U.K. health officials report that a majority of recent cyclosporiasis cases occurred in British citizens who had recently visited Mexico's Riviera Maya for beach vacations. (Christian Lambert / Unsplash)
Mexico is tightening health surveillance at more than a dozen hotels in Cancún and the Riviera Maya after the United Kingdom reported dozens of cases of cyclosporiasis in travelers, most of whom had recently stayed at all‑inclusive resorts in the state of Quintana Roo.
At the same time, Mexican officials are saying the country is not facing a domestic outbreak, nor has it been identified as the source of more than 10,000 laboratory-confirmed cyclosporiasis cases reported in the U.S. and 67 infections in British travelers.
Mensaje del secretario de Salud, David Kershenobich:
Es importante mencionar que los casos de ciclosporiasis que existen actualmente en México representan el 0.00002% de la población, lo que significa que no tenemos un brote activo. pic.twitter.com/UN0wC6qmcH
The Health Ministry has confirmed 33 cases of cyclosporiasis in 13 Mexican states between May 25 and July 31 and opened investigations into possible links with U.S. and U.K. infection reports.
Health Minister David Kershenobich said in a video posted Thursday that detected cases represent just 0.00002% of Mexico’s population. He also stressed that Cyclospora cayetanensis infections “are recurrent worldwide” and that there is no scientific evidence to date that Mexico is the origin of the outbreak.
The ministry, working with the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) and the General Directorate of Epidemiology (DGE), has deployed five inspection teams to 16 hotels in Quintana Roo.
The inspections follows a July 30 UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) alert reporting 67 cyclosporiasis cases between April 30 and July 15, with 48 of 51 patients who provided travel information reporting trips to Mexico — mainly to the Riviera Maya and Cancún.
UKHSA said the affected travelers stayed in “a range of different hotels” and consumed varied food and drink in all‑inclusive packages — emphasizing that investigations have not identified any single hotel or product as the source.
In response, Mexican inspectors conducted field visits this week in Quintana Roo during which they collected samples of food, water, fruits and vegetables, according to a Ministry of Health press release.
Laboratory analyses are still in process and authorities say results will be released when testing is complete.
Meanwhile, Mexican authorities are cooperating with U.S. counterparts on a multistate outbreak that officials say has sickened more than 10,000 people and is linked to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, grown in the central state of Guanajuato and distributed to Taco Bell and other outlets.
Product testing has not yielded any confirmed positive samples, though inspections are ongoing.
In tourist zones in Quintana Roo and elsewhere, Mexico’s Health Ministry has expanded surveillance, reinforced food safety protocols and reminded travelers and residents to wash and disinfect fruits and vegetables, drink potable water and seek medical attention for persistent diarrhea, especially after travel.
Officials also stress that identifying a country as a preliminary origin of a product under investigation “does not, in itself, constitute evidence that the contamination occurred in that place,” and say epidemiological work will continue until conclusive findings are available.
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection usually acquired by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. Symptoms include watery “explosive diarrhea,” stomach cramps, nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue and low‑grade fever.
The 33 patients diagnosed in Mexico remain under observation; no deaths linked to the infection have been reported in Mexico.
The photo, widely circulated on social media, purports to show the arrest of murder suspect Chad Eberle at the Piedras Negras border crossing after a coordinated effort by several Mexican law enforcement agencies with help from U.S. border officials to track the fleeing suspect as he headed for the U.S. border. (@CabelloAuden / on X)
A Texas man is accused of murdering three people in the northern state of Coahuila and then fleeing with his 3-year-old son toward the United States, before being arrested while trying to cross the border.
The suspect, identified as Chad Eberle, a former police officer, allegedly shot and killed two women and a man while seriously wounding another woman inside a home in the Espinoza Mireles neighborhood of Saltillo, the Coahuila state capital, on Tuesday afternoon.
Murder suspect Chad Eberle during his days as a law enforcement officer in a small Texas town. (Bangs, Texas, Police Department)
The Coahuila Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said the suspect was apprehended at the Piedras Negras border crossing in his gray Chevrolet Silverado around five hours after the shooting.
The child was retrieved uninjured and was placed under the protection of the Office of the Attorney for Children and Families.
According to initial reports, Eberle arrived at 1221 José Espinoza Fuente Street around 3 p.m. Inside were his ex-partner Litzy Mora (26 years old), her sister Laura Jaquelín (22) and their parents Ana Laura (44) and Emanuel (44), as well as 3-year-old Benjamin.
Eberle, who had a restraining order against him due to accusations of domestic violence and was legally prohibited from seeing his son, demanded to see the boy.
ACTUALIZACIÓN | MULTIHOMICIDIO EN SALTILLO
La Fiscalía General del Estado informa que, dentro de la Causa Penal 547/2026JEVF, la Autoridad Judicial giró Orden de Aprehensión en contra de Chad N, por su probable responsabilidad en los delitos de feminicidio y homicidio… pic.twitter.com/hBLpZu42FY
When Litzy refused to let him inside the house, Eberle took out a gun and shot all four adults before fleeing with Benjamin.
An hour later, relatives of the victims forced their way into the house and immediately called 911.
Paramedics found Litzy still alive with a gunshot wound to the head and rushed her to a hospital where doctors said she remains in critical condition. The other three members of the family were declared dead at the scene.
The authorities were able to identify the alleged perpetrator and his vehicle by reviewing security camera footage from nearby homes and businesses, and quickly mobilized a manhunt that included state police, FGE agents, the National Guard and both the Army and the Marines.
Within half-an-hour, the suspect was located about 170 kilometers north headed toward the U.S. border. As he had already passed the Castaños, Coahuila, checkpoint, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol was advised of the situation.
State police established a security perimeter as Eberle approached Piedras Negras and notified U.S. officials. When the suspect got to the border, CBP officers assisted in apprehending him.
The 35-year-old former policeman was then handed over to the FGE for prosecution.
The U.S. suspension is the third since 2022 aimed at the Michoacán avocado industry, each case being security related, though the specific reasons for the latest ban have not been disclosed. (Juan José Estrada / Cuartoscuro.com)
The U.S. government has once again suspended avocado certifications in Michoacán, paralyzing exports of the fruit to the U.S. market.
The U.S. Embassy announced on Wednesday that activities conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff in the western state were to be temporarily halted, citing “a threat against U.S. interests.”
El gobernador de Michoacán, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, afirmó que la suspensión de las certificaciones para exportar aguacate a EE.UU. responde a una medida preventiva de seguridad y confió en que sea temporal. https://t.co/Z9gKKNCb7Fpic.twitter.com/xWSA3dPyhF
The embassy statement did not specify the nature, location or target of that threat, but its mention was immediately followed by a “reminder” that a Level 4 travel advisory (“do not travel”) for Michoacán is still in effect due to terrorism and crime. The State Department has also restricted the movement of U.S. government employees through that state which lies in a region in which four cartels designated as terrorist organizations operate.
The announcement comes in the context of a renewed U.S. effort to “degrade” the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “mission to eliminate narco-terrorist cartels threatening the American people.”
In a related move, Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla ordered an additional 300 security operatives to deploy to the avocado-growing region of the state “as a preventive measure.” Then, on Thursday morning, the Defense Ministry announced it had sent more than 1,500 soldiers to the state to “protect avocado producers and packing plants in the region.”
This marks the third time in just over four years that avocado exports have been suspended for security reasons.
The latest suspension directly impacts Michoacán’s US $3.65 billion avocado export industry, which employs more than 200,000 people.
After the U.S. Embassy announcement, Gov. Ramírez Bedolla said the temporary halt to inspections was intended to safeguard workers following recent arrests linked to extortion. In a social media post, he said his administration is working with U.S. officials to restore security conditions and “to address any concerns and ensure the swift restoration of operations, always safeguarding the development and tranquility of Michoacán.”
At the same time, the Association of Avocado Producers and Exporters (APEAM) sent its Board of Directors and its CEO to Mexico City to meet with authorities and seek measures to address the situation so as to reduce the impact on the industry.
According to APEAM, 127,000 tons of avocados were shipped to the United States in January, exceeding the 114,000 tons exported during the same month in 2025.
President Claudia Sheinbaum at her Thursday press conference. (Presidencia)
Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
🛢️ Expert committee presents fracking findings: Sheinbaum was joined by the government’s non-conventional gas expert committee, which presented its first conclusions after months of study. She said the group would keep advising on “energy planning” and “energy sovereignty” going forward.
🚫 Committee advises against Tampico-Misantla fracking: Engineering expert José Antonio Hernández Espriú read the committee’s recommendation to prohibit fracking in the Tampico-Misantla basin (Veracruz/Tamaulipas), Mexico’s largest-potential basin. Petroleum engineer Ana Paulina Gómora Figueroa cited environmental, social and biodiversity concerns as the basis for the advice.
✅ Two other basins still under evaluation: Gómora said the committee recommends continuing to assess fracking viability in the Sabinas-Burro-Picachos basin (Coahuila/Nuevo León) and the Burgos basin (Tamaulipas).
🤝 Sheinbaum says government will respect Tampico-Misantla recommendation: She acknowledged the committee’s advice to prohibit fracking there on social and environmental grounds, saying, “Obviously we’re going to recognize that.”
💧 Salt water, not fresh water, required: Sheinbaum said experimental wells must first confirm salt water is present underground, since fresh water is reserved for human consumption and agriculture.
🔄 Sheinbaum explains her shift on fracking: She said she and others previously opposed non-conventional gas production, but new technologies — including biodegradable chemicals and water recycling — have changed the calculus compared to 10-15 years ago.
⏳ No final decision yet: Sheinbaum said the drilling of experimental wells will first determine whether salt water is present in the northern basins. If there is no salt water “we’ll all go home,” she said. If viable, local residents will be consulted before any next steps, Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum first presented the group in April and it was originally slated to provide its recommendations on the feasibility of fracking in June. The news agency Reuters reported on Wednesday that the president was informed of the group’s findings a few weeks ago. However, they weren’t made public until today.
Ana Paulina Gómora Figueroa, head of the petroleum engineering department at UNAM, explained why the committee recommended a ban against fracking in the Tampico-Misantla basin. (Presidencia)
The group — or expert committee, as it is commonly called — essentially gave its green light to the ongoing evaluation of fracking potential in two basins in northern Mexico. However, it recommended against fracking in another basin in Veracruz and Tamaulipas, the Tampico-Misantla basin, which is believed to have huge oil and gas reserves.
Today’s mañanera was significant as it represented another step forward toward the likely commencement of large-scale fracking in Mexico, which could help the country reduce its heavy dependence on natural gas imports from the United States.
Sheinbaum previously opposed fracking, but now asserts that it can take place safely and without excessive water use via the employment of new technologies. However, she almost never uses the word “fracking,” referring instead to “non-conventional” gas production.
On Thursday morning, Sheinbaum said that no final decision has been made on large-scale fracking in Mexico, although it appears very likely that Mexico will move to use the controversial extraction technique in order to boost domestic production of natural gas.
Fracking the focus of Sheinbaum’s mañanera
At the start of her mañanera, Sheinbaum told reporters that “the first results” of the expert committee’s “non-conventional gas analysis” would be presented.
She said that the committee would “continue working with us because the investigation hasn’t finished.”
“We’ve proposed that they continue helping us, not just in the definition of the production of natural gas, but rather in general as a committee of support, advice and research for energy planning in our country and energy sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said.
Expert group was divided into 4 committees
Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation Minister Rosaura Ruiz told reporters that the expert group was divided into four committees — an engineering committee, a water committee, an “impact committee” that assessed potential environmental, social, economic and health effects of fracking, and a planning committee.
Ruiz thanked the “54 scientists who provided their knowledge and experience to this national effort.”
She said that the members of the group reached decisions “by consensus.”
“This is not easy in science — the debates are very broad, and when scientists, technologists and humanists debate, it’s complicated,” Ruiz said.
Science Minister Rosaura Ruiz explained the process by which the expert panel formed their recommendations. (Presidencia)
Committee advises against fracking in Tampico-Misantla basin
Among the 10 conclusions of the expert committee was that fracking should not be allowed in the Tampico-Misantla basin, located in Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas. That basin has Mexico’s largest fracking potential.
José Antonio Hernández Espriú, an engineering and geology expert, read out the committee’s conclusion No. 4.
“We recommend prohibiting natural gas extraction activities from non-conventional fields in the Tampico-Misantla basin region,” he said.
Ana Paulina Gómora Figueroa, head of the petroleum engineering department in the National Autonomous University’s Engineering Faculty, explained why the committee was advising against fracking in the Tampico-Misantla basin.
“Based on criteria related to environmental protection, social issues, biodiversity and population density, we must consider prohibiting exploitation activities in non-conventional natural gas fields in the Tampico-Misantla basin,” she said.
Committee recommends ongoing assessment of fracking viability in two other basins
Gómora said that the committee of which she is part “recommends continuing with the evaluation in order to find out the viability of the development of non-conventional natural gas fields in two basins.”
Those basins, she said, are the Sabinas-Burro-Picachos basin in the states of Coahuila and Nuevo León and the Burgos basin in northeastern Tamaulipas.
Other conclusions of the expert committee
Among the other conclusions of the expert committee were that:
Potential natural gas reserves in non-conventional fields should be confirmed via studies and the drilling of wells.
“Best practices” must be implemented with regard to the management of fracking waste and wastewater, and environmental protection.
Local populations must be consulted before any fracking activity commences.
Fracking activity should seek to strengthen “regional employment” — i.e. generate jobs for local residents.
Fracking activity should be monitored by an “external, independent” organization that considers things such as water use, the impact on seismic activity and protection of the environment.
UNAM hydrogeology researcher José Antonio Hernández Espriú shared some of the standards the committee used to evaluate whether a region is suitable for fracking. (Presidencia)
Sheinbaum says government will respect advice on Tampico-Misantla basin
Sheinbaum acknowledged that the expert committee is “asking us to prohibit the exploitation of non-conventional gas in the Tampico-Misantla basin … because it’s socially and environmentally unviable.”
“Obviously we’re going to recognize [that advice],” she said.
Sheinbaum: Fracking activity must use salt water, not fresh water
Sheinbaum also acknowledged that the expert committee advised the government to ensure that there is salt water in the subsoil before any fracking activity takes place.
“Fresh water can’t be used because fresh water is intended for human consumption, for agricultural irrigation and for other activities,” she said.
“… What has to be done to ensure there is salt water? Drill experimental wells to see how much water there is underground and what kind of water it is in order to know whether it is feasible to use it in the production of non-conventional gas,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum explains why her position on fracking has changed
“A lot of us were opposed to non-conventional gas. It’s important to say that,” Sheinbaum told reporters midway through her press conference.
“What’s changed? New technologies,” she said.
“The technology 10 or 15 years ago, when [the production of] non-conventional gas began, used very harmful chemicals and fresh water,” Sheinbaum said.
“Water wasn’t recycled,” she added.
“Today there are even biodegradable chemicals. … What allows us to today assess non-conventional gas in a different way than 15 or 10 years ago? Well, new technologies have been developed,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum says that no final decision on large-scale fracking has been made
“Before anything else,” it has to be determined whether there is, in fact, salt water and gas in the basins in question in northern Mexico, Sheinbaum said.
She said that “the experts will continue accompanying us” to ensure that if fracking is deemed to be “technically viable,” the practice is carried out with “technologies that don’t have the environmental impacts of before.”
Toward the end of her press conference, Sheinbaum said:
“We’re going to drill an experimental well to see if there is salt water in the deep subsoil. And then what are we going to do? Once that study is done, we’ll come back to the mañanera.”
Sheinbaum raised the possibility that the drilling of experimental wells will determine that there is no saltwater or insufficient salt water to allow fracking in the basins in question in northern Mexico. In such a case, “we’ll all go home,” she said tongue-in-cheek.
If there is sufficient salt water in the basins and fracking is deemed to be economically viable, local residents will then be consulted, Sheinbaum said.
“We don’t know whether we’re going to do it or not,” she said, referring to large-scale fracking.
“… We’re going to see where it’s feasible and once we see … that in effect there is gas … and how much salt water there is, if there is at all, then we can move on to the next stage,” Sheinbaum said.
There are nearly 20,000 U.S.-born residents of Mexico City, and their tastes are reflected in the capital's eclectic dining scene. (Randy's Donuts)
The over 3,000-kilometer-long border that divides the United States of America and Mexico has been contested, drawn, redrawn, militarized, enforced and ignored throughout its 500-plus-year history, but one thing it has always been is crossed.
Until recent backlash toward U.S. immigrants in Mexico, the directional flow that received the most attention was Mexican workers heading north to the United States, but the story of the border is not one-sided. Since their inception, both countries have been home to immigrant populations from their neighbor.
In our ongoing series about Mexico City’s immigrant culinary scene, today we’re going to talk about the biggest immigrant group in Mexico — U.S. citizens.
A history of US immigration to Mexico
U.S. immigration to Mexico dates back centuries, and has mostly been welcomed, although gentrification concerns in recent years have caused protests in places like Mexico City. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
There was likely constant movement across what is now the border during the continent’s pre-Hispanic era, with Indigenous groups migrating as they followed animal herds and the changing seasons. There is even a far-flung theory that the mighty Mexica, whose origin story has them migrating from the mythical Aztlán, came from a region in what is now the Southwestern United States or Northeastern Mexico.
Once the Spanish began to claim vast areas of northern Mexico and the western territories during the colonial period, there were traders, smugglers, merchants and military deserters who crossed into the borderlands of the Spanish colony from the British colony next door.
After Mexico won its independence from Spain, the new republic encouraged U.S. settlers to move to what is now Texas through the empresario program — developed to attract settlers to the area to serve as a buffer between the United States and Mexico as well as the raids carried out by the area’s native tribes. The program offered large tracts of land in return for settlers becoming Mexican citizens and, at least nominally, professing to be Catholic, the official state religion.
The destinations favored by US immigrants
By the 1830s, there were about 7,000 settlers in the area, including many landowners from the Southern United States and their enslaved Black people. Mexicans started to realize it might have been a mistake to invite them over, as most immigrants refused to assimilate and continued to consider themselves U.S. citizens. The Mexican government passed strict immigration laws, outlawed slavery and implemented other measures to try and enforce control over the area, but by this time there were 30,000 Anglo-Americans, as well as native Tejanos and European immigrants in the region. Tensions eventually led to the Texas Revolution, a fight for regional independence that ended in Mexico losing a massive chunk of its territory.
During the various presidential administrations of Porfirio Díaz (1876-1910), Mexico was actively seeking investment from the United States, which brought oil barons, mining companies, railroad builders, farmers and engineers south. Many of these arrivals didn’t become permanent citizens but instead long-term residents. The largest communities popped up in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Mexico City and the Gulf Coast oil regions, and suddenly Americans became Mexico’s largest immigrant group at 15,000 to 20,000 strong.
In the post-revolution years, immigrants from north of the border came for the culture, artistic freedom, and thriving social and political movements. These years saw the biggest migration into Mexico City, with famous poets, writers and artists all finding their way to the capital.
US immigrants in Mexico City
Ernest Hemingway is among many prominent U.S. writers and artists to have spent time in Mexico City. The capital also boasts a significant immigrant population from the U.S. (Lloyd Arnold/Wikimedia Commons)
Ernest Hemingway spent time in Mexico City, as did other poets and authors such as William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Langston Hughes. It was a time of artistic and nationalistic fervor, but also of an open-arms immigration policy toward the U.S. and Europe, especially the flight of Europeans in the lead-up to World War II and the Nazi invasions of European cities.
The most recent wave of U.S. transplants has been happening since the early 2000s and slightly before. During those years, Mexico City has gotten progressively safer and more well-known as a creative hub and food destination.
A trickle of immigrants over the years became a flood during the pandemic, when Mexico City’s laxer shutdown policies, as well as its mild, consistent climate, vibrant city life and rents that felt very affordable to folks paying outrageous prices in major U.S. cities, became more of a temptation than people could resist. This, combined with many industries transitioning to remote work, meant tourists who at one time might have just visited decided to stay.
The impact of immigration on Mexico City’s dining and drinking scenes
The influx of both permanent residents and temporary visitors has been fueled by the city’s increasingly exciting dining and drinking scene, the most important art scene in Latin America, and lots of attention in the international press and on social media. According to Mexico’s official census in 2020, there were around 19,000 U.S. citizens living in Mexico City (out of the roughly 105,000 foreigners citywide). There’s likely been quite a bump in population since then, but even if that number has doubled (which is doubtful), it would still represent 0.42% of the 9 million people who live in Mexico City proper. The presence of estadounidenses, however, is felt more acutely because they are concentrated into just a handful of central neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa.
There’s been a lot of debate about this most recent wave of U.S. immigration, some of which we have covered at MND, but the undeniable truth is that U.S. transplants have been integrated into the city for generations and will likely continue to do so for generations to come.
When it comes to food, the United States doesn’t get to claim progeny over much cuisine. Most of the food that’s become iconic there was transported in the hands of immigrants to the U.S. and once there given a particular local spin. Recognizing that, and understanding that exploring dishes’ origin stories would be more space than we have here, there are a few things that are famous from north of the border — barbecue, fried chicken, the New York-style bagel and donuts are all on that list.
Barbecue, fried chicken and bagel specialists in Mexico City
While nothing beats barbecue in its birthplace in the U.S. Southeast, Pinche Gringo in Narvarte will give you a nice hit if you are craving a saucy, tangy bundle of slow-cooked goodness. There are other barbecue joints in the city, but Pinche Gringo is the OG and, in my opinion, the best.
For fried chicken, Hot Mamma’s in Condesa does a good version, but I like to order it plain with additional sauces on the side (they have what they call their hot chicken on the menu with a powdery spice rub, but plain is better). Lumpy’s, despite having a horrible name, isn’t a bad option either for some down-home style fried chicken.
For a classic bagel and lox or some housemade pastrami, Mendl in Condesa is my pick, and Randy’s, originally from Los Angeles, has the best donuts you will find in the city. I have yet to have Chicago-style deep-dish pizza or New England clam chowder here, but I know places that serve both.
Food from the U.S. holds an important place among the city’s diverse food scene. It’s not only for foreigners craving a taste of home, but for the many Mexicans who have spent years working or traveling in the U.S. and who have cultivated a gusto for these classics.
Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based in Mexico City. She has published extensively both online and in print, sharing her insights about Mexico for over a decade. She lives a double life as a local tour guide and is the author of “Mexico City Streets: La Roma.” Follow her urban adventures on Instagram and see more of her work at mexicocitystreets.com.
The inaugural Festival del Agua del Altiplano-Wirikuta brings together environmental advocates, Indigenous Wixárika people and others to discuss the water crisis as it applies to local communities in San Luis Potosí. (Tatei Matienieri)
In Wirikuta, water is more than a resource. For the Wixárika people, who have made pilgrimages to this sacred desert for millennia, water is the connecting force, linking the Pacific Ocean, the clouds, the desert springs and the prayers offered for rain and the renewal of life.
But beneath that sacred landscape, the water is disappearing faster than nature can replace it.
The first Festival del Agua del Altiplano Potosino-Wirikuta begins today. (Sincronia Wirikuta)
From Aug. 6 to 8, farmers, Wixárika representatives, artists, environmental defenders, government officials and water specialists will gather in the communities of Estación Catorce and San Antonio de Coronados, San Luis Potosí, for the first Festival del Agua del Altiplano Potosino–Wirikuta.
An inaugural gathering
The gathering will combine scientific and legal discussions with theater, music, workshops and activities intended primarily for residents of the surrounding rancherías. Organizers hope to make visible a crisis that is unfolding largely out of sight — and to press authorities for concrete action.
“It is an effort, through art and culture but also through the strength of science, to generate dialogue, share information and create ties that can inspire greater communication among communities over the long term, and more organization to care for life,” said Alhelí Pérez, coordinator of the support collective Sincronía Wirikuta and one of the festival’s organizers.
The immediate concern is the Vanegas-Catorce aquifer, which underlies nearly 4,382 square kilometers of the arid Altiplano Potosino. A 2024 report by the National Water Commission, or Conagua, calculated that the aquifer receives an average annual recharge of 28.4 million cubic meters. Meanwhile, the Public Registry of Water Rights, or REPDA, records 36.3 million cubic meters in annual groundwater extraction rights.
That leaves an official deficit of 7.94 million cubic meters per year. Conagua’s report concludes that no water remains available for new concessions. Agriculture is the principal groundwater use in the aquifer, where average annual rainfall is just 316 millimeters.
The water crisis in Mexico
The numbers place Wirikuta within a much broader Mexican water crisis. Across Mexico’s arid north, prolonged drought, rising temperatures and the overallocation of water are intensifying pressure on rural communities and ecosystems.
Juan Manuel Ledón, executive director of the environmental consulting organization EcoSite and a specialist in water quality and security, said the pressure on the Vanegas-Catorce aquifer reflects a national system that has historically favored users with the money and influence to secure extensive, long-term water rights.
“Water began to be turned into a commodity, with entities and users possessing greater financial capacity acquiring the water concessions,” Ledón said. “In some cases, those large users held concessions lasting from 50 to more than 100 years, and water began to be hoarded.”
Conagua administers those rights through a highly centralized system, he said, while weak transparency and limited public participation make it difficult to detect or stop irregular concessions and excessive extraction.
An invisible limit beneath the desert
Tunuari Chávez González, an environmental geographer with a master’s degree in environmental law who has studied Wirikuta’s water system for years, describes groundwater as the desert’s “invisible limit”: the system connecting springs, vegetation, soils, wildlife and human communities far beyond the boundaries drawn on an official map.
Chávez said deeper pumping is increasingly reaching warmer, more mineralized groundwater, bringing salts toward the surface and contributing to declining soil moisture and stress on desert vegetation.
“We are facing a very serious environmental situation, an increasingly grave one,” he said. “Water tables are becoming progressively depleted.”
Inequalities in water service and concessions often favor agro-industrial businesses at the expense of rural and Indigenous communities. (Tui Mayau)
The region’s industrial tomato and chile production, along with large poultry and hog operations, depends on groundwater. Meanwhile, Chávez said, some local communities receive water only intermittently.
He pointed to Wadley, a railway community in the municipality of Catorce that he has visited many times, as an example of the disparity.
“There is a very serious and deeply troubling problem when we add the fact that today far more water goes to washing pig pens than to people.”
Residents there may receive household water only two or three days a week, he said, forcing families to store enough for the days when none arrives.
Inequalities in water service
The danger is not limited to diminishing quantity. As Mexico News Daily has previously reported, groundwater in parts of arid and semiarid Mexico contains naturally occurring arsenic and fluoride, and pumping from greater depths can increase communities’ exposure to poor-quality water.
Ledón said such inequalities are common in rural and Indigenous regions across Mexico. Municipal water utilities typically concentrate their services in larger towns, while distant rancherías and settlements depend on wells, water hauling or small systems managed collectively by residents.
He said Mexico’s weakest institutions are often the municipal governments and water utilities charged with delivering water and sanitation. Their leadership may change every three years, frequently leaving them without the technical expertise, continuity or money required to maintain reliable systems.
At the same time, Conagua controls water concessions through a much more centralized federal structure, while users with greater financial and political resources have historically been better positioned to secure long-term rights.
The result, Ledón said, is a system in which rural communities bear responsibility for managing scarce local supplies but have little influence over the larger decisions that determine how much water may be extracted around them.
“Priority must be given to access to safe water for human consumption — above all for drinking, preparing food and cooking as the basic uses,” Ledón said. “Cases like those we have discussed, in which commercial or private interests are prioritized, severely limit and undermine the possibility of guaranteeing access to water for human consumption.”
A farmer’s view of a changing landscape
Eduardo “Lalo” Guzmán has lived and farmed in the village of Las Margaritas for more than 25 years and has participated in the defense of Wirikuta through decades of disputes over mining, land and water.
He said the growth of industrial tomato and chile production began farther south in the Altiplano more than 30 years ago. As wells declined and soils became increasingly saline, he said, operations moved north through Villa de Arista, Cedral and Vanegas and eventually into the municipality of Catorce.
The first Wirikuta water festival is aimed at bringing together locals, not in drawing crowds of outsiders. (Tracy L. Barnett)
The greenhouses and industrial farms depend on wells and controlled irrigation, while local subsistence farmers continue to plant according to the arrival — or absence — of seasonal rains.
“The situation of the farmers each year is that they possess a great virtue: perseverance,” said Guzmán. “They will plant whenever rain comes. They will cast their seed, and even if it does not grow, the following year they will try again and keep trying.”
Guzmán said organizers want the festival to be attended primarily by residents of the desert communities rather than becoming another event drawing large numbers of outside visitors to Wirikuta. Funds are being raised to help families from remote rancherías pay for gasoline, transportation and meals.
Pérez said visitors from Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guanajuato and Jalisco will also share experiences from territories confronting mining and agroindustrial expansion. Organizers hope those exchanges will help residents understand that the pressures they face are part of a larger pattern — and that communities elsewhere have developed their own strategies for responding.
Protections on paper
The Vanegas-Catorce aquifer is partially covered by a groundwater restriction dating to 1964, which permits limited extraction for domestic, agricultural, industrial and other uses. Conagua’s newer availability calculation, however, applies to the aquifer as a whole and says its existing registered extraction already exceeds its average recharge.
Local residents have accused authorities of allowing new wells or water rights to continue appearing despite that negative balance. Guzmán said residents have reported suspected wells to Conagua and received contradictory information about whether permits existed.
Ledón did not assess the specific allegations in Wirikuta, but said similar problems persist because information about concessions is difficult to obtain and public participation in water governance remains weak.
“One of the key issues concerns transparency and access to information in the management of concessions,” he said.
Once irregularities are identified, he added, authorities must take corrective or punitive action rather than merely recording them.
Conagua did not respond to Mexico News Daily’s questions about how it reconciles the aquifer’s negative availability with any recent water-rights approvals, transfers or new wells; how it monitors actual pumping; or what enforcement actions it has taken in the region. The agency also did not acknowledge receipt of the request before publication.
The lesson of Cerro de San Pedro
Enrique Rivera Sierra, the San Luis Potosí representative of the federal Agrarian Ombudsman’s Office, believes the legal tools to defend Wirikuta already exist.
He cited Article 27 of the Constitution, Mexico’s Agrarian and National Water laws, Indigenous consultation rights and the series of decrees protecting Wirikuta. The central problem, he said, is enforcement.
“The Catorce and Vanegas aquifers are overexploited; we all know that,” he said. “Legally, the National Water Commission should not grant more concessions of this kind and should review those already granted, including how these agroindustrial companies and egg producers came to hold them.”
Rivera’s warning is shaped by another environmental conflict in San Luis Potosí. He was a prominent opponent of Minera San Xavier’s open-pit gold and silver mine at Cerro de San Pedro, the mountain represented on the state capital’s coat of arms.
Amid surveillance, physical attacks and efforts to implicate him in criminal activity, Rivera left Mexico in 2007 and went into exile in Canada. After reviewing evidence of the persecution against him, Canada granted him refugee status in 2010, finding that he could again be persecuted and might not receive a fair trial if returned. He later came home and eventually joined the federal government.
“The defense of Cerro de San Pedro was historic, and although they ultimately got their way, that struggle became an emblem of what must never again be allowed to happen in any territory in the world — and especially here in San Luis Potosí.”
For Rivera, the lesson is that official recognition and favorable laws cannot restore a landscape once the damage has become irreversible.
Beyond three days
Festival participants will discuss rainwater harvesting, ecological restoration, water rights and community organization. Art and ceremony will accompany the scientific and legal presentations, reflecting Wirikuta’s inseparable cultural, ecological and spiritual dimensions.
Ledón said harvesting rainwater can provide an important emergency or supplementary source for household consumption, including in relatively dry regions. But the longer-term response must address the activities driving groundwater deficits and restore the wider watershed and water cycle.
“What is needed is to think — or rethink — in terms of restoring the ecosystem and the water cycle,” he said.
That requires more than infrastructure, he said. It means strengthening community water systems, making concession data transparent, coordinating agencies and allowing local knowledge to shape decisions.
The organizers do not expect a three-day festival to refill the Vanegas-Catorce aquifer. Their more immediate goal is to make the crisis visible — to residents living above it, to the officials responsible for regulating it and to people facing similar struggles elsewhere in Mexico.
For Ledón, Wirikuta’s broader lesson lies in changing who is heard when water decisions are made.
“The principal lesson lies in approaches and solutions based in community, science and nature: changing the paradigm and learning to listen to and appreciate existing ancestral knowledge, practices and wisdom.”
Tracy L. Barnett is a Guadalajara-based freelance writer and the founder of The Esperanza Project.
Mexico's beautiful beaches, such as Pie de la Cuesta in Acapulco, Guerrero, have been a traditional lure of foreign tourists, but it's their appeal to Mexican residents that's been keeping the tourist industry afloat lately. (Carlos Alberto Carbajal / Cuartoscuro.com)
While Mexico’s tourism industry’s fragile balance is largely supported by the vitality of domestic travelers, official statistics reveal troubling signs concerning foreign visitor spending and tourism service performance.
According to INEGI’s Quarterly Tourism Activity Indicators (ITAT) — a report that does not include data from the World Cup — tourism Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 0.8% in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous period.
Fewer foreign tourists are arriving in Mexico and those who do come are spending less, according to a report by INEGI, Mexico’s official statistics agency. (Cuartoscuro.com)
In year-on-year terms, growth is virtually nil, at a mere 0.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Following the same trend, domestic tourism consumption fell by 0.7%, with INEGI, Mexico’s official statistics agency, explaining that the decline in tourism GDP was driven by the services sector, which dropped 1.1% between January and March.
This decline dovetails with a general contraction in national GDP during the same period, worsening the outlook for tourism-related services.
Meanwhile, the production of goods linked to tourism activity painted a slightly more optimistic picture, rising by 0.3% quarterly and 0.7% annually — meaning that even though spending on services is slowing down, purchases of certain goods remain resilient, though not enough to reverse the overall decline in tourism GDP.
The most striking figure is the behavior of inbound tourism consumption — spending by foreign visitors in Mexico — which plummeted by 5.9% quarter-over-quarter and 18.4% year-over-year.
Just last month, INEGI revealed that even though Mexico received a whopping 8.36 million international travelers in May, total visitor spending fell by 0.6%, while average spending per tourist slipped 4.9%, from US $626 to $596.
In contrast, domestic tourism consumption — spending by residents traveling within the country — showed positive performance, rising 0.5% compared to the previous quarter and 5.4% year-over-year.
This trend suggests that, while domestic tourism remains resilient, the country’s appeal to foreign tourists slowed down significantly during the first three months of the year.
In one of international soccer's greatest rivalries, the Mexicans dominated for more than 65 years, but the Americans have held a solid edge since the start of the current century. (Shutterstock/Cuartoscuro)
The friendly at State Farm Stadium — home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals — will provide the first major test for former Mexican star Rafael Márquez, who was elevated from Javier Aguirre’s assistant to head coach as part of an “orderly transition” following Mexico’s World Cup exit.
Rafa Márquez will get an early test in his new role as head coach of the Mexican National Team when he takes on the U.S. in a (not so) friendly match in Arizona in October. (Instagram)
An active player from 1996 to 2018, Márquez is widely regarded as one of Mexico’s all-time greatest defenders.
Márquez, 47, takes over the reins from Aguirre, 67, whose third tenure as national team head coach ended with a 3-2 loss to England at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in the Round of 16.
Like the Mexicans, the Americans had a strong World Cup group stage, only to bow out in the next round, falling 4-1 to Belgium in Seattle. In the latest world rankings, Mexico has moved up four places to No. 10 and Team USA is 16th.
Mexico will arrive in Arizona in the midst of a four-match U.S. tour: Sept. 26 vs. Colombia at the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens; Sept. 29 vs. Peru at the home of the New York Red Bulls in Harrison, N.J.; and Oct. 6 vs. Chile at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The U.S.-Mexico matchup in Arizona will be the 80th meeting in a series that dates to 1934.
Mexico leads with 38 wins, 24 losses and 17 draws, but the U.S. has tilted recent momentum, going 19-8-11 against El Tri since 2000 and 5-2-2 since 2021, including Nations League and Gold Cup finals.
The U.S. and Mexico have played twice in Glendale, both friendlies. The U.S. won 2-0 in 2007 in front of 62,462 fans and the squads tied 1-1 in 2023 with 55,730 fans on hand.
The 2-0 game fell into the “dos a cero” pattern — namely, the 11 times Mexico has fallen “two to zero” to the U.S. since the early 1990s.
The first was in 1991, but the trend didn’t take root until Mexico’s 2-0 loss in a World Cup qualifier in 2001 in Columbus, Ohio. That began an uncanny run of 2-0 Mexico losses to the U.S. in World Cup qualifiers in Columbus in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013 — a time frame that also included Mexico’s 2-0 loss to the U.S. in the Round of 16 in Jeonju, South Korea, at the 2002 World Cup.
Tickets for the Mexico-USA match will go on sale to the general public Friday at 11 a.m. Mexico City time, following presales that began Wednesday.
The two-year U.S. investigation netted more than a hundred military-grade weapons and some 125,000 rounds of ammunition. (ATF Phoenix)
In another example of the increasing U.S. response to Mexico’s demands that it do more to stop the flow of weapons to the cartels, a two-year investigation by a U.S. government task force has broken up an arms-trafficking ring responsible for military-grade firearms being sent across the border.
The investigation by the multi-agency body called the Homeland Security Task Force resulted in 100 weapons and 125,000 rounds of ammunition being seized and 28 indictments secured.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson praised the Homeland Security Task Force’s takedown of an Arizona arms trafficking organization and promised “we haven’t finished yet.” (@USAmbMex / on X)
Among the detained is Fernando Daniel Castro, a 24-year-old from Phoenix identified as the ringleader. He is accused of creating a multi-level operation in which he and other defendants would purchase weapons legally and then sell them at a profit to others who, with Castro’s knowledge, would smuggle them into Mexico.
All of those actions are against the law, even the original purchase of the weapons from licensed dealers, since Castro allegedly made “false statements during the purchase of a firearm.”
“Every single illegal firearm and round taken off the street today represents potential lives saved,” Jason Stevens, the special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona, said on Tuesday.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson praised the task force’s work and other recent weapons busts, promising “we haven’t finished yet.”
Writing on his X account, Johnson said, “Working alongside Mexican authorities, we are holding arms traffickers accountable and making our two nations safer.”
The investigation that led to the indictment of Castro grew out of previous operations involving other defendants.
Earlier this year, Emmanuel Rabena-Velderrain, from Mexico, pleaded guilty after being caught trying to cross the border into Mexico on Feb. 17, 2025, with 42 AK-style rifles and 42 7.62×39 magazines in his vehicle.
On April 27, 2026, U.S. District Judge Susan M. Brnovich sentenced Amairany Guadalupe Armendariz Álvarez, from Mexico, to 24 months in prison for being an “alien in possession of a firearm.” Álvarez admitted in her plea to entering the United States to pick up three M249 rifles and a Colt pistol.
Among the summoned test takers, however, are presumably a significant number of people who cheated on their first online entrance exam. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
People seeking to gain admission to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for the upcoming academic year will have to sit a second in-person entrance exam after the integrity of the first exams — the first ever held online — was undermined by test-takers’ alleged use of artificial intelligence and other cheating methods.
A group of experts in fields including education, AI and law that was named by UNAM rector Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas to examine what happened during the initial online exams recommended that new exams be held. UNAM heeded that advice.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the university — Mexico’s largest and most prestigious — outlined the “procedure to participate in the in-person control exam as part of the selection contest to enter degree programs for the 2026/2027 academic year.”
UNAM directed aspirants to a website where they can check whether their score in their initial online exam was sufficiently high to allow them to sit a second in-person exam. If an aspirant’s score met the threshold for the course to which they applied, starting this Friday they can register to sit a second in‑person exam, which will be held between Aug. 12 and 19.
Around 58,000 would-be UNAM students among an initial cohort of more than 158,000 test-takers are expected to qualify for a second in-person exam. Among them are presumably a significant number of people who cheated on their first online entrance exam. A small number of students have applied for injunctions against the nullification of the results of the first exam, but as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, their requests had not been granted.
Raúl Rojas, a professor of mathematics, AI and statistics, told NPR last week that his conclusion was that “almost half of the students were cheating when taking the exam online.”
Suspicions that a large number of aspirants cheated by using AI arose shortly after UNAM published the results of the initial exams on July 17 because the results were unusually good.
As Mexico News Daily reported last week, the software for the exams was provided by the Mexican company Territorium Life and included in-built features designed to prevent cheating. However, none of the software’s in-built features could physically stop people from using a second computer or a smartphone while sitting their UNAM entrance exams, although it was equipped with a camera and microphone-assisted surveillance system designed to detect irregular — i.e., deceitful — conduct. Many test-takers are alleged to have successfully evaded detection by that system when cheating.
In its statement, UNAM said that “in-person control” exams will be held in León, Guanajuato on Aug. 12 and 13; in Oaxaca city on Aug. 13; in Tijuana, Baja California, on Aug. 15 and 16; and in Mexico City on Aug. 17,18 and 19.
UNAM’s main campus, University City, is located in southern Mexico City, but the university also has campuses in other parts of the country, including México state, Guanajuato, Michoacán and Yucatán. First-year students are scheduled to begin classes on Aug. 31, two weeks after returning students start their new academic year.
