Monday, July 21, 2025

Weekend solar storm lights up Mexican skies with auroras

By
MND Staff
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Aurora borealis in Baja California
Mexicali, Baja California was one of the places in Mexico treated to the beautiful cosmic spectacle. (Dannae Villa/Cuartoscuro)

Thousands of miles from the Arctic regions where the northern lights are common, Mexicans were treated to mesmerizing aurora displays on Friday and Saturday nights.

Solar flares sparked what the Space Weather Prediction Center of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described as the biggest geomagnetic storm in two decades, a storm big enough to cause a rare appearance in Mexico, where variations of green, pink and purple lights subtly illuminated the night sky in some areas.

Plasma from a powerful solar eruption called a coronal mass ejection (CME) slammed into Earth on Friday, sparking an intense geomagnetic storm, explained the news platform Space.com.

The plasma carries magnetic clouds that interact with the Earth’s magnetic field when it finds the planet on its path through interplanetary space. The interaction produces the light display witnessed over the weekend.

One of the effects was a supercharged northern lights display, which provided skywatchers in Mexico and other regions around the world with dazzling aurora views over the weekend. Skywatchers from the northern border city of Mexicali to the southeastern state of Yucatán reported seeing the effects of the solar flares.

The newspaper Riviera Maya News reported that views of the aurora borealis extended all the way to the east of the Yucatán Peninsula where people on Holbox Island witnessed the rare sighting. Sightings of northern lights were also reported in Chihuahua, Zacatecas and Sonora.

Auroras in Mexico were visible to the naked eye near Mexico's northern border. This photo was taken in Agua Prieta, Sonora
Auroras were visible to the naked eye near Mexico’s northern border, like in this photo taken in Agua Prieta, Sonora. (X/Sergio Rogel)

The natural lighting phenomenon, rarely visible in the region, was not as intense as it was in the United States.

Scientists from the Geophysics Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico  (UNAM) said that by Sunday evening the 39-hour phenomenon had concluded, but did report that another solar storm could produce a few additional hours of northern lights, though they would be less dramatic.

Heading into the weekend, the Baja California Civil Protection agency had alerted residents near the U.S. border that the display was viewable on the horizon to the north in places with little light pollution.

It also assured residents that the aurora borealis did not represent any danger, though warning that “in some cases it could generate slight and temporary interference in telecommunications systems.”

A photo of the aurora borealis in Mexico
In many places where the light show was not visible to the naked eye, it could still be captured by long-exposure photos like this one, taken in Chihuahua. (X/Set Domínguez)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on Monday that while the northern lights “are a delightful spectacle, geomagnetic storms also have potentially disrupting impacts such as the stress they can impose on the power grid due to induced currents in power lines, and possible impacts on communication and satellite operations.”

The WMO also said that the current cycle of solar storms reached its maximum last week and predictions of the the event turned out to be accurate. The weekend spectacle and its attendant dangers highlight the importance of forecasting potentially disruptive space weather events, the WMO said.

With reports from La Jornada, López-Dóriga Digital and El País

Fire consumes ‘artisanal’ bullring at Yucatán fair; no injuries reported

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MND Staff
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The Yucatán bullring caught fire and burned to the ground in minutes.
The wood and thatch bullring burned to the ground in minutes. (X)

A bullring enclosed in a makeshift “stadium” constructed of wooden poles, tree needles and other natural materials caught fire Sunday afternoon and was completely consumed within 10 minutes at an annual fair in Panabá, Yucatán.

Miraculously, there were no reported injuries, according to several news sources, even though the first bullfight at 4 p.m. was just about to start and the facility was crowded with approximately 2,000 people.

The Yucatán bullring that caught fire was made entirely of natural materials.
The traditional bullring was made entirely of natural materials. (X)

The traditional structure included elevated, private viewing boxes surrounding a small, circular, wood-and-metal grandstand. Rustic staircases made with branches and other pieces of wood led to the upper viewing levels.

Tabbed the “plaza de toros artesanal,” the three-level “stadium” looked like a combination of a beachfront enramada and something straight off “Gilligan’s Island.”

Panabá is a town and municipality halfway between Mérida and Cancún.

Its annual fair pays homage to San Isidro Labrador, the locality’s patron saint to whom farmers and other residents pray for rain — not that their prayers had been answered. Temperatures over the weekend hit at least 46 Celsius (114 Fahrenheit) without a drop of rain in sight.

As the fire ignited and began to spread, screams could be heard as people, some of them jumping, tried to escape as quickly as possible. The palqueros, valued community members who are entrusted with building the Maya-type structure, were so busy assisting others and getting themselves to safety that many of their chairs were left behind.

Emergency personnel arrived at the site, but there was nothing they could do as the columns of smoke reached nearly 20 meters high.

While reports on social media said fireworks hit the bullring and caused the conflagration, the newspaper El Universal did not cite a cause. Mundo Toro, a website that reports on bullfighting, also said the structure caught fire due to pyrotechnics.

The Panabá city council opted to cancel the fair’s Cultural Night on Sunday in the town’s central plaza. It was to include folkloric dancing, comedy and more.

However, officials decided the fair would continue on Monday, with the bullfight in a permanent bullring in Panabá — the Plaza de Toros Monumental Aranda — and a folkloric ballet in the main square.

On Monday, the mayor of Panabá, Omar Adiel Mena, wrote on Facebook he worked out a deal with owner Fernando Aranda to rent the bullring for 35,000 pesos (US $2,083), with the city council absorbing the cost. In his post, he thanked Aranda and his wife for accepting the deal. “Last night he asked for 70,000 [pesos, but] today he agreed to give us a discount,” he wrote.

The mayor said his main goal was to financially support the palqueros, the respected town members who participate annually in the building of the structure and who then recoup their costs by selling tickets, snacks and beer. “The palqueros were satisfied with the support” they received, the mayor added.

In a reader comment underneath the article in El Universal, one person wrote, “I am glad that it was burned so that the bulls are not cruelly mistreated and murdered. Thank you God, thank you.”

With reports from El Universal, La Jornada Maya, Por Esto and Mundo Toro

19,000 people visit the Zócalo on its first day as a pedestrian-only plaza

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MND Staff
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Nearly 20,000 people reported visited the Zócalo on it's first day as a pedestrian-only area.
Nearly 20,000 people reported visited the Zócalo on it's first day as a pedestrian-only area. (Martí Batres/X)

On Sunday, over 19,000 people gathered at the Zócalo public square in Mexico City to celebrate its transformation into a pedestrian-only plaza. The four perimeter roads around the square and sections of three roads that give access to it — 20 de Noviembre, Pino Suárez and 16 de Septiembre — are now all closed to vehicles.

Accompanied by various city officials, Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres cut the inaugural ribbon at around 10:45 a.m.

“Today, we reaffirm the Zócalo as the public space, and the public space is the people’s space and is the space of equality,” Batres proclaimed.

The attendees walked around the new pedestrian zone, led by Batres, while enjoying live performances by more than 200 artists. The musical shows included two mariachi groups, three batucadas, a pre-Hispanic dance show and organ grinders, among others.

While some walked, others cycled or skated around the plaza.

During his speech, Batres thanked the employees of the city’s Ministry of Works and Services (SOBSE), for working to turn the Zócalo into a pedestrian-only space. Meanwhile, the minister of the SOBSE, Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, recalled that the decision to make the Zócalo a pedestrian-only space was the result of a public survey.

Mexico City's Zócalo, before it became pedestrian-only
Mexico City’s Zócalo, before it became pedestrian-only. (Gobierno de CDMX)

“It is a privilege, and it has been a great responsibility for the Ministry of Works, to have intervened in the second-largest square in the world,” Esteva said during his inaugural speech.

The renovation work, which commenced in February, included painting 39 posts, installing 31 planters, replacing 562 flagstones, removing 97 traffic lights, removing 14,163 square meters pavement, laying 5,713 square meters of asphalt, and finally, installing 13,163 cubic meters of hydraulic cement.

When the project was announced in January, Batres said that it would permit unobstructed pedestrian access to, and enjoyment of, the plaza. It would also encourage sustainable mobility around the city center, and “rescue, dignify and revitalize the use of public space.”

Finally, an official from the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Patricia Ramírez Kuri, emphasized the importance of revitalizing public spaces for the progress of communities, for cultural appreciation and for the advocacy for human rights.

“A public space is the place where we’re educated as citizens, but also where we fight for our rights,” she said.

Newspaper Excélsior reported that in addition to Mexicans, “many foreigners” attended the inaugural event.

With reports from Forbes México and Excélsior

26 police injured as Ayotzinapa protesters attack National Palace

By
MND Staff
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Protesters launched fireworks and rockets at Mexico's National Palace on Monday.
Protesters launched fireworks and rockets at the National Palace on Monday. (Screenshot)

Twenty-six police officers were injured on Monday when students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College attacked Mexico’s National Palace with firecrackers.

The Mexico City Ministry of Citizens Security (SSC) said in a statement that the officers were injured by “shrapnel from firecrackers and rockets” while “carrying out a deployment due to the presence of protesters in the area.”

The National Palace, the seat of executive power and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s residence, is located in the historic center of Mexico City opposite the capital’s main square, the Zócalo.

The SSC said that paramedics treated the 26 injured officers, who mainly sustained wounds to their legs, arms and buttocks. All of the injured police were subsequently taken to hospital “for the specialized medical care they require,” the ministry said.

In one video posted to social media, several loud explosions can be heard as firecrackers land in a barricaded area in front of the National Palace.

According to reports, the students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College — a school in Guerrero attended by the 43 young men who were abducted and presumably killed in 2014 — fled in vehicles after launching the explosives at the building. No arrests were reported.

The attack came after a judge ruled that eight soldiers accused of involvement in the disappearance of the 43 students almost 10 years ago could leave preventive detention pending trial. They were released from a military prison late last week.

Ayotzinapa students have been demanding to meet with López Obrador to discuss the unsolved 2014 case for some time. They reiterated that demand at Monday’s protest in the Zócalo, the Milenio newspaper reported.

In March, Ayotzinapa normalistas, as student teachers are known, used a pickup truck to break open wooden doors at the National Palace while the president was speaking at a press conference inside the historic building. They didn’t reach the room where López Obrador was presiding over his daily mañanera.

Since the beginning of his six-year term in 2018, the president has pledged to solve the Ayotzinapa case and hold those responsible to account.

But less than five months before he leaves office, there is still no certainty about what happened to the 43 young men and no one has been convicted of the abduction and murder of the students, although more than 100 people have been arrested.

There have been countless protests across Mexico since the students disappeared on Sept. 26, 2014, during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto. Authorities including the army and municipal police in Iguala, Guerrero, have long been suspected of involvement in the disappearance of the students.

Ayotzinapa students have also protested in recent months against the killing by Guerrero police of their classmate Yanqui Kothan Gómez Peralta. State police shot Gómez dead on March 7 while traveling in a vehicle in Chilpancingo with two other students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College.

Early last month, some 200 Ayotzinapa students carried out an attack on the state Government Palace complex in Chilpancingo that caused a fire on the second floor of one building.

With reports from El Universal, El Financiero, Milenio and López-Dóriga Digital

AMLO’s jokes about limiting visas for US citizens were all in good fun, the president confirms

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MND Staff
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amlo jokes about visas americans
A cartoon Emiliano Zapata poses like Uncle Sam on a poster in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)

While many Mexicans have taken to social media to comment on the increase in the number of U.S. citizens living in certain parts of Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador raised the issue directly with United States President Joe Biden.

However, the conversation between the two leaders wasn’t an overly serious one, AMLO revealed at his Monday morning press conference.

With a wry smile on his face, López Obrador remarked that he told Biden that his government was thinking about being “more rigorous” in the issuance of visas to Americans.

Before breaking into a hearty laugh, he added that he told the U.S. president that he was thinking about “reserving the right of admission” for Americans, “because Mexico is paradise, Eden.”

When a reporter sought to confirm that he had been joking with Biden, AMLO responded:

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, because we have a very good relationship, we’re brother nations, we’re neighbors.”

AMLO jokes about limiting visas for Americans
AMLO confirmed that the jibe was a joke, all in good fun. (Lopezobrador.org.mx)

While recounting the same conversation with Biden, López Obrador remarked that large numbers of estadounidenses (Americans) are coming to Mexico City “because it’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world.”

“We’re all aware that a lot of Americans are coming to Mexico City to live, to the whole country; Yucatán, Jalisco, Baja California Sur,” he added.

“They’re building their houses, … many, many, many [of them],” AMLO said.

Mexico’s 2020 census found that more than 381,000 immigrants from the United States were living in Mexico, while the U.S. Department of State reported in 2022 that 1.6 million U.S. citizens were living here.

The latter figure includes Americans living in Mexico on tourist visas.

Among that cohort are many retirees, such as so-called snowbirds, and digital nomads. A significant number of Americans working remotely have moved into trendy Mexico City neighborhoods such as Condesa and Roma.

Some Mexicans have expressed concerns about the influx of digital nomads to certain parts of the capital during and after the pandemic, asserting that their presence has pushed up rents — a claim backed up by data compiled by the real estate website propiedades.com —  and driven locals out of desirable neighborhoods.

Angel of independence in Mexico City
The Latin America director of Moody’s credited the economic growth to increased political spending heading into the June elections. (Shutterstock)

Mexicans have also complained that Americans and other foreigners are turbocharging gentrification in other parts of the country.

For his part, López Obrador declared last September that Mexico City is “full of Americans.”

“That didn’t happen before. Now you go to a restaurant in La Roma, Colonia Del Valle, Polanco [or] Condesa — those who go to restaurants tell me — and half the tables are taken by Americans, and people even complain that prices have gone up,” he said.

“… There were a lot of them in the Zócalo for the Cry of Independence. And we’re pleased that they participate, that they integrate themselves into the life of Mexico, they’re welcome,” AMLO said.

On Monday, after recounting his jocular conversation with Biden, López Obrador said that “the only thing” he wants is for Mexico and the U.S. to be “good neighbors.”

“… I’ve said it many times, we should integrate more economically,” he said before noting that Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner.

“We need each other, we complement each other,” AMLO added.

Mexico News Daily 

* Interested in reading more about Americans and other foreigners in Mexico and Mexicans’ view on their presence? Check out these previous MND articles.

6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes near Mexico-Guatemala border

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MND Staff
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An earthquake near the Mexico-Guatemala border on Sunday caused damages but no deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake's magnitude at 6.4 and depth at 75 kilometers. (CONRED/Facebook)

A strong earthquake shook the Mexico-Guatemala border early Sunday morning, sending some frightened residents into the street but otherwise causing no deaths or reported injuries.

The quake struck at 5:39 a.m. with an epicenter 16 kilometers off the Pacific coast, approximately 76 kilometers southeast of Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas.

Videos posted to social media showed the impact of the quake early on Sunday morning.

 

The U.S. Geological Survey reported its magnitude at 6.4 and depth at 75 kilometers, while Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN) said it measured 6.2 on the Richter scale with a depth of 10 kilometers.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, SSN reported there had been 80 aftershocks, with the strongest at 4.6.

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) quickly opened emergency telephone lines for people who might have been affected.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena wrote in a post on the social media site X, “We stand in solidarity with the people of Guatemala who this morning suffered a strong earthquake in the border area with Mexico. No victims have been reported.”

The earthquake’s epicenter wasn’t far from where the Suchiate River — part of which defines the Mexico-Guatemala border — empties into the sea.

The earthquake's epicenter was slightly west of where the Suchiate River marks part of the border between Guatemala and Mexico.
The earthquake’s epicenter was slightly west of where the Suchiate River marks part of the border between Guatemala and Mexico. (Servicio Sismológico Nacional)

Though there were no initial reports of damage, more mountainous, remote parts of the border are prone to landslides.

Guatemala’s national disaster prevention agency shared photos of small landslides onto highways in the Quetzaltenango region and large cracks in walls in a hospital in San Marcos on social media, but there were no reports of deaths.

One video showed boulders that had tumbled onto a road, but it wasn’t clear if it was in Mexico or Guatemala.

Didier Solares, an official with Suchiate’s civil defense agency, said on Sunday that no immediate damage had been found.

“Luckily, everything is good,” he told the news magazine Proceso. “We are talking with companies, with the [rural areas] via radio and there’s nothing, there’s no damage, thank God.”

Shaking was reportedly felt in the colonial city of San Cristobal de las Casas, which is in the mountains about 250 kilometers from the epicenter.

In Tuxtla Chico, a town in Chiapas’ south much closer to the epicenter, “It was horrible,” according to teacher María Guzmán as quoted by the Mexican news magazine Proceso. “It felt strong. It was a real scare.”

Mexico experiences high seismicity due to its location over five tectonic plates, and Chiapas is one of the states that rattles the most.

This is due to the convergent contact of the Cocos, North American and Caribbean plates, according to a special report issued Sunday by SSN’s Institute of Geophysics based at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) in Mexico City.

Sunday’s earthquake was the 19th of magnitude 6.0 or greater in Chiapas since 2000, including a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in 2019. Since 1900, there have been seven earthquakes in Chiapas ranging from 7.2 to 8.2 on the Richter scale, according to SSN, the most recent being an 8.2 in 2017 that caused severe damage in southeast Mexico.

With reports from Proceso, Infobae and AP

China to Mexico: First direct flight in 4 years touches down at AICM

By
MND Staff
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On Saturday, a China Southern flight touched town at the Mexico City International Airport for the first time in 4 years.
The inaugural flight arrived at the Mexico City International Airport on Saturday night. (AICM/X)

The first China Southern Airlines flight to touch down in Mexico since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic arrived at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) on Saturday night.

The arrival from Shenzhen, China, was the inaugural flight of this new direct route, which at 16 hours and 14,147 kilometers, is among the longest in the world.

A China Southern airplane flying
China Southern’s Shenzhen-CDMX route is the longest non-stop flight from China of any Chinese airline. (Wikimedia Commons)

The flight from Shenzhen to Mexico City is a nonstop flight, whereas the return includes a 30-minute refueling stop in Tijuana. The stop in Tijuana is necessary because fully loaded planes can’t draw as much power to take off in Mexico City due to the altitude.

China Southern will operate the route twice-weekly (Tuesdays and Saturdays to Mexico; Wednesdays and Sundays back to China). The round-trip journey is being serviced by an Airbus A350 aircraft, according to a Chinese government news outlet based in Shenzhen. 

China Southern will offer 252 seats on the China-to-Mexico leg and 156 seats on the return flight.

The megacity of Shenzhen is considered the epicenter of technology and innovation in China. The new flight to Mexico’s capital is part of the Asian country’s strategy to capitalize on growing trade and tourism between China and Latin America.

The Mexican Embassy in China issued a press release affirming that the two countries are negotiating dozens of projects for this year and next that could produce investments of between US $1.2 billion to US $1.3 billion.

China’s direct investment in Mexico reached US $587 million in 2022, the highest on record, according to Mexico’s Economy Ministry (SE).

China Southern was the first Chinese carrier to operate flights to Mexico, launching a Guangzhou-Vancouver-Mexico City route in 2017. China Southern is headquartered in Guangzhou.

Since reopening the country’s borders last year, China’s airlines have been restoring routes, particularly long-haul flights to Europe and North America that had been suspended or greatly reduced during the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, three airlines — Aeroméxico, Hainan Airlines and China Southern — were operating eight round-trip flights per week between Mexico and China.

The Shenzhen-Mexico City route is now China Southern’s longest, bumping its Guangzhou-New York City route, and the longest direct flight from China of any Chinese airline.

Singapore Airlines’ Singapore to New York City flight is the world’s longest, a 19-hour, 15,332-kilometer journey. 

With reports from EFE, Expansión and CNN

Will Mexico win the Copa América 2024?

By
Ian Ostroff
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Mexico football team
How will "El Tri" do at the Copa America? Ian Ostroff rates the Mexico national team's chances of glory in the United States. (Goaltickets)

In Mexico, soccer is a religion. If the national team is participating in a major tournament, the entire country pauses whatever they’re doing to watch. 

After hosting the World Cup in 1970 and advancing to the quarter-finals for the first time in its history, Mexico established itself as a respected football country on a global stage. It was the first World Cup televised in color, which ended with Pelé winning his last trophy for Brazil, who was carried from Mexico’s famous Azteca Stadium. 

Pele wins the World Cup in 1970
Brazil’s Pele – considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, won his final World Cup at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. (Wikimedia Commons)

Mexico’s reputation continued to grow, becoming a powerhouse in the North American CONCACAF region and consistently qualifying for World Cups. The country also hosted another tournament in 1986, best remembered for the audacious piece of cheating that was Diego Maradonna’s infamous “Hand of God.” Mexico’s second quarter-final appearance was a highlight for home fans. 

But with Mexico’s solidified football reputation came invitations to participate in other tournaments, like South America’s prestigious Copa América. 

Although it’s been eight years since Mexico last participated in this competition, performing well at the Copa América this summer could be the boost El Tri needs leading into the 2026 World Cup.

Mexico’s history in the Copa América

Since 1993, Mexico has been regularly invited to participate in the Copa América. In that time, they’ve gone head-to-head with some of the best players in history, including Lionel Messi, Neymar, Ronaldinho, and Diego Forlán.

Mexico's second-placed Copa America squad in 1993
Mexico’s second-placed Copa America squad in 1993. (David Patiño/X)

But Mexico held its own. They even made the finals against Argentina in their first ever Copa América appearance. El Tri collected another second-place result in 2001, and a handful of third-place finishes in 1997, 1999, and 2007. 

The 1990s and early 2000s were a notable era in Mexican football. It featured legendary players like Luis Hernández, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Hugo Sánchez, and Rafa Marquez. Naturally, playing against stellar football nations like Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, helped Mexico climb the world rankings. 

Six months prior to competing in the 1993 Copa América, FIFA ranked El Tri as the 25th-best team. However, by May 2006, Mexico reached an impressive 4th place ranking going into that summer’s World Cup. They were even positioned ahead of European powerhouses Italy, France, and Germany. 

Notable Mexican players and teams

After Mexico’s success in the 1990s and early 2000s came what many consider Mexico’s golden generation. With star players like Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, and Guillermo Ochoa, El Tri maintained its reputation as a top 15 footballing nation. 

Mexico enjoyed some memorable moments, including a handful of Gold Cup trophies and consistent round-of-16 finishes at the World Cup. The squad even won an Olympic gold medal at London 2012. Several players from Mexico’s golden generation also played at major European clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and Manchester United. 

Giovanni Dos Santos
Giovanni Dos Santos enjoyed a career that saw him play in the English Premier League and alongside Lionel Messi at Barcelona. (Wikimedia Commons)

Despite the great talent Mexico had they have failed to advance to the semi-finals of the Copa America since 2007. 

With that in mind, Mexico sent the strongest possible team to the 2016 Copa America. Though they made the quarter-finals, they were eliminated 7-0 by Chile. It is still regarded as their worst major tournament defeat in history.

What has happened since Mexico last entered the Copa América?

For those who follow Mexican soccer, it’s evident El Tri has underperformed lately.

Mexico did have one shining moment in the 2018 World Cup when they defeated reigning champions Germany 1-0 in the group stage of that tournament. Success has since been thin on the ground, however.

Mexico national soccer team
While Mexico was once a force to be reckoned with, the last decade has seen the team tumble down the world rankings. (Wikimedia Commons)

With the U.S. and Canada catching up to Mexico in the last twenty years, they’re no longer the kings of CONCACAF. Mexico hasn’t beaten the United States since 2019 — something inconceivable for Mexican fans just ten years ago. 

Eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup for the first time since 1986, Mexico are struggling. But the country has young talent that could turn things around in the coming years with young stars like Edson Álvarez, Jorge Sanchez, and Luis Chavez.

Rising stars like Santiago Giménez, bring more hope to Mexican fans. Giménez scored the last-minute goal to win Mexico the 2023 Gold Cup, and is having a great season for club Feyenoord in the Netherlands. There are also rumors he might sign for either Tottenham Hotspurs or AC Milan. 

Edson Álvarez
West Ham’s Edson Álvarez is part of a new golden generation of Mexican footballers playing in Europe. (Edson Álvarez/X)

Hopefully, Mexico’s new golden generation will mature this decade. A strong team going into this year’s Copa America would be a great step forward.

Predictions for the 2024 Copa América

Mexico has been drawn in Group B in this year’s Copa América, where they’ll face Ecuador, Venezuela, and dark horses Jamaica in a round-robin stage. If El Tri finish second in their group, they could face Lionel Messi and Argentina in the quarter-finals. 

With the Copa América kicking off this June, Mexico is in with a fair chance of securing first place. Jimmy Lozano, Mexico’s current team manager, just announced his final squad for the tournament — leaving out Hirving Lozano, Raul Jiménez, and Guillermo Ochoa to make room for younger players. It indicates that Mexico is serious about performing well and is willing to take risks to give new talent opportunities to grow on a major tournament stage. 

If the team can top Group B, they will avoid a potentially tricky meeting with Argentina in the next round. But with countries like the United States, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay also in the tournament, we’ll see how Mexico rises to the challenge. 

Ian Ostroff is an indie author, journalist, and copywriter from Montreal, Canada. You can find his work in various outlets, including Map Happy and The Suburban. When he’s not writing, you can find Ian at the gym, a café, or anywhere within Mexico visiting family and friends.

Heat wave relents, gives way to rain in parts of Mexico

By
MND Staff
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A blazing sun sets on the horizon after a 10-day heat wave across Mexico
The heat wave that suffocated Mexico for most of May will subside by Tuesday, May 14. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico’s second heat wave of the year, which brought extremely high temperatures across the country, officially ends today according to the National Meteorological Service (SMN).

But don’t get too excited, as Mexico will still experience dry and hot weather, except for a few fortunate states that will see rainfall throughout the week.

Where will it rain in Mexico this week?  

Starting Monday afternoon, regions of Chiapas can expect heavy rain (50 to 75 mm), while México state, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz may see scattered showers.  

Campeche, Mexico City, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Morelos, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco and Tlaxcala will see isolated rainfall between Monday afternoon and Tuesday, and again on Thursday. 

On Wednesday and Friday, Coahuila and Nuevo León may experience heavy rainfall (over 50mm) due to what’s likely to be the first tropical cyclone of the season. 

Between Saturday and Sunday, rainfall may increase in the northeast as well as in the Valley of Mexico and the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

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

Where will hot weather conditions continue?  

Between Monday and Tuesday, all coastal states along both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean will continue to experience high temperatures. These regions are expected to see minimums of 35 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius and maximum temperatures of 41 Celsius to 47 Celsius.

Tlaxcala, Puebla, Hidalgo, México state, Querétaro and Mexico City will see temperatures between 28 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius. 

Temperatures ranging between 30 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius are expected in northern Mexico as these conditions are typical of May. 

The states that will be most affected by the heat are Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Campeche, Chiapas, Yucatán and Guerrero. In these nine states, the thermometer is expected to reach temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius.  

When will the first tropical cyclone of the season begin?

The first tropical cyclone of the season may develop in the Pacific early this week. Earlier this month, the national weather agency had announced the Northeast Pacific hurricane season would begin on May 15, and in the Atlantic on June 1.

Some forecasts anticipate a large amount of humidity moving from the Valley of Mexico to the Pacific coast. However, it is not yet clear if the cyclone is approaching or moving away from mainland Mexico. Weather forecasters are still monitoring its evolution, so be sure to follow the NOAA and Conagua websites for updates. 

With reports from Meteored

11 Chinese nationals arrested in nightclub raid in Mexico City

By
MND Staff
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1
Mugshots of 11 arrested Chinese nationals
The arrests were made early on Saturday and over 800 doses of "apparent drugs" were also seized. (SSC)

Mexico City authorities have announced that 11 Chinese nationals were arrested at a property in the center of the capital that apparently operated as both a drug den and a clandestine nightclub and brothel.

The Ministry of Citizens Security (SSC) said in a statement on Saturday that police detained eight men and three women and seized over “800 doses of apparent drugs” during a raid on the property. The Chinese nationals were turned over to the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office.

Mexico City Security Minister Pablo Vázquez Camacho said on the X social media platform that those detained are “presumably linked to drug trafficking crimes and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.”

He shared an image of the 11 people detained as well as photos of the confiscated drugs and the interior of the building that was raided.

The raid, which was carried out in the early hours of Saturday morning, came after authorities received reports that illicit drugs were “possibly” being sold at the property and that it was being used for “purposes of sexual exploitation,” the SSC said.

The ministry said that police found “private rooms where services for the purpose of sexual exploitation were possibly carried out.”

Photo of drugs confiscated by police in a Mexico City arrest
The police reported confiscating over 800 doses of drugs including cocaine and crystal meth at the establishment. (Pablo Vázquez Camacho/X)

It said that officers also found “seven laboratory tests, which apparently were demanded of women” who worked as prostitutes, presumably to ensure that they didn’t have any sexually transmitted diseases.

The SSC said that police seized 810 doses of “apparent cocaine” and 10 doses of “possible crystal meth” in the building, four floors of which were shut down.

The Reforma newspaper reported that a “clandestine nightclub” was operating on the top four stories of a building on San Jerónimo street, located less than a kilometer from Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo.

The property had a sign in Chinese on its facade that read “Sky and Land Club” and the Chinese operators of the apparent nightspot only admitted Chinese clientele, Reforma said. The news website Infobae described the club as a clandestine casino where Chinese nationals gambled.

“These kinds of establishments are usually linked to criminal activities like money laundering, tax evasion and even criminal organizations,” Infobae said.

Chinese groups are “becoming more involved in drug trafficking and money laundering in Mexico,” according to the introduction to a 2022 interview between Latin America analyst Nathaniel Parish Flannery and Brookings Institution senior fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown.

Precursor chemicals used to manufacture synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine in Mexico enter the country from China at Pacific coast ports, according to Mexican and U.S. authorities.

With reports from Aristegui Noticias and Reforma 

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