New World screwworms are the larvae of a species of blowfly. Authorities suspect that its spread is not just from movement of infected cattle but also from the natural migration of the flies themselves. (Texas Department of Agriculture)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week confirmed the presence of a New World screwworm (NWS) in Zavala County, Texas.
The report comes just five days after the USDA announced that a parasitic fly was found in a young sheep in the Mexican state of Coahuila within 31 miles (50 km) of the U.S. border.
🚨 With the recent detection of New World screwworm in a 3-week-old bovine in Zavala County, TX, USDA urges residents to contact your veterinarian right away if you see any suspicious wounds, maggots, or infestations in your animals or herd.
Until this week, that was the closest the parasite had come to the U.S. during the ongoing outbreak, which has been steadily tracking north from Central America and through Mexico for more than a year despite a sprawling effort by USDA and Mexico to contain the pest.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the USDA said the affected animal in Texas is a 3-week-old calf and larvae were identified in its umbilical area.
If the fly enters the U.S., record beef prices could surge higher since more calves would be kept out of the U.S. cattle supply. The USDA estimates that an outbreak could cause billions of dollars in damage to the U.S. economy and Texas — the biggest U.S. cattle-producing state — could suffer economic losses of US $1.8 billion.
“The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again,” said Dudley Hoskins, a USDA official, adding that “USDA invested heavily in the tools needed to eliminate NWS ever since cases started increasing in Central America and Mexico.”
NWS is a species of parasitic blowfly whose larvae burrow into open wounds and eat the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, eventually killing their host if left untreated.
The infestation — eradicated in Mexico since 1991 (the U.S. eradicated NWS in the 1960s) — resurfaced in summer 2024, and has posed a significant challenge for authorities. Pets, wild animals and humans can also be affected.
Mexico’s Health Ministry (SSA) said there have been more than 350 cases of human infestation across Mexico, with Chiapas being the most affected state (131 cases).
Cases of new world screwworm reported in Mexico as of June 3. (USDA)
On May 27, SSA reported the first case of NWS infestation in humans in Mexico City and this week it reported the first case of screwworm myiasis in a human in Nuevo León.
As hosts of the upcoming World Cup, both Mexico City and Nuevo León are expecting millions of visitors in this month and next.
SSA has recommended using protective clothing, such as long sleeves and pants, when visiting the countryside or near animals, as well as using authorized repellents on skin and clothing to prevent the presence of flies.”
While the frenzied eagerness of soccer fans to get World Cup tickets has created fertile ground for online scammers, the official FIFA site continues to offer both new ticket sales and resales. (Shutterstock)
Authorities and security experts have issued warnings that scammers are taking advantage of World Cup fever by setting up fake websites and impersonating official FIFA channels to sell phantom tickets and bogus merchandise.
Last week, the FBI alerted the public to three dozen websites — with domains such as “fifa-ticket.live” and “fifaworldcup26.sale” — that pose as the real fifa.com to steal personal information or sell fake tickets and products.
The fakery is well done, reports the cybersecurity publication The Hacker News. Some scam operations “offer near-perfect copies of fifa.com … [and loads] images straight from FIFA’s own servers, so the page looks authentic and slips past tools that flag copied images.”
These malicious actors are seeking to take advantage of soccer fans desperate to find bargains outside official channels and cybersecurity firms warn that the scams number in the thousands.
Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB identified more than 4,300 fraudulent domains registered since August that pose as being FIFA-affiliated and estimates that losses from fraud could add up to billions of dollars.
Social media is also riddled with scams. There are football-themed ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram promoting counterfeit kits, fake Panini stickers and phishing pages.
Cybersecurity group Fortinet counted over 1,700 spoofed FIFA accounts, almost all of them on Facebook and Instagram. It also warned of fake FIFA job ads and calendar invites to send applicants to a lookalike Google login.
Another cybersecurity company, Bitdefender, said it found 55 soccer-related scam ad campaigns on Meta platforms. Among the flagged items were promotions for phony collectibles and merchandise.
Meta has reportedly started deploying pop-up warnings when Facebook users search for tickets. The tech company says it recently dismantled spoofed FIFA sites that were promoting “fake gambling content” which could have been used to collect passport scans and selfies for identity theft.
The Hacker News also warned of counterfeit merchandise shops and bogus streaming sites that request subscription fees only to install malware, which gives the attacker control.
Outside Mexico City's Azteca Stadium, an hours-long line for a FIFA badge gave MND's Peter Davies plenty of time to chat with the Mexico City vendors preparing to pull off the year's biggest sporting event. (Tomás Pérez de la Cruz / Cuartoscuro.com)
If you go to a World Cup match during the upcoming 23rd edition of the tournament, you’ll buy your beer, hot dogs, tacos or whatever takes your fancy from a FIFA-accredited vendor.
If the stadium bathrooms you use qualify for three or more stars under Sarah DeVries’ rating system for Mexican baños, you can thank FIFA-accredited cleaning staff for keeping them in order.
And if you read a media report filed from one of the 16 stadiums across Mexico, the United States and Canada that will host the 104 World Cup matches this summer, you’ll be reading the work of a FIFA-accredited journalist. (Keep an eye on MND’s ongoing World Cup coverage!)
All of this came into sharp focus for me last Sunday while I was waiting in line outside FIFA’s Mexico City accreditation center, a temporary structure set up in the parking lot of Mexico City Stadium (aka Azteca Stadium), the cavernous arena that will host the opening match of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa next Thursday.
That’s right. FIFA — which took control of Estadio Azteca last month — is accrediting most, if not all, people who will be working at World Cup stadiums on match days.
Standing next to me in the line was a young man who, during a long wait on a warm Mexico City day, intermittently spoke to himself in perfect American-accented English. We got talking. “Where are you from? Who are you working for?” I asked him, thinking that he was perhaps covering the World Cup for a U.S. media outlet.
Not an exaggeration. Waited in line for four hours — no shade, no bathroom — for press accreditation. Feels like this could have been organized better. https://t.co/35mQnZSy8A
“Born and raised in Mexico City, but my dad is from Miami,” he told me before revealing that on match days at el Azteca he would be working for “a friend of a friend” at a chicken wing stand.
From what I could gather, almost all of the other people lining up to get their FIFA accreditation passes in Mexico City last Sunday were vendors of one type or another. “Vendedora de pizza,” one woman told me when I asked her what she would be doing on match days. “Vendo bebidas,” (“I sell drinks”), said her smiling friend.
Given that literally thousands of people will be working at Azteca Stadium on match days, FIFA’s accreditation task in Mexico City is a mammoth one, and many people, myself included, have faced long waits to pick up their passes from football’s global governing body.
The issuance of these accreditation passes — by friendly and helpful FIFA volunteers, I might add — is the culmination of a long process that I personally began several months ago.
In Mexico, as in the United States and Canada, FIFA-accredited stadium workers will play an essential role in ensuring that the millions of spectators who attend World Cup matches this summer have a safe, smooth and satisfying experience. The football players will be on the pitch, but there will also be stars in the stands, pouring cerveza, selling pizza and wings and even bringing bebidas to fans’ seats so they don’t miss a second of the action.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
Mexico will take some momentum into its home World Cup after smashing Serbia 5-1 on Thursday night in its final pre‑tournament warm-up match — and third straight tune-up win.
The victory in a sold‑out 30,000‑seat Nemesio Díez Stadium in Toluca, México state, stretched Mexico’s unbeaten run to six wins and two draws in its last eight matches.
This was the scene Thursday night outside Toluca’s Nemesio Diez Stadium during the Mexico-Serbia match that served as a World Cup warm-up for the security forces as well as the players. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar / Cuartoscuro.com)
Johan Vásquez, Raúl Jiménez and Luis Chávez scored for El Tri, the Mexican national team, with two Serbian own goals (defensive mistakes) rounding out the lopsided scoreline.
“From the start, the team displayed an offensive style that pleased the fans and undoubtedly created a connection with them,” the digital sports news outlet wrote.
All three Mexican scorers are expected to form part of the team’s core in the upcoming World Cup: Vásquez as a first‑choice defender, Jiménez as a leading option at center forward and Chávez as a go-to creative force in midfield.
Aguirre praised the team’s form while warning against overconfidence, noting that many top Mexicans playing abroad have only recently started practicing with El Tri’s early selectees.
“We’re on the rise,” he said. “I think we’re in good shape, getting players back. We’re a solid group, a family, no matter who plays.”
The win over Serbia followed a 2-0 victory over 73rd-ranked Ghana on May 22 and a 1-0 win over No. 23 Australia on May 30, giving Mexico three straight wins by a combined 8-1 score ahead of its opener Thursday, June 11.
The 2026 World Cup features a record 48 teams spread over 12 groups of four teams each. The top two from each group will advance to the Round of 32, along with the eight best third-place teams across all 12 groups.
The nation of Mexico will host 13 games: five in Mexico City and four each in Guadalajara and Monterrey. There will also be 78 games in the United States and 13 in Canada.
With his goal Thursday, Jiménez, 35, continued his push toward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández’s scoring record. It was his 46th for Mexico’s senior national team, which ties him with the previous record holder, Sinaloa native Jared Borgetti, and puts him six short of Javier “Chicharito” Hernández’s all‑time mark of 52.
Enrique Martínez Chávez was arrested in Hawthorne, California, by ICE agents and will remain in U.S. custody until he is repatriated to Mexico. (ICE Los Angeles/X)
A former Mexican soldier linked to the forced disappearance of 43 students in the state of Guerrero 12 years ago was arrested near Los Angeles by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Wednesday.
In a Thursday social media post, ICE confirmed that Enrique Martínez Chávez was apprehended in Hawthorne, California, and will remain in U.S. custody until he is repatriated.
Almost simultaneously with the arrest, family members of the missing announced they will renew street actions to protest the lack of resolution of the case, timed to coincide with the first week of the World Cup. (Madres y Padres de Ayotzinapa / Facebook)
Eight of the 16 soldiers are being held in a military prison in connection with the Ayotzinapa case. Though they were arrested in June 2023 on charges of forced disappearance, they are still awaiting civilian criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors allege criminal responsibility on the part of the soldiers under the legal hypotheses of collusion and failing to respond.
General José Rodríguez Pérez, the highest-ranking military officer indicted for his alleged involvement in the mass disappearance, was released on bail in July 2024, though he still faces charges of organized crime and forceful disappearance.
The second-highest-ranking officer, Rafael Hernández Nieto — a colonel at the time of the disappearances but promoted to brigadier general upon retiring from active duty a few years later — was released on bail in August 2023 but also still faces charges.
Three months ago, a judge ordered the Defense Ministry to hand over all the information its intelligence agencies have gathered regarding the case.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in 2023 by the families of the missing students who have long protested the military authorities’ refusal to fully cooperate in the investigation.
The 16 soldiers, members of the 27th Infantry Battalion stationed in Iguala, all face forced disappearance and organized crime charges.
The privates — Enrique Martínez among them — were under the command of Captain José Martínez Crespo, the first military officer arrested (in November 2020) in connection to the Ayotzinapa case.
Prosecutors have accused members of Captain Crespo’s patrol of intimidating students who sought refuge at the Cristina Hospital in Iguala after they were attacked by municipal police and members of the Guerreros Unidos crime gang.
Investigators are still seeking to clarify if the soldiers actively participated in the disappearance of the students by handing them over to the Guerreros Unidos.
A lawyer for the parents of the 43 said that, so far, they have not been officially notified of the former soldier’s arrest.
On Wednesday, family members of the missing said they will hold a series of demonstrations and activities in Mexico City from June 8-12, during the first week of the World Cup
The events of that night in September 2014 left six people dead, dozens injured and 43 students missing, now presumed dead.
President Sheinbaum gave her morning press conference from Veracruz on Friday, where she announced a decree to block large tourism developments around a Quintana Roo beach destination. (Saúl López / Presidencia)
Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
💰Mega-investment push in Veracruz: From Coatzacoalcos, the CEO of Pemex announced a 93-billion-peso petrochemical and fertilizer plan. Sheinbaum said that her administration is investing 190 billion pesos on infrastructure, energy, water, environment and healthcare projects in Veracruz.
🌊🌿Mahahual to be protected, only ecotourism allowed: On World Environment Day, Sheinbaum and Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena said the government will issue a special decree to protect Mahahual in Quintana Roo, blocking large-scale tourism projects like the recently canceled Royal Caribbean megaproject and prioritizing community-backed, environmentally friendly tourism.
⚖️Ayotzinapa case: arrest of ex-soldier in U.S.: Sheinbaum confirmed the arrest in California of former soldier Enrique Martínez Chávez, wanted in Mexico for enforced disappearance in connection with the 2014 Ayotzinapa case. She said he is subject to a Mexican arrest warrant and will face justice here, with the Attorney General’s Office to provide further details.
👩🏫🏛️No force against CNTE teachers’ camp in CDMX: Sheinbaum ruled out evicting the CNTE-affiliated teachers’ protest camp in Mexico City’s historic center, saying authorities won’t use force and will keep seeking an agreement through dialogue, even though she insists the government cannot meet key demands due to budgetary reasons.
Why today’s mañanera matters
President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Coatzacoalcos, a port city in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz. The president has often held her Friday mañaneras outside Mexico City, but before today had not done so in some time.
Early in the press conference, new Pemex CEO Juan Carlos Carpio announced a 93-billion-peso (US $5.3 billion) investment plan aimed at revitalizing Mexico’s petrochemical and fertilizer industries. He said that the money — which will be invested in various projects between 2026 and 2030 — would come from both the government and the private sector.
Speaking from Veracruz on Friday, Transport Minister Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina shared plans for a new bridge in the major port city of Coatzacoalcos. (Saúl López / Presidencia)
Federal officials also presented information about infrastructure investment in Veracruz. Among the projects set to be built is a new bridge — the Puente Coatzacoalcos III — that will cross the Coatzacoalcos River on Federal Highway 180. Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Minister Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina said that the bridge will be the longest and highest bridge built during the current term of government. Construction of the 5.8-billion-peso project is scheduled to be completed in early 2030.
Sheinbaum said that around 190 billion pesos (US $10.9 billion) will be invested in a range of projects in Veracruz during her term in government.
That amount includes investment in petrochemical, fertilizer, highway, water, environmental and healthcare projects, she said. She said that additional funds are being invested in education and in welfare programs in Veracruz.
“It’s a historic investment for Veracruz,” she said.
Also of note at today’s mañanera, held on World Environment Day, was the announcement that the government will issue a decree aimed at protecting the environment of Mahahual, a town on the southern coast of the state of Quintana Roo. Sheinbaum also acknowledged the arrest in the United States of a man wanted in connection with one of Mexico’s most notorious criminal cases — the disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero more than a decade ago.
Sheinbaum: Only ecotourism projects to be allowed in Mahahual
“[Regarding] this area of Mahahual, where a large-scale tourism project was to be built, the objective is to give it a category of protection so that only ecotourism can take place there,” she said.
“… Today we announce that we will work with the community in the south of Quintana Roo [to draw up] a special decree for this area so that large-scale tourism projects aren’t developed,” Sheinbaum said.
Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena joined the press conference by video link from Quintana Roo to speak about the planned decree.
“President, you instructed me to go to Mahahual to meet with the community. Mahahual is not just a tourism destination, it’s an area with communities that have been guardians of their seas, their mangroves and their jungles for generations,” she said.
“We’ve listened to their concerns, their proposals and their vision in order to develop, together, environmentally-friendly tourism that allows economic development and employment to be combined with environmental protection. For that reason, together with the [local] population, a decree will be drawn up … to protect [the environment] from large-scale tourism,” Bárcena said.
Sheinbaum acknowledges arrest in US of ex-soldier wanted in connection with Ayotzinapa case
A reporter asked the president about the arrest in California on Wednesday of Enrique Martínez Chávez, a former Mexican soldier wanted in connection with the 2014 disappearance and presumed murder in Guerrero of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College.
“Martínez is wanted in his home country of Mexico for enforced disappearance of persons while a member of the Mexican military. He’ll remain in ICE custody until he can be sent home,” ICE Los Angeles said on X.
Sheinbaum said that Martínez was subject to an arrest warrant in Mexico. She said he was detained during an ICE immigration raid and had not been specifically targeted because he was wanted in Mexico.
Sheinbaum said that the federal Attorney General’s Office would provide more information about “who this person is and why he is important” to investigations related to the Ayotzinapa case, which still hasn’t been resolved almost 12 years after the 43 young men were abducted in Iguala, Guerrero, on September 26, 2014.
Other soldiers have been arrested in connection with the abduction, in which the Guerreros Unidos crime gang, Iguala municipal police and the Mexican Army allegedly colluded.
Sheinbaum rules out possibility of removing teachers’ protest camp in CDMX historic center
CNTE teachers union members on Tuesday blocked the intersection of Reforma and Insurgentes, one of Mexico City’s most transited areas. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum said that authorities had no intention of clearing a protest camp set up by CNTE-affiliated teachers in the historic center of Mexico City.
“We’re not going to evict them because that’s what they want,” she said.
“… That is what they want, that is what they’re seeking to provoke,” Sheinbaum said.
She reiterated that the government is seeking to reach an agreement with protesting teachers through dialogue.
Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that teachers have “legitimate demands,” but stressed that it is not possible for the government to meet all of them. She has said on repeated occasions that the government can’t meet all of the protesting teachers’ demands — among which is a demand for a 100% pay rise and the repeal of changes to their pension system — for budgetary reasons.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
A storm is brewing in Puerto Vallarta and around Banderas Bay, and locals can't wait. Charlotte Smith explains why. (Vallarta Adventures)
I woke to the low buzz of my phone and a message this morning. “Heavy rain expected.” I lay there listening to the fan, feeling the kind of heat that promises a storm. Around here, you can feel it before you can see it. The mornings arrive warm and heavy instead of pleasant, and by noon, the air settles over the Bay of Banderas like a blanket.
I got up and went outside to sit on my porch in Bucerías, coffee cup in hand, the ceiling fan spinning overhead. The message feels a bit more like an act of optimism than relief, but I suppose we’ll see. The fan moves the heat around, sure, but it doesn’t really take it away.
The daily battle against the inevitable … at least until the summer rains arrive. (Covington Naturals)
From my spot in the chair, I watch my boyfriend wage his daily battle against the inevitable. He’s out there again with the hose.
Every day, he seems convinced that if he waters long enough and carefully enough, he can hold back what the dry season always brings. He stands in the garden directing streams of water across the grass, trying to keep everything green while the rest of the landscape slowly gives in.
But little brown patches begin to appear anyway. First one. Then another. Then a few more.
Waiting for the rain to come
The grass hangs on for as long as it can, but by early May, the earth is tired and the trees look dusty. The hills beyond town have lost some of their color. Even the jungle, which always seems larger than life, appears to be holding its breath.
That’s when everyone starts talking about the rain.
Not the way people talk about bad weather elsewhere. Nobody’s really complaining about it or dreading it. Here, we’re all quietly hoping for it.
“Any chance this week?”
“I heard there might be storms on Thursday. Fingers crossed.”
The rainy season isn’t something people endure. It’s something we wait for.
A new way of thinking about the weather
Living here has changed the way I think about the weather. Before moving to Mexico, rain was usually an inconvenience. It ruined my plans and made traffic worse. It kept me indoors, and I’ve never been very good at being indoors.
Here, though, it’s renewal and transformation.
The hills that looked faded and exhausted suddenly begin changing shades almost overnight. Brown gives way to a million shades of green.
During the summer months, everything around Banderas Bay becomes lush and green. (Vallarta Adventures)
Dry riverbeds start flowing again. Plants that seemed dormant spring back to life with startling speed.
It’s one of the reasons some of my favorite places around Puerto Vallarta are actually at their best after the first summer rains arrive.
The summer rains and the changes they bring
The trails above town are a perfect example.
During the driest weeks of the year, some sections feel dusty and exposed. The views are still beautiful, but the landscape can seem muted after months of relentless sunshine.
Then the rains come, and within days everything changes. The jungle thickens and new growth appears everywhere. Vines stretch across trees, and the mountains become layers of green so vivid they almost look artificial.
The air smells different, too. Earthy and fresh, carrying scents that have been missing for months.
Walking those trails after the first few storms feels like stepping into a completely different season.
Puerto Vallarta and the rainy season
Many visitors never realize how dramatically these areas transform because they only experience Puerto Vallarta during peak tourist season. But after the rains begin, water returns to places that have spent months nearly silent, and the sound alone changes the experience.
Instead of dry rocks baking in the sun, you hear movement. Running water in the rivers. The croaking of frogs. The chirping of insects. The songs of birds that seem to appear out of nowhere.
Life returns all at once.
One of my favorite drives is simply heading south or inland after a few weeks of rain have passed. The mountains seem larger somehow, draped in layers of vegetation that weren’t visible during the dry months.
The first year I lived here, the speed of the transformation surprised me most.
Even Nepture and the mermaid from their perches on the Puerto Vallarta malecón know the rains are coming. Summer is here. (Cortor Media/Unsplash)
It wasn’t gradual at all. I expected months of slow change, but nature had other plans.
A few solid storms and suddenly the landscape looked completely different. It was as if someone had turned up the color saturation on the entire region.
I find myself looking forward to that moment every year now. Maybe that’s why I’m sitting on the porch watching clouds gather over the mountains.
Any day now
The grass below is still showing those stubborn brown patches despite my boyfriend’s efforts. The fan is still pushing around warm air. The afternoons are still sticky enough that even simple tasks feel harder than they should.
But there are signs.
A darker horizon. A breeze is arriving from somewhere beyond the bay. Towering clouds are building over the Sierra Madre in the late afternoon.
Soon, the first storm will roll through and the sky will darken. The scent of rain will arrive before the rain itself.
And then, almost overnight, the entire area around Banderas Bay will become green again.
The trails will change. The rivers will wake up. The jungle will reclaim the mountainsides.
The grass will finally win. Or maybe my boyfriend will claim that he won all along after weeks of standing out there with a hose, refusing to surrender to the dry season.
Either way, the rain is coming.
Around here, the first rain isn’t the end of the dry season; it’s the beginning of everything. And maybe, just maybe, that message is relief afterall, and today is finally that day.
Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics, and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.
Chapultepec Zoo wasn't the first in Mexico City. Before the Spanish invasion in the early 16th century, Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin had a menagerie of his own. (Florentine Codex/Wikimedia Commons)
Moctezuma II was a sensitive ruler. He followed the line of succession to the throne of Tenochtitlán established by his grandfather, Moctezuma I “Ilhuicamina,” and his Mexica subjects knew him as Xoyocotzin, “the venerable youth.”
During his reign (1502—1520), he was also known as “the angry one,” or “the one who frowns,” perArqueología Mexicana, due to numerous rumors of his declining mental health. Historical records also suggest that he may have had ominous premonitions before the Spanish invasion of his empire’s capital. Sometimes these premonitions appeared as dreams; other times, almost as hallucinations.
Moctezuma’s zoo imitated the natural habitats of several species near his palace in 16th century Mexico-Tenochtitlán. (Public Domain)
Despite his difficult character, it seems that Moctezuma Xocoyotzin had a particular affinity for nature. In fact, according to ENAH (National School of Anthropology and History) archaeologist Israel Elizalde Méndez, he founded the first zoo in Mexico. As to where it was and why it has never been found, the reasons have to do with its great antiquity and the fact that Tenochtitlán is now buried under modern Mexico City.
Moctezuma Xocoyotzin’s private zoo
Historically, Moctezuma’s zoo is known as a “vivarium”: an enclosure where the ancient tlatoani, or emperor, kept specimens of magnificent species from across his empire. In Náhuatl, it was better known as aTotocalli: a house of birds. Considering that the Mexica Empire at its peak expanded from the Mexican Central Plateau (including the present-day states of Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla and Veracruz) to parts of Oaxaca, the animal collection was likely as diverse and impressive as theterritory itself.
Unfortunately, as Elizalde Méndez points out, most of the accounts that have survived to the present day are “the narratives of the Spanish conquerors.”
Hernán Cortés was impressed by the great diversity of birds that Moctezuma kept in captivity, and he was amazed at how this enclosure imitated the natural conditions in which each species thrived:
“He had all the kinds of water birds found in these parts, which are many and diverse, all domesticated; and for the birds that live in the sea, there were saltwater ponds, and for those that live in rivers, freshwater lagoons, which they emptied from time to time for cleaning, and then refilled through their channels,” the conquistador recounted in his letters to the Spanish Crown.
The animals in the zoo
For decades, the zoo was assumed to be a legend. However, animal remains discovered in 2018 suggest that not only did it exist, but it was located near the current archaeological site of the Templo Mayor. Like contemporary zoos, Moctezuma’s vivarium was responsible for breeding, caring for and maintaining diverse animal species, explains Elizalde Méndez.
It is thought that Moctezuma II’s zoo was located in what is now the historic center of Mexico City, near the Templo Mayor. (Public Domain)
What animals were there in Moctezuma’s zoo? As many as the ancient inhabitants of Mexico-Tenochtitlán could have imagined! Elizalde Méndeztold the BBC that “there were even enormous cages with birds that are not native to the area around Mexico City.” It is thought that there were golden and harpy eagles, macaws and quetzals, which “were transported from other parts of the empire.” It is also known that there were small amphibians (frogs and toads) and varieties of reptiles, such as snakes.
Furthermore, not just anyone could access this space of captivity. On the contrary, it formed “part of the architectural structures where the elites lived.” Many of the animals that lived there were collected as tribute from subjugated peoples, or arrived as gifts from other political leaders as a gesture of goodwill toward the tlatoani.
Information about the zoo is still scarce
Considering that Moctezuma II was the leader of the most impressive empire Mesoamerica ever saw, it was not surprising that he indulged in eccentric tastes — such as keeping wild animals in captivity. In addition to artificial salt lakes, chroniclers reported gigantic cages and large boulevards for touring the grounds.
Besides serving as a source of enjoyment for theMexica royalty, says Elizalde Méndez, it appears that the fauna collected by Moctezuma formed part of “a very important network for supplying objects for ritual use.” In other words, master artisans obtained “feathers, hides and bones” from these animals to create prestige goods. According to the archaeological remains found, it seems that some specimens were used as offerings inside the Templo Mayor.
Although historical records and accounts of this site are numerous, archaeologists and historians are cautious about which animals were actually there — and especially about the exact location where Moctezuma’s zoo was built. Elizalde Méndezacknowledges that “the information we have is scarce.”
Andrea Fischer contributes to the features desk at Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to be an advocate for anything that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.
Members of the Aquí No movement speak to media in Topolobampo, where activists have established a protest camp to block equipment from reaching the controversial ammonia plant on Ohuira Bay. (José Luis Luna)
TOPOLOBAMPO, Sinaloa — A new chapter is developing in the long battle for Ohuira Bay.
Following the arrival of massive industrial components destined for a controversial ammonia plant on Ohuira Bay, Sinaloa, members of the 12-year-old “Aquí No” (Not Here) movement have established a round-the-clock protest camp near one of the access gates of the Topolobampo Port, vowing to prevent additional equipment from reaching the construction site.
@beatrizpadilla_org Dos voces, una misma lucha. 🗣️🌊 Una empresaria y un Gobernador Tradicional de la nación indígena Yoreme Mayo comparten una perspectiva que no siempre sale en las noticias: el impacto real del proyecto de la planta de amoniaco en Topolobampo. Desde la visión de los servicios turísticos hasta la defensa del ecosistema y de los pueblos originarios, ellos nos explican por qué dicen “Aquí No”. No te pierdas estas dos entrevistas donde narran pomenores de esta lucha por proteger el Golfo de California contra otro mega-proyecto industrial basado en combustibles fósiles. 📺 Mira las entrevistas completas en YouTube: 👉 Beatriz Padilla-J6b #Topolobampo#Sinaloa#MedioAmbiente#VocesDelOcéano#YouTube#Entrevista♬ sonido original – Beatriz Padilla
With construction nearing completion, opponents are mounting one of their last opportunities to stop the project before it begins operating. The plant is being developed by Gas y Petroquímica de Occidente (GPO), part of the Switzerland-based Proman Group. Designed to produce 2,200 tonnes of anhydrous ammonia per day and store 75,000 tonnes on site, it would be one of the largest facilities of its kind in Latin America. Industry sources reported that construction was roughly 88% complete in May, though the company has said production is not expected to begin until 2027.
Ammonia is a highly toxic industrial chemical used primarily in fertilizer production. Opponents say the project poses public safety risks in the event of a major chemical release and environmental risks to the fisheries and marine ecosystems of Ohuira Bay.
The environmental risk study of the company itself cited the risk of a toxic cloud reaching 45 kilometers in diameter in the event of a pipeline rupture — threatening more than 400,000 people. Critics also point to the plant’s plans to discharge warmer, more saline water into the bay, which they say could significantly reduce shrimp production and disrupt marine ecosystems throughout the lagoon system.
The current protest is part of a broader international campaign known as Whales or Gas, a coalition of more than 40 organizations opposing what they describe as the accelerating industrialization of the Gulf of California. The movement argues that a growing network of LNG terminals, pipelines, petrochemical facilities, ports and shipping routes threatens one of the world’s most biodiverse seas, home to whales, dolphins, sea turtles and hundreds of fishing communities that depend on its waters.
On the front lines
To block construction on the plant, activists have established a camp across from one of the port’s access gates. While one component had already been transported to the construction site, another remained inside the port. On Tuesday, protesters blocked a crane from entering through one gate to assist in moving the remaining component, according to Yoreme fisherman and collective member Carlos Valenzuela. The crane later gained access through another entrance, and the blockade ultimately failed.
Despite the setback, protesters remained on alert and said the encampment would continue indefinitely.
Among those sleeping at the encampment is Yoreme leader Melina Maldonado, who only weeks ago traveled to Berlin to challenge the German public financing behind the project.
There, she delivered a warning to German parliamentarians and representatives of KfW, the state-owned development bank helping back the project:
“We are not going to allow a single liter of ammonia to be produced,” Maldonado told them. “Your money is at risk.”
On Sunday as the city celebrated Día de la Marina, fishermen and other residents staged a flotilla protest in Topolobampo Bay, decorating boats with banners reading “Aquí No,” carrying Yoreme flags and signs opposing the ammonia plant. In an unexpected show of support, the queen of the annual maritime celebration, Zaira Dávalos, left the official vessel and climbed aboard a fishing skiff carrying an “Aquí No” banner.
Protest signs plaster the gated port entrance in Topolobampo. (José Luis Luna)
According to Maldonado, Dávalos is the daughter of a fourth-generation fishing family and her gesture carried special significance in a community whose identity is deeply tied to the bay. “She said that, as queen of the men of the sea, she opposes the petrochemical project they want to put in her sea,” said Maldonado.
“Right now we’re at a peak in this movement,” Maldonado reflected. “People who never really understood what the ammonia plant was are seeing these huge reactors arriving in our territory, and there is fear throughout the community. I can say this is one of the moments that has hurt my soul the most and strengthened my commitment to keep defending this territory with everything I have, because children should not have to live with fear.”
A sacred bay under threat
Ohuira Bay forms part of the Santa María-Topolobampo-Ohuira lagoon system, a Ramsar wetland of international importance known for its mangroves, migratory birds, sea turtles and productive fisheries. The bay supports a significant shrimp industry and some 4,000 fishing families that have depended on its waters for generations and serves as a nursery for many marine species and holds deep spiritual significance for the Yoreme.
“Everything starts here in the bay, in the mangroves,” said diver and tour operator Sinhue Peña, who has spent more than a decade working in Topolobampo’s waters. “If you affect the mangroves, you affect everything that comes after.”
Peña, who is also promoting a proposal to protect nearby Farallón Island as a natural protected area, said the bay’s ecological value is inseparable from the communities that depend on it.
Opponents point to the company’s environmental impact assessment (MIA in Spanish), which states the plant would withdraw about 2,000 cubic meters of seawater per hour and discharge warmer, saltier water back into the bay. Studies cited by the movement, including research by CIIDIR-Sinaloa, estimate shrimp production could decline by as much as 60% — more than 500 tonnes annually.
Opponents of the plant staged a floating protest in Topolobampo Bay on Sunday. (José Luis Luna)
For Valenzuela, who was sleeping at the blockade alongside his 11-year-old daughter Esmeralda, the struggle is also cultural and spiritual.
“Our ancestors taught us that the sea has life, that the sea feels,” he said. “Within our worldview we have a strong bond with nature, with the animals, with the sea, with the rain, with the sky, with the water… but we know that if this plant begins operating, our lives and all of this are at risk.”
Movement leaders insist they are not opposed to development itself. The name of their campaign — Aquí No — reflects their argument that industrial projects of this scale should not be located in one of Mexico’s most productive coastal wetlands.
Asked what message she wanted to send beyond Ohuira Bay, Maldonado rejected the idea that Indigenous communities should be forced to sacrifice their territories in the name of development.
“My children, too, have souls; they have life, they have feelings,” Maldonado said. “Let them help me protect the future and the present of these children here—children who should not have to pay the price of development.”
Who gets to decide?
For opponents, the consultation process remains the original wound at the center of the conflict.
They argue that the communities whose lives are most closely tied to Ohuira Bay never gave their consent. According to Felipe Montaño, traditional governor of the Yoreme-Mayo community of Ohuira, the four Yoreme communities surrounding the bay voted against the ammonia plant. But when seven additional communities were added to the process, the communities that would live with the project’s impacts became a minority in the very consultation meant to determine their future.
¡Alicia Bárcena, aquí están las pruebas! Astillero EXHIBE irregularidades en Ohuira
“The communities that live off the bay and depend on it said no,” he said. “But their voices were diluted by communities that would not suffer the direct impacts.”
Movement leaders also allege that some communities were offered public works projects and other benefits while opponents faced pressure and threats. In November 2025, eleven UN special rapporteurs raised alarms warning of grave human rights violations throughout the plant’s development, such as the disruption of specific ways of life and cultural practices related to nature and the land. The company and government authorities have denied those allegations and maintain that the consultation complied with legal requirements.
KfW, the German development bank helping finance the project, declined to discuss the contents of recent meetings with members of the Aquí No movement, citing confidentiality. In a statement to Mexico News Daily, the bank said it continues to review the project under the Equator Principles and referred questions about environmental and human rights concerns to a 15-page response it submitted last year to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In a written response to Mexico News Daily, Semarnat said Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena will travel to the region to meet with Mayo-Yoreme communities, fishermen and other local stakeholders, acting on instructions from President Claudia Sheinbaum. The announcement comes after opponents spent more than a year seeking a direct meeting with Bárcena and publicly criticizing the ministry for failing to engage with affected communities.
A shifting tide
For Claudia Campero of the Ballenas o Gas campaign, the recent wave of victories across Mexico’s coasts has changed the psychology of movements that once seemed destined to lose.
“These projects are always presented as inevitable,” Campero said. “People are told that the decision has already been made and that there is nothing left to do. What we’re seeing now is that communities are beginning to understand that’s not necessarily true.”
Members of the Aquí No movement established a round-the-clock protest camp near the gates of Topolobampo Port this week, in a last-ditch effort to block the ammonia plant. (José Luis Luna)
Campero said the fight over Ohuira Bay is part of a broader struggle over the future of the Gulf of California, where communities are pushing back against an accelerating wave of industrial development.
“The question is what kind of Gulf we want,” she said. “One dominated by petrochemical projects, export infrastructure and industrial shipping, or one that continues to sustain fishing communities, biodiversity and local economies.”
The cancellation of the Vista Pacífico LNG project in Topolobampo earlier this year, she said, demonstrated that organized communities can still influence outcomes even after years of planning and investment.
“People see those victories and realize they are not alone,” Campero said. “They realize these projects can still be challenged.”
Beatriz Padilla of Voices of the Ocean contributed to this report. See her interviews with frontline activists, including Felipe Montaño, HERE.
Tracy L. Barnett is a Guadalajara-based freelance writer and the founder of The Esperanza Project.
The explosion of four LP gas tanks sent this fireball into the Puebla sky and schoolchildren running away from it. Authorities are investigating if the tanks and the tankers parked nearby were related to gas theft. (Screengrab from Facebook video)
Four LP gas tanks exploded in the state of Puebla Thursday morning, the state Civil Protection chief said, causing a huge fireball to shoot into the sky and prompting the evacuation of approximately 2,000 people.
The tanks exploded on a property in Tepeaca, a small city located about 35 kilometers east of Puebla city. No deaths were immediately reported, but three people were injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the newspaper La Jornada.
Bernabé López Santos, head of the Puebla Civil Protection authority (PC Puebla), said in a video message that four “tanks of gas” had exploded inside a warehouse on a property in Tepeaca. He didn’t identify the cause of the explosion.
PC Puebla initially reported that four gas tankers, rather than tanks, had exploded. López said that gas tankers were found in another warehouse on the same property. Photos appeared to show that at least one heavy vehicle had caught fire, if not actually exploded.
PC Puebla said in a post to X that “approximately 2,000 people were evacuated from a hospital, schools and neighboring homes as a preventive measure” after the explosion, which was caught on camera and disseminated on social media.
In another X post, PC Puebla said that 25 state Civil Protection workers, 29 state police and five municipal Civil Protection employees were working to cool down the “affected units” and secure the perimeters of the disaster site.
Photos showed that firefighters were also on the scene. They reportedly brought the blaze under control.
La Jornada reported that there was speculation that gas tankers on the property were used to store and transport stolen gas. López indicated that the “relevant authorities” would conduct an investigation into the use of the gas tankers found on the site.
