Mexican filmmaker Ernesto Eimbcke directed "Moscas" ("Flies") which won two awards at the recently concluded Berlinale film fest. (Shutterstock/DDCM)
Mexican cinema left a strong mark on the recently concluded 76th Berlin International Film Festival, where the features “Moscas” and “Chicas tristes” earned awards for presenting stories of intimacy, youth and violence from Mexico.
“Moscas” (“Flies”), directed by Fernando Eimbcke won the festival’s Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Berliner Morgenpost Reader Award.
It was also in competition for the Golden Bear, the festival’s top prize, which went to “Yellow Letters” by German director İlker Çatak.
Meanwhile, “Chicas tristes” (“Sad Girls”) won two best film awards in Generation 14plus, a category dedicated to young audiences. One, the Crystal Bear, was awarded by a youth jury, and the other, the Grand Prix, was decided upon by a jury of film professionals and came with a prize of 7,500 euros (151,870 pesos).
Fernanda Tovar’s feature-length directorial debut, which she also wrote, is about two teenage friends confronting the aftermath of sexual violence.
The 90-minute film drew praise from jurors for its calm, uncertainty and strength, and for depicting friendship and solidarity frame by frame.
Producer Daniel Loustaunau said the awards were dedicated “to all the resistance movements and young people who fight against genocide, forced displacement and violence,” in comments to the newspaper El Universal.
Eimbcke’s “Moscas” is a 99-minute drama-comedy that follows an introverted woman who shares her home with a father and his young son so they can be near their wife/mother, who is hospitalized with advanced cancer.
The film, which charts an unlikely bond that grows out of grief and routine, has already secured distribution in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland, according to El Universal.
Onstage in Berlin, Eimbcke — whose coming-of-age film “Olmo” drew praise but didn’t win any prizes at the 2025 Morelia International Film Festival — used his acceptance speeches to link the emotional core of “Moscas” to global crises.
He denounced the persecution of migrant children by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and cited the case of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy detained with his father in Minnesota. The man born in Mexico City in 1970 also urged action over the war in Gaza.
“More than 17,000 children have been killed in Gaza in the last two years. I must raise my voice and I ask all governments and organizations to raise their voices as well,” he said in remarks reported by the newspaper La Jornada. “This award is dedicated to all children around the world.”
Beyond the prizes, Mexican work was visible across the Berlinale — a shorthand name for the Berlin International Film Festival.
Other Mexican works included the youth-focused short “When I Get Home” and the short documentary “Miriam,” as well as nine Mexican filmmakers who were selected for the Berlinale Talents training program.
Jobs lost to automation won't be evenly dispersed across sectors. Most at risk are positions in administrative services, retail, routine manufacturing and transportation. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro.com)
Some 30% of formal jobs in Mexico are at high risk of automation if companies adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, according to a recent report by Banamex.
The report from the bank’s Economic Studies Department, dubbed “AI and the Mexican Labor Market: An Analysis of Sectoral Impact,” warns that the adoption of AI will not affect all sectors equally. The jobs most at risk are in administrative services, retail, routine manufacturing, and transportation.
Nuevo León Governor Samuel García, shown here participating in the recent event “AI + Accelerated Investment,” is an advocate of Artificial Intelligence and one of Mexico’s most successful state leaders in attracting foreign investment. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartsocuro.com)
In contrast, jobs that require complex human interaction, creativity, negotiation, or non-routine physical work are less replaceable and will more likely be complemented, rather than replaced, by AI.
Banamex economist Rodolfo Ostoloza, who conducted the research, noted that “Mexico faces significant institutional deficits […] requiring profound reforms to maximize the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI.”
He suggests retraining displaced workers and equipping them to complement AI, with the objective of “transforming the threat of job displacement into a productivity opportunity.”
Informal employment, which accounts for almost 55% of the Mexican workforce, could temporarily absorb those who lose their jobs in the formal sector. However, the report notes that “it comes at the significant cost of perpetuating low productivity, excluding workers from social protections and limiting tax collection.”
According to projections from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and studies by ManpowerGroup, more than 78 million new jobs are expected to be created globally by 2030. These positions will be concentrated in high value-added areas such as cybersecurity, Big Data analytics, renewable energy, and the growing demand for professionals in mental health, well-being, and user experience.
So far, Mexico reports that 69% of companies have increased their investment in automation, with effects on IT, sales and marketing.
Alberto Alesi, managing director of ManpowerGroup for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, said earlier this year that the transition towards automation globally reflects a structural change in which technology acts as a catalyst for new job opportunities. However, he notes that it depends on the talent’s ability to adapt to the new demands.
Banamex concludes that Mexico has a window of opportunity to prepare before the mass adoption of AI. The report highlights that the difference will be in investing in education, training, social protection and digital infrastructure so that AI works as a tool for inclusive development and not as an engine of greater inequality.
Asked whether Mexico would therefore resume the shipment of oil to Cuba, the president indicated that her government would make an announcement on the matter soon. (Foreign Affairs Ministry)
Mexico has sent a new shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba, a country plagued by fuel and food shortages and frequent blackouts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said on Tuesday that two Mexican Navy ships carrying 1,193 tonnes of provisions had set sail for Cuba from the Gulf coast port city of Veracruz.
The Papaloapan and Huasteco logistics support vessels are expected to take four days to reach Cuba, meaning they should arrive this Saturday.
The SRE said that the Papaloapan is carrying 1,078 tonnes of provisions, including beans and powdered milk. The ministry said that the Huasteco is carrying 92 tonnes of beans and 23 tonnes of other foodstuffs that were donated by “various social organizations.”
The SRE said that the food aid has been dispatched to Cuba on the instructions of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has pledged to continue supporting the communist-run Caribbean island.
“The people of Mexico maintain their tradition of solidarity with the peoples of Latin America, and in particular with the people of Cuba,” the ministry said.
“Our country has always provided assistance to our sister nations in need,” the SRE said, noting that Mexico has contributed to the response to recent natural disasters in various countries of the Americas, including Chile and the United States.
The departure of those two vessels on Feb. 8 came 10 days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose additional tariffs on goods from countries that supply oil to Cuba.
Sheinbaum said that the move — apparently aimed at accelerating regime change in Cuba — “could trigger a humanitarian crisis of great reach, directly affecting hospitals, food supply and other basic services for the Cuban people.”
Mexico — the largest supplier of oil to Cuba in 2025 — suspended shipments of oil to the communist-run island in order to avoid the imposition of additional tariffs on its exports to the United States.
🇲🇽 🇨🇦 🇨🇺 ÚLTIMA HORA: La presidenta mexicana, Claudia Sheinbaum, confirmó esta mañana que el fallo de la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos eliminó la amenaza arancelaria contra México por los envíos de petróleo a Cuba. Al preguntársele si se reanudarían las exportaciones, Sheinbaum… pic.twitter.com/YfTWWORVcW
Asked whether Mexico would therefore resume the shipment of oil to Cuba, the president indicated that her government would make an announcement on the matter soon.
“I have to say emphatically that people are going hungry in Cuba,” she said.
In addition to people rummaging through rubbish to find something to eat and “starving” seniors begging for money so they can buy food, other sectors of the Cuban population, including children, young people and pregnant women, are also suffering from a “nutritional deficit,” said Sánchez, founder of the Cuban news site 14 y medio.
“Many of them [only] eat once a day,” she said.
“Others, unfortunately can’t satisfy their desire to put something in their mouth during the day,” Sánchez added.
“… All this creates a series of very serious health problems,” she said.
The New York Times reported last Friday that people in Cuba “are struggling with frequent blackouts, shortages of gasoline and cooking gas and dwindling supplies of diesel that power the nation’s water pumps.”
“Trash is piling up, food prices are soaring, schools are canceling classes and hospitals are suspending surgeries,” reported the Times in an article headlined “A New U.S. Blockade is Strangling Cuba.”
“While President Trump has pledged to halt any oil headed to Cuba, the Trump administration has stopped short of calling its policy a blockade. But it is functioning as one,” the report said.
France 24 reported on Wednesday that “in response to the energy crisis, the Cuban government is implementing a four-day workweek and restricting fuel sales.”
“Ordinary Cubans are struggling to adapt. Vehicle owners are limited to 20 liters of petrol purchased through an app with long wait times,” the television network reported.
No fuel, no tourists: What's at stake for Cuba? | The Current
Frances Robles, a New York Times journalist who has reported extensively on Cuba, said Wednesday that “the situation in Cuba right now is just unsustainable.”
“… The government doesn’t have gasoline, you have shortages at state food stores, and you have blackouts that are lasting hours and hours every day,” she said.
“… Most experts say it’s nearly impossible to know how long they can last without oil coming into Cuba. But what is already a really bad crisis is expected to escalate to unprecedented proportions within a matter of weeks,” Robles said.
“… One thing that has really surprised me in all the interviews that I’ve done is that a lot of people actually do think that this could be the year the [Cuban communist] regime ends — either because of social unrest on the streets or because of some kind of negotiated solution that the Cuban government is going to be forced to accept,” she said.
Mexico's Sumidero Canyon National Park in Chiapas is just one of countless breathtaking sites of natural beauty to be found all over Mexico. (Government of Mexico)
When Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was killed by Mexican special forces on Sunday, it was just two days after I had returned home to Canada from my latest Mexican trip to see family and have some fun. As a Mexican Canadian, I visit Mexico fairly regularly.
Armed with photos and videos of good times I’d had in Mexico City and Puerto Escondido, I was ready to tell all my friends and coworkers on Monday morning how incredible Mexico is. Then El Mencho happened.
Cleanup efforts are underway in Puerto Vallarta as the popular Pacific Coast tourist destination and other cities in Jalisco seek to get back to normal following Sunday’s unrest. (Héctor Colín/Cuartoscuro)
A change of image overnight
Soon after his death was reported, televisions and newspapers around the world were filled with images of Mexican cities in lockdown, of fiery road blockades, of shootouts. So by the time I resumed my daily life on Monday, all people back home in Canada wanted to ask me about was the cartels.
It disappoints me, since El Mencho’s death and the resulting unrest reinforces negative stereotypes about Mexico for those who have never been there. Friends have been asking me in the last 24 hours more than ever if Mexico is safe. And it angers me that I can’t debunk their concerns since they’re not exactly unwarranted this week.
Even more frustrating is that now, whenever I speak glowingly about the country I love, people who have never been to Mexico can knock it down simply by bringing up El Mencho.
Since I’ve been in elementary school, I’ve always told my friends, and whoever would listen, about my wonderful memories of Mexico. And when some of them have brought up negative stereotypes — everything from cartel violence to kidnappings to dangerously unsanitary food vendors — I’d often respond that that wasn’t my experience in Mexico, because it’s true and also because I wanted others to enjoy Mexico the way I have for the last three decades.
But how can I refute people’s concerns now, after we’ve all seen cars set on fire in Puerto Vallarta? How can I only speak about the many positives of Mexico when a friend in Guadalajara couldn’t leave his Airbnb for security reasons? Or when there were mass road blockades and school cancellations due to safety concerns in multiple Mexican states?
Mexico is getting ready to host the FIFA Men’s World Cup in June. The violence that erupted Sunday in planned host city Guadalajara and many other Mexican cities in response to the killing of El Mencho has raised concerns worldwide about the athletes’ safety.
Will the World Cup be affected?
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened in Mexico, and frankly, it likely won’t be the last. The capture of Sinaloa Cartel head El Chapo in 2016 comes to mind. There’s also the first time Mexican authorities captured El Chapo’s cartel boss son, Ovidio, in 2019 and so much cartel violence erupted in Culiacán as a result that the president told the police to release Ovidio, for the public’s safety. But neither of those events has stopped me or millions of people a year from visiting Mexico.
Somehow, though, the El Mencho killing feels different. A part of that is obvious: Guadalajara is one of Mexico’s cities planning to host the World Cup in four months. Will things settle down before then? Things are basically quiet there now, but what happens if El Mencho’s cartel, the Jalisco New Generation, regroups — or if factions begin a violent turf war? The fact that I can’t say these things won’t happen is really troubling.
I saw firsthand on my recent trip how much Mexico is preparing for the World Cup this June: All the construction happening in Mexico City’s Benito Juárez Airport alone made it evident. But after the messy takedown of El Mencho, all the effort and goodwill Mexico has put into being a great co-host may go to waste. There are already issues with how the United States is treating the responsibility of hosting a World Cup, but I never thought Mexico would also pose its own set of problems.
Still, there’s a real chance that by then, the dust will have long settled and foreigners will be visiting Mexico again without a clear and present fear of cartel violence. The optimist in me also hopes that everyone who visits the host cities for the World Cup — Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey — will leave with a positive impression of Mexico. The CJNG has never represented the whole country, and to have that label hanging over Mexico’s head thanks to one man is unfair.
Mexico: Too good to give up on
The pristine shoreline in the Pueblo Mágico of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. (Josh Withers/Unsplash)
So, do I think Mexico will eventually overcome this moment and continue being a beloved place to visit? Yes, if only because it’s too good to ignore: the historic charms of Mexico City; the technology and innovation in Monterrey; the food culture and old traditions of Oaxaca; the ancient Maya sites all over Quintana Roo; pretty colonial towns like Merida; and, yes, the vacation energy of places like Puerto Vallarta. I haven’t even scratched the surface of all that Mexico has to offer with this list, and that’s precisely my point.
While the insecurity associated with El Mencho’s death may be front page news this week, Mexico is not down for the count.
Not only is Mexico too amazing to leave behind, the Mexico that I and so many others love is nothing if not resilient. It knows how to pick up and rebuild.
And so, despite what the world — and my friends back home — may think of Mexico right now, what I can and do say to folks who ask is that Mexico is still home to stunning natural beauty, a history going back millenia that’s studied worldwide and creative arts unlike anywhere else, all of which the cartels have never been able to destroy, or scare visitors away from for too long, no matter how many El Chapos, El Menchos and El Mayos come and go.
That’s because no matter how it might feel right now, the cartels don’t define Mexico; Mexico’s people do — the majority of whom are the kindest, hardworking, generous — and happiest — people out there.
And when El Mencho is inevitably forgotten and in the dustbin of history, this is this Mexico I’ll still be telling my friends about.
Ian Ostroff is an indie author, journalist and copywriter from Montreal, Canada. You can find his work in various outlets, including Map Happy and The Suburban. When he’s not writing, you can find Ian at the gym, a café or anywhere within Mexico visiting family and friends.
All economic, social and religious activities in Guadalajara, as well as the state, have resumed. However, some residents of Jalisco are choosing to limit their activities to daytime hours. (Fernando Carranza Garcia/Cuartoscuro)
More than 48 hours after the Jalisco government activated a stay-at-home alert in response to the violent events resulting from the killing of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oceguera Cervantes, state Governor Pablo Lemus announced Tuesday that the measure had been lifted.
Después de levantar el Código Rojo esta mañana, las tiendas de autoservicio, sucursales bancarias, el Mercado de Abastos y los servicios municipales y estatales, están operando con normalidad.
El servicio del transporte público se ha reactivado por completo en el AMG y Puerto… pic.twitter.com/NLCoI4zjTY
In it, he explained that all economic, social and religious activities in the state had resumed, as well as all municipal services. He also said that supermarkets, convenience stores, wholesale markets, restaurants and banks had reopened without incident, and that schools would resume activities on Wednesday.
Mexico News Daily spoke to residents in Guadalajara to understand what it’s like in the Jalisco capital right now.
“Schools were still closed today, but I took my kids to their tennis lesson in the afternoon and the city seems normal,” Cecilia, 37, a resident of Zapopan in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara and mother of three children, said on Tuesday, Feb. 24. “My kids will return to school on Wednesday,” she added.
Cecilia ventured out of her home Tuesday afternoon for the first time since the violence began Sunday morning. Cecilia’s family was one of the families affected by arson attacks, as a convenience store they own was burned down by criminals.
Meanwhile, María Fernanda, 36, a resident of Guadalajara and mother of one child, said that her family had “somewhat resumed normal life” on Tuesday, adding that she took her child to the playground of a private club of which she’s a member, as they had been indoors since Sunday.
“However, I’m skeptical and I’m taking lots of precautions. I’m not sure I’ll send my kid to school yet,” she said with concern.
Gabriela, 63, who owns a business in Zapopan, said that all her employees showed up for work by public transportation without incidents or delays, and that the workday went smoothly. Among her activities, she went to the bank to withdraw money and to an Oxxo. She didn’t encounter any shops that were closed.
In contrast, Visitación, a man in his 50s who collects empty cardboard boxes from Farmacias Guadalajara to resell, said that during his daywork in Zapopan, he noticed that several pharmacies were still closed.
Regarding activity at the Guadalajara International Airport, Rubén, 50, who runs a private transportation service, said he drove clients to the airport on Tuesday without any incidents, and that activity at the airport was running as usual. Still, he said that while things look normal in Guadalajara, he wouldn’t suggest travelers drive at night.
“I don’t recommend going out at night or in the early morning,” he said, adding that he refused to take travelers to the airport before 7 a.m.
This sentiment is shared among residents. Fernanda, 32, said that she and her friends had planned a girls’ night out on Wednesday, but they decided to cancel their plans because they don’t feel safe leaving their homes after dark.
“We have no intention of going out at night. At least not yet,” she said.
As for road conditions, travelers driving from Tapalpa, Puerto Vallarta, Ameca and Tepic to and from Guadalajara reported “smooth travel” on Wednesday. Although they encountered some burned trucks along the way, which were still fuming from Sunday’s attacks, they said they arrived safely to their destinations without any incidents.
Lemus said he asked President Claudia Sheinbaum to remove remnants of burned trucks from the roads, particularly from federal highways 80, 90 and 200. According to Lemus, Sheinbaum showed full disposition to help.
“Within a maximum of 36 hours, we will be removing all damaged vehicles from roads and metropolitan areas,” Lemus said.
Traveling to other states? Good news: the rest of Mexico is looking good
Travelers to other popular Mexican destinations should be aware that authorities have taken preventive security measures in response to the violence.
In Mexico City, Mayor Clara Brugada convened a “permanent” Security Cabinet session and confirmed the capital remained at peace, with all public transportation, schools and services operating normally. Mexico City International Airport is also safe and is currently guarded by an additional 5,000 agents, comprising personnel from the Naval Airport Protection Unit, the Federal Protection Service, the Mexico City Police Department and private security corporations.
Meanwhile, in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, municipal authorities launched a preventive inter-institutional security inspection of major shopping centers in Cabo San Lucas, reviewing structural, electrical and gas safety compliance, with officials emphasizing their goal of keeping the destination safe for both employees and visitors.
Travelers are advised to follow official government channels for updates and avoid sharing unverified information.
Teresa Margolles' art forces viewers to come face to face with the reality of violence. (Fundación UNAM)
When I decide what to write about, my first impulse is always the same: to make you fall
in love with Mexico and its people. That’s why I often avoid the uncomfortable subjects.
But there are moments when it feels impossible to talk about anything other than
violence. In those moments, art offers something invaluable: a way to exorcise what we
fear, or at least to face it. Art is, in the end, a form of catharsis.
In her exhibition “What Else Could We Talk About?” Margolles used bloody rags from murder scenes as a way to confront violence head-on. (Teresa Margolles)
Margolles is controversial for two reasons: her work isn’t “beautiful,” and it’s conceptual.
For many people, that kind of art barely qualifies as art at all.
If you hate contemporary art, I get it. It can seem absurd to stare at the strangest object
in a gallery and be told it’s your job to find the meaning. But here’s the thing: art in every
era has reflected the politics and beliefs of its time. By the late nineteenth century,
artists began to care less about technical perfection and more about provoking
thought — about using art to make us question what we take for granted.
I know that might sound like theory-speak, but stay with me — Margolles turns that idea
into something tangible.
The making of an artist
Teresa Margolles was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in 1963. She studied at the Directorate
for the Promotion of Regional Culture in her home state, trained as a forensic technician
at Mexico City’s Forensic Medical Service (SEMEFO) in 1990, and later earned a
degree in Communication Sciences at UNAM.
She has said that photography and the visual arts gave her the courage to enter the
morgue — and that’s where her art began.
With other Mexican artists, she founded the collective SEMEFO, where she refined her
voice and thematic focus. After leaving the group, her solo career propelled her to
international prominence in the art world.
Facing violence head-on
An installation from Teresa Margolles’ “The Promise.” (University Museum of Contemporary Art/UNAM)
What makes Margolles’s work so singular is that she doesn’t speak abstractly about
death, nor does she hide it behind allegory. She confronts us directly with what we
refuse to see: the physical remains of violence itself.
Her materials are the traces of crime and death — clothing, hair, bones, sheets stained
with blood, dirt from mass graves, shards of glass from shootouts. For Margolles, these
are not just symbols. They are evidence.
Through them, she forces us to ask: Who were these people? In what social and
economic conditions did they live? What role do institutions — political, economic and
media — play in turning violence into a normalized backdrop of daily life?
‘What Else Could We Talk About?’ (2009)
In 2009, the same year President Felipe Calderón declared his “war on drugs,” the Venice Biennale invited Margolles to represent Mexico. Her exhibition, titled “What Else
Could We Talk About?” posed a direct question to the Mexican government. In the midst
of a national war, she argued, talking about anything else would be obscene.
The main piece, “Cleaning,” used rags once employed to wipe blood from murder scenes
in Ciudad Juárez. Dried, shipped to Venice and rehydrated, they became the tools with
which the pavilion’s floors were mopped for six months.
Inside the palace, visitors encountered blood-soaked fabrics embroidered in gold thread
with narco messages — “See, hear and be silent” and “So they learn to respect” — and gold jewelry embedded with glass shards from shootouts, imitating diamonds.
Denunciation or repetition of violence?
Margolles’ work has been accused of being a repetition of violence. But it’s actually a revolt against the “politics of denial.”(Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal)
Most critics see Margolles as a protest artist who gives visibility to Mexico’s invisible
victims. But others raise difficult questions: when human remains become art materials,
are we witnessing a denunciation of violence or its repetition?
In other words, when objects tied to victims enter museums and galleries, do those
individuals become mere components of an artwork, stripped again of identity and
agency?
Margolles’s defenders say her goal is clear: to expose the state’s failures, the inequality
that makes victims vulnerable and the collective numbness that turns tragedy into
routine. Her adversaries argue that she profits from the same violence she critiques.
This tension is the point. The ethical discomfort her work provokes is precisely where its
political force lies. There are no clean metaphors here, no soothing explanations. Only
one question persists: what are we willing to tolerate, in our streets and in our
museums, when it comes to murdered bodies?
Breaking the politics of denial
The value of Margolles’s art is not in its beauty but in its confrontation. It breaks what I
call Mexico’s “politics of denial.” In cities like Ciudad Juárez, officials and business elites
often minimize violence, blaming “perception” or “media exaggeration” to protect tourism
and investment.
Margolles builds the archives the state refuses to: not files or photographs, but
contaminated matter that cannot be cleaned: morgue water, bloodied cloths, fractured
glass, rubble from collapsed buildings. These are materials that document femicides, disappearances and economic precarity. Her work aligns with the silent labor of
activists and families who have spent years recording cases ignored by the authorities.
This artwork from Margolles confronts viewers with victims of femicides in Ciudad Juárez. (Fundación UNAM)
She also unsettles the privileged viewer. By transporting these residues of violence to
global art centers — Venice, Berlin, Madrid, New York — she reminds spectators that the
comfort of the wealthy world rests partly on the precarious lives of others: maquila
workers, migrants, young people drawn into the drug trade and women killed on the city’s
peripheries. The unspoken question is simple: Who can afford not to talk about
violence?
Does her art help or hurt?
The first time I saw a Teresa Margolles piece in person was in 2012 at the University
Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) in Mexico City. The work, “The
Promise,” consisted of moving an abandoned public housing unit from Ciudad Juárez to
the museum, where it was slowly crushed.
Over six months, its remains collapsed gradually until rubble covered the entire gallery
floor. The piece recalled that, between 2007 and 2012, around 160,000 people fled
Juárez because of violence.
From Mexico City, Juárez can feel distant in every sense, but that installation closed the
gap. It made the crisis tangible.
Margolles’s later works were even harder to stomach — literally. Some made me ill. Yet
ever since, I cannot read a news report on violence without thinking differently about the
people behind the numbers. My empathy changed.
Margolles’s art disgusts me. It makes me dizzy. But precisely because of that, it
achieves what the artist intends. It makes me feel and think in equal measure.
An installation from Margolles’ “What Else Could We Talk About?” (Galerie Peter Kilchmann)
Art doesn’t have to please us. It only has to move us — and sometimes, that is its most
important task.
Maria Meléndez writes for Mexico News Daily in Mexico City.
MEXICO CITY — After launching government-funded chocolate and coffee, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Wednesday a groundbreaking partnership with McDonald’s to create the “Big Mac de Bienestar,” a subsidized hamburger designed to combat food insecurity while promoting national sovereignty.
“Just as we have provided healthcare and pensions for the people, now we provide affordable nutrition,” Sheinbaum declared at the National Palace, flanked by a giant cardboard Big Mac wearing a sombrero.
The burgers, priced at 25 pesos through a government subsidy program, will be available exclusively to holders of the Bienestar card at participating locations. McDonald’s Mexico CEO acknowledged the partnership would reduce profit margins but called it “an honor to serve the Fourth Transformation.”
The Big Mac de Bienestar will feature locally-sourced ingredients including Oaxacan cheese, salsa roja, and beef from “100% Mexican cows that have never left the country.”
Opposition parties immediately criticized the program. “First it’s hamburgers, next it’s nationalizing the Egg McMuffin,” warned PAN senator Ricardo Anaya. “Where does it end?”
When asked whether promoting American fast food contradicted Mexico’s cultural sovereignty, Sheinbaum noted that McDonald’s had “agreed to remove Ronald McDonald and replace him with a culturally appropriate mascot still under development.”
The program launches June 1st, with the government projecting distribution of 50 million subsidized Big Macs in the first year.
A McDonald’s spokesperson confirmed the Filet-O-Fish would not be included, though an AMLO-shaped chicken nugget meal is rumoured to be in the works.
President Sheinbaum said she was hopeful that there would be a further normalization of "activities" throughout Mexico on Tuesday. (Hazel Cárdenas/Presidencia)
At her Tuesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to questions about the upcoming FIFA World Cup and the dissemination on Sunday of videos and images created with artificial intelligence that purported to depict scenes of violence that didn’t actually exist.
The creation of the phony material came amid a violent cartel response to the death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who died after he was shot by military personnel in an operation carried out in Tapalpa, Jalisco, on Sunday morning.
A total of 13 World Cup matches will be played in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara this June and July. Mexico is co-hosting the quadrennial tournament with the United States and Canada.
Government to expose ‘all the lies’ that were disseminated on Sunday
A reporter said that members of criminal groups disseminated AI videos on Sunday that created panic, added to fear and were economically damaging as they could lead to a loss of tourism revenue. He asked the president whether it was time to put an end to “this freedom they say they have to lie and distort,” shielded by the right to freedom of speech.
“It is very difficult to define the line where you punish and where you don’t, where there is censorship and where there is not,” Sheinbaum said.
She added that on Wednesday, the government, in its regular “lie detector” mañanera segment, will present “all the lies” that were spread on Sunday.
“Planes burning. Where? The operators of the Guadalajara Airport themselves were saying, ‘there’s no problem, everything’s OK,” Sheinbaum said.
“… There was a lot of news with a very bad intent on Sunday, seeking to create terror, and there was a lot of misinformation,” she said.
Instead of seeking to sanction misinformation, Sheinbaum said she was in favor of encouraging people to stay reliably informed via the government’s official channels of communication, including its social media accounts.
She also said that Mexico has “very responsible” people who “know how to distinguish” reality from fantasy.
Sheinbaum highlights that the security situation has improved since the violent chaos on Sunday
She said she was hopeful that there would be a further normalization of “activities” on Tuesday.
Sheinbaum said that her government is “working every day” to improve security in Mexico, and highlighted that additional military personnel and National Guard troops have been deployed to Jalisco and “some areas” of Michoacán.
Therians — young people who act out their "spritual identity" as animals — mug it up before the camera in the esplanade of the rectory of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.
(Gabriel Pérez Montiel/Cuartoscuro.com)
Teenagers trotting on all fours and wearing tails have turned “therian” — an online trend in which people identify as animals — into Mexico’s latest flash point, jumping from TikTok feeds into town plazas, campuses and even Congress.
The term “therian” refers to people who identify on a psychological or spiritual level with a non-human animal.
A student accepts food and eats it doggie-style at a gathering of therians on the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) campus. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
They often express that inner life in public with masks, ears or tails, or moving like an animal, but without believing they literally change bodies. Making animal sounds is optional and not widespread.
The concept grew out of internet forums in the 1990s and is now a niche global subculture, especially visible in parts of Latin America after taking root in Uruguay and Argentina.
In the United States and Canada, the movement is small, scattered and mostly on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
But the phenomenon of young people presenting themselves as dogs, cats or wolves is on the rise in Mexico. According to the newspaper El País, there was a 500% spike last week of Google searches in Mexico for “what is a therian.”
Recent “therian gatherings” in Mexico City, Monterrey, Cancún and Mérida have drawn crowds of curious onlookers, cameras and, in some cases, hostility.
At the Mexico City campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a much-hyped “therian race” drew hundreds of spectators and dozens of reporters, but only a handful of people who actually identified with the phenomenon.
One shopkeeper who said he spiritually identifies as a dog told El País, “I think it’s easier to find affection as another species than as a human.” Another attendee said, “My love for dogs and the lack of affection at home led me to make this decision.”
Elsewhere, tensions have flared. In Mérida, the first therian meetup at the Monumento a la Patria ended with a young woman dubbed “Lady Therian” being detained after she hurled eggs and insults at people gathered for the event. Later, she declared online that she did not regret her actions.
Mauricio Castillo’s (R) “Therian Law” proposal seeks to protect freedom of expression and respect for young people who identify with the community. (Facebook)
In Monterrey, the backlash is shaping policy debates. A lawyer, Mauricio Castillo, appeared at the Nuevo León Congress with a 28-year-old man wearing a horse head costume to file a citizen initiative.
The “Therian Law” proposal seeks to protect freedom of expression and respect for young people who identify with the community. It would introduce school coexistence protocols, citizen oversight programs, and sanctions for teachers or administrators who allow bullying of students, including therians.
“We are trying to feel dignified in the eyes of society, because they always think we’re crazy and don’t take our opinions into account,” the horse-headed man told reporters. “We are trying to avoid that kind of discrimination.”
A parallel bill — described by local media as the Law of Protocols for Coexistence and Protection of Students in Educational Environments — similarly seeks to shield young people who identify with the community from harassment in public and private schools.
Experts caution against pathologizing the trend. Juan Martín Pérez, coordinator of the Network for Children’s Rights in Mexico (REDIM), told El País that therians are “functional people, with everyday lives, who find in this an identity dimension,” arguing that the current uproar reflects a broader “moral panic” fueled by social media and adult anxiety over youth identity.
According to a resident of the Tapalpa Country Club estate, many homes are rented out to tourists visiting Tapalpa. It is unclear if "El Mencho" owned the home where he was staying. (Tapalpa Country Club)
The final hideout of slain drug lord Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes was a large, well-appointed and modern home in an exclusive residential estate in southern Jalisco.
A day after the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) chief was fatally wounded during a military operation, journalists were allowed into the home where the 59-year-old capo was hiding out.
Algunas fotografías del interior donde se encontraba “El Mencho”.
Se pueden apreciar un altar, una parte de la biblia escrita a mano y tratamiento médico.
The house is located within the Tapalpa Country Club residential development, located near the town of Tapalpa in southern Jalisco.
Oseguera fled the home along with members of his security detail when federal forces swarmed it on Sunday morning, according to the Ministry of Defense. Mexico’s most wanted drug lord was fatally wounded during a confrontation with military personnel in a nearby wooded area and subsequently died from his injuries.
The newspapers Milenio and El Universal were among the media outlets that gained access to the Tapalpa Country Club home on Monday.
Made out of bricks, stone, wood and other materials, the two-story home where Oseguera was located has high ceilings with pendant lights, “fine wood finishes” and wide windows, according to Milenio.
“From the air, the property appears secluded, integrated into the wooded landscape, far from urban noise,” the newspaper reported.
The contents of the home include luxury furniture, neatly folded clothes, plenty of food (including fruit, vegetables and meat), face creams and other personal grooming products, and an altar on a small table featuring statues of Jude the Apostle — patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes — the Virgin of Guadalupe and Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite monk and priest.
Así era la última guarida de 'El Mencho' en fraccionamiento de lujo
Also in the home on Monday were candles and other religious items, as well as a handwritten version of Psalm 91, dated Jan. 25, or just under a month before “El Mencho” met his fate.
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge,” reads a section of Psalm 91.
El Universal reported that a medication called Tationil Plus was also found in the home. That medication contains an antioxidant called glutathione, which can be used to treat kidney disease, an ailment from which Oseguera suffered. Melatonin tablets, which can be used to treat insomnia, wine glasses filled with pine cones and an antique table soccer game are also seen in photos and video footage taken inside the house.
The kitchen bench in the home is covered with numerous items, including a bottle of sriracha chili sauce, cartons of milk, pots, a water bottle and a plastic jug. Some of the beds in the home were unmade, an indication that “El Mencho” and his bodyguards may have been sleeping when the federal raid occurred on Sunday morning.
The home has a large back garden that leads to a hilly, forested area, to which Oseguera and his bodyguards fled. Milenio reported that two stones engraved with the figures of Jude the Apostle and the Virgin of Guadalupe mark the limit between the property and the forest.
A neighbor recounts the operation targeting ‘El Mencho’
A resident of the Tapalpa Country Club estate told El Universal that she started hearing gunshots at 7:20 a.m. Sunday. She said that gunfire continued for 45 minutes and noted that a helicopter also fired shots.
National Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said Monday that CJNG members managed to shoot a military helicopter during the operation in Tapalpa. Consequently, the helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing at a nearby military facility in the municipality of Sayula, he told reporters.
Trevilla also provided an overview of the operation targeting Oseguera, including details on the cartel leader’s wounding and death while he was being airlifted to a hospital. He described the location as a “complex of cabins” on the outskirts of Tapalpa, a somewhat unflattering description that is incongruent with the apparent luxury of the residential estate, and which would be unlikely to appear in a Tapalpa Country Club brochure.
The resident who spoke to El Universal said that a lot of homes in Tapalpa Country Club estate are rented out, mainly to tourists visiting Tapalpa. She said she didn’t know whether Oseguera lived there, but acknowledged that he had spent some time there. It was unclear who owns the home where “El Mencho” and his entourage were staying.
Tapalpa is popular with tourists, and some stay in the Tapalpa Country estate while visiting the municipality, according to the local mayor.
The town of Tapalpa
The town of Tapalpa is one of Mexico’s many pueblos mágicos, or magical towns.
“The perfect combination of natural beauty, architecture, tranquility, and adrenaline could be a good way to describe Tapalpa, a unique place that offers something for everyone,” states the official guide to Mexico’s 177 pueblos mágicos.
El Universal reported on Tuesday that “amid the tension and the presence of the Army and the National Guard, Tapalpa residents are trying to return to normality, but the panorama in the pueblo mágico continues to be one of empty streets and closed businesses.”
“This Monday, some people went to the center of the municipality, but they still fear that violence will erupt again,” the newspaper wrote.
Reporters from the Associated Press also visited Tapalpa on Monday.
“A day after the Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful drug lord, the picturesque town where it happened was a study in contrasts,” begins an AP report.
“Children whose classes had been suspended by the outbreak of violence played in cobblestone streets and tourist shops were open on Tapalpa’s main plaza Monday. But gunshots also rang out, and just outside the town a dead man lay on the road next to a Jeep sprayed with bullets,” the report continues.
A Televisa reporter said Monday that it was difficult to get to Tapalpa, explaining that he encountered at least 100 burnt-out vehicles on his way to the municipality, some of which were still forming active narco-blockades.
