Oswaldo Romano was 28 when he was elected mayor of Nanacamilpa in 2021, making him one of the youngest mayors in Mexico at the time.(Oswaldo Romano/Facebook)
The 31-year-old mayor of a municipality in Tlaxcala known for its firefly sanctuary was found dead inside his home late Thursday night, possibly having taken his own life with less than three days remaining in his term.
Oswaldo Romano Valdés was one of the youngest mayors in Mexico when the people of Nanacamilpa elected him at age 28 in 2021. His three-year term was set to expire on Saturday, with the new mayor to be sworn in the next day.
Affiliated in recent years with the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), Romano was a political prodigy who joined a party at age 15 and began his political career in 2014 as a 21-year-old member of the Nanacamilpa city council.
Nanacamilpa (population 18,700) is in the western part of Tlaxcala, Mexico’s smallest state by area and its fifth smallest by population. It borders México state and Hidalgo but is almost entirely surrounded by the state of Puebla.
Police reported Romano’s death early Friday morning after receiving a 911 call from his family. According to police reports, his body was found by relatives after 11 p.m. Thursday with a gunshot wound to his head and a gun at his feet.
Romano received criticism for not putting money into the area’s lagging firefly tourism industry. (Santuario de las Luciérnagas Nanacamilpa/Facebook)
The State Attorney General’s Office (FGJE) reported that the Public Ministry has opened an investigation into the cause of death.
His mother reportedly told police Romano was facing personal problems, so initial media reports speculated his death was a suicide.
Moreover, at 5:49 p.m. on Thursday, he posted a message on Facebook in which he stressed that people are not perfect and that elected leaders need help.
“One person can’t do it alone,” said his message, written in Spanish but translated here. “With the help of others, many things can be achieved and [the city will] move forward. One person alone cannot make the change, but with your help it is possible. We know there are people who think differently, not all of us are perfect.”
Some replied harshly, such as one person who wrote: “The townspeople cannot do it alone, but with officials like you, even less so. Instead of bringing Nanacamilpa forward, you left it in a deeper state than it was, not because of the people, but because of you and the minds you surrounded yourself with, making the city hall your ATM machine.”
Tlaxcala Governor Lorena Cuéllar sent condolences to the family and publicly described Romano as a great human being and a tireless fighter for Nanacamilpa. “His example of service and love for his people will always be remembered,” she said.
On Aug. 18, Romano posted on Facebook, “I love you life.” But one day earlier he shared a video in which he expressed that the final weeks of his administration had been difficult.
Just last week, the mayor’s office was shut down by police and other public security officials claiming they hadn’t received their last two paychecks. Some of them had reportedly gone on strike. They also said Romano had failed to deliver vouchers for children’s school supplies that had been promised.
Also, over the years, the mayor had taken heat for failing to put money into resuscitating the area’s lagging firefly tourism industry — which has picked up in recent weeks — and for not helping businesses hurt by the dropoff.
Ovidio Guzmán was extradited to the U.S. in September 2023. (Cuartoscuro)
Alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader and accused drug trafficker Ovidio Guzmán López has reportedly entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program — but some experts aren’t buying it.
El Universal reported Friday that it was notified by an unnamed Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) source of Guzmán’s entry into the program operated by the United States Marshals Service.
His brother and father are in U.S. custody, but where is Ovidio Guzmán? (Archive)
But as of Friday afternoon, neither government sources nor other news organizations had independently confirmed the report.
Dolia Estévez, a Washington-based journalist specializing in U.S.-Mexico relations characterized the report as “completely false” in a publication on the social media platform X.
“Agreed. This is nonsense,” added New York Times criminal justice writer Alan Feuer.
Estévez said Ovidio is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 1 according to Nicole Navas Oxman, senior communications advisor for the U.S. Justice Department.
Meanwhile, according to award-winning Mexican journalist Arturo Ángel, “Ovidio Guzmán is not free nor is he lost. He’s under the custody of federal agents at a secure site while they analyze whether or not to admit him to a program of protected witnesses.”
The Federal Attorney General’s Office said Thursday that it was unaware of Ovidio’s “current status” and of his location in the United States.
To add to the confusion, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Ovidio was released on July 23, two days before his brother and “El Mayo” were arrested. (U.S. BOP)
The DEA source told El Universal that his case is classified and he won’t make any public appearances.
According to the U.S. Marshalls Service website, that law enforcement agency “provides for the security, health and safety of government witnesses, and their immediate dependents, whose lives are in danger as a result of their testimony against drug traffickers, terrorists, organized crime members and other major criminals.”
“… The successful operation of this program is widely recognized as providing a unique and valuable tool in the government’s battle against organized crime and terrorism,” the website says.
“Witnesses and their families typically get new identities and funding for basic living expenses and medical care. Job training and employment assistance may also be provided. The U.S. Marshals Service provides 24-hour protection to all witnesses, while they are in a high-threat environment including pretrial conferences, trial testimonials, and other court appearances.”
Nicknamed “El Ratón” (The Mouse), Ovidio Guzmán López was accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, firearms offenses and other charges in the United States, where his father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera is imprisoned in the “Supermax” facility near Florence, Colorado. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Before his release, Guzmán López — an alleged leader of Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel — was imprisoned in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.
Ovidio Guzmán, seen here during an unsuccessful 2019 arrest attempt, was taken into custody and extradited to the United States in 2023. (Cepropie)
Mexico’s Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said on Aug. 6 that Joaquín turned himself in to United States authorities after reaching an agreement with Ovidio to surrender. That would suggest that they both planned to collaborate with U.S. authorities.
However, after Joaquín pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a Chicago court on July 30, lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said his client did not have any agreement with U.S. authorities.
“Today’s indictments send a clear message to the Chapitos, the Sinaloa Cartel, and criminal drug networks around the world that the DEA will stop at nothing to protect the national security of the United States and the safety and health of the American people,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said at the time.
“The Chapitos pioneered the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl — the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced — flooded it into the United States for the past eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans,” she added.
Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres took down the first "Calle Gustavo Díaz Ordaz" street sign. (Martí Batres/X)
Goodbye — or good riddance — Gustavo.
Every street in Mexico City named after Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, the president in office when the military killed hundreds of students in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, will be renamed after distinguished Mexican women.
The first Calle Gustavo Díaz Ordaz to be renamed was that in the neighborhood of Adolfo López Mateos (the president who preceded Díaz Ordaz), located near the Mexico City airport in the borough of Venustiano Carranza.
The street is now called Calle Elena Garro, named after the Puebla-born writer associated with the magical realism genre.
Another Calle Gustavo Díaz Ordaz in the Álvaro Obregón borough was the second to be renamed. It is now called Calle Benita Galeana, named after a writer and activist born in the state of Guerrero.
At a renaming ceremony in Venustiano Carranza last Saturday, Mexico City Mayor Martí Batres said there are 27 streets in the capital named after Díaz Ordaz and all of them will be renamed.
One of the streets that used to bear the name of an ex-president is now called Calle Elena Garro, after the famous Puebla writer. (Gobierno de CDMX/X)
“We’re going to give them the names of distinguished, valuable and talented women,” he said.
Batres said that the Mexico City government decided to change the names of streets named after people who don’t deserve that honor.
Among the other streets whose names will be changed are those named after Antonio López de Santa Anna, a 19th century president who is blamed for Mexico’s significant loss of land to the United States.
“We’re starting with Gustavo Díaz Ordaz because that leader massacred the students in 1968,” Batres said.
Next on the name-removal list is Antonio López de Santa Anna, a 19th century Mexican president/dictator. (SMU Digital Collections)
“We’re carrying out what we promised to do on March 8, International Women’s Day. We said that among the changes we would carry out would be to put the names of many women [on street signs] in Mexico City,” he said.
“… There are many women who deserve to be recognized and paid tribute to by giving their names to streets in Mexico City,” the mayor said.
Among the other women streets will be named after are painter Remedios Varo, poet and author Rosario Castellanos, politician and feminist activist Elvia Carrillo Puerto and activist and Mexican Revolution fighter Adela Velarde Pérez.
Those women, and others, were chosen to have streets named after them in a citizens’ consultation process in Mexico City.
The Tijuana International Airport is one of the 12 airports operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) that will be receiving significant investment in the next five years. (Cuartoscuro)
Pacific-coast airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) announced this week that it will invest more than 52 billion pesos (US $2.6 billion) in its facilities from 2025-2029. The announcement boosted the company’s stock listings on Mexico’s stock exchange (BMV) and the New York Stock Exchange.
In a press bulletin released Wednesday, GAP said its “historic” investment demonstrates its commitment to substantially improving all 12 of the airports it operates in central and western Mexico.
In addition to a new runway and terminal, the Guadalajara airport plans to add a mixed-use area with shops, restaurants and a hotel. (Wikimedia Commons)
“These investments are carefully calculated to add capacity to all GAP airports in support of the future growth of the regions in which they are located,” said Raúl Revuelta Musalem, CEO of GAP. “Our primary objective is passenger service but we are eager to contribute to Mexico’s economic development … particularly by attracting airlines that want to invest in Mexico.”
GAP operates 12 airports throughout Mexico, including the major cities of Guadalajara and Tijuana, as well as four tourist destinations: Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo.
Six other mid-sized cities are managed by GAP: Hermosillo, León, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis.
Four airports — Guadalajara, Tijuana, San José del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta — will receive 82% of the proposed investments, with Guadalajara getting 22.4 billion pesos (US $1.14 billion).
Beach destinations like Puerto Vallarta (pictured) and Los Cabos will have upgrades to their local airports. (Nicole Herrero / Unsplash)
GAP is building a new, 69,000 square-meter terminal at the Guadalajara International Airport which will increase passenger capacity by 70%, according to the company’s statement. GAP anticipates capacity will climb from 19 million passengers this year to 39 million passengers per year once the new terminal is completed.
The airport operator will also be spending 9.8 billion pesos (US $500 million) to expand the terminal at the Tijuana International Airport, while shelling out an additional 6.9 billion pesos (US $350 million) to expand the Los Cabos International Airport’s terminal.
GAP’s Master Development Plan for 2025-2029 was approved by the federal Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Ministry (SICT).
According to the Master Plan, the investments will increase GAP’s overall terminal capacity by 60% and will add 45% more security checkpoints, as well as increase airfield space and allow for additional gates.
News of the announcement prompted GAP’s stock price to climb 9.1% to 336.9 pesos per share on Mexico’s BMV on Tuesday. Share prices reached 455 pesos by Thursday’s close. On the New York Stock Exchange, the company’s stock was up 6.2% on the week as of 1 p.m. Friday.
The 52 billion-peso investment is more than twice what GAP invested during the previous five-year period. GAP included just over 24 billion pesos for investments in its 2020-2024 Master Plan, more than 15.5 billion of which was spent on improvements at the Guadalajara airport, including a second runway.
Mexican officials escort Cárdenas during his 2007 extradition process. (PGR/Cuartoscuro)
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, a former Gulf Cartel leader and founder of Los Zetas criminal organization, was released from prison in the United States on Friday.
Cárdenas, 57, is a native of the northern border state of Tamaulipas. He was detained in Mexico in 2003 and extradited to the United States in 2007.
Cárdenas was arrested in Mexico in 2003. (PGR)
He reached an agreement with U.S. authorities and pleaded guilty in 2009 to the charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and making threats against U.S. federal agents. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Nicknamed “El Mata Amigos” (The Friend Killer), the Zetas founder was released early from the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institute in Indiana for good behavior. The years he spent in jail in Mexico before his extradition to the United States were also taken into account.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) told the El Universal newspaper that Cárdenas won’t be sent back to Mexico, where there are valid warrants for his arrest. A DEA official told El Universal that he is free to go wherever he chooses.
However, other media outlets reported that Cárdenas could be handed over to Mexican authorities. Citing a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) source, the Milenio newspaper said that he was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon his release from prison, though the U.S. is not deporting him.
Cárdenas was released early from Indiana’s Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institute for good behavior. (U.S. Bureau of Prisons)
“Osiel will stay in the United States indefinitely or until his migratory situation is fixed,” the HSI source told Milenio.
The Matamoros native was the leader of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) at the time of his arrest, and considered one of the most powerful drug lords in Mexico.
During his 1997-2003 leadership of the cartel, “the CDG controlled a mammoth cocaine and marijuana trafficking empire that rivaled those of other storied Mexican organized crime groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel,” according to Insight Crime, a think tank and media organization that focuses on organized crime in the Americas.
While leader of the CDG, Cárdenas created Los Zetas, which served as the cartel’s armed enforcer wing until it struck out on its own in 2010. Los Zetas initially consisted of deserters from an elite unit of the Mexican army.
Cárdenas founded Los Zetas, which started as the enforcement branch of the Gulf Cartel. Here, a team of Zetas hitmen are seen ambushing a police convoy in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, in 2009. (SSPF/Cuartoscuro)
The group “professionalized Mexico’s gangland warfare by detonating an arms race and introducing a kind of brutal violence never before seen in the country,” Insight Crime reported Friday.
Michael Deibert, a journalist and author who wrote a book about the Gulf Cartel, told Insight Crime that Cárdenas is “arguably the most impactful, though not most famous, narco leader in Mexico.”
Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA, said that he was an “architect of extreme violence” and “his methods have become the blueprint for other cartels in Mexico.”
Insight Crime reported that Cárdenas “has no apparent remaining links to the CDG, which has fractured into smaller groups since his imprisonment.”
“However, the Cárdenas family remains a powerful force in Tamaulipas’ criminal arena,” it added.
San Miguel de Allende is one of the world's best cities. A long time Realtor explains where to find the best property - and how to make sure you close on it. (Shutterstock)
In explaining why we moved to San Miguel de Allende, many adopted sanmiguelenses share an old local adage: “You move to Miami to die, you move to San Miguel to live!” Our city has the largest English-language social and cultural infrastructure of any destination in Mexico; it’s like a summer camp for adults. Unlike most other expat hubs in Mexico, the social scene here does not revolve around which bar has the best happy hour: it’s an educated and active demographic that finds a new life in San Miguel. What you need, is an insiders guide to real estate in San Miguel de Allende, and lucky for you, that’s exactly what we’ve got.
Given that Mexico is likely a foreign market to you — with none of the Zillow, Redfin and Trulia-like tools available up north to assist your research — be sure to connect online before arriving with a reputable Realtor who demonstrates a lengthy history in the real estate market here. Without the knowledge typically available stateside, you’re overly reliant here on your Realtor when it comes to assessing pricing history, appreciation expectations, rental possibilities and neighborhood safety. Choose only one Realtor, but choose wisely: you’ll need a reliable and knowledgeable agent who responds quickly to your needs.
Casa Legorreta is an example of the city’s most expensive listing for US $6.9 million, a Starchitect estate in the heart of Centro. (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colonial Homes San Miguel)
Neighborhood overview: Location is critical
When beginning your home search, assess your personal needs and desires carefully. Location is critical in San Miguel. Property values are based on the walking distance and sightline to the Parroquia, the world famous, Eiffel Tower-like cathedral that anchors the Jardín de Allende, the main plaza of our Historic Center. Many residents here love the European-like walkability of our dense little village and most want to be within a 15 to 20-minute flat walking radius of the Jardín, since that’s the center of activity. A bulk of the town’s more than 550 restaurants fall within that area, as do the art galleries, shops and gathering places.
However, the Historic Center is not San Miguel’s only walking-distance neighborhood. Investigate others still walking distance like Guadiana — an upscale alternative — or San Antonio and Guadalupe, two historical neighborhoods that have been gentrifying rapidly over the last two decades. Better values can be found in some of the newest neighborhoods to begin that gentrification process, like Obraje and Azteca.
If walking distance is not critical to you, homes in the uphill eastern neighborhoods and further away from the Jardín can often offer better value, more bang for the buck, more land for pets to roam and often more privacy. For example, a home in the tony Beverly Hills-style uphill neighborhood of Ojo de Agua will certainly be pricey, but the cost per square foot value will be better than the Historic Center.
Casa Angel is an example of an upscale but more mid-priced luxury estate at US $3.3 million, located in Guadiana. (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colonial Homes San Miguel)
Assess your tolerance for the look of an older neighborhood where a seven-figure estate can sit adjacent to a raw-brick home with rebar sticking out of the roof. If that’s not to your taste, tell your realtor to focus on gated communities that boast underground utilities, all-finished construction and a more consistent upscale appearance.
Although several gated communities are available in town, including two golf course communities, a plethora of new gated communities have sprung up on the outskirts of town, especially along the northern road — soon to be a full-fledged highway — leading to Dolores Hidalgo as well as along the highway to Querétaro. Some, like Zirándaro, are master-planned communities with several different sub-communities built by different developers. Others, like Pila Rica, have a master developer but offer a mixed-use concept including hotel and retail. Several vineyard communities exist already, providing a Tuscan-like lifestyle and environment — some with hotels and restaurants on site — while others focus on an equestrian theme and events.
Found your dream home? Here’s how to secure the real estate of your dreams in San Miguel de Allende
Homeownership in San Miguel de Allende is not restricted, unlike in Mexico’s beach and coastal communities, where homes owned by foreigners are held in a trust instead of actually being owned outright. Foreign buyers own their home here with a deed, just like in the United States and other countries. That makes the offer and purchase process much more like what expats are accustomed to back home.
Although newer financing options now exist in Mexico, mortgage interest rates here run about 300 basis points above mortgage rates in the U.S. and require 40% equity from the buyer. This means that the overwhelming majority of purchases here are all cash. Buyers can often take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) on a low-debt home stateside or borrow a margin loan against an investment account to acquire purchase funds at a lower rate than a Mexico-based mortgage.
Casa Fairway is an example of a fairway-frontage estate on a Nick Faldo golf course for US $1.4 million. (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colonial Homes San Miguel)
Reputable agencies all work with bilingual contracts — only the final deed must be only in Spanish, as a government-recorded document — but the Spanish side is the legally-binding language should a dispute occur. The traditional closing period is 30 days from offer to closing, and especially unlike the U.S., earnest money deposits are nearly always ten percent of the purchase price. And yes, negotiating down on pricing is often expected, but be sure your Realtor gives you advice on an appropriate negotiation range given your home’s pricing history, location and condition. Vulture investors are always disappointed here: since homes are held debt-free and carrying costs are so low, sellers are seldom pressured to sell at vulture pricing.
Two things should happen immediately once you have a dual-signed offer: have your Realtor’s legal team send you the no lien certificate (certificado de libertad de gravamen) so you know your home is lien-free. And watch for the closing cost estimate from the Notario (notary) — he’s like the title company and closing company rolled into one entity. Closing costs here in San Miguel run roughly 5.1% of the purchase price. 4% is the city-wide acquisition tax, commonly called a transfer tax in other parts of the world.
Home inspections are standard here, but industry protocol is that inspection negotiations focus on habitability issues only, not things like sticky doors, scratched floors or a missing doorknob. Protocol is that you have adjusted your offer pricing for visible deferred maintenance: the inspection only covers issues you cannot see.
Like in the U.S., once you have removed your inspection contingency, you then fund your earnest money deposit knowing it becomes nonrefundable. Be sure your Realtor directs you to an insured and bonded escrow company, since historical escrow companies here in Mexico state your funds are at risk of loss in the boilerplate language.
Casa DeeDee is an example of an affordable traditional Spanish Colonial home for US $649,000, this one located in Allende. (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colonial Homes San Miguel)
An experienced Realtor will have an outstanding legal team at their side guiding you through additional legal paperwork like the required Foreign Ministry (SRE) permit — all non-Mexicans are required to apply, do so immediately upon acceptance of your offer — or the power of attorney (Poder, in Spanish) that allows buyers to be absent at closing should travel or family emergencies arise. Unlike the U.S., either the actual buyer or their POA must be physically present at closing.
You’ve bought it! Now what?
Your Realtor should have directed you to a reputable property management company: they’ll be your bilingual contact for emergency repairs, paying staff in person and paying utilities and property taxes. They’ll have a team of subcontractors for any remodeling you may wish to do. They can even find you staff should existing staff not stay with the home you purchased. Additionally, most property managers can manage the short-term rental process for you should you choose to rent your home when not physically occupying it. Many homeowners make a substantial return on their investment by renting their home for a few months of the year.
Expect your deed in about six weeks after your closing — your Realtor can help with this. Be sure you receive the physical, city-stamped copy, if you did not, something has gone awry. And remember, your property taxes — now roughly US $270 per $100,000 of value — will be due every spring. Ask your property manager to pay it by January 31 for that 15% discount!
Greg Gunter has been a full-time homeowner and resident expat in San Miguel de Allende since 2009 and is the Broker and Co-Owner of the Warren Buffett-led real estate brand Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, having opened the first and flagship office for the brand in Mexico.
Three migrants were killed and another 15 were injured in Oaxaca when a car plowed into the group.
(X)
Three migrants were killed and another 15 were injured when a car plowed into the group as they walked along a highway in southern Oaxaca on Thursday morning.
A Nicaraguan father and his 8-year-old daughter died at the scene while a 55-year-old man from Ecuador died of his injuries after being rushed to a hospital.
The incident occurred on federal Highway 190 near the town of Santiago Niltepec, Oaxaca. (X)
At least 15 other migrants — four from Honduras, three each from Nicaragua and Colombia and two each from Guatemala and Ecuador — were injured in the incident, according to the newspaper La Jornada. The nationality of the 15th victim was not released.
Ten of the victims are being treated at a hospital in Juchitán, three others are being treated at the General Hospital of Ciudad Ixtepec and two have been treated and released.
The incident occurred on federal Highway 190 near the town of Santiago Niltepec as the migrants walked west across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
State prosecutors are considering manslaughter charges for the driver of the vehicle, who was apprehended at the scene.
The day after the accident, the remaining migrants were in the city of La Ventosa, where members of Doctors without Borders attended to them.
Carlos Gómez, Guatemala’s consul in Arriaga in the neighboring state of Chiapas, visited his countrymen in the Ciudad Ixtepec hospital on Thursday. Afterward, he announced that he would lobby the Mexican government for humanitarian visas on behalf of the victims.
Luis Rey Villagrán García, director of the migrants rights group Centro de Dignificación de Derechos Humanos de Migrantes, took the lobbying effort a step further.
“The Mexican government has the obligation to protect migrants and travelers from extortion, kidnap and accidents,” he said, according to the newspaper Debate. “The best way to do that is to issue humanitarian visas.”
🗣️ “Venía como loco, levantó como a 16 personas”.
Claudia es hermana de uno de los migrantes que resultaron gravemente heridos tras ser arrollados en Oaxaca la madrugada de este jueves.
Hasta el momento se han confirmado 3 personas muertas.
A sister of one of the injured describes the attack on the group. The highways on which migrants travel have dangerously small shoulders that are often used as right lanes.
In response to Thursday’s accident, Irineo Mujica, director of the refugee and migrant rights group Pueblos Sin Frontera, said migrants in Mexico are extremely vulnerable due to the “criminal migration policies” Mexico has adopted because of pressure from the United States.
The security minister emphasized that "narcoblockades" of roads have diminished, and that the National Guard will increase surveillance of the state's highways. (José Betanzos/Cuartoscuro)
Alleged Sinaloa Cartel gunmen opened fire on an army convoy and set fire to vehicles to create blazing “narco-blockades” in Culiacán on Thursday, but no deaths or injuries were reported.
The chaos unfolded in a rural area north of the Sinaloa state capital where accused drug trafficker Ovidio Guzmán López — one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera — was arrested in January 2023.
🚨 #AHORA | Se registran bloqueos en la salida norte de #Culiacán, #Sinaloa, luego de un enfrentamiento entre grupos armados y elementos del Ejército mexicano en la localidad de Jesús María.
There was speculation on Thursday afternoon that the violence was unleashed in response to the capture of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, another of El Chapo’s sons.
However, Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya said that no arrests were made in the area, and also reported that no deaths or injuries occurred.
The flare-up of violence came exactly five weeks after alleged Sinaloa Cartel leaders Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López — another son of El Chapo — were arrested in the United States after flying into an airport near El Paso, Texas, on a private plane.
The Sinaloa Public Security Ministry (SSP) said late Thursday afternoon that it was aware that military personnel were attacked in Ejido Peñasco, a community north of the city of Culiacán.
In another post to X, the SSP said that blockades had been set up on Federal Highway 15 near the community of El Limón de los Ramos, Sinaloa.
Buses, trucks and other vehicles were seized and set alight by alleged cartel members, who also laid spike strips on various roads. Their objective was to prevent additional security forces from reaching an area that the newspaper El Universal called the “land of Los Chapitos,” as the sons of El Chapo are collectively known.
There was speculation on Thursday afternoon that the violence was unleashed in response to the capture of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, another of El Chapo’s sons. (DEA)
Videos posted to social media showed various vehicles on fire, and gunfire could be heard in some other clips. The footage fueled speculation that the state capital was facing another culiacanazo, as each of the deadly cartel responses to separate captures of Ovidio Guzmán in 2019 and 2023 is known.
The Sinaloa Security Ministry and Governor Rocha called on citizens to “remain calm.”
“The situation that has emerged is being attended to and is concentrated outside the city,” Rocha said on X.
He said that security forces of all three levels of government responded to the attack on the army and that “civilians” consequently set vehicles alight. Rocha said that just two vehicles were set on fire, whereas some media outlets reported “dozens” of burning buses and trucks.
Firefighters were eventually able to extinguish the fiery narco-blockades. The burnt-out vehicles were removed and Highway 15 reopened north of Culiacán.
The events of Thursday afternoon disrupted public transport services and caused traffic chaos. The Autonomous University of Sinaloa suspended classes, but some students were reportedly unable to return to their homes due to the narco-blockades and public transport disruptions.
The attack on the army came less than two weeks after the federal government dispatched additional troops to Sinaloa in the wake of a wave of homicides linked to organized crime.
The burnt-out vehicles were removed and Highway 15 north of Culiacán was reopened by Thursday night. (José Betanzos/Cuartoscuro)
Ten homicides on Aug. 16 and 17 were linked to organized crime, and appeared to be the result of Sinaloa Cartel infighting following the arrests of Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López. Zambada alleges that he was kidnapped by Guzmán López, forced onto a private plane and taken to the United States against his will.
Two of “Los Chapitos” are now in United States custody as Ovidio Guzmán was extradited to the U.S. last September. He was first captured in October 2019, but released by federal forces after cartel gunmen carried out a wave of attacks that terrorized Culiacán residents.
At least 10 soldiers and 19 alleged criminals were killed after the second capture of Ovidio Guzmán on Jan. 5, 2023.
"El Mayo" Zambada (left) claims he was kidnapped in Mexico and forcibly taken to the U.S. by Joaquín Guzmán López, son of "El Chapo" Guzmán and brother of Ovidio (right), who was extradited to the U.S. in 2023. (Archive)
The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) has revealed that the United States told Mexico on Aug. 16 that alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García was taken to the U.S. against his will.
July 23: Ovidio Guzmán leaves high-security prison
The FGR said that Ovidio Guzmán — a brother of Joaquín Guzmán and one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — was released from a high-security United States prison on July 23, two days before his brother and Zambada were arrested.
The agency said it was unaware of Ovidio’s “current status” and of his location in the United States.
Mexico’s Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said on Aug. 6 that Joaquín Guzmán López turned himself in to United States authorities after reaching an agreement with his imprisoned brother Ovidio Guzmán López to surrender. That would suggest that they both planned to collaborate with U.S. authorities.
However, after Joaquín pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a Chicago court on July 30, lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said his client did not have any prior agreement with U.S. authorities.
Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper Milenio reported on Aug. 19 that U.S. authorities were working with the defense teams of Ovidio, Joaquín and alleged Sinaloa Cartel security chief Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas on an agreement that would allow them to receive more lenient sentences.
August 9: Salazar says Zambada was taken to the U.S. against his will
“When the alleged kidnapping of Ismael [Zambada] by Joaquín [Guzmán López] had already been committed, the ambassador of the United States in Mexico publicly stated on Aug. 9 that Ismael had been taken to the United States against his will,” the FGR said in its statement.
Salazar’s wording, however, was not as definitive as the FGR’s statement suggests. In an Aug. 9 statement, the ambassador said that the evidence at the time of his arrival to the United States “indicates that El Mayo was taken against his will.”
In the same statement, Salazar said that:
Guzmán López surrendered voluntarily.
No United States resources were used to facilitate Guzmán López’s surrender. “It was not our plane, not our pilot, not our people.”
No flight plan was presented to United States authorities before the private plane took off. “We understand that the flight began in Sinaloa and landed in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.”
The pilot is not a United States government employee nor was he hired by the U.S. government or “any U.S. citizen.”
August 10: Zambada declares he was kidnapped
The FGR noted that Zambada’s lawyer, Frank Pérez, released a statement from his client on Aug. 10.
“I was kidnapped and brought to the U.S. forcibly and against my will,” he said.
The FGR has identified this luxurious Culiacán villa as the place Cuén and ‘El Mayo’ Zambada allegedly met on the day of Zambada’s alleged kidnapping and Cuén’s murder. (FGR)
Zambada said he was “ambushed” on July 25 after going to a property outside Culiacán where he believed he was going to help resolve a dispute between Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and former Culiacán mayor Héctor Cuén over who should head up the Autonomous University of Sinaloa. He said that Joaquín Guzmán López invited him to the meeting.
Zambada said, “A group of men assaulted me, knocked me to the ground and placed a dark-colored hood over my head.”
He also said he was tied up, handcuffed and forced into the bed of a pick-up truck before being driven to a nearby landing strip and “forced” onto a private plane.
In the same statement, Zambada asserted that Cuén “was killed at the same time, and in the same place, where I was kidnapped.”
It also said that a request for an arrest warrant for Guzmán López on charges of abduction of a person in Mexico in order to hand him over to the authorities of another country had been prepared. The FGR previously said that such actions constitute treason.
August 16: U.S. informs Mexico that Zambada arrived against his will
The FGR said it was informed by the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, on Aug. 16 that Zambada arrived in the U.S. “against his will.”
The FGR also said that the United States informed Mexico that it was aware of several proposals from Joaquín Guzmán López to turn himself in to U.S. authorities.
Security Minister Rodríguez said in late July that the United States government told Mexico that it was informed on several occasions that Joaquín was considering handing himself in to U.S. authorities, but no deal had been reached when he arrived in New Mexico.
FGR still doesn’t know the identity of the pilot
The FGR said it had been informed that the Beechcraft aircraft on which Zambada and Guzmán López traveled to the United States had been registered in both Colombia and the U.S.
‘El Mayo’ Zambada was brought to the U.S. in a Beechcraft King Air with a fraudulent registration, according to the FGR. (@beltrandelrio/X)
The Attorney General’s Office has requested a range of information about the flight and the aircraft from the United States government, including the identity of the pilot. However, the FGR said it still hadn’t received the name of the person who piloted the plane from Sinaloa to the Doña County airport near El Paso, Texas. It said Thursday that the urgent provision of that information was “essential.”
“Mexican authorities say they have no clue where Ovidio is in the U.S., but he’ll be present on his next hearing on Sep. 9 in Chicago along with his brother Joaquín,” he wrote.
While tequila and mezcal are famed worldwide - and even raicilla is having a moment - there is a fourth, lesser-known (and much stronger) agave spirit waiting to be discovered. (UENI)
Do you love tequila and mezcal? If so, then you’ll be captivated by bacanora, a similarly ancient spirit from Sonora, also crafted from agave.
Bacanora packs a stronger punch than these more famous agave spirits (a list which also includes raicilla), with an alcohol content ranging from 38% to 55%. Perhaps it’s this potency that led to bacanora being banned for 77 years until it was finally legalized in 1992 and granted the prestigious Denomination of Origin label in 2000.
Once illegal, the world is now waking up to the glory of bacanora. (Sunora Bacanora)
This distinctive spirit is made from the Agave angustifolia pacifica, commonly known as espadín or yaquiana, in the town of Bacanora in Sonora. While production began around 300 years ago, bacanora’s roots stretch back much further. Historians believe its ancestor was a fermented agave drink called tehuimas, crafted by the Opata tribe for ritual celebrations.
Bacanora, as we know it today, began to take shape with the arrival of the Spanish, who introduced the alembic still, transforming the production process through distillation.
What makes bacanora truly special?
Bacanora isn’t just another agave spirit. Unlike tequila and mezcal, which can be mixed with cane sugar or other sweeteners, it is made from 100% agave. It also boasts a unique smoky flavor, derived from the use of underground ovens to roast the agave stalks — unlike the steam ovens typically used for other agave spirits. The result is a spirit that combines smokiness with a surprisingly sweet taste.
Agave pacfica, is the only kind of cactus used to make bacanora. (Sunora Bacanora)
But perhaps the most memorable aspect of bacanora is its artisanal production process. What sets it apart from other mezcals is the second distillation of the liquid. The first distillates, known as “The heads,” are collected with a very high alcohol content. This liquid, with clusters of small bubbles called pearlites, becomes bacanora when it reaches between 20 and 30 degrees of alcoholic purity.
When the bubbles quickly disappear, the container is changed, and the final part of the distillation called the tails, is collected, consisting mostly of water. The final step is to blend the bacanora with the heads to adjust its alcohol content, a process known locally as compounding.
Another remarkable feature of the drink is its exclusivity — it can only be produced in 35 municipalities in Sonora. In contrast, tequila is made in several states, including Jalisco and Nayarit, and mezcal in regions across south and central Mexico.
Bacanora is still produced using traditional techniques and fired in pits. (Sunora Bacanora)
Where can you find bacanora in Mexico?
Bacanora is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, especially since receiving its Denomination of Origin in 2000. Today, annual production is estimated at 250,000 to 300,000 liters. However, according to the Regulatory Board, more than half of this comes from unregistered brands, highlighting the spirit’s enduring artisanal nature. To give you a sense of its rapid growth, between 15 and 20 new bacanora brands have been launched in just the past five years.
You can find bacanora in stores across Mexico, including La Europea, La Castellana, and even Sears. Many brands also have websites where you can purchase directly from the producer. For those interested in smaller, artisanal producers, social media platforms like Facebook are excellent resources for discovering new options.
¡Salud!
Ana Paula de la Torre is a Mexican journalist and collaborator for various outlets including Milenio, Animal Político, Vice, Newsweek en Español, Televisa and Mexico News Daily.
