"The [renovation] project’s goal is to create a more attractive and safer space for visitors," Puerto Vallarta Mayor Luis Munguía said. (Gobierno Municipal de Puerto Vallarta/Facebook)
Puerto Vallarta’s boardwalk, better known by its Spanish name malecón, will soon undergo renovations, the Public Works Adjudication Committee for Jalisco announced on Monday.
During Monday’s session, Mayor Luis Munguía voiced his support for improvements to the popular malecón, a source of pride for local residents of the famous Pacific Coast destination.
Additional places to sit are a welcome addition to the Puerto Vallarta boardwalk. (Gobierno Municipal de Puerto Vallarta/Facebook)
The project’s goal is to create a more attractive and safer space for visitors, Munguía said. The plans include the renovation of curbs, seawall cleaning, and the installation of prefabricated benches.
Around 2.6 million tourists visited Puerto Vallarta in the first seven months of 2024, and the mile-long malecón is beloved by residents and tourists alike.
The Public Works Adjudication Committee recently completed improvements to the malecón, including the replacement of 35 traditional lamps with LED technology, infrastructure repairs and a thorough cleaning, all aimed at enhancing sustainability and energy efficiency, the municipal government shared on its Facebook site.
More improvements in the pipeline
In January, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro announced plans to build a new 140-meter-long pier near Hotel Rosita on the Puerto Vallarta malecón.
The project is expected to cost 430 million pesos (US $21.3 million), according to Lemus. It will feature a canopy with a metal structure and steel mesh, pedestrian and stage lighting, outdoor seating and a large viewing platform.
Lemus expressed his vision of a more standardized image for Vallarta’s future.
Around 2.6 million tourists visited Puerto Vallarta in the first seven months of 2024. (Gobierno Municipal de Puerto Vallarta/Facebook)
“We want the people of Puerto Vallarta, the historic center, to have a standardized urban image,” Lemus said. “That is, for the entire town of Vallarta to be seen as those of us in my generation who grew up here remember it — all white, tiled, with all the houses the same, not as it is today, where some are one color, others another. We want to standardize the entire image and encourage many more tourists.”
Several piers have recently been completed along Jalisco’s coast, including in Quimixto, Punta Pérula, Melaque and Boca de Tomatlán.
The state government plans to construct more piers along the coast in Mismaloya, Las Peñas, Yelapa, Chimo, Bahía de Tehuamixtle and Bahía de Navidad.
The United States on Wednesday imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, as per an executive order Trump signed on Feb. 10. The U.S. has delayed tariffs on other Mexican goods and products until April 2, when it will make a final decision. (DedMityay/Shutterstock)
Mexico got a concession on tariffs from United States President Donald Trump last week, but it couldn’t avoid duties on the steel and aluminum it exports to its northern neighbor.
The United States on Wednesday imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, as per an executive order Trump signed on Feb. 10. The tariffs — imposed on national security grounds — also apply to hundreds of products made with those metals, including nuts and bolts, bulldozer blades and soda cans, according to Reuters.
Mexico and other countries tried to get an exemption to the duties but were unsuccessful.
“President Trump has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Pursuant to his previous executive orders, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum with no exceptions or exemptions will go into effect for Canada and all of our other trading partners at midnight, March 12th,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government would wait until April 2 to decide whether it would retaliate against the U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum. April 2 is the date the United States intends to impose reciprocal tariffs on imports from all its trade partners.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has maintained that she expects no U.S. tariffs to be imposed on April 2, when Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” go into effect. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum once again expressed confidence that the vast majority of Mexican goods won’t be subject to reciprocal tariffs as Mexico, in accordance with the USMCA, doesn’t impose tariffs on most products it imports from the United States.
Speaking at her morning press conference, she noted that Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Tuesday and said that the two countries had agreed to keep talking ahead of the April 2 commencement of the United States’ planned reciprocal tariffs.
“We’re going to wait until April 2 and then we will decide whether or not to impose reciprocal tariffs,” Sheinbaum said.
While Mexico is adopting a wait-and-see approach, Trump’s new tariffs drew “swift retaliation” from Canada and Europe, Reuters reported.
Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, center, has visited Washington, D.C. three times since January to negotiate an exemption for Mexico from U.S. tariffs. (Economia/X)
The Mexican government’s argument against the current tariffs centered on the fact that Mexico buys more steel and aluminum from the United States than it sells.
Ebrard said last month that the 25% tariffs are illogical and a “bad idea” with regard to Mexico.
How will the tariffs impact Mexico?
Mexico is the world’s second largest exporter of steel, aluminum and products derived from those metals to the United States, according to 2024 data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The value of those Mexican exports to the U.S. was US $34.83 billion last year, second only to China.
Most of that amount, however, came from the export of products derived from aluminum and steel. Mexico’s exports of steel itself to the United States were worth US $3.5 billion last year, while aluminum shipments generated revenue of $397 million.
After Trump signed his Feb. 10 executive order, the Mexican Iron and Steel Industry Chamber (Canacero) expressed its “profound disagreement” with 25% tariffs on Mexican steel.
“This measure will severely affect the iron and steel industry and North America’s entire metalworking chain, placing competitiveness and regional integration at risk,” Canacero said in a Feb. 11 statement.
The industry group said that the tariffs posed a threat to 75% of Mexico’s steel exports and placed at risk “jobs and key investment in our country.”
“If exclusion of Mexican steel from this measure is not achieved, it will be necessary to apply reciprocal reprisals on United States steel products,” Canacero said.
According to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), a Mexico City-based think tank, the United States’ steel and aluminum tariffs will impact 4.7% of all Mexican exports. Mexico’s exports of steel, aluminum and derivative products collectively contributed to 1.56% of Mexico’s GDP in 2024, the think tank said.
A partir de mañana, 12 de marzo, entrarán en vigor los aranceles del 25% al acero y al aluminio. En el caso del aluminio, 🇺🇸 impondrá aranceles a ciertos productos inesperados dentro de la lista, lo que afectará las exportaciones mexicanas. 🔎Consulta más: https://t.co/NVKY13GAHApic.twitter.com/4NWgR3C4JH
While Mexico only exports about US $3.5 billion of steel and US $397 million of aluminum to the U.S., the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness says the tariffs would apply to a wide variety of products made in Mexico with these metals. (IMCO)
In a statement issued in late February, IMCO noted that auto parts, domestic appliances and electronic products manufactured in Mexico will be affected by the tariffs. The manufacture of those products is “crucial” to the industrial sectors of at least 11 Mexican states, the think tank said.
IMCO calculated that the new 25% tariffs — if they had been in effect in 2024 — would have affected Mexican goods worth US $22.53 billion.
The figure is lower than the total value of Mexico’s steel and aluminum exports to the United States last year because the new tariffs only apply to the steel and aluminum content of a product partially derived from those metals, not the entire product. In addition, United States steel and aluminum used in products exported to the U.S. are not subject to the 25% tariffs.
Among the Mexican products that are subject to the new tariffs, IMCO listed those that generated the most revenue as a result of their shipment to the United States last year.
Auto body parts: $7.71 billion
Air conditioner parts: $2.88 billion
Vehicle engine parts: $1.45 billion
Vehicle air conditioner parts: $1.14 billion
Vehicle suspension parts: $817.6 million
Telephone parts: $814.5 million
Metal furniture: $727.5 million
Machines and mechanical devices: $572.7 million
Fridge and freezer parts: $428.9 million
Electrical devices: $407 million
IMCO noted that Mexico’s auto industry, “one of the country’s main export sectors,” will be “directly” impacted by the tariffs.
The El Economista newspaper reported that the United States’ universal steel and aluminum tariffs will drive up prices for a range of products in the U.S., including cars, domestic appliances, construction materials and solar panels.
The New York Times reported that “because steel and aluminum are used to make so many other products, raising the price of the metal will have ripple effects throughout the U.S. economy.”
“By increasing costs of basic inputs for many companies, the tariffs could harm manufacturers who ultimately employ far more Americans than steel mills and aluminum smelters do, potentially causing Mr. Trump’s plans to bolster U.S. manufacturing to backfire,” the Times said.
A monthlong investigation after the death of two dolphins in the hotel's aquatic show led to the suspension of the event. (Ranae Smith/Unsplash)
The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) has suspended aquatic shows at one of the Riviera Maya’s biggest resorts following a month-long investigation into the treatment of dolphins at the facility.
The decision to halt shows at the Barceló Maya Grand Resort in Quintana Roo came after a video surfaced showing a leaping dolphin landing hard on concrete during a performance in January, and amid reports of the deaths of two other dolphins, Alex and Plata, last year.
Profepa stated that the hotel’s dolphinarium does not have the necessary permits, and the activities are not included in its management plan. (Digital News QR/X)
The suspension, which also applies to hands-on encounters in the dolphin pool, was based on the lack of authorization from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) for the resort to host dolphin shows.
“It’s important to add that … Profepa will begin conducting inspections at all dolphinariums in the country to ensure the dignified treatment of the animals they house,” the agency wrote in the press release.
Located halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, the sprawling, all-inclusive Barceló Maya Grand Resort includes more than 2,500 guest rooms spread out among five interconnected hotels and a separate adults-only property.
The dolphin injured in the recent acrobatic stunt, Mincho, has been transferred to a facility where its condition is being monitored, federal environmental protection attorney Mariana Boy Tamborrell said in a video posted to Profepa’s social media accounts.
However, Jerónimo Sánchez, director of the Animal Heroes organization, expressed skepticism about Mincho’s survival chances after such an impact.
In an interview with the newspaper El País, Sánchez added, “We find it incredible that a multinational hotel chain like Barceló would agree to host shows without [proper permits]. It’s terrible. [The facility] is one of the smallest in Mexico, there’s no shade, the pool is smaller than the human ones — and Alex and Plata have already died.”
Animal rights groups have long campaigned against the exploitation of dolphins in entertainment.
A protest by animal protection activists at a Hotel Barceló in Mexico City last year. (Alice Moritz/Cuartoscuro)
“How foolish to take photos with these animals or swim with them,” Sara Rincón Gallardo, president of the Luum Balicheo animal protection society, said in the newspaper Por Esto. “As long as there are consumers, it will be difficult to eradicate this practice.”
Profepa noted that although the hotel can continue to operate normally, the dolphinarium will remain closed until further notice.
The incident has sparked outrage and calls for the closure of dolphinariums across Mexico, where there are approximately 30 facilities, according to El País. Most are located in Quintana Roo, but there are others in Guerrero, Veracruz, Baja California Sur, Nayarit and Mexico City.
According to data from Forbes México, there were approximately 3,000 dolphins in captivity around the globe at the start of this decade, with 60% of those in just five countries: China (23%), Japan (16%), the United States (13%), Mexico (8%) and Russia (5%). That translates to about 250 captive dolphins in Mexico at that time.
In late 2022, Mexico’s lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, modified the country’s General Wildlife Law to include a prohibition against the use of marine mammals such as dolphins, seals and otters for entertainment purposes unless it is for scientific research or educational reasons.
The enacted law requires owners of marine mammals to comply by presenting an inventory and updating their management plans. However, enforcement has reportedly been uneven.
Eugenia Morales, wildlife campaigns manager at World Animal Protection, emphasized the need for thorough inspections and a plan to gradually close all such facilities.
“We support the investigation into this case and call for transparent inspections in all dolphinariums in the country,” she said. “It’s time for this to be the last generation of dolphins used for entertainment in Mexico.”
Local Tourism Director Ana Navarro said that Los Cabos stands out from other Mexican destinations because spring breakers there spend approximately 50% more than they do in other destinations. (Unsplash)
Twenty thousand spring breakers have already descended on the beaches and night clubs of Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, a number that is expected to more than double before the season ends on April 5 and provide a much-needed boost to the local economy.
Local Director of Tourism Ana Gabriela Navarro González confirmed the 20,000 figure for early arrivals for the season that began the first week of March. Los Cabos is expecting more than 50,000 tourists, eclipsing last year’s total of 45,000 spring breakers.
#LaNota con Zarahí Hamburgo:
Más de 50 mil jóvenes de EE. UU. Visitarán Los Cabos durante el Spring Break.👥🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/e8cSN7aMqQ
Overall, hotel occupancy this season is expected to reach 80% with an economic impact of US $30 million.
Raúl Olivares, president of the El Médano Beach Tourism Service Providers Association, said that after a slowing trend in recent years, the arrival of spring breakers appears to be providing a boost to the local economy. While night clubs are among the businesses that benefit the most from the spring tourist influx, Olivares said that providers of nautical-tourism services expect a rebound of around 40%.
In a statement, Navarro noted that Los Cabos stands out from other Mexican destinations because spring breakers there spend approximately 50% more than they do in other destinations, significantly boosting the local economy.
“We are committed to offering a unique and safe experience to all our visitors,” Navarro said. “Inter-institutional coordination is key to ensuring the season’s success.”
In addition to the economic benefit, spring breakers bring tonnes of litter. From glass and plastic bottles to cigarette butts, Mexican officials expect to collect about 500% more trash across all beaches of Los Cabos during the spring break season than at other times of the year.
In 2024, authorities collected over 95 tonnes, while 2023 brought 90 tonnes.
Authorities are expecting visitors to generate upwards of 100 tonnes of trash during spring break in Los Cabos. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Authorities said that some of the beaches with the most tourists, and therefore the most trash, include El Médano, Coral Negro (packing plant), La Hacienda, 8 Cascadas, Las Viudas, Santa María, El Chileno, El Tule, Palmilla, and La Ribera.
“[We] will be working to clean up and collect trash at various tourist attractions to keep them clean for visitors,” Roberto Sandoval Montaño, coordinator of Public Services in Cabo San Lucas said.
Furthermore, the municipal coordinator of the Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone, Rafael Álvarez Munguía, said that lifeguards are stationed at seven towers to monitor and ensure the safety of swimmers. A jet ski and trained personnel will also be on duty from the sea in case a rescue is needed.
Break out the sunblock — it's heat wave season once again in Mexico! (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
After record heat and scorching drought prompted scares about a Day Zero event in June 2024 — when Mexico City was predicted to run out of water — federal weather authorities are predicting more of the same for the spring season of 2025.
Earlier this month, the Civil Protection and Risk Management Ministry (SGIRPC) projected that four or five heat waves will bedevil the Mexico City metropolitan area this spring, with temperatures expected to top 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).
The highest temperatures forecast for May 2025 across Mexico. (SMN)
These heat waves (defined as at least three consecutive days during which temperatures are above average) will arrive in April and May, according to the National Meteorological Service (SMN), which added that each wave will last about six or seven days. The spring months are typically the hottest in Mexico City, with temperatures cooling off once the rainy season begins in June.
On May 25 last year, the thermometer hit a record 34.7 C (94.5 F) in Mexico City and, countrywide, 2024 was the hottest year on record, led by the record-setting temperatures in May — the hottest May in Mexico since 1953.
The SGIRPC also issued a warning to capital residents, reminding them that if they plan on using electric fans they must make sure they meet official standards so as to prevent short-circuits. The message also urged caution when eating at outdoor stands as food spoils more rapidly in the heat.
Heat waves have become more frequent and more intense in the capital, according to the SMN. In the 1980s, Mexico City saw roughly one heat wave each year lasting about five days. Since 2020, Mexico City has averaged four heat waves per year with one heat wave lasting an entire month.
As for the rest of the country, the SMN confirmed that the first heat wave of 2025 arrived last week in western Mexico, primarily affecting the Pacific coast regions of the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (105 F) in the latter four states, while the mercury hit 35 C (95 F) in states from the northern border to the Yucatán Peninsula.
The SMN’s monthly perspective for March indicates high temperatures in Mexico’s southeast and southwest, with potential for heat waves in north-central Mexico.
The country’s second heat wave is expected this week, with temperatures beginning to rise on Tuesday afternoon.
The SMN said the same westernmost states (Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas) would be most affected, but the central highland states of Morelos and Puebla would also feel the heat with temps in the 40s (100 F).
The authorities are urging the public to take all precautions: stay out of direct sunlight, especially during peak hours and use sunblock, wear light clothing, hydrate regularly, eat fruits and vegetables and avoid alcohol.
How much progress has President Claudia Sheinbaum made in fighting Mexico's femicide problem? María Meléndez investigates. (Alaín Hernández/Cuartoscuro)
This year marked the first International Women’s Day in Mexico with a woman serving as president. In her speech for the occasion, Claudia Sheinbaum emphasized that her achievement was not solely her own, but a collective triumph for all Mexican women, in a country plagued by women’s rights abuses.
Is Mexico's first female president protecting women?
Join María Meléndez as she takes a look at how Mexico’s first female president is solving the largest social issue facing Mexican society today: Gender violence.
St. Patrick's Day is almost upon us. Please don't turn Mexico's already limited water supply green and maybe try celebrating with this instead? (Margaritaville)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that human beings will put almost anything in their beer, provided they are given a good enough reason or enough peer pressure.
Take St. Patrick’s Day. A perfectly fine Catholic feast day that, thanks to some transatlantic shenanigans, turned into an excuse for Americans to dye their beer green and pretend to be Irish for exactly 24 hours before retreating to their usual national pastimes of arguing about egg prices and misunderstanding soccer. The day allegedly honors Saint Patrick, a missionary who, depending on which story you believe, either drove the snakes out of Ireland (which is a lie) or converted a bunch of pagans by explaining the Holy Trinity with a shamrock (which is slightly less of a lie, but still suspicious). Either way, March 17 became a day of religious observation in Ireland, where people went to church and then went home to soberly contemplate their sins, much like every other day in Ireland.
Whoever did this should be in The Hague to answer for their crimes. (Ireland.ie)
But then, like everything else that reached America’s shores, St. Patrick’s Day underwent an evolution — or, more accurately, an aggressive rebranding campaign. Irish immigrants in the U.S., tired of being treated like third-class citizens, turned the day into a celebration of their heritage, with parades, music, and eventually, large quantities of beer. Then, of course, the rest of America realized that drinking beer in public was fun, and suddenly, everyone was Irish on March 17. The green dye came later, probably invented by some sadistic Chicagoan who thought, “What if beer, but swamp-colored?” The tradition stuck, and now we have an annual event where people consume regrettable amounts of Guinness and wear shirts that say “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” despite being named Chad and having zero Irish ancestry.
One theory attributes the Michelada to a man named Michel Esper, who supposedly frequented a sports club in San Luis Potosí in the 1960s and enjoyed ordering his beer with lime, salt, and hot sauce. Another, less romantic theory suggests that “Michelada” is just a mash-up of “mi chela helada” (“my cold beer”) and that, rather than the stroke of genius from a single visionary, it was merely a logical step for a country that already puts lime on everything. Either way, the Michelada spread like wildfire, and soon every cantina in Mexico had its own version, each one slightly different but always adhering to the fundamental principle that beer should not have to stand alone.
Like St. Patrick’s Day beer, the Michelada has its skeptics. There are those who argue that beer should remain unadulterated, left to exist in its purest form. These are the same people who think pizza shouldn’t have pineapple and that socks should always match. But the Michelada, like St. Patrick’s Day, thrives on joyful chaos. It is beer with flair, beer with a sense of adventure.
This is perfection in a glass. (Snappr/Pexels)
The key difference, of course, is that while St. Patrick’s Day beer is a one-day-a-year spectacle, the Michelada is an everyday companion. No one wakes up on March 18 and thinks, “Ah yes, time for another pint of green Bud Light.” But a Michelada? That is a remedy. A lifeline. It is brunch, it is beach, it is “I made some mistakes last night, and I need to set things right.” In this sense, Micheladas are superior. They do not pretend to be something they are not. They do not need an artificial holiday to justify their existence. They simply are.
And so, what have we learned? That beer is merely a blank canvas onto which cultures project their own particular forms of merriment, regret, and questionable decisions. That humans, given enough time and access to condiments, will eventually throw anything into their beverages. And, most importantly, that whether it’s green beer in Chicago or a Michelada in Mexico City, history is often just the sum of our most enthusiastic bad ideas.
The St. Paddy’s Day Michelada
A.K.A. “The Shamrock y Sangre.” (Jameson)
Ingredients:
1 cold Mexican lager (Corona, Modelo, or Pacifico)
1 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz lime juice
2 dashes hot sauce
1 dash Worcestershire sauce (or Maggi sauce)
¼ cup Clamato or tomato juice
1 pinch celery salt
1 pinch black pepper
1 handful ice
Green food coloring
Tajín or salt for the rim
Garnish:
A lime wedge
A crispy strip of bacon
A small pickle or pickled jalapeño
A tiny Irish flag
Directions:
Rim the glass with lime juice, then dip it in Tajín or salt.
In the glass, mix the lime juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Clamato, celery salt, and black pepper.
Add ice
Pour in the whiskey
Crack open the beer, add a few drops of green food coloring, and gently pour it in.
Garnish extravagantly—lime, bacon, pickle, and a tiny Irish flag for maximum confusion.
Drink responsibly, or at least with plausible deniability.
Stephen Randall has lived in Mexico since 2018 by way of Kentucky, and before that, Germany. He’s an enthusiastic amateur chef who takes inspiration from many different cuisines, with favorites including Mexican and Mediterranean.
It's time to learn about three more legends of Mexican music. Are you ready? (Lu Reyes/Henry Lefranc/Valeria Chàvez/Zùñiga/Jimmy Monack)
So, you have already impressed your new Mexican friends by name-dropping artists
from the last twoarticles. Now, before that final shot of mezcal and a triumphant
exit, you have a chance to take it to a level that will get you labeled “Gringo Supremo.”
The main consideration for this list, as opposed to the last two, is songwriting quality.
There is nothing wrong with being a pop star whose material is written by others, but
writing timeless songs is a whole different world than performing them. Put another way,
the Three Queens of Mexican Song Writing (our heroic female Mexican pop stars on this list) do not have backup dancers (apologies to Yuri and Alejandra Guzman).
Consuelo Velazquez
Consuelo Velazquez — Besame Mucho
The song is known worldwide, but not the writer. How many days can one go in Mexico
City without hearing a version of “Bésame Mucho” wafting from a café or shop? That
song alone should be enough to put the great Consuelo Velazquez on the list, but she
has contributed much more.
Ms. Velazquez comes from an era of music that, in almost any country, could be
considered a golden age. If the names Gershwin, Sinatra, and Ellington are familiar,
Valezquez should also be. In fact, “Besame Mucho” was released in 1941 (although
written in 1932), the same year as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Stardust,” and
“Chattanooga Choo Choo.” This was well before rock and roll when pop songs were clever, simple, and mostly about love. But “Besame Mucho” was not satisfied staying in
its own decade. After all, once the Beatles cover a song, it is pretty much a classic, and
there have been hundreds of renditions since then.
A good place to start discovering the other hits of this prolific composer is the album
recorded by Rodrigo de la Cadena. Using modern technology, he sings duets with Ms.
Velazquez from the historic recording “Su Piano, Su Voz, Su Intérprete.”
Ana Gabriel
Ana Gabriel - Ay Amor (En Vivo)
One of the many wonderful things about Mexican music is that it is as varied and vast
as music in the United States. Consider the genre of jazz. Like heavy metal, the
subgenres seem endless, with Swing, Bepop, Afro-Cuban, Dixieland, Fusion, and more
all under one umbrella. As such, Ana Gabriel reminded Mexico that its musical history is
vast.
Ranchera was not invented by Ms. Gabriel, but she is surely the first name people will
think of when mentioned. Much like Fado music in Portugal, the mourning tones and
hints of longing define it. Starting just after the turn of the century, Ranchera was
centered on the glory of the revolution, which was altered into tortured love songs that
retained the yearning. Ms. Gabriel’s haunting vibrato takes one to the heart of the
heartache.
The aching in her voice also fits well with Mexican romantic ballads (as distinguished
from ballads known in the United States). A perfect example is her hit “Ay, Amor.” If
heartache is water, this song is a tidal wave, as proven by the crowd’s singing along in a
1990 performance.
If there were ever an artist to live up to the legacy of Juan Gabriel, it would be Natalia
Lafourcade. There it is. Go ahead and blow up the comments section. It’s on.
The giant hole left in 2016 when Mr. Gabriel passed was filled by the equally talented
Ms. Lafourcade, who was fortunate enough to record a song with him (“Ya No Vivo Por Vivir”).
Growing up in a musical family in Veracruz, Ms. Lafourcade was immersed in a wide
variety of styles. Her mother was a composer who graduated from the National
Conservatory of Music and later created the music pedagogy Macarsi Method. A life in
music was more destiny than a search for stardom.
Like other artists who hop from one Mexican genre to another, she is a very rounded
composer. Yet she brings a certain sophistication to each piece with melodies and chord
progressions that illustrate her jazz and classical influences. She not only honors Latin
traditions such as bolero, cumbia, and mariachi, but elevates them to new
elegance.
Her smash hit, “Nunca es Suficiente,” is a seemingly simple cumbia, but if one listens
closely to the melody and background coloring, it is clear Ms. Lafourcade is a studied
composer and not a mere pop star. To ensure the song’s authenticity, she later
partnered with Los Angeles Azules for the full cumbia treatment and a video viewed a
stunning two billion times.
Finally, as if earning respect from Mr. Gabriel, Ms. Lafourcade took it to a new stage
with an entire album dedicated to the immortal Augustin Lara, containing an exquisite
version of the famous “Farolito.” But one does not enter a task like that lightly as it is
akin to going into the studio to honor Elle Fitzgerald. This is Carnegie Hall stage talent.
Oh, by the way, she sold-out Carnegie Hall in 2022.
Natalia Lafourcade has many years ahead to polish all her awards and contribute new
music. Where many artists are considered the best of their generation, she will certainly
be considered the best of all time.
How did we do? Is anyone else missing from our (quite comprehensive) list of Mexican female pop stars? Do we need a fourth instalment? Please leave your suggestions in the comments section and expand all of our playlists.
Jimmy Monack is a teacher, photographer and award-winning writer. He profiles interesting people all around the world as well as writing about and photographing rock concerts. He lives in Mexico City.www.jimmymonack.com
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch speaks at President Sheinbaum's Tuesday press conference about Ryan Wedding, a Canadian who U.S. officials think may be hiding in Mexico from California authorities. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
At President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference, federal officials responded to questions about two high-profile men who are on the lam and believed to be in Mexico.
Ryan James Wedding is a former Canadian Olympian who is wanted in the U.S. by the FBI for international drug trafficking and attempted murder. (FBI)
‘From shredding powder to distributing powder cocaine
Last Thursday, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that former Olympic snowboarder and Canadian national Ryan James Wedding, 43, had been added to its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.”
“At present, Wedding is wanted for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking network that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other locations in the United States, and for orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder in furtherance of these drug crimes,” the FBI said.
The FBI said that “investigators believe that Wedding is residing in Mexico but have not ruled out his presence in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica or elsewhere.”
It noted that “in June 2024, Wedding and his second-in-command, Andrew Clark, 34, also Canadian, were charged in an indictment out of the Central District of California with running a continuing criminal enterprise.”
Canadian Andrew Clark, accused of being Wedding’s right-hand man in his drug trafficking operation, was extradited from Mexico by the Central District of California after his arrest in Guadalajara in October. (Central District of California Attorney’s Office)
Akil Davis, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said that Wedding, who represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics, “went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada.”
Asked whether Ryan James Wedding is in the crosshairs of the Mexican government, Sheinbaum called on Security Minister Omar García Harfuch to respond.
García said there is an ongoing investigation into Wedding and highlighted that Mexico is collaborating with the United States on the case.
“But he is not [Mexico’s] only target,” he said.
Federal security forces arrest people who are subject to extradition orders “every week,” García said.
Wedding’s case is not “special” in comparison with those of other suspects wanted in Mexico, the security minister said.
“He’s another criminal with an extradition order who is on a list like others we have detained,” García said.
In late January, FBI “Ten Most Wanted Fugitive” Arnoldo Jiménez was arrested in Monterrey, Nuevo León. He is accused of murdering his wife in Illinois in 2012 less than 48 hours after getting married.
On Mexican authorities’ radar is former Michoacán governor Silvano Aureoles, in 2024, seen here at the National Electoral Institute offices in Mexico City to witness the registration of Xóchitl Gálvez as a presidential candidate. He is wanted by Mexico on corruption charges. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
Among the other FBI “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” who have been arrested in Mexico is notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was taken into custody in northern Mexico in 2022. He was also among the 29 cartel figures extradited to the United States last month.
Appearing with Wedding on the FBI’s current “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list is Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, also known as “El Chapo Isidro.”
According to the FBI, he is “the alleged leader of the Meza-Flores Transnational Criminal Organization, a heavily armed, major drug-trafficking organization based in Sinaloa, Mexico.”
‘Sooner or later we’re going to arrest him’
A reporter raised the case of former Michoacán governor Silvano Aureoles (2015–21), who is wanted on corruption charges, including ones for embezzlement and the carrying out of operations with resources of illicit origin.
Sheinbaum referred the reporter’s questions to Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero.
Mexico’s Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero said that “there was clear embezzlement of enormous dimensions” on the part of Aureoles and his alleged accomplices. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
Gertz said there is a longstanding investigation into Aureoles due to “a series of complaints” related to the construction of “jails” (cárceles in Spanish) in Michoacán.
A motive for the abduction and murder of nine young people — reportedly students — in Oaxaca has not been disclosed by government officials, but authorities are investigating the possible involvement of municipal police. (Carolina Jiménez/Cuartoscuro)
The Pacific coast of the southern state of Oaxaca is known as an idyllic part of Mexico, a region where domestic and foreign tourists alike frolic on the beautiful beaches and enjoy the laidback lifestyle with nary a care in the world.
But that image has been damaged, if not shattered, in early 2025, due to the occurrence of crimes that are sadly all too common in Mexico: mass kidnappings and murder.
Seven of the 10 young tourists who were abducted in late February in Oaxaca. (Social media)
More recently, 10 young people from the central Mexican state of Tlaxcala were abducted in separate incidents in Zipolite, where Mexico’s only official nudist beach is located, and in the resort region of Huatulco, also situated on Oaxaca’s Pacific coast. They were on vacation in Oaxaca when they disappeared, according to various media reports.
The dismembered bodies of nine of those people — four women and five men aged 19 to 29 — were found on March 2 in and near an abandoned vehicle located hundreds of kilometers away in a municipality in Puebla on that state’s border with Oaxaca.
A motive for the abduction and murder of the young people — reportedly students — has not been disclosed by government officials, but authorities are investigating the possible involvement of municipal police. Authorities have also said that the abduction of some of the victims could be related to a dispute between rival criminal groups. There is speculation that the victims were involved in criminal activities.
One person has been arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of the young people from Tlaxcala.
The lone survivor of the most recent kidnappings in coastal Oaxaca, Brenda Salas, was located in the state of Puebla early last week. She reportedly told authorities that she and her friend Angie Pérez were abducted by municipal police.
What is the timeline of the disappearances in Oaxaca?
On the final day of February, 21-year-old Lesly Noya and 23-year-old Jacqueline Meza disappeared in Zipolite. On the same day, Raul González and his girlfriend Noemí Yamileth López, both 29, also vanished in the small, bohemian beach town.
Meza was dining at a restaurant near the beach when she was abducted, according to the young woman’s mother.
⛓️🚓 #MañaneraDelPueblo| Omar García Harfuch, secretario de Seguridad, afirma que la Fiscalía de Oaxaca está llevando “una buena investigación” sobre la desaparición de jóvenes de Tlaxcala, cuyos cuerpos fueron hallados en Puebla, tras la captura de un presunto implicado pic.twitter.com/rBDVdBcTM5
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch told reporters on Tuesday that if state authorities were found to be uncooperative or colluding with criminals, the federal Attorney General’s Office would assume the investigation, however, in this case, Oaxaca authorities are carrying out “a good investigation.”
“Please, I’m asking for your help, my daughter disappeared last night, she was kidnapped and until now we don’t know anything,” Andrea Cazares said on social media, according to a report published by the newspaper El País on Monday.
Cazares added that “two little ones aged five and three” are waiting for Meza, presumably the mother of the young children.
At around the same time, two other families were “screaming in desperation” due to the disappearance of two young women in Huatulco, El País reported.
Those families accused municipal police of taking 19-year-old Brenda Salas and 29-year-old Angie Pérez to an unknown location. The two women were allegedly beaten before their enforced disappearance.
Four other young people from Tlaxcala — Guillermo Cortés, Jonathan Uriel Calva, Marco Antonio Flores and Rolando Armando Evaristo — also recently disappeared in coastal Oaxaca. Exactly where they were abducted and where they were subsequently taken to is unknown, El País reported.
A grisly discovery across state lines
On Sunday, March 2, the remains of nine people were discovered in or near an abandoned vehicle in the municipality of San José Miahuatlán, located in southeastern Puebla on that state’s border with Oaxaca. The municipality is located around 400 kilometers from the coastal region of Oaxaca where the 10 young people from Tlaxcala disappeared.
El País and other media outlets reported that the remains belong to nine of the ten young people abducted in coastal Oaxaca. The newspaper El Imparcial reported that authorities identified the nine victims and confirmed they were from Tlaxcala. The bodies reportedly had bullet wounds and showed signs of torture.
El País said that “no one has confirmed” that all of the victims previously knew each other, but “their lives came together in the end.”
— Unidad de Búsqueda de Personas No Localizadas (@FGEO_DNOL) March 1, 2025
A social media post on March 1 confirmed that Brenda Salas had been found alive, making her the sole survivor of the event.
The newspaper noted that the victims came from four municipalities in Tlaxcala that are in close proximity to each other.
“… In a strange event that no authority has yet explained, the attackers left one survivor: Brenda Salas,” El País said.
El País also reported that it was not a “coincidence” that the bodies were dumped in Puebla, just across the border from Oaxaca. By leaving the bodies there, “attention was diverted from the Oaxacan coast and also from its authorities,” the newspaper said.
The newspaper El Universal reported that five of the victims were buried immediately after their bodies were returned to their families in Tlaxcala last week. El Universal said that the relatives of the victims all declined requests for interviews.
Were municipal police involved?
Last Thursday, the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office (FGEO) announced that it was investigating the “possible involvement” of municipal police officers in the disappearance of four of the young people from Tlaxcala: Angie Pérez, Brenda Salas, Raul González and Noemí Yamileth López.
The FGEO said it had obtained information that suggests that the abduction of the four aforesaid people “could be related to a dispute between criminal cells.”
“With the aim of ensuring that direct and indirect victims have an adequate justice process that allows them to know the truth about what happened, the FGEO is carrying out ministerial work to determine if there is any level of involvement from municipal police officers,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
Authorities announce an arrest
Jesús Romero López, interior minister for the state of Oaxaca, said on Monday that one person had been arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of the young people from Tlaxcala. He didn’t reveal the identity of the person who was detained.
🛜🔴Por la mu3rt3 de nueve personas en los límites de Oaxaca y Puebla, la Fiscalía de Oaxaca ya tiene a una persona detenida, recluida en un penal del Estado confirmó el Secretario de Gobierno Jesús Romero López.
On Monday, Jesús Romero López, interior minister for the state of Oaxaca, shared advances in the case and rejected assertions that Huatulco is an unsafe place to visit.
Romero did say that the person had faced a court hearing, and revealed to authorities key information about the crimes committed, including the motive for those offenses. He didn’t disclose that information.
Romero rejected comparisons to the case of the 43 students who disappeared in the state of Guerrero in 2014.
The disappearance and murder of the young people from Tlaxcala didn’t occur within “a context of social struggle,” he said. Romero also rejected assertions that Huatulco is an unsafe place to visit.
The official said that the FGEO would provide a detailed report on the case in the coming hours, but as of midday Tuesday said document had not been made available to the public.
Is the murder of a Huatulco businessman linked to the case?
On the same weekend the young people from Tlaxcala were abducted, Huatulco businessman and former mayoral aspirant José Alfredo Lavariega was murdered while driving his car in coastal Oaxaca. A note accusing him of being a thief was left in his car.
The Reforma newspaper reported last week that authorities are seeking to determine whether there is a link between Lavariega, who was known as “El Jocha,” and the young people whose bodies were found in and near the vehicle located in Puebla.
One theory, Reforma reported, is that the young people from Tlaxcala traveled to Oaxaca to stay in Lavariega’s hotel.
El País noted that there have been attempts to link the murder of Lavariega on March 1 to the disappearance of the young people from Tlaxcala.
On the same weekend the students from Tlaxcala were abducted, Huatulco businessman and former mayoral aspirant José Alfredo Lavariega was murdered. He had previously been seen interacting with the victims in a video uncovered by Britain’s Daily Mail. (José Alfredo Lavariega/Facebook)
The British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail is the main source of the theory that there is a link between Lavariega and the nine people found dead in Puebla on March 2.
In what was described as an “exclusive” report published last Thursday, The Daily Mail said it was told by an official at the “prosecutor’s office” — presumably the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office — that “José ‘El Jocha’ Lavariega invited the victims, members of ‘Los Brujos’ [crime gang], to spend time in Oaxaca” at his hotel.
The newspaper described Lavariega as “an aspiring mayor-turned-gang leader” and said he “committed a cardinal sin in the Mexican criminal world that led to the deaths of nine students.”
It quoted the unnamed prosecutor’s office official as saying that Lavariega and the young people from Tlaxcala were “friends.”
The Daily Mail said that “Lavariega eventually led the young adults to their own carnage by giving them the green light” to commit crimes in coastal Oaxaca, and they subsequently “set out to commit a wave of muggings and thefts.”
“However, it did not sit well with one of the drug-selling criminal groups that operates in Oaxaca,” the newspaper said.
“… ‘And then what happened, happened,’ Daily Mail quoted the official as saying in reference to “the horrific murders and mutilations.”
As of midday Tuesday authorities in Mexico have not publicly said or suggested that the young people from Tlaxcala were involved in criminal activities.
The newspaper Reforma and other Mexican media outlets have also reported on The Daily Mail’s article and video.
El País said that in the wake of the abduction and murders of the young people from Tlaxcala, “an old pattern has been repeated that was created by the government of [former president] Felipe Calderón in the so-called war on drugs: the criminalization of victims of forced disappearance.”
The “justification,” the newspaper said, “is that if they were taken away, they were surely up to something; that if they were killed, they must have done something.”
