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Authorities seize over 1 million liters of fuel in 3-state huachicol raid

By
MND Staff
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huachicol containers
Authorities busted four sophisticated fuel processing centers in San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo and Morelos. (FGR)

The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced Tuesday that it had dismantled four “illicit fuel processing centers” across three states, dealing another blow to the illegal fuel trade in Mexico.

In a statement, the FGR said that in coordination with the federal Security Ministry, the National Guard and the logistics subsidiary of state oil company Pemex, it carried out “strategic actions to identify and dismantle” the makeshift refineries.

Two of the illegal fuel processing facilities were located in San Luis Potosí, one was in Hidalgo and another was in Morelos.

The FGR said they were detected thanks to intelligence and investigative work, “operational actions” and the exchange of information between different agencies of the federal Security Cabinet. No arrests were reported at the four facilities that were shut down. The Reforma newspaper reported that they were “already apparently abandoned” when they were raided.

Around 1 million liters of crude and fuel seized 

The FGR said that it launched an investigation after receiving anonymous tip-offs about a “warehouse-style facility” in San Luis Potosí city where tanker trucks “constantly” entered.

Federal authorities executed a search warrant at the property and seized eight tanks, each with a capacity of 80,000 liters, as well as a range of other equipment and machinery, the FGR said.

At the same property, authorities also confiscated between 500,000 and 600,000 liters of oil, “various documents” and a pickup truck, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Federal authorities raided another property in Laguna de San Vicente, San Luis Potosí, that the FGR said was “possibly used to carry out activities related to the illicit processing of hydrocarbons.”

Laguna de San Vicente is a small town on the shore of a lagoon of the same name in the municipality of Villa de Reyes, located south of San Luis Potosí city on the border with the state of Guanajuato.

The FGR said that authorities seized 18 vertical tanks at the Laguna de San Vicente property along with “two fuel production lines,” approximately 40,000 liters of crude oil and diesel, a sulfuric acid sample and “various documents.”

The Attorney General’s Office said it also received information about a facility in Tizayuca, Hidalgo, that was “probably used” to process fuel.

In Tizayuca, located in southern Hidalgo on the border with México state, the FGR said that authorities found 32 containers with a capacity of 1,000 liters and 25 containers with a capacity of 5,000 liters. In addition, they found and seized 456,300 liters of “possible fuel or chemical products, various documents, an electronic device, monitors and computer equipment.”

The FGR shut down a fourth illicit fuel processing center in Cuautla, a city and municipality in Morelos that is notorious for extortion.

The Attorney General’s Office said it received a report about a property in Cuautla from which a “strong smell” of fuel and chemicals emanated, and where tanker trucks, “escorted by pickup trucks,” constantly entered.

The FGR said that authorities seized six samples of fuel from containers as well as “various documents” and “check stubs.”

It didn’t specify the quantity of fuel seized at the property in Cuautla.

The latest blow to the illicit fuel trade 

The announcement of the dismantling of the “illicit fuel processing centers” in San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo and Morelos comes after two similar facilities were shut down last month in Cadereyta, Nuevo León, and Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The facility in Reynosa was located just 1.5 kilometers from National Guard barracks.

Mexican authorities have carried out a number of other operations against the illicit fuel trade this year. They include seizing more than 100 tanker trucks and over 82,000 liters of petroleum products in Minatitlán, Veracruz, in February, and dismantling, in April, a criminal network that was smuggling up to 1.5 million liters of fuel per week. Unlike many other busts, suspects were arrested during raids related to the dismantling of said criminal network.

Fuel theft, mainly from Pemex pipelines, and fuel smuggling — including via a tax evasion scheme known as huachicol fiscal — are major problems in Mexico.

However, authorities have made some headway in combating the problems. Pemex’s losses due to fuel theft in the first quarter of 2026 declined almost 30% annually to 3.81 billion pesos (US $220.7 million), according to the state-owned company’s own data, and authorities regularly seize large quantities of contraband fuel. Meanwhile, various people have been arrested in connection with fuel smuggling, including high-ranking members of the Mexican Navy and a couple from Utah who allegedly smuggled US $300 million worth of crude oil from Mexico into the U.S. in collaboration with Mexican criminal organizations. In addition, former Baja California Governor Ernesto Ruffo was arrested last month on organized crime, fuel theft and tax evasion charges.

Despite the progress, there is plenty of work still to be done to combat the illicit fuel trade in Mexico, an activity that Mexican drug cartels diversified into years ago.

In a June 30 statement announcing sanctions against two Mexican nationals and nine entities allegedly tied to a Jalisco New Generation Cartel-linked fuel theft scheme, the U.S. Treasury Department said that “[p]ublic reporting suggests that a quarter to a third of all fuel sold in Mexico may be illicit.”

The Treasury Department also said that activities related to fuel theft and smuggling “are currently the most significant non-drug revenue source for Mexican cartels and other illicit actors.”

With reports from El Sol de México and Reforma 

Taiwanese AI firm Inventec announces US $450M expansion in Ciudad Juárez

By
MND Staff
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0
microchip
Taiwan’s six "brothers" of electronics — Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron, Quanta, Compal and Inventec — all have manufacturing facilities in northern Mexico. (Inventec)

The Taiwanese multinational tech company Inventec has announced plans to invest US $450 million in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, as part of the firm’s expansion in northern Mexico. 

Inventec designs and manufactures electronics, servers and artificial intelligence (AI) hardware. The company’s expansion is expected to support the creation of up to 6,000 specialized jobs, according to the state government.

Officials from Chihuahua’s Innovation and Economic Development Ministry attended a ceremony on Monday marking the project’s foundational phase.  

The state of Chihuahua has become a major exporter of computer and AI equipment to the United States, making it a popular destination for companies looking to take advantage of Mexico as a nearshoring location, with lower labor costs and favorable tariff agreements. The investment demonstrates Inventec’s confidence in the region and ability to expand based on its previous performance. 

Taiwan’s six “brothers” of electronics — Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron, Quanta, Compal and Inventec — all have manufacturing facilities in northern Mexico. 

Mexico as an investment hub for Taiwanese tech 

In April 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that major United States tech companies had requested that their Taiwanese manufacturing partners increase the production of AI-related hardware in Mexico, in a bid to reduce their reliance on China.  

Over the past three years, several of those technology companies, including Foxconn, SINBON and Quanta, have invested in manufacturing expansions in Jalisco, Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí.

Mexico’s computer hardware exports increased by over 35% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, with a significant proportion of the rise attributable to AI servers. Bilateral trade with Taiwan, valued at US $7.5 billion in February alone, is projected to climb substantially by the end of the year.

With reports from Mexico Now

MND Local: Baja California Sur by the numbers in 2026

By
Chris Sands
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Playa Balandra in La Paz
Baja California Sur is renowned for its Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortés vantages, which account for 22.8% of the country’s total coastline. (Josh Withers/Unsplash)

Baja California Sur has more coastline than any state in Mexico, and by a significant amount. Its 2,131 kilometers (1,386 miles) are 42% more than the next closest state, neighboring Baja California. Yet, it has fewer inhabitants than any state save Colima — 13 times smaller by land area — and even factoring in growth since the 2020 census, it still has less than a million residents. 

This disparity and the attendant low population density (the lowest in Mexico, with only a dozen people per square kilometer, on average) help to explain the modern history of BCS. Historically remote and removed from the political power centers of mainland Mexico, the state was a backwater renowned for little besides fishing until advances in commercial aviation after the Second World War enabled the advent of modern tourism. 

A state of unusual extremes

Baja California municipal population chart for 2026
Baja California Sur’s five municipalities are widely divergent in terms of population and tourism. (Mexico News Daily)

Blessed with year-round sunshine and an abundance of prime coastal real estate, the state — and Los Cabos and La Paz, in particular — emerged as up-and-coming resort destinations beginning in the 1950s, with the National Tourism Development Fund (Fonatur) aiding the rapid rise of Los Cabos that began in earnest in the 1970s and has continued ever since. 

Today, tourism accounts for 60% of the state’s gross domestic product, compared with 8.5% for Mexico as a whole. But the revenues aren’t generated evenly or distributed equitably among the state’s five municipalities, nor are the population numbers balanced across the region. 

BCS is thus a state defined by unusual extremes, such as the fact that Mulegé is the second largest municipality by area in all of Mexico — at 33,000 square kilometers, only San Quintín in Baja California is bigger — yet with a tiny population that equates to only two people per square kilometer. 

Population

Mulegé’s most populous town, for example, is Santa Rosalía, a Pueblo Mágico whose legacy is tied to its former House of Rothschild-owned copper mine. Its population barely exceeds 14,000, and tourism to the municipality is so scarce that it isn’t even actively tracked. 

Cabo San Lucas, the most populous city in Los Cabos (202,694) and the second most populous in the state, behind only La Paz (250,141), rates as only a subdelegación … yet has far more residents than the municipalities of Comondú, Loreto and Mulegé combined. 

Los Cabos and La Paz (city and municipality), as the foremost drivers of tourism to the state, also have developed the most robust and diverse populations. An estimated four out of every 10 state residents, for example, are now non-natives — transplants from states like Guerrero, Sinaloa, Mexico City, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Jalisco drawn by opportunities in the hospitality and tourism sector. 

Hotel and room numbers for Baja California Sur
Los Cabos has only 37% of the hotels in Baja California Sur, but 76% of the available hotel rooms. (Mexico News Daily)

Because of tourism’s outsized importance to the state’s economy, the three largest cities — La Paz, Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo — now account for more than two-thirds of all residents in Baja California Sur.

Tourism

Last year, 4.523 million tourists visited Baja California Sur: with 3.77 million ticketed to Los Cabos, and just over half a million (575,509, to be exact) bound for La Paz. That means Los Cabos alone was responsible for 83% of the state’s tourism, and the municipalities of La Paz and Los Cabos combined for about 96%. The three other remaining municipalities — Comondú, Loreto and Mulegé — managed only 4%.

These destinations do have hospitality infrastructure. There were 508 hotels in Baja California Sur as of 2025, with 37% of them in Los Cabos, 29% in La Paz, a respectable 18% in Mulegé, 9% in Comondú, and 7% in Loreto. But of course, there’s a vast difference in size and quality of accommodations in Los Cabos compared to those of the state’s other municipalities.

In Mulegé, the average lodging has about 15 rooms. In Los Cabos, the number exceeds 100, with the RIU Palace boasting more than half as many rooms (690) as all the ones in Mulegé combined. Los Cabos, it must also be noted, has 22,254 of the 29,245 rooms in the entire state. So even though it has only 37% of the hotels, it has 76% of the available room inventory. 

Los Cabos is also a class apart in terms of luxury, with the average room costing upwards of US $440 per night as of the end of 2025. 

History, legacy and change


Tourism has certainly transformed the economy of Baja California Sur in recent decades, but history still plays a big part in how the state is laid out and governed. When BCS became the most recent Mexican state in 1974, there were only three municipalities: Comondú, La Paz and Mulegé. La Paz, which dates its founding to the arrival of Hernán Cortés in 1535, has been the capital of the state, and before that the territory, since 1830.

Loreto, site of the foundational Jesuit mission in 1697 and the capital of California until 1767 (and Baja California until 1829), was also the site of one of the original municipalities established in 1822, the year after Mexico gained its independence from Spain. So, too, was San José del Cabo. But both historic peninsular communities saw their power diminished until relatively recently: 1981 for San José del Cabo, when it became the municipal seat of the newly formed Los Cabos municipality; and 1992 for Loreto, when it regained municipal status.

What’s next?

Cabo San Lucas, the fastest-growing city in the state, saw its population nearly triple between 2010 and 2020, and there’s little question that, in addition to being the state’s prime tourism revenue generator, it will soon surpass La Paz as the most populous city. But it has traditionally lacked governmental autonomy and adequate support from the Los Cabos municipality to tackle the infrastructure issues associated with its extraordinary growth. 

Recent attempts to elevate Cabo San Lucas to become the state’s sixth municipality would change this narrative, but the outcome remains far from certain. 

Chris Sands is a writer and editor for Mexico News Daily, and the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He has also contributed to numerous other websites and publications, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise and Travel, and Cabo Living. 

Despite travel media acclaim, these Mexican destinations face tough tests for sustainability

By
Charlotte Smith
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Rancho La Puerta wellness facility in Tecate, Baja California
Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Baja California, was recently named the best wellness retreat in the world by Travel + Leisure. Tecate was one of several Mexican destinations to receive acclaim from the outlet. (Rancho La Puerta)

We recently reported that Travel + Leisure highlighted Mexico City, Tamarindo and Tecate in its annual World’s Best Awards, and the reaction was exactly what you would expect: flattering headlines and municipal pride. That sort of shoutout usually produces more searches and bookings in the short term, but it also raises a less glamorous, more important question for local leaders and community groups.

Can this burst of attention be shaped into lasting benefits for residents, or will it simply amplify existing pressures on housing, services and fragile environments?

What does this media attention mean for the sustainable tourism outlook?

Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo in Jalisco
Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, a haven for vacations and special events on Jalisco’s Costalegre coastline, was named the best resort in Mexico by Travel + Leisure (Four Seasons)

In the days after the mention, public indicators registered a clear bump. Google Trends logged higher search interest for all three places, flight-search engines showed spikes in queries and short-term rental trackers reported increased listings and rising nightly rates. Those are the predictable, fast and visible effects of international exposure. Turning that attention into durable improvements in people’s lives, though, takes work. Fortunately, it is the kind of work that sustainable tourism is meant to make routine rather than optional.

Sustainable tourism is not a feel-good marketing line. Practically speaking, it means making sure visitor spending supports local jobs and businesses, that cultural and natural assets are protected and that growth does not displace residents or overwhelm basic services. How that plays out depends on the place, which now means Mexico City, Tamarindo and Tecate face three very different tests.

Mexico City

Mexico City neighborhood corner
Mexico City welcomes millions of visitors each year, but tourism revenues don’t always benefit local neighborhoods or make them more livable for long-time locals. (Evan Wise/Unsplash)

In Mexico City, the pressure is granular, showing up on specific streets and in particular barrios. The city already handles millions of visitors, but the pain points crop up where short-term rentals have converted family housing into visitor units and where nightlife economies push up rents and change the retail mix. Several boroughs have experimented with licensing and permitting for transient rentals and stricter rules around commercial nightlife, but enforcement is inconsistent.

What the city needs are clearer, consistently enforced registries for short-term units and mechanisms that send tourism revenues back into neighborhood infrastructure. Think better public transport links, sanitation and cultural programming that keep communities livable. Without those steps, each new wave of tourists risks making the barrios that attract them less affordable and less authentic.

Tamarindo

Tourists eating and drinking at Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo in Mexico.
Despite its world-class resort, Tamarindo has very real limits in terms of basic infrastructure, making sustainable tourism essential. (Four Seasons)

Tamarindo, the Costalegre coast surf town, faces a different reality: ecological limits. Beaches and coastlines do not absorb extra people indefinitely. In places where wastewater treatment is patchy and coastal construction is poorly managed, more visitors quickly mean poorer water quality, faster erosion and pressure on nesting sites for turtles and shorebirds. Local conservation groups and regional water authorities repeatedly flag sewage treatment and stormwater management as urgent gaps.

For Tamarindo, sustainable tourism starts with functioning wastewater systems, stormwater controls, sensible coastal zoning and all basic infrastructure paired with visitor-management measures. Supporting community-based tourism also helps keep earnings in town rather than sending them to absentee owners.

Tecate

 

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Tecate’s inclusion highlights a third dynamic, as it is a small city that suddenly acquires cultural cachet and risks being reshaped by outside capital. Attention can lift local makers and food entrepreneurs, but it can also spur property speculation and rent increases that squeeze family businesses and long-term residents.

The Pueblo Mágico‘s leaders see an opening to promote craft producers, festivals and local food suppliers. However, without proactive measures like affordable-housing protections and procurement policies that favor local suppliers, the financial upside may be captured mainly by newcomers and external investors.

The importance of infrastructure

Across these three cases, a set of recurring structural gaps becomes apparent. Municipal regulations often lag fast changes in travel behavior, especially around short-term rentals and coastal permitting. Data systems are weak in many parts of the country, with towns frequently lacking reliable visitor counts or carrying-capacity studies. Infrastructure funding is a perennial bottleneck. Wastewater plants and solid-waste systems are expensive and politically less glamorous than hotel ribbon-cuttings, since political incentives tend to reward quick wins and headline figures over the slow, less flashy investments that sustain communities.

So, what does workable policy look like if these three cities want to stay on the list?

Practical measures are straightforward:

  • Licensing and caps for short-term rentals in pressure zones.

  • Directing a portion of tourism taxes into local infrastructure projects and neighborhood programs.

  • Carrying out more capacity studies and seasonal protections for ecologically sensitive areas.

  • Providing targeted support for local entrepreneurs through grants, training and credit.

  • Partnering with universities to supply monitoring through water-quality tests, biodiversity surveys and rental-market studies, while pushing for public dashboards that make data transparent.

  • Encouraging travelers to choose locally owned lodgings and tours while avoiding unregulated rentals in pressured neighborhoods.

Riding the momentum of the moment

The Travel + Leisure nod gives municipal governments and civic groups leverage, giving them a chance to attract funding and set priorities while interest is high. The crucial test is how each place will use this moment.

Mexico City skyline
Media acclaim is undoubtedly beneficial for Mexico’s top tourism destinations, but how they use it will determine how much it helps them in the long run. (Gabriel Benois/Unsplash)

If officials combine enforcement with targeted infrastructure spending and policies that expand local economic participation, the spotlight can catalyze a durable, resident-friendly rebound. If they do not, they risk accelerating environmental degradation and social strain — the very outcomes sustainable tourism aims to prevent.

To know whether the applause lasts, we will have to follow the hard signals: short-term rental inventories and enforcement actions, municipal budget allocations for water and sewage projects, multi-quarter occupancy and booking trends, coastal environmental indicators and community measures like housing affordability and small-business registrations.

That is the data that will tell us the real story: whether Travel + Leisure’s attention becomes a guiding light that helps communities plan and protect, or simply a brighter spotlight on long-standing problems.

Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.

UNAM researchers probe methods to turn food waste into nutritious beer

By
MND Staff
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0
pumpkins and bananas
Bananas and pumpkins are two foods that are rich in potassium and often result in unused waste — perfect candidates for the UNAM beer researchers experimenting with new methods and flavors. (Unsplash)

Students at Mexico’s leading public university are making their own beer, but it’s not the stereotypical case of mischievous young people setting up a homebrew kit to party in their dorm rooms.

Rather, the Chemistry Department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is carrying out a research project at the campus’s Educational Pilot Beer Plant, using normally wasted foods to diversify the flavors available in the national market while enriching the nutritional content of the beverage.

Students are experimenting with so-called “adjuncts” — carbohydrate-rich ingredients that complement the malt during the brewing process — and incorporating seasonal foods into the beer-making process. 

The approach reduces organic waste, lowers costs and produces a beer with additional nutritional characteristics, while keeping the alcohol content at or below 8%.

Agustín Reyo-Herrera, head of the research team, said a primary ingredient thus far has been overripe bananas, of which roughly 2,000 metric tons are wasted each year. 

Another reason for focusing on bananas is their high potassium content, as well as their significant amounts of dietary fiber and fermentable sugars, Reyo-Herrera said.

“We are incorporating the fermentable carbohydrates through experimental designs into a new product,” he said.

Reyo-Herrera said the project not only seeks to innovate in flavors, but also to quantify and standardize the nutrients present in each formulation, in addition to evaluating the functionality of the incorporated ingredients.

In addition to bananas, the research team has developed varieties with pumpkin, amaranth, sweet potato and cassava, each modifying the beverage’s properties — flavor, color and aroma — while still providing specific nutrients.

Amaranth provides a significant amount of iron and plant-based protein, while pumpkin provides protein, carbohydrates and potassium. 

Thus far, sweet potato and cassava are being experimentally integrated to measure their level of functionality and to calculate the volume of fermentable carbohydrates they can transfer to the mixture.

Innovation is not limited to increasing nutrients. It also encompasses the scientific standardization of flavors through instrumental analytical methodologies. For instance, the banana-based beer contains a fixed ratio of 25% fruit to 75% barley malt to achieve the ideal flavor balance. 

Mexico ranks fourth globally in beer production, behind the U.S., China and Brazil, but is the world’s leading exporter. Of the approximately 2 million hectoliters produced annually in Mexico, roughly 80% is sold in international markets.

In addition to scientific research, the Chemistry Department promotes the training of new specialists through a diploma course in Beer Science and Technology, taught in UNAM’s Continuing Education Department.

With reports from El Financiero, El Economista and El Imparcial

Sheinbaum decrees ‘total transparency’ for federal government: Tuesday’s mañanera recapped

By
MND Staff
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Sheinbaum at podium on Aug. 4, 2026
Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her transparency decree will be incorporated into the General Transparency Law in order to "guarantee access to information" for all Mexicans. (Juan Carlos Buenrostro/Presidencia)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 📝 Transparency decree signed: Sheinbaum signed a new “Decree to Strengthen Transparency in the Federal Government,” which she said eliminates public servants’ discretion over what information is disclosed and establishes specific guidelines on what must be made transparent, with exemptions mainly for national security documents.
  • 🗄️ Buenrostro details replacement system: Anti-Corruption and Good Governance Minister Raquel Buenrostro said the decree will compel government departments to publish information beyond what’s legally required. She also told reporters that her ministry has “stabilized” the National Transparency Platform (PNT), which she said was previously always offline.
  • 🏛️ Broader disclosure push: Buenrostro said the decree seeks greater transparency around public contracts, government audits and information related to Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission. She said that the federal government will invite state and municipal governments to also adhere to a “principle of maximum disclosure.”
  • 🇺🇸 Sheinbaum on governors’ US visas: Asked about the cancelation of state governors’ U.S. visas, Sheinbaum laughed and called it “a personal matter for each person,” before pivoting to note that her government has arrested mayors and officials from various parties when there is proof of criminal links.

Why today’s mañanera matters 

At her Tuesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum signed a decree that seeks to obligate the government she leads to be more transparent.

Her signing of the decree comes after the Mexican Congress, in late 2024, approved a controversial constitutional bill that eliminated seven watchdog agencies, including INAI, the national transparency agency.

On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum defended the decision to eliminate INAI, saying that funding the agency entailed “enormous” expenditure and that its personnel engaged in corruption.

Today’s mañanera was significant as the government provided details about the system it is developing as a replacement for INAI.

Also of note at the press conference was Sheinbaum’s response to a question about the cancelation of Mexican state governors’ U.S. visas. While the cancelation of only one governor’s U.S. visa is confirmed, a recent media report claimed that two other governors have also been stripped of their visas.

Sheinbaum signs transparency decree 

Early in her press conference, Sheinbaum told reporters that Anti-Corruption and Good Governance Minister Raquel Buenrostro would present “a decree we’re going to sign today to guarantee government transparency.”

“… This is in the constitution, it’s in the guidelines, but we’re going to do even more,” she said.

Sheinbaum signing transparency decree
One of the main features of the decree is that it eliminates the discretion of public servants to decide what information is disclosed and what information is reserved. (Juan Carlos Buenrostro/Presidencia)

Buenrostro said that the new presidential decree will compel all government departments to publish information “beyond” what they are legally required to disclose.

She subsequently told reporters that the ministry she leads has “stabilized” the National Transparency Platform (PNT), a website she said was previously “always offline.”

Buenrostro said that the PNT allows “everyone” to have “timely” access to government information. She said that “new tools” have been added to the site to make it easier for people to download information.

Buenrostro said that the new decree seeks to ensure greater transparency regarding public contracts, audits of government departments and information related to Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission.

“This information will be centralized and kept up to data on the National Transparency Platform,” she said.

Buenrostro said that the federal government will invite state and municipal governments and “other powers” to also adhere to the “principle of maximum disclosure” by being more transparent and publishing information of public interest in a timely manner.

After her presentation, Sheinbaum signed the decree, officially titled “Decree to Strengthen Transparency in the Federal Government.”

She said that the decree eliminates the discretion of public servants to decide what information is disclosed and what information is reserved.

“There is now a specific guideline of what must be transparent,” Sheinbaum said, noting that documents related to national security are among the information that may be exempt from disclosure.

“… It’s total transparency from the government of Mexico,” she said.

Sheinbaum also said that her transparency decree will be incorporated into the General Transparency Law in order to “guarantee access to information” for all Mexicans.

Sheinbaum: Cancelation of officials’ US visas is a ‘personal’ matter 

A reporter asked Sheinbaum whether she had spoken to state governors about “the situation” regarding their U.S. visas. “What are the reasons why they would be canceled?” she asked the president.

Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda revealed last year that her U.S. tourist visa had been revoked, but denied any criminal wrongdoing. However, in a recently leaked telephone conversation with one man identified as an “external” FBI adviser and another man identified as an FBI “special agent,” Ávila said she was willing to cooperate with U.S. authorities, apparently in order to avoid possible criminal charges in the United States and extradition to that country.

The governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila, with her husband Carlos Torres, a politician and member of the ruling Morena party.
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila and her ex-husband Carlos Torres both lost their U.S. visas in 2025. (@MarinadelPilar/X)

In June, The Los Angeles Times published a report that stated that the United States was investigating Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo and Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal Anaya for alleged criminal offenses. Both men have “been stripped of their U.S. visas amid criminal probes, according to people familiar with the cases,” the Times reported.

Ávila, Durazo and Villarreal all represent the ruling Morena party, as does Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, who is currently on leave after the unsealing in April of a U.S. indictment accusing him and various other current and former Sinaloa-based officials of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel.

On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum’s first reaction to the reporter’s question was to laugh.

“It’s a personal matter for each person,” she subsequently said.

The reporter pointed out that the people whose U.S. visas have been canceled or reportedly canceled are public servants.

“Yes, but it’s a personal matter,” Sheinbaum reiterated.

The president then pivoted to speaking about the actions her government has taken against officials who have allegedly committed crimes.

“Mayors have been arrested, officials from different political parties have been detained where there is proof of their links to crime,” she said.

“… When there is evidence, action is taken,” said Sheinbaum, who has endorsed the Federal Attorney General Office’s view that the United States didn’t provide sufficient proof to warrant the extradition of Rocha Moya.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer begins manufacturing in Chihuahua

By
MND Staff
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0
Chihuahua governor presenting at the opening of Embraer factory in the state
Governor Maru Campos presided over Monday’s inauguration ceremony at the plant in the Chihuahua Industrial Complex. (Chihuahua Government)

Chihuahua’s aerospace industry continues to spread its wings as Embraer officially began operations at a manufacturing plant in the state capital, the Brazilian company’s first manufacturing plant in Mexico.

Governor Maru Campos presided over Monday’s inauguration ceremony at the plant in the Chihuahua Industrial Complex, joined by Embraer CEO Anderson Nascimento and Andreza Alberto, vice president of corporate communications. Chihuahua City Mayor Marco Bonilla was also present.

“My administration will continue to support [Embraer] and its goals,” Campos said. “It is my government’s belief that a competitive state, with solid institutions and favorable conditions for investment, translates into a better quality of life for the population.”

Also in attendance were: Luis Manuel Azúa, president of the Mexican Federation of the Aerospace Industry; Myrna de las Casas, director of the National Council of the Maquiladora and Export Manufacturing Industry; Christian Okada, Embraer México’s CFO; and Adolfo Viramontes, director of the Embraer México plant.

The factory will produce cabin interior components, such as overhead luggage compartments, kitchens, bathrooms and floor panels. The units will primarily be for export to markets including Brazil, the United States, France and Singapore.

“Each of these components carries a little piece of our city, the technical capacity of our people, their discipline, and that commitment to quality that distinguishes Chihuahua,” Mayor Bonilla said

Production will take place at a factory in Chihuahua City that started as a joint venture between Embraer and C&D Aerospace, now part of Safran Cabin. The factory had been producing components exclusively for Embraer’s family of aircraft since 2012. 

Safran, a subsidiary of France’s Grupo Safran, is an aircraft manufacturing and servicing company that operates over 21 industrial, engineering and maintenance sites in Mexico with more than 16,000 employees. 

French aerospace manufacturer Safran invests US $35M in Querétaro plant

On July 1, the Brazilian aerospace company acquired 50% of Safran’s stake in what was known as the EZ Air Interior industrial plant, becoming the majority shareholder and taking control of 100% of the complex. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The “new” Embraer factory is the only manufacturer in the country that produces all the components of civil aircraft cabins.

Embraer now employs 1,100 direct people in Chihuahua, and the workforce is expected to expand gradually as the conglomerate’s investment and development plans in the state evolve. 

The state of Chihuahua is the national leader in the aerospace industry, concentrating a gross production of nearly 17 billion pesos (US $984 million), roughly 36% of the national total, in addition to registering exports of more than US $2 billion last year.

With reports from Reporte Indigo, Puente Libre and Excelsior

Pemex net profit plunges 70% in Q2 despite debt reduction

By
MND Staff
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Dos Bocas Refinery at dusk
Pemex said that the lower profit was due to a 177% annual increase in its financial costs, higher tax obligations and an unfavorable exchange rate. (Isabel Mateos Hinojosa/Cuartoscuro)

Pemex’s net profit declined almost 70% annually in the second quarter of 2026, but the heavily indebted state oil company nevertheless asserted that it recorded “favorable results” in the period.

In a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange on Friday, Pemex reported a net profit of 18.02 billion pesos (US $1.04 billion) between April and June, a decline of 69.7% compared to the second quarter of 2025.

Pemex said that the lower profit was due to a 177% annual increase in its financial costs, higher tax obligations and an unfavorable exchange rate, with the peso strengthening around 2.5% against the US dollar in the second quarter of the year.

Despite the near 70% decline in its net profit, Pemex said in a statement on Friday that it recorded “favorable results in its main operational and financial indicators” in the second quarter.

“In an international environment of high volatility, the company maintained its production base, recorded higher levels of industrial transformation [i.e. refining] and guaranteed supply to the national market,” Pemex said.

The state oil company said that between April and June:

  • Its “total production of hydrocarbons averaged 2.477 million barrels of crude oil equivalent per day,” an annual increase of 4.6%.
  • Its production of liquid hydrocarbons averaged 1.658 million barrels per day (bpd), “supported by strategic fields such as Ixachi, Bakté, Itta, Koban and Maloob.” (This level of production is short of the government’s 1.8 million bpd goal and represents a decline compared to 2025.)
  • Its processing of crude at refineries increased 2.9% annually to 1.008 million bpd.
  • Its national sales of oil and oil products increased 9.8% annually to 1.471 million bpd.
  • Its income from sales and services rose 30.3% annually to 510.4 billion pesos (US $29.45 billion).
  • Its operating profit was 85.5 billion pesos (US $4.93 billion), a significant improvement from a 11 billion-peso loss in the second quarter of 2025.

Pemex also reported that its debt at June 30 was US $77.5 billion, a reduction of 9.1% compared to the end of 2025.

“In addition, short-term debt accounted for a smaller share of total debt, easing immediate financial pressures and strengthening the company’s financial flexibility. This is consistent with Pemex’s commitment to maintaining zero net debt,” the state oil company said.

Pemex is aiming to increase oil production, including via partnerships with private companies, as the federal government seeks to reach self-sufficiency for fuel. However, Reuters reported on Friday that “progress has been slower than hoped and uncertainty remains over how quickly new projects can contribute meaningful volumes.”

The news agency also said that Pemex “has increasingly directed production to domestic refineries as part ⁠of the ​government’s push for energy self-sufficiency, even as stronger ​oil prices could make exports more lucrative.”

In addition, Reuters reported that “Pemex is struggling to reverse years of declining output while it tries ​to reduce its financial obligations to bondholders, banks, suppliers and contractors.”

Citing the company’s Mexican Stock Exchange filing, Reuters said that as of June 30, Pemex ‌”had ⁠restructured 255.39 billion pesos [US $14.74 billion] of supplier debt incurred in 2025 under an eight-year payment scheme.”

The federal government has provided ample financial support for Pemex in recent years, and President Claudia Sheinbaum asserted in February that the company had “recovered” after former Mexican governments “dedicated 36 years to trying to disappear” it between 1982 and 2018.

Pemex debt hits lowest level in over a decade at $84.5 billion

When announcing a cut to Mexico’s sovereign credit rating in May, Moody’s warned that “continued support for Pemex will continue to limit fiscal consolidation.”

One new partnership that the federal government hopes will lead to a boost in oil production is that between Pemex and Brazil’s Petrobras, which are set to collaborate on deep-water exploration and extraction in the Gulf of Mexico.

With reports from AFP, El Economista and Reuters 

Earthquake monitoring is coming to Mexico’s historically underserved northern states

By
MND Staff
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UNAM scientist
UNAM is planning 58 new seismic monitoring stations targeted for the border states. And, yes, there are earthquakes in northern Mexico, says Leonardo Ramírez Guzmán, of UNAM’s Institute of Engineering: “Seismic activity is also recorded there, so having more stations will allow for more precise identification and study of these events.” (UNAM)

The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) announced this week it is building 58 new seismic monitoring stations nationwide, targeting the historically under-instrumented north.

Much of the expansion covers the Baja California peninsula, as well as the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Nuevo León.

The monitoring stations and their computers don’t make earthquake predictions; rather, they collect data and can provide rapid damage-assessment tools that deliver near-real-time data for emergency crews.

Northern Mexico is often seen as low-risk for earthquakes, but Leonardo Ramírez Guzmán, head of the seismic research unit with UNAM’s Institute of Engineering, pushed back on the assumption.

“There is a misconception that earthquakes don’t occur in those regions,” he said. “However, seismic activity is also recorded there, so having more stations will allow for more precise identification and study of these events.”

Guerrero currently has the most stations with 34, followed by 30 in Oaxaca with two more under construction. 

And then there’s Mexico City: With roughly 100 stations operating, CDMX ranks among the world’s densest networks, comparable to Tokyo and Los Angeles. Sensors in CDMX even picked up an “artificial earthquake” after Mexico scored an important goal at Estadio Azteca during the World Cup.

The expansion project is funded by the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) with support from the National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred).

In addition to the building of more stations, UNAM is also rolling out a platform that shows earthquake intensity maps less than an hour after a tremor — a system that was validated after a magnitude 6.5 quake shook Guerrero on Jan. 2.

UNAM said its shake-intensity readings, taken as the temblor occurred and available in about 40 minutes, ended up matching actual damage reports, including which buildings were affected and which areas were hit hardest.

Mexico’s seismic infrastructure includes the Sasmex alert system, considered the world’s oldest public earthquake early-warning service, dating to 1991, and a joint Mexico-Japan deep-sea sensor deployment off Oaxaca. 

According to data from Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN), there have been 15 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or larger in Mexico over the past 25 years — most concentrated along the Pacific coast states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco.

A separate study using data from 1787 through 2022 found that Mexico recorded 322 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or greater and 151 of 7.0 or greater over those 235 years — averaging out to about seven 6.5+ earthquakes every five years.

With reports from El Financiero, UNAM Global and Excélsior

Why is Chihuahua working on water projects with Israel?

By
MND Staff
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Chihuahua march
The pact is presented as technical and non-binding, but opponents see it as a privatization move to provide business opportunities to Israeli companies. (Estrella Josento/Cuartoscuro)

A water cooperation agreement between the Chihuahua state government and the Israeli international cooperation agency MASHAV has become the center of social conflict and the cause of growing protests amid extreme water stress in the state.

On Saturday, protesters called by the Save the Hills of Chihuahua and the Feminist Assembly marched through the streets of the capital city of Chihuahua, accusing the state government and the Central Water and Sanitation Board (JCAS) of promoting Zionism and doing business with a government they accuse of committing genocide in Gaza. 

In addition to the protests in Chihuahua aimed specifically at the water pact, anti-Israel marches took place across the country, including in Mexico City. (Estrella Josento/Cuartoscuro)

The demonstrations were part of a nationwide day of action involving at least 14 states, where protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza and demanded that the Mexican government end diplomatic and trade relations with Israel. 

At the center of the controversy is a signed cooperation agreement dated February 2023 between the JCAS of Chihuahua and MASHAV, part of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Valid until 2027, the agreement establishes the exchange of knowledge and technology for the design, construction and maintenance of water systems in crisis conditions, as well as improvements in the reuse of treated water, efficiency in drinking water, sanitation and sustainable agriculture.

The agreement allows participation of the Israeli private sector in water-related projects in Chihuahua. Although the agreement is presented as a technical cooperation plan, activists claim that it facilitates contracts and business opportunities for Israeli companies in the state’s water infrastructure.

Opponents also argue that the Chihuahua government did not register the international agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE), which would make it illegal in Mexico. 

However, Governor Maru Campos Galván and head of JCAS Mario Mata Carrasco stated that the agreement is not a legally binding document and does not create any legally binding obligations or benefits for the parties involved. 

Rather, they say it is a technical cooperation mechanism for sharing knowledge without granting rights, concessions or control over the state’s water — meaning there wouldn’t be an obligation to register the agreement with the SRE. 

According to Mexican law, non-binding international agreements are not necessarily subject to the same registration requirements as treaties or other legally binding agreements. Nonetheless, the SRE suggests a similar registration procedure to ensure consistency with Mexico’s foreign policy, meaning such agreements wouldn’t necessarily appear in the SRE’s treaty database.

For the state government, this international agreement means an opportunity to learn from Israel’s experience in water treatment, reuse and desalination processes to strengthen the hydraulic infrastructure of Chihuahua, especially given the drought conditions the state is currently facing.

With reports from La Jornada, Expansión, Enfoque Noticias and SPD Noticias 

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