While the forecast of 1.3% growth is down from the October estimate of 1.4%, Mexico can hope for the same resilience the Bank predicts for the rest of the world, which is expected to catch a break by 2027. (Shutterstock)
The World Bank’s latest estimate is that the Mexican economy will grow by 1.3% in 2026, a decrease from its 1.4% October forecast and a more significant reduction from the 1.6% growth it predicted for 2026 in January 2025.
According to the World Bank’s semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the lower forecast is largely owing to the upcoming review of the USMCA free-trade agreement, which puts its trade with the U.S. under threat.
On a global level, the World Bank expects output growth to slow slightly to 2.6% in 2026, compared to 2.7% in 2025, but shows resilience by rising back up to 2.7% in 2027.
The organization revised its 2026 GDP forecast upwards by two-tenths of a percentage point from June estimations, which still puts it in the slowing category, since the final 2025 growth will be four-tenths of a percentage point higher than previous forecasts.
The recent global improvement reflects better-than-expected growth in the United States despite tariff-driven trade disruptions, according to the World Bank. It expects the U.S. to achieve a GDP growth of 2.2% in 2026, an improvement on its 2.1% in 2025.
Nevertheless, the sum of the forecasts implies that the current decade is performing weakly and could end with the slowest global growth since the 1960s. That possibility carries with it real-world pain, with higher levels of unemployment in emerging markets and developing countries, according to the World Bank.
Global GDP per person in 2025 was 10% higher than it was on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank’s chief economist, Indermit Gill, said in a statement. This marks the fastest recovery from a major crisis in the past 60 years.
However, many developing countries are being left behind.
“While nearly all advanced economies will be richer in per capita income than they were before the pandemic, one out of four developing countries — and more than a third of all low-income economies — will be poorer than they were five years ago,” stressed Gill in his own italics.
Even though growth in emerging markets and developing economies is forecast to decrease from 4.2% in 2025 to 4% in 2026, those percentages mark a two-tenths and three-tenths of a percentage point increase from June forecasts.
Meanwhile, China’s economic growth rate forecast for 2026 remains unchanged from 2025, at 3.7%, according to the World Bank.
Macario Martínez, 23, was working in sanitation for Mexico City when a song he recorded, "Sueña lindo, corazón," went viral. Now he's a budding star. (macariomartinez_/Instagram)
The singer — whose video of his song “Sueña lindo, corazón” (“Sweet dreams, sweetheart”) went viral earlier this year with more than 14 million views — is scheduled to perform on the same bill with Latin Grammy winner Paloma Morphy and indie rock band Little Jesus.
The León (Guanajuato) State Fair naturally has its local importance, but it has evolved into a major festival venue, where the Foo Fighters have already packed the 20,000-capacity house in this year’s edition. (@guanajuato/on X)
Tickets range from 920 to 1,265 pesos (US $52 to $71) and the concert will be held at Foro del Lago, a venue at the Guanajuato state fairgrounds.
His first large-scale, ticketed, festival-style show will mark a new milestone for Macario, who has been on a rapid rise from an unknown 23-year-old when his song went viral a year ago.
His León concert is part of a lineup that has already included Foo Fighters, the post-grunge rockers from Seattle who played to a packed house of more than 20,000 on Saturday.
Other big names in the 14-concert slate include Dutch DJ Tiësto and alternative rock band Zoé from Cuernavaca, Morelos, along with cumbia stalwarts Los Ángeles Azules from Iztapalapa (a borough of Mexico City) and regional music stars La Arrolladora Banda El Limón from Mazatlán.
The annual Feria Estatal de León (FEL) — or León State Fair — is celebrating the city’s 450th anniversary this year as well as its own 150th edition. It opened Jan. 9 and runs through Feb. 4.
More than 6 million visitors are expected, according to the digital news site Líder Empresarial, with about 85% of its shows and activities free of charge.
The fair’s offerings range from family spectacles like Disney’s “Where Dreams Are Born” to “Illusion on Ice Quantum,” a futuristic skating show.
Macario’s highly anticipated debut will be on the same bill as Morphy, a singer-songwriter from Mexico City highlighted by Billboard magazine as a Latin “artist on the rise.” Three years ago, she left her career as a criminal lawyer after gaining popularity for her TikTok song covers, and in 2025, she won a Latin Grammy for best new artist after the release of her debut album, “Au.”
"Actions like these transcend borders," the ambassador wrote. (@USAmbMex/X)
Donald Trump believes that Mexico needs to do more to combat cartels, but his ambassador in Mexico City is full of praise for what is already being done.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson posted twice on social media on Tuesday to acknowledge arrests made by Mexican security forces.
“Actions like these transcend borders,” the ambassador wrote.
“By dismantling transnational criminal networks, regional security is strengthened and communities are made safer. We recognize @GabSeguridadMX for these arrests in Mexico City, which help ensure accountability and contribute to safer nations.”
Los arrestos de individuos vinculados al CJNG realizados por @FGRMexico en Jalisco golpean a esta organización narcoterrorista que genera violencia y envenena con sus drogas a nuestras comunidades. Colaborando haremos que la justicia prevalezca y juntos construiremos un futuro… pic.twitter.com/Idg87QIUNy
“The arrests of individuals linked to the CJNG carried out by @FGRMexico in Jalisco strike at this narco-terrorist organization that fuels violence and poisons our communities with its drugs,” he wrote on X.
“By working together, we will ensure that justice prevails and build a brighter future together.”
Both Tren de Aragua and CJNG were designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government last February. Since the designation early in Trump’s second term, Mexico has come under increased pressure from the United States to do more to combat criminal organizations in Mexico and the drugs they traffic across the northern border.
After the call, Sheinbaum — a staunch defender of Mexican sovereignty and an ardent opponent of any kind of U.S. intervention — said that the possibility of U.S. military action in Mexico could be ruled out.
She noted that Trump recognized her government’s security efforts, including the arrest of more than 40,000 suspects and the dismantlement of almost 2,000 drug labs over the past 15 months. However, she also acknowledged that he told her that more can be done to combat cartels and offered additional U.S. assistance to her government, such as a U.S. army deployment to Mexico.
From Oct. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2025, Mexico’s security ministry — led by Omar García Harfuch — arrested 40,735 people, seized more than 318 tonnes of drugs and 21,357 firearms and dismantled 1,887 laboratories. (@OHarfuch/X)
Amid the security-related tension between Mexico and the United States, it is a boon for the Mexican government to have the U.S. ambassador publicly recognizing its anti-crime efforts — as well as its willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration.
In another X post on Monday, Johnson wrote that the relationship between the United States and Mexico is the “most cooperative and mutually beneficial … in decades.”
In the same post, he said that “there’s still much to be done,” but added that “together we can build a brighter future for our citizens.”
Given that a unilateral U.S. strike on cartels in Mexico would almost certainly undermine the “mutually beneficial” bilateral security cooperation, the U.S. ambassador could be a strong advocate within the U.S. government for not risking the relationship with Mexico via an unrequested attack south of the border.
Ten months ago, before he assumed his current role, Johnson — who on Tuesday won praise from Sheinbaum for the support he has provided to the Mexican government — said he believed that on “any decision to take action against a cartel inside Mexico, our first desire would be that it be done in partnership with our Mexican partners.”
However, he also said he was aware that “President Trump takes very seriously his responsibility to safeguard the lives of U.S. citizens and should there be a case where the lives of U.S. citizens are at risk, I think all cards are on the table.”
In sum, Johnson’s remarks last March are indicative of where things currently stand: Trump, for now at least, appears to have backed away from his declaration that the U.S. would begin targeting cartels in Mexico, favoring instead ongoing bilateral security cooperation while continuing to push the Mexican government to authorize the entry of the U.S. military.
While security collaboration between Mexico and the United States may deepen as a result of the U.S. president’s threat last Thursday, and the Mexican government appears likely to further ramp up its anti-crime efforts given that Sheinbaum admitted on Monday that her administration could do more, some semblance of the status quo looks set to remain in the near term.
But as we saw on Jan. 3 in Venezuela — where President Nicolás Maduro was captured in a swift U.S. military operation — situations can change very quickly.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
Obsolete and poorly placed pipelines presented challenges for the repair work to the water system serving Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. (Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana/Facebook)
Drinking water has been steadily returning to Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, as of last Sunday, after several days of a major outage.
The shortage affected approximately 691 neighborhoods in Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito due to interconnection and rehabilitation work on the Florido-Aguaje Aqueduct, a key infrastructure component that supplies water to more than 1.3 million residents in the region.
The work that cut off water in 691 neighborhoods was for interconnection and rehabilitation of the Florido-Aguaje Aqueduct, a key infrastructure component that supplies water to more than 1.3 million residents in the Tijuana-Rosarito region of Baja California. (Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana/Facebook)
“Since Sunday, we’ve been re-establishing service to all the neighborhoods affected,” said Jesús García Castro, head of the Tijuana State Public Services Commission (Cespt). “Everyone should be back online by early this week.”
Water supply was gradually restored starting at 6 p.m. on Sunday, with authorities warning that it would take up to 36 hours for full restoration. That same day, Cespt reported that water service had been restored to over 300 neighborhoods in Tijuana.
On Tuesday, Cespt reported that 5% of the affected areas were still limited to intermittent water flow, marking a week since the outage.
The president of the Downtown Merchants Association, Guillermo Díaz Orozco, told the newspaper El Sol de Tijuana that hotels and restaurants without storage tanks have been the most affected, with estimated economic losses of up to 15%.
Households have also been affected, as money that was destined for food and other goods had to be diverted to buying water.
“Our routine is disrupted,” Ana García, a resident in one of the affected neighborhoods, told El Sol de Tijuana. “We avoid cooking to prevent creating a mess, and this also impacts our finances, since we have to eat out. We can’t maintain proper hygiene.”
According to authorities, work on the Florido-Aguaje Aqueduct took some 86 hours. The tasks included replacing pipe sections, repairing leaks and upgrading infrastructure to improve system efficiency and reduce future failures.
García said that the renovation work was unexpectedly delayed by the need to unearth an old storm drain used more than 70 years ago as irrigation for former agricultural areas. Another reason was that houses in the area are located almost on top of the aqueduct.
That renovation work was scheduled to be completed on Saturday morning, but was extended until Sunday evening.
Authorities have asked affected residents to continue reporting water shortages. “We want to thank everyone for their patience and we want to apologize for the delays,” García said.
Leader of México Republicano Juan Iván Peña Nader poses for a photo with Matt Schlapp at last year's CPAC. (Instagram)
Mexico’s political right is gearing up for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, where fledgling parties hope to garner more support from the United States.
This year, CPAC and the organization México Republicano (Republican Mexico) are holding a summit entitled “Mexico Facing the Fentanyl Crisis and Narcoterrorism” on Feb. 5 and 6,with the hopes of attracting a large audience of Mexican and U.S. politicians.
The group has sent invitations to U.S. government officials, including Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others.
CPAC was founded in the United States five decades ago and rose to greater prominence in the 2010s when Donald Trump gave a speech that helped launch his political career.
The conference brings together right-wing ideologues and has attracted several Latin American and European far-right political attendees in the past, such as Argentine President Javier Milei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Its influence in Mexico, while growing, remains confined to a small circle of right-wing voices rather than a broader movement.
CPAC is held annually in February in the United States, in addition to traveling conferences hosted in countries such as Japan, Australia, Argentina, Mexico and this year, Colombia. (CPAC)
Representatives from Mexico’s PRI and PAN parties have confirmed their attendance, alongside former governors from northern Mexico, federal and state legislators and leaders of conservative political parties and civil society organizations.
The conference is taking place at a defining moment for the U.S.-Mexico relationship, given the United States’ recent intervention in Venezuela and the upcoming renegotiation of the USMCA free trade agreement.
Is México Republicano an official party in Mexico?
México Republicano, a far-right organization that openly promotes Trumpist ideology, has been working to become a formally recognized political party since 2023.
Its membership has long been a close supporter of CPAC, and, in November, the group received CPAC’s endorsement during the Circle Retreat and Gala CPAC 2025 at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida.
In November, México Republicano’s president, Juan Iván Peña Nader — a former functionary during the government of Felipe Calderón — said the organization was working against the clock to hold the required assemblies to move forward with its party registration.
“They require 20 assemblies: we’re going to do 25… We have until the last day of February,” Peña Nader told the newspaper Milenio.
The move follows the resignation of former governor Juan Manuel Oliva Ramírez as the organization’s secretary.
Upon Oliva’s departure, he reportedly told newspapers that the organization lacked the financial resources required to advance its political ambitions.
Peña Naderresponded to his claims by saying México Republicano “has sufficient funds to organize what it needs to organize.”
“The issue is how much and how to spend it. It’s very expensive and very complicated; we have to make specific, effective moves,” he added.
Another ultraconservative organization in northern Mexico, “México Tiene Vida” (“Mexico Has Life”) — commonly referred to as Vida — recently reported it was close to achieving the thresholds required to earn formal recognition as a national political party, with a reported 220,000 people registered with the organization.
There's always something happening in San Miguel de Allende. (Jezael Melgoza)
Special events happen every month in San Miguel de Allende, and January and February are no exception. Between the end-of-year holidays and before Semana Santa (Holy Week, from March 29 to April 5), San Miguel will host an impressive lineup of concerts, exhibits, plays, neighborhood art walks and public presentations, from the humorous to the serious.
A sampling of these events is detailed below, but first, take a look at some unique artwork gracing the city at two related venues through the end of the month.
Artist Greg Mayer with one of the portraits that has made him a popular figure in San Miguel de Allende. (Emmanuel Ceballos)
The Namuh furniture galleries in Centro and on Camino a Alcocer past the Liverpool department store are featuring, through the end of this month, portraits by Greg Mayer built with painted LEGO and other plastic bricks.
Portraits by Greg Mayer
Mayer buys these plastic pieces by the kilo and paints them in shades of grey and a few other colors to create portraits that resemble optical illusions that are clear from a distance but pixelated up close.
Mayer, who lives in San Miguel and Arizona, said he chose to show his work here to honor “the beauty and dignity of the Mexican people” he observes in his daily life.
“The people at the bus stop, in the mercado and throughout the countryside,” he explained. “I have a deep respect for the quiet strength and grace present in everyday moments, and the work began as a way to honor that in my own home.”
Mayer said he’s drawn to faces that tell a story, and that his favorite is the one he’s currently working on.
“Some of the larger works take months to create, so by the time I’m finished, that piece had better be my favorite,” he said.
Another of Greg Mayer’s distinctive portraits. (Emmanuel Ceballos)
One of his favorite portraits, “La Sanadora” (“The Healer”), was prominently featured and quickly sold at the exhibit, which opened Oct. 31, 2025. Namuh owner Cecilio Garza described a “huge turnout” that evening, which he called “very unusual for an unknown artist in San Miguel.”
Mayer, humbled by the enthusiastic response to his work, hopes to have another exhibit here after he returns this spring. For now, you can see his work until the end of January at Namuh’s two locations: at Cuna de Allende 15 and at Camino a Alcocer, Km. 2.2.
Water-related murals unveiled
One of artist Erica Daborn’s “Dialogues with Mother Earth.” (Daum Museum of Contemporary Art)
“Dialogues with Mother Earth,” an environmental art collaboration between San Miguel artist Erica Daborn and the nonprofit clean-drinking-water organization Caminos de Agua, is coming to the Camino al Arte artists’ colony outside San Miguel in the town of Atotonilco on Jan. 15 and 16.
On Jan. 15 from 5–7 p.m., Camino al Arte will host an opening presentation, an artist talk and an exhibition of two of Daborn’s large-scale charcoal murals inspired by prehistoric cave drawings and socially engaged art. The murals will also be on display there on Jan. 16 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The two events are free and open to the public. Daborn’s new book, “Dialogues with Mother Earth,” will be available to purchase and can be signed by the artist. All proceeds go to support Caminos de Agua’s mission to provide access to safe water in Central Mexico.
Camino al Arte is located at Antigua Via S/N in Atontonilco, Guanajuato.
Winter orchid workshop
A Cymbidium hybrid orchid. (Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons)
A winter orchid workshop will be held Jan. 16 and 17 at the Casamada Hotel Boutique. Information on the care and uses of the Cymbidium orchid in landscaping and gardens will be presented. Each workshop costs 1,750 pesos and includes a brunch, study materials and a Cymbidium orchid to take home. Reservations are required.
The Jan. 16 workshop takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the Jan. 17 workshop takes place from 10 a.m. to noon. Space is limited. Reserve your spot by calling +52 (415) 125-4050.
Casamada Hotel Boutique is located at Potranca 16 in the Guadiana neighborhood.
Plays and staged readings this month
A new one-act work from playwright Roger M. Williams, “Me? A Traitor?! Iconic Gen. Robert E. Lee Confronts His Life and Deeds,” will be staged this month. (San Miguel Live!)
Two one-act plays by local playwright Roger M. Williams are coming to the Teatro Santa Ana theatre in San Miguel’s La Biblioteca in Centro on Jan. 16 and 17.
“Gone!” is a humorous look at a U.S. tourist who gets lost in a Spanish city, and the other is entitled, “Me? A Traitor?! Iconic Gen. Robert E. Lee Confronts His Life and Deeds.” Marjorie Burren directs both and the local cast includes Burren, Frank Simons, Rick Franz and Josefina Valentini.
Admission is a 275-peso donation. Tickets are available at the theater box office. The Santa Ana Theater and its box office are located inside La Biblioteca at Insurgentes 25 in Centro.
At the Jewish Cultural & Community Center, veteran actors Fil Formicola and Alan Jacobson will be featured in a staged reading of Harold Pinter’s one-act play, “The Dumb Waiter,” on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. The community center is located at Calle de Las Moras 47 in the Allende neighborhood.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Donation information is available here.
Andrew Paxman at PEN
British author Andrew Paxman will discuss the murder of Mexican journalists in San Miguel de Allende. (X, formerly Twitter)
British biographer and historian Andrew Paxman, author of the recently published “Mexican Watchdogs: The Rise of a Critical Press Since the 1980s,” will discuss “Who’s Really Murdering Mexican Journalists?” on Jan. 20, at the Jewish Cultural & Community Center, Calle de Las Moras 47 in the Allende neighborhood.
Tickets for the event, taking place at 6 p.m., are 350 pesos. It is part of San Miguel PEN’s winter lecture series, which supports threatened journalists and local literary projects.
Robert Burns Supper
Annual suppers celebrating the Scottish poet Robert Burns are popular worldwide, including in San Miguel de Allende. (Connor Beaton/Wikimedia Commons)
The fifth annual Robert Burns Supper, held to honor Scotland’s most famous poet, returns to The Restaurant in Centro at 6 p.m. on Jan. 21. In keeping with Burns’ heritage, the meal will include haggis, roast beef with all the trimmings (vegetarian and gluten-free options upon request), wine and whisky. Entertainment will include bagpipes and a Scottish sing-along.
Tickets are US $125 and benefit the EEESMA School for the Deaf in San Miguel. More information is available via email here.
Two art walks
Want to see an artist’s studio in San Miguel de Allende? There are two art walks coming up. (Instagram)
Visit local artists’ home studios during the free Guadalupe Art Walk on Jan. 24 and 25 in the neighborhood, which is home to galleries and San Miguel’s mural art district. Paintings, printmaking, sculpture and mixed media will be on hand for browsing and purchase.
The art walk takes place on both days from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Email here for more information.
Meanwhile, dates for the annual San Antonio Art Walk have been announced. It will be happening this year on Feb. 21 and 22 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the San Antonio Art Walk is free.
More information will be available in the February community roundup.
Candelaria Horticultural Fair
Flowers for this year’s Feria de la Candelaria. (Cathy Siegner)
Parque Zeferino, on the northern edge of the city, will be packed with regional growers and vendors selling flowers and plants during this year’s annual Feria de la Candelaria, which opens Jan. 30.
As always, the fair will feature a huge variety of trees, plants and cacti for sale, as well as pots and gardening tools. There will also be free music, dancing and other performances going on each day.
The Feria de la Candelaria runs through Feb. 13. Admission is free.
Live blues at Cent’anni
The Craig Caffall Blues Band will be performing in San Miguel later this month. (San Miguel Jazz)
Local favorites the Craig Caffall Blues Band is playing at Cent’anni Restaurant in Centro on Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. The show is part of the year-long series of performances associated with the San Miguel International Jazz and Blues Festival.
Tickets for the Cent’anni show are 600 pesos in advance at the restaurant or 660 pesos online here. Cent’anni is located at Canal 23.
Tickets going fast for the Writers’ Conference
Don’t wait much longer. Tickets to the San Miguel Writers’ Conference are almost sold out. (San Miguel Writers’ Conference)
Premium all-events passes to the internationally known San Miguel Writers’ Conference in February are nearly sold out. So don’t wait if you have plans to attend this week-long conference for writers, aspiring writers and book lovers alike.
The 21st annual conference kicks off Feb. 11 and runs through Feb. 15 at the Hotel Real de Minas. This year’s conference features keynote addresses from authors Abraham Verghese, Maira Kalman, Rebecca Kuang, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil and Emily St. John Mandel and poet Andrés Neuman.
Panel discussions, workshops, readings and receptions play a major role in the conference, which expects thousands of attendees, including writers, editors, agents and, of course, readers.
Cathy Siegner is an independent journalist based in San Miguel and Montana. She has journalism degrees from the University of Oregon and Northwestern University.
"I don't even think about USMCA," Trump told reporters during a tour of a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday. (@WhiteHouse/X)
Ahead of the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), U.S. President Donald Trump asserted on Tuesday that the trilateral free trade pact provides “no real advantage” to the United States and is “irrelevant” to him.
“I don’t even think about USMCA,” Trump told reporters during a tour of a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
“I want to see Mexico and Canada do well, but the problem is we don’t need their product,” he said.
“You don’t think you’re going to renegotiate USMCA?” probed a reporter.
“I think they want it, I don’t really care about it,” he continued.
.@POTUS at @Ford‘s Dearborn Truck Plant: “I want to see Canada and Mexico do well, but the problem is, we don’t need their product. We don’t need cars made in Canada, we don’t need cars made in Mexico — we want to make them HERE.” pic.twitter.com/yNrKWGi4Vi
“No real advantage to us. It’s irrelevant to me. Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it,” said Trump, who negotiated the USMCA during his first term as president and in 2019 asserted that it would be “the best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. president also said: “We don’t need cars made in Canada, we don’t need cars made in Mexico, we want to make them here. And that’s what’s happening.”
The U.S. president’s claim that the USMCA “expires very shortly” is not true, as even if Mexico, the United States and Canada don’t agree to extend the pact during the upcoming review process, it would not be terminated until 2036.
His assertion that the U.S. doesn’t need Mexican and Canadian products is highly questionable.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that “the Detroit Three” — General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — “are heavily reliant on supply chains that include significant parts production in Mexico and Canada.”
General Motors president Mark Reuss said Thursday that the company’s “supply chains go all the way through all three countries” and described the integration as a “big strength.”
Beyond the auto industry, various other manufacturing sectors are highly integrated across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The USMCA governs trade worth around US $2 trillion per year. The pact was significantly undermined by Trump in 2025, as he imposed tariffs on a range of goods from Mexico and Canada, including steel, aluminum and vehicles.
Sheinbaum: ‘I’m convinced that Mexico’s trade relationship with the United States will continue’
Sheinbaum again declared on Wednesday that she is “convinced” that Mexico’s trade relationship with the United States will continue. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
She went on to say that “those who most defend” the USMCA are businesspeople in the United States.
“Of course, Mexico as well,” Sheinbaum added.
Indeed, as Reuters reported on Tuesday, “major automakers including Tesla, Toyota and Ford in November urged the Trump administration to extend USMCA, saying it is crucial to American auto production.”
Reuters also reported that “the American Automotive Policy Council, representing the Detroit Three automakers, said USMCA ‘enables automakers operating in the U.S. to compete globally through regional integration, which delivers efficiency gains’ and accounts ‘for tens of billions of dollars in annual savings.'”
In light of the integration across various sectors in North America, Sheinbaum declared that she is “convinced” that Mexico’s trade relationship with the United States will continue despite Trump’s most recent remarks. She has previously said that she is “very positive” and “very optimistic” about the USMCA review.
On Wednesday, Sheinbaum said she wasn’t going to enter into a debate about trade with Trump, but stressed the “importance” of maintaining the Mexico-U.S. trade relationship “for both countries.”
The Mexican and U.S. presidents spoke by telephone on Monday, but their conversation focused on security issues. Sheinbaum subsequently said that she and Trump had agreed to another call soon in order to discuss “other issues,” including trade.
Bolero music has been declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. (Gobierno de Mexico)
Amigos, music is far more than a matter of taste or aesthetic pleasure. Science reminds us that it shapes our mood, sharpens our memory and even strengthens our immune system. Yet for many of us, its influence lives in realms beyond scientific description — in the way a familiar melody can open a door to the past and flood us with emotion.
For Mexicans, few genres hold that power like the bolero. Its chords are interlaced with memory itself, woven through family stories, love and loss.
The power of bolero
Made in Mexico: Boleros
After losing both my maternal grandparents in the same year, I began to hear boleros differently. They became more than love songs; they were vessels of remembrance. I think often of their home, filled with the aroma of morning coffee and my grandmother’s voice humming as she pretended to ready me for kindergarten — the school she never quite took me to. Now, the sound of boleros revives the ache of knowing that their house sits quiet, the old vinyls of Guty Cárdenas long stilled, their duets consigned to memory.
As the years have passed, those lyrics — once little more than background melodies — have transformed. The love songs our parents and grandparents sang now read as rich social documents, refracting shifting ideas of passion, duty and gender. Bolero’s old-world notions of romance collide with today’s evolving understandings of equality and affection. Yet for new generations, those same lyrics remain intoxicating reminders of love’s first sting.
Cuban bolero
Born in Cuba in the late nineteenth century, the bolero soon anchored itself deep in Mexican culture. It grew out of a marriage between danzón and son rhythms; its earliest recognized composition, “Tristezas,” came from the guitar of Pepe Sánchez in 1883. From the start, the bolero invited intimacy — its rhythm slow and swaying, perfect for dancing cheek to cheek, de cachetito pegado.
Its spread followed the sea routes of the Ward Line shipping company, linking Havana with New Orleans, Veracruz and Yucatán. These maritime arteries carried not only goods but ideas and melodies. Through Yucatán — long steeped in Cuban cultural exchange — the bolero crossed into Mexico’s heart. Legend holds that the singer and actor Arquímides Pous introduced it to Yucatecan audiences around 1918, where it mingled with son yucateco traditions and quickly became a local obsession.
The Mexican transformation
From Yucatán, the bolero journeyed north to Mexico City during a time when corridos — epic ballads of revolution and rural struggle — dominated popular song. Amid those tales of rifles and rebellion, bolero offered something more intimate: not war, but longing; not countryside ballads, but urban sighs.
The first Mexican bolero, “Madrigal,” appeared in 1918. What followed was a renaissance of romantic composition, with gatherings where sones and boleros conversed across guitars and voices. Mexico’s interpretation infused the genre with a distinct cosmopolitan charm: a hint of jazz, a whisper of contradanza, the emotive storytelling of local tradition.
Recognizing bolero
Recognizing a bolero is easy once you feel its pulse: a slow 4/4 rhythm tracing the fine line between yearning and heartbreak. It is the song of the yo cantante — the self who sings — to a distant or lost tú.
Guty Cárdenas was Mexico’s first master of the bolero, as this statue in Mérida attests. (Inri/Wikimedia Commons)
At its core lies the guitar, elevated into the requinto, a smaller, sharper-voiced cousin that answers the singer’s lament with delicate flurries of melody.
In Mexico, boleros typically found their voice in guitar trios or, occasionally, lush tropical big bands with bongos and congas. The genre splintered into variations: the elegant bolero de cabaret, with its big-band sophistication; the bolero ranchero, reimagined through the mariachi’s brass and strings; and the bolero yucateco, truest to its Cuban lineage — simple, tender and unabashedly romantic.
The greatest boleristas
It’s impossible to appreciate the Mexican bolero without knowing the composers who defined it. This is just a mini guide to get you started.
Guty Cárdenas: Regarded as Mexico’s first great bolerista, his songs are anthems among us. One of my favorites, though now less known, is “Nunca,” because it captures the beautiful futility of love unreturned: “I know that I love you in vain, that my heart uselessly calls you, but despite everything, I love you.” Can heartache sound more romantic?
Agustín Lara: The “Flaco de Oro” is our Mexican Cole Porter. His timeless compositions, such as “Piensa en mí,” “Solamente una vez,” and “María Bonita,” continue to resonate at gatherings.
Consuelo Velázquez: At just 16, she penned what is arguably the most famous Mexican bolero worldwide, “Bésame mucho.” This beautiful melody has been covered by artists from Frank Sinatra to Dua Lipa.
CONSUELO VELÁZQUEZ - BÉSAME MUCHO
Álvaro Carrillo: Hailing from Oaxaca, he composed around 300 songs that continue to resonate and are frequently covered, including the beloved “Sabor a mí.”
María Grever: A truly remarkable composer deserving of a “Made in Mexico” article. She crafted around 800 songs, including “What a Difference a Day Makes?” originally titled “Cuando vuelva a tu lado.” Hired by Paramount and 20th Century Fox to create music for films and documentaries, her work has been performed by legends like Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett, among many others.
Each of them caught something enduring about love’s grammar — the unspoken pauses between devotion and despair.
Keeping the spirit alive
On Dec. 4, 2023, UNESCO declared the bolero part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. For those of us raised with its melodies, the recognition felt inevitable: Bolero has always been more than music; it is memory’s soundtrack.
When I hear those familiar chords, I see my grandparents again — my itos — their distant gazes softening as a record played. I wonder who they imagined as they sang along, whose absence made their voices tremble. I see my father, half-mocking the genre’s sentimentality, yet still knowing every lyric. I hear my mother moving through the house, her voice wrapping itself around melodies she’s known since girlhood.
During the isolation of the pandemic, bolero became my family’s lifeline. On Friday nights, my sister and I would pour tequila and sing those old songs, laughing and crying in equal measure, reaching for warmth across the void of distance. Even now, it fills quiet afternoons at home — my boyfriend, my dog, the soft crackle of an old speaker. In those moments, bolero collapses time.
Mexico’s boleros have the power to bring people together. (Boleromx.org)
Listening to it is like stepping into memory’s photograph full of life.
The songs that hold us together
In a world that fragments daily — our attention splintered by screens and algorithms — bolero reminds us of our elemental need for connection. Its melodies invite us to sit still, to listen, to remember that even heartache has its beauty. Through its tender excess, it teaches emotional courage: to love deeply, to grieve openly and to keep singing anyway.
For me, returning to bolero is an act of revival — a way to bring back my itos for a few stolen minutes, to hear their laughter between verses.
Turn up the volume. Let the guitars and velvet voices fill your home. Whether you dance alone in the kitchen or croon off-key with your siblings, you join a tradition that stretches across oceans and generations. Each note carries the pulse of a shared past, each lyric a whisper of belonging.
In the end, bolero doesn’t just tell love stories — it keeps them alive.
Maria Meléndez writes for Mexico News Daily in Mexico City.
"When we've asked for support from the ambassador for dealings with the U.S. government, he has always helped us," Sheinbaum said on Tuesday. (Juan Carlos Buenrostro/Presidencia)
President Claudia Sheinbaum smiled broadly as she entered the Treasury Hall of the National Palace on Tuesday morning, seemingly still on a high from her successful call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
At her morning press conference on Tuesday, she acknowledged the role the United States’ ambassador to Mexico played in ensuring the call was a success.
Among other issues, Sheinbaum spoke about the media’s reaction to her conversation with Trump, the latest of numerous telephone discussions she has had with her U.S. counterpart.
Sheinbaum expresses appreciation for US ambassador
A reporter asked the president her opinion about the message U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson posted to social media after Monday’s call between Sheinbaum and Trump.
On X, Johnson wrote: “Glad to have helped facilitate today’s productive call between @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and President @ClaudiaShein. After a year of the most cooperative and mutually beneficial U.S.-Mexico relationship in decades, there’s still much to be done but together we can build a brighter future for our citizens.”
Glad to have helped facilitate today’s productive call between @POTUS@realDonaldTrump and President @ClaudiaShein. After a year of the most cooperative and mutually beneficial 🇺🇸🇲🇽 relationship in decades, there’s still much to be done but together we can build a brighter…
Although her government has various differences with the Trump administration, Sheinbaum spoke in glowing terms about the U.S. ambassador, who began his tenure last May.
“When we’ve asked for support from the ambassador for dealings with the U.S. government, he has always helped us,” she said.
“… Obviously, he represents the government of the United States here, and we have a close relationship with them,” Sheinbaum said.
She subsequently thanked Johnson for the support he has provided to her government.
Sheinbaum said that Mexican officials spoke to the ambassador prior to Monday’s call with Trump “to explain what we intended to discuss” with the U.S. president.
“He was a facilitator to make sure the call went well,” she said.
Sheinbaum said on Monday that she and other officials also spoke to Johnson after the call with Trump.
Sheinbaum discusses media coverage of her call with Trump
A reporter asked the president about government opponents and critics who she said “use almost any pretext to promote [foreign] interference and interventionism in our country.”
Sheinbaum’s immediate response was to say that it was worth taking a look at today’s newspapers. She asserted that “those that disagree with us” — i.e., the government — “didn’t know what to say” about her call, given its success.
“They hoped there would be a problem in order to say, ‘Look, the president doesn’t have the capacity. The United States has to intervene.”
While many Mexican newspapers ran stories about Sheinbaum’s call with Trump on the front page of their Tuesday print editions, the paper most frequently criticized by the federal government, Reforma, did not.
On Monday, Sheinbaum said that “the opposition in Mexico” — of which she considers Reforma and some other newspapers to be a part — “has been seeking” to cultivate “a bad image of the Mexican government in the United States.”
She said that “this whole idea” that the Mexican government “protects organized crime” and is led by a “narco-president” comes from a “campaign” created by opponents of her administration.
“What are they seeking? What would they like? The intervention of the United States in Mexico, that’s the truth,” Sheinbaum said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
The official count for the world's largest embroidery exhibition is 3,106 pieces each made on 15cm X 15cm canvases. (@TuristicoGobPue/X)
Mexico has won a Guinness World Record for hosting the world’s largest exhibition of embroidery and textiles, with artisans from across the nation working to make it happen.
The project brought together embroiderers, artisans and cultural groups from all 31 Mexican states plus Mexico City to promote regional identity and preserve techniques and traditions passed down from generation to generation.
Esta mañana, desde el magnífico escenario del Complejo Cultural Los Pinos, nos reunimos para celebrar un momento histórico: ¡México ha hecho historia! ✨
Con gran orgullo, logramos establecer un nuevo Récord Guinness por la “Exposición de bordados y tejidos más grande del… pic.twitter.com/gGYrWIRHEZ
“This exhibition of the world’s largest embroidery and textiles is not just a recognition on paper; it is recognition of an entire country . . . sharing a tapestry — the mosaic of Mexico,” Minister of Tourism Josefina Rodríguez Zamora said at a Mexico City ceremony.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Alfredo Arista explained that validating this official attempt required meeting specific requirements, including a minimum of 2,000 pieces and verification that each one was a legitimate work of textile art. He added that experts reviewed each piece individually to ensure full compliance with the established criteria.
“After this process, I can give the official figure: 3,106 pieces exhibited in the world’s largest embroidery exhibition,” Arista announced.
All the pieces were made on 15-centimeter-by-15-centimeter canvases, using threads of more than four colors and ancestral techniques such aspepenado(an Otomí technique from Ixtenco in Tlaxcala state), pedal loom, backstitch, cross stitch with petatillo, chain stitch and cross stitch, among many others.
The Guinness World Records representative in Latin America, Ingrid Paola Rodríguez, noted that this distinction will turn this exhibition into a “high-impact tourist attraction, capable of generating global media coverage, organic content on social networks and a clear reason to travel.”
The event was attended by artisans who handcrafted the award-winning embroideries. The exhibition is part of a national strategy leading up to the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) 2026, held annually in Madrid, Spain. With it, Mexico aims to showcase its cultural, creative and tourist potential to a global audience.
Meanwhile, the piece will be exhibited in Mexico City until Feb. 1 on the ground floor of the Casa Miguel Alemán at the Los Pinos Cultural Complex, the facility that served as the presidential residence until 2018.
