Mexicana's first customers are giving honest reviews of the airline after it resumed operations in December. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Two months after the military-run Mexicana de Aviación started operations, a journalist documented her journey on a Mexicana flight from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) near Mexico City to Monterrey, for the newspaper Expansión.
While she reported no difficulties on the way to the northern city, she was not able to take the return flight home.
Booking a flight with Mexicana flight still feels a little like rolling the dice, according to a recent traveler. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
No online tickets but fast check-in at counter
“Opting for a cheaper airline ticket may end up costing more in the long run,” reporter Diana Nava wrote in her story for Expansión.
The reporter’s ticket from AIFA to Monterrey was approximately 30% cheaper than the fares offered by Mexicana’s competitors. However, the airline does not provide online check-in, digital tickets or QR codes. This means that Mexicana passengers need to queue up at the counter to get a physical ticket, even if they don’t need to check any luggage.
But in Nava’s case, the queue wasn’t long because the Boeing 737-800, with a capacity of 180 passengers, was carrying less than half of its passenger capacity.
Nava took an afternoon flight on Monday with virtually no difficulties at AIFA, but Nava’s experience wasn’t the same when she attempted to board her return flight in Monterrey.
According to Nava, Mexicana does not provide terminal information in the confirmation email, nor do they offer a customer service number. Signage at Monterrey International Airport is limited and since online check-in is not available, Mexicana passengers need to locate the airline’s counter to initiate the boarding process.
The reporter later found out from the company’s manager that since Mexicana only operates two weekly flights at Monterrey airport, it still doesn’t have its own counter. The manager offered that information about the location of the airline in the airport is available on Mexicana’s Facebook and Instagram pages. When the manager tried to find the information himself, Nava reported that he couldn’t find it immediately.
The Mexicana representative also told Nava that she had arrived late for the boarding process and that the plane to Mexico City had left before the scheduled time, carrying only 28 passengers. Due to the low passenger traffic, the manager explained, the airline’s personnel left the check-in counter before the scheduled time to head to the boarding gate.
The manager, who remained anonymous, told Nava that she would get a call from Mexicana’s team to reach an agreement. He added he wasn’t sure she would get a refund for the missed flight.
At the time Expansión published the story, no one from Mexicana’s team had reached out to Nava.
Mexicana offers discounted tickets to flyers but does not offer online ticketing or check-in. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
AMLO acknowledges difficulties in expanding the fleet
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mentioned that it has been challenging for Mexicana to purchase airplanes due to the high international demand. He added that even companies that rent airplanes do not have availability.
“Indeed, there is a shortage in the market,” he said during a morning press conference. The company currently operates only five airplanes.
Despite the difficulties, López Obrador said they expected to acquire new airplanes by 2028.
Where does Mexicana fly?
According to Mexicana’s website, there are currently 17 routes operating out of AIFA in Mexico City.
The destinations include Acapulco, Campeche, Chetumal, Ciudad Victoria, Guadalajara, Ixtepec, Mérida, Monterrey, Mazatlán, Nuevo Laredo, Palenque, Puerto Vallarta, Tijuana, Tulum, Uruapan, Villa Hermosa and Ixtapa.
The Defense Ministry (Sedena) recently announced that Mexicana will soon start operating flights to Nuevo Laredo (Tamaulipas), Uruapan (Michoacán) and Ciudad Ixtepec (Oaxaca).
Former Finance Minister and politican Carlos Urzúa has died after a heart attack at his Mexico City home. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Carlos Urzúa, finance minister for seven months at the start of the current federal government’s six-year term, died of a heart attack at his Mexico City home on Monday.
His family issued a statement confirming his death, saying that “he leaves a significant mark on our family [and] friends and in the field of finance and economy.”
Urzúa served as President López Obrador’s first finance minister, but quit shortly into his term. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Urzúa, who was 68, served as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s first finance minister, but resigned on July 9, 2019 — just seven months and eight days after the government took office.
In his resignation letter to the president, Urzúa said that “discrepancies over economic matters” in the government “were plentiful” and “some of them were because … public policy decisions have been taken without sufficient foundation.”
He also said that the appointment of officials to his ministry who “have no knowledge of public finances” was “unacceptable,” adding that they were hired by “influential people in the current government with a clear conflict of interest.”
Most recently, Urzúa joined opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez as part of her campaign for the Mexican presidency this year. (X)
Born in Aguascalientes in 1955, Urzúa studied mathematics at an undergraduate level at the Tec. de Monterrey university and subsequently completed a master’s degree in the same subject at the National Polytechnic Institute. He later obtained a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin System.
Before becoming federal finance minister, he worked as an academic and served as finance minister in the Mexico City government for a period of around 2 1/2 years when López Obrador was mayor in the early 2000s. Urzúa also worked as a consultant for international organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
After leaving the federal government, he returned to academia and more recently joined the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez. The day before his death, he attended the “March for Our Democracy” rally in Mexico City, which was organized by civil society groups that support or are affiliated with Mexico’s main opposition parties.
Gálvez said in a radio interview on Tuesday that Mexico had lost a “great Mexican.”
He was “a Mexican who had the acuity to tell you how things were and how they should be,” she added.
For his part, López Obrador conveyed his condolences to Urzúa’s family at his morning press conference.
“I’m very sorry about his death,” he said before acknowledging that there were “differences” between him and his former finance minister.
The iconic pyramid at Chichén Itzá will be examined by scientists using state-of-the-art technology, in the hope that it will yield new data about the structure.(INAH/Cuartoscuro)
A group of international scientists — including academics from Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) — will use cutting-edge technology to search for hidden chambers inside the iconic ancient pyramid of Chichén Itzá.
The target of this investigation is “El Castillo,” a 30-meter high stepped pyramid that dominates the Chichén Itzá archaeological site in the state of Yucatán and that is also known as the Temple of Kulkulcán.
UNAM’s Arturo Menchaca Rocha and Chicago State University professor Edmundo García Solís hope to discover hidden chambers within the pyramid. (UNAM/Cuartoscuro)
The study, which is set to take place this summer, will rely on a non-invasive process that uses cosmic-ray muon radiography to peer inside sealed off structures. The process, known as Non-Invasive Archaeometry Using Muons (NAUM), was used to get a clear image of a 30-foot corridor inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza last year.
The investigators — led by Arturo Menchaca Rocha, a former head of UNAM’s Institute of Physics, and Edmundo García Solis of Chicago State University — aim to get an accurate image of the inside of the pyramid in order to determine if there are secret chambers hidden inside the sub-structure.
Scientists will first map out the two known chambers inside “El Castillo” — known as “El Jaguar” and “Chac Mool” — to confirm the viability of the NAUM system. They will then proceed to produce a detailed examination of the entire pyramid.
The process is expected to take about six months.
What is muography?
Muography is a rapidly developing and non-destructive technology that uses cosmic ray muons, naturally occurring radiation from space. It tracks the number of muons that naturally pass through a target object to determine the density of the inaccessible internal structure.
The muon is one of the fundamental subatomic particles, the most basic building blocks of the universe.
García explained that muons are charged particles similar to electrons but that weigh more than 207 times as much. Due to their greater mass, they can penetrate deeper into matter when charged with energy.
In a bulletin, UNAM explained that the investigators will be using a detector with plastic scintillator sensors that convert energy into pulses of light, with results relayed to researchers via the internet.
Archaeologists will first scan two of the temple’s known hidden chambers as a means of testing the technology. (UNAM/Cuartoscuro)
The data gathered will help the investigators identify changes in density inside the pyramid which can produce a pattern indicating a void.
This technique was previously used to explore the famed Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán.
Who is funding the study?
The investigation was approved by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH),with funding from UNAM and the United States’ National Science Foundation.
Academics from the University of Virginia and Dominican University are also participating in the study, as is Fermilab, a particle physics and accelerator laboratory in the United States.
The peso is holding steady at close to 17 to the US dollar. (Cuartoscuro)
The Mexican peso appreciated to its strongest position against the US dollar in more than a month on Tuesday morning, trading at just below 17 to the greenback before weakening slightly.
The USD:MXN exchange rate was 16.998 just before 8:30 a.m. Mexico City time, according to Bloomberg. That was the peso’s strongest position since Jan. 15.
At 10 a.m., the peso was trading at a slightly weaker 17.04 to the dollar, on par with its closing position on Monday.
The DXY index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.35% at 10 a.m.
The Monex financial group said that the peso got a boost on Tuesday morning as a result of a “weakened dollar” following a day of low trading volumes in the United States. Monday was a federal holiday in the U.S. for Presidents’ Day.
The publication on Wednesday of the United States Federal Reserve’s minutes from its monetary policy meeting in January could have an impact on the USD:MXN exchange rate as they could give some indication as to when the central bank is likely to make an initial cut to interest rates in the U.S.
When will the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates? A publication of the minutes from its January monetary policy meeting on Wednesday could give clues. (Wikimedia Commons)
Just over half of 104 economists polled by Reuters — 53 — predicted that a first cut to the current 5.25%-5.5% range will come in June, while 33 anticipated an initial cut in May. The other 18 predicted that the Fed will make a first cut sometime in the second half of 2024.
The Mexican peso benefited in 2023 from the vast difference between the Bank of Mexico’s benchmark interest rate — set at 11.25% since last March — and that of the Fed. An initial cut to the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) rate is seen as likely in the first half of the year, although inflation ticked up to almost 5% in January. Banxico will publish the minutes from its monetary policy meeting earlier this month on Thursday.
The peso had an impressive 2023, trading at just below 17 to the dollar at the end of December after beginning the year at around 19.5 to the greenback. The gain for the peso in percentage terms last year was around 13%.
In addition to the difference between interest rates in Mexico and the U.S., strong incoming flows of remittances and foreign investment also contributed to the peso’s positive performance last year.
So far in 2024, the USD:MXN exchange rate has fluctuated between a range of 16.8 and 17.4.
The consensus forecast of 33 banks, brokerages and research organizations consulted by Citibanamex in late 2023 was that the peso will weaken this year to trade at 18.65 to the dollar at the end of 2024.
The Bookmates and 311 Literacy foundations are teaming up to launch a cross-border competition for young readers, with prizes for the winners. (Shutterstock)
To combat low levels of literacy among Hispanic children in the United States and Mexico, one Harvard grad has taken on the challenge of bringing communities closer together through the power of reading.
“Beyond academic development, reading creates emotional connections and fosters positive relationships with other human beings. It is an opportunity to generate empathy and unforgettable memories,” explains Ariadna Trapote, founder and CEO of Little Bookmates and 311 Literacy. Alongside a team of experts, she has created an international bilingual reading tournament for boys and girls that will take place from March 1st to 23rd of this year.
Organizers hope the contest will bring Hispanic communities on both sides of the border closer together. (Jennifer Gates/LightSail/X)
With over 4,000 books available online, the tournament offers access to a wide variety of texts, recording the minutes that children spend reading, thanks to digital platform LightSail. This allows participants to monitor their progress and compete with each other in a fun and educational way. “We believe that if children start reading a lot, they will develop a love for reading and through that, they will be able to learn anything,” Trapote says.
But how does the tournament work? It’s simple: children read books online through the platform, accumulating reading minutes. The challenge lies in seeing which country – Mexico or the United States – accumulates the most reading minutes across the 23 days of the competition.
“We need children to create positive relationships with reading, not just academic ones, so they enjoy reading and can read to learn,” adds Trapote.
Books are categorized according to the reading level, making it easy for participants to find the texts best suited to their abilities. Although schools in the U.S. assign a reading level to each child (called Lexile), there is no such system in Mexico, so participants are placed corresponding to their school grade. The tournament is open to children in both elementary and high school in Mexico and the U.S.
The winning children will also receive new books for their school library. (Becca Tapert/Unsplash)
“It is important to note that registration must be done by the school or teacher, ensuring that participants are real children committed to reading,” says Ariadna. Anyone who wishes to register after the Feb. 20 deadline that appears on the portal will be able to do so by sending an email to organizers through the 311 Literacy platform. Entry to the tournament is free, and organizers hope more than 10,000 children will sign up.
Mexican pupils in Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, México state and Jalisco have already taken up the challenge, with U.S. schoolchildren in Chicago and Philadelphia joining the tournament too.
The contest will culminate in awards ceremonies at the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores in Mexico and at a separate venue in the United States that is yet to be confirmed. Three different prizes will be awarded in both countries: the child who has read the most minutes, the classroom that has read the most minutes (teachers will also be awarded), and the school with the highest reading average.
Individual first-place finishers will receive an Apple MacBook, with the winning teacher scooping a new MacBook of her own as well. For the winning Mexican group, participants will receive tickets to the Six Flags theme park.
Winning participants will also see their schools awarded new books for their library.
Organizers hope that this competition can greatly bring children closer to reading, in addition to fostering bonds between two countries with a closely shared heritage.
Camila Sánchez Bolaño is a journalist, feminist, bookseller, lecturer, and cultural promoter and is Editor in Chief of Newsweek en Español magazine.
On Feb. 5, the president announced a suite of sweeping constitutional reform proposals that, according to some observers, severely downgrade Mexican democracy. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
In light of President López Obrador’s presentation of 20 constitutional reforms on Feb. 5, the Mexico Institute invited Advisory Board members, fellows and experts to provide analysis and commentary on individual proposals and the broader reform package.
Constitutional Changes
Ambassador Roberta Lajous
Wilson Center Fellow; Researcher, El Colegio de México; former Mexican Ambassador to Austria, Bolivia, Cuba and Spain
From the National Palace, not Congress, President López Obrador (AMLO) announced on Feb. 5 a potpourri of 18 sweeping constitutional reforms that severely downgrade Mexican democracy. If the reforms go ahead, the Supreme Court would be debilitated by having its members openly elected, independent regulatory agencies would disappear, the electoral authority would be back under the control of the president and the ongoing militarization of the police force would be formalized. At the same time, with a clear authoritarian streak, and going against all international standards and recommendations, the instances where individuals could go to prison before being judged are broadened to include even the incorrect filing of taxes. To sweeten the deal, accompanying laws propose pie in the sky pensions, which would be raised by as much as 100% of workers’ final salaries, threatening financial disaster for the treasury. These proposed changes lack the needed majority to be approved by this Congress. Therefore, they will become the electoral platform for AMLO’s handpicked successor, Claudia Sheinbaum. Once again, the president has been successful in setting the agenda for public debate but, this time, at the cost of leaving no oxygen for Sheinbaum to voice her own views.
Since there is no possibility of presidential reelection in Mexico, AMLO is seeking to prolong his power well beyond his six-year term. Sheinbaum, if elected, will have to remain under AMLO’s control and be subjected to the threat of a recently approved poll that could revoke her mandate within two years of taking office. Given the influence AMLO holds over a significant part of the electorate through his daily press conference, it will be a real challenge for the opposition candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, to make the case against these proposed reforms. However, if anyone can successfully do it, it is her. Xóchitl is a charismatic leader who comes from poverty and discrimination but propelled herself through higher education to become a successful businesswoman and, later, a democratic politician.
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez at a campaign event in Ciudad Juárez. (@PAN_CDM_JUAREZ/X)
Mexicans need a new government respectful of checks and balances — not this new constitution that would throw Mexico back to its authoritarian past. The last chance to rectify the course taken by AMLO will be the June 2 election, the biggest Mexico has ever had, where the two full houses of Congress will be elected along with many state legislators, governors and mayors. The unified opposition platform of the three main parties — PAN, PRI and PRD — along with civil society organizations, will present an alternative project. Hopefully they will show the muscle needed for the campaign, which officially starts March 1. Provided they remain united, this coalition could stop the militarization of society and the return to an unrestrained presidential system.
AMLO’s Last-Minute Mini-Sexenio
Alejandro García Magos
Lecturer, University of Toronto
The vertigo of losing power has finally caught up with AMLO. On Feb. 5, a seven-month “mini-sexenio” commenced, during which, at the eleventh hour, AMLO will attempt to fulfill his promise of laying the groundwork for a “transformation” and securing a place in history.
Despite five years and two months having passed without achieving his promised objectives — namely, the reduction of criminal violence and the acceleration of economic growth — it is only now, mere months before relinquishing power, that 20 constitutional reforms are being proposed to finally steer the country towards peace and prosperity.
AMLO is not the first president to try to salvage his legacy at the last minute. José López Portillo tried it in 1982 when, three months before stepping down, he decreed the nationalization of the banking sector, leaving a political and economic mess for his successor, Miguel de la Madrid. Similarly, AMLO is proposing an agenda for the next government and a change of political regime for Mexico, which is, for the time being, still democratic. Indeed, his proposals seek to dismantle the independence of the judiciary, eliminate the autonomy of electoral authorities and militarize public security. AMLO has launched these proposals (that have already foundered in Congress) like a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. It would be amusing if not for the fact that the future of the country is at stake.
A protester displays sign reading “Don’t touch the INE” at during a 2023 march against AMLO’s proposed changes to the National Electoral Institute (INE). (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
This package of reforms is an implicit acknowledgment of the shortcomings of AMLO’s government and the fact that time and political capital have run out. This seven-month mini–sexenio can be seen as the tale of a president who missed his chance and now, in the twilight of his administration, seeks to leave a symbolic mark. In the absence of tangible results, laws are being proposed. Regardless of the outcome of these reforms, the quality of life for Mexicans is unlikely to change. Despite the high expectations raised by AMLO six years ago at the beginning of his government, his actual political record is underwhelming. As for the mini–sexenio, what more can be said, except that perhaps the saying about history repeating itself twice, first as tragedy and then as farce, holds true.
The Politics of AMLO’s Reform Proposals
Luis Rubio
Mexico Institute Advisory Board Member; president of México Evalúa-CIDAC and former president of the Mexican Council on International Affairs (COMEXI). He is a prolific columnist on international relations and on politics and the economy, writing weekly for Reforma newspaper, and regularly for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
There are at least three factors that led President López Obrador to send Congress a package of extremely ambitious (and deleterious) constitutional amendments. The first and most obvious one is that this puts him in a position where he can advocate for a vision of the future without violating the letter of the electoral law, even though he’s doing it precisely to circumvent it. The second reason is to provoke an opposition outcry to consolidate his base. The third, and most puzzling, is to control his candidate. While the first two can be summarized as “politics as usual,” the third is the most transcendent, for it underscores the complexity of the coming race.
The context of the president’s thrust is very clear: He has spent the last five years fully devoted to the succession process now underway. Rather than push an ambitious development project, like all his predecessors did (regardless of the project’s respective merit or soundness), President López Obrador is unique in that he is concentrated on two things and two things only: eliminating or neutralizing all or most institutional checks on presidential power in an attempt to recreate the all-powerful presidency of yesteryear. And, building and securing an electoral base to win the 2024 election.
Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum embraced the president’s `proposed reforms, though she arguably had little alternative. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
AMLO measures his success or failure by the result of the June 2 election. Now that the election looms, the question is whether he can accomplish his only objective. And the constitutional reforms are an important element in this regard.
The president has by now created a complex relationship with his anointed candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum. For AMLO to reach his goal, she must win the election; however, were she to win, she would have to alter course. The roadmap designed by AMLO will not allow her to be successful as it would only deepen the polarization in which the president thrives. AMLO cannot be repeated; nobody can duplicate his history or skills, thus making it impossible for his successor to replicate his tactics, starting with the permanent attempt to polarize and sow discord.
Sheinbaum has embraced the president’s proposed reforms, for she cannot say otherwise if she wants to win. Yet, by embracing them, she loses the support of many Mexicans who would rather seek a more harmonious government. Thus, the president’s reforms evidence the divergent interests between AMLO and his candidate, which might well create the conditions for a truly competitive presidential race.
The content of the proposed reforms is now the subject of serious analysis and debate, as they would upend not only the attempt to build a democracy over the last several decades, but also a market-based economy embodied in NAFTA/USMCA. Beyond the specifics of the proposed reforms, the politics behind them are clear: The president wants to win the coming election and will stop at nothing to guarantee that result.
This article was originally published by The Mexico Institute at The Wilson Center. A part two will follow here on Mexico News Daily.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
A Black Turtle conservation project in Jalisco has asked supports to "adopt" a nest and help fund the cost of protecting the marine species. (Campamento Mayto/Instagram)
Would you like to contribute to the long-term survival of sea turtles? Why not “adopt” a turtle nest?
A turtle camp on the coast of Jalisco launched an “Adopt a Black Turtle Nest” campaign this month, calling on wildlife lovers to donate 250 pesos (about US $15) toward the costs associated with monitoring nests before the eggs hatch.
The project will use donations to fund the cost of operations. (Campamento Mayto/Instagram)
Black turtle is another name for the Pacific green turtle, or Chelonia mydas.
The Campamento Tortugero Mayto, located about 90 kilometers south of Puerto Vallarta in the municipality of Cabo Corrientes, said in a Facebook post earlier this month that it had “recorded and protected” a record number of turtle nests this nesting season.
“For this reason we invite you to adopt one of these nests. With your economic contribution you will directly support the maintenance of the camp and sea turtle protection activities, ensuring the continuity of night patrols and monitoring of nests until the hatching of eggs,” the camp said.
It said that donors will receive an “adoption certificate with details about nest collection and how many baby turtles will be released.”
“We’ll even share an estimated hatching date so that you can accompany us at their release,” the camp added.
Anyone interested in adopting a nest should contact the Campamento Tortugero Mayto via its Facebook or Instagram page.
The vehicles were burned after the attack, possibly making it more difficult to establish who and how many people died in the attack. (via Excelsior)
The attorney general of Sonora has rejected a claim from a New York-based law firm that more than 50 migrants were killed in the northern state last Thursday.
“First of all, I want to be emphatic in pointing out that what that organization has asserted is completely false,” Sonora Attorney General Gustavo Rómulo Salas Chávez told reporters on Monday.
The law firm 1800migrante.com — which says it is also a non-government organization that provides legal advice to migrants — said in a statement on Sunday that “more than 50 migrants were victims in the massacre in Sáric,” a municipality in northern Sonora that borders the United States.
Its claim appears to be based solely on the account of a Peruvian migrant who witnessed the attack.
Salas said that only three deaths have been confirmed, those of a four-year old boy and two women. An additional 10 migrants were reportedly wounded and taken to a hospital in Caborca, another municipality that borders the United States.
The statement released by 1800migrante.com quotes a Peruvian migrant referred to as “Carlos,” whose real name was withheld for privacy. Carlos said that he and other migrants left a town in the municipality of Tubutama in three vans on Thursday night and were traveling toward the Mexico-U.S. border when a car rammed into the vehicle he was in from behind.
He said that the impact forced the van he was in off the road into a “small gully.”
Armed men got out of the car and started shooting at Carlos and approximately 24 other migrants who were traveling with him, according to the version of events published by 1800migrante.com.
“We all ran to save ourselves,” said Carlos, adding that the two other vans carrying female and child migrants subsequently came under fire when they arrived at the scene. Carlos said that armed men in another vehicle later arrived and engaged in a gun battle with “the first ones who attacked us.”
“You could tell they were opposing gangs,” Carlos said, adding that “we saw from the mountain” that the vehicles were later set on fire.
Some of the migrants — among whom were Ecuadorians, Dominicans, Hondurans, Peruvians, Brazilians and Guatemalans — were in the vehicles that were set alight, according to Red Cross personnel who responded to the attack.
“What I could see is that they were dressed in blue military uniforms, they used military weapons and grenade launchers,” Carlos said, referring to the men that attacked the migrants.
According to the statement from 1800migrante.com, Carlos escaped through the desert with five Ecuadorian migrants and managed to cross into the United States a few days later. He then contacted the law firm for assistance to locate his 28-year-old sister, Ana Vidal, who was in one of the vans traveling toward the border last Thursday.
The death of Ana Vidal, a Peruvian migrant, was one of few confirmed by authorities after the attack, according to a lawyer working with her brother. (William Murillo/X)
William Murillo, co-founder of 1800migrante.com, said in a post on the X social media site on Monday that it had been confirmed that she had been killed. In the same post, he said that two Ecuadorians, including the four-year-old boy, and a Honduran woman were also among the victims.
Salas, the Sonora attorney general, said that “first investigations” by state authorities found that between 11 and 14 migrants were traveling in three vehicles that came under attack on Thursday night. He said that three or four wounded migrants were still receiving treatment in hospitals in Caborca.
Salas also told reporters that the army had just captured “in that area” a “complete [criminal] cell of eight individuals with long weapons.”
They were detained in the municipality of General Plutarco Elías Calles, a border municipality whose administrative center Sonoyta is opposite Lukeville, Arizona. Salas didn’t explicitly say that were involved in last Thursday’s attack , although he gave that impression. He also said that three other suspected criminals had been arrested in the same area.
Before the remarks from Salas, authorities in Sonora had provided scant information about the events in Sáric last Thursday.
Murillo claimed that “the silence of Mexican authorities borders on complicity with these criminals who control a significant area of the border.”
“… We demand full transparency from the authorities in order to know the facts [and] the names of the victims and the wounded,” he said.
Migrants traveling through Mexico frequently become victims of crime, including murder.
The airport is expected to bring a surge in tourism to the already-popular region. (Mara Lezama/X)
U.S. low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has delayed the introduction of flights to the new Tulum airport, which were supposed to begin this spring.
The flights were scheduled to depart from both Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport starting on March 28.
The Spirit service to Tulum was meant to begin in March, but will now be delayed indefinitely. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
In October, Spirit unveiled plans to offer nonstop flights to Tulum’s recently opened Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport. However, the airline has since confirmed to Travel + Leisure magazine that the flights are currently on hold due to ongoing issues with engines on 26 of its aircraft.
“We are postponing the start date of our Tulum (TQO) service as we continue to manage operational constraints related to Pratt & Whitney GTF engine availability,” a spokesperson from Spirit Airlines said in a statement to T+L.
“This new issue is yet another frustrating and disappointing development,” Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie told investors, according to Reuters.
“We apologize to our guests for any inconvenience, and we’re reaching out to those with impacted travel plans to offer alternate flight options or a refund,” Spirit told T+L. “We look forward to the opportunity to serve Tulum in the future and will share more once we have an updated schedule.”
Spirit did not share a timetable for when the flights to Tulum could begin.
Tulum airport opened to domestic flights on Dec. 1, 2023, and will welcome international flights in just a few weeks.
Delta Airlines was the first U.S. airline to announce daily nonstop flights to the new airport from Atlanta International Airport (ATL), followed by Spirit Airlines, United, American Airlines, and JetBlue. In December, Air Canada also announced direct flights from Montreal and Toronto.
Emergency crews worked to rescue the occupants of both vehicles. Five of the 7 occupants of the SUV involved in the crash were killed. (Protección Civil de Solidaridad)
A frightful accident on a rain-slickened highway in the state of Quintana Roo on Sunday afternoon resulted in the death of five tourists from Argentina and a Mexican driver.
The tourists were among seven people riding in a private Suzuki SUV when it collided with the Toyota van on a section of Highway 307 about halfway between Tulum and Playa del Carmen.
The injured victims were airlifted to hospital, where one, the driver of the van, later succumbed to his injuries. (X)
While initial witness reports indicated the van lost control (driving at excessive speed) and collided with the SUV, as of Monday afternoon, a report in El Financiero newspaper said that the SUV struck the van, which was parked at the side of the road.
Wet pavement from the rain was cited by the Quintana Roo prosecutor’s office as an initial cause, though a further announcement is pending.
The driver of the van was airlifted to a local hospital, but either died along the way or shortly after arriving.
The Argentines were reportedly staying in different hotels and some were with their families, who were waiting for them to return from their outing.
Of the seven people in the SUV, five were killed in the collision, which occurred around 1 p.m. The survivors were a woman in the center back seat and a male in the front passenger seat.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador addressed the accident at his Monday morning press conference, noting that he had communicated with Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa and that the families of the dead had been notified.
“Let the people of Argentina know that we are caring for those who unfortunately lost their lives,” he said. “We are seeking to provide all the facilities to family members and we are helping.”
Shortly after the accident, news outlets and internet users began sharing videos and images of the accident, some of them grisly.
On Monday, Quintana Roo’s secretary of government, Cristina Torres, reminded the media that the dissemination of videos and photographs of victims violates their rights to privacy.
“That accident was very ugly, very ugly,” AMLO added.
The names of the victims were released Monday afternoon: Maximiliano Laviano, Hernán Ezequiel Sibella, Vanesa Paola Silva, Gerónimo Amengual and Nahuel López were the Argentine nationals, and Freddy Omar Quijano was the Mexican driver who was killed.
The bodies of the Argentines will be returned to their home country, although no timeline for this has been provided.
Scores of police and emergency services responded to the accident, forcing the complete closure of a large section of highway, about 30 km south of Playa del Carmen, for several hours. Firemen used equipment known as “the jaws of life” to free trapped occupants.
Quintana Roo’s State Attorney General (FGE) said an investigation had begun into the cause of the crash. “Experts from different specialties are working on the analysis of the evidence collected,” it said in a statement.
On Saturday, state officials had posted heavy to very heavy rain warnings for the area. Advisories were issued that highway drivers use caution.
