In a country of ancient culinary artistry, will Mexico City remain immune to the Chipotle fever? (Proshob/Wikimedia Commons)
The Chipotle fever is real. Founded in 1993 in Denver, Colorado, the brand quickly gained recognition across the United States for its “classically-cooked real food,” (at least according to the company’s current Chief Business Development Officer, Nate Lawton.) And how could they not? Chipotle Mexican Grill is not Taco Bell. You don’t get the dreaded ‘taco shells’ — sacrilege to a Mexican native palate — ornon-spicy guacamole. It kind of tastes real.
Today a multinational chain, with stores from the United Kingdom to Kuwait, the company runs at least 3,700 locations worldwide, as per theirmost recent count. Now, the beloved U.S. grill is aiming to introduce the ‘Chipotle fever’ to Mexico.
The very first Chipotle store, near the University of Denver campus. (CW221/English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons)
Partnering with Alsea, the Mexican corporation that operates Burger King, Starbucks and other fast food brands, Chipotle is confident that “[Mexico’s] familiarity with our ingredients and affinity for fresh food make it an attractive growth market for our company,” as they wrote last week in astatement.
Scheduled for early 2026, the first store is thought to be opening in Mexico City. The company, however, has not yet revealed the official location. And yes, the announcement has created high expectations in Mexico. Even the newspaper El Economista recentlydescribed the brand as “[the restaurant] that reinvented Mexican food.”
Given that our cuisine is the product of thousands of years of Prehispanic heritage, merged with the Spanish influence in the Colonial era, this might come as a little bit of a stretch.
Are Mexicans really crazy for Chipotle Mexican Grill?
Chipotle Mexican Grill is not Mexican at all. It is a Mexican-inspired restaurant. And we, Mexicans, take great pride in our street food. Lawton was right when herecently said that Mexico has “affinity for fresh food”. We love our freshly prepared salsa and recently handmade tortillas. When we think of having tacos — or burritos, in the northern states — we certainly do not think of dining at a grill.
On the contrary, we think of more accessible alternatives. Even before the UNESCO included our cuisine in theList of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, we already held carnes asadas in the north, and continued to visit our maestros parrilleros, with their regional particularities. They are often budget-friendly, fresh and close to our palates.
Will Chipotle Mexican Grill choose a high-end location for its first store in Mexico? (Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata/Wikimedia Commons )
Why, then, does a fast food company from the U.S. create such expectations in the Mexican market? My guess is that we are curious: as curious as we were about the opening of the first Shake Shack, back in 2019. People were eager to see what they had to offer. When we realized aburger was over 250 pesos, the idea of dining at Shake Shack became a lot less interesting. A similar phenomenon was seen with Wendy’s and Tim Hortons, that simply went out of fashion — and business, in the case of Wendy’s — when the novelty wore off.
It is interesting, though, that restaurants that are regarded as not-so-pricey options in the U.S. choose high-end locations in the main cities in Mexico. To this day, Shake Shack has stores in Reforma Avenue, Santa Fe and other A+ neighborhoods. It’s hard to imagine local people in Mexico City getting in their cars and driving through traffic with the sole intention of going to Chipotle Mexican Grill, honestly. I simply can’t picture a family driving all the way toSanta Fe regularly to have a burrito bowl.
“Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone,” the company announced in a recent press release. Even though this might be true, will the Chipotle’s prices be comparable to those of local market stalls or trusted street puestos? Will they offer the freshness of the meat of the day, which we appreciate in Mexico from our maestros parrilleros? Hardly.
Andrea Fischer contributes to the features desk at Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to be an advocate for anything that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.
Life in Puerto Vallarta is often one big party, but May takes it to the next level, with tons of Pride related events. (algobonito/Shutterstock)
May in Puerto Vallarta is heating up — not just with that looming summer humidity, but with a calendar packed full of art exhibitions, cultural festivals and LGBTQ+ Pride events.
Whether you’re a local or a visitor, there’s no shortage of things to do in Mexico’s Pacific playground this month. Here’s your go-to guide for what’s happening in Puerto Vallarta this May.
‘Impressions’ by Joaquin Bolivar Thomas
Don’t miss “Impressions,” a solo exhibition of collagraph prints by Cuban-born artist Joaquin Bolivar Thomas at Art VallARTa. The show opens with a reception on May 9, offering a chance to meet the artist and experience his textured, emotive works.
Date: May 9 through June 28 Location: Art VallARTa, Pilitas 213, Zona Romántica, Amapas Cost: Entry is free
Tijuana-based superstars Grupo Firme, who in 2022 packed Mexico City’s Zócalo with record crowds, are one of the headliners at Festival Fiestas de Mayo Puerto Vallarta, which runs May 16-June 1. (Cuartoscuro)
Festival Fiestas de Mayo Puerto Vallarta
One of Puerto Vallarta’s biggest annual celebrations is back. Fiestas de Mayo brings top acts from the regional Mexican music scene to the Explanada Vallarta Arena. Expect carnival rides, craft vendors, sporting events and food stalls featuring classic Jalisco fare; think tacos al pastor, birria, tejuino and tequila. Touring Mexican superstars Grupo Firme are among the headliners.
Date: May 16 through June 1 Location: Explanada Vallarta Arena, Av. México 639 Cost: Ticket prices vary by concert
Date: May 17 at 6 p.m. Location: Starting at Municipal Stadium Cost: Free
(Red Diversidad/Twitter)
Vallarta Pride 2025
Puerto Vallarta’s world-renowned LGBTQ+ Pride celebration returns with the theme “Revolution: The Future Has No Gender.” Events will include the vibrant Pride Parade, pool parties, drag performances, beachside celebrations and more. More details coming here soon.
Date: May 17 through 25 Location: Various locations throughout Puerto Vallarta Cost: Varies by event
Part of Vallarta Pride 2025’s festivities, the Red Gala will feature a showing of “Happy Together,” the acclaimed 1997 film about a couple taking a vacation in Argentina. (Seewoo Film Company)
Red Gala
Held at the chic Almar Resort, the Red Gala is a stylish evening of film, fashion and philanthropy. The night includes a screening of Happy Together, a red-themed dress code and honors for HIV/AIDS awareness activists.
Date: May 18 Location: Almar Resort, Amapas 380, Zona Romántica Cost: Donations start at 100 pesos
(Radoslaw Lecyk/Shutterstock)
PV Pride Pet Parade
Because Pride is better with pets. Dress your dog in their most fabulous outfit and head to Parque Lázaro Cárdenas for live music, raffles and a costume contest. Local pet businesses will be showcasing their products, too.
Date: May 19 Location: Parque Lázaro Cárdenas Cost: Free
(pvlesbianpride/Instagram)
Puerto Vallarta Lesbian Pride 2025
This five-day celebration for LGBTQ+ women offers everything from beach parties and themed mixers to community events at the all-inclusive Hilton Vallarta Riviera Resort.
Date: May 21–26 Location: Hilton Vallarta Riviera Resort Cost: VIP Packages sold out, but public events are still open for registration.
(Bearidise)
Bear Pride 2025
Bearadise® Bear Pride returns with signature events like the Bearwatch Beach Party at Las Caletitas, pool parties and a Pride Parade party bus. It’s a celebration of body positivity, brotherhood and burl.
Date: May 21 through 25 Location: Various, including Las Caletitas and the Parade route Cost: Varies by event; party bus is limited to 30 spots
(CurielXperience)
Jungle Jiggle Party
Adventure meets Pride in this jungle bash hosted by CurielXperience. Hike to a waterfall, dance under the trees, sip margaritas from the open bar and chow down at the taco bar— all while zip-lining and playing wild party games.
Date: May 21 Location: El Nogalito Eco Adventure (meet at Parque Lázaro Cárdenas) Cost: 2,500 pesos; includes transport, drinks and food
By early March of this year, Mexico had received nearly 20,000 deportees from the United States since President Donald Trump returned to office, nearly 80% of whom were Mexican citizens. President Claudia Sheinbaum shared the figures in March, noting that 15,611 of deportees were Mexican nationals.
While deportation numbers rise and fall depending on who is in power in Washington, mass removals to Mexico are not new. They trace back nearly a century to the 1930s Mexican Repatriation, when hundreds of thousands of people of Mexican descent — many of them U.S. citizens — were forcibly expelled from the U.S. during the Great Depression.
A man deported from the U.S enters Mexico via the El Chaparral border entry point in Tijuana. (Omar Martínez Noyola/Cuartoscuro)
In this edition of My American Dream is in Mexico, we share Jackie’s story and the painful journey she endured behind bars before returning to the country her parents once left behind.
‘Learning English became a promise to myself’
Jackie first arrived in the United States at age five, living with her family in California before returning to Guadalajara. At 17, determined to reunite with loved ones and build a future, she crossed the border again without papers.
With little English but a lot of determination, Jackie enrolled in ESL classes at her local high school. Soon after, she moved to Nevada, got married and became pregnant with her first child. But the pregnancy brought unexpected challenges. She gave birth prematurely at six months and struggled to understand the doctors in the NICU, relying on the only Spanish interpreter at the hospital, who wasn’t always available.
“I remember thinking, how can my baby’s life depend on my laziness or my lack of speaking English?” she says. “I decided I had to learn.”
Ending up in a U.S. Newborn Intensive Care Unit giving birth prematurely with few English skills motivated Jackie to make a concerted effort to learn English. (For illustrative purposes only/Wikimedia Commons)
Jackie kept that promise. She learned English, built a life and eventually found work at Misty Phases, a maternal health company offering postpartum essentials. “I love my job,” she says. “I see myself in so many of the girls — nervous, unsure, wondering how things are going to turn out.”
‘Whatever I learn is mine forever’
Jackie made her first big career leap from dishwasher at a nursing home to leasing agent at an apartment complex. The change came not because she had the experience but because she convinced the owners to take a chance on her. She told them she was a fast learner; they’d only need to teach her once.
The memory of her experience with premature birth and struggling to communicate with doctors stayed with her as a constant push to keep learning.
“I realized that anything I learn, I carry with me. Whatever I can learn is mine forever,” she says.
Hungry to keep growing, Jackie turned to a local realtor who, as she puts it, was “kind of lazy.” That worked in her favor.
She offered to take on the tedious tasks he didn’t want to do, if he would teach her the skills. It was the early 2000s, when computers weren’t as common in every household, so learning to write reports on a computer felt like a major step. The realtor was hesitant at first, but Jackie made her case: Once she mastered the work, he could sit back and do even less.
By 2004, when the realtor quit, Jackie saw another opening and made her pitch. She asked the apartment owners to give her a shot at managing the property, arguing that she already knew the vendors and had the skills to do the job. They agreed to give her one month. That month turned into eight years.
But nearly a decade into the role, everything unraveled. The apartment changed ownership, and the new landlords discovered Jackie was undocumented. They let her go.
The loss of her job came just as Jackie made the painful decision to leave her abusive husband. But her freedom came at a devastating cost: He refused to let her take their two sons with her.
After she lost a hard-won job for eight years as a property manager, Jackie’s life began to unravel. She eventually ended up in a federal detention center and was ultimately deported. (ICE)
Determined to stay afloat, Jackie found work at another apartment complex, though the pay was less than half of what she’d earned before. To make ends meet, she started selling tennis shoes at swap meets and outdoor markets, piecing together a living however she could.
‘I wasn’t myself’
Around this time, Jackie began dating a man from Las Vegas who worked in Hawaii. She visited often and, at his request, signed the lease on an apartment there. What she didn’t know was that he was involved in drug trafficking. After a delivery was made to the apartment, Jackie was arrested. Her name on the lease was enough to send her to jail.
She was sentenced to 16 months for attempting to possess drugs, but her legal troubles were only beginning. Following her lawyer’s advice, she pleaded guilty while her immigration attorney filed an asylum claim on her behalf.
The timing couldn’t have been worse: just before the raid, Jackie had suffered a miscarriage. She arrived at the federal detention center deep in postpartum depression.
“I wasn’t myself. I felt like I was just being given a tour of the prison when I got there,” she says. “The other inmates thought I’d done time before because I was so calm, but I was just depressed.”
The asylum process dragged on. Instead of 16 months, Jackie spent nearly three years behind bars. During that time, she witnessed the sexual abuse of her cellmate by a correctional officer, an experience that left her with PTSD and insomnia.
After two years in the Hawaii detention center, Jackie was transferred to a California jail to await the outcome of her case. But under President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, asylum seekers were required to wait outside the U.S.
Jackie’s petition was denied. In December 2019, she was deported to Mexico.
‘I didn’t need to be afraid to return home’
When she was finally deported to Mexico, she arrived carrying more fear than hope, convinced that returning to the country her parents had left behind would be another kind of punishment.
After Jackie was deported to Mexico, she returned to Guadalajara, where her bilingual skills landed her a job at a call center. (Carlos O. Flores/Shutterstock)
But once she was back, that fear began to fade.
“I probably left too young,” she says. “I didn’t realize how beautiful my country and culture are. I didn’t need to be afraid to return home.”
A few months after arriving in Guadalajara, Jackie found work at a call center. Most importantly, she reunited with her children after more than three years apart.
It was around this time that Jackie reconnected with Lizeth, a friend she had met years earlier in Nevada during her days as a property manager. Back in Mexico, Jackie proposed that Lizeth bring her on to help with her growing online store. Jackie was already doing similar work for StubHub through the call center, and she saw an opportunity to apply her skills in a new way.
Lizeth agreed, and five years later, Jackie has expanded her expertise into inventory management, customer service and e-commerce operations.
Today, Jackie’s sons are young adults in their early twenties. They visit her often in Guadalajara, and together they’ve traveled throughout Mexico, exploring the beaches and rediscovering the country she once feared returning to.
Jackie is now focused on nurturing her creative side, especially her love of photography. She wants to capture the rich, vibrant essence of Mexico — the warmth, the color, the life she has reclaimed.
“Mexico is not something to be afraid of,” she says. “It’s something to be proud of.”
Rocio is based in Mexico City and is the creator of CDMX iykyk, a newsletter designed to keep expats, digital nomads and the Mexican diaspora in the loop. The monthly dispatches feature top news, cultural highlights, upcoming CDMX events & local recommendations. For your dose of must-know news about Mexico,subscribe here.
Satire and politican cartoons have a long and glorious history in Mexico. (La Orquesta)
The political cartoon has left an indelible mark on the political satire of Mexico. Beginning in the 1820s, it became a powerful tool for political critique and social commentary. Deeply rooted in Mexico’s freedom of expression, by 1877, political cartoons had become an important part of Mexican politics and culture. Caricaturists used finely honed weapons — their drawing instruments and their talent — to provoke ridicule and induce laughter.
The roots of the political cartoon in Mexico
Mexico’s first ever political cartoon, “La Tiranía,” published in 1826. (El Iris)
The War of Independence saw the flowering of journalism in Mexico after a long period of colonial censorship, with dozens of pro-independence newspapers appearing in the first years of independence struggle. In the early independence period, publications took advantage of the newly-enshrined freedom of the press and kept up their activism, taking sides in the divide between centralists and federalists.
The stage was set. But the political cartoon would not have been possible without a specific technology: lithography, the printmaking technique invented in 1796. In September 1825, days after Mexico celebrated its first anniversary as a republic, Italian lithographers Claudio Linati and Gaspar Franchini arrived in Veracruz to set up the country’s first lithography press.
It was El Iris, the newspaper that Linati established in Mexico City, that published the first political cartoon ever printed in the country. “La Tiranía” (Tyranny), published in the April 15, 1826 issue of El Iris, shows a tyrant on a throne accompanied by a priest and a demon waving a bloody axe while another demon burns liberal newspapers of the time. In a sign of things to come for political cartoonists, El Iris ran for only 40 issues and Linati was forced to leave Mexico for his political agitation.
The Golden Age of the political cartoon
The political cartoon exploded as lithography became more widespread, and cartoonists weighed in on all sides of every major event of Mexico’s turbulent first decades, from the Mexican-American War to the Second Empire to the liberal Reform. It was the Porfiriato, however — the 34-year rule of President Porfirio Díaz — that ushered in one of the most productive periods in the history of Mexican cartooning.
When the weekly La Mosca appeared in 1877, it made its intent crystal clear with the headline: “Impertinent newspaper with a sharp sting that will itch Porfirio and his people.” Díaz immediately shut them down. After this development, some cartoonists stopped signing their caricatures. In 1879 the popular weekly El Tranchete launched a sharp criticism of the Díaz regime, causing the newspaper to be suspended.
A Revolution-era cartoon, satirizing the fanfare over the arrival of Emiliano Zapata. (Art.com)
The weekly El Hijo del Ahuizote, founded in 1885, was a leader in political satire. In 1902, the paper was taken over by the brothers Enrique and Ricardo Flores Magón, who led it to play an important role in generating opposition to the Díaz government. The weekly’s strength was its ability to reach the country’s people with easy-to-understand, simple and direct language. As a result of their success, they expanded their readership, reaching the masses and strengthening the gestating Mexican Revolution. Eventually, the paper’s staff was persecuted and jailed by Díaz for the crime of offenses against public officials. The Díaz government also decided to imprison all of their collaborators in Mexico City’s notorious Belen prison, including typographers and lithographers.
Jesús Martinez Carreon, one of the most significant and combative cartoonists against the Díaz regime, collaborated with the weekly for ten years until it closed. He was one of several cartoonists imprisoned in Belen prison, where he contracted typhus and died in 1906. The Flores Magón brothers, unable to publish their writings, went into exile in the United States and would eventually stage several uprisings that played a role in inciting the Mexican Revolution in 1910.
José Guadalupe Posada changes cartooning
In 1908, the working-class-oriented paper El Diablito Rojo appeared to take El Hijo del Ahuizote’s place, featuring anti-Díaz cartoons by cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada. Posada, known as the pioneer of printmaking and the artist who created La Calavera Catrina, was a prolific illustrator and printmaker. La Catrina became symbolic of Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead. His satirical and politically charged illustrations were very recognizable due to the unmistakable signature cadavers that Posada used to satirize and criticize the politicians and public figures of the time.
The original print of La Calavera Catrina has an etching of a female skeletal figure wearing an elaborate French hat decorated with ostrich feathers but not wearing clothing. To the Mexican women, he seems to be saying “You have nothing but you are still wearing a fancy hat.” He is also criticizing Porfirio Díaz who was known for his French affectations – powdering his face white and donning European clothing. Posada often used skulls and cadavers to mock politicians and the upper class, sending a message of equality: For all your preening and prancing around, we are all equal when we die.
The 20th century is considered the Golden Age of the political cartoon, and satirical cartoons were critical to the success of the Mexican Revolution. Despite facing censorship and backlash, the cartoonists continued to challenge power and speak truth to those who hold that power. Political cartooning is built into Mexico’s history and continues its commitment to push for change by fostering social consciousness.
José Guadalupe Posada is perhaps Mexico’s most important political cartoonist. (José Guadalupe Posada)
Political cartooning continued following the end of the Mexican Revolution. Porfirio Díaz was exiled and Francisco Madero became president, but satirical cartoons were here to stay. The caricaturists even took swipes at the popular new president, poking fun at Madero’s belief in Spiritism and his insistence that he spoke with the spirits of the dead, including Benito Juárez. Political satire poked fun at every president that followed.
Political cartoons in the 21st century
Political cartooning continued to thrive in the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st, in print and digital formats. Among the best known living cartoonists — often called moneros — are José Hernández, Rafael “Rapé” Pineda and Rafael “El Fisgón” Barajas.
The political cartoon holds a special place in the hearts of Mexicans as a powerful instrument for social commentary and freedom of expression. This cultural tradition continues its mission today of challenging authority and encouraging dialogue and public discourse.
With a population of well under 10,000 at the time, the Baja California Peninsula was seen as easy pickings for anyone who was brave enough to try taking it. (Baja California Más Ancho Que Larga)
The age of the filibusteros was a brief one, historically speaking. But it certainly hasn’t been forgotten on the Baja California Peninsula — where between 1850 and 1900, men referred to as “filibusters” made no less than four attempts to take over what are today the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur, in addition to several more attempts on the Mexican state of Sonora.
Of course, this was illegal. But for that brief 50-year period, a few ambitious men felt capable of conquering a country or region. What led to this delusion?
Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon was the first of several 19th-century filibusters to try to take over parts of Mexico, resulting in his inglorious execution. (Public domain)
Several events inspired these small-scale wars. One was the example of Texas, which had achieved independence from Mexico through a settler revolt before becoming a U.S. state. Another was the Mexican-American War, in which Mexico lost over half its national territory, ceding all or parts of what are now nine U.S. states in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Many of the filibusters were also men who had failed to get rich during the California Gold Rush and were looking for another opportunity to make their fortune. They had an economic motive, and in Manifest Destiny, they found their ideology.
They also had a shining practical example: Count Gaston Raoulx de Raousset-Boulbon, an impoverished French aristocrat who failed in the gold fields before trying to take over the state of Sonora.
It did not end well for the count, but filibusters nevertheless saw it as a blueprint for their own actions.
Raousset-Boulbon and the 300 would-be colonists
Count Raousset-Boulbon’s first attempt to conquer Sonora in 1852 had a promising start. First entering the state under the guise of a settlement project authorized by the federal government, the count and his men took Hermosillo after a short battle. However, he was soon defeated at Guaymas and fled. But two years later, he decided to try again, setting sail from San Francisco with 300 would-be French colonists aboard the schooner Belle.
These days, San José del Cabo is invaded only by tourists. (Art Walk San José)
Their first stop was San José del Cabo in what is now Baja California Sur, where they were quickly beaten back, ending any peninsular designs. Thus chastened, Raousset-Boulbon and his men proceeded to Guaymas, the town on the coast of southwest Sonora they had failed to conquer two years earlier. Again, things did not go as planned. The French forces ultimately surrendered, and Raousset-Boulbon was shot by a firing squad in August 1854.
William Walker and the Republic of Sonora
It’s hard to understand why William Walker, the most famous of the filibusters, would take Raousset-Boulbon’s failure in 1852 as an inspiration, but he did. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1824, Walker was an educated man who practiced as a lawyer and a doctor. However, he was also a staunch pro-slavery advocate. He saw the Baja California Peninsula, once he conquered it, as another slave state that could be operated under the laws of the Code of Louisiana.
Walker’s ambition becomes perhaps more understandable considering that in 1851, the entire 760-mile peninsula had a population of only 7,000 people. Of course, he would have needed more than 45 men, the actual size of the army he had raised in San Francisco and sailed with in October 1853. But Walker was nothing if not optimistic.
His vision was for a Republic of Sonora that included the Baja California Peninsula and Sonora; in preparation, he had designed a flag and issued currency. After briefly landing at Cabo San Lucas, Walker and his small army proceeded to the capital, La Paz, where, surprising the locals, they seized both the outgoing and incoming jefes político, an office then equivalent to governor.
Emboldened, the filibusters looted the houses of better appearance and proclaimed their new slave state. However, opposition forces under two Mexican-American War veterans, Manuel Pineda and future general Manuel Márquez de León — the man for whom the city’s airport is now named — soon forced a retreat to Cabo San Lucas, where Walker and company were further harassed by local militia led by the legendary Ildefonso Green, remembered today with a street and neighborhood designation in the Land’s End city.
Thus repulsed, Walker and crew sailed to Ensenada, appropriating a ranch and receiving 150 reinforcements, a much-needed boost enabling them to hold off the local resistance for a few months before desertion and deaths led to the final retreat.
Famed filibuster William Walker wanted to turn the Baja California Peninsula into a pre-Civil War slave state.
“So ended the last battle of the Republic of Sonora,” wrote Irish-American poet James Jeffrey Roche in “By-Ways of War,” a 1901 history of the filibusters. “Four and thirty tattered, hungry, gaunt pedestrians, whimsically representing in their persons the president, cabinet, army and navy of Sonora, marched across the line and surrendered as prisoners of war to Major McKinstry, U.S.A., at San Diego, California.”
Walker was not discouraged by his defeat and next decided to conquer Nicaragua. That did not end well, either, although he succeeded briefly. Forced out of the country, he was ultimately executed for piracy and filibusterism by a Honduran firing squad in 1860.
A worse Napoleon in La Paz
By the mid-1850s, officials across the Baja California Peninsula were alert and ready for further filibustering expeditions.
Jean Napoleon Zerman, undoubtedly the lesser of the 19th-century Napoleons, sailed into the bay of La Paz in 1855 with three ships — two flying American flags, the other none — wearing a uniform of mismatched parts and a sombrero embellished with chicken feathers. Pablo L. Martínez, in his “Historia de Baja California,” notes that the would-be admiral’s letters contained “various absurd decrees, written in barbarous Spanish.”
Zerman claimed to have official backing from Juan Álvarez, the independence hero who had briefly been president of Mexico in 1855. However, locals did not accept this authorization, and Álvarez later denied giving it. Shots were fired, with one of Zerman’s men killed before his ships and weapons were confiscated. Was he really a filibuster? Zerman was Italian by birth, a veteran of the French navy, and 64 of his 65 men were foreigners. Also, his ships were outfitted with two cannons. But he was freed after two years of imprisonment and left the country unharmed.
This photo of General Manuel Marquez de León, who helped beat back filibustering attempts from William Walker and Jean Napoleon Zerman, hangs proudly in the Centro Cultural in Todos Santos. (Gobierno de Baja California Sur)
In that, he was fortunate. Two years later, former California senator Henry Crabb, who had tried to enlist with Walker, invaded Sonora with 100 men. After a six-day siege at Caborca, Crabb, like Raousset-Boulbon, was executed for his crimes, although only the Californian of the bunch had his head cut off and preserved in vinegar — or possibly mezcal; sources differ on this point.
San Diego newspaper editors try to take Baja with a ruse
The last and silliest of the 19th-century filibuster schemes was cooked up by San Diego newspapermen, including Walter Gifford Smith, editor of the San Diego Sun; B.A. Stephens, editor of the San Diego Informant; and Captain John F. Janes, who published the San Pedro Shipping Gazette. Funding, however, was courtesy of the English-owned Mexican Land and Colonization Company. The latter provided US $100,000 for the plot, thinking U.S. ownership of the Baja California Peninsula would send real estate prices soaring.
Like many modern-day Baja ventures, this was all about real estate. According to “The Filibusters of 1890,” edited by California historian Anna Marie Hager, the plan called for the local military to be overpowered, while presumably drunk, following a fandango at the Hotel Iturbide in Ensenada. This attack would be accomplished by filibusters arriving aboard the steamships Carlos Pacheco and Manuel Doblan, who could also help to capture the Mexican warship Democrata, which would inevitably arrive soon after.
However, the plan came to naught. Indeed, it was never even implemented after being leaked to the public by a rival newspaper. That was likely for the best for the plotters, and certainly so for the residents of the Baja California Peninsula. After half a century of takeover attempts, they’d had enough.
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
Despite punishing hours and minimal pay, Mexico's service workers demonstrate a resilience and good humor that both humbles and inspires. (Canva)
One thing I really liked about the TV show “Downton Abbey” was the upstairs/downstairs aspect of it. It was a period show that, for once, didn’t only focus on the trials and tribulations of one rich family. It was just as much about the lives of the vast staff that ran the household — the workers whose long hours allowed the rich family to live the way they did with all their strict social expectations and habits.
Just think of the simple habit of changing for dinner, for example: first of all, you need someone to make your clothes. Someone also has to wash your clothes and ensure they’re both dry and pressed when you want to wear them. Someone has to ensure that your clothes are put up in a place you or your personal servant can find them. And for much of the fashion of the era, you need someone to help dress you.
In Mexico, are you the one who changes the toilet paper roll or does someone change it for you? (Jas Min/Unsplash)
As a U.S. citizen in Mexico, I am plainly part of the “upstairs” crowd. I don’t help people park their cars, and I don’t drive anyone in a taxi or shuttle. I don’t clean up after the partygoers have gone home, and I don’t hand people’s freshly washed and folded clothes back to them. I don’t ask people what I can get them from behind a stand at the market, and I don’t make sure there’s toilet paper in the café bathroom.
In short, I am always served, never the server.
My partner, however, is not. He grew up like many from smaller towns and cities here do: with a mother raising three kids on her own and a dad sending money home from grueling work in the United States. By Mexican standards, they lived well enough. By U.S. standards, it was basically poverty.
He did not go to restaurants, save on very special occasions. He didn’t even see a movie in a theater until he was nearly done with elementary school. Air conditioning was practically unheard of, even in his hot tropical town. He and his siblings took charge of keeping the house clean and the clothes washed.
And while all of them went on to college and secured stable, middle-class jobs, the luxuries afforded them have only meant very occasional “upstairs-living” experiences.
Mexico may have a reputation for a more relaxed way of life, but Mexicans work more than those of any other OECD nation. While there’s been talk of shortening the work week, which currently runs from Monday to Saturday for most, the realities of the low pay and increasingly higher costs of this economy render most proposals irrelevant.
Many Mexican workers may not see vacation as a valuable use of their time because every hour of pay is precious. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
If you work in the vast informal sector, for example, those labor rules are not enforceable anyway. The formal sector, in the meantime, knows what’s up: if workers don’t want to abide by its punishing schedules, there’s a long line of other workers waiting for a job. If you need to feed and house your family, then you do what you have to do.
Mexico makes plain what many of us north of the border are unwilling to admit: hard work is tied only in the loosest of manners to material gain — with about a million caveats.
Being with my partner has allowed me to see the “downstairs” of the Mexican experience. While tourists might have a nice meal and then wander back to their hotel rooms, the workers who serve them often stay until 3 a.m. before heading back to their meager living quarters, which are often kilometers away.
The reason I’ve seen this so up-close lately is because of my partner’s current job managing a restaurant. Because the positions are so hard to fill, he frequently does the job of two to three people at once, operating the place he’s supposed to be supervising. He averages about 80 hours of work a week, often foregoing sleep and food. If things don’t improve soon, he’ll look for something else, but as people often say around here: es lo que hay. (It’s what’s available.)
Despite Mexico having labor laws to protect workers, they are often flouted by employers, with few — if any — consequences. (Louis Hansel/Unsplash)
I’m not writing this to make anyone feel bad for enjoying themselves in Mexico. A job is a job, and we’re all doing what we can to help and also try to relax once in a while. One of the things I recognize and feel proud of about my own culture, actually, is that most people are pretty fair-minded.
But having a front-row seat to these jobs has given me a different perspective. Most everyone is doing literally everything they can, for not a lot of monetary return. And despite that low return, they’re still mostly friendly and jovial.
My partner and the waiters sing along with the pay-by-the-song performers as they’re working. Whoever’s available to wash the dishes washes the dishes (sometimes that’s me). Even on holidays like Christmas and New Year’s, they’re there, usually for no extra pay (Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are the holidays, not the “Eves” that for those in the restaurant industry are just regular workdays).
Lots of things don’t work, nor are funds available to get them working. This is very hard for Americans, especially, to understand, I think, as we are very used to things working the way they’re supposed to. Here, however, most businesses are operating on the thinnest of margins. That’s what the owners always say, anyway.
When one of the many street hawkers I interact with — who surely keeps similarly punishing hours — hears me say “Gracias,” they respond anyway with “Okay, have a good day!” They make jokes: “These are stolen, but they’re genuine!”
Good humor certainly helps things along, but it’s no replacement for a life that lets you sleep and eat well. I often find myself wondering if workers here and on the other side of the border will ever see their conditions improve.
For now, neither place seems primed for a worker revolution despite the low probabilities of drastically improving one’s financial prospects.
There’s a song by the great Belgian singer Stromé about workers. The main chorus is, roughly — I don’t speak French — “We celebrate for the ones who can’t celebrate.”
So the next time you go out, perhaps you’ll raise a glass to those who are making your time out possible. It might not be the wage raise they need, but knowing they’re appreciated can still go a long way.
It's rare to find a street corner where someone isn't selling a torta in Mexico. What makes the humble sandwich such a staple of daily life? (Luis Covarrubias/Unsplash)
I’ve met many friends who came to Mexico eager to try the famous ham torta that El Chavo dreamed about. Unfortunately, most of them ended up disappointed by the actual experience.
El Chavo del Ocho dreamed of a ham torta. It might not be Mexico’s best cuisine, but his dream speaks to the ubiquity of the torta in Mexico. (Televisa)
What is a torta?
A torta is a type of sandwich made using a bread roll, typically a bolillo or telera, which is sliced in half and filled with a wide variety of ingredients. Extremely wide, if I may say so.
While you can be creative with the fillings, there are some essential components that every proper torta should have: a spread of refried beans, mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce, avocado, pickled chilies, onions and Oaxaca cheese.
The main filling can vary greatly and may include options such as milanesa (breaded meat cutlet), steak, chicken, ham, sausage, cod, eggs, tuna, turkey or pork leg, among others. The possibilities are endless!
There are also creative variations of the torta, such as the torta de tamal, which features a tamal placed inside the bread. We call this a guajolota. There’s also the torta de chilaquiles, typically consisting of chilaquiles, and sometimes fried beans.
In some places, you can even find tortas that are nearly a meter long! If you manage to finish one, your meal is free.
The torta has its roots in the Spanish bocata, and incorporates French baking techniques that gave rise to the bolillo. According to some sources, in 1892, a man named Armando Martínez Centurión had the innovative idea of slicing a bolillo open and filling it with a variety of ingredients.
He later opened the first torta shop in Mexico, known as Tortería Armando, located on what is now Motolinía Street in downtown Mexico City. His menu featured tortas with chicken, milanesa, and ham, which were popular among university students and local workers.
According to the Mexican writer Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Armando received a golden opportunity to showcase his creation — boasting up to 25 ingredients — at a diplomatic event at the French embassy. The rest is history.
The modern torta
The torta, which can be stuffed with a wide variety of ingredients, even has its own fair each year in Mexico City. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
Today, tortas are no longer seen as delicate indulgences with a hint of French sophistication; instead, they have become an everyday meal, often enjoyed as street food — and they are delicious!
There’s a flavor for every taste, and, best of all, they are very affordable. Another fantastic aspect of tortas is that unless you possess extremely poor cooking skills, it is nearly impossible to make one that doesn’t taste good. Whether you prepare them at home or buy them from a street vendor, tortas are a guaranteed culinary delight.
Which torta should I eat?
While every region has its own specialties, you can find the torta de milanesa almost anywhere — and it’s a crowd favorite. The combination of flavors is perfect: the milanesa paired with avocado, beans, bread, and pickled chilies creates a flawless match. Now, I know what you’re thinking: if your goal is to lose weight, maybe tortas aren’t the best choice. But sometimes it’s important to live a little, and I’m convinced that every bite releases endorphins — and that’s important too.
If you’re on a plant-based diet, the avocado torta or a roasted veggie torta is a must-try. Curious about the ham torta? It’s a classic and quite tasty — but in my humble opinion, there are many better options out there. So, El Chavo’s obsession with it is a bit of a mystery to me.
To truly experience the chilango (Mexico City local) vibe, split a torta de tamal or a torta de chilaquiles with someone. Fair warning, as we Mexicans like to say: it’s a lot of masa (dough) — but it tastes sooooo good.
• Pickled chilis (at least include the carrots that come with them)
• Your preferred protein: milanesa, al pastor, ham, chicken, tuna — feel free to be creative!
Instructions:
Here, the order is important:
1. Cut the bolillo or telera in half and scoop out some of the soft inside (the migajón).
2. Spread beans on one half (preferably the bottom) and mayonnaise on the other half.
3. Toast both halves on a skillet or griddle until warm.
4. Place your protein or filling on the side with beans.
5. On the other half, layer avocado, onion, tomato and lettuce.
6. Add pickled chilies in the middle, especially the carrots!
7. Close the torta. If desired, toast it again on the skillet.
Enjoy it a lot! 😊
Extra tip: Tortas are almost always paired with a chesquito — that is, a soda, but said with tenderness.
Amigos, if you’re visiting or living in Mexico, not trying a torta is practically a crime! I make it a point to eat a torta at least once a month. When I was a kid, tortas were essential to my breakfast, and even became part of the lunchtime barter system during school recess. They are truly ingrained in our Mexican culture.
So, I’d love to know: Have you ever tried tortas? What’s your favorite kind?
María Meléndez is a Mexico City food blogger and influencer.
A sculpture by Carlos Marquina in Mexico City depicts an eagle devouring a snake, part of Mexico's national coat of arms. (Shutterstock)
Being born and raised in the United States, I have the strong sense of independence that most Americans have. We don’t like the idea of being told what to do very much, especially if it is the government that is telling us. We love our freedom, our space and our privacy. I don’t have specific data to back me up, but I would guess that more “No Trespassing” signs are sold in the U.S. than in the rest of the world combined. While it’s common to see the “Don’t tread on me” slogan in many places in the U.S., I have never seen a similar sign in Mexico. Many Americans seem to take a special amount of pride in having a “leave me the hell alone” type attitude.
How else can we explain so many strong reactions by Americans to government, top-down ideas? Outlaw a 48-ounce drink? “Don’t you tell me what I can and can’t drink!” Outlaw plastic bags at grocery stores? “Hell no!” Congestion level pricing for cars? “Go to hell, lawmakers!” Common sense legislation for guns? “Don’t even think about it!”
While Americans hold tight to their personal independence, attitudes towards government are a little different in Mexico, Travis Bembenek writes. (Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)
Things seem different here south of the border. I remember in early 2023 when Mexico banned smoking in all public areas, indoor and outdoor. It was one of the strictest bans globally, and it was largely met with a shrug. For the most part, people just complied. No drama, no protests, no lawsuits.
A similar response happened when nearly every city and state in the country banned plastic bags in grocery stores. No plastic bag lobbyists filing lawsuits, no stores refusing to comply, no noticeably angry customers. People for the most part just changed their habits and started bringing their own reusable bags.
Which brings me to a series of recent initiatives by the Claudia Sheinbaum administration that are worth noting and keeping an eye on. The first, which took effect at the end of March, was the decision of Coca-Cola to stop selling its products in Mexican schools, in line with Sheinbaum’s Live Happy, Live Healthy student health initiative. The second, which went into effect in early April, was a ban on the sale of all junk food in Mexican schools. Both of these initiatives were in line with a recently enacted government campaign to attack childhood obesity.
The next set of initiatives has had to do with drug use in the country. Mexico has historically been cautiously proud of the fact that drug use has been relatively low by its own population. However there is, of course, always a risk that could change. President Sheinbaum has recently led a massive anti-drug use billboard campaign in parts of the country that even caught the attention and earned the respect of President Trump.
More recently, as some states banned public performances of narcocorrido songs — which often glamorize or pay homage to the drug trade and cartel leaders — Sheinbaum spoke out against music that condones violence.
“It would be absurd to ban a musical genre,” she said. Instead, Sheinbaum said her administration discourages lyrics “condoning drugs, violence, violence against women, or viewing women as sexual objects.”
The government leading initiatives in singing, dancing, and sports is a positive thing. I would love to see a nationwide initiative and more focus on the importance and fun of reading — let’s hope that comes as well.
It’s too early to weigh in on the effectiveness of these new initiatives, but it has been interesting to see what President Sheinbaum is focusing on for social initiatives, and also fascinating to see relatively little push-back from the general population and businesses on the new legislation. I am always wary of government overstepping, but each of these initiatives to me seem like common sense ideas that hopefully will have positive effects on Mexican society — especially young kids. Stay tuned…
Travis Bembenek is the CEO ofMexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
Tariffs, tourism and books were top themes of Friday's presidential presser. (Presidencia)
At her Friday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about “good news” on the ever-changing tariff front, Mexico’s most important tourism industry event and her two favorite books — both 20th century classics.
Here is a recap of the president’s May 2 mañanera.
US confirms that tariffs won’t apply to Mexican auto parts
“Yesterday there was some very good news for Mexico,” Sheinbaum said shortly after the commencement of her press conference.
She noted that United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a notice confirming that 25% tariffs on certain auto parts that are set to take effect this Saturday won’t apply to auto parts made in Mexico.
The CBP notice states that import duties won’t apply to parts “that are eligible for special tariff treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), other than automobile knock-down kits or parts compilations.”
A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol memo this week made clear that tariffs would not be charged on Mexico-made auto parts. (File photo/General Motors México)
Trump announced in late March that the United States would impose 25% tariffs on imports of vehicles and auto parts. The tariff on foreign vehicles took effect on April 3, but U.S. content in vehicles assembled in Mexico is exempt from the duty, lowering the effective tariff on vehicles made in Mexico.
The White House said in late March that “USMCA-compliant automobile parts” would remain tariff-free until the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with CBP “establishes a process to apply tariffs to their non-U.S. content.”
The plan to impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian content in auto parts made in Mexico and Canada has now been scrapped, or at least postponed indefinitely. A White House fact sheet published on Tuesday indicated that was the case, and the CBP notice confirmed it.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard told Friday’s mañanera that ensuring Mexican auto parts could enter the United States tariff-free “has been one of the main concerns of President Sheinbaum.”
“… It’s a very large industry in our country,” he said, adding that the United States’ decision to not impose tariffs on Mexican auto parts represents “an important advance” in Mexico’s trade negotiations with its northern neighbor.
He said that the CBP notice makes it “explicit” that auto parts made in Mexico fall under the USMCA “and therefore don’t pay tariffs.”
Economy Secretary Ebrard hailed the tariff announcement as a significant advance in trade negotiations. (Presidencia)
“… I think it’s good news, for our country of course, and another step forward,” Ebrard said.
Sheinbaum subsequently highlighted that Mexico’s exportation of auto parts generates revenue of US $70 billion per year.
Sheinbaum hails success of Tianguis Turístico
Late in the press conference, Sheinbaum turned her attention to the recently-concluded Tianguis Turístico, Latin America’s largest tourism industry event.
The main location for the April 28-May 1 event was the Baja California Center in Rosarito, Baja California, but Tianguis Turístico activities also took place in other parts of the state and across the border in San Diego.
She said that people from 46 countries, including international buyers, attended the event, and highlighted that it was the first “binational” tianguis.
This week Baja California hosted the 2025 Tianguis Turístico, Latin America’s largest tourism industry event. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum said that 71,882 “business appointments” took place and 50% of that number concluded with a sale.
She also said that the event generated an economic spillover of 1.38 billion pesos (US $70.5 million) and that hotel occupancy was above 90%.
Sheinbaum reveals her 2 favorite books
Paco Ignacio Taibo II, a Spanish-born writer, novelist and head of the government-affiliated non-profit publishing group Fondo de Cultura Ecónomica (FCE), attended Sheinbaum’s Friday morning press conference to speak about Mexico’s National Reading Promotion Strategy.
“A book allows critical thinking, it creates models for imitation, of how to live and why to live, it destroys damaged neurons, it’s the great builder of living, active thought and the destroyer of racism, machismo. A book is a great vehicle, a conveyor of information,” Taibo said early in his presentation.
He highlighted a range of reading promotion initiatives, including the lowering of the prices of books published and sold by the FCE, the creation of “mini-libraries” in state-owned SuperISSSTE grocery stores, the gifting of “discontinued” books to university students, the expansion of the mobile library “Librobús” network and the establishment of thousands of “reading rooms” and reading clubs.
Taibo said that “significant progress” has been made in getting children and seniors to read more, but conceded that convincing adolescents to spend more time reading books is a more difficult assignment.
Paco Ignacio Taibo II, expounded on the magic of literature and highlighted national reading initiatives. (Presidencia)
“There is a phenomenon of a loss of reading in the adolescent world due to certain forms of more simple, more immediately gratifying, less deep, more superficial entertainment,” he said.
Later in the press conference, a reporter asked both Taibo and Sheinbaum to nominate their favorite books.
“My favorite book is ‘Spartacus’ by Howard Fast because I read it when I was 15 and I said: ‘No, life has to be like this,’ and it defined my life,” Taibo said.
“I’m going to say two,” Sheinbaum chimed in, noting that one of them influenced her scientific career.
“Obviously, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,'” she said, referring to the seminal magical realism novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, a long-term resident of Mexico City before his death in 2014.
Sheinbaum also nominated “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by American historian and philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn as a favorite book. The book — in which Kuhn introduced and consequently popularized the concept of “paradigm shift” — was published in 1962, the year of Sheinbaum’s birth.
The investment is expected to generate roughly 1,200 new jobs in coming years. (Shutterstock)
British consumer goods company Unilever will invest $30 billion pesos (US $1.5 billion) in Mexico over the next three years to increase production capacity.
Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard made the announcement during President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Friday morning press conference.
“It’s important to recognize that these investment announcements are being made in an uncertain economic environment,” Ebrard said. “So beyond the [monetary] value, the fact that companies are investing in Mexico means they see a positive and promising future for Mexico.”
The factory will be located in the municipality of Salinas Victoria, Nuevo León, about 38 kilometers north of Monterrey. It will produce beauty products and personal care items by its brand leaders Dove, Rexona and Sedal, according to Willem Uijen, Unilever’s chief supply chain and operations officer.
Uijen said the London-based company maintains a long-term commitment to Mexico’s development and is intent on strengthening its operations in the country.
Unilever COO Willem Uijen (left) and Unilever Mexico Director Mildred Villegas (center right) shared news of the investment at President Sheinbaum’s Friday morning press conference. (Presidencia)
He also said the investment — which is expected to generate 1,200 new jobs — will increase production capacity, help launch product lines, fund logistics projects, finance the digitalization of operations and strengthen existing brands.
Unilever has operated in Mexico for more than 60 years and employs more than 7,000 people. It currently has one factory in Mexico City, two in México state and one more in the state of Morelos.
Friday’s announcement adds to a wave of foreign investment pledges that indicate confidence in Mexico’s economic outlook, as the Sheinbaum administration has been able to attract global companies amid rising trade tensions with the U.S.
Unilever’s announcement further supports Sheinbaum’s “Plan México,” an initiative to increase investment in Mexico by domestic and foreign companies.
The plan, among other goals, aims to increase Mexico’s food and energy sovereignty, promote infrastructure development and home construction, and increase access to loans.
“We fully support the principles of Plan México,” Uijen said, adding that Unilever is eager to support the government’s project “to promote public welfare, encourage sustainable development and actively contribute to a more prosperous future for everyone.”
