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.”
The department store chain will open over 20 new units of its Bodega Aurrera, Bodega Aurrera Express, Mi Bodega Aurrera, Sam’s Club and Walmart Supercenter stores throughout Tamaulipas. (Shutterstock)
Walmart México and Central America will invest 2.5 billion pesos (US $122.9 million) in the Texas border state of Tamaulipas from 2025 to 2027, the company announced on Monday.
Walmart México and Central America’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Javier Treviño and its Director of Institutional Relations Rodrigo Flores Amezcua announced plans at an event hosted by Tamaulipas’ Governor Américo Villarreal Anaya, State Economy Minister Ninfa Cantú Deándar and other government representatives at the Tamaulipas state government building.
Javier Treviño, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Walmart México and Central America, announced Walmart’s investment in Tamaulipas along with state Gov. Américo Villarreal. (File photo/Galo Cañas Rodríguez for Cuartoscuro)
“At Walmart México and Central America, we are excited about the growth potential that the future holds for us in the state of Tamaulipas,” Treviño said at the event. “With the investment we are announcing today, we reiterate our commitment to continue supporting the families of the state to save money and live better.”
As part of the investment, the company will open over 20 new units of its Bodega Aurrera, Bodega Aurrera Express, Mi Bodega Aurrera, Sam’s Club and Walmart Supercenter stores, which will create over 1,300 permanent direct jobs, according to the executives.
Walmart also plans to launch a program for agricultural producers and local suppliers to strengthen supply chains and support the development of suppliers.
Treviño stressed the importance of Walmart’s close collaboration with the federal government. The company voluntarily participates in the federal Package Against Inflation and Scarcity (PACIC) program, an agreement between several Mexican and international businesses and the federal government that maintains affordable prices for 24 products in Mexico’s basic food basket in the face of inflation.
“We are committed to the federal government, and we share the philosophy of Mexican humanism,” Treviño said, according to the news site Sin Embargo.
Walmart México and Central America first commenced operations in Tamaulipas in November 1995 with the opening of Sam’s Club in the city of Tampico. The company now has 77 stores and clubs in the state, providing 3,800 permanent direct jobs and representing over 6.9 billion pesos ($339.2 million).
Walmart has been in Mexico since 1991. It has been in Tamaulipas since 1995, when it opened a Sam’s Club in the city of Tampico. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
The investment announcement follows a meeting held at the Mexican Embassy in the United States, in Washington D.C. in December 2022, when Walmart executives presented investment plans to Gov. Villarreal and State Economy Minister Ninfa Cantú Deándar.
The government will support Walmart’s growth in the state, said Cantú Monday, stressing the ministry’s commitment to facilitating future expansions.
The supermarket chain’s investment will support economic growth by encouraging trade, generating opportunities for local suppliers and strengthening regional competitiveness, said Villarreal.
The project is expected to help establish Tamaulipas as a strategic investment hub in Mexico.
Coahuila authorities are urging the public to report any further sightings of exotic species to help combat wildlife trafficking and protect the animals. (Juan Ortega Solís/Cuartoscuro)
For the second time in the past four months, giraffes have been spotted roaming freely in Mexico’s northern state of Coahuila, leaving authorities and residents perplexed.
The latest sighting occurred this week in the municipality of Hidalgo. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any video, but this post from early December of giraffes romping through a semi-desert area in the municipality of Sabinas has garnered thousands of online views.
#Viral: Sorprenden jirafas salvajes a policías estatales en brecha en Sabinas, #Coahuila
The sighting was reported in the Carbonífera Region — an expansive area primarily in Coahuila that produces over 90% of Mexico’s coal — by members of the Coahuila State Police, who were on routine patrol on rural roads at the time.
Around the same time, three giraffes were also seen near Coahuila’s border with Nuevo León.
The sightings have raised questions about the regulation of exotic fauna in the region. Authorities are working to determine if someone has legal permits to keep the giraffes or if they are part of an illegal trafficking operation.
The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) has been notified to assess the health of the animals and decide on further actions.
Some speculate that the giraffes might have originated from a ranch belonging to the late businessman Chito Longoria, whose estate spanned across three Mexican states, including Coahuila. Shortly after he died in 2015, his daughter, Janette Longoria, said in an interview that their ranch had giraffes, antelopes and zebras.
However, that would be impossible, and not just because the giraffe would have had to walk over 1,000 kilometers north from the zoo. The most likely scenario, put forth by subsequent reports, is that the missing giraffe died in the zoo due to natural causes two months earlier.
The most recent image of three giraffes roaming rural Coahuila. (@noticiasmiled/X)
Another “tall” tale covered by Mexico News Daily last year detailed the saga of Benito, a 4.3-meter (14-foot) tall giraffe who was living in deplorable conditions at a public park in Chihuahua before being transferred to a spacious safari park in Puebla.
Coahuila authorities are urging the public to report any further sightings of exotic species to help combat wildlife trafficking and protect both the animals and the local ecosystem.
The presence of giraffes in Coahuila’s arid lands has raised concerns about their health and survival.
Cancun International Airport's passenger traffic numbers in February were nearly 270,000 less than the previous month. (Shutterstock)
Air traffic at Cancún International Airport (CUN) decreased 9.1% in February compared to the same month in 2024, according to airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR).
While its numbers have been down from last year over the last several months, Cancún International Airport remains Mexico’s second busiest airport after the Mexico City International Airport (AICM). (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
In February Cancún’s airport saw a total of 2.74 million passengers, a decrease of over 245,000 passengers compared to February 2024. The biggest drop corresponded to February’s international travelers, which decreased from 2.03 million in February 2024 to 1.81 million in February 2025, down 11%.
Domestic traffic through Cancún in February was also down, but far less dramatically, with 680,189 travelers, a 3.6% decline from February 2024.
ASUR, which operates 16 airports in Latin America, continues to face challenges in the Mexican market due to the declining capacity of local airlines and increasing competition, especially with the surge in flights to Tulum International Airport, which is run by Mexico’s military under the name Grupo Olmeca-Maya-Mexica.
Inaugurated in December 2023, Tulum saw over 1 million passengers a year after it began operations, surpassing expectations for passenger traffic.
The passenger traffic decline at Cancún’s airport is part of a wider trend observed at ASUR’s Mexican airports. ASUR reported an overall 7.5% dip in passenger traffic compared to February 2024.
Except for Mérida, Minatitlán, Oaxaca and Veracruz, all airports operated by ASUR saw decreased total airport traffic in February compared to last year. Airports with declining numbers included Cozumel (-18.9%), Huatulco (-6.1%), Tapachula (-13.5%) and Villahermosa (-104%).
In contrast, ASUR’s airports in Colombia and Puerto Rico, reported an increase of 3.3% and 8.6% respectively.
Cancún International Airport appears to be struggling with the opening of the Tulum International Airport in Dec. 2023. Despite some upticks during its high season in December and January, has struggled to maintain an upward trajectory in passenger traffic.
Regarding international flights, Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan (SJU) showed significant growth, with a 19.2% increase, while ASUR’s airports in Colombia saw an overall 11.3% rise. Meanwhile, ASUR’s total passenger traffic across Mexican airports declined in both international and domestic flights, by 10.6% and 2.9% respectively.
But not all airports in Mexico are seeing passenger traffic decreases.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), which operates 12 airports in Mexico and two in Jamaica, reported a 2.6% rise in its Mexico market. Passenger traffic at GAP’s airports in Guadalajara and Tijuana increased by 5.8% and 2.7% respectively.
However, traffic at GAP’s Los Cabos International Airport and Puerto Vallarta International Airport decreased by 3.8% and 1.8% respectively.
The victims in the Oaxaca bus crash were reportedly supporters of the Morena party who were returning from President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Sunday rally in Mexico City. (Estación Foto/Cuartoscuro)
At least 19 people were killed when a bus flipped over in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico on Monday morning, just a few hours after an accident involving a bus and a tractor-trailer in northern Mexico resulted in the death of 14 passengers.
The bus traveling through Oaxaca was carrying more than 40 people when it crashed into a ravine near the town of Santo Domingo Narro. (Estación Foto/Cuartoscuro)
Authorities were still investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred just outside the small town of Santo Domingo Narro, the Oaxaca government said in a statement.
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families, to whom we will provide the necessary support and assistance during this difficult time,” he said, adding that “Our government personnel continue to work and provide support to those injured.”
State Interior Minister Jesús Romero said the bus was carrying more than 40 people — including young children — and was en route from Mexico City to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southern part of the state.
“To the families and loved ones of those who have tragically passed away, we express our deepest condolences. Our deepest sorrow and solidarity are with you at this time. We assure you that you are not alone. We are working hand in hand with the relevant authorities and institutions to provide you with the care you require.”
A two-day shopping excursion from Durango to McAllen, Texas, ended in tragedy Sunday night when the bus hit a tractor-trailer head-on near Velardeña, Durango. (@AlTiempoDgo/X)
Up north in the state of Durango, 14 people died after a tour bus crashed with a tractor-trailer and quickly caught fire near the town of Velardeña before dawn on Monday. Ten passengers managed to exit the bus but the intensity of the blaze prevented them from rescuing those still trapped inside.
The 10 survivors were transported to a hospital in the nearby town of Cuencamé, nine of them treated for minor injuries.
The bus — operated by Aser Tours of Durango city — was part of a round trip, two-day shopping excursion from Durango to McAllen, Texas. The bus had left McAllen for the return trip on Sunday night and was two hours northeast of Durango city when the accident occurred.
Aser Tours released a statement on its Instagram page saying it will offer support to victims. The bus company also claimed that the operator of the tractor-trailer was at fault in the crash.
Durango state authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident.
