FIFA President Gianni Infantino, seen here on the eve of the World Cup opener, has received nearly unanimous condemnation from the soccer establishment over his plan to partially privatize the World Cup, including from the Concacaf regional conference in which Mexico, the U.S. and Canada compete. But the Mexican Football Federation refused, at least for the time being, to back their fellow federations in rejecting the Infantino plan.
(Moisés Pablo / Cuartoscuro.com)
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) is breaking ranks with its fellow soccer federations in the United States and Canada by refusing — for now — to reject FIFA’s plan to bring private investors into the World Cup’s commercial rights.
While the plan being pushed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino has drawn ire worldwide, the FMF said on social media it is undertaking a “process of study and analysis to make the decision that best suits the development of Mexican soccer,” without endorsing Concacaf’s swift rejection.
VIDEO | ⚽️ Infantino asegura que la creación de la filial comercial (FFE) es “una oportunidad para crecer” que podría elevar hasta 40M$ la ayuda a cada federación. pic.twitter.com/f7fLnCt91N
Concacaf, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, held an urgent meeting this week in which the presidents of its 41 member associations “rejected the proposal” and voiced “deep concerns” about “the lack of due process” and an “artificially short deadline.”
The regional confederation questioned why private equity is needed after “the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history” and pointed to FIFA’s “billions of dollars in reserves and no debt.”
The project Infantino is promoting calls for the creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary that would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup and sell minority, non‑controlling stakes to outside investors on a $20 billion valuation.
FIFA says FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion by working with J.P. Morgan and long‑term investors including Thrive Capital, an investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, brother of President Donald Trump’s son‑in‑law Jared Kushner.
The 211 member federations are being offered a one‑time $20 million payment plus a jump in regular FIFA Forward development funding from $8 million to $20 million for the 2027‑30 cycle, with further increases later.
FIFA says the additional money would support infrastructure, coaching, national teams, competitions, and women’s and grassroots soccer.
In a clarification posted on X, FIFA said “nobody is selling football” and argued that FFE would remain fully owned and controlled by FIFA, with governance and the global match calendar unchanged.
The backlash has been swift. The 55 member associations of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) voted unanimously to boycott the World Cup and all FIFA competitions if the project goes ahead.
UEFA said football “is not FIFA’s to sell” and warned that “the soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially.”
In its vote Thursday, Concacaf cited the absence of any review by FIFA’s own governance bodies, but stopped short of threatening a boycott.
It tasked its FIFA Council members with pushing FIFA to tap existing reserves instead and to run any future plan through proper procedures under the FIFA statutes.
FIFA has promised to open working groups so federations can review more details before a Sept. 19 deadline, leaving Mexico to weigh whether to join with its confederation’s stance or support the proposal.
On Friday, the story took some more turns. Infantino’s senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned, saying “I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup” and calling the $20 billion commercial subsidiary “a bad deal for soccer.”
In a separate statement, FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said staff had been “deceived” by Infantino’s lack of openness and argued the plan is “the project of one person” that “must not go ahead.”
The Harry Styles phenomenon, including six nights in Mexico City starting Friday, not only confirms Mexico's status as a major stop for musical stars on tour, but also exemplifies the economic benefits of entertainment tourism.
(Harry Styles/Instagram)
Six Mexico City shows by pop mega-star Harry Styles, starting Friday and running through August 10, will inject more than 2 billion pesos (US $120 million) into the economy, according to the local chapter of the National Chamber of Commerce (Canaco CDMX).
Canaco says ticket sales will account for more than 80% of the economic windfall, with the rest coming from lodging, food, transportation and other services.
The flamboyant Styles is expected to attract 400,000 spectators over his six-night residency at GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City. (Canaco CDMX)
According to Canaco, the hospitality industry is expected to be among the main beneficiaries, with revenue from lodging projected to exceed 299.7 million pesos (US $17.2 million), as visitors arrive from across Mexico and abroad.
The food service sector is also expected to get a significant boost, with spending at restaurants, cafés and other establishments near the venue projected at 156 million pesos (US $9.0 million).
Ticketmaster Mexico estimates that around 60% of attendees at the GNP Stadium will travel to Mexico City for the shows, staying an average of two to three nights. The influx will significantly move the economic performance needle of the capital’s tourism sector and related industries.
Head of Canaco CDMX Vicente Gutiérrez Camposeco confirmed the figures in a statement, adding that the benefits from an event like the Styles concerts extend beyond the entertainment industry.
“It’s not just the event organizers who benefit,” he said. “Hotels, restaurants, shops, tourism services, transportation, ride-hailing platforms, travel agencies, suppliers, and thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that participate directly or indirectly in serving visitors also benefit.”
Mexico City is one of seven cities worldwide chosen by Styles to host a 2026 residency, and the one with the most concerts in the region, concert promoter Ocesa said. The soft rocker and One Direction graduate’s six GNP Stadium dates are likely to attract more than 400,000 fans.
Some 60% of them will be women, while 35% will be under 25 years old, according to Ocesa.
The Styles concert phenomenon reinforces Mexico City’s position as one of Latin America’s leading entertainment tourism destinations, providing not just culture and entertainment, but also, as Ocesa puts it, “acting as engines for economic development, job creation, tourism promotion, and the strengthening of the cultural industry.”
Mexico City is known as “the City of Palaces” for a reason, not least of which is the elegant Porfirian-era architecture that can still be seen in the capital. (Gobierno de la Ciudad de Mexico)
Porfirio Díaz was a hero of the French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s. Although his campaign slogan was “effective suffrage, no reelection,” once he came to power, he refused to relinquish it. He held power — with a brief four-year interregnum under ally Manuel González — from 1876 to 1911, when the Mexican Revolution broke out. His long term in office is known as the Porfiriato in Mexican history.
Like other 20th-century dictators in Latin America, his rule was authoritarian, racist and often sought to emulate European styles. The best example of this is the architectural movement that bears his name: the Porfirian era, which manifested itself in Mexico City in palatial buildings and impressive mansions that undeniably followed Parisian architectural trends.
Defining the Porfirian-era architectural style in Mexico
Majestic staircases, marble details and a 19th-century nostalgia for European forms distinguish the most beautiful buildings from the Porfiriato era in Mexico City. (Thomas Ledl/Wikimedia Commons)
Since the dictator looked to Europe — and specifically the French capital — as a model of sophistication and progress, he wanted to imprint that same image on his own imperial capital. For this reason, many of Mexico City’s largest museums feature this Parisian influence, which extends to the surrounding neighborhoods and remains to this day.
This blend of styles, known as eclecticism, sought to project an image of a modern and prosperous Mexico. Just as it adopted the elongated forms of French Art Nouveau, it also drew inspiration from the Venetian Gothic Revival to adorn some of the palatial buildings in the Historic Center. The style was not intended to be understated. On the contrary, it favored monumental buildings that emulated the grandeur of Porfirian rule.
Luxury was not lacking during the era of “Don Porfirio,” as he was known during his presidency. Besides being monumental, the buildings have a marked tendency toward verticality and symmetry: Every ornament, relief and window is a match on the opposite side.
On your next visit — or even on a leisurely Sunday stroll — do not miss these iconic spots, which rank among the most beautiful Porfirian-era buildings in Mexico City.
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The construction of the Palace of Fine Arts witnessed the transition from the Porfirian era to post-revolutionary Mexico. (Yo Amo El Español/Pexels)
The construction of the Palace of Fine Arts took place during a turbulent time in Mexico City. While it was planned to celebrate the 1910 centennial of Mexican independence, construction was halted by the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution.
Given that it took 30 years to build, the facade and interiors of the Palace of Fine Arts blend elements from various architectural styles. While there are clear elements of French Art Nouveau, the building also features modernist details that interact with neoclassical accents. But it’s designed so well that this polyphony of architectural styles might go unnoticed. Everything comes together in harmony.
Today, the Palacio de Bellas Artes is one of the most emblematic cultural venues not only in Mexico, but in all of Latin America. It boasts concert halls and several galleries that have showcased the works of some of the world’s most renowned artists.
Where:Ave. Juárez S/N, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc.
Palacio de Correos
Featuring gargoyles, marble ornaments and elaborate plasterwork, Mexico City’s Postal Palace has been described as an “architectural treat.” (Bohao Zhao/Wikimedia Commons)
Just a few meters from the Palacio de Bellas Artes, on the corner of Tacuba Street and Eje Central, stands the magnificent Postal Palace. Long before digital communication, people sent handwritten letters and the Mexico City postal service was responsible for delivering these and other documents throughout the country.
With its impressive palatial staircases, this building is considered one of the masterpieces of Porfirian architecture. Like the Palace of Fine Arts, it seamlessly blends diverse architectural styles. According to the Mexico City government, these include Art Nouveau, Spanish Renaissance Revival, Plateresque, Spanish Rococo, Elizabethan Gothic, Elizabethan Plateresque and Venetian Gothic Revival, to name but a few.
Where:Calle de Tacuba 1, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc.
Casa Boker
Where else but Mexico City can you find hardware stores more than a century old? (Gobierno de la Ciudad de Mexico)
Porfirio Díaz never missed an opportunity to inaugurate his French-style palaces. Such was the case with Casa Boker on June 3, 1900. Like other businesses in the center of the capital, the Mexico City government documents that this building houses “a hardware store in continuous operation dating back to the late 19th century.” In fact, the business is named after a German immigrant who settled in Mexico City to practice the same trade his family had held for generations.
Although Casa Boker has not always had the same façade, the one seen today was part of Díaz’s urban development project. He hired architects De Lemos and Cordes from New York, who designed the original Macy’s department store. After a serious fire in the 1970s, part of the building was rented to the iconic Sanborns department store chain, which opened a cafe and store there. The hardware store remains open more than a century later, serving residents in Mexico City’s legendary Centro Histórico.
Where:16 de Septiembre 58, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc.
Last, but definitely not least, is the Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL), considered one of Mexico City’s Porfirian-era jewels. Facing the majestic wrought-iron gates is the iconic “El Caballito“ statue by Manuel Tolsá, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Historic Center.
Originally, the building was not intended to house a museum. Rather, it was the seat of the Ministry of Communications and Public Works. Following Porfirian tradition, several of the building’s decorative elements were commissioned in Europe — specifically by Italian artisans in Florence, according to the Mexico City government, “such as the door knockers, window frames, leaded crystal, stonework, furniture, lamps and ironwork.”
Díaz was so fascinated by the building that he chose one of the second-floor reception rooms for his public statements and for receiving foreign dignitaries. The building served for some time afterward as the National Archives and was converted into the National Art Museum in 1982.
Where:Calle de Tacuba 8, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch discusses the arrest of "R1," alleged mastermind of Mayor Carlos Manzo's murder, at Friday's mañanera. (Presidencia)
Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
🚨 ‘R1’ arrest detailed: Security Minister García Harfuch gave new details on Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, alias “R1,” alleged leader of a CJNG-linked criminal cell who was arrested Thursday in Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco, in connection with the 2025 assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo.
🔍 Álvarez’s criminal history: García Harfuch noted that Álvarez was first detained in 2012 for orchestrating violence in Guadalajara and Colima but was released in 2022, and was subsequently linked to other crimes, including the 2025 murder of influencer Valeria Márquez.
🔫 Manzo’s alleged mastermind: García Harfuch said intelligence work established that Álvarez ordered and financed the murder of Manzo, calling him the case’s main mastermind. His arrest is the 31st in connection with the case.
🩸 “Provocation” cited as motive: García Harfuch said detainees have pointed to “provocation” from Manzo — known for his hardline anti-crime stance and presence at security operations in Uruapan — as the motive, though he stressed the exact motivation for the crime is still being confirmed.
Why today’s mañanera matters
At President Sheinbaum’s Friday morning press conference, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch provided details about the criminal history of a man known as “R1,” alleged leader of a criminal cell affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
“R1” — who García Harfuch referred to as Ramón Ángel ‘N, but who was identified in media reports as Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala — was arrested in Jalisco on Thursday in connection with the murder last November of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, who was an outspoken anti-crime crusader. Álvarez is alleged to be the “autor intelectual,” or mastermind, of the attack on Manzo, who was shot during a Day of the Dead event in the main square of Uruapan, the second largest city in the state of Michoacán.
Uruapan’s popular anti-crime mayor, Carlos Manzo, was assassinated in November 2025. (Juan José Estrada Serafín / Cuartoscuro.com)
The arrest is one of the most significant in Mexico this year, and therefore the security minister’s remarks about the detained suspect at today’s mañanera were also significant. García Harfuch first announced the arrest on social media on Thursday.
García Harfuch speaks about ‘R1,’ the alleged mastermind of Manzo’s murder
At the start of the press conference, García Harfuch told reporters that one of two people arrested during a federal security operation in Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco, on Thursday was “Ramón Ángel ‘N.'”
He said that the suspect is the leader of a criminal cell, Los R’s, that is linked to the CJNG.
“This operation is part of the national security strategy led by President Claudia Sheinbaum and represents a significant step forward in the weakening of one of the country’s most violent criminal structures,” García Harfuch said.
The other person arrested in the operation in Jalisco was an alleged member of Los R’s identified as Jesús Salvador “N.”
García Harfuch said that Los R’s operates in various municipalities in Michoacán as well as in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara and other parts of Jalisco. He said that the criminal cell is involved in drug trafficking and extortion, and has murdered members of rival groups.
García Harfuch said that authorities thoroughly investigated and monitored Los R’s and identified Ramón Ángel as its leader.
García Harfuch acknowledged that Álvarez was released from prison in 2022, before telling reporters that authorities established that he subsequently became involved in criminal activities once again.
That crime, García Harfuch said, is linked to Francisco “N,” “former partner of the victim and son of Ramón Ángel ‘N.'”
The security minister said that investigations also allowed authorities to establish that Álvarez was linked to the “cowardly murder of Carlos Manzo, former mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán.”
“Regarding this case, which caused profound anger in Michoacán and the entire country, 31 arrests have been made,” he said.
“… Information obtained [by authorities] through intelligence work made it possible to identify that Ramón Ángel “N” ordered and financed the homicide of Carlos Manzo,” García Harfuch said.
“In this way, Ramón Ángel “N” is accused of being the main mastermind of the attack,” he said.
García Harfuch said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office and the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office have “solid evidence” against Álvarez that will be presented at upcoming court hearings.
What was the motive for Manzo’s murder?
García Harfuch said that statements from people detained in connection with the murder of Manzo indicate that the motive for the crime was “provocation” from the mayor, who was dubbed “the Mexican Bukele” for his hardline stance against organized crime.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is credited with dramatically reducing violence in the Central American nation through his tough anti-gang policies and actions.
García Harfuch noted that Manzo — who advocated direct and forceful action against criminal groups and was known for wearing bulletproof vests — was present during some federal security operations in Uruapan in which arrests were made.
Suspects arrested in connection with the mayor’s murder “are those who mentioned this term of provocation [as a motive for the crime],” he reiterated.
“… What the exact motive was will be confirmed as the investigations advance,” García Harfuch said.
“But in the statements of the first people detained [in connection with Manzo’s murder], that’s what they’ve mentioned,” he said, referring to a “provocation” from the mayor directed at Los R’s.
García Harfuch noted that authorities don’t yet have statements from “the main suspect” — Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, the alleged mastermind of Manzo’s murder, who is now behind bars.
Ramón Ángel "R1" Álvarez Ayala, alleged leader of the CJNG cell "Los R's," was arrested in a federal operation in Jalisco this week. (SSPC)
Federal authorities on Thursday arrested Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, identified as the mastermind behind the Nov. 1, 2025, murder of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said Álvarez Ayala, aka “R1”, was apprehended in Atotonilco, Jalisco, during an operation carried out by the Security Ministry and Army Special Forces.
The midday operation included a high-speed car chase, resulting in a shootout, which forced residents to scatter and businesses to close.
One of Álvarez’s bodyguards was killed, and another arrested.
In a social media post, García Harfuch described Álvarez Ayala as the main leader of “Los R’s,” one of the most violent criminal cells linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), with operations in Apatzingán, Uruapan and Morelia in Michoacán, as well as in Jalisco.
García Harfuch said months of intelligence and investigative work, including statements from detainees, as well as intercepted telephone and text communications, revealed that Álvarez ordered the murder because Manzo’s anti-crime policies were considered “provocative” or insulting by the CJNG.
🔴 Así fue la detención de Jorge Armando “N”, alias El Licenciado
La Fiscalía de Michoacán confirmó la detención de Jorge Armando “N”, alias El Licenciado, identificado como uno de los autores intelectuales y uno de los líderes que planearon el homicidio de Carlos Manzo,… pic.twitter.com/qRtOmPhT8k
Manzo, the outspoken mayor of Michoacán’s second-biggest city, was murdered in Uruapan’s main square while he toured a Day of the Dead display. Manzo, who won election in 2024 as an independent candidate, gained national attention after declaring a zero-tolerance stance against organized crime in Uruapan, a municipality of over 367,000 people, and criticizing President Claudia Sheinbaum’s security policies.
Prior to that, Manzo served as a federal deputy in the ruling Morena party.
Grecia Quiroz, Manzo’s widow and his succesor as mayor of Uruapan, acknowledged the work of federal authorities in a statement: “Justice begins, but it’s not over yet,” she said. “I am convinced there is still much more to clarify, and I demand a serious investigation to get to the bottom of this.”
Among those she singled out are Senator Raúl Morón, former Governor Leonel Godoy, Manzo’s predecessor as mayor of Uruapan Ignacio Campos Equihua (who lost to Manzo in the 2024 election) and former Apatzingan Mayor Roldán Álvarez Ayala, R1’s brother.
Another Álvarez Ayala brother — Rafael, aka “R2” — is a lieutenant in the CJNG-linked “Los R’s” crime gang. Ramón and Rafael were arrested by the Army in 2012 only to be released in 2022. Harfuch described Rafael as the new leader of “Los R’s.”
After a careful examination of recent tourism data, Mexican officials have decided the optimal visitors are those who cross the border for only a few hours at a time. (This image was generated using AI tools)
Following reports that average tourist spending fell 4.9% while overall arrivals increased, federal tourism officials announced a sweeping strategic pivot Thursday: Mexico will formally abandon its pursuit of high-spending visitors in favor of a new, high-efficiency vision focused exclusively on the budget traveler.
The strategy, officially designated the “National High-Volume, Low-Yield Optimization Initiative,” reframes recent economic data as a resounding operational success. Rather than courting luxury travelers who arrive by air and spend an average of US $1,310, the ministry will reallocate its global marketing budget to target visitors whose primary vacation priority is spending under US $118 before walking back across the border.
Choosing low-value tourists promises low economic yields, but absolutely no investment whatsoever, say tourist officials. (This image was generated using AI tools)
“For years, our tourism strategy was bogged down by high expectations and complex hospitality demands,” said Ministry of Tourism spokesperson Mateo Estrada during a morning press conference. “By shifting our focus toward visitors who buy a single bottle of water, take two photographs near the port of entry and promptly return home, we have dramatically streamlined the nation’s service economy.”
Under the new guidelines, luxury resorts in Cancún and Los Cabos will be encouraged to diversify their amenities by replacing fine-dining establishments with high-throughput convenience stalls. Officials noted that while air arrivals declined by 9% in May, border crossings surged, proving that the future of Mexican hospitality lies not in five-star suites, but in wide, well-paved footpaths near international bridges.
Industry analysts have praised the bureaucratic agility required to turn a drop in air travel into a deliberate policy objective. According to internal projections, the ideal 2027 campaign will target day-trippers who pack their own sandwiches, thereby reducing the burden on municipal waste systems and eliminating restaurant wait times altogether.
“High-spending tourists require heated pools, flight connections and extensive concierge services,” Estrada added. “The low-value tourist requires only a sidewalk. From a pure overhead perspective, the margin on a visitor who spends nothing is virtually infinite.”
The ministry confirmed that future promotional campaigns will phase out imagery of pristine beaches and historic architecture, replacing them with detailed maps highlighting affordable parking lots within 200 yards of the border.
Guadalajara's night libraries are part literary salons, part speakeasies and part DIY classrooms, writes Charlotte Smith. (tequiero.guadalajara/Instagram)
By the time the mariachis packed up on Avenida Chapultepec, a different kind of gathering was just beginning. Inside a narrow courtyard that looked a bit like a used bookshop’s imagination were string lights, mismatched chairs, walls papered with photocopied, purple-threaded zines and a nervous, electric humor.
We’d only heard about this place some 20 minutes prior, but we decided to give it a go. So, we arrived at a night library in Guadalajara, and it was everything it had promised to be.
Guadalajara’s night libraries come alive after the sun goes down in the city as host sites for special events. (Carlos Fernández/Unsplash)
Part salon, part speakeasy, part DIY classroom and entirely alive.
Poetry and the city
We were with about 25 strangers when the organizer flipped a small, battered lantern on and announced the first reader. A hush dropped, as if everyone had agreed to hold the city’s usual clamor at bay for an hour or two.
The first voice was raw and close, speaking poetry that smelled of late buses and street tacos. Laughter broke out in the right places, then silence where a line landed like a small, slow fist.
We could see heads tilt, eyebrows lift and phones stealthily put away. People leaned in because nothing was padded for virality. It was immediate. It was intimate. And it was entirely human.
Guadalajara’s night libraries are less a single model than a constellation.
One week, you’ll find a pop-up in a mezcalería where writers read between orders of sal de gusano palomas. Another night, a colectivo hosts an open archive night in a reclaimed storefront, where attendees trade xeroxed pages and oral fragments of local histories.
‘A thrilling lack of polish’
University students slip into municipal cultural centers to host clandestine readings of banned or hard-to-find texts. Older readers bring musty paperbacks and the kind of critique sharpened by decades of listening.
No two events look the same, but they all share a low-cost, high-affect DNA. They’re a space where speech doesn’t require a PR firm or an institutional grant.
What keeps these salons pulsing is a thrilling lack of polish.
There’s no curatorial cushion here. If you can stand up and read, you’re in. So, I did! That democratic aspect makes for risky nights when experimental prose derails into laughter and political rants spill over into planning notes for a neighborhood action.
Each risk is a small wager on community, and on the idea that people will show up, stay and feel accountable to the room. The risk is also the point.
Night libraries and the art of conversation
In a city rapidly remaking itself through the gentrification of blocks, the redeploying of public spaces and the importing of glossy cultural programming, night libraries feel like cultural oxygen. They stake claim to the nocturnal hours in a way that’s less about commerce and more about conversation.
What goes on in the rooms night libraries are held in remains there, with photos forbidden to protect vulnerable voices. (Humberto Arellano/Unsplash)
For many participants, these salons are where they test lines they’ll later place in literary magazines, plot points they’ll refine into novels or organizing strategies they’ll take to the street.
Take Sofía, a final-year journalism student, who from time to time shows up at a rotating salon in a courtyard.
“When I read my first thing here, people told me what landed and what didn’t,” she said. “I want to publish one day, so I rewrote the piece three times because of what I heard. That honest feedback is precious.”
The content is deliciously eclectic. Some nights are literary and experimental through translated fictions and fragmented memoirs. Other nights tilt political via testimonies from neighborhood activists, performative manifestos and readings of court documents.
‘Scarcity breeds inventiveness’
There are evenings dedicated to Indigenous languages, where oral storytelling traditions are performed, recorded and sometimes awkwardly translated in real time. Elsewhere you’ll stumble on media-art performances that stitch field recordings of Guadalajara’s streets into a living soundscape.
The night library’s loose format lets form and message collide in ways mainstream venues rarely accommodate.
Planning is part improvisation, part grind. Organizers rely on WhatsApp threads, Instagram stories and old-fashioned word-of-mouth to gather crowds. Many hosts are small networks of writers, artists and students who rotate responsibilities for sound, seating and the inevitable cleanup.
Money is scarce, so door donations are accepted, and tip jars for the space are dotted about. But scarcity breeds inventiveness.
Sofía told us that one group staged a night in a defunct photocopy shop, converting an old risograph press into a zine-making station where attendees could print work on the spot to read aloud and then trade it.
There are ethical tightropes, too.
‘A training ground for new cultural leadership’
Guadalajara isn’t exempt from the realities of public order and political risk. Some nights exist under an understood anonymity. There are no names printed on flyers, consent forms for recording are used, and there’s a tacit promise from attendees not to amplify vulnerable voices.
Organizers often wrestle with balancing openness and safety in terms of how to invite new listeners without exposing people who speak about migration, state violence or repressive landlords. No photos were allowed.
Night libraries are proving grounds for authors whose work may one day be featured at events like the Guadalajara International Book Fair. (Bernardo De Niz/Visita Jalisco)
Yet the payoff is tangible.
Night libraries are a training ground for new cultural leadership. They incubate experimental radio shows, and they funnel talent into larger festivals like the Guadalajara International Book Fair — and often with more authenticity than programs shaped by municipal funding. More quietly, they produce a different civic grammar. Think of neighbors who can translate despair into a poem, witnesses who can turn testimony into a pamphlet and activists who learn rhetorical strategy alongside verse.
The power of ‘contraband wisdom’
If there’s a single image that keeps returning to me, it’s of the humble photocopy. One sheet becomes many, and those many are folded, stapled and passed around like contraband wisdom. The photocopy stands for everything night libraries value: accessible reproduction, makeshift distribution and the radical belief that culture can circulate without permission.
By sunrise, the courtyard was a scatter of coffee cups, pasted flyers and a small cart of unsold zines. I left with the ease of someone who’d been in a room that mattered. We all made our way back into a city that might not notice what happened there, but the city had shifted in small ways through ideas getting repeated and seeing a poet gain confidence.
I saw so clearly that night libraries in Guadalajara aren’t just nightlife. They’re a rehearsal for a different public life, played out in the hum under the city’s louder lights.
They’re in most major cities across Mexico, and I hope you go searching for one. Just look for the photocopied flyers taped to doorframes, the tiny Instagram posts with cryptic times and the mezcal bottles that double as candleholders.
Walk in, say hello and maybe bring a poem. The night, if you let it, will teach you how loud a whispered reading can be.
Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.
A currency exchange in Puebla was the target of a dramatic heist this week — the second time the establishment has been targeted in a month. (Illustrative photo; Isabel Mateos Hinojosa / Cuartoscuro.com)
A theft at a currency exchange in Puebla has made national headlines thanks to the criminals’ method, reminiscent of formulaic heist movies.
The crime took place Sunday night in the Santa Cruz Buenavista neighborhood of Puebla city. A group of thieves drilled a hole to enter the facility, bypassed the security systems and escaped with an estimated 1 million pesos (US $57,616).
It wasn’t until the next morning that employees discovered the theft and notified security authorities after finding a hole that reached the bathroom area.
Sunday’s theft was the second experienced by the same currency exchange in less than a month, a coincidence — or not — that has roused the suspicions of investigators.
It has also prompted social media users to compare it to the heist in the Netflix TV show “La Casa de Papel,” which recounts the real-life events of a robbery of the Spanish mint house.
How did the robbery happen?
According to initial reports, the criminals acted at night, wearing clothing that made identification difficult.
They first entered a physiotherapy clinic next to the currency exchange, whose wall connects to the adjacent premises.
From there, they drilled through the wall that led to the exchange’s restrooms, allowing them to enter undetected.
Once inside, the perpetrators removed a door and used it to block the view of the interior security cameras, which allowed them to move through the area where the cash was stored and steal the loot without triggering the main alarms.
Officials from the Puebla State Attorney General’s Office are working to obtain physical evidence, analyze the route the criminals used, and review available video surveillance cameras from both the currency exchange and nearby properties.
Authorities have not yet released the number of criminals involved in the robbery, who still remain at large.
Students who passed the 2026 entrance exams demonstated this week outside the UNAM rector's office, demanding that their test results be honored after enrollment for the fall semester was suspended. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais / Cuartoscuro.com)
These are some of the headlines that have appeared in the media in recent days amid intense and growing scrutiny of the results of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s entrance exams, which were published earlier this month.
In this explainer, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about this “scandal,” which has also been widely referred to as a “crisis” for UNAM, Mexico’s largest and most prestigious university.
UNAM’s cheating scandal, explained
In May and June, UNAM held its exams for people vying to become students at the university, whose main campus, Ciudad Universitaria (University City), is located in southern Mexico City.
The university’s entrance exams have previously been held in large auditoriums and stadiums, but in 2026 — for the first time ever — would-be UNAM students completed the tests online. One aim of moving exams online was to save aspirants the time and money involved in traveling to an exam center. Another was to make the exams more accessible to aspirants across the country and even abroad.
More than 158,000 aspirants sat the online exams. Among them were people hoping to gain entry to high-demand UNAM degree programs that are notoriously hard to get into, such as medicine and law.
The software for the exams was provided by the Mexican company Territorium Life. It had a range of AI-powered built-in features designed to prevent test-takers from cheating — including one that prevented additional computer tabs from being opened — but there is widespread suspicion that a significant number of them did indeed cheat, including by using artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT.
Some test-takers may have circumvented anti-cheating software by using a second device. (Solen Feyissa / Unsplash)
None of the software’s in-built features could physically stop people from using a second computer or a smartphone while sitting their UNAM entrance exams, although it was equipped with a camera and microphone-assisted surveillance system designed to detect irregular — i.e., deceitful — conduct.
Territorium Life said that its exam platform “operated as planned.”
Around 2% of exams have already been nullified because the software’s surveillance system, overseen by a group of human behavior experts, detected cheating.
Suspicious entrance exam results
UNAM published the results of its admission exams on July 17. The first suspicions about them emerged on social media, according to the newspaper El País.
Why were the results suspicious? In a nutshell, because they were unusually good.
In the past, the percentage of test-takers who responded correctly to more than 100 questions on 120-question multiple-choice exams was below 10%.
In 2025, the percentage of test-takers who got more than 100 questions correct on the medicine degree entrance exam was 9%. The figure this year was 29.3%.
Almost 19% of law degree candidates got more than 100 questions correct in 2026, up from just 3.7% last year. The figure for would-be UNAM science degree students rose to 30.4% from 9.7% a year earlier.
The higher incidence of excellent exam results “drastically increased the required thresholds to enter” UNAM degree programs, the BBC reported.
🎓⚠️ Especialistas alertan sobre posibles irregularidades en el examen virtual de ingreso a licenciatura de la UNAM.
Tras publicarse los resultados, se detectó un aumento atípico de aspirantes con puntajes superiores a 100 aciertos: mientras en años anteriores representaban… pic.twitter.com/y9h1LXahGw
The allegations that some people cheated in their UNAM entrance exams are, at this stage at least, exactly that — allegations. Nothing has yet been proven.
However, the widespread suspicion is that some, or perhaps many, aspirants used AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude while completing their exams.
The news outlet Infobae reported that before the various UNAM entrance exams were held, videos on the social media platform TikTok provided a “cheating instruction manual.”
Among the advice offered on TikTok was to have “ChatGPT running on a second monitor outside the [camera’s] frame,” Infobae reported.
A test-taker could conceivably have been assisted by a second person outside the camera’s view who held up AI-generated answers on a laptop, for example.
Eduardo Backhoff, a Mexican psychologist and education assessment expert, wrote on social media that “either the exams were easier [than in previous years], the students were smarter, or they cheated.”
“The first two possibilities are highly unlikely; the last one is the only plausible explanation. In this case, those who don’t deserve it are being rewarded,” he wrote.
UNAM applicants who failed the entrance exam have demanding tests be re-administered in person, alleging their spots were stolen by cheating. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais / Cuartoscuro.com)
In a radio report, NPR journalist Eyder Peralta said that “Raul Rojas, who teaches AI at the Free University of Berlin and statistics at the University of Nevada, Reno, says when he looked at all the test scores, he didn’t find the kind of deviation you can chalk up to an easier test or perhaps a smarter class.”
Rojas told NPR that his conclusion was that “almost half of the students were cheating when taking the exam online.”
Peralta said that the tests “were open for 17 days, giving ample chance for friends or internet entrepreneurs to leak or sell test questions.”
“Blind spots in technology also allowed students to have someone else take their test,” he said.
UNAM’s response
UNAM has launched an investigation into the suspected cheating by some exam candidates and suspended the enrollment of new students shortly before the new academic year is scheduled to begin.
The university’s rector, Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas, has named a group of 16 experts in fields including education, AI and law, to examine what happened. Backhoff is a member of that group, which is expected to complete its investigation promptly.
Lomelí, UNAM rector since late 2023, said that fair access to the university’s degree programs cannot be compromised by “those aspirants who may have had some kind of help.”
He also said that none of the possible responses to the alleged cheating are ruled out — i.e., there is a chance that the exam results will be nullified and UNAM aspirants will have to sit entrance exams again.
If the results were nullified, would-be UNAM students who studied hard and did well in their exams without cheating would be unfairly penalized. However, having aspirants re-sit the exams — in person — may be the only way to ensure that the admission process is fair for everyone.
With the fall semester scheduled to begin in less than two weeks, enrollment has been suspended pending a decision from the university on whether the suspicious test results will be allowed to stand. Pictured: the National Autonomous University’s main campus in Mexico City. (UNAM)
The university’s decision “could set legal, technological, educational and evaluative precedents,” said Juan Manuel Flores Ayala, an education assessment expert who was quoted in the El País newspaper.
“… I would lean toward repeating the exam and moving the semester as needed to restore credibility and provide certainty to the people UNAM serves as a public institution. There is a political and legal cost to doing so, but I think more would be gained than lost,” Flores said.
UNAM, BBC reported, also announced that it filed criminal complaints against “people and companies that offer fraudulent services” related to its entrance exams.
The university is dealing with an issue faced by education institutes around the world — students’ use (including improper and fraudulent use) of AI.
Aspirants’ views
Some UNAM aspirants have protested to demand that the exams be held again. Others want the results to stand.
In the aforementioned NPR radio report, protesting test-takers can be heard chanting, “We want honesty, not artificial intelligence.”
At Ciudad Universitaria, they also demanded that an “examen presencial,” or in-person exam, be held for UNAM aspirants.
One would-be applied mathematics student, Leonardo Ruiz, told NPR that his exam results had already been invalidated.
“He assumes his exam was flagged for cheating because he scored too well, but he says he did it by studying,” NPR’s Eyder Peralta reported.
“They have to see how this fraud was committed,” she said.
It has to be established whether “the company … [UNAM] hired” to facilitate the online exams was complicit or whether “some” of the exam candidates used AI of their own accord, Sheinbaum said.
The 1.5-tonne torta assembled by Mexico City volunteers set a Guinness World Record at the 2026 Torta Fair. (Venustiano Carranza borough government)
A 100-meter torta weighing more than one and a half metric tons set a Guinness World Record in Mexico City on Wednesday at the capital’s annual Torta Fair.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Alfredo Arista certified the sandwich on the esplanade of the Venustiano Carranza borough, declaring to organizers, “From today you are officially amazing. Congratulations!”
Evelyn Parra, mayor (alcaldesa) of Mexico City’s Venustiano Carranza borough, welcomes visitors to the Torta Fair, which runs through Sunday and is expected to draw 600,000 attendees. (Venustiano Carranza borough government)
Guinness declared the record to be in the category “the largest serving of sandwiches arranged in a continuous line” — with media and local officials describing it as the largest torta the world has ever seen.
Laid out on long rows of tables, the torta was then cut into segments and moved to industrial scales in a weighing process carried out under strict hygiene protocols and Guinness supervision.
Officials said the mega-torta measured 100 meters (about 328 feet) and tipped the scales at 1,570 kilograms (about 3,460 pounds). A metric ton, or tonne, is 1,000 kilograms.
The 2026 torta surpassed previous giant tortas assembled at the same festival, which reached 76 meters in 2024 and 90 meters in 2025 but did not carry Guinness certification.
What do you do with a 1.5-tonne record-setting but perishable torta after it’s certified? With thousands of hungry spectators around, the solution is easy. (Camila Ayala Benabib / Cuartoscuro.com)
Dozens of cooks, wearing caps, masks and gloves, assembled more than 50 varieties of fillings into a single continuous torta, including ham, breaded pork cutlet, sausage, beans, chistorra,mole, seafood, carnitas and even wild boar.
A torta in Mexican Spanish is a sandwich made on a roll, typically a bolillo or telera.
Once the weighing was complete, the sandwich was divided and distributed for free among the thousands of attendees.
Last year, volunteers in Toluca, the capital of México state, set what a notary public called a world record with an 82-meter chorizo torta. But that was specifically for a chorizo torta, nor was the record certified by Guinness.
For years, Guinness has turned down torta-specific records as part of their broader policy of avoiding overly specialized food categories.
While the torta may be a beloved example of Mexico’s rich culinary tradition, its original designers seem to have known very little about the dimensions of an average human mouth. (Camila Ayala Benabib / Cuartoscuro.com)
The current five-day Torta Fair opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday. It includes more than 100 vendors offering torta styles from Mexican states such as Jalisco, Puebla and Yucatán, alongside international options from countries including Colombia, Spain and China.
Admission is free, and organizers expect more than 600,000 visitors and an economic impact above 50 million pesos (US $2.9 million), with concerts, cultural activities and a pet “Adoptathon” rounding out the program.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada noted there are roughly 10,000 torta businesses in the capital, calling the fair a showcase for local commerce and a celebration of the city’s everyday cuisine.
