Will Mexico's richest man help the country? (Inspired Pencil)
Carlos Slim Helú is a business titan and a man whose companies make up a whopping 6% of Mexico’s GDP. Once the richest person in the world, Slim is a self-made billionaire who’s shaped the face of modern Mexico.
Slim started out as a civil engineer, but by age 25, he was already running his own investment company. When the 1980s economic crisis hit, Slim saw opportunity where others saw disaster. He snapped up struggling businesses like Sanborns and General Tire, building the foundation for his powerhouse conglomerate, Grupo Carso.
But his real game-changer came in 1990. As the Mexican government privatized Telmex, the national phone company, Slim teamed up with international partners to buy a controlling stake. That bold move launched him into the telecom world and paved the way for América Móvil, now the biggest mobile provider in Latin America.
Slim didn’t stop there. He’s invested in everything from construction to mining, and even became the largest individual shareholder of The New York Times by 2015. Today, his companies operate in 49 countries and employ more than 350,000 people.
Always close to the halls of power, Slim is now backing President Sheinbaum’s “Plan Mexico,” promising to invest in infrastructure, energy, and telecommunications to supercharge the country’s growth. He’s a vocal supporter of open investment and stronger ties between Mexico and the U.S. and he believes business can help Mexico beat trade challenges like the Trump tariffs.
In the latest installation of our “Who’s Who” political primer, María Meléndez asks if Carlos Slim could be the secret weapon President Sheinbaum needs to make “Plan Mexico” a reality? Can he help Mexico outsmart global trade hurdles? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
The Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan has become an internationally-recognized city for its efforts to become an inclusive and space safe for children in the state to grow, learn and thrive. (Magdalena Montiel/Cuartoscuro)
Zapopan is a hotspot for color, life and family. (Fernando Carranza/Cuartoscuro)
As the country’s first city to bill itself a city of children, Zapopan’s objective is to guarantee young residents fundamental rights such as health, education, security, culture, sport and participation, creating spaces and policies designed from the perspective of children.
To understand the initiative’s impact and how it works, Mexico News Daily spoke with Marcela Preciado García de Quevedo, head of the Ciudad de Niñas y Niños (City of Children) program.
“Our goal is to make sure everyone within the municipal government acts with one thought in mind: that we are building a city where children live,” Preciado said.
The Jesuit University of Guadalajara (ITESO) graduate explained that besides the programs they run as an office, their job focuses on bringing a childhood perspective to other areas of government.
Marcela Preciado García de Quevedo, head of Zapopan’s Ciudad de Niñas y Niños program. (Gobierno de Zapopan)
“For example, in the area of entrepreneurship, we encourage them to do workshops for children — like a kid’s challenge — who are developing something,” Preciado said. “Or, if the area of training and educational offer wants to include a child perspective in their programs, we show them how to do it through public libraries, municipal centers or the Luciérnaga libraries.”
Luciérnaga libraries are a model inspired by a Korean program that encourages learning and science through play for marginalized communities. Zapopan’s goal is to have 19 of these libraries. It currently has 17, and the city reports that these have benefited over 173,000 people.
The program also seeks to protect kids from domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking through educational workshops aimed at parents and caregivers.
But Preciado’s job isn’t only focused on high-achieving programs. Her office also oversees routine maintenance work that could potentially impact children.
“If the Public Works Office is pruning a tree, my job is to make sure that workers are mindful that kids might pass by near that tree, reinforcing the importance of safety measures,” she said.
Thanks to Zapopan’s focus on childhood — which has been recognized and supported by Unicef — the municipality earned a national Child-Friendly City (CAN) award by the Mexican Network of Child-Friendly Cities (RMCAN) in 2024, in the category of Community Development. The accolade was awarded for Zapopan’s Help Desk for Children and Adolescents.
The city’s parks also provide a safe space for children to let loose. (Gobierno de Zapopan)
“Through this service desk, we listen to the children’s suggestions and show them that they don’t have to wait until they are adults for us to listen to them,” Preciado said after receiving the award.
Through this desk, children can fill out a “magic sheet” expressing what they would like to see in their community, from murals on park walls to new playground equipment and more. This initiative, which launched in 2022, has heard and addressed the concerns of 2,000 children.
Zapopan is also the first entity in Latin America to survey children’s level of happiness. The city’s Child Welfare Survey, first conducted in 2022, assesses education, social fabric, play, health and culture, among other indicators. According to the latest survey, conducted in December 2024, nine out of 10 children in Zapopan are happy.
But for Preciado, the biggest achievement has been raising awareness about the critical importance of the first five years of a child’s life.
“Personally, this is a major achievement because it is during these years that the greatest number of brain connections occur,” she said.
While other municipalities in Mexico are working towards ensuring a safe and healthy lifestyle for its youngest residents, Preciado said that Zapopan continues to be the only municipality in the country that prioritizes children’s wellbeing in its local budget.
“There’s no other municipality like Zapopan,” she said. “No other municipality allocates so many resources to children.”
Gabriela Solis is a Mexican lawyer turned full-time writer. She was born and raised in Guadalajara and covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her lifestyle blog Dunas y Palmeras.
Fridge sandwiches, lukewarm coffee and other items that should definitely not be your daily lunch: here’s how to avoid the Oxxo diet in Mexico City. (Robert Nagy/Pexels)
I plead guilty: the very first thing I do before teaching my daily yoga class is buy a tasteless coffee in an Oxxo store. It’s lukewarm, too sweet and definitely not good for my glucose spikes. But I buy it. Several times a week. And unfortunately, I’m not the only one.
Mexico City natives — and basically anyone who moves to the capital — know we never have time for anything. Heavy traffic, tumultuous crowds everywhere and increasingly long lines charge a high toll in terms of time for us who live here.
Rain or shine, Mexico City gets more tumultuous by the day. (Egor Ivlev/Unsplash)
As in other big cities, people feel there is no time to sit and have a proper meal. Coffee breaks are the closest we get to a time to breathe with ease — and yes, even I, as a yoga teacher, suffer from that from time to time. Hungry? Okay, let’s find the nearest convenience store — “para quitarnos el hambre,” we tend to think, “to fill an empty belly.” Enter theOxxo diet.
Chips, fridge sandwiches, chocolates, soda, terrible coffee: that is exactly what the convenience store lunch looks like. Why on Earth, you may ask, would Mexicans want to eat any of those things, if they take utmost pride in their freshlocal cuisine? Well, Mexico City is time-consuming. And the clock is ticking.
Mexico City is time-consuming
Painter Francisco de Goya was right when he depicted Saturn, the Roman god of time, as a hungry monster devouring his own child. Living in chaotic Mexico City, it feels like the city devours her children— as well as all of our time.
More than once, I have heard my students complain that they do not have time to prepare breakfast. This is a Mexico City commonplace, especially for those who do not live near their workplaces. 67% of people living in the capital take an average of 43 minutes to the office, as per theEconomy Ministry’s latest figures. This, of course, does not take into account the massive number of workers from México State who travel up to three hours to work in the city — no wonder we often say that walking to work is a privilege.
Mass protests, inescapable traffic and a thick layer of smog add to the unending cacophony in Mexico City — which only adds to our need for convenience store diets. (Gobierno de la Ciudad de México)
More often than not, Starbucks and other similar establishments are too expensive for capital dwellers to afford. Given that their coffee of the day costs between 48 and 99 pesos, paying 29 pesos for the same coffee at a convenience store is a lot more affordable — anxiety attacks post-caffeine and all.
I first encountered the term ‘Oxxo diet’ in an article by Mexico News Daily CEO Travis Bembenek. The reason people succumb to the terrible convenience store diet, he says, is clear: Oxxo stores are always nearby. Their slogan is “A la vuelta de tu vida,” for Christ’s sake: “Just around the corner of your life.” Walking through the aisles, it’s just too hard to avoid grabbing a candy bar. Let’s have a fridge sandwich as well, for lunch. And probably a soda, too. It comes as no surprise that roughly 18.3% of the Mexican adult population lives with a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, according to theNational Health and Nutrition Survey’s (Ensanut) latest data.
For this, of course, convenience stores are not to blame alone. “[In addition to] poor eating habits full of refined sugars, saturated fats and sodium,” warns theMinistry of Health, “in addition to a sedentary lifestyle, obesity and genetic factors.” What needs to be done, then, to avoid the dreaded Oxxo diet?
The fresher, the better!
Living or working around the Roma/Condesa area? This is the place in Mexico City to try the best roasted coffee there is in town! (José Prada/Pexels)
Consumers are not to blame for their lack of time. During my corporate years, I too was a victim of tight working schedules and restrictive lunch breaks. However, even in chaotic Mexico City, we do have fresher and healthier options for a proper breakfast.
If you’re living or staying in the Roma-Condesa area, there are plenty of cafes to try out before work. However, if you’re in a coveted digital nomad era, you’ll be able to enjoy my hometown on another level. There are plenty ofbudget-friendly co-working spaces you can try out, If you walk across the Avenida Ámsterdam circuit, you’ll trip over a new coffee shop with every step you take. Do not miss the chance to try any of these. One of my personal favorites is Matcha Mío, especially on these dry spring days, where I get an iced matcha latte. If my partner comes with me, we usually order the absolutely beautiful lavender-matcha shortcake, topped with real, edible flowers. The New York-style matcha cheesecake is too sweet for me, but it’s a fan favorite these days.
I’m probably not suggesting the healthiest alternatives at this point — and my reference to the Esanut figures probably comes off as preachy now. However, the Roma-Condesa area does have some of the best vegan-friendly options in Mexico City. When in doubt, ask old friend Google Maps: closest coffee shops near me. Read over the reviews, and choose! In addition to freshly prepared roasted coffee with a delightful avocado toast, you support local businesses at reasonable prices.
Andrea Fischer contributes to the features desk at Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to be an advocate for anything that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.
Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that the United States government "obviously" has an obligation to disclose to its Mexican counterpart the reasons why it took in members of "El Chapo" Guzmán's extended family. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum turned her gaze both to the north and to the south at her Wednesday morning press conference.
She responded to a question about the entry to the United States of relatives of Mexico’s most infamous criminal and acknowledged the death of a former Uruguayan president.
Sheinbaum also noted that the arrival of the United States’ new ambassador to Mexico is imminent.
Sheinbaum: US government has to say why family members of ‘El Chapo’ entered the US
First of all, the United States government “has to provide the information” about why the extended Guzmán family entered the U.S., Sheinbaum said.
“Why did they go in? We don’t have the official or public information that says why this family entered [the United States],” she said.
Sheinbaum subsequently highlighted that the United States has a policy of “not negotiating with terrorists,” a stance that is apparently being violated given that Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of “El Chapo” and a leader of the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, is negotiating a plea agreement with the United States government, according to his lawyer.
🗣️ “Tienen que informar”, señala la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum sobre el ingreso de familiares de Ovidio Guzmán, hijo de “El Chapo”, a EU; aseguró que no tiene información oficial al respecto y recordó que hay investigaciones en curso sobre ese caso. pic.twitter.com/xvpg1QNDzo
Crime journalist Luis Chaparro — who broke the news that 17 members of the extended Guzmán family crossed the Mexico-U.S. border and handed themselves over to the FBI last Friday — said that the entry of the family to the U.S. was “probably” linked to Ovidio Guzmán’s plea bargain negotiations.
Chaparro also said that his sources revealed that Ovidio asked U.S. authorities for a “guarantee” that his mother (El Chapo’s ex-wife Griselda López Pérez) and other family members would be given permanent residency in the United States.
Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that the United States needs to publicly state whether there is an agreement with Ovidio Guzmán or not.
“They have to inform. And if they are coming to an agreement, they have to explain to the people of the United States how they do it,” she said.
Sheinbaum added that the United States government “obviously” has an obligation to disclose to its Mexican counterpart the reasons why it took in members of the extended Guzmán family.
She said that arrangements are currently being made for Johnson to present his letter of credence to her.
Sheinbaum said that when she sees the new ambassador, she will request “a lot of coordination” and “collaboration” between Mexico and the United States as well as a “relationship of respect.”
That remark came after the president declared that her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, “achieved a relationship of a lot of respect with President Trump and President Biden.”
“And that is our objective — to have good collaboration and a relationship of respect. … There will always be times when you don’t agree with one thing or another, but we’ve achieved a relationship of a lot of communication,” said Sheinbaum, who frequently states that Mexico is willing to cooperate with the United States but will never accept subordination or violation of its sovereignty.
José ‘Pepe’ Mujica was an ‘exemplary man,’ says Sheinbaum
A day after the death of José Pepe Mujica, Sheinbaum said that the former president of Uruguay — dubbed the world’s “poorest president” — was an “exemplary man in many ways.”
She said that Mujica, president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, had the ability to express “very profound thoughts” in “very simple and very brief words” and “always for the benefit of the poor, the dispossessed, those who have the least.”
“Very few people have that wisdom and that is a legacy he leaves us forever,” Sheinbaum said.
President Sheinbaum with former president of Uruguay Pepe Mujica in 2022. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
“The other thing is his vision that material things are not what provide happiness, which is very similar to our thinking,” Sheinbaum said.
“With his austerity, his simplicity and the scant luxuries that marked his life, and also with his expressions, he showed that; that he didn’t work to earn money, and more and more money,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that Mujica’s “modest, simple life” served as an example for others, and provided a contrast with the “trappings” other powerful people enjoyed in the past (and today).
“He was a man who leaves a lot for the progressive movement of Latin America. … Our affection, solidarity and thoughts for Pepe Mujica,” she said.
MrBeast posted this photo of himself on Instagram with the gleeful comment, "Idk how but I got access to 2000-year-old ancient temples and filmed us exploring inside."
(MrBeast/Instagram)
YouTube megastar MrBeast is facing scrutiny from Mexican authorities and outrage from the public over his recent video filmed at the protected archaeological sites Chichén Itzá and Calakmul.
Officials have accused the highly successful content creator of producing misleading theatrics while defending the legality of his permits.
The main controversy over the video is not so much MrBeast’s access to Chichén Itzá and Calakmul (shown here), but rather his undermining of heritage with theatrical portrayals, for which Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza demanded “appropriate sanctions.” (Cuartoscuro.com)
Kansas-born Jimmy Donaldson, 27, known as MrBeast, has approximately 394 million YouTube subscribers — more than anyone else in the world, and that includes YouTube channels for entertainers, celebrities and corporations.
But it has also drawn fierce criticism for showcasing restricted areas at a pair of UNESCO World Heritage sites: Chichén Itzá in the state of Yucatán and Calakmul in Campeche.
Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) confirmed Donaldson obtained permits through the federal Tourism Ministry and state governments, and that his filming was supervised by staff to “ensure no damage to heritage.”
However, the institute criticized the video’s “distorted information” and “theatricality,” clarifying that key scenes were fabricated.
One of those scenes was a drone purportedly flying inside the temple chamber atop Kukulkán, a pyramid also known as El Castillo that was illegally scaled by two tourists in March.
Toward the end of his video, MrBeast says, “What secrets lay in that ancient room? Out of respect for the culture and all the people who hold this very sacred, we are not going to touch the temple. Instead, we’re going to fly this drone up to see what’s in that room.”
“The video includes extensive audiovisual post-production work and alludes to events that did not occur, such as the fact that the producers never descended from a helicopter [onto the top of a pyramid] or spent the night inside the archaeological site,” INAH added.
Another faux scene, according to INAH, included a “pre-Hispanic funerary mask” handed to Donaldson. It was not an artifact, but “clearly a contemporary reproduction,” according to INAH.
In her Wednesday morning press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated permits were legally granted but ordered a review.
“If the permission was violated, [we will] see what sanctions come,” she said, as quoted by the newspaper Mileno.
Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza condemned the video’s often theatrical portrayal of restricted zones and demanded “appropriate sanctions” for undermining heritage sanctity.
INAH Director Diego Prieto emphasized no damage occurred but acknowledged public access protocols were misrepresented.
Social media users accused Mexican authorities of favoritism, noting locals and even researchers face stricter access. Some critics brought up potential corruption, asking, “How much money did he pay?”
Donaldson, whose net worth reportedly exceeds $550 million, began posting gaming videos in 2012 before gaining fame with stunts like counting to 100,000. His philanthropic ventures, including tree-planting initiative #TeamTrees, contrast with criticisms of “charity porn” that exploits poverty for views.
Representatives of Latin America and the Caribbean met with Chinese officials at the China-CELAC meeting in Beijing this week. (@EmbacubaChina/X)
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said Wednesday that China is open to accepting more imports from Mexico, which currently has a large trade deficit with the East Asian economic powerhouse.
He made the comment during a bilateral meeting with Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente in Beijing.
Citing a statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Reuters reported that “Wang said that China welcomes more Mexican products in its market and will encourage Chinese companies to invest in Mexico.”
CGTN, a Chinese state-owned English-language news outlet, reported that Wang told de la Fuente that “China is willing to deepen strategic mutual trust” with Mexico, “share its experience in Chinese modernization and offer the vast opportunities of its supersized market.”
The Chinese foreign minister “welcomed more high-quality Mexican products into the Chinese market and encouraged Chinese enterprises to invest in Mexico, expressing confidence in Mexico’s stable and friendly business environment,” CGTN reported.
According to CGTN, Wang also emphasized to de la Fuente that “China places its relationship with Mexico as a priority in its Latin American diplomacy.”
🇲🇽🇨🇳 Juan Ramón de la Fuente se reúne con su homólogo de China
El canciller Juan Ramón de la Fuente sostuvo un encuentro con Wang Yi, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de China, en donde se presume, dialogaron sobre los esfuerzos para profundizar la cooperación entre las dos… pic.twitter.com/3FqCvs7Cii
Last July, then finance minister Rogelio Ramírez de la O said that Mexico needed to review its trade relationship with China because it isn’t “reciprocal,” given that Mexico’s imports from China far exceed its exports to the East Asian nation.
Mexico’s imports from China have increased significantly in recent years, posing a threat to Mexican industry, according to the federal government. The government has imposed new tariffs on some Chinese goods, such as textiles and clothing, as it seeks to protect domestic industry. It has also carried out raids on stores selling pirated Chinese goods.
Among Mexico’s top exports to China are copper ore and concentrates and auto parts.
It remains to be seen whether the current trade imbalance will change significantly as a result of Mexico shipping more goods to China and receiving fewer Chinese products.
Wang proposes China and Mexico work together to resist ‘unilateral acts’
Reuters also reported on Wednesday that Wang told de la Fuente that “China is willing to work with Mexico to resist and oppose ‘unilateral acts’ and defend the rules of free trade.”
The use of the term “unilateral acts” was a clear reference to Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imports from around the world, including punishing duties on Chinese goods, and duties on some Mexican products.
While Wang proposed greater collaboration between China and Mexico on trade issues, Mexico’s trade relationship with China could in fact be a sticking point in the review of the USMCA free trade pact as United States President Donald Trump has accused Mexico of being a transshipment hub for Chinese goods whose final intended destination is the U.S.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected that claim. The USMCA review is scheduled for 2026, but Mexico hopes to commence talks in the second half of this year in order to provide clarity to consumers and investors, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday.
With the review looming, Mexico is likely to be very cautious in its approach to its relationship with China in order to avoid any perception that it is cozying up to the Chinese government.
Ebrard said late last year that Mexico would “mobilize all legitimate interests in favor of North America” amid the trade war between the United States and China.
De la Fuente: ‘China and Mexico have a comprehensive strategic association’
De la Fuente traveled to China this week to attend the fourth China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting, at which Chinese officials gathered with representatives of Latin American and Caribbean governments.
De la Fuente at the fourth China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting earlier this week. (SRE)
At the plenary session of the meeting on Tuesday, the Mexican foreign minister “welcomed initiatives aimed at openness and building bridges between countries, along with projects that complement national, regional, and multilateral cooperation and development efforts,” according to a statement issued by Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.
At his bilateral meeting with Wang on Wednesday, de la Fuente said that “China and Mexico have a comprehensive strategic association that has given us good results.”
He highlighted the two countries’ “long history of trade relations” and reaffirmed Mexico’s commitment to recognizing “just one China.”
After the meeting between the Mexican and Chinese foreign ministers, a headline in the newspaper El Financiero screamed: “Mexico winks at China: highlights its trade relationship with Beijing despite tension with Trump.”
Sheinbaum met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last November. At the meeting, Xi said that China and Mexico should “make good use of the highly complementary nature of the two economies.”
At the China-CELAC meeting in Beijing, the Chinese president vowed “to boost China’s footprint in Latin America and the Caribbean with a new $9 billion credit line and fresh infrastructure investment,” Reuters reported.
Will more Chinese investment come to Mexico?
Wang’s remark that China will encourage Chinese companies to invest in Mexico has the potential to set off alarm bells in Washington, as President Trump has expressed concerns about such investment on numerous occasions.
Trump is particularly concerned about Chinese automakers’ plans to open plants in Mexico, although Sheinbaum has declared that “there is not yet any firm investment project from any Chinese automotive company.”
As Mexico News Daily reported last July, Chinese investment in Mexico has increased significantly in recent years, but the East Asian nation is still a long way off matching the outlays of countries such as the United States and Spain.
Some major Chinese companies, such as BYD, have announced projects in Mexico, but have not yet acted on their announcements. There is no guarantee that BYD’s proposed plant, and other projects announced by Chinese companies, will go ahead.
China, and Chinese companies, have “a long history of making investment announcements they don’t follow up on,” Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador to China, told Mexico News Daily last year.
Even if the Chinese government “encourages” Chinese companies to invest in Mexico, as Foreign Minister Wang says it will do, the fact remains that they will only do so if it makes economic sense.
The policies of the Trump administration, along with those of the Mexican government —including its willingness or reluctance to welcome Chinese companies — will be decisive in determining whether promised and potential Chinese investment in Mexico ultimately materializes.
Ron Johnson (not to be confused with Ron Johnson the Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin) served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador (2019-2021) before being tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Mexico assignment. (Wikimedia Commons)
Ron Johnson was sworn in as the new United States ambassador to Mexico on Tuesday.
During a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Johnson assumed the role of 81st U.S. diplomatic envoy to Mexico after Ken Salazar, who served as ambassador under President Joe Biden from September 2021 to January 2025.
The new U.S. ambassador to Mexico stands with his counterpart Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States. (@emoctezumab/X)
Event attendees included U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Mexican Ambassador to the United States Esteban Moctezuma Barragán.
Moctezuma celebrated Johnson’s official start date via his X account, highlighting his willingness to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
“I attended the swearing-in of the ambassador-designate to Mexico, who reiterated his openness and willingness to strengthen our bilateral relationship. Congratulations!” Moctezuma wrote.
As ambassador, Johnson will be responsible for advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda, of which trade, immigration and drug trafficking are top priorities.
“Together, we will end migrant crimes, stop the illegal flow of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into our country, and make America safe again,” Johnson said in December following his nomination by then president-elect Trump.
Johnson is not new to diplomatic roles.
From 2019 to 2021, he served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump’s first term as U.S. president. Trump tasked Johnson with working to rein in Central American gangs, stop human trafficking and stem migration flows north. Johnson’s service in El Salvador has drawn criticism, however, for failing to address the root causes of crime and instability.
Salvadoran Óscar Chacón, spokesperson for the pro-migrant network Alianza Américas, told the newspaper El País that Johnson is “an extremely pragmatic man,” who prioritizes results over political convictions.
“His pragmatism isn’t tied to ideological paradigms, despite [his] believing in them,” Chacón remarked.
Johnson has been married for 40 years to Cuban-born Alina Arias, with whom he has four children. He is an expert skydiver, an avid scuba diver, and a taekwondo black belt. Before serving as ambassador to El Salvador, Johnson had a long career in the Army, where he was stationed in Latin America and the U.S. Secret Service.
Soaring temperatures have become more common in Mexico, especially in the last year and a half. (Windy)
Mexico is warming up faster than the rest of the world, according to researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
In an articlerecapping the recent event Climate Change in Mexico: Trends, Risks and Policies, the institution noted that temperatures in Mexico have risen by 1.8 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial period (before 1800) to 2024. That increase is more than the global average of 1.5 degrees Celsius, which itself inched slightly higher last year, the hottest year on record globally (and an especially torrid one in Mexico).
While global temperatures are rising by approximately 2 degrees Celsius per century, Mexico is heating up at a rate of 3.2 degrees. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro.com)
“We’re warming up faster than the global average with a greater warming rate,” the UNAM article said.
That 1.5-degree increase over pre-industrial global temperatures is the threshold set by the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. Yet according to Francisco Estrada Porrúa, senior climate researcher at UNAM, Mexico has seen average warming above that figure for the last year and a half. Estrada mentioned that Mexico also surpassed the average 1.5°C mark in 2016, 2017 and 2020.
The trend has real-life consequences. In 2006, Estrada and his team predicted that coffee production in Veracruz would register an estimated 24% loss in 2020 due to climate change. Now, the estimate is around 48%.
“This only indicates how serious the consequences of [climate change] are,” the UNAM article noted.
Naxhelli Ruiz Rivera, chair of the Seminar on Socioenvironmental Risks of the UNAM’s Geography Institute said that climate-related social risks should go hand-in-hand with social rights. She noted that there are 35.3 million homes in Mexico with serious deficiencies in the face of climate change, including dampness or leaking foundations.
In November 2024, the country saw the relocation of its first climate refugees.
The families of El Bosque, a fishing community in the southern state of Tabasco, were relocated to new homes after rising sea levels swallowed their land. The state government officially recognized them as relocated “due to climate impact,” and the federal government provided them with 51 homes. By January this year, 60 families had been relocated with 20 others pending relocation.
The approval of the tax, within the budget bill, would have a significant impact on Mexican immigrants in the United States, who send over US $60 billion to Mexico each year in remittances. (Giorgio Trovato/Unsplash)
President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday rejected a legislative proposal in the United States to impose a 5% tax on remittances sent out of the country by non-citizen immigrants.
The proposal is outlined in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a budget bill put forward by the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, whose chair is Republican Party Congressman Jason Smith.
According to the bill, “in general” the proposed tax “shall not apply to any remittance transfer with respect to which the remittance transfer provider is a qualified remittance transfer provider and the sender is a verified United States sender” — i.e. a U.S. citizen.
The Associated Press reported that the proposed tax “would cover more than 40 million people, including green card holders and nonimmigrant visa holders, such as people on H-1B, H-2A and H-2B visas.”
The bill could be approved by the United States House of Representatives as soon as next week, after which it would be sent to the Senate.
💸 Mexico received $66B in remittances last year, but some countries rely on them much more. pic.twitter.com/ZD1aP1ECgx
At her morning press conference on Wednesday, Sheinbaum indicated that she shared the view on Mexican senators that the proposal to impose a 5% tax on remittances is an “injustice” and “discriminatory.”
She noted that the Senate on Tuesday released a statement expressing its opposition to the proposed tax.
Sheinbaum said that “all the political parties” condemned the proposal, and questioned why it is being considered when Mexicans in the United States “already pay taxes.”
“All the Mexicans who live in the United States pay taxes, whether they have documents or not,” she said.
“All [the Mexican senators] said ‘no, … we don’t agree with this injustice,’ which is discriminatory,” she said before reading out the Senate statement.
Senate: Proposed tax is ‘contrary to the spirit of economic freedom’
In its statement, the Mexican Senate said that a federal tax on remittances in the United States would amount to “an unjust double taxation” of “migrant workers.”
The Senate sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives saying their intentions to impose taxes on remittances were “arbitrary” and “unjust.” (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
The Senate highlighted that 80% of the earnings of immigrants “stays in the United States economy, improving the well-being of those who live there.”
“We call for restraint in the face of this proposal given that technical projections that have been carried out show that the imposition of a tax or fee on remittances would only disincentivize the use of regular and formal ways [to transfer funds], leading many migrants to seek alternatives outside the financial system to send money to their families,” said the statement endorsed by the Senate leaders of all major Mexican political parties.
José Iván Rodríguez Sánchez, a research scholar at the Baker Institute Center for the U.S. and Mexico, also said that immigrants would seek ways to get around a federal tax on remittances.
“We know that if you have to send money for your relatives and they need that money, you will try to find ways to send $100 and not $95,” Rodríguez said.
In its statement, the Senate described remittances as “the fruit of those who through their honest work strengthen not just the Mexican economy but also that of the United States.”
“For that reason we consider this [proposed tax] measure as arbitrary and unjust, and we call on the U.S. legislature to thoughtfully reconsider this proposal, which would harm the economy of both countries,” said the upper house of Congress.
“In addition, [the proposed tax on remittances] is contrary to the spirit of economic freedom the United States government says it defends, and which permeates in the agreements on free trade in North America,” the statement said.
“From our point of view, relations between brotherly peoples are strengthened through dialogue and mutual understanding, building bridges and not erecting walls or economic barriers,” the Senate said.
The Mexican Baseball League was born a century ago this year, but the history of Mexican baseball stretches back to the mid 19th century. (Liga Mexicana del Beisbol)
Here’s a curveball: baseball, which is said to have been born in 1839 in the pastures of Cooperstown, New York — a humble farm town in the Yankee state — isn’t as strictly American as it’s made out to be. In tracing its murky origins, we find the game is far more international than our tobacco-chewing forefathers would have you think, particularly for a game dubbed “America’s pastime.”
Sports historians have long contested baseball’s alleged U.S. origins, suggesting it instead began in the United Kingdom as a sport known as rounders. For three years in the early 20th century, a commission of baseball executives and president of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs deliberated the issue of the game’s beginnings.
Club México, founded in 1887, was the first all-Mexican team to officially be formed in the country. (Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano)
To further complicate matters, Canadians claim to have recorded the first baseball game in Ontario in 1838 — one year before the sport supposedly debuted in Cooperstown. But wherever and whenever the game was invented, it’s certainly no longer confined to U.S. borders, and it’s especially popular in several Latin American countries, in places no one would otherwise associate with star-spangled pinstripes and maple wood.
The Mexican-American war brings baseball to Mexico
The Battle of Cerro Gordo opened the door for the U.S. occupation of Mexico City. (Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot / Carl Nebel)
Just over a decade after baseball’s roughly documented global origin in the late 1800s, the sport had already reached Mexico by way of militaristic expansion. Since then, “béis” as it’s colloquially known, has swung its way to the top of Mexican sports fandom, behind only soccer as the country’s second-most watched team sport. Iconic Mexican players like Beto “Bobby” Ávila and Fernando Valenzuela have all donned uniforms in Major League Baseball, helping establish the sport’s popularity among Mexican sports aficionados.
The game’s origins in Mexico can allegedly be traced back to Xalapa, Veracruz in April 1847, during the Mexican-American War. A 1909 travel guide may have been the first book to print the story that a group of U.S. soldiers belonging to the Fourth Illinois Infantry Regiment were stationed in a central part of the city.
Santa Anna’s leg: The first baseball bat in Mexico?
Santa Anna flees Cerro Gordo, missing his prosthetic leg. (Richard Magee / Library of Congress)
At the Battle of Cerro Gordo, U.S. Army forces under General Winfield Scott and Captain Robert E. Lee had defeated troops led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, decisively outflanking their entrenched position just outside of Xalapa. The victory helped to open a strategic path from the coast of Veracruz towards Mexico City, with Santa Anna’s routed troops abandoning munitions at the site along with various resources and miscellaneous items, including Santa Anna’s wooden leg, one of several prosthetics he had worn since losing his lower left leg in the First French Intervention.
There are varying accounts of what happened next. But the mythic retellings involve a wooden leg, a group of homesick American soldiers and an open area in Xalapa being turned into a makeshift baseball field. In its simplest form, the story goes that this group of soldiers, which included military officer Abner Doubleday of Cooperstown, New York — the man who would later be credited as the inventor of baseball — used Santa Anna’s wooden leg to play the first ever baseball match in Mexico.
Who really invented baseball?
Did the inventor of baseball bring the game to Mexico himself?
Sports historian Eric Nusbaum, whose extensive book about the dark history of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stadium winds all the way back to Mexico during the 1800s, disagrees with the claim, writing “It’s a myth. It did not happen.” And in 1983, American Heritagemagazine wrote an extensive profile on Doubleday titled “The Man Who Didn’t Invent Baseball.” As with many things surrounding American origin stories, particularly one so far removed beyond U.S. borders, there are conflicting reports, particularly with Doubleday’s involvement in baseball at-large, let alone his presence in bringing it to soldiers in Xalapa.
The claim around Doubleday as the progenitor of the sport has been heavily contested over time and involves none other than Albert Goodwill Spalding, the founder of Spalding sports equipment, best known as the manufacturer of the official NBA basketball. Spalding wrote what is believed to be the first comprehensive history of baseball, titled “America’s National Game.” He also advocated in defense of baseball’s Cooperstown origins by publicly vouching for Doubleday’s involvement in it all. Nowadays, much of this story is seen as a farce and as Spalding’s way to promote a new sporting business and tourism to Cooperstown, where the Baseball Hall of Fame stands today.
Regardless, Mexico has definitely had a longtime relationship with the sport. In 2024, MLB writer Carlos Molina traced the sport’s history in the country, concluding that, despite the difficulties of historical precision, Guaymas, Sonora, likely hosted the earliest documented baseball game in Mexico in 1877, three decades after the alleged peg leg game would have taken place in Veracruz. In this rendition, a group of sailors aboard the USS Montana landed in the Pacific port, hosting a pick up-style game that grew to include sailors from other ships.
Mexico leaves its stamp on baseball
Baseball is the second most popular team sport in Mexico, and the Mexico City Diablos Rojos are its premier franchise. (Diablos Rojos/Cuartoscuro)
As the game became rooted in its new home, Mexicans left their own stamp on baseball. In 1933, Baldomero “Melo” Almada became the first known Mexican national to join the MLB’s ranks as a member of the Red Sox, where he played as a center fielder for five seasons.
Outside of the Majors, Mexico has developed its own leagues and baseball lore, too. The Liga Mexicana de Béisbol was created in 1925; early on, the league recruited players from the Cuban and U.S. Negro leagues as a way to position itself as a competitive system. LMB’s success is highlighted primarily by the Diablos Rojos del México, a team founded in 1940 which is considered to be Mexico’s royal baseball dynasty on par with the New York Yankees. The Diablos Rojos currently boast former Yankee star Robinson Cano on their roster, and the Mexico City-based team also went head-to-head with the Bronx Bombers in an exhibition series last year that was aired on ESPN.
Looking back at the sport’s mercurial beginnings, you’d never know how long it took for the game to reach Mexico’s home plate, so to speak. It’s been a hit since then, and with the World Baseball Classic only one year away, Mexico will have another chance to celebrate its storied baseball lineage and show that its players belong among the best baseballers in The Show.
Alan Chazaro is the author of “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album,” “Piñata Theory” and “Notes From the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and a former Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow at the University of San Francisco. His writing can be found in GQ, NPR, The Guardian, L.A. Times and more. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he is currently based in Veracruz.
