Foreign companies are increasingly investing in sectors formerly dominated by domestic companies, including food and beverage production, the chemical industry and agricultural processing. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico continues to attract record amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI), with new investments soaring well above US $3 billion during the first six months of 2025, more than triple the same period last year. Total FDI, which includes reinvested profits, also showed a significant increase.
The six-month figure reflected a 10.2% increase in total FDI over the same period in 2024 (which itself was a record). The increase is the continuation of a positive trend going back to 2021, when Mexico began to recover from the first year of the pandemic.Last year’s January-June FDI performance was 7.1% better than the same period in 2023.
Most impressively, Mexico is set to capture US $3.1 billion in new investments as part of its FDI inflows thus far this year. The SE said that amount is the most new FDI reported in the past 12 quarters.
“[The new investments] reaffirm the interest that foreign investors maintain in our country, despite the global economic and political landscape,” the SE said.
The inflows are arriving despite the protectionist trade policies implemented by the U.S. (Mexico’s No. 1 trading partner) and a weakening global economic outlook that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ascribes to “substantial trade barriers that are diminishing confidence and heightening policy uncertainty.”
So how is Mexico pulling this off?
Mexico boasts a robust network of trade agreements and a strategic location next to the world’s biggest economy (even as access to the U.S. market shrinks), making it an attractive destination for foreign investors seeking fertile ground for capital deployment.
A trade markets report by Banco Santander points out that Mexico also offers a big domestic market, a wide variety of natural resources, a well-qualified workforce and a diversified economy. Incentives introduced in 2023 for nearshoring in the semiconductor, electromobility and medical device sectors have also proven attractive.
These structural advantages have combined to create a favorable setting for business expansion even as global FDI declined by 11% in 2024, according to the United Nations.
The Pérez Correa González corporate law firm noted earlier this year that FDI is “increasingly entering sectors that have historically been less accessible to foreign capital.”
Its report identified sectors such as the food and beverage, chemical and agricultural processing industries as targets of new investment, although manufacturing still accounts for 36% of total FDI.
Mexico’s positive business environment is reflected in the fact that reinvestment of earnings remained high, reaching nearly US $29 billion. Such reinvestment accounted for 84.4% of total FDI through June.
Manufacturing draws 36% of foreign direct investment in Mexico. (Gobierno de México)
Even though reinvestment of earnings registered a 4.5% decline compared to the first six months of last year, that decrease was offset by the record amount of new investments, which accounted for 9.2%.
Reinvestment of earnings corresponds to the portion of profits not distributed as dividends and is considered FDI because it represents an increase in capital resources owned by the foreign investor.
U.S. companies continue to be the dominant investors, accounting for nearly 43% of total FDI, down from 44.1% in 2024. Still, U.S. investments grew by US $986 million, rising from US $13.7 billion to US $14.7 billion.
Spain is second at 17.3% (US $5.9 billion), followed by Canada at 5.1% (US $1.75 billion), Japan at 4.2% (US $1.44 billion) and Germany at 3.7% (US $1.28 billion).
The expansion of L'Oréal's plants in Mexico City and San Luis Potosí will add to the 2,800 direct jobs the beauty products manufactuer already provides. (L'Oréal)
French multinational beauty products company L’Oréal will invest more than US $80 million next year to expand production at its two factories in Mexico, creating 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The upgrades to its plants in San Luis Potosí and Mexico City will include sustainable technologies and automation to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of production processes.
“The Mexican market is really very attractive,” said Luis Miguel Moreno, director of corporate affairs for L’Oréal México. “We have been in Mexico for more than 63 years, and we believe we will continue to grow above the country’s economic growth.”
Mexico is one of L’Oréal’s top 10 markets, valued at nearly US $14 billion in 2024.
L’Oreal employs more than 2,800 people directly in Mexico, while generating an additional 15 jobs for each formal position via partnerships with salons and dermatologists, according to the consulting firm Asterès.
The synergistic effect is “distributed among suppliers of raw materials, packaging, distributors, beauty salons and other businesses related to its consumer ecosystem,” according to Asterès.
The city’s Economic Development Ministry (Sedeco) describes the L’Oréal plant in San Luis Potosí as a benchmark for industrial infrastructure, lauded as the largest hair color production plant in the world in terms of production capacity when it opened in December 2012. It runs on 100% renewable electricity.
Sedeco said the plant — featuring a total area of 178,700 square meters and built at a cost of US $100 million — has a capacity of 39 packaging lines and operates with renewable energy.
The company’s Mexico City factory, located in the southernmost borough of Xochimilco, is notable for its use of recycled water. Its reduced water consumption — 25% savings, according to Sedeco — benefits the local community given the shortage of water in the community.
The San Luis Potosí factory exports 70 percent of output, primarily to the U.S., while the Xochimilco plant serves domestic demand and exports to Latin America.
The DEA's goal of reducing the flow of drugs to the U.S. is at odds with Mexico's attempts to reduce violence within the country, Pérez Ricart writes. (File photo)
The relationship between Mexico and the United States is passing through a moment as delicate as it is peculiar.
From the White House, Donald Trump wields immense power and uses it without hesitation to extort Mexico on every possible front. The logic is brutally simple: The Mexican government is prepared to concede almost anything in order to safeguard the renegotiation of the USMCA and preserve the promise of low tariffs.
That willingness to yield has created fertile ground for a variety of U.S. agencies — each pursuing its own agenda — to push forward positions that had been closed to them for years. Among them, none has been more persistent than the Drug Enforcement Administration.
During the previous administration in Mexico, the DEA was shut out: Joint operations were curtailed, drones were grounded, and overall police cooperation with Washington was scaled back. Today, however, the window has reopened. Faced with the urgency of maintaining economic stability and eager to avoid confrontation, Mexico’s government has become more inclined to make concessions, and the DEA is seeking to regain the prominence it lost both inside and outside the United States.
The problem is that, of all U.S. agencies, the DEA is the one that has most consistently shown contempt for Mexican sovereignty. It is no coincidence that its mere mention provokes unease among Mexican bureaucrats and officials. Unlike other agencies with which cooperation, while difficult, is still possible, the DEA has insisted on imposing its punitive vision of the “war on drugs,” regardless of the costs its actions have inflicted south of the border.
It must be stated clearly: far from being a factor of peace, the DEA has been a driver of violence. Its primary goal — to reduce the flow of drugs reaching the United States — stands in sharp contrast with Mexico’s fundamental objective: to reduce criminal violence within its own territory. These are not only different goals, but in many cases outright contradictory. Recent history shows that the obsession with cutting drug flows to the north often translates into greater violence to the south. As I demonstrated in my 2022 book “Cien años de espías y drogas” (“One Hundred Years of Spies and Drugs”), U.S. enforcement strategies have consistently generated more violence in Mexico than they have prevented.
The DEA’s metrics are, in large measure, Mexico’s failures. Each spectacular seizure celebrated in Washington usually translates into violent reconfigurations among cartels, surges in homicides, or waves of institutional corruption in Mexico. The agency has little interest in those collateral effects. Its gaze is fixed on indicators that serve to justify budgets before the U.S. Congress, not to alleviate the crisis of violence that is bleeding Mexico dry.
This is why any discussion of cooperation must begin from an elementary principle: the United States is an indispensable partner, but it cannot unilaterally dictate the rules. Cooperation cannot be built on the DEA’s agenda, nor on the political needs of Washington’s most conservative sectors. It must be the result of shared interests, defined jointly and in a manner that respects Mexican sovereignty.
Anything else would be a profound mistake. Even more so in a context where rumors circulate of potential unilateral interventions, whether through armed drones or covert operations on Mexican soil. Any such attack, regardless of its immediate effects, would place President Sheinbaum in an untenable position and would derail the negotiations her government is pursuing with Washington for a broader framework of security cooperation.
Accepting that logic would mean turning back decades.
It would mean returning to the years when the DEA operated in Mexico with near-total discretion, as though Mexican territory were simply an extension of its jurisdiction. It would mean opening the door to an endless cycle of impositions, failures, and violence.
Mexico cannot — must not — fall into that trap.
Bilateral cooperation is necessary, but not at any cost. To accept a DEA-led intervention or to tolerate unilateral operations would be to sacrifice sovereignty in exchange for the illusion of stability. In Mexico’s political history, that illusion has never yielded anything good.
Carlos A. Pérez Ricart is a professor and researcher in the Division of International Studies at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City, where he directs the the certification program Design and Implementation of Public Policy for Security and Justice CIDE-LAB-CO.
Foreign direct investment and Canadian tourism topics of note at Thursday's presidential presser. (Presidencia)
Foreign investment and tourism were among the topics President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Thursday morning press conference.
Here is a recap of the president’s Aug. 21 mañanera.
Record FDI in first half of 2025
Sheinbaum presented data from the Economy Ministry showing that Mexico received US $34.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first six months of the year, up 10% from the same period of 2024.
She highlighted that the amount is a new record, exceeding the previous record set in the first six months of 2024.
Sheinbaum also pointed out that the FDI total between January and June is more than double the foreign investment Mexico received in the first six months of 2017.
“Not even tariffs could bring down the Mexican economy,” she said, referring to the various duties the United States imposed on imports from Mexico in the first half of this year.
In the first half of 2025, foreign investment in Mexico was up 10% compared to last year. (Juan Carlos Buenrostro/Presidencia)
Sheinbaum: ‘A lot of Canadians are coming to Mexico’
Mexico aiming to become world’s 5th most-visited country
Sheinbaum highlighted that Mexico is currently the world’s sixth most-visited country.
Mexico welcomed 45 million international tourists in 2024 to rank sixth. The only countries with more visitors last year were France, Spain, the United States, Turkey and Italy.
Mexico was the world’s sixth most-visited country in 2024, Sheinbaum said. (Juan Carlos Buenrostro/Presidencia)
The special passes give the Mexican refugees temporary residency status along with healthcare and other services. (Isabel Mateos/Cuartoscuro)
Guatemala granted humanitarian status to 161 Mexicans who crossed into that country last week fleeing organized crime in Frontera Comalapa, a municipality along the Mexico-Guatemala border in the state of Chiapas.
Mostly families, women and children, these individuals were living in rented accommodations, temporary shelters and relatives’ homes in the Guatemalan border town of La Mesilla.
The Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM) issued humanitarian visas that grant legal residency for 30 days, though the period can be extended. (IGM/X)
“A total of 39 families were interviewed and received this humanitarian pass, in addition to receiving inter-institutional assistance in the department of Huehuetenango,” the Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM) said in a statement.
The pass is typically granted by Guatemala in cases of humanitarian crises, natural disasters, or violent conflicts that put lives at risk. In this case, it allows the displaced families to reside temporarily in Guatemala and access basic services such as healthcare and education. It was granted for a period of 30 days, with the possibility of extension.
Guatemalan authorities have provided medical, psychological, food and hygiene assistance to the displaced, as well as inter-institutional security in the area.
Meanwhile, Chiapas Governor Eduardo Ramírez denied there were any forced displacements.
#AsistenciaHumanitaria | El equipo del IGM se encuentra en Huehuetenango, brindando asistencia humanitaria junto a diferentes instituciones y ha otorgado estatus de Permanencia por Razones Humanitarias a las familias mexicanas desplazadas en nuestro país. pic.twitter.com/ght8ABOvlF
On Wednesday, he wrote on his official X account that the people who fled to Guatemala are not displaced people but rather relatives of alleged criminals, some already detained, who are sheltering in the neighboring country. He accused organized crime operating in Guatemala of wanting to discredit Chiapas’s public security strategy by claiming there are forced displacements.
“I categorically deny that,” Ramírez said.
Despite the governor’s denial of forced displacements, the IGM reports that there has been “communication on the issue” with Mexico’s National Migration Institute. Moreover, both Mexico and Guatemala have acknowledged the security crisis along their border by signing a series of agreements that include initiatives aimed at enhancing security along the border in response to organized crime.
Why did they have to cross the border?
Chiapas, a key link to drug trafficking routes to Central America and the United States, is experiencing a fierce struggle between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel. This violent territorial dispute has plunged the region into a wave of violence that includes armed clashes, roadblocks, extortion, and forced recruitment, causing the internal displacement of hundreds of people.
This unusual flow of Mexicans into Guatemala reverses the usual northbound migration route and puts the Central American nation in the role of host country, testing its humanitarian response capacity and protocols for handling forced displacement crises.
CIBanco signed a deal to sell off its trust division, while Intercam is set to be absorbed by Kapital Bank. (Intercam/Facebook, Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
CIBanco has sold its fiduciary (trust) division to Multiva, while Intercam is to be acquired by Kapital Bank. Multiva is a Mexican financial institution, while Kapital Bank is incorporated in the United States but headquartered in Mexico City.
Multiva will take over the fiduciary division of CIBanco, which manages trusts. (Via El Economista)
Mexico’s Finance Ministry (SHCP) announced the sale agreements in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the coordinated work of Mexican financial authorities with members of the national banking sector, agreements have been reached for CIBanco … and Intercam … in the context of the temporary interventions initiated on June 26 by the National Banking and Securities Commission,” the SHCP said.
The ministry said that “after a process of evaluation of different options,” it was decided to “transfer” CIBanco’s fiduciary division to Banco Multiva.
“With this operation the continuity of existing contracts and the full protection of trusts and their beneficiaries is guaranteed,” the SHCP said.
The ministry said that Kapital Bank “will acquire a significant part of the operations of Intercam,” including Intercam shares and “various entities” of the bank.
“This process will allow continued service to be provided to [Intercam’s] customers and savers,” the SHCP said.
The ministry said that the “operations” involving the sell-off of CIBanco and Intercam assets “guarantee the continuity of financial services and the protection of the rights of savers in strict accordance with the Credit Institutions Law and its applicable provisions.”
CIBanco: ‘Our objective has been to protect the interests of our customers’
CIBanco released its own statement, in which it said that it had sold its trust business to Multiva “after a highly competitive and transparent process aimed at selecting the best option for its customers.”
The bank said that Multiva, which has branches in 10 states, is known for its “strength and experience,” and is committed to “maintaining and strengthening the service that we’ve provided to our customers.”
“This decision was taken in close coordination with financial authorities and the shareholders of CIBanco, after an exhaustive technical, operational, and regulatory analysis, considering the situation faced by the institution,” CIBanco said.
“Our objective has been to protect the interests of our customers and to ensure that operations continue under an institution with the capability and responsibility to preserve and enhance the quality of service you deserve,” it said.
The bank said that a “key aspect” of the transition is that CIBanco’s fiduciary team will join Multiva “as part of the process.”
“This guarantees that clients will continue to be served by the same team of professionals who already know their operations,” CIBanco said.
“… We are deeply grateful for the trust you’ve placed in us,” the bank said to its customers.
“Our commitment doesn’t end with this transaction. We will continue working, together with Multiva, during the transition process to ensure it is carried out orderly, safely and without interruptions to your operations,” CIBanco said.
Intercam: ‘The goal is to provide continued support’
Intercam said in a statement that Kapital Bank and Intercam Grupo Financiero “have taken a strategic step forward by finalizing an agreement for the transfer of Intercam’s assets and affiliates.”
Intercam’s assets will be acquired by Kapital Bank, Intercam said in a statement posted to its website. (Intercam)
“The agreement includes the acquisition of Intercam Casa de Bolsa, Intercam Fondos, as well as the assets, liabilities, branches and trusts of Intercam Banco,” the bank said.
“The goal is to provide continued support to more than 238,000 Intercam clients, strengthen our financial capabilities, ensure uninterrupted service, and remain at the forefront of innovation and technology,” Intercam said.
The bank said that “all Intercam products, services and channels will remain fully available and continue uninterrupted, now under Kapital Bank, with the same personalized service that has defined Intercam Grupo Financiero for over three decades.”
That remark appeared to indicate that Intercam’s existing branches will remain open.
Kapital Bank has branches in Mexico City, México state, Jalisco, Guerrero and Hidalgo, according to its website, and has an alliance with Scotiabank that allows customers to use that bank’s ATMs without incurring charges.
Intercam said in its statement that “the transfer of trusts will be carried out in an orderly manner, in full compliance with existing contracts.”
“… The integration process — announced today by the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) — will be gradual, transparent, and subject to approval by the Mexican regulatory authorities,” the bank said.
Kapital Bank, based in Mexico City, has agreed to acquire the assets of Intercam Bank. (Kapital Bank)
For its part, Kapital Bank said that “upon closing” it will invest US $100 million in its banking operations to “reinforce operations and ensure obligations to clients and investors are fulfilled.”
“Intercam’s clients will continue using their regular products and channels, now with improved compliance and efficiency due to Kapital’s best-in-class technology and AI, automation, and operational intelligence,” the bank said in a statement.
Kapital Bank noted that it is incorporated in Delaware and “backed by U.S. institutional investors including Tribe Capital, Cervin Ventures, and Tru Arrow.”
“The transaction will yield Kapital approximately 180,000 additional clients. … Following the transaction, Kapital will serve close to 300,000 customers and manage over $3 billion in assets for customers in the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia,” the bank said.
An eventful week for CIBanco and Intercam
Earlier this week, CIBanco initiated legal action against the United States Department of the Treasury, which in June accused CIBanco, Intercam and the brokerage firm Vector of laundering millions of dollars for drug cartels involved in the trafficking of fentanyl and other narcotics to the U.S.
The publication Law.com reported on Tuesday that “litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee has filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration unlawfully blacklisted Mexico’s 20th largest financial institution under false money laundering allegations.”
“The complaint alleges the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network arbitrarily blocked plaintiff CIBanco S.A. from accessing the U.S. financial system in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the report said.
Law.com said that lawyers “deny the money laundering allegations on behalf of their client CIBanco, an international commercial bank headquartered in Mexico City.”
CIBanco has filed suit against the U.S. Treasury after the U.S. announced sanctions against CIBanco for providing financial services to cartels include the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Gulf Cartel. (File photo)
Also on Tuesday, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said in a statement that that it had “extended the effective dates for orders issued on June 25, 2025, prohibiting certain transmittal of funds involving three Mexico-based financial institutions.”
FinCEN said that “covered financial institutions” in the United States “will now have until October 20, 2025, to implement the orders prohibiting certain transmittal of funds involving” CIBanco, Intercam and Vector, “each of which FinCEN found to be of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.”
It said that the extension “reflects continued steps taken by the Government of Mexico to meaningfully address the concerns raised in FinCEN’s orders, to include maintaining temporary management of the affected institutions to promote regulatory compliance and the prevention of illicit finance.”
“Treasury will continue to coordinate closely with the Government of Mexico on these matters and will carefully consider all facts and circumstances with respect to the implementation of the orders,” FinCEN added.
Even though the United States’ prohibition of transfers involving CIBanco, Intercam and Vector has not officially taken effect, many Mexico News Daily readers told us last month that they had experienced problems completing transfers to and from their CIBanco and Intercam accounts.
One MND reader wrote in the comments section of this article on Wednesday that he is an Intercam client and has “not been able to wire transfer money nor deposit a check drawn on a U.S. bank since this whole thing started.”
“It was not postponed,” he said, referring to the prohibition on transactions involving U.S. banks and Intercam. “It went into immediate effect.”
In contrast, another Intercam customer told MND last month that she had been able to make transfers to her account from the United States.”
“As an Intercam customer, making a quick call to my bank rep. informed me how I could make transfers from the U.S. into Intercam during this period (and I have successfully),” the person, who asked to remain anonymous, wrote in an email.
The assertions from Mexico’s Finance Ministry, CIBanco and Intercam that the banks’ services will not be affected by their respective sales to Multiva and Kapital Bank may not be particularly reassuring for customers if they are currently experiencing problems transferring money to and/or from their accounts.
For CIBanco and Intercam customers who are currently able to transfer money to and from the United States, that situation will change by Oct. 20, according to FinCEN’s updated schedule, unless another extension is granted.
The sale of Intercam to Kapital Bank could also change the scenario for Intercam customers whose accounts are transferred to Kapital — especially if the transaction is completed before the Oct. 20 deadline.
During a press event , U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem gave a demonstration of what U.S. President Donald Trump has in mind for the Mexico-U.S. border wall. (DHS)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in New Mexico on Wednesday to help publicize U.S. President Donald Trump’s new security measure — painting the Mexico-U.S. border wall black.
Armed with a paint roller and a can of black paint, Noem said the strategy was specifically requested by Trump because he believes black paint will make the wall too hot to climb.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump is now painting the ENTIRE Southern Border Wall with Mexico BLACK
So it’s hard to climb. The black paint will rapidly heat up with the sun – people will hurt their hands if they try. BRILLIANT
“We are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally,” Noem said after painting a small section of the wall.
“When you touch something that is hot during these kinds of temperatures, it is very difficult to climb it, to touch it, to handle it,” she said.
Supporters of the president lauded the plan on social media.
Florida media personality Eric Daugherty said he loved the idea: “The black paint will rapidly heat up with the sun — people will hurt their hands if they try. BRILLIANT”
“This isn’t just a wall anymore — it’s a passive security system, using the laws of physics as defense,” wrote another.
Others were not so sure.
Pedro Ríos of The American Friends Service Committee — a Quaker-founded organization working for peace and social justice — said he didn’t think the black paint would serve as a deterrent.
“We don’t know how many people are climbing the border wall, but we do usually see … ladders thrown about,” he told Fox 5 San Diego. “The smuggling networks are always getting smart ideas about how to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, including maybe using gloves to prevent them burning their hands.”
Ríos suggested a more humanitarian approach that avoids conditions where people could be harmed. He pointed out that border-crossers are simply seeking refuge “after leaving difficult situations in their home countries.”
“How do we create mechanisms [to ensure] that people’s humanitarian and human rights are respected and not cause conditions that will create greater harm and suffering for people,” Ríos said.
The plan to use black paint as a deterrent is not new. Trump floated the idea during his first term (2017-2021), butit was scuttled in 2020 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the project would cost an extra US $1 million per mile.
Defending the plan, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, who attended Wednesday’s event with Noem, said the black paint would help deter rust, extending the life expectancy of the wall.
Mourners left flowers and art at the site of the May attack that killed Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz, aides to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
Exactly three months after two aides of Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada were murdered in a brazen attack in the capital, 13 people were arrested in connection with the crime, authorities announced Wednesday.
En memoria de nuestros compañeros y en respeto a sus familias y amigos, este gobierno no descansará hasta que la verdad sea conocida y la justicia se haga efectiva. pic.twitter.com/6W9rJweOmb
Brugada announced the 13 arrests — the first in the case — at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
“During the early morning today, in coordination with the federal government, an important operation related to the murder of our colleagues Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz was carried out,” she said.
“… Thirteen people were detained, including three people who participated directly in the murder and others connected to the logistical preparation for the attack,” Brugada said.
The three people alleged to have “participated directly” in the crime were identified as Jesús “N”, Arlette “N” y Nery “N.” They were allegedly nearby when the two aides were killed and assisted the getaway of the perpetrator.
Eight of the 13 people detained are men, while the other five are women. All of the suspects were only identified by their first names.
Brugada said that the arrests “represent the first advances of an ongoing investigation.”
She assured residents of Mexico City that her government “will continue with its relentless fight against insecurity.”
On the day her aides were murdered, the mayor pledged that there would be “no impunity,” asserting that those responsible for the crime will be detained.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, a former Mexico City mayor, also pledged that justice would be served.
Suspects were arrested in CDMX and México state
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that the 13 suspects were arrested in operations carried out in the Mexico City boroughs of Gustavo A. Madero and Xochimilco, and in the México state municipalities of Otumba and Coacalco.
The suspects were arrested Mexico City and neighboring México state, Security Minister García Harfuch said. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The suspects face charges including homicide and criminal association.
At the same press conference, Mexico City Security Minister Pablo Vázquez said that the man who shot Guzmán and Muñoz while they were in the former’s car outside the Xola Metro station has not been detained. He also said that the people who planned the attack on the mayoral aides — the autores intelectuales, or masterminds — have not yet been arrested.
“Regarding the motive, there are various lines of investigation. This first stage of the investigation has focused on the perpetration [of the crime] and the logistical support and coordination for the event. We will continue advancing … to eventually get to the masterminds,” Vázquez said.
He also said that authorities are working to detain the man who fired the shots.
“Regarding that, we have lines of investigation,” Vázquez said, adding that authorities were reserving that information to maintain “secrecy.”
Arresting the shooter “is one of the priorities at this stage of the investigation,” he said.
Vázquez said that the 11 properties raided in Mexico City and México state on Wednesday morning were not only of interest in connection to the double homicide on May 20, but also other crimes, including drug dealing and vehicle theft.
García Harfuch acknowledged that there are many unanswered questions regarding the case.
“We ask for your understanding in this investigation, … which is ongoing. These [arrests] are just the first actions,” he said.
What happened on May 20?
Guzmán and Muñoz were shot dead on the morning of May 20 after the former picked up her colleague at Xola station on Tlalpan Avenue in central Mexico City, as she regularly did.
Security cameras captured a man in a motorcycle helmet shooting the two mayoral aides through the windshield of the vehicle.
The shooter and accomplices fled the scene on a motorbike and in at least one car, according to authorities. The shooter and one accomplice subsequently dumped the motorbike and got into another vehicle that took them to the La Asunción neighborhood in the Mexico City borough of Iztacalco, officials said.
The attack occurred on a Tuesday morning in May, as Ximena Guzmán picked up her colleague José Muñoz before work. (X)
From there the suspects who were allegedly involved in the carrying out of the crime on the day it was committed headed to Ecatepec, México state, in a different vehicle, García Harfuch said. Authorities lost track of them after they entered the densely populated municipality.
Guzmán, 42, and Muñoz, 52, were close and trusted collaborators of Brugada, for whom they worked prior to her assuming the mayorship of Mexico City. Neither was well-known outside political circles, and didn’t have any kind of personal security detail.
Officials were followed for 20 days before they were killed
Mexico City Attorney General Bertha Alcalde said that Guzmán and Muñoz were followed for approximately 20 days before they were murdered on May 20.
There was “advanced planning sustained over time,” she said.
Alcalde said that authorities had established that people in two vehicles had monitored the route Guzmán and Muñoz took to get to work in the historic center of Mexico City.
She said that people who followed the two officials, and who bought and hid cars that were used to plan for and execute the May 20 murder, were among those detained on Wednesday.
The attorney general said that authorities had determined to “a high degree of probability” that a plan was devised to murder Guzmán and Muñoz on May 14. However, the plan was abandoned as Guzmán didn’t pick up Muñoz that day, she said.
Alcalde declined to say whether authorities had established that the suspects belonged to a specific criminal group.
The murder of Guzmán and Muñoz shocked residents of Mexico City, which has a lower homicide rate than many other states in Mexico.
Attacks on politicians and officials are rare in the capital, although García Harfuch was targeted in a 2020 shooting while serving as security minister in the Mexico City government led by Sheinbaum.
Health Routes plans to deliver all necessary medical supplies to more than 8,000 IMSS centers by Saturday. (Rocío Nahle/X)
Mexico’s health authorities have started delivering medications and medical provisions to government run health centers, under a new program designed to resolve lingering supply shortages.
On Tuesday, the first day of the new Rutas de la Salud (Health Routes) program, 3,801 kits of medications and medical supplies were delivered.
The scope of the Health Routes project is necessarily large, given the longstanding shortage problem. Here is just one distribution center in just one state — Veracruz. (Rocío Nahle/X)
“Medications and medical supplies were delivered to 3,043 health centers in the 23 participating states,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said. “As a result, 37.7 percent of primary care units are now stocked.”
Deliveries to the remainder of the 8,061 Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) units will continue through Saturday, Sheinbaum said, while distribution to all of the nation’s hospitals will begin next week.
Targeted disbursements of cancer drugs were delivered last week.
IMSS director Alejandro Svarch said Tuesday that the Health Routes strategy was jointly designed by the Health Ministry and IMSS’s regional teams with the goal of ensuring that every doctor has all necessary supplies.
“The goal is that every patient finds what they need during their medical consultation, with a focus on primary care,” he said, adding that Health Routes will deliver 15 million units comprising top-grade pharmaceuticals and first-level medical supplies by Saturday.
“Previously, medications were delivered in installments. Now, they will be delivered in a logistics package containing all the medications each clinic requires for a month,” Svarch said.
More than 1,000 delivery routes have been mapped out and packages will be delivered monthly to each IMSS Bienestar medical unit.
Svarch said each kit contains 1,900 articles and features 147 essential medical items, including treatments for hypertension and diabetes, as well as basic painkillers.
Journalist Charlotte Smith examines the fallout of the unexpected DEA announcement earlier this week, and what it means for Americans living in Mexico. (DEA)
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s recent announcement of Project Portero was meant to signal progress. Instead, it feels more like the exposing of something far more troubling. It feels like a glaring lack of coordination, or perhaps respect, between two governments that claim to be partners in the fight against fentanyl.
Billed by the DEA as a bold new joint initiative with Mexico to dismantle cross-border trafficking networks, Project Portero seems to have landed with a thud. Within a day, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denied the operation’s very existence, thereby blindsiding observers, undercutting any illusion of bilateral unity, and exposing serious communication failures at the highest levels of international security coordination.
The DEA has announced what it called “a major new initiative to strengthen collaboration between the United States and Mexico in the fight against cartels.” The Mexican government has denied the existence of any such deal. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro/ DEA/X)
“There is no agreement with the DEA,” Sheinbaum stated bluntly during a press conference on August 19. “No federal institution, neither the Security Ministry, the National Guard, nor the Foreign Ministry, has signed off on anything resembling Project Portero.”
The DEA had characterized the initiative as an example of enhanced collaboration between U.S. and Mexican authorities. It highlighted joint workshops, shared strategy sessions, and an intention to target cartel “gatekeepers” key figures who facilitate the flow of synthetic drugs like fentanyl across the border.
According to the DEA, this initiative represented renewed synergy between two nations grappling with a transnational crisis.
However, Sheinbaum painted a much more limited picture. While she acknowledged that a few Mexican officers had recently attended a workshop in Texas hosted by U.S. officials, she insisted the event was “purely instructional” in nature. It did not, she said, represent any formal agreement, coordinated operation, or approved bilateral initiative.
Her remarks, while diplomatically worded, carried an unmistakable tone of irritation, and a firm reminder that any cooperation must follow established channels of approval.
“These types of announcements should not be made unilaterally,” she said. “Respecting national sovereignty is not negotiable.”
The U.S. arrest of former Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos cast a shadow over U.S-Mexico relations in 2020. (Cuartoscuro)
Although Sheinbaum entered office signaling a more open and pragmatic approach, she approved multiple high-level cartel extraditions to the U.S. in her first month. The sudden rollout of Project Portero may have undermined the trust required to sustain that cooperation. In a political environment still sensitive to perceived foreign overreach, the DEA’s announcement seemed tone-deaf at best, and diplomatically reckless at worst.
The DEA, as of this writing, has not issued any follow-up clarification, nor has it responded publicly to the Mexican government’s denial. For many, the agency’s silence has only deepened the uncertainty and frustration surrounding the episode.
While the controversy may seem like a bureaucratic squabble to some, for the more than 1.6 million Americans who live, work, or retire in Mexico, the implications are anything but abstract. Conflicting narratives between Washington, D.C., and Mexico City sow confusion about the actual level of law enforcement coordination on the ground, particularly in states plagued by cartel violence, extortion, and kidnapping.
Many U.S. citizens living in Mexico assume that behind-the-scenes cooperation between American and Mexican authorities provides a safety net, especially in those high-risk areas. But the fallout from Project Portero casts doubt on that assumption, revealing that some security initiatives may be exaggerated or even misrepresented without clear diplomatic backing.
Without clearly defined, legally sanctioned joint protocols, Americans abroad may not know who to contact or what kind of assistance to expect in a crisis. If a U.S. citizen is kidnapped or caught in cartel-related crossfire, will Mexican security forces coordinate with U.S. agencies? Will those agencies even be legally allowed to step in?
The Project Portero debacle also shines a light on a much deeper problem; a lack of effective, institutionalized communication mechanisms between U.S. and Mexican governments when it comes to sensitive security matters.
Who signs off on binational enforcement strategies before they are announced? What level of inter-agency review is required on either side? Are announcements like this coordinated through embassies, security liaisons, or simply left to individual agencies?
At best, the situation reveals a breakdown in bureaucratic process. At worst, it exposes fundamental disagreements about sovereignty, authority, and transparency.
While the DEA likely saw Project Portero as an opportunity to demonstrate proactive engagement with a key ally, the effect may have been the opposite. By publicly referencing a project without confirming Mexican approval, the agency may have embarrassed the Sheinbaum administration and soured diplomatic goodwill just as it was beginning to stabilize.
For Sheinbaum, the incident served as a high-profile opportunity to reaffirm her government’s position on foreign involvement in domestic affairs. “Cooperation, yes. Subordination, no,” she said, repeating a phrase that has quickly become a mantra for her administration and a clear boundary for future negotiations.
As of now, no joint operations under the banner of Project Portero are underway in Mexico. However, Mexican officials have indicated that they are pressing forward with the negotiation of a broader, legally binding bilateral security agreement; one that will spell out the terms of cooperation, information sharing, and operational authority more clearly and definitively.
Whether such an agreement will be reached in the near future remains to be seen. Domestic political pressure in both countries, especially amid rising violence and the ongoing opioid crisis, may either accelerate or complicate the process.
For Americans living in Mexico, the immediate lesson is simple but sobering. Do not assume that security cooperation exists just because one agency announces it. Binational law enforcement operations are inherently complex, politically sensitive, and often entangled in competing narratives.
Even when both sides have good intentions, miscommunication can create dangerous gaps in protection and support. Assumptions can be costly, and partial truths, even from official sources, can leave citizens exposed in moments of crisis. In the realm of international security, perception matters as much as policy. When one government declares an initiative underway and the other publicly denies it, the consequences extend far beyond the press conference podium. They reach into the lives of everyday people. The citizens, tourists, and retirees are left wondering what protection, if any, they can count on.
The fallout from Project Portero wasn’t just a diplomatic misstep, it was a warning. Americans living in Mexico deserve clear, coordinated, and verified information about their safety. They deserve a functioning framework of binational cooperation, not crossed signals and quiet confusion.
Both governments have a responsibility to do better. Not just for one another, but for the millions of lives caught in the space between them.
Charlotte Smith is a contributing writer with over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor. An award-winning journalist, she actively seeks out stories that resonate with the world around us, while also maintaining a travel blog focused on her life adventuring across Mexico, specifically the states of Jalisco and Nayarit.
