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Teotihuacán shooter inspired by Columbine massacre in US, AG says: Tuesday’s mañanera recapped

By
MND Staff
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México state Security Minister Cristóbal Castañeda said the gunman took his own life after he was shot in the leg by members of the National Guard, which prevented a larger death toll. 
México state Security Minister Cristóbal Castañeda said the gunman took his own life after he was shot in the leg by members of the National Guard, which prevented a larger death toll. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 🔺 Teotihuacán shooting: Sheinbaum opened her press conference by expressing solidarity with the family of a 32-year-old Canadian woman killed by a gunman at the archaeological site on Monday. Thirteen others were hospitalized, including nationals from Colombia, Russia, Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States.
  • 🔍 Lone-wolf, copycat profile: The attacker, identified as Julio César Jasso Ramírez, 27, killed himself after being shot by the National Guard. Authorities found material allegedly linked to the Columbine massacre and believe he planned the attack over multiple prior visits to the site.
  • 🏛️ Security overhaul pledged: Sheinbaum noted archaeological sites have never had metal detectors “because situations like this had never occurred.” She announced stricter entry inspections going forward. Teotihuacán will reopen on Wednesday.

Why today’s mañanera matters

The primary focus of President Sheinbaum’s Tuesday morning press conference was the shooting that occurred on Monday at the Teotihuacán archaeological site, a pre-Columbian city located around 50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City. A gunman killed a Canadian woman and wounded 7 other people — all foreigners — before turning the gun on himself. The shooting at one of Mexico’s best-known tourism attractions made headlines around the world.

Shooting at Teotihuacán leaves 2 dead, at least 6 wounded

Sheinbaum stressed that such an attack was unprecedented at an archaeological site in Mexico. Nevertheless, a random shooting that claimed the life of one foreigner and left various others with injuries will no doubt inflict some damage on Mexico’s international reputation.

With the first match of the FIFA men’s World Cup in Mexico City less than two months away, the federal government will be working overtime to convince foreigners that Mexico is a safe place to visit. That work already ramped up after the violent response to the killing of cartel boss “El Mencho” in a military operation in February.

The government response to this attack, including the planned beefing up of security at Teotihuacán and other archaeological sites, will be crucial to giving everyone — Mexicans and foreigners — the confidence to keep visiting Mexico’s numerous pre-Columbian architectural masterpieces.

Sheinbaum laments shooting at Teotihuacán

At the very start of her press conference, Sheinbaum expressed the government’s “solidarity” with the relatives of the Canadian woman killed by a gunman at the Teotihuacán archaeological site on Monday, and with those injured.

The government of México state — where Teotihuacán is located — reported on Monday night that 13 people were hospitalized due to injuries they sustained at the archaeological site. Seven of those people were shot, while the others sustained injuries due to falls. Those injured are from Colombia, Canada, Russia, Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States. The youngest victim is a six-year-old Colombian boy, who was shot, while the oldest is a 61-year-old American woman, who also sustained a gunshot wound.

The Canadian woman who was killed was 32. Her identity had not been disclosed as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The gunman, who killed himself at the scene of the crime, was identified as 27-year-old Julio César Jasso Ramírez. México state Security Minister Cristóbal Castañeda said that Jasso was from Tlapa, Guerrero.

In video footage, the attacker can be heard telling people who were with him on a platform of the Pyramid of the Moon that tourists who came to Mexico from “fucking Europe” won’t return.

Castañeda: Gunman killed himself after he was shot in the leg by the GN 

Castañeda told Sheinbaum’s press conference that the gunman took his own life after he was shot in the leg by members of the National Guard, which responded to the attack perpetrated from the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán. State and municipal police also responded to the shooting.

The México state security minister said that authorities determined that the aggressor acted alone. He said that Jasso arrived at the site in an Uber vehicle. Castañeda also said that authorities had located a hotel where the gunman stayed the night prior to committing the attack.

He said that six of the seven people who were shot have been discharged from hospital.

Gunman was allegedly inspired by 1999 Columbine massacre in US

México state Attorney General José Luis Cervantes Martínez said that at the scene of the crime, authorities collected a pistol, a knife and 52 cartridges that the gunman hadn’t used. He said that authorities also seized the aggressor’s “tactical-style backpack” as well as a voter’s ID card, a cell phone, bus tickets, and “literature, images [and] manuscripts allegedly related to violent events … in the United States in April 1999.”

The México state Attorney General José Luis Cervantes
The México state Attorney General José Luis Cervantes said that the attack was not “spontaneous,” explaining that authorities determined that the gunman visited Teotihuacán on “various” prior occasions — allegedly to plan his attack. (Juan Carlos Ramos/Presidencia)

That was a reference to the Columbine High School massacre, which occurred on April 20, 1999, exactly 27 years before the shooting at Teotihuacán.

Jasso reportedly appears in photographs performing the Nazi Salute. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, exactly 137 years before Monday’s attack.

Cervantes said that evidence indicates that Jasso has a “psychopathic profile … characterized by a tendency to copy situations that occurred in other places, at other times and by other people.”

The “hypothesis” that Jasso was a “copycat” killer is under investigation, he said.

AG: ‘Quick’ GN intervention prevented more serious consequences

Cervantes said that the “quick intervention” of the National Guard (GN) prevented “more serious consequences” — i.e., deaths and injuries. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch made similar remarks, saying that the GN intervention stopped the gunman from attacking and thus “prevented the loss of more lives.”

García Harfuch also said that the gun used by the attacker was almost 60 years old, as it was made in “approximately” 1968. Cervantes said that authorities didn’t know where Jasso obtained the gun, but added that they had determined that he paid 40,000 pesos (US $2,300) for it.

The México state attorney general also said that the attack was not “spontaneous,” explaining that authorities determined that the gunman visited Teotihuacán on “various” prior occasions — allegedly to plan his attack.

Asked whether racism could have motivated the attack, given the message the gunman conveyed to European tourists, Cervantes responded:

“As you know, the attacker lost his life. That makes it impossible for us to conduct subsequent interviews. … I wouldn’t speak about a motive, I would speak about psychopathy, I would speak about an ailment, I would speak about an illness and within the framework of that illness one can commit all kinds of barbarities. … We have a preliminary conclusion that makes us assume … that [the attack] was the product of a mental ailment.”

Sheinbaum: Attack at archaeological site is the first of its kind 

Referring to armed attacks at archaeological sites, Sheinbaum said, “we all know that we hadn’t witnessed something like that in Mexico.”

“It’s the first time it occurs,” she said.

Sheinbaum acknowledged that it appears that the gunman had “psychological problems” and “was influenced by episodes that occurred abroad.”

“So it’s not something that is related to [organized] crime,” she said.

Sheinbaum acknowledged that the question everyone is asking is: How did the man get into Teotihuacán with a gun?

“There aren’t security arches in archaeological sites,” she said, referring to walk-through metal detectors.

“There never has been. Why? Because these situations had never occurred,” Sheinbaum said.

She said that from now on, there must be more stringent inspections to ensure that guns aren’t taken into archaeological sites or other public places.

“We have to strengthen security in these sites, but we also have to recognize that this is the first time that a situation like this has occurred,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum: ‘It’s safe to be in Mexico’

A reporter noted that the U.S. Embassy issued a security alert in light of the shooting at Teotihuacán and asked the president whether it was an “exaggeration” to do so.

“They have their protocols,” Sheinbaum responded.

“… It’s safe to be in Mexico,” she added.

To support her assertion, Sheinbaum cited the arrival of more than 16 million international visitors to Mexico in the first two months of the year.

García Harfuch said that security in Mexico for the FIFA men’s World Cup — which will commence in just over seven weeks — is “guaranteed.”

Teotihuacán to reopen on Wednesday  

Sheinbaum said that Teotihuacán — one of Mexico’s most-visited archaeological sites — will reopen to the public on Wednesday.

“It opens tomorrow with the reinforcement of security,” she said.

Sheinbaum reiterated that “this situation is a situation that we all lament.”

However, she stressed that “there is confidence in our country,” including from the tens of millions of foreign tourists who come to Mexico every year.

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

MND Local: Celebrations in La Paz and chaos and extraordinary generosity in Los Cabos

By
Chris Sands
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May is traditionally a month of celebration in La Paz, the capital city of Baja California Sur. (Visit Baja Sur)

Sixteen years after Hernán Cortés landed in Cozumel with a few hundred Spaniards to begin the conquest of Mexico, he sailed into the bay of La Paz with three ships on May 3, 1535. 

He wasn’t the first European to reach the shores of the Baja California peninsula. Cortés, entranced by stories of gold and pearls in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 1510 story of romance and adventure, “Las Sergas de Esplandían” — the origin of the name California — had sent two prior expeditions. The first failed and the second was hijacked by mutineer Fortún Jiménez, who landed near La Paz in 1533, before he and his men enraged local Indigenous inhabitants, with predictably dire results. 

Cortés, however, was the first to establish a settlement on the peninsula, and although it proved short-lived — the colonization effort lasted less than a year —  his arrival is celebrated as the birth of the city of La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur. 

The origin of the Fiestas de Fundación in La Paz and the celebrations in 2026

La Paz is celebrating its 491st anniversary this year with free rock concerts for the public in Parque Revoción. 

The annual Fiestas de Fundación, with which La Paz memorably celebrates its long history, wasn’t established until the mid-1940s, and one of its traditional highlights, the reenactment of Hernán Cortés arrival, didn’t take place for the first time until 1958. The reenactment and the annual crowning of a Reina Calafia almost certainly owe an inspirational debt to Fernando Jordán’s iconic poem “Calafia,” which was submitted for the Juegos Florales competition in 1955, and memorably invoked Queen Calafia while recalling the initial meeting between Cortés and the Indigenous Guaycura. 

Fiestas de Fundación celebrations since then have ranged from a single day to an entire month’s worth of festivities and planning and scheduling can often be a bit quirky. This year, for the 491st anniversary, for example, the city has gone non-traditional, focusing on Rock Fundación, which will showcase performances by Mexican rock bands Jumbo, DLD, Resorte, and Allison at Parque Revolución on May 16-17. The concerts will be free and open to the public.

Beach vendor chaos in Los Cabos

Cabos San Lucas’ Playa El Médano has become a hot spot for vendors, sparking a battle between authorities and traders. (TripAdvisor)

While La Paz celebrates, Los Cabos will be attempting to solve the ongoing and extremely messy unauthorized vendor situation centered around Playa El Médano in Cabo San Lucas.

Mexico News Daily first reported on this battle over “informal commerce” last August, when municipal authorities announced that they had conducted a sweep to rid the popular beach of over 300 illegal vendors. In the future, it was noted, only the 698 authorized vendors wearing uniforms and official ID tags would be allowed.

By November 2025, the 300 unauthorized vendors had all returned and the Los Cabos Coordinating Council (CCC) had called a press conference to address what the head of the Revolutionary Workers’ Confederation (COR) was describing as a lack of institutional control. The Los Cabos Hotel Association wasn’t happy either, citing complaints from tourists over the sheer number of people trying to sell them things as they tried to enjoy their margaritas in peace. To absolutely no one’s surprise, the “chaos and anarchy” has continued into 2026, with CCC President Julio Castillo Gómez accusing the municipal government of being “permissive” with the 300 illegal vendors, who by now seem as entrenched on the beach as their legal counterparts.

But since the illegal vendors are being linked with drug sales and fostering a climate of insecurity, private sector interests are pushing for the municipality to hire a dozen more enforcement officials, to go along with the 15 officials already so employed, and finally put a stop to the acrimonious situation. 

Celebrity couple donates US $2 million to local charity

Russell and Ciarra Wilson on stage
Ciarra and husband Russell Wilson announced that their foundation would be making a US $2 million donation to the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation at a recent benefit gala. (LCFF)

Celebrities have been a staple of Los Cabos life since the earliest days of tourism in the destination, with many proving not only to be active promoters of the area, but also benefactors for local causes. But no celebrity in recent memory has come close to the staggering generosity shown by the Why Not You Foundation of Super Bowl-winning NFL quarterback Russell Wilson and his pop star wife, Ciara, who pledged US $2 million during a recent benefit gala for the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation (LCCF) at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol. 

When it was founded in 2002, the mission of LCCF was to help local children receive needed cancer treatment in the U.S. However, in the years since, that mission has grown as the organization has expanded to collaborate on numerous health-related projects, to the benefit of over 121,000 children and adolescents.

“Giving back is the greatest gift,” said the couple about their life-changing donation, which will go to providing essential healthcare, nutrition, preventive care and rehabilitation services to children and families throughout Baja California Sur.

“Over the past decade of work with our Why Not You Foundation, our goal has always been about helping the youth globally! This partnership with Los Cabos Children’s Foundation and our Why Not You Foundation helps expand critical access to pediatric health and rehabilitation services in Mexico, in a city that has brought many memories to us over the years! We are blessed and extremely grateful in advance, knowing this partnership will hopefully bring great joy and memories to children and families in Cabo.”

Los Cabos hotel group Solmar invests $6 million in upgrades and sustainability

Grand Solmar Land’s End Resort and Spa will be among the Solmar Group properties receiving upgrades. (Solmar Hotels and Resorts)

Solmar is the only hotel group that was born in Los Cabos. Former cannery manager Don Luis Bulnes Molleda’s Hotel Solmar was the first property to open in 1974, near Land’s End in Cabo San Lucas, but in the half-century since, several more high-profile projects, from resorts to restaurants, have followed.

The company behind the portfolio, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, recently announced a US $6 million investment to provide guest room upgrades and sustainability improvements to some of its signature properties, including the Grand Solmar Land’s End Resort and Spa, where a new water heating system will be installed, and Playa Grande Resort, which is getting a design makeover, plus new in-room mattresses.

Chris Sands is a writer and editor for Mexico News Daily, and the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He has also contributed to numerous other websites and publications, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise and Travel, and Cabo Living.

Suro Ceramics: From a humble Jalisco workshop to the world stage

By
Ana Paula De la Torre
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Tucked in the shadow of Guadalajara, the neighboring towns of Tonalá and Tlaquepaque have long been celebrated as the cradle of Mexican clay, their roots tracing back to pre-Columbian Tonalteca ceramics. From this tradition of kilns and workshops, one name has risen to international prominence: Suro Ceramics.

What began in the early 1960s as a modest clay workshop has evolved, across three generations of the Suro family, into a world-renowned contemporary art studio whose pieces have graced the tables of Michelin-starred restaurants, the walls of major airports and the hands of more than 700 artists from around the globe.

 

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The founder, Noé Suro, was a craftsman with a designer’s eye. In the 1970s he created the now-classic ceramic beehive lamp, and through that decade and the next he built the business into a supplier for emerging hotel chains, including Hyatt, across Mexico.

The workshop’s transformation into something far more ambitious began in the early 1990s, when José Noé Suro — the founder’s son — brought his passions for contemporary art, design and gastronomy into the family enterprise. Tradition and centuries-old techniques became a foundation for experimentation rather than a constraint, as he invited local and international artists to work alongside the studio’s craftsmen.

A New Era

José Noé Suro became a gravitational figure in Guadalajara’s cultural scene. As a partner of Bar Américas, one of Mexico’s most influential electronic music venues since the 1990s, he moved fluidly between artistic circles. Collaborations with artists Jorge Pardo and José Dávila signaled a shift in the studio’s identity — from craft workshop to creative laboratory.

To date, more than 700 artists have worked at Suro, and José Noé has assembled a collection of more than 500 pieces. The scope of that legacy was on full display in “Suro Ceramics: A History of Collaboration, Production, and Collecting in Contemporary Art,” an exhibition organized by curator Viviana Kuri at the Zapopan Art Museum from 2021 to 2022.

The roster of collaborating artists reads like a survey of contemporary art’s most significant voices: Gabriel Orozco, Tatiana Margolles, Erwin Wurm, Marcel Dzama, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Nairy Baghramian, John Baldessari, Sarah Crowner, Nicole Eisenman, Michelle Grabner, Adam Pendleton and Jeff Gibbons, among others.  Suro’s reach extends into public space as well. In Dallas, the studio’s work appears at the Marketplace Commissary in downtown — designed by Jorge Pardo — and along the walkways of Oak Cliff’s Bishop Arts District. Installations have also been mounted at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and at Guadalajara’s international airport.

(Suro)

In a parallel venture, Noé Suro and Sara Pereyra founded Merkki, a design and collaboration platform that pairs Suro’s traditional craftsmanship with the visions of contemporary artists and designers, yielding functional pieces that push the boundaries of both form and technique.

At the Table

José Noé Suro’s appetite for gastronomy has made the studio a natural partner for some of the world’s most acclaimed chefs. Suro has produced tableware for restaurants led by Elena Reygadas of Rosetta, Eduardo García Guzmán, Alfonso Cadena and Francisco Ruano in Mexico, as well as Enrique Olvera of Pujol and Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park, the three-Michelin-star destination in New York.

A collaboration with artist José Dávila produced a custom tableware line for Casa Dragones, the celebrated tequila brand based in San Miguel de Allende.

The arc from a Jalisco clay workshop to a studio shaping the tables and walls of the world’s most discerning spaces is, in many ways, the story Tonalá and Tlaquepaque have always told — one fired slowly, shaped by hand and built to last.

Ana Paula de la Torre is a Mexican journalist and collaborator for various outlets, including Milenio, Animal Político, Vice, Newsweek en Español, Televisa and Mexico News Daily.

2 US embassy employees and 2 Chihuahua officials killed in car accident following anti-cartel operation

By
MND Staff
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narco-lab in Chihuahua
An investigation is ongoing amid speculation that the incident could have been a premeditated attack. (Attorney General's Office of Chihuahua)

Two U.S. Embassy instructors and two Chihuahua state police officials died in an accident  Sunday after an operation to dismantle six narco-labs in the Sierra Tarahumara. 

The deaths occurred when the vehicle fell into a ravine while traveling on a highway connecting the municipalities of Morelos and Cuachochi in southwest Chihuahua.

The U.S. Embassy officials, identified as “instructors … participating in training work as part of a regular exchange of security cooperation,” have not been identified. 

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the men were “collaborating with the Chihuahua authorities in the fight against cartel activities.” The narco-labs targeted by the operation allegedly belong to the Sinaloa Cartel.

Initial reports indicated the van in which the victims were riding skidded and went off the road. Some reports indicated the vehicle exploded after the driver lost control; others reported it exploded after landing at the bottom of the ravine.

An investigation is ongoing amid speculation that the incident could have been a premeditated attack. 

Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui identified the state agents as Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, director general of the Chihuahua Investigation Agency, and Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes, a ministerial police officer.

The accident, which occurred around 2 a.m., was communicated to the media by Júaregui about 12 hours later.

In a social media post shortly after Júaregui’s announcement, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson lamented the deaths of the U.S. Embassy personnel and the state agents while insisting the mission to advance the shared commitment to security and justice will continue with greater determination.

“We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to confront one of the greatest challenges of our time,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones.”

Johnson described the tragedy as “a solemn reminder of the risks faced by those Mexican and U.S. officials who are dedicated to protecting our communities.”  

Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos paid tribute to Oseguera, who had been on the job just seven months, saying he died while “working for the peace and security of Chihuahua residents.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday said she was unaware the U.S. Embassy was working with Chihuahua officials to combat drug cartels. 

She told reporters that she has requested information from the Chihuahua government and asked Ambassador Johnson to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco to clarify the presence of U.S. personnel on Mexican soil.

With reports from La Jornada, El Financiero, CNN, The Guardian, CBS, Zeta and Reuters

A new 30-km north-south bike route opens in Mexico City

By
MND Staff
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new bike path
The 30-kilometer "Great Tenochtitlán Bike Path" connecting Mexico City's Historic Center with the Huipulco area near the Banorte Stadium was inaugurated on Sunday. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico City has inaugurated a new bike route that connects the Historic Center with the Huipulco area in the south, near the Banorte Stadium where World Cup games will be played this summer. 

Dubbed the Great Tenochtitlán Bike Path, the cycling corridor covering 15 kilometers (eventually 17) in each direction runs along Calzada de Tlalpan, the major north-south route since Aztec times. 

A sex workers’ collective has been protesting the new bike path along the Calzada de Tlalpan, claiming that it has disrupted those doing business in the area, including them. (Camila Ayala Benabib/Cuartoscuro)

The project is part of Mexico City’s sustainable mobility strategy for the 2026 World Cup and beyond, as it seeks to prioritize bicycles and pedestrians over cars, and improve connectivity between the center and the south of the capital.

The new cycling path was inaugurated by Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada in an event that included more than 10,000 cyclists riding along the new corridor. Prior to the mass ride, hundreds of cyclists formed the image of a monumental bicycle at the Zócalo.

During her speech, Brugada said the new bike path is part of a wider project that seeks to add 300 kilometers of bike lanes across Mexico City.

“Every bike ride is a way to resist inequality in the use of public space and to affirm another way of experiencing the city with a bicycle; closer, more human, more just,” she said. “The bicycle is the most democratic vehicle; anyone can use it, a girl, a boy, young people or older people.”

The cycle path features rehabilitated sidewalks to improve pedestrian comfort and safety along the same route. More than 5,000 new lights will allow for nocturnal rides.

Not everyone in the city is celebrating the initiative. Some groups say the bike lane is part of a “social cleansing” in the lead-up to the World Cup, claiming it is designed for tourism and not for residents.

The event saw protests from sex workers, merchants and residents, who expressed concerns about the impact on their activities, saying they were not consulted on the changes.

Meanwhile, independent sex workers who work on Calzada de Tlalpan — a road that has historically been known by different names for being a prostitution hotspot — claim that the bike path has generated “displacement,” both for them and for merchants in the area.

Protesters also complained about the reduction of vehicle lanes, changes to pick-up and drop-off zones and obstruction of pathways used by pedestrians, including parents and children who attend nearby nurseries and schools.

With reports from El Financiero, La Silla Rota, Proceso and Record

The donkey, the street cart, the drug lord: The insidious media stereotypes still used to portray Mexico

By
Charlotte Smith
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Benecio del Toro in dark aviator sunglasses sitting in a car, in a scene from the film "Traffic."
Actor Benicio del Toro in the acclaimed 2000 Stephen Soderberg film "Traffic," part of which was set in Mexico. (IMDB)

Stereotypes don’t always arrive as statements. Sometimes, they arrive as images. And in many ways, that makes them far more dangerous. 

We tend to think of misinformation as something written or spoken. We can detect written misinformation in outright lies, manipulated language, twisted narratives and warped perceptions. But imagery operates differently. It slips past our defenses. 

The danger of visual stereotypes is how they often slip our notice. These two cover stories were positive news features on Mexico as a growing international power, yet only one portrays Mexico that way.

The Mexican in the cowboy hat

Imagery doesn’t argue with us; it simply implies. It doesn’t tell us what to think; it shows us what to see and lets our brains do the rest. 

And that’s exactly why stereotypical imagery can be just as damaging to public perception as false reporting. Because once an image takes hold, it doesn’t just inform perception, it defines it. 

Nowhere is this more obvious than in how Mexico is portrayed in international media. 

There’s a version of Mexico that exists in reality: It’s complex, modern, economically dynamic and culturally layered. It’s a country of global manufacturing power, thriving urban centers, innovation, art, finance and influence. 

And then there’s the version that gets packaged and exported, the sepia-toned, half-caricatured version. The one with the cowboy hat. The donkey. The street cart. The dust. These aren’t random creative choices. They’re patterns. And patterns shape perception. 

Two Mexicans, a woman with long hair in a white blouse and black slacks and a man with a beige winter jackets are standing with their back to the camera as they look at photos on display at a photography exibition in a museum in Zacatecas, Mexico.
Mexicans in Zacatecas attending an exhibit in January celebrating the 20th anniversary of the state’s historical photographic archives. (Carlos Segura/Cuartoscuro)

Take something as simple, yet as telling, as image selection in journalism. 

Recently, a piece by our very own CEO, Travis Bembenek, covered government initiatives. It featured a young female leader as its central image. That made sense. The image reflected the story because it was about forward-looking leadership, generational change and a country actively shaping its future. 

Now, contrast that with what I saw in The Economist, an international finance magazine known for its depth and intelligence. 

In a complex piece on Mexico’s role in the global business landscape of manufacturing, trade and economic positioning, the Economist’s editors chose to include an image of a man in a cowboy hat, on horseback, behind a cart stacked with beer and soft drinks. 

Think about that for a moment.

Let it really sink in. 

The fall colors of trees in the climbing mountains of Sierra Fría in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Mexico’s stereotypie of a nation of dusty deserts is belied by Mexico’s actual rich natural diversity, as this forest in the Sierra Fría of Aguascalientes demonstrates. (By Comisión Mexicana de Filmaciones/Wikimedia Commons)

A serious analysis of Mexico as a global economic player was paired with a visual that suggests rural nostalgia, informality and backwardness. 

That’s not just a mismatch. That’s messaging. 

Because imagery doesn’t just decorate a story, it frames it. Before a reader has time to even process a single sentence, the image has already told them what kind of country they’re about to read about. And in this case, it subtly undercut the entire premise of the article. 

This is how stereotyping works in modern media. It’s not always through what’s said but through what’s shown. 

And it’s not new. 

The ‘Mexico filter’

A Cop Movie (2021) - Alonso Ruizpalacios - HD Trailer - English Subtitles

The 2021 Mexican faux documentary “A Cop Movie,” plays with the same gritty themes as Hollywood offerings like “Traffic,” “Sicario”  and “Narcos” — law and order, drugs and corruption in Mexico — but this trailer has nary an outdoor scene altered by the so-called “Mexico filter.”

For decades, film and television have reinforced a narrow visual identity of Mexico: the dry desert landscapes, the yellow filters, the crime, the poverty. Even when stories vary, the visual language rarely does.

There’s a reason people joke about the “Mexico filter” in Hollywood. The one also known as “the shithole filter,” if you can believe that.

You recognize it instantly, even if you don’t know the name. You see it clearly in films like “Sicario.”

It’s that moment when a movie or television show’s setting shifts to Mexico and the color grading changes. The image turns yellow and dusty, looking almost dehydrated. The environment feels harsher and more dangerous before a single line of dialogue is spoken. 

Nothing in the script has told you that. Visually, however, you already know what you’re supposed to believe. 

You see the same technique used again and again, in countless films and television series about Mexico. The stories and contexts are different, sure, but it’s the same visual language, meant to make Mexico appear less stable, less modern, perpetually on edge and far less sophisticated than it actually is.

A poster for the Hollywood film "Mexicali" featuring the stars of the movie in a collage format and a tagline for the movie plus the title "Mexicali" in large white letters three quarters of the way to the bottom of the poster.
A poster for the 2026 Hollywood film “Mexicali”shows how stereotypes about Mexico are often used as a visual shorthand. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

And that consistency is exactly the problem, as it’s not accidental; it’s conditioning. Because when the same cues are repeated often enough, they stop feeling like stylistic choices and start feeling like truth. 

It’s visual shorthand, and it sticks. 

Flattened culture, unquestioned beliefs

The same applies to cultural symbols. Sombreros, ponchos, mariachi bands. They’re all real elements of Mexican culture, but they’re endlessly overused, to the point of distortion. 

And when those symbols become the default imagery, they stop representing culture and start replacing it. They flatten a country of nearly 130 million people into a handful of clichés. Such flattening makes it easier to dismiss and misunderstand the country as a whole. If a place looks simple, it’s easy to assume that it is. 

Imagery matters as much as language, maybe even more so, because while language can be challenged, fact-checked, debated and corrected, imagery can feel so unconscious that it often goes unquestioned. 

A young male dogwalker in jeans, sneakers and a tee shirt in a dog park in Mexico City, preparing to throw a blue ball to the nine dogs in his charge to chase.
When stereotypical images are all you have in your imagination bank, it becomes harder to visualize the people of Mexico as people like you. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)

No one writes a rebuttal to a photograph. No one argues with a visual tone. They absorb it. And over time, those absorbed impressions become beliefs about competence, modernity and credibility. About worth. 

Visual cues carry weight far beyond their surface meaning. Something as simple as how a person is dressed in a photo can influence how competent they’re perceived to be. And when an entire country is consistently framed through outdated or reductive imagery, that framing doesn’t stay confined to magazines or screens. It seeps into how people think, invest, travel, vote and engage. It shapes expectations before experience ever has a chance to intervene.

And that’s where the real damage lies. 

Because stereotypes, especially visual ones, don’t just misrepresent reality, they prewrite it. They tell the viewer, “Here’s what this place is.”

And once that story is planted, reality has to work twice as hard to undo it. 

That’s why the image of a cowboy on horseback in a global business story isn’t harmless. It’s not just “color” or “flavor.” It’s a signal — a quiet and subtle one, maybe, but a powerful one all the same. It says, “This is how you should see this country.” 

And if we don’t question those signals, if we don’t challenge the images as much as we challenge the words, then we allow those narratives to persist. Not because they’re true, but because they’re familiar.

Familiarity, when left unchecked, becomes unconscious belief. And that’s the real danger of stereotypical images of Mexico that we see in so many quarters — not that these stereotypical images exist, but that they’re so often shared with no challenge to them at all.

Heineken aims to employ hundreds of repatriated Mexicans with border store expansion

By
MND Staff
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Welcome Back Paisano campaign image with a Mexican worker posing in front of a SIX store
Heineken plans to open 10 additional SIX stores in the next 24 months, which will employ at least 130 people. (Tecate/Lepub)

Heineken Mexico has launched an innovative hiring campaign aimed at Mexicans repatriated from the United States, in an effort to support their economic and social reintegration in the country.

Dubbed “Welcome Back, Paisano,” the campaign aligns with Heineken’s “Bringing a Better World” sustainability strategy, focusing on social impact and economic inclusion for vulnerable groups.

Welcome Back, Paisano

The program is driven by Heineken through the Tecate brand and Heineken’s chain of convenience stores in Mexico — SIX stores — in collaboration with Fundes, an NGO focused on economic and social inclusion. 

“What made us reflect on this issue was a number that is really more than just a number,” head of the Tecate brand Esteban Velasco said. “More than 160,000 people have been repatriated to Mexico in 2025. This is a large number, but beyond the number, there are many stories,” he added. 

The initiative integrates technical training, continuous support and access to job opportunities within the SIX and Heineken Mexico network, and will operate across three phases.

The first phase began in early 2026 with the opening of five SIX stores in the border cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez. It created 15 jobs.

The program is now moving into a second phase, which aims to employ at least 130 people and open 10 additional SIX stores in the next 24 months. 

Inti Pérez, Director of Corporate Sustainability at Heineken Mexico said that these new stores will be located mainly in northern Mexico, as this region is home to a high number of repatriated people.

“We firmly believe that companies must be active agents in building solutions that generate real opportunities in the long term and in a sustainable way,” Pérez said, while adding that this initiative is a scalable model with the potential to be replicated in other regions of the country. 

Creatively, the campaign focuses on the idea that returning is not a failure, but a new beginning, as it celebrates the character, accumulated work experience and resilience of those who return. 

Marta García, Marketing VP at Heineken Mexico, said that the “Welcome Back, Paisano” campaign is an initiative that “reflects the character and courage of Tecate: being present when most needed and supporting Mexicans with concrete actions.”

With reports from El Economista and El Publicista

Next season’s Mexico City NBA game will pit the Denver Nuggets against the Indiana Pacers

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MND Staff
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Denver Nuggets
Nikola Jokic will lead the Denver Nuggets into Arena CDMX on Nov. 7 to take on the Indiana Pacers in the annual NBA regular-season game in Mexico. (NBA)

The NBA will return to Mexico City with a matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers in a regular-season game Nov. 7 at Arena CDMX — the third straight year the game will be framed by Day of the Dead festivities.

The game during the 2026-27 season will be the league’s 35th in Mexico since 1992 and the 16th regular-season contest.

The Nuggets’ only Mexico experience was a 2006 preseason game in Monterrey before the Jokic era. The Pacers are making their first appearance in Mexico. (NBA Mexico)

Occurring within a week of Day of the Dead, the game will have a backdrop including holiday-themed elements such as court design, uniforms and decorations featuring marigolds, bright colors, skeletons and catrinas.

The NBA has played games in France, the United Kingdom, Japan and elsewhere as part of its Global Games series, but Mexico has had more NBA games than anywhere outside of the U.S. and Canada.

“Hosting the 35th game in the country reflects the depth of the NBA’s relationship with Mexico and the role this event plays in bringing the global game closer to fans locally, throughout Latin America and the world,” said Raúl Zárraga, senior vice president of NBA Latin America.

Denver, the NBA champion three years ago, will make its second appearance in Mexico and first in the regular season. The Nuggets previously played a 2006 preseason game in Monterrey against the Golden State Warriors that drew 12,265 fans.

This time, they are expected to be led by 6-foot-11 Serbian superstar Nikola Jokic, a three-time league MVP and nine-time all-star. After finishing in third place in the Western Conference this season, Denver is currently involved in the first round of the NBA playoffs against Minnesota.

The Pacers, meanwhile, missed the 2025-26 playoffs by suffering through two double-digit losing streaks and finishing 19-63, second worst in the NBA. Injuries and roster moves decimated a team that just one season earlier went 50-32 and made the NBA Finals, losing in seven games to Oklahoma City.

The Nuggets-Pacers contest — set to be broadcast on ESPN in Mexico — will mark the Pacers’ first game in Mexico, making them the 23rd franchise to play there.

Last year’s NBA game at Arena CDMX drew a sellout of 20,385 as Detroit beat Dallas 122-110. The 2024 meeting (Miami vs. Washington) drew 20,328 and the 2023 meeting (Orlando vs. Atlanta) drew 19,986.

Arena CDMX is also the home of the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League. The minor-league squad averages about 6,500 fans per game, including several crowds over 8,000 this season and an 11,236 figure for a playoff game earlier this month.

For the Nov. 7 NBA game, fans can register for tickets at NBAMexicoCityGame.mx. The league has not announced a tipoff time, but Mexico City games have typically started around 8 or 8:30 p.m. local time.

With reports from El Economista, ESPN México, Reuters and NBA.com

Zacatecas residents vote to reject dam project that would divert their river and flood 3 communities

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MND Staff
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meeting In rural Zacatecas
Residents and ejido members in and near the Zacatecas town of Jiménez del Teul gathered on Friday to express their opposition to a proposed dam on the Atenco River. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)

An assembly of local residents and ejido members on Friday voted to reject a dam project in the state of Zacatecas, even as the government staged an “official” consultation that supported the proposal.

While the “informal” assembly — convened by the Movement in Defense of the Territory and the Atenco River — took place in Jiménez del Teul near the site of the proposed dam, state and federal officials held their meeting in Sombrerete, 85 miles to the north. No officials attended the local assembly.

The opponents say that inundating their communities by constructing a dam would not solve the drinking water shortage in the major state cities of Fresnillo and Zacatecas but rather serve the needs of planned new mines, the Modelo Brewery and other manufacturing plants in the state. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartsocuro)

The proposal consists of a dam and a 167-kilometer aqueduct to carry potable water to the urban corridor comprising Fresnillo and the state capital in central Zacatecas. 

Jiménez del Teul has 4,465 inhabitants, dispersed in nearly 50 rural localities in a territory of 1,541 square kilometers.

The Movement refuses to recognize the decisions and agreements reached in Sombrerete, calling the official consultation an “act of discrimination” and “institutional simulation,” saying it violated their right to effective and meaningful participation.

The official argument that Atenco River water is “wasted” as it flows to the sea is “a lie,” the Movement insists. 

“For years, the Atenco River has irrigated our cornfields, beans, squash, guava trees and orange trees,” the statement said. “It has provided water for deer, wild boar and woodpeckers.”

The local residents insist the project would not address the acknowledged drinking water crisis in central Zacatecas, but would instead be primarily allocated to “industrial and productive activities.”

In March, Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena confirmed her agency conducted an environmental impact study (MIA in Spanish) while also reviewing three adjacent mining projects. It confirms that the 90-meter-high dam would flood 300 hectares of communal land, eradicating the communities of Atotonilco, El Potrero and La Lagunita.

Opponents of the project say the mining proposals — whose projected investments exceed 20 billion pesos (US $1.15 billion) and whose operations would require significant amounts of water — would be the ultimate beneficiaries.

Additionally, the Modelo Brewery located just south of Fresnillo would benefit from the dam.

Furthermore, the MIA indicates the dam would divert 92% of the Atenco River, shifting the water crisis from the Zacatecas city municipal area to one of the poorest municipalities in the state.

Originally proposed 10 years ago, only to stall under three state administrations, the mega-project was taken up by the federal government in January, featured as a strategic macro-project in the National Water Plan.

The cost of the project is another stumbling block. The initial budget of 3.5 billion pesos has ballooned to 9.7 billion pesos.

With reports from La Jornada, Pie de Página, El Sol de Zacatecas and El Universal

Shooting at Teotihuacán leaves 2 dead, at least 6 wounded

By
MND Staff
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Security agents atop a pyramid at Teotihuacán, Mexico
The gunman allegedly shot from approximately halfway up the Pyramid of the Moon. (Cuartoscuro)

A gunman killed a Canadian woman at the Teotihuacán archaeological site near Mexico City on Monday, authorities said.

The shooter — who opened fire from the Pyramid of the Moon at the pre-Columbian city — wounded several other people before turning the gun on himself. It appeared to be a random shooting — a crime that is rare in Mexico. No motive for the crime was immediately reported.

The federal government’s Security Cabinet announced the death of the Canadian woman on social media.

“According to preliminary information, a man fired shots … and subsequently took his own life. Unfortunately, a woman of Canadian nationality lost her life and, to date, we have information about several people who were injured,” the Security Cabinet said.

The government of México state — where Teotihuacán is located — said in a statement that the National Guard and state police responded to the shooting. It said that they found two deceased people at the site, including “the probable aggressor.”

The México state government said that at least six people were injured, four of whom sustained firearm wounds and two of whom suffered “falls.” The injured were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The IMSS Bienestar health service said on social media that medical personnel were providing care to seven people, including a minor, after the incident at Teotihuacán. It said the patients were receiving treatment at the Axapusco General Hospital in México state.

“Of the total number of patients being treated, four have gunshot wounds, one has a fracture, another is being treated for a sprain, and one more for an anxiety attack,” IMSS Bienestar said.

Video footage shows the alleged gunmen on a platform approximately halfway up the Pyramid of the Moon. “Call the police,” someone shouts before a gunshot rings out.

A witness told the broadcaster N+ that the gunman was holding people “like hostages” on the pyramid, a version of events that is supported by video footage.

“I saw that he let a person go down, a girl,” said Laura Torres.

“I thought he was going to shoot her in the back, but he didn’t, thank God he let her go,” she said.

Torres also said that the aggressor allowed “a boy” to descend the pyramid. “But [other] hostages remained there,” she said.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media that “what happened today at Teotihuacán deeply pains us.”

“I express my most sincere solidarity with the affected people and their families,” she wrote.

“We’re in contact with the Canadian Embassy. I have instructed the Security Cabinet to thoroughly investigate these events and provide all [necessary] support,” Sheinbaum said.

Located about 50 kilometers northeast of downtown Mexico City, Teotihuacán is one of Mexico’s most-visited archaeological sites. It is popular with both Mexican and foreign tourists, and generally considered safe to visit, although violence has occurred in nearby areas.

Monday’s shooting occurred just over seven weeks before Mexico City will host the first match of the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup.

Mexico News Daily 

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