Members of the Indian diaspora in Mexico joined to pay homage to the victims and to stand "united against the scourge of terrorism." (IndiainMexico/X)
A deadly attack on tourists in Pahalgam, within the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, has claimed the lives of 26 civilians and injured at least 20 others, sparking international condemnation and expressions of solidarity, including within Mexico. The incident occurred on April 22 in the Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist spot accessible mainly by foot or horseback.
Five militants armed with AK-47s and M4 carbines reportedly opened fire on tourists. Most victims were Hindu males from various Indian states, though one Christian tourist and one Nepali national were also killed. The attack is considered the deadliest of its kind in the region in over two decades.
Members of the Indian diaspora and friends from Mexico gathered at the Embassy of India in Mexico City today to pay floral tributes and solemnly remember the innocent victims of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir. We stand united against terrorism and in solidarity… pic.twitter.com/3hDkP3zIVi
Indian authorities have intensified security presence and launched a search for the perpetrators. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack, vowing that those responsible will face justice. The incident has significantly heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. The tragedy has resonated globally, with U.S. President Donald Trump and EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen denouncing the attack.
In Mexico City, a solemn prayer meeting was held at the Embassy of India on April 27, attended by members of the Indian diaspora and Mexican friends mourning the victims. Similarly, in Querétaro, a silent gathering organized by the Indian community and allies underscored a message of unity against violence. The Embassy of Mexico in India said that Mexico stands against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, extending condolences to the government of India and all its people.
The over 10,000 Indians living in Mexico often work for IT companies, are entrepreneurs or work in the automotive, manufacturing or pharmaceutical sector. India expressed gratitude for the international solidarity shown, emphasizing shared values in the fight against terrorism and the pursuit of peace and justice. The events in Mexico City and Querétaro highlighted deepening cross-continental bonds, with bilateral trade between India and Mexico expected to reach roughly $12 billion by 2026, according to the Indian Embassy in Mexico.
The park's humble beginnnings were in an informal skate park located in a neglected zone that residents wanted to make safer. Now, the park has a formal skate park.
Near the industrial zone of Jiutepec, Morelos, in an area that was once practically abandoned, stands the impressive CIVAC Linear Park.
The municipality of Juitepec belongs to the Cuernavaca metropolitan area but has somehow preserved part of its rich historical and cultural identity. It became particularly significant in the 1960s when it built one of the most organized industrial parks in Mexico, known as the Cuernavaca Valley Industrial City (CIVAC), which also became a residential neighborhood inside Jiutepec.
The civic center takes its name to heart, providing not only government offices to residents but also spaces fundamental to civic life, such as this library. (Sandra Perez Nieto/Simon Prize website)
But over time, residential areas of the CIVAC neighborhood near the industrial park turned abandoned and were perceived by residents as dark, isolated and even dangerous. Skateboarders, however, had turned the abandoned area into an informal skate park.
Revitalization came with the creation of the CIVAC Linear Park.
The project was initiated in 2021 as part of the Urban Improvement Program (PMU 2021) of the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU), which focuses on urban reconstruction in vulnerable areas. The design was created by the renowned Mexican architect Rozana Montiel Saucedo, in collaboration with Claudia Rodríguez, the coauthor of the project.
Today, the linear park connects two neighborhoods, enhancing mobility in the area, and serves as an integrated green space for government offices, community services and resident learning and recreation.
CIVAC Linear Park was conceived to renovate vulnerable urban areas while fostering a sense of belonging and community pride. It also aimed to incorporate green spaces, honoring the area’s existing natural spaces, and so one of the project’s main goals was to minimize the concrete footprint and adapt the design to the natural environment.
The result features intriguing paths shaded by original trees, achieving a unique balance between landscape, architecture and local materials.
Architect Rozana Montiel prioritized keeping as many of the original trees on the site as possible and opted to split the park’s civic center into multiple buildings to integrate the government offices into the existing natural environment. (Rozana Montiel)
For example, the park’s civic center — home to government offices and a wide range of municipal social and community services — was fragmented to fit into the clearings between endemic trees over 50 years old, using porches and platforms of Texcal stone and sand-colored pigmented concrete. Throughout the park, nature and architecture combine, and a series of platforms, terraces and galleries connect the buildings with courtyards, gardens and rest areas, harmonizing them with the natural environment.
“We found a large number of endemic trees in the area that were over 50 years old. The challenge was to incorporate all the existing trees into the design,” the project description explains.
Stretching 1.15 km, the linear park is a continuous pathway that respects the existing vegetation while expanding in certain areas to incorporate sports facilities and playgrounds and reclaim previously hostile spaces.
It culminates in a multipurpose circular forum built with Texcal stone steps, encouraging community interaction. The fountain’s seasonal activation as a public pool has stimulated local commerce, revitalized the surrounding area and provided a recreation alternative on the hottest days.
An all-community hub
The CIVAC Linear Park has become a popular meeting place in Morelos, thanks to the civic complex containing spaces for a ceremonial hall, a first aid center, speech therapy and psychological care workshops and a children’s playground. The civic center includes a public library, a cafeteria and customer service areas. Outside, residents use a purpose-built skate park for either practicing their skate moves or BMX freestyle cycling.
In the civic center library, the primarily wooden design is aesthetically pleasing, featuring an entrance filled with natural light. The structure also utilizes sand-colored pigmented concrete, creating a serene atmosphere and serving as a gateway to culture for visitors. The skate park was built with sand-colored pigmented concrete.
Recognition
Since its opening in 2022, thousands of visitors have frequented the CIVAC Linear Park, a testament to its popularity. The project has also garnered attention in the architectural world, winning awards such as the ADUS LATAM 2023/2024 Award from the prestigious French Saint-Gobain foundation, which recognizes sustainable and innovative architecture. It also received the Obras Cemex 2023 International Edition Award in the Social Value category and was nominated by the National Biennial of Mexican Architecture (FCARM) in the Landscape Architecture, Parks, and Squares category at the Biennial XVIII 2024.
Additionally, it has been nominated for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a biennial established to honor excellence in built works of architecture across the Americas.
But perhaps one of the greatest things about the CIVAC Linear Park is how it seamlessly integrates governmental administrative offices with the life of the surrounding community. It serves as a connector for mobility in the city while creating a green oasis that respects and enhances the native environment. It is truly a source of life in numerous ways.
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.
The cumulative effect of violent episodes and the crime scenes they leave behind takes its toll on Mexico's economic growth. (José Betanzos Zarate/Cuartoscuro.com)
Organized crime is hindering economic growth in Mexico, as it is throughout Latin America, confirms a World Bank report published on Monday. With expected economic growth of 2.1% in 2025 and 2.4% in 2026, Latin America’s growth rate is the lowest in the world for any region.
The World Bank report also found that homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean “far exceed those observed anywhere else in the world.”
Organized crime is a regional problem that can cross borders, as evidenced here by a Guatemalan operation known as Belt of Fire, aimed at surveilling 123 kilometers of border with Mexico. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro.com)
While Latin America’s population represents around 9% of the global total, it accounts for one-third of all homicides, according to the report. The gap widened from a rate of 5.4 times higher than the world average (22 vs. 4.1) in the 2000s to eight times higher (23 vs. 3) in the 2010s.
“Organized crime is one of the region’s most pressing problems and must be at the center of any conversation about development,” the report states.
The report highlights that the global demand for cocaine, illegal gold and migrant trafficking are what led to an increase in organized crime in the past decade. It also cites the reorganization of cartels and other groups due to government repression and the increased availability of weapons.
The World Bank ranks Mexico as having the third-highest “criminality score” in the world, behind Colombia and Myanmar.
In the cases of Mexico and Colombia, the COVID-19 pandemic “allowed criminal groups to gain legitimacy and power in areas where the state was not present, provided opportunities for groups to upgrade their businesses, and facilitated the recruitment of impoverished populations,” the report states.
Short-term stability relies on strengthening the capacity of prisons, police forces and justice systems. At the same time, according to the Bank, nations must work to understand what motivates young people to join organized crime groups.
The report recommends that in the medium to long term, the region should focus on improving education systems and labor markets.
Education and labor market indicators
The report highlights several key business indicators for Latin America and Mexico.
It shows that consumer and business confidence in Mexico remained fairly stable in the pre- and post-pandemic periods, according to an OECD index.
While most countries in Latin America faced setbacks in poverty reduction between 2018 and 2023, in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, “poverty reduction accelerated, largely as a result of improved labor markets.”
The contribution of household income sources to changes in the poverty rate in Mexico between 2013 and 2018 stood at zero, but during the 2018 to 2023 period, the impact of those same inputs shifted negatively, by up to 7%.
In terms of labor and income trends, “the relative tightness of labor markets after the pandemic has accelerated the pace of real wage growth for most countries, most notably in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.”
Mexico’s annualized real wage growth between 2021 and 2023 was 6%, according to the report.
The report also assesses educational attainment across different segments of society. In Mexico, there was an increase in intermediate and advanced education attainment in the informal labor workforce from Q2 of 2018 to Q2 of 2024.
Another economic indicator that has shifted significantly over the last two decades is trade policy uncertainty (TPU).
TPU remained stable from 2012 to 2015, with fewer than 1% of news articles mentioning TPU. But it spiked as certain tariffs were introduced between 2017 and 2019 to a high of just over 2% of articles, before stabilizing again.
Following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, TPU shot up to almost 4% and then increased even more dramatically to nearly 14% in the early months of 2025.
The president invited children to perform music onstage during her morning press conference on April 30, Children's Day in Mexico. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about trade diversification and Mexico’s latest economic growth data at her Wednesday morning press conference.
On Mexico’s Día del Niño (Children’s Day), she also revealed the identities of two of her favorite fictional characters during her formative years growing up in Mexico City.
President Sheinbaum with a stuffed “Cri Cri,” the singing Mexican cricket. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico is in the process of diversifying its trade, says Sheinbaum
Sheinbaum asserted that modifications to the United States’ auto tariffs give Mexico “an additional comparative advantage,” but acknowledged that some Mexican products are now subject to U.S. duties they didn’t face before U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term in January.
“The thing [Trump decided] yesterday benefits us more than what we had the day before yesterday. It’s not the best, but within the international framework it’s good. And we’re going to keep talking and working [with the United States],” she said.
A reporter asked the president whether it was necessary for Mexico to “hurry up” and diversify its trade “toward” other parts of Latin America and Europe given Trump’s protectionist posture.
“We’re also working on that,” Sheinbaum responded.
She highlighted that Mexico has a “practically finished” trade agreement with the European Union and noted that top Brazilian officials will be visiting soon to look at “options for economic collaboration.”
Sheinbaum said that Mexico and Brazil — the largest economies in Latin America — will specifically look at how their economies can complement each other.
It’s not about “substituting products that are made in Mexico for those from Brazil, but rather what can we give them that they don’t make and what can they give us that we don’t make,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that Mexican and Brazilian officials will also speak about “how we can strengthen Brazil’s investment in Mexico and Mexico’s investment in Brazil.”
On Wednesday, Sheinbaum told reporters that her government is “speaking with a lot of countries, including all the Asian countries.”
“There is good communication,” she said.
While Mexico would no doubt like to send more exports to Asia, it is actively attempting to reduce reliance on imports from Asian countries, especially China, as part of its Plan México initiative to boost domestic production and the Mexican economy.
Data underscores Mexico’s heavy reliance on trade with the United States, with around 80% of Mexico’s export revenue coming from goods shipped to its northern neighbor.
“Everyone” said that “‘there was going to be a decline'” or that “‘we were going to go into recession'” [but] there is growth — 0.8%,” she said.
“Of course we want more [growth], but in the face of the circumstances of tariffs, the situation of uncertainty … [in] the global economy, … it’s good news,” Sheinbaum said.
Mexico’s GDP increased 0.2% on a quarter-over-quarter basis after a 0.6% sequential contraction in the final three months of last year.
Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate ticked up to 3.96% in the first half of April, from 3.80% across March.
Kalimán and Princess Comet among Sheinbaum’s childhood heroes
A reporter asked the president who her favorite “character” was when she was a girl.
“As a girl, who was my favorite character? That’s a good question,” responded Sheinbaum, who was born in Mexico City in 1962.
“I listened to Kalimán a lot then, it was those times,” she said.
“Kalimán, El Hombre Increíble” (Kalimán, the Incredible Man) is a Mexican superhero adventurer who was the star of a radio drama that first aired in the 1960s.
Sheinbaum also mentioned Princess Comet, the protagonist of a Japanese cartoon series that was broadcast in the 1960s and ’70s.
“She was a magician, right? So with her magic wand, she changed what needed to be changed,” she said.
Sheinbaum isn’t known to carry a magic wand, but she does have two “batons of command,” which may or may not help her build what she calls “the second story” of the so-called “fourth transformation” of Mexico initiated by her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
President Trump walked back his tariff talk on Tuesday, emphasizing that he would not "stack" two taxes on the same article. (Lenny Kuhne/Unsplash)
In a concession to automakers in the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed two executive orders to relax his auto tariffs, a move that President Claudia Sheinbaum said gives Mexico “an additional comparative advantage.”
The modifications to the 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts came just over one month after Trump first announced them. The U.S. tariff on imported vehicles took effect on April 3, while the tariff on certain auto parts is set to take effect on May 3.
🚨 @POTUS: “To keep my promise to the great state of Michigan, I terminated Joe Biden’s insane Electric Vehicle Mandate… I’ve just signed an Executive Order to give partial Tariff rebates to any company that assembles its cars right here in the USA.” pic.twitter.com/vGtdmfO7Rk
The United States’ justification for the duties is that imports of automobiles and certain auto parts pose a threat to the national security of the U.S.
During a speech in Michigan on Tuesday to mark 100 days since he began his second term as U.S. president, Trump said he was giving automakers in the U.S. “a little bit of a break.”
“They took in parts from all over the world. I don’t want that. I want them to make their parts here. But I gave them a little bit of time,” he said.
“… It’s called a little flexibility. … We give them a little time before we slaughter them if they don’t do this,” Trump said.
U.S. content in vehicles assembled in Mexico is exempt from the 25% tariff, lowering the effective duty on vehicles made in Mexico. Trump’s April 29 executive orders don’t change that situation.
Trump offers a partial reimbursement of tariffs on auto parts
According to a White House fact sheet, the United States will now offer an “offset to a portion of tariffs for automobile parts used in U.S.-assembled vehicles equal to 3.75% of the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP).”
That offset is retroactive, applying from April 3 of this year and until April 30, 2026.
For a year after that — May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 — the offset will be 2.5% of the MSRP of a vehicle.
“These percentages reflect the duty that would be owed when a 25% duty is applied to 15% of the value of a U.S.-assembled automobile in the first year, and to 10% of the value of a U.S.-assembled automobile in the second year,” the White House said.
“All other automobile imports will still be subject to the 25% tariff,” it added.
“… Legislation, pre-existing trade agreements like the USMCA, revisions to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and subsequent negotiations have not sufficiently mitigated the threat to national security posed by imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts,” the White House said.
No offset on auto parts tariffs will apply after April 30, 2027, at which time the Trump administration expects (or hopes) that vehicle manufactures in the United States will be sourcing more (or all) parts from within the U.S., even though “automakers and suppliers say two years is not enough time for them to reorganize their manufacturing operations,” according to The New York Times.
The U.S. content in parts made in Mexico is exempt from the 25% duty, per Trump’s announcement last month, while the White House said at the time that “USMCA-compliant automobile parts will remain tariff-free until the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), establishes a process to apply tariffs to their non-U.S. content.”
The New York Times reported that the latest rules “leave in place an exemption for parts imported from Canada and Mexico that comply with a treaty [the USMCA] that Mr. Trump negotiated during his first term.”
It wasn’t clear whether non-U.S. content in Mexican auto parts would be subject to the 25% tariff — with the offsets — at a later date, as originally announced, but the White House indicated that it wouldn’t be taxed anytime soon.
“If a manufacturer builds a car in the U.S. that has 85% U.S. or USMCA content, the manufacturer effectively will not owe tariffs on that vehicle’s production for the first year,” the White House said in its fact sheet.
“If a manufacturer builds a car in the U.S. that is 50% U.S. or USMCA content and 50% imported from elsewhere, then instead of paying the tariff on the full 50% of the imported car parts, the manufacturer effectively only pays on 35% for the first year,” it said.
At her Wednesday morning press conference, President Sheinbaum acknowledged that the United States government originally said that only U.S. content in vehicles and parts made in Mexico would be exempt from U.S. tariffs.
“With the document that was signed yesterday, it is recognized [that the exemption] is not just for the part made in the United States, but in the three [USMCA] countries,” she said.
However, the exemptions only apply to vehicles made in the United States, meaning that vehicles made in Mexico will still be subject to the U.S. tariff, although the rate is lower than the full 25% because U.S. content in those vehicles is not taxed.
Apparently referring to the tariff exemption for USMCA-compliant Mexican parts, Sheinbaum said that “once again there is recognition of the value” of the USMCA.
Steel and aluminum tariffs won’t apply to vehicle and parts imports
In his executive order, Trump outlined rules pertaining to the “non-stacking of tariff measures.”
In effect, different tariffs imposed by the United States government for different reasons won’t apply to the same product in most cases (although some Chinese goods will still be subject to multiple tariffs, for example).
Mexico exported three million tonnes of steel in 2024, with 2.3 million tonnes going to the U.S. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)
“I have now determined that, to the extent these tariffs apply to the same article, these tariffs should not all have a cumulative effect (or ‘stack’ on top of one another) because the rate of duty resulting from such stacking exceeds what is necessary to achieve the intended policy goals,” Trump said.
Consequently, importers in the United States will be exempt from paying 25% steel and aluminum tariffs on vehicles and auto parts they bring into the country.
The New York Times reported that the executive order said that “carmakers paying a 25 percent tariff to bring in cars and car parts would not be subject to tariffs that Mr. Trump had placed on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico.”
Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico in March in order to pressure the Mexican government to do more to stop the flow of migrants and fentanyl to the U.S.
However, he lifted the duties on goods that comply with the USMCA two days later.
The Times reported that “products that are subject to the tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico will no longer be subject to tariffs on steel and aluminum.”
It also said that “the rules do not appear to protect automakers from tariffs on steel and aluminum that their suppliers pay and pass on.”
“… Even with the concessions announced Tuesday,” the Times reported, the Trump “administration policies will add thousands of dollars to car prices and endanger the financial health of automakers and their suppliers, analysts said.”
Referring to the United States’ decision to not stack one tariff on top of another, Sheinbaum highlighted on Wednesday that “there was a recognition” from the U.S. government that “you can’t charge double” duties for the same product.
She noted that tariffs on vehicles exported to the U.S. “in reality weren’t 25% … but rather 50%,” given that the vehicle itself and the steel and aluminum in it were both subject to duties.
Sheinbaum said that her government is still carefully analyzing the modifications Trump has made to his auto tariffs, and noted that Mexico was given a “comparative advantage” over other countries in March because U.S. content in Mexican (and Canadian) vehicles wasn’t subject to the 25% tariff that was uniformly imposed on vehicles imported from other countries.
“With what was published yesterday, there is an additional comparative advantage, so it’s something that is even more beneficial for our country,” she said.
“Obviously, we’re still seeking greater benefits and greater clarity in order to be able to know what the advantages [for Mexico] are that were published yesterday,” Sheinbaum said.
Gerdau had planned to build a steel plant in Mexico but has nixed the plan due to doubts about whether Mexico will continue to be a viable manufacturing site for U.S.-bound auto parts. (Shutterstock)
Brazil’s largest steelmaker Gerdau announced on Tuesday it had canceled US $600 million in investment in Mexico, citing uncertainty following the 25% tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on steel and aluminum imports.
Gerdau is based in Brazil, where its manufacturing, including steel columns, faces competition from Chinese imports. (www.gerdaucorsa.com.mx)
There is great uncertainty around the future of automotive nearshoring in Mexico, Gerdau’s president Gustavo Werneck said during a conference call to present first-quarter results.
There will be “a very profound reconfiguration of the automotive platform in the coming years,” Weneck said. It is uncertain whether Mexico “will continue to be a solid platform for auto parts production for the United States.”
Werneck had previously announced that the firm was reviewing its investment plans in Mexico, in a conference call with shareholders in February.
Gerdau generates around half of its sales in the U.S. and Mexico at present and the company’s nearshoring strategy was expected to help solidify its position in the region.
“It’s too early to know whether auto parts will stop being manufactured in Mexico and return to manufacturing in the U.S. or elsewhere,” Werneck told reporters on Tuesday. “Our decision depends on the uncertainty about how the global automotive supply chain will be reconfigured after the tariffs.”
The company reported an adjusted net profit of $134 million in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 39% decrease on the same period last year, despite an increase in sales, demonstrating the impact of tariffs on its revenues.
Brazil’s steel tariffs
The CEO said it was possible that Gerdau may also reduce its investment in Brazil in favor of projects abroad in the coming years, although the matter is still under consideration. Werneck cited the lack of trade defense measures in Brazil as a challenge.
Last year, Brazil’s government imposed a 25% import tariff on 11 steel products, including rolled steel and tubes, to protect itself from Chinese competition. However, Brazilian steelmakers have demanded higher taxes on a wider range of products.
“Is it worth continuing to invest in Brazil, where we cannot obtain trade defense that allows us to compete on a level playing field?” Werneck asked. “If the government doesn’t take action, this will have a very significant impact on accelerating the country’s deindustrialization.”
Gerdau expects the government to announce measures in May to block the flow of alloy to Brazil, particularly from China.
Tourists and business travelers will soon be able to fly nonstop to the historic Spanish capital from Querétaro International Airport (AIQ). (Florian Wehde/Unsplash)
Spanish airline Iberojet will launch nonstop service between the central Mexican city of Querétaro and Madrid, Spain, offering two flights per week starting in October of this year.
The new route was announced this week at the 2025 Tianguis Turístico in Rosarito, Baja California, the leading annual tourism industry event in Mexico. The flights will operate Thursdays and Sundays aboard an Airbus 350.
International flights out of Querétaro International Airport have increased dramatically in the last decade, especially in the last year. (Demian Chávez/Cuartoscuro)
Querétaro Governor Mauricio Kuri González, heading the Querétaro contingent at the announcement, said that the new route responds to the growing demand for tourist and business connections between Europe and the Bajío region. He further noted that his state alone hosts 119 companies from Spain.
Also in attendance at the Tianguis Turístico, State Tourism Minister Adriana Vega Vázquez Mellado said that the new route seeks to strengthen international connectivity, attract tourism and position Querétaro as one of the most attractive colonial-era destinations in Mexico.
Mario Domínguez, commercial director of scheduled flights for Iberojet, posted on LinkedIn, “The opening of the Madrid-Querétaro route represents much more than a new flight. It shows a commitment to bringing cultures closer together, facilitating economic exchange and diversifying access to Mexico from Europe.”
With the new flight, Querétaro will become Iberojet’s second destination in Mexico, joining Cancún, where nonstop flights arrive from Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon.
Iberojet is a Spanish commercial and charter airline headquartered in Palma de Mallorca, owned by the Barceló group through its travel division, Ávoris.
During his address at the Tianguis Turístico, head of Áboris’s tour operators group Javier Castillo Medina noted Querétaro’s capacity to accommodate international tourism through the infrastructure and services of Querétaro International Airport (AIQ).
AIQ recorded a significant increase in international flights in 2024. According to data from the Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation Ministry (SICT), the number of international passengers traveling through AIQ went up by more than 60% in the first half of 2024 to 313,832, compared to 195,836 in the first half of 2023.
The U.S. previously supplied 86% of UNHCR Mexico’s $58 million annual budget. (Shutterstock)
The United Nations refugee agency has shuttered four offices in Mexico and laid off 190 employees amid a severe funding crisis tied to U.S. aid cuts under President Donald Trump, officials announced this week.
The closures mark a dramatic setback for migrant support systems in a country that processed nearly 80,000 asylum claims in 2024, ranking among the world’s top 10 destinations for refugees.
Offices in Palenque, Chiapas, and Tenosique, Tabasco — two critical southern hubs near Guatemala — along with Guadalajara, Jalisco, and another undisclosed location, ceased operations Tuesday. (Cuartoscuro)
The majority of applicants were from Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.
According to Giovanni Lepri, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Mexico, UNHCR’s Mexico operations lost 60% of their budget after the Trump administration halted foreign aid in January.
Offices in Palenque, Chiapas, and Tenosique, Tabasco — two critical southern hubs near Guatemala — along with Guadalajara, Jalisco, and another undisclosed location, ceased operations Tuesday.
As Mexico’s southern border sees 67% of asylum claims, advocates fear the Palenque and Tenosique office shutdowns will exacerbate risks for new arrivals.
“We’ve had to make very serious decisions,” Lepri told reporters, noting the U.S. previously supplied 86% of UNHCR Mexico’s US $58 million annual budget.
Eight UNHCR offices in Mexico remain open: Mexico City; Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Mexicali, Baja California; Saltillo, Coahuila; Tapachula, Chiapas; Aguascalientes city; and two sub-offices in Monterrey, Nuevo León, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas.
Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order paused all U.S. foreign assistance — funded through the State Department and/or the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — for comprehensive reviews.
This resulted in the suspension or termination of most USAID programs, with reports indicating that over 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts were eliminated, amounting to $54 million to $60 million of global cuts.
The reduction of funding from USAID and other U.S. government foreign assistance streams has cut into Mexico’s asylum infrastructure.
More than 78,900 people sought refuge in Mexico last year, with over half fleeing violence or threats, per UNHCR’s 2024 report, “A Home in Mexico,” issued this week. (Cuartoscuro)
Migrant shelters run by Catholic groups saw funding drop sharply, forcing reduced services, said Scalabrini Foundation director Julio Lopez. “Programs and projects have been scaled back,” he acknowledged, though shelters remain open.
In Tijuana, Juventud 2000 shelter director Jose Maria Garcia warned the closures would “have a very big impact on migrant communities,” particularly in border regions where deportations surged.
The report noted that 45,000 people accessed shelter services last year, 50,000 refugees have secured stable housing since 2016 and 94% of working-age refugees found jobs within a month.
“Mexico has become a country where people forced to flee can restart their lives,” Lepri said in the report, released hours before announcing the closures.
One of UNHCR’s flagship programs in Mexico is the Local Integration Program, which relocated 13,000 refugees to cities with job opportunities in 2024 but now operates under uncertainty. The program includes over 650 companies employing refugees, who contribute 275 million pesos (US $15 million) annually in taxes.
In Mexico, the UNHCR works with COMAR, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance.
Mexico's modest Q1 growth could have been a "rebound" from a weak result in the last three months of 2024. (Julio López/Unsplash)
Mexico’s GDP grew 0.2% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the final three months of last year, according to preliminary data from the national statistics agency INEGI.
The quarter-over-quarter growth was above the 0% expansion forecast by analysts polled by Reuters and the 0.1% growth prediction of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Published on Wednesday, INEGI’s preliminary data also showed that the Mexican economy grew 0.6% annually in the first quarter in seasonally adjusted terms and 0.8% in non-seasonally adjusted terms.
In a note to clients, Pantheon Macroeconomics chief Latin America economist Andres Abadía said that “the quarter-to-quarter gain helped the Mexican economy avoid a technical recession, but it does little to alter the weak trajectory.”
Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base, posted a graph to X that showed that GDP growth in Mexico has trended down in recent years.
“This is what Mexico’s economic growth looks like. If it’s not a recession, it’s a marked economic slowdown,” she wrote.
The biggest factor currently weighing on Mexico’s growth prospects is United States President Donald Trump’s “America First” protectionist agenda, which includes tariffs on some imports from Mexico despite the existence of the USMCA free trade pact.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected those forecasts, asserting that international financial organizations don’t take into account federal government efforts to stimulate the economy, including through its Plan México initiative.
Mexico’s Finance Ministry is currently forecasting GDP growth in the range of 1.5%-2.3% this year.
INEGI’s latest economic growth data was released the same day that the United States Department of Commerce reported that the U.S. economy contracted 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to Q4 of 2024.
Primary sector grows 8.1%, its best result since 2011
The primary sector of the Mexican economy, which includes agriculture, fishing and mining, grew 8.1% in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous three months, according to INEGI’s preliminary data. That was the best quarter-over-quarter result for the sector since 2011.
The primary sector was the only sector to grow on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
Mexico’s primary sector grew 8.1% in the first quarter of the year, its best quarterly result in 14 years. (Juan José Estrada Serafín/Cuartoscuro)
The secondary (manufacturing) sector contracted 0.3% compared to the final quarter of 2024, while the tertiary (services) sector was unchanged with 0% growth.
Siller wrote on X that “primary [sector] activities saved the quarter and only due to a rebound” from a weak result in the last three months of 2024.
“Secondary activities fell for a second consecutive quarter, something that hadn’t happened since 2020,” she added.
In another post, Siller said that the primary sector is “very volatile” and therefore its strong first-quarter growth should be “taken with caution.”
She asserted that the risk of recession in Mexico in 2025 remains “high.”
In annual terms, the primary sector grew 6% in the first quarter of the year, while the tertiary sector expanded 1.3%, according to the preliminary data.
The secondary sector contracted 1.4% compared to Q1 of 2024.
Siller highlighted that the secondary sector generates one-third of Mexico’s GDP and its growth prospects are at risk due to the United States’ tariff policies, which include duties on Mexican steel, aluminum, cars and goods not covered by the USMCA.
The value of Mexico’s exports actually increased to an all-time high in the first quarter of 2025, but that was partially due to U.S. importers bringing forward orders to avoid higher tariffs, according to the El Financiero newspaper. Tariffs on Mexican steel, aluminum and goods not covered by the USMCA only took effect in March, while the U.S. began collecting duties on cars in early April.
According to data cited by Siller, the primary sector represents only 3.4% of Mexico’s GDP, while the tertiary sector — which employs almost half of all Mexican workers — generates more than 63% of GDP.
Mexican students and workers marching on Labor Day in 1944. (Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo)
On May 1, Mexico celebrates Labor Day, or as the locals call it, Día del Trabajo. This is not to be confused with Cinco de Mayo, which is also in May and which you may be familiar with as involving U.S. beer commercials and confused Americans in sombreros. May 1 is the day Mexico honors people who work with their hands, their backs and, very often, without thanks. The plumbers. The bus drivers. The street sweepers. The teachers who still show up even though their schools have no chalk.
It is, in essence, a holiday for the underappreciated. So, of course, most of them don’t get the day off.
While political candidates like Clara Brugada, center, and Ernestina Godoy, third from right and next to Brugada, may drop in to connect with Mexico’s workers when running for office, many of them often go unacknowledged. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro)
A brief, bloody backstory
Día del Trabajo is part of the international workers’ movement. It’s not a Mexican invention. Like many of the good and terrible things on this continent, it began in the United States. In Chicago, in 1886, during a peaceful protest for the eight-hour workday, someone threw a bomb, the police opened fire, and everything went to hell. This became known as the Haymarket Affair.
The U.S. eventually swept it under the rug, the way it does with most labor unrest. But other countries remembered. Including Mexico. So now, every May 1, Mexico marches in the name of workers and justice.
What to expect on May 1 in Mexico
If you’re a visitor, an English speaker trying to make sense of this beautiful chaos we call Mexico, here’s what you need to know:
It’s a federal holiday. That means most government offices close. Banks? Closed. Post offices? Don’t even try. If you need anything involving paperwork, avoid May 1 like it’s tax season.
Schools are closed. Children rejoice. Teachers still check their emails.
Many businesses also shut down. Especially formal ones. Informal ones — taco stands, tianguis stalls, corner shops — might still be open. Because not everyone can afford a day off to celebrate the idea of days off.
Marches and demonstrations happen in most cities. These range from peaceful gatherings to loud, colorful protests. It’s democracy on foot. Just don’t get in the way. Bring water, not opinions.
Traffic may be a mess. Or maybe not. It’s like flipping a coin blindfolded. Either way, if you’re driving in Mexico City, you’re already doomed.
Mexican workers put in more employment hours than in any country in the OECD, over 2,200 a year. (La Palapa/Tripadvisor)
Labor Day without labor
Many visitors in Mexico spend May 1 lounging on a beach, sipping mezcal, talking about how good the cost of living is here. There’s a certain cosmic comedy in this. You don’t have to feel guilty, but you should at least know why the guy who made your margarita isn’t getting holiday pay.
The thing is, Mexico has one of the hardest-working populations in the world. The average worker puts in over 2,200 hours a year—more than anyone in the OECD. And yet, they celebrate labor with a march, not with a paycheck.
What you should actually do
Learn something. Read up on labor history in Mexico. Find out what the Mexican Revolution had to do with workers’ rights. Spoiler: a lot.
Tip extra. If someone’s working on Labor Day, and you’re benefiting from it, give a damn. Show appreciation with pesos, not platitudes.
Observe the marches. They’re a reminder that change often begins with a sign, a chant and a sore pair of feet.
Reflect. If you’re fortunate enough to rest, think about those who can’t. Not in a guilt-trippy way, but in a way that makes you human.
The Bottom Line
Labor Day in Mexico isn’t a party. It’s a pause. A symbolic one, often ignored in practice but powerful in principle. The day honors the people who build the country—literally. And while you may not feel the weight of that as you sip cold cerveza in 32 C heat, you might just notice it if you stop scrolling long enough to watch a parade of worn shoes and proud hearts marching down the street.
Happy Labor Day. Don’t forget who made your street walkable.
Stephen Randall has lived in Mexico since 2018 by way of Kentucky, and before that, Germany. He’s an enthusiastic amateur chef who takes inspiration from many different cuisines, with favorites including Mexican and Mediterranean.
