spring approaches

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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A person bicycles in the rain in Mexico City — Heavy rain is forecast for many areas of the country on Monday. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro.com)

The National Meteorological Service (SMN) reports several regions of Mexico are expected to see cloudy skies and rain due to the influence of cold front 40.

The forecast for Monday includes heavy rainfall in Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, and Veracruz and heavy to very heavy rains in Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Tamaulipas Chiapas, Coahuila, and Tabasco.

Meanwhile, showers are also in the forecast for Campeche, Chihuahua, Mexico City, the State of México, Guanajuato, and Tlaxcala, with isolated storms expected for Quintana Roo, Yucatán, and Zacatecas.

The SMN has warned that intense rainfall could result in landslides, as well as overflows and flooding in low-lying areas.

Residents in the north of Mexico should be aware that the cold front could potentially cause tornadoes in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and Nuevo León.

The cold front could also bring gusts of wind ranging from 60 to 80 kilometers per hour and waves as high as 1 to 3 meters on the coasts of Tamaulipas and Veracruz. On Monday evening, the Isthmus and Gulf of Tehuantepec may also experience wind gusts ranging from 50 to 70 kilometers per hour.

Hail and a damaged car in Coahuila — Unusually large hail caused injuries and damage in Coahuila on Friday. (Meterología México/X)

Isolated showers and even sleet and snowfall are expected in the mountains of Baja California due to a cold-core low pressure system in the southwestern United States. Baseball-sized hail caused damage and injuries in Sabinas, Coahuila, on Friday, where an 8-year-old girl was hospitalized with a skull fracture.

Hot temperatures continue for the rest of the country

Despite the cold front, many parts of Mexico will continue to experience scorching temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius.

Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Morelos, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and the coast of Jalisco will see maximum temperatures of 40 to 45 degrees Celsius (104 to 113 Fahrenheit).

Nayarit, México state (southwest), Puebla (southwest), Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco will see maximum temperatures of 35 to 40 degrees Celsius (95 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit) while Sinaloa, Durango (west), Guanajuato and Veracruz (south), will experience temperatures between 30 to 35 degrees Celsius (86 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit).

In areas affected by high temperatures, the SMN advises residents to avoid prolonged exposure to solar radiation, stay hydrated, and closely monitor chronically ill people, children, and older adults.

With reports from Milenio

Cancún to Playa del Carmen route of the Maya Train begins operations

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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A green and silver train at sunset — The star of Sheinbaum's proposed Maya corridor is the new Maya Train. (Maya Train/X)

The Cancún to Playa del Carmen stretch of Section 5 of the Maya Train — which was already inaugurated on Feb. 29 by President López Obrador — started operations last Friday, just in time for the long weekend in observance of Benito Juárez’s birthday.

Although both stations in Cancún and Playa del Carmen are still under construction, they are fully operational.

On Saturday, the newspaper La Jornada reported that at least 100 people boarded the train at the Playa del Carmen station for the first service of the day, at 10:30 a.m., arriving at the Cancún Airport station at 11:45 a.m.

According to the Maya Train’s website, departures from Cancún to Playa are at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 3 p.m., while departures from Playa del Carmen to Cancún are at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.

Economy tickets for residents of Quintana Roo are 98 pesos (US $6), 148 pesos (US $8) for other Mexicans, and 197 pesos (US $11) for international travelers.

First-class tickets start at 236 pesos (US $14) for Mexicans and 397 pesos (US $23) for international travelers.

Cancún Maya Train station — The Maya Train stations in Cancún (pictured) and Playa del Carmen are open to the public. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro.com)

All train tickets include a shuttle service to the Cancún International Airport (AIC) terminals, while buses to the city center cost $55 pesos (US $3).

Electric buses are set to be introduced for transfers between AIC and the Maya Train’s airport station.

According to news outlet Por Esto, the airport perimeter road has already been built while construction of a connecting passage that crosses Highway 180 is still pending.

Section 5 is still not fully operational. On Feb. 16, a federal court ordered the suspension of construction from Playa del Carmen to Tulum due to the negative effects of construction works on the subsoil. The court ordered a definitive suspension of the works until the responsible authorities have demonstrated that “geological, geophysical and geohydrological studies” have been carried out.

While sections 1 to 4 have been operational since the train’s inauguration in December last year, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged that the inauguration of all the Maya Train routes and stations would not take place until after the June 2 elections.

With reports from La Jornada Maya, Por Esto, and El Economista

Why are Mexico’s largest lakes disappearing?

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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Valle de Bravo dry lake — Valle de Bravo, a popular man-made lake, could be down to 17% capacity by July 2024. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)

More than half of the world’s large lakes and two-thirds of its rivers are drying up, threatening ecosystems, farming and drinking water supplies.

Mexico is no exception: Millions of people in Mexico are at risk of losing water supply as the country’s largest bodies of water continue to dry up at a rapid rate.

Lake Chapala (bordering the states of Jalisco and Michoacán), Lake Cuitzeo (in Michoacán), Lake Zumpango (in México state) and the Colorado River in northern Mexico are all facing extinction according to a report by the news site Sin Embargo.

The Guadalajara metropolitan area depends on Lake Chapala for its potable water, but authorities have been unable to devise a plan to address the crisis.

A study in February indicated that Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest freshwater lake, is at just 45% of capacity as a result of an extended drought as well as poor water management.

Between 1980 and 2002, more than 500 dams were built on the Lerma River causing lake levels to drop dramatically. By 2003, lake levels were at a staggering 15% of capacity. As a result, the federal government designated Lake Chapala a protected lake and forced farmers to allow more water through their dams to maintain the lake at 60% capacity.

Since then, drought and uneven rainfall has seen lake levels drop, registering below 50% capacity for the past two years.

Last month, we reported that Lake Cuitzeo, the country’s second-largest freshwater lake, has lost 70% of its water over the past 25 years.

Nearby cities and towns depended on the lake for drinking water, agriculture and commercial activities. The economies of the lake-side towns relied heavily on fishing, as both a food supply and by way of fishing charters.

Lake, or Lagoon, Zumpango — a regulating reservoir north of Mexico City — is not only threatened by drought but also by the construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) directly next to the protected wetland.

Drought and high temperatures have caused a significant amount of water loss in the area, such that the wetland is no longer a tourist attraction, and many of the 200 bird species that frequented the lake are no longer arriving.

The lack of tourists to the lagoon and a rise in disease traceable to the increase in effluence in the lake (up to 30% of the lake is made up of wastewater) have prompted residents to close down shops and move to look for work elsewhere.

The National Water Commission (Conagua) has been attending to the Colorado River crisis since 2022 when it declared an emergency in four northern states after large sections of the river dried up completely.

More than 40 million people depend on the Colorado River which extends from the United States into Baja California. By treaty, Mexico is to receive 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually, but climate change and drought has seen that figure drop in recent years. Last year, Mexico received 7% less than that agreed to with the U.S.

Farmers and city managers in northern Mexico have been meeting with Conagua to devise conservation plans but they are a work in progress. U.S. authorities, blaming climate change and drought, have also been enforcing new conservation rules while officials in seven U.S. states are also learning how to get by with less water.

With reports from Sin Embargo and El Informador

Sinaloa Cartel ‘lieutenant’ known as ‘El 50’ arrested in Sonora

By

MND Staff

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March 18, 2024

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National Guard members with alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader — Gilberto Martínez Rentería, known as "El 50," was captured in Nogales, Sonora on Friday. Reportedly, no shots were fired during the arrest. (Screen capture)

An alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader known as “El 50” was arrested in Nogales, Sonora, on Friday during a federal operation supported by an armed helicopter.

Close to 200 soldiers and members of the National Guard participated in the operation to detain Gilberto Martínez Rentería in the northern border city, according to reports.

Sinaloa Cartel chart OFAC — In this chart published in 2021, the man identified as 36-year-old Martínez Rentería appears much older than the suspect apprehended on Friday. (OFAC)

Martínez — identified by U.S. authorities in 2021 as a “cartel lieutenant” who reports to “Sinaloa Cartel plaza boss” Sergio Valenzuela — was subsequently transferred to Mexico City, where he is in the custody of the federal Attorney General’s Office.

In September of 2021, he was designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as a narcotics trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

Media outlets in Sonora reported that Martínez is the main generator of violence in Nogales, located opposite the city of the same name in Arizona. In addition to drug trafficking, he is linked to crimes including murder, kidnapping and extortion.

In Nogales, Martínez allegedly led a cartel cell known as “Los Demonios” that works for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

According to U.S. authorities, Martínez was born on May 14, 1987, meaning that he is 36.

A purported photo of the accused criminal published by OFAC appears to show a significantly older man, whereas the suspect appears much younger in new footage broadcast by Foro TV after his arrest.

With reports from Aristegui Noticias and El Universal