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The story of Hotel Mocambo, Mexico’s original luxury beach resort

By
Alan Chazaro
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Nearly 90 years after its opening, Hotel Mocambo remains one of Mexico's most charming luxury beach resorts. (Collection O Hotel Mocambo)

When it comes to tourism in Mexico, one of the most popular options for international visitors is to spend a few nights at a majestic beach resort. From Cancún to Los Cabos, Mexico has established itself as a premier destination for world-class beach getaways, with Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism reporting that nearly half of Mexico’s visitors opt for ritzy coastal areas — where sprawling luxurious properties abound.

The shift toward Mexico’s coastline

The numbers show just how vital Mexico’s top-tier beaches are to its national tourism economy: Despite an overall lower number of visitors this year and a massive blow from U.S. airlines this summer, Cancún still leads the nation in international flight arrivals, accounting for 45% of Mexico’s airport activity as of June, with 4,844,588 reported flight arrivals.

Besides Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, which are among the 10 most active airports in Mexico, every other visit is largely due to Mexico’s beaches. This year, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Tulum, Cozumel and Mazatlán have generated the most airport traffic, respectively, with roughly 66% of Mexico’s inbound flights touching down near those beaches.

vintage postcard of Hotel Mocambo in Veracruz
Picture postcard glamor was Hotel Mocambo’s calling card from the very beginning, when it opened as Mexico’s first great beach resort in 1939. (eBay)

And yet, Mexico’s identity as a destination for opulent beach resorts originated in a region that is nowadays overlooked, particularly by international visitors. But if you know where to look, a time-travel beach experience awaits along the Gulf Coast, with its own kind of grandeur and charm.

Hotel Mocambo: Mexico’s first grand luxury resort

It’s impossible to overstate the historical significance of Veracruz and its port city, where the Spanish colonization of continental Latin America began in 1519. Over centuries, many of the country’s earliest contributions can be traced back to its Gulf Coast origins, including coffee, jalapeños, vanilla and more.

Add to that list: Mexico’s first grand luxury beach resort.

A flavorful, vanilla-scented hideout awaits along Mexico’s Gulf Coast

In 1938, Hotel Mocambo — named after Playa Mocambo, the beach where the hotel was built, and which originally derived from an Afro-Portuguese word denoting the region’s legacy as a refuge for escaped African slaves — began construction, making it among the earliest (if not the first) major beachfront resort in all of Mexico.

A midcentury haven for Mexican stars and cinema

During its heyday, Hotel Mocambo became a national treasure, with famous Mexican actors, musicians and celebrities — including Agustín Lara, Chavela Vargas and Pedro Infante — becoming regulars throughout the midcentury.

In 1943, “María Eugenia,” starring the iconic Mexican actress María Félix (and featuring a cameo from popular Veracruz singer Toña la Negra, who also personally frequented the hotel in those days), was filmed at Mocambo, demarcating the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

Mocambo began as a 15-room property with a palm tree-studded view of the coastline to be enjoyed from extensive outdoor terrazas, grand staircases, arched hallways and open-air patios. A large outdoor pool and nearby barroom with high ceilings and jacuzzis can be found on separate levels, with a staircase that connects everything and inevitably descends to the beach.

Spanish influence and architectural expansion

Collection O Hotel Mocambo with its arched hallways and classically designed swimming pool in Veracruz
Still open today, the now-Collection O Hotel Mocambo still retains its classical architectural features. (Hoteles Veracruz Mexico)

The hotel’s walkways are breezy and bedecked with a combination of maritime decorations and Moorish structural features designed by Jesús Martí Martín, an avant-garde architect who was exiled from Madrid, Spain, after the Spanish Civil War. Martín was commissioned by Gov. Miguel Alemán Valdés to lead the hotel’s design atop the highest coastal hill in Boca del Río — the city just south of the port of Veracruz, which sits on the Jamapa River along the Gulf of Mexico — around the time that other beach hotels were starting to sprout up in the Pacific states of Guerrero and Sonora.

Under the governorship of Alemán Valdés, who would go on to become Mexico’s president, Hotel Mocambo aimed to become the first grand-scale beach resort attraction in all of Mexico.

And for a time, it was.

Just two years after opening, the hotel’s first expansion was overseen by another Spanish architect, Enrique Segarra. At one point, the hotel grew to include 110 rooms, though today that number has dwindled to 70 (for context, Mexico’s grandest beach resorts can now exceed more than 2,000 rooms).

Though it is no longer the nexus of Mexican aristocracy that it once was, Mocambo remains an important historical fixture in Mexico’s development as an attractive beach resort destination.

Preserving the legacy of Mexico’s Golden Age

Before Mocambo and the subsequent rise of beach resorts all over Mexico, the country’s most opulent buildings and high-end tourist attractions were centered in Mexico’s cosmopolitan inland cities. Not until Mocambo in Veracruz — and the rise of Acapulco shortly after — did Mexico gain extreme popularity for its prime coastal real estate and beach resort culture.

How a colorful novel changed the course of tourism in Los Cabos

Ironically, or perhaps symbolically, the once-tranquil escape of Mocambo is now surrounded by modern buildings, major avenues, parking lots and the nonstop bustle of Mexico’s largest port city on the Gulf Coast. One of the neighboring buildings is a recently built high-rise apartment that juxtaposes interestingly with the dilapidated glory of Hotel Mocambo. And the state’s largest and most glamorous mall is within a short walking distance, as modernity has crept up to overtake Mocambo’s place.

Although the paint is faded and signs of decay are apparent in its grand facades, the resort is still worthy of a visit — simply for the pleasure of reliving Mexico’s Golden Age origins of beachside luxury.

Alan Chazaro is the author of “These Spaceships Weren’t Built For Us” (Tia Chucha Press, 2026), “Notes from the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021), “Piñata Theory” (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), and “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album” (Black Lawrence Press, 2019). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and was selected as a Lawrence Ferlinghetti Poetry Fellow at the University of San Francisco. His work can be found in NPR, The Guardian, SLAM, GQ, L.A. Times, and more. He is currently based in Veracruz.

‘Confidently Wrong About the Peso at 37’: An MND podcast

By
Travis Bembenek
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confidently wrong about the mexican peso - youtube thumbnail

Despite the recent weakening from the U.S. Fed interest rate increase, the Mexican peso has been on a tear. Just recently, it was at a multi-year high against the US dollar and below 17.

The peso’s strength has defied just about every single analyst and expert. Even our own MND Peso Index estimates that the peso is nearly 6% overvalued against the dollar.

Recently, I did some analysis and calculated that if the peso had performed since the year 2020 as it did over the previous 25 years, it would currently be at 37 pesos to the US dollar! I wrote about it here: Why isn’t the peso at 37 to the US dollar? A perspective from our CEO.

So how can it be that it is currently trading at less than half of that rate? And can we expect it to devalue again anytime soon?

Check out the latest episode of “Confidently Wrong” as we talk through the latest peso strength and what might come next.

Confidently Wrong about peso at 37: Episode 9 - Season 3

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

The ‘problem’ with Mexico’s 44% growth in exports: A perspective from our CEO

By
Travis Bembenek
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A shipyard worker surveys piles of export shipping containers
Electrical equipment and electronics are driving record export growth in Mexico, raising questions about how much value stays local. (Shutterstock)

A recent headline took just about everyone by surprise: Mexico’s export revenue in July of this year hit US $81 billion, up 44%. Think about that for a moment — an annualized run rate of nearly $1 trillion of export revenue for the country. Last year, exports hit a record $665 billion on 7.6% growth, up from $417 billion in 2020. So far this year through July, exports are up an impressive 27.7%. As a result, Mexico is now firmly the largest exporter to the United States, far surpassing No. 2 Canada and No. 3 China. China had been the leader for years until Mexico overtook it in the years following the COVID pandemic.

One would think that a 44% growth in exports would be exceptional for Mexico and its economy … but is it really as good as it sounds? Let’s dig a bit deeper into the numbers for a better understanding:

1. Most of the growth has come from the category of electrical and electronic equipment and appliances, which increased by a massive 134% in July. For the first time in that month, Mexico’s exports in that category exceeded the category of auto and auto parts. That category had previously led Mexico’s export revenue figures for decades. I recently wrote about that development here: The hottest product on the planet is increasingly made in Mexico: A perspective from our CEO. Automotive exports have been roughly flat year-to-date, and oil exports are actually down. In other words, the vast majority of the export growth is not coming from a diverse set of industries but rather this one segment.

The hottest product on the planet is increasingly made in Mexico: A perspective from our CEO

2. Import growth is also booming. Year-to-date, imports are up 25.6%, and in the month of July, imports exceeded exports. Mexico actually had a rare trade deficit in July as imports grew by 45.7%.

3. Mexico has begun to import a massive amount of products from Taiwan, growing by over 200% so far this year and hitting nearly US $40 billion in the first half of the year. For some perspective, Mexico only imported $14 billion from Taiwan in the same period last year. Mexican imports of Taiwanese products increased by only $2 billion in the first six months of 2025, compared to 2024.

4. The massive year-to-date import and export growth numbers are not resulting in an economy that is growing as much as would be expected or hoped. One would think that such a huge increase in exports would dramatically increase production capacity investment and domestic consumption. But neither is happening. Estimates vary, but Mexican GDP is generally only expected to grow in the 1.2%-1.5% range — only half of what is expected in the United States this year.

So what is going on here?

It’s important to look deeper into what is actually happening to these imports and exports, specifically analyzing two measures related to value added:

  1. Domestic value added embodied in the exports (How much Mexican labor is going into the exports?)
  2. Mexican-origin content (How much Mexican product is going into the exports?)

What we see is that the rapidly growing electronics category is extremely low in both measures. Said differently, given the high value of the products, the actual amount of Mexican labor and Mexican-origin content going into them is minimal. It is estimated that less than 3% of the exported value of products in this category is Mexican added value — just 3 cents on the dollar! A cynic might say that Mexico is doing little more than receiving the product from Taiwan, adding a “Made in Mexico” sticker and then exporting it — and that cynic wouldn’t be too far from the current reality!

For some perspective, that is barely a tenth of the value that Mexico adds to products in the vehicle segment. Engineering, design, parts manufacturing and assembly in Mexico are all common in that industry. And here is where the real opportunity for Mexico comes in. If Mexico could capture more of the added value in the massive, fast-growing electronics category, it would be hugely impactful on employment in the country. So how can that happen?

Enter the USMCA negotiations. Mexico and the United States have had many rounds of discussions on the updated trade agreement, and despite clear disagreement in certain areas (I’m looking at you, Mexican tomatoes!), increased local content or value added requirements in areas like electronics seems to be an area of agreement and alignment. It is in both countries’ interests to shorten the supply chain and further “de-risk” from China and Taiwan. And it is in both countries’ interests to have more control of the production and supply of such a critical product line.

So will it happen? I am optimistic for a positive outcome given that both countries have similarly aligned interests. Stay tuned to MND as we bring you the developments in this critically strategic area.

Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.

Using US intelligence, Mexican Army downs drone and arrests its operator in Tijuana

By
MND Staff
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National Guard troops patrol the beach along the U.S. border wall in Tijuana in February.
National Guard troops patrol the U.S. border wall in Tijuana in February. (Chris Noyola / Cuartoscuro.com)

After receiving information from U.S. officials, the Mexican Army successfully deactivated a drone that crossed the border into Tijuana and arrested the operator in Mexican territory.

The Defense Ministry (Defensa) on Thursday provided details of the Monday operation, explaining that the drone was being used by a criminal group to monitor human trafficking routes.

The drone operator was apprehended and found to be in possession of a handgun, ammunition and the aircraft control system.

Defensa said the Tijuana operation resulted from information-sharing with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after its representatives met with CBP agents in the border city.

On Friday, Defense Minister General Ricardo Trevilla confirmed that four drones have been disabled as a result of Operation High Eagle, a joint, binational anti-drone security operation being carried out in the Tijuana-San Diego border area, with each force operating within its own territory.

The current deployment featuring approximately 800 military personnel from both countries encompasses a 5-kilometer area. It relies on ground patrols and the use of anti-drone equipment capable of inhibiting these types of aircraft within a 3-kilometer radius.

Trevilla said representatives from both countries met on Tuesday to assess the results of Operation High Eagle, which was organized after U.S. officials said its agents had shot down more than 300 drones linked to organized crime in the past year.

Defensa said coordination with U.S. authorities aims to strengthen border security under principles of reciprocity, shared and differentiated responsibility, mutual trust and respect for the sovereignty and territories of both countries.

The second phase of the operation, which began on Sept. 7, is scheduled to end on Sept. 21.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged Mexico’s security efforts but called for greater commitment.

“Mexico’s current investments in its security forces are insufficient to sustain and expand its campaigns against narcoterrorists, their finances and their criminal networks,” Trump said, adding that Mexico must do more to “expose corrupt public officials who have aided and abetted the cartels and betrayed their own country’s security and sovereignty.”

Also Wednesday, Trump sent a document to the U.S. Congress, blaming Mexico for the illicit substances entering the United States.

President Claudia Sheinbaum responded by saying she would like to see a report about what the U.S. government is doing to reduce drug use in its own country and combat drugs and weapons trafficking.

With reports from El País, LópezDóriga.com and El Mañana

Puerto Vallarta chosen for cruise ship homeport status, potentially doubling its dock capacity

By
MND Staff
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An aerial view of Puerto Vallarta's three cruise ship docks in a downtown marina.
Puerto Vallarta's port area (Luis Ernesto Munguia / X)

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, has been selected to develop a cruise ship homeport that would allow vessels to begin or end cruises at the Pacific Coast resort city rather than simply making brief stopovers.

Currently, Puerto Vallarta primarily receives cruise ships as a port of call, with passengers disembarking to sightsee, shop or eat before returning to the ship the same day to continue their journey. A homeport arrangement, however, would allow travelers to arrive in Vallarta to board the ship or to disembark there upon completing the voyage.

“Imagine a cruise ship that starts in Puerto Vallarta, then continues to Los Cabos and ends in Los Angeles,” Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus said Wednesday in a video posted on his official social media channels. 

Lemus noted that the construction needed for the new status is scheduled to begin in 2027 and be operational by 2029. 

“This is great news that will transform Puerto Vallarta’s tourism economy for years to come,” Lemus said.

 The homeport project could boost the economy of hotels, restaurants, transport providers, tour operators, businesses, and local suppliers. According to Lemus, cruise passengers could add an average of two nights of accommodations to their stay — either before boarding or after disembarking — in addition to spending on meals and tourist experiences.

Lemus also said that beyond tourism spending, supplies for the cruise ships would be sourced locally. 

The governor told the newspaper El Infomador that the project aims to help Puerto Vallarta recover from a drop in visitor numbers, mainly due to the weaker dollar relative to the peso and the events surrounding the capture and death of drug lord Nemesio “El Mencho” Rubén Oseguera Cervantes on Feb. 22. 

Local media also reported that the National Port System Administration (Asipona) of Puerto Vallarta has issued an international tender to build and operate the terminal, following a competitive process that also included proposals from Mazatlán, Los Cabos, and Nayarit.

The call for bids allows for the participation of Mexican and foreign companies with experience in operating cruise ship and nautical tourism terminals. 

As for the financial requirements, interested parties must demonstrate net worth or subscribed equity of at least 200 million pesos (US $11.65 million) as of the end of 2025. 

Mexico News Daily

Azcatitlan Codex returns to Mexico after 186 years, on loan from France

By
MND Staff
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The yellowed pages of the Azcatitlan Codex, showing illustrations of Indigenous people in a line under a pyramid and columns bearing a variety of symbols
The Azcatitlan Codex is currently on display at Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. (Gerardo Peña / INAH)

A monumental illustrated account of Aztec history — from the Mexica migration to the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán — is back in Mexico for the first time in 186 years under a loan agreement with France’s national library.

The centuries-old Azcatitlan Codex, on loan through Dec. 6, chronicles the origins, expansion and collapse of the Mexica world. Tenochtitlán was the island capital of the Mexica empire, built on Lake Texcoco where Mexico City now stands.

The entrance to an exhibit in Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology, with a sign reading El Codice Azcatitalan
The Anthropology Museum exhibit also includes 25 archaeological and ethnographic objects and facsimiles of nine manuscripts, including the Boturini Codex, which Mexico loaned to France in exchange for the Azcatitlan Codex. (Gerardo Peña / INAH)

The document left Mexico in 1840 and remained in Europe through a succession of private and institutional collections. It has been held by the National Library of France since the 1890s, making its temporary return a rare cultural and diplomatic event for Mexico.

The loan is not a repatriation — unlike Mexico’s 2024 recovery of three 16th-century codices and Spain’s 2023 return of a Tlaquiltenango Codex fragment, which was expected to fetch more than US $100,000 at auction before Spain’s Civil Guard withdrew it.

But it comes as Mexico continues to seek the return of pre-Hispanic and colonial-era objects that left the country in earlier centuries, and after President Claudia Sheinbaum described codices in France as a top priority for recovery before French President Emmanuel Macron’s 2025 visit.

Instead, Sheinbaum and Macron agreed to a temporary, reciprocal exchange to honor the 200 years of diplomatic relations between their two countries.

Where to see the Azcatitlan Codex 

The Azcatitlan Codex arrived in Mexico City this month for an exhibition at the National Museum of Anthropology, while Mexico has sent the Boturini Codex to Paris for display at the French national library.

The exchange is part of the Great Franco-Mexican Festival, a binational cultural program featuring nearly 200 activities, according to a joint release from Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Culture Ministry and National Institute of Anthropology and History.

The Azcatitlan Codex is a significant record of the Mexica, the Nahuatl-speaking people often called Aztecs. “Aztec” is widely used for the empire centered on Tenochtitlán, while “Mexica” more specifically identifies the people who founded and ruled it.

Created in the Valley of Mexico in the late 16th or early 17th century, the manuscript combines Mesoamerican pictorial writing with European paper, bookbinding and Spanish text.

The manuscript is divided into three broad sections: the Mexica migration from Aztlán; the reigns of Tenochtitlán’s rulers; and the 1519 arrival of Spanish forces led by Hernán Cortés, the conquest and evangelization.

The codex’s images have made it a particularly vivid source. One scene depicts Cortés and Spanish conquistadors, accompanied by Indigenous people carrying loads. Another depicts Mexica warriors defending Tenochtitlán’s great pyramid.

The museum is exhibiting the original under low light, opened to pages four and five. They depict eight Indigenous groups setting out to find the site where Huitzilopochtli instructed them to found Tenochtitlán, El País reported.

Photographic reproductions of the remaining pages are displayed on the wall of the anthropology museum, located in the capital’s Chapultepec Park.

The exhibition also includes 25 archaeological and ethnographic objects and facsimiles of nine manuscripts, including the Codex Mendoza, the De la Cruz-Badiano Codex and the Boturini Codex.

The Boturini Codex, also known as the Tira de la Peregrinación, traces the Mexica journey from Aztlán to Tenochtitlán. It belongs to Mexico’s National Library of Anthropology and History and is due to return from France in December, when the Azcatitlan Codex will also return to Paris.

The temporary exchange is part of wider efforts to preserve, digitize and recover Indigenous documentary heritage, such as the digital public release of the Florentine Codex, a 12-book encyclopedia of Mexica life compiled by Nahua scholars in the 16th century.

With reports from BBC.com, El País and Deutsche Welle

Peso slides toward 17.3 to the dollar after US Fed’s first rate hike since 2023

By
MND Staff
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Mexican pesos and US dollars
The peso's weakening is directly attributable to the U.S. Fed's interest rate hike, which narrowed the difference between the U.S. and Mexican rates, making ´peso-denominated investments less attractive. (Shutterstock)

The peso depreciated on Friday morning and was on track for its worst weekly performance since March, as traders continued to react to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates. 

The tightening of U.S. monetary policy has eroded the appeal of assets denominated in local currency, a trend that became evident as soon as the Fed announced its decision on Wednesday morning.

U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve expecting him to lower interest rates. Instead, he and the Board of Governors raised the rate, impacting the Mexican peso. (Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve)

The peso had weakened to 17.32 to the dollar Friday morning, and hovered at 17.229 to the dollar by 2:00 p.m., down nearly 6 centavos from Thursday’s close of 17.1706. Market analysts projected a trading range of between 17.08 to 17.28 pesos per dollar for Friday’s session.

The Fed’s decision on Wednesday to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, bringing it to a range of 3.75% to 4%, interrupted an eight-month pause that saw the U.S. rate remain between 3.50% and 3.75% since December.

The peso lost 0.58%, or 10 centavos, against the dollar that same afternoon.

Gabriela Siller, director of Financial Analysis at Banco BASE, said the fall of the peso is directly linked to the Fed decision, as well as the possibility of another rate cut in the United States this year. 

“This is relevant because of carry trade operations, where the interest rate differential between Mexico and the U.S. is important,” she said. 

The carry trade is an investment strategy in which investors borrow money in a currency with a low interest rate to invest in another currency or asset with a higher rate.

“With the rate cut, traders get a lower return, because the rate differential is the net return after paying off the loan,” Siller explained.  

The Fed’s decision reduced the interest rate differential between Mexico and the U.S. to 250 basis points, a historic low not seen since December 2015. Mexico’s benchmark rate sits at 6.5% and the Bank of Mexico is expected to hold the rate steady at its meeting next week.

If the Fed announces another rate hike before the end of the year, as anticipated, this differential will be at 225 points, representing even lower returns for investors. 

As such, the peso’s value would be impacted by the relative unattractiveness of peso-denominated investments.

These expectations are also related to the recent inflation trend in Mexico. 

As of August, inflation stood at 3.26%, remaining within the central bank’s target range, a situation that contrasts with the United States, where inflationary pressures remain more persistent, suggesting the Fed will continue with a more aggressive posture.

With reports from El Economista, Forex.com and El Financiero

59 million liters of stolen fuel seized in Guanajuato state, the largest such bust in Mexican history

By
MND Staff
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Site of a 59 million-liter fuel smuggling (huachicol) bust in Guanajuato
The final stage of the joint state and federal operation resulted in the seizure of 59 million liters of stolen fuel from a property in the Guanajuato municipality of San José Iturbide, whose gasoline facilities had grown disproportionately over the years under various registered owners. (FGR via Cuartoscuro)

Authorities confiscated 59 million liters of stolen fuel, the largest single-site seizure in Mexico’s history and five times larger than the March 2025 bust in Tamaulipas that led to 14 arrests, including six members of the Navy.

The operation, which was triggered after a July 3 arrest involving a tanker truck loaded with stolen fuel, occurred at a property located in the small community of La Fragua in the San José Iturbide municipality, Guanajuato state, alongside Federal Highway 57. 

State and federal agents seized 10 tanks containing suspected fuel (diesel, regular gasoline and premium gasoline), three tanker trucks, containers used to transport fuel, and documentation. No arrests had been reported as of Friday morning.

State officials said the amount of hydrocarbon material discovered — roughly equivalent to the amount seized in all of 2025 — is so large that its identification and handling will have to be carried out by specialized personnel to prevent spills and fires.

The July 3 incident in which a person was arrested while unloading approximately 30,000 liters of stolen fuel at a gas station in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, prompted an investigation that led to another arrest weeks later at an LP gas dispensing station in Dolores Hidalgo.

As the suspects were unable to provide documentation establishing traceability, a judge issued a search warrant after investigators identified the storage facility in La Fragua as the likely source.

Guanajuato Security Minister Juan Mauro González Martínez said that the seizure goes beyond the volume confiscated.

“Investigating possible irregular fuel operations allows us to reduce the risk of fires, explosions and spills, while also protecting our communities and the environment,” he said. “It also disrupts potential sources of funding for criminal organizations.” 

The facility was equipped with access roads, both asphalt and metal, for the movement of trucks and rail vans, as well as large-scale containers with a capacity for up to 80 million liters. All materials have been turned over to the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR).

For now, the authorities have not publicly established the origin of the 59 million liters seized, a task the FGR will undertake. 

Prosecutors will also seek to determine who was in charge of the mega-operation, which is located just outside La Fragua, a community of fewer than 400 people. Current ownership remains unverified.

A small fuel storage facility was authorized there in 2013. Ownership changed hands several times by 2020, by which time it had expanded and was legally established as a Petroleum Products Storage and Supply Terminal.

At the time, the facility was operated by Gas Natural del Noreste, in partnership with ExxonMobil and Grupo Gasolinero Orsan and had been granted permits from the Environment Ministry and the federal Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment.

This latest bust is the fifth this year in Guanajuato related to stolen fuel, though the previous four pale in comparison:

  • 55,000 liters of fuel were seized during a Feb. 25 joint operation across three towns;
  • Twin operations in Apaseo el Grande on March 31 netted 99,000 liters of fuel.
  • State police seized a tanker truck carrying 21,000 liters of fuel near Pénjamo on Aug. 27.
  • A clandestine tunnel providing access to a Pemex pipeline was discovered and neutralized. 

With reports from El País, La Jornada, Zeta, El Financiero and Periódico Correo

El Jalapeño: National Palace overrun by feral cats, Sheinbaum admits

By
El Jalapeno
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The problematic nature of the National Palace's feral cat population has become clear to everyone, including the president. (This image was generated using AI tools)

All stories in El Jalapeño are satire and not real news. Check out the original article here.

MEXICO CITY — In an unexpected admission during a routine morning address, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the National Palace’s administrative functions have been severely disrupted by an unmanaged population surge of its feline residents.

While the palace was originally reported to house 16 felines — all legally classified under Mexican law as “living fixed assets” — unregistered stray populations have ballooned, leaving cabinet members, visitors and security personnel navigating a sprawling feline hierarchy that operates outside government oversight.

Impromptu “lap inspections” have become common at high-level diplomatic meetings at the National Palace. (This image was generated using AI tools)

The crisis reportedly escalated when an attempt to introduce a newly adopted puppy, Rollo, aimed at providing emotional well-being support to palace staff, was immediately thwarted by a coordinated blockade of senior orange tabbies occupying the primary garden corridors.

“We attempted to establish a balanced workspace for all four-legged personnel,” Sheinbaum explained, adjusting her podium microphone to avoid disturbing a sleeping calico. “However, the current asset distribution leans approximately 98% feline, and they have made it clear that additional canine integration will require extensive inter-departmental negotiation.”

Palace officials admitted that several key historic rooms have effectively been ceded to the animals. The famous courtyards now run on cat schedules, with high-level diplomatic meetings routinely paused to accommodate lap inspections by roving kitties. Staff members trying to process official paperwork report that several desktop keyboards remain indefinitely occupied by napping felines.

Despite the territorial challenges, the administration confirmed it has no plans to evict the current residents, citing their permanent legal protections. Instead, the government is considering creating a specialized feline mediation task force to negotiate shared corridor access before upcoming foreign dignitary visits.

Check out our Jalapeño archive here.

Got an idea for a Jalapeño article? Email us with your suggestions!

Officials report 43% drop in Guanajuato homicides: Friday’s mañanera recapped

By
MND Staff
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President Sheinbaum leads her September 18 mañanera press conference
President Sheinbaum gave her Friday press conference from Irapuato, in the state of Guanajuato. (Presidencia)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 📉 Guanajuato homicides down 43% this year: At Friday’s mañanera in Irapuato, National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa reported an average of 3.2 homicides per day in Guanajuato in August, 75% lower than in February 2025, the state’s most violent month under Sheinbaum. The daily average for the first eight months of 2026 was 4, a 43% year-over-year decline. This year is on track to be the state’s least violent since 2017.
  • 🚔 10,699 arrests in Guanajuato since October 2024: Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said 172 of the people detained through Aug. 31 were “priority targets.” In the same period, authorities also seized more than 6 tonnes of drugs and over 2,000 firearms, and dismantled two methamphetamine labs.
  • ⚖️ Suspect arrested in murder of Spanish student: García Harfuch confirmed that a man known as “El Trompas,” identified as Francisco Javier Meléndez, was detained Thursday in Cuautla, Morelos, in connection with the murder of Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera, a 21-year-old Spanish exchange student.
  • 📞 Sheinbaum says her call with Trump was “very good”: Sheinbaum said she spoke to the U.S. president about trade issues on Wednesday. She said differences have not yet been resolved, but that good progress is being made.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Irapuato, a city in Guanajuato, a state that in recent years has been Mexico’s most violent in terms of total homicides.

At the mañanera, federal security officials took the opportunity to outline the progress that has been made in combating violence in the state. Much of the violence in Guanajuato is related to organized crime, and, in particular, a long-running turf war between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.

Also of note at today’s mañanera was Security Minister Omar García Harfuch’s confirmation that a man known as “El Trompas” was detained in connection with the murder in Cuautla, Morelos, of Claudia Tacoronte Aguilera, a 21-year-old Spanish woman who was studying at the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos on an exchange program.

In addition, Sheinbaum spoke briefly about her trade-focused call on Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump. The call came less than two weeks after Trump asserted that Mexico has “nothing” the United States needs — apart from “hot tamales” and “tomatoes” — and therefore the U.S. could cease trading with its southern neighbor. In reality, Mexico supplies a wide range of goods to the U.S., and the economies of the two countries are highly integrated.

Homicides down 43% in Guanajuato this year 

National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa reported that there was an average of 3.2 homicides per day in Guanajuato in August. Figueroa highlighted that the daily average in August was 75% lower than that in February 2025, the most violent month in Guanajuato since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024.

She reported that there was an average of 4 homicides per day in Guanajuato in the first eight months of 2026, a reduction of 43% compared to 2025. Data presented by Figueroa showed that 2026 is on track to be the least violent year in Guanajuato since 2017.

National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa with a graph showing Guanajuato homicide rate
Guanajuato averaged 3.2 homicides a day in August, National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa reported. (Presidencia)

More than 10,000 arrests in Guanajuato since Sheinbaum took office 

García Harfuch reported that more than 10,600 people were arrested in Guanajuato between Oct. 1, 2024 — the date Sheinbaum was sworn in as president — and Aug. 31, 2026.

Of the 10,699 people detained in the state in the period, 172 were “priority targets,” García Harfuch said.

He also reported that over 6 tonnes of drugs and more than 2,000 firearms were seized in Guanajuato between October 2024 and August 2026. In addition, two methamphetamine laboratories were dismantled, García Harfuch said.

Suspect arrested in Morelos femicide case 

García Harfuch reported that federal and state security forces detained Francisco Javier “N” on Thursday in connection with the murder of Tacoronte. The suspect has been identified as Francisco Javier Meléndez in media reports. He was detained in Cuautla, a city around 40 kilometers southeast of Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos.

García Harfuch first reported the arrest in a social media post on Thursday evening.

On Friday morning, he said that “preventing femicides and addressing violence against women” is a “priority” of the federal government.

Sheinbaum discloses ‘very good’ call with Trump 

Sheinbaum told reporters that she spoke to Trump on Wednesday.

“It was a scheduled call,” she said, adding that she often speaks to the U.S. president without publicly announcing their discussions.

“Why? Because we’re making progress on trade issues,” Sheinbaum said.

She said that differences over trade have not yet been resolved, but stressed that good progress is being made.

Reuters reported on Sept. 11 that “Mexico and the United States are racing to reach a bilateral trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections,” which will take place on Nov. 3. As part of a bilateral deal, Mexico is seeking the reduction — or ideally the elimination — of U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel, aluminum and vehicles.

On July 1, the United States announced that it had declined to renew the USMCA in its “current form,” although the three-way pact remains in effect.

Sheinbaum said her call with Trump was “very good.”

“… The Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard were with me in the conversation,” she added.

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

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