The Veracruz Carnival takes place annually every February. This year, the event will run from Feb. 10-18 in the city of Veracruz. (Carnaval de Veracruz/Facebook)
The Veracruz Carnival, one of the oldest and most famous festivals in Mexico, will offer a preview experience in Mexico City called “Latidos Jarochos” (Jarocho, or Veracruzan, Heartbeats).
The event promises to bring “a piece of Veracruz to Mexico City,” featuring music, workshops, food and other activities that showcase the port city’s traditions.
This special edition is part of the renowned Bazar México de Mis Amores, a marketplace for local vendors that promotes national talent and Mexican-made products. Everything from homemade Mexican salsas to jewelry, clothes, artisanal beers, beauty products and more can be found at the bazaar.
Bazar México de Mis Amores features different themed editions. This month, one of them will be dedicated to Veracruz.
Taking place in the Roma neighborhood, the spirit of Veracruz will come alive through events featuring live music, traditional dances, artistic expressions, creative workshops and a market showcasing projects from local entrepreneurs who draw inspiration from Veracruz’s culture.
The event will also feature a Mystic Zone dedicated to spirituality and ancestral traditions, as well as a gastronomic area with signature drinks and dishes from the Gulf state.
There are concerts a plenty to find in Guadalajara's ZMG this month, including Colombian crooner Kali Uchis at Auditorio Telmex and free classical performances in a 17th-century setting. (Roman Lopez/Unsplash)
While February is often a quiet month, Guadalajara’s metropolitan zone has still got a lot going on. There are concerts ranging from free classical to stadium R&B and reggaeton. Plus February brings Michi Fest to Colonia Americana, a day out you and your cat are sure to enjoy. Read on to find out more.
Students using fungi to create a greener Mexico
(Carrillo Biorefinery Lab/Facebook)
PhD students from the Institute of Technology of Monterrey (ITESM)’s Guadalajara campus are on a mission to let Mexicans know how they can grow mushrooms (aka fungi or mycelium) to help create a more waste-free, environmentally friendly Mexico.
The students recently gave a free class for women in Guadalajara at a local health-food store, promising to teach participants how to grow edible mushrooms at home.
Because they’re neither plants nor animals, mushrooms thrive off the nutrients of their surroundings, including plant matter and animal waste. Mushrooms, said the PhD students, can be deployed to solve myriad environmental problems, from soil contamination to pest elimination.
Participants joined with the students leading the class in a hands-on demonstration of how to cultivate mushrooms using the team’s proprietary lab-tested kits. The ITESM students had already experimented with different mushrooms under various conditions in order to “idiot proof” the kits so that even a novice could succeed on their own.
Oyster mushrooms, they told the class, are the easiest mycelium to cultivate.
The PhD students also shared how they’re involved in cutting-edge research at the Carrillo Biorefinery Lab (CBL), a lab on ITESM’s Guadalajara campus.
CBL is the brainchild of Dr. Danay Carrillo, a native of Cuba who came to Guadalajara to complete her doctorate in food science and technology. Now a research professor at El Tec, Dr. Carillo started the lab as a way to encourage the application of biotechnology research to practical, everyday uses.
CBL’s mission is centered on two ambitious goals — reducing hunger and mitigating climate change. How does it play out in the real world?
One CBL project uses mycelium to upcycle agricultural waste into biofuels, to help rural Mexican communities capture value from these materials that would otherwise go unused. In pueblos that might otherwise rely on dirty fossil fuels, this circular process offers an alternative, low-cost energy source that reduces their carbon footprint.
Mushroom cultivation kits are another example. They represent a novel way to repurpose organic waste into a food source with high nutritional value (yes, mushrooms have protein!) and low environmental impact relative to meat. Plus, oyster mushrooms taste amazing when sauteed with a little olive oil, garlic and parsley.
Kali Uchis’ “Sincerely” tour stops in Zapopan
Kali Uchis - Moonlight (Official Music Video)
Two-time Grammy nominee Kali Uchis is touring Mexico in support of her latest album, “Sincerely,” and will be making a stop in Zapopan on February 22.
Born Karly-Marina Loaiza in Virginia, Kali Uchis was raised in her parents’ native Colombia before violence forced them to flee back to the U.S. in 2000.
Though her career is still young, Uchis has already achieved a rare troika for a musician — a devoted fan base, critical acclaim (she’s been nominated for Grammys twice) and the admiration of fellow artists: In recent years, she’s performed with musicians Snoop Dogg, Gorillaz, Tyler the Creator and Bootsy Collins.
Uchis’ irresistible, bilingual 2020 banger “Telepatía” — from her second album, “Sin Miedo” — catapulted her to next-level stardom.
Befitting her upbringing, Uchis sings in both English and Spanish. Her musical style defies easy categorization, effortlessly blending soul, bossa nova, Cumbia, reggaeton, and pop – with her sultry, jazzy vocals providing the magic.
Date: Feb. 22, 2026, at 8 p.m. Location: Auditorio Telmex, Av. Obreros de Cananea 747, Industrial Los Belenes, 45157 Zapopan. Cost: Available through Ticketmaster or secondary ticket sellers.
Michi Fest GDL: A must-see event for felinophiles
(Jae Park/Unsplash)
Urbane, young Tapatios and little old ladies have at least one thing in common: They adore their cats.
If you can relate, the upcoming Michi Fest (michi means “kitty” or “pussycat” in Spanish) is something you won’t want to miss.
The event will feature exhibitors of cat products as well as advocates for responsible adoptions, vaccinations, and sterilization. There’ll also be feline-related talks, raffles, live music, DJs, art, food and drinks to complete the experience.
Dates: Feb. 21 and 22 1–8 p.m. Location: Vía Libertad, Colonias 221, Colonia Americana, Guadalajara. Cost: Free admission and pet-friendly.
Free concerts at the ex-Convento del Carmen
(Guia Antiturista)
Throughout February, the Ex-Convento del Carmen is opening its doors for a new edition of Musical Tuesdays, a free concert series in Higinio Ruvalcaba Hall that features classical, choral and international music in a gorgeous setting.
If you’ve never visited, Ex Convento de Carmen is a well-preserved 17th-century former convent located in Guadalajara’s historic center. It now houses an art gallery. Its baroque architecture, with its intricate arched interiors and a serene courtyard, creates an unforgettable atmosphere for live music. These concerts are organized by the Jalisco Ministry of Culture.
Dates: Feb. 17 and 24, 7:30 p.m. Location: Ex Convento del Carmen, Higinio Ruvalcaba Hall, Av. Juárez 638, Colonia Centro, Guadalajara Cost: Free admission. Find out details about specific events here.
After discovering that life in Mexico was a lot more fun than working in corporate America, Dawn Stoner moved to Guadalajara in 2022, where she lives with her husband, two cats and Tapatío rescue dog. Her blog livewellmexico.comhelps expats live their best life south of the border.
Spanish is spoken faster conversationally, on average, than any language except Japanese. (LinkedIn Sales Solutions/Unsplash)
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking: I know these words in Spanish, so why can’t I understand them when people speak?
You’re in very good company. This is one of the most common frustrations among expats in Mexico.
So you want to communicate in Mexico, but you don’t want to sound like a walking textbook? Try throwing in some of these everyday slang and idiomatic expressions into the mix. (Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock)
How languages pack in meaning
Studies show that Spanish is one of the fastest spoken languages in the world, averaging about 7.82 syllables per second, just behind Japanese at 7.84. English, by contrast, averages around 6.19 syllables per second. Linguists explain that this speed is linked to Spanish phonetics: the language relies heavily on syllables that often end in vowels, which allows a faster flow from one word to the next.
Despite these differences, most languages transmit information at a similar rate. The result is that Spanish often sounds much faster, even when it isn’t actually conveying more information per second.
Spanish is often perceived as especially fast because speakers blend words together (comoestás, dóndeandas, vamosaver), making conversations sound like a continuous stream. For listeners, this isn’t just about speed but about segmentation: hearing where one word ends and the next begins. Native speakers do this automatically; learners have to train their ears.
Take the common phrase va pa’ largo, which simply means “this is going to take a while.” Locals hear it and nod; newcomers, meanwhile, catch largo and then get stuck on vapa, wondering why they never learned that word.
That’s because it isn’t a word at all, just va para sprinting past its own syllables, the same shortcut you’ll hear in countless other expressions.
AI provides convenient Spanish practice, but it’s far from flawless and probably won’t know slang and other nuances of the language that native speakers use. (Christian Rojas/Pexels)
In real-life Spanish, words shrink out of the scene
But speed is only the opening act: Another quiet shock for English speakers is that Spanish often removes the subject altogether. The verb already contains the who, so saying yo, tú, or ellos is often unnecessary. For learners, this can feel like arriving late to a conversation where the subject has vanished and you’re expected to infer who’s doing what from conjugation alone. Miss one and the sentence wobbles, like playing verbal Jenga while the tower is already shaking.
How can native Spanish speakers do this and know what’s going on? Because Spanish grammar relies heavily on internal consistency. Every part of a sentence is related.
Articles, nouns, adjectives and all pronouns must agree in gender and number for the meaning to land. This makes it easy for native or fluent speakers to drop words or blend words together since there remain plenty of other context clues in the sentence to clarify.
Mostly true, except when it isn’t
Another problem with both spoken and written Spanish is that just when learners think they’ve mastered a rule, Spanish tends to show that it was only a suggestion. El problema, el sistema and el mapa, for example, look feminine but are masculine. La mano, la foto and la radio look masculine but are feminine. And then there’s el agua, a feminine noun that uses a masculine article because, like many languages, Spanish prefers nice sounds over consistency. So agua is feminine again by the time you reach the adjective, so it’s elagua fría, not elagua frío.
Luckily, most Mexicans are patient with poor but earnest Spanish, especially among friends and family. (RDNE Stock project/Pexels)
And that’s before we get to ser and estar. English has one “to be.” Spanish has two, and choosing the wrong one can quickly turn “he’s bored” into “he’s boring,” or “she’s ready” into “she’s smart.”
These are small differences with large consequences, delivered at full speed when the average learner is struggling to juggle grammar knowledge and focused attention to what’s being said.
Clipped speech, optional spellings
A native’s understanding of the living and evolving nature of Mexican Spanish is acquired primarily through daily interaction rather than formal instruction. Reflecting long-standing gaps in access to quality education, speech is often learned by ear; words are pronounced the way they’re heard. Some people never learn how certain words are written.
For learners trained to respect grammar and spelling, this can feel unsettling. You worked hard to learn the right way. Then real life shrugs and does its own thing.
Now for a confession. I’m from Torreón, a region where speech is so distinct that people in other parts of the country can often tell where I’m from after just a few words. We speak golpeado, which means talking in short, sharp bursts at a high volume and clipped rhythm. This, as you can imagine, can sound abrupt. I’ve had to de-escalate an interaction more than once by saying, “No estoy enojada, soy norteña.” (I’m not angry, I’m from the North.)
One way to get better at your Spanish language listening skills is to put yourself out there! Even just walking the streets of your Mexican community and listening to conversations around you will help. (Miikka Luotio/Unsplash)
How to practice those auditory skills
In places like San Miguel de Allende, with such a large population of Spanish learners, there is a daily kindness at work. Locals are used to lots of imperfect but earnest Spanish around them, so they let you try. They wait while you build the sentence, even when they already know where it’s going. They don’t rush to English at the first wobble, and they rarely correct you unless you ask. They nod encouragingly as you wrestle with a verb tense and politely ignore the creative grammar choices it took to get there.
That said, there is also a shared, unspoken truth: Deep down, many people would happily accept changing the conversation to English if it meant understanding you faster. I’ve heard more than a few expats say that a city like this is the reason they never quite learn Spanish at all, because English is always available.
If Spanish still feels fast and messy, that’s an invitation to continue immersing yourself and training your ear. Keep showing up, keep trying and let the language wash over you. One day, you’ll catch the flow and fall into the groove.
Sandra is a Mexican writer and translator based in San Miguel de Allende who specializes in mental health and humanitarian aid. She believes in the power of language to foster compassion and understanding across cultures. She can be reached at: sandragancz@gmail.com
"Indeed, the best antidote to hate is love," Sheinbaum said, agreeing with Bad Bunny's message during his Super Bowl performance on Sunday. (Presidencia/Screenshot)
Among the topics President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Monday morning press conference were Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl in California on Sunday and a New York Times article headlined “Mexican Cartels Overwhelm Police With Ammunition Made for the U.S. Military.”
Sheinbaum also acknowledged that two Mexican Navy vessels carrying humanitarian aid are on their way to Cuba, and pledged that Mexico will provide more support to the embattled Caribbean island nation.
Mexico halted oil shipments to Cuba in January following increasing pressure from the United States. President Sheinbaum, however, insists Mexico will continue to help Cuba “as we have always helped,” she said on Monday. (Semar)
(Click here to read Mexico News Daily’s report on the dispatch of aid and Sheinbaum’s remarks.)
‘The best antidote to hate is love’: Sheinbaum reacts to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance
A reporter noted that Bad Bunny — a Puerto Rican rapper and singer whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — performed at the Super Bowl on Sunday and sent “a very important message of unity for Latin America.”
He also noted that, during a performance filled with “symbolism,” Bad Bunny conveyed the message, “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
“What is your opinion about this message, presidenta?” the reporter asked.
“Very interesting, isn’t it? That he sang in Spanish at the Super Bowl and that the message is of unity of America, of the American continent,” Sheinbaum said.
She noted that the man known as the “King of Latin Trap” mentioned “all” (or at least most of) the countries of the Americas during his performance, “including the United States and Canada.”
“So, he’s speaking about the American continent. Very interesting, isn’t it? And a lot of symbols indeed. And indeed, the best antidote to hate is love,” Sheinbaum said.
“… We want to strengthen America, the American continent,” the president — an advocate of adding other countries in the region to the USMCA free trade pact — said later in her mañanera.
“… In that way, we could complete a lot [better] with any [other] region of the world,” Sheinbaum said.
During his performance, Bad Bunny shouted “Seguimos aquí” (We’re still here) — a reference to Latinos in the U.S. and across the Americas at a time when the Trump administration is carrying out an aggressive deportation agenda — and held up a football emblazoned with the message “Together, We are America.”
ABC News reported that “by naming each nation [of the Americas], Bad Bunny underscored how expansive and diverse the Americas are, … and highlighted a perspective beyond one that views ‘America’ simply as shorthand for the U.S.”
The New York Times reported that the performance “was a kaleidoscopic blast of merriment — a showcase of some of the most ecstatic and celebratory aspects of Latin culture.”
In Mexico News Daily, Charlotte Smith wrote that what she saw “wasn’t a halftime performance, it was daily life rendered without apology.”
“It was the kind of imagery Anthony Bourdain understood so well. Not the postcard version of a place, but the unstyled, lived-in one,” she said.
The news outlet Infobae reported that there were “four winks” to Mexico in Bad Bunny’s performance: the presence of the all-female mariachi group Mariachi Divas; the inclusion of a taco stand (Villa’s Tacos, Los Angeles); the presence of Mexican boxer Emiliano Vargas sparring with a Puerto Rican boxer; and the mention of Mexico along with other countries in the Americas.
“Millions of pages of court documents, seizure records and government data obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The New York Times show how agreements between the Army and the private contractors that run Lake City [Army Ammunition Plant] have allowed .50-caliber ammunition and components made at the plant to enter retail markets and fall into the hands of Mexican cartels.”
The report also states that demand for .50-caliber ammunition in Mexico, “where cartels have deep pockets and a seemingly endless appetite for .50-caliber firearms,” is high.
“Cartel gunmen armed with .50-caliber firearms have downed helicopters, assassinated government officials, shot at police and military forces, and massacred civilians,” the report says.
“… Data makes clear that the U.S. Army plant has been a major source of the destructive ammunition being used to wage military-style battles with Mexican authorities.”
In light of the report, the reporter asked Sheinbaum whether she thinks there is only “a limited effort” or “very few actions” in the United States to control the flow of weapons to Mexico.
“We’re reviewing this report,” the president said.
“It came out in The New York Times, yesterday I think, or the day before yesterday. … We’re reviewing the report in order to speak with the U.S. government about this issue and to see how it is possible that these weapons [and ammunition], which are for the exclusive use of the U.S. Army, are coming into Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
At the time, Sheinbaum said that the agreement to conduct Mission Firewall, as the initiative is called, was “very important.”
She also said that “for the first time, the United States recognizes that it has to do operations to control … the illegal trafficking of weapons to Mexico.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
The revival of the inter-parliamentary meeting was celebrated by San Miguel's mayor, who took the opportunity to request a revision of the current U.S. travel advisory for Guanajuato. (Facebook)
The city of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, hosted a high-level meeting with members of the United States Congress, underscoring the city’s strategic role in the binational relationship between the two countries.
Spearheaded by Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, the U.S. delegation was composed of eight representatives from both parties who met with Guanajuato Governor Libia Denisse García Muñoz Ledo and Mayor of San Miguel Mauricio Trejo, among other officials.
The meeting addressed topics pertaining to institutional collaboration, political cooperation and the role of San Miguel de Allende as a space of trust and international connection thanks to its stability and cultural significance.
At a press event, Trejo recognized the governor’s work and the collaborative efforts between the state of Guanajuato and the municipality, emphasizing that coordination has been key to building trust and stability in the region.
He also noted that the local government functions on solid institutions and honest public servants, contributing to the city’s favorable conditions for tourism, investment and social coexistence.
“For governments to work, they have to be clean, free of [corrupt] infiltration, and with honest people; that’s the key to everything,” Trejo said.
San Miguel de Allende is one of the cities in Mexico with the largest number of foreign residents, most of whom are from the U.S. According to official figures, some 10,000 Americans lived in San Miguel de Allende in 2024, accounting for 10% of the city’s total population. This historic city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its colonial architecture and vital role in Mexico’s independence.
At level three, the recommendation is for tourists to “reconsider travel” to the state. “San Miguel de Allende is not a violent municipality, so I asked [the delegation] to analyze the situation and help us … lift the red alert issued by the United States advising its citizens not to visit Guanajuato,” Trejo told the newspaper Milenio.
Finally, Trejo noted that this type of inter-parliamentary meeting had lost relevance in recent years, celebrating the decision to resume them with clear objectives and a serious focus on the shared interests between both nations.
Lunch counters, small restaurants, sandwich shops and taco stands were among the economic activities that suffered price rises in January. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
Inflation advanced during the first month of the year, with cigarettes, limes, housing and tacos driving prices higher in Mexico.
Limes were especially vulnerable to January’s inflation pressure, with prices going up by 21.21%. (Juan José Estrada Serafin/Cuartoscuro)
January’s 3.79% figure came in above December’s inflation rate of 3.69% and was an even greater increase over the 3.59% inflation recorded in January 2025.
The closely watched core index, which strips out highly volatile prices such as food and energy, climbed to 4.52%, up from 4.33% in December and the highest level since March 2024. Within this index, goods prices increased 0.92% and services prices rose 0.30%.
In the month of January alone, consumer prices rose 0.38%, according to non-seasonally adjusted figures, while core prices rose 0.60% during the month.
In a monetary policy statement issued after its Feb. 5 Governing Board meeting, Banxico forecast inflation taking longer to reach its 3% target. The bank now doesn’t expect to rein in inflation until the second quarter of 2027, a notable extension from its previous forecast of the third quarter this year.
The INEGI report revealed that the items that most impacted consumers’ wallets were cigarettes (up 14.51%), bananas (+12.96%), limes (+21.21%), bottled soft drinks (+5.53%), lunch counters, small restaurants, sandwich shops and taco stands (+1.18%), and housing (+0.29%).
Cigarettes and sugary soft drinks were targets of the Special Tax on Products and Services (IEPS) approved in the 2026 budget that went into effect at the beginning of the year and has been cited, along with tariffs on China and a minimum-wage increase, as a cause of higher inflation.
In contrast, the following items saw prices drop in January: air transport (-36.64%); chile serrano (-25.51%); lettuce/cabbage (-10.43%); eggs (-6.31%); and onions (-7.65%).
States hit by inflation above the national average included Yucatán (+1.17%), Quintana Roo (+1.15%), Campeche (+0.98%) and Jalisco (+0.76%).
In Mexico, municipal officials, including mayors, are most at risk and thus more likely to request federal protection. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
Since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, the Mexican government has been assigning security details to public officials at a significantly higher rate than its two most recent predecessors.
Citing government information it received via a freedom of information request, the newspaper El Sol de México reported on Monday that bodyguards were assigned to 103 officials between Oct. 1, 2024 — the date Sheinbaum was sworn in — and Jan. 7, 2026.
In other words, an average of almost seven officials per month were assigned personal security details in the period of just over 15 months between Oct. 1, 2024, and Jan. 7, 2026.
The federal government’s assignment of bodyguards generally occurs after an official has submitted a request for protection and a risk analysis has been carried out.
During the almost six years Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) was president (2018-24), the federal government assigned bodyguards to 311 public officials and four people from the private sector, according to El Sol de México.
Thus, security details were assigned to an average of 4.5 people per month in the 70 months (five years and 10 months) López Obrador was in office.
So far during Sheinbaum’s administration, the average monthly number of assignments of security details to officials has been around 50% higher than under AMLO.
The increase in the provision of bodyguards to officials is even larger when the current government is compared to the 2012-18 administration led by former president Enrique Peña Nieto.
During Peña Nieto’s entire six-year term, bodyguards were assigned to 168 public officials and three people from the private sector. Thus, security details were assigned to an average of 2.37 people per month. The average rate during the current government’s first 15 months in office is over 180% higher.
However, the data obtained by El Sol de México indicates that the current government is receiving requests for protection at a much higher rate than during the previous two federal administrations. The increase in requests would appear to be linked to an increase in credible threats to officials’ lives and/or a growing desire for politicians to take extra precautions to ensure their own safety. Thirty-three of the 103 assignments of bodyguards to officials during the current government occurred after the murder of Manzo.
El Sol de México said that federal authorities didn’t provide the names or positions of the people who have been assigned bodyguards during the current government, citing a legal requirement for confidentiality. But data on killings of politicians in recent years shows that current and aspiring municipal officials, including mayors, are most at risk and thus more likely to request federal protection.
Sheinbaum’s government has provided security services worth more than 450 million pesos
Citing the information it received from federal security authorities, El Sol de México reported that the personal security services provided to the 103 officials between October 2024 and January 2026, including the provision of vehicles, generated 450.94 million pesos (US $26.2 million) in income for the federal government.
The fees are paid by the entity for which the protected official works — a municipal or state government, for example.
The current government’s income from the provision of security services in a period of just over 15 months is more than double the earnings of the previous government during its entire term, according to the information El Sol de México received.
The federal government’s income from the provision of security services during Peña Nieto’s presidency exceeded 1.3 billion pesos.
Puebla-based Integrored uses the Asterra Recover system to help with Mexico's longstanding problem of water loss during delivery, jeopardizing the water supply. The firm hires 95% women and employs blind people who can usually hear underground water better than the sighted. (Emmanuel Mejia Chang/Unsplash)
A technology originally designed to search for water on Mars is now helping Mexico recover millions of liters lost through leaks and theft.
Developed in Israel, the Asterra Recover system uses L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites orbiting more than 600 kilometers above Earth to detect underground moisture invisible to the eye.
Puebla-based Integrored, which has exclusive rights to operate the system in Mexico, gets its information from a pair of Earth-observation satellites, one built and operated by Japan and the other by Argentina. Each circles the Earth in low orbit and passes over Mexico once every 15 days.
Using data verified with artificial intelligence, the firm can pinpoint water loss within a 100-meter range.
“What the satellite does is give us points of humidity, where potable water is visible,” Integrored CEO Carolina Villacís Espinoza told the newspaper Excélsior. “When we find humidity, it’s due to many things, not only water leaks, but also theft and waste.”
Experts estimate between 60% and 70% of Mexico’s drinking water disappears before reaching taps because of aged infrastructure, clandestine connections or poor metering. In other words, only three to four of every 10 cubic meters of extracted water reaches the people.
In Irapuato, Guanajuato, the technology identified 793 hidden leaks and more than 2,000 illegal taps in three months, according to La Jornada.
The system now operates in cities including Puebla, Puebla; Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Saltillo, Coahuila; and Salamanca, Celaya and Irapuato, Guanajuato.
Leaks repaired as a result have already generated about 25 million pesos (US $1.5 million) in recovered water, Milenio reported.
Once potential leaks are mapped, Integrored dispatches ground teams — most of them women — to confirm and repair them using geophones, sound sensors that detect vibrations in pipes. They also provide support to municipal, state and private water-operating agencies.
Villacís Espinoza said 95% of her staff are women because the company wants to involve women in a field dominated by men. She also said blind people help pinpoint the leaks, using a sharp sense of hearing to hear water running underground.
“The difference, when you don’t have Asterra, is that the range is immense; you don’t know where to start looking,” Villacís Espinoza said. “But when you have Asterra, they give you a 100-meter radius; and then we go to find the exact spot with the geophone, which gives you the sound of the water. Once we detect it, we’ll break through to repair the leak.”
Yet the project encounters resistance. Villacís Espinoza points out that field workers face threats from criminal groups who have tapped into water lines, as well as rejection from people who feel meters are in their homes so companies can steal their water.
She urges citizens to cooperate. “If there is no water tomorrow, it is not the operating agencies that will not have water,” she said. “It is all the citizens who will suffer.”
The bodies of Ignacio Aurelio Salazar Flores (left), José Ángel Hernández Velez (middle) and José Manuel Castañeda Hernández (right), employees of the Vizsla Silver Corp who were abducted on Jan. 23, were identified by authorities. (Facebook)
Authorities have identified the remains of three employees of the Canadian mining firm Vizsla Silver Corp who were kidnapped on Jan. 23 from an employee housing area near La Concordia, located in the mountains about 250 kilometers southeast of the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacán.
The whereabouts of the other seven kidnap victims is still unknown.
🔴La presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum informó que hay detenidos por el caso de los mineros desaparecidos en Sinaloa.
“Estamos cerca de las familias, que no vuelva a pasar”, expresó la presidenta a familiares de los mineros. pic.twitter.com/FWYox76j57
The bodies were found over the weekend in an advanced state of decomposition, forcing the authorities to carry out specialized forensic tests to confirm the identities of the victims.
The remains were found in a mass grave in El Verde, a small community north of La Concordia. Authorities have yet to confirm how many human remains were recovered at the site and have declined to provide additional details related to the forensic analysis.
The Madres Buscadoras de Sonora (a collective of mothers searching for their missing loved ones in the neighboring state of Sonora) told the newspaper El Universal newspaper that at least 20 bodies were found in the mass grave. Their efforts to gain access to the morgue in hopes of verifying if their loved ones are among the recovered remains have been unsuccessful thus far.
In a statement released on Monday morning, Vizsla Silver said it had been informed by a number of families that “their relatives, our colleagues, who were taken from the Company’s project site in Concordia, Mexico, have been found deceased.”
Vizsla president and CEO Michael Konnert expressed deep sorrow over the deaths, extending condolences to the victims’ families, colleagues and the entire La Concordia community.
“We are devastated by this outcome and the tragic loss of life,” he said. “Our focus remains on the safe recovery of those who remain missing and on supporting all affected families and our people during this incredibly difficult time.”
The three confirmed victims have been identified as José Ángel Hernández Velez, Ignacio Aurelio Salazar Flores and José Manuel Castañeda Hernández. The first two were engineers from the state of Zacatecas and Castañeda was a geologist from Taxco, Guerrero.
The ships, loaded with essential food and personal hygiene items, are expected to arrive in Cuba in four days. (Semar)
Two Mexican Navy vessels carrying more than 800 tonnes of humanitarian aid departed Veracruz for Cuba on Sunday, while President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged on Monday that Mexico will provide more support to the embattled Caribbean island nation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced in a statement on Sunday that the navy was sending more than 814 tonnes of provisions “for the people of Cuba” on board two logistical support vessels, the Papaloapan and the Isla Holbox.
“The provisions from the Central Naval Region were gathered at the dock of the National Port System Administration (Asipona) in Veracruz, where they were loaded onto the ships,” the SRE said.
“The Papaloapan is transporting 536 tonnes of essential food items, including milk, meat products, crackers, beans, rice, tuna, sardines, and vegetable oil, as well as personal hygiene products. The Isla Holbox has been loaded with just over 277 tonnes of powdered milk.”
The SRE said that the Papaloapan departed Veracruz at 8 a.m. Sunday, while the Isla Holbox left at noon. The ships are expected to arrive in Cuba in four days.
“More than 1,500 tonnes of powdered milk and beans remain to be sent,” the SRE said.
Mexico halted oil shipments to Cuba in January following increasing pressure from the United States. President Sheinbaum, however, insists her government will continue to help Cuba “as we have always helped,” she said on Monday. (Semar)
The departure of the two Mexican Navy vessels came 10 days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose additional tariffs on goods from countries that supply oil to Cuba.
Sheinbaum said that the move — apparently aimed at accelerating regime change in Cuba — “could trigger a humanitarian crisis of great reach, directly affecting hospitals, food supply and other basic services for the Cuban people.”
Mexico — the largest supplier of oil to Cuba in 2025 — is not currently shipping oil to the communist-run island in order to avoid the imposition of additional tariffs on its exports to the United States, which is easily its largest export market.
But, with its shipments of aid, Mexico is seeking to avoid the kind of humanitarian crisis Sheinbaum warned of.
In a social media post on Monday morning, Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the latest shipment of aid and thanked Mexico for its “solidarity, affection” and “always warm embrace” of Cuba, which currently faces a range of problems including fuel and food shortages, and frequent blackouts.
In its statement, the SRE said that Mexico “has always provided aid to sister nations in need,” noting that “in recent months we have sent assistance to various countries requiring our support,” including Chile and the United States.
Sheinbaum: ‘The people of Mexico always show solidarity’
At her Monday morning press conference, Sheinbaum said “there will be more support” for Cuba from Mexico.
“The people of Mexico always show solidarity,” she said.
“No one can ignore the situation the people of Cuba are currently going through.”
Sheinbaum — an outspoken critic of the longstanding U.S. embargo against Cuba — once again criticized the Trump administration’s tariffs on goods from countries that supply oil to Cuba, describing them as “unjust.”
“So we are going to help the people of Cuba as we have always helped,” she said.
“… Now, mainly food was sent and more will be sent and we’re going to help with whatever’s needed,” Sheinbaum said.
Mexico undertaking ‘all necessary diplomatic actions’ to be able to resume oil shipments to Cuba
“This sanction that [the United States] is imposing on countries that sell oil to Cuba [is] very unjust,” Sheinbaum reiterated.
“… Sanctions that affect the people are not okay. One can agree or not with the regime of the government of Cuba, but the people should never be affected,” she said.
“So we’re going to continue helping and we’re continuing all necessary diplomatic actions in order to be able to resume the shipment of oil because you can’t hang people in this way, it’s very unfair,” Sheinbaum said.
Mexico’s diplomatic actions, she explained, are aimed at avoiding having tariffs imposed on Mexican exports for sending oil to Cuba.
In recent years, Mexico has supplied oil to Cuba both through Pemex contracts and as humanitarian aid.
Citing data from Pemex, Sheinbaum said on Jan. 30 that less than 1% of oil produced in Mexico has been sent to Cuba. However, the exact quantities shipped to the communist-run island in recent times are disputed.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
