Schneider Electric's "Smart Factory" in Monterrey, one of four plants forecast to reach net-zero status in 2025. (se.com)
Two weeks after Schneider Electric inaugurated a US $29.4 million plant in Monterrey, the CEO of the French multinational’s Mexican and Central American operations declared his faith in nearshoring.
Jesús Carmona, CEO of Schneider Mexico and Central America, recently told the newspaper El Economista that he is bullish on nearshoring, insisting that the impact in Mexico over the next 30 years will be enormous.
Jesús Carmona, CEO of Schneider Mexico and Central America. (se.com)
“I believe in nearshoring because I see [its impacts] every day,” he said. “The first place to feel its impact was Monterrey, but we see it in other northern cities and in the Bajío [region]. I have no doubt it will reach southern Mexico as well.”
Describing how Schneider’s presence in Mexico doubled between 2021 and 2023, Carmona said there are three reasons for his company’s accelerated growth here: “nearshoring, increasing demand for efficient solutions to electrical energy needs, and the great abilities of Mexican labor.”
Schneider employs 1,600 people across Mexico in 10 plants, with 1,000 of those workers hired in the past four years. Last year, Schneider invested US $72.5 million in its Mexican energy automation services.
At the June 13 inauguration of the new plant known as Monterrey 4, Schneider’s director of operations in North America, Agustín López, said that the new plant in Monterrey — its fourth facility in the northern Mexico city — would strengthen its local economic ecosystem by 17%–20% over the next two to three years.
“We are always trying to optimize our technological capital via the development of a campus,” he said. “That’s why we build these production centers.”
Monterrey 4 will eventually create 460 jobs (257 people are on the payroll at present) and will be focused on the manufacture of specialized products, such as low-voltage electrical distribution boards — essential for hospitals, data centers; digital companies and organizations with high energy consumption.
Schneider Electric recently inaugurated Monterrey 4, an Engineer to Order (ETO) facility. (@SchneiderMX/X)
Schneider Electric, which has been operating in Mexico since 1945, specializes in digital automation and energy management by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, software, and services.
The 183,000-square-foot plant will boost the company’s production in North America as it will be an Engineer to Order (ETO) facility, which manufactures products to customer specifications and engineering designs.
López said that by next year, its four plants in Monterrey will reach net-zero status (a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere). The new plant is also the first in the world in which it will be possible to reutilize scrap metal.
In addition to the new Monterrey plant, Schneider is also building an 11th plant in the state of Tlaxcala.
¡No manches! It's time to learn another new Mexican slang expression! (Kraken Images/Unsplash)
In Mexico, it’s quite common to replace a vulgar expression with a more acceptable, similar-sounding word. This is akin to how Americans might say “shoot!” instead of “sh*t” or “what the heck” instead of “what the f*ck.” The expression “no manches” illustrates this well. It can mean “no way,” “oh my god,” “really?” “Darn,” “Are you kidding” or “come on.” It can also be used as an expression to show that you are following the conversation, much like the more vulgar “no mames.”
By substituting “manches” for “mames,” (which translates to “suck”) the intention is to soften the expression and make it more socially acceptable. The phrase originates from the verb “manchar,” which means “to stain”. However, in this case, it is not used literally.
“No manches” can also be a great way to emphasize excitement. (Thomas Park/Unsplash)
It can be used in various contexts to express surprise, disbelief, frustration, or to emphasize a statement. Its versatility makes it a staple in Mexican slang. Here are some common ways this expression is used:
Expressing surprise or disbelief:
A: ¡No manches! ¿De verdad te ganaste la lotería? (No way! Did you really win the lottery?)
B: ¡No manches! Obvio no. (Come on! Of course not.)
Emphasizing a statement:
A: Acabo de regresar de Bora Bora. (I just came back from Bora Bora.)
B: ¡No manches, ese lugar está increíble! (Oh my god, that place is amazing!)
Expressing frustration or annoyance:
A: ¡El tráfico está terrible! (Traffic is terrible)
B: No manches vamos a llegar super tarde! (Darn, we are going to be really late)
A: No manches, ¿cómo es posible que hayas perdido las llaves otra vez? (No way, how is it possible that you lost the keys again?)
To follow the conversation:
A: Fue un viaje difícil la verdad, no pudimos llegar porque ya no había vuelos disponibles… (It was tough, to be honest; we couldn’t get there because there weren’t any available flights.)
B: No manches… (Oh gosh)
A: Ya sé… (I know…)
There you have some examples of how to use this expression. Bear in mind that the context, the tone and the intention will determine its meaning and that you can use it in informal situations and with people of all ages as long as you are in a friendly, casual environment.
Paulina Gerez is a translator-interpreter, content creator, and founder of Crack The Code, a series of online courses focused on languages. Through her social media, she helps people see learning a language from another perspective through her fun experiences. Instagram: paulinagerezm / Tiktok: paugerez3 / YT: paulina gerez
The Bank of Mexico decision to cut benchmark interest rates to 10.75% despite high headline inflation shocked some analysts. (Wikimedia Commons)
The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) maintained its key interest rate at 11% on Thursday, but signaled that “the inflationary environment” may be conducive to cuts in the not-too-distant future.
Four of five Banxico board members including Governor Victoria Rodríguez voted in favor of leaving the benchmark interest rate unchanged. Omar Mejía, the board’s newest member, voted in favor of a 25-basis-point cut.
It was the second consecutive monetary policy meeting at which the Banxico board decided to maintain the 11% rate. The bank cut its key rate by 25 basis points from a record high 11.25% in March.
The latest decision came after the national statistics agency INEGI published data on Monday that showed that the annual headline inflation rate increased to 4.78% in the first half of June, up from 4.69% across May. That’s well above Banxico’s 3% target.
Banxico said in a statement on Thursday that its governing board “assessed the behavior of inflation and its determinants, as well as of inflation expectations” before the majority vote in favor of leaving the key interest rate at 11%.
The prices of fruits and vegetables have driven an uptick in the annual headline inflation rate in Mexico. (Shutterstock)
The central bank said that the recent depreciation of the Mexican peso “impacts the inflation forecast upwards,” but added that “its effects are partly offset by those associated with the greater weakness exhibited by economic activity.”
Banxico said that headline inflation is “still expected to converge to the target in the fourth quarter of 2025,” but noted that that forecast is subject to a range of upside risks, including “greater foreign exchange depreciation” and “the intensification of geopolitical conflicts.”
The bank said that its board concluded that “the challenges and risks in both sides of the balance” call for a continuation of prudent monetary policy.
“Looking ahead, the board foresees that the inflationary environment may allow for discussing reference rate adjustments,” Banxico added.
However, it stressed that “actions will be implemented in such a way that the reference rate remains consistent at all times with the trajectory needed to enable an orderly and sustained convergence of headline inflation to the 3% target during the forecast period.”
Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Mexico’s Banco Base, said earlier this week that her team expected two additional interest rate cuts this year, “but toward the end of the year, when conditions are better.”
How did the peso react to Banxico’s rates decision?
Neither the interest rate decision nor President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s announcement earlier on Thursday of five additional appointments to her cabinet had a major impact on the USD:MXN exchange rate.
The peso depreciated around 8% to the US dollar since Sheinbaum’s landslide win on June 2, which also brought her Morena party and its allies majorities in Mexico’s Congress. (Cuartoscuro)
The peso closed at 18.33 to the dollar on Wednesday, and had depreciated to 18.46 just before the Banxico announcement, the El Economista newspaper reported. At 5 p.m. Mexico City time, the peso was trading at 18.47 to the greenback, according to Bloomberg.
The peso has depreciated almost 8% against the dollar since the June 2 elections due to concerns that the ruling Morena party and its allies will be able to get a range of controversial constitutional reform proposals through Congress.
The Morena-led coalition won a two-thirds majority in the lower house and fell just short of a supermajority in the Senate, putting it within reach of the numbers it needs to approve the proposed reforms.
The Bank of Mexico didn’t mention the election results in its statement, but did say that “the presence of idiosyncratic factors generated high volatility in Mexico’s financial markets.”
The Miguel Alemán reservoir in Valle de Bravo, Mexico state, is one of the Cutzalama system's three main reservoirs. According to Conagua, it's currently at 26.5% capacity, even after rains from Tropical Storm Alberto. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
Day Zero has come and gone, and although the Cutzamala system is still delivering water to Mexico City — albeit at a reduced rate — its reservoirs are at historic lows.
Lingering drought and extreme heat prompted pundits to proclaim June 26 as potential Day Zero — when Mexico City’s reservoirs would be so reduced that the complex interbasin transfer could stop functioning, leaving Mexico’s capital without water.
The Cutzamala water system must have a certain minimum amount of water or the pumps that send water up 1,100 meters to Mexico City will no longer function. (ObservaValle/Twitter)
Though the projection was overwrought — the Cutzamala supplies only 28% of Mexico City’s water — the shrinking water supply in the system’s seven reservoirs is a legitimate concern.
It was hoped that rain from Tropical Storm Alberto — which slammed into Mexico’s east coast on June 19 and greatly replenished some of northern Mexico’s drastically depleted reservoirs — would replenish the Cutzamala’s reservoirs somewhat. However, accumulated rainfall in greater Mexico City from Alberto was negligible.
The Mexican National Meteorological Service (SMN) forecast heavy rains across the nation this week, but as the newspaper El Financiero reported on Wednesday, Mexico City’s three main reservoirs remain at critically low levels.
Those three reservoirs — in México state’s Valle de Bravo and Villa Victoria and in El Bosque, Michoacán, — are currently at an average 26.18% capacity, a slight increase over their 26.09% average level before Alberto. However, these numbers represent historic lows for Mexico City’s nearly 50-year-old reservoir system.
To give an idea of how drought and heat have impacted the system, the reservoir levels’ average capacity was 39.5% in January.
Many residents of the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City regularly have limited access to running water and must rely on deliveries from water trucks provided by the city government. (Crisanta Espinsa Aguilar /Cuartoscuro)
Conagua said the reduction is necessary to guarantee water over the medium-term because if water in the reservoirs dips below a certain point, the pumps that send the water up 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) to Mexico City will no longer function.
While rain in greater Mexico City has mildly mitigated the Valley of Mexico’s drought conditions, the reservoirs remain in need of replenishment.
Although Mexico City’s rainy season is expected to last into September, several studies suggest a genuine Day Zero for the Cutzamala is a real possibility.
A joint investigation conducted by the United Nations and the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City (UAM) projected that a genuine Day Zero is possible in 2028.
The Instituto Belisario Domínguez (IBD) — a state-funded research institute — wrote a report indicating that Day Zero talk should go beyond setting a date and instead prompt a discussion about creating a sustainable reservoir system for Mexico City.
The IBD proposed promoting a culture of respect for water (especially via water capture), investing in infrastructure and establishing penalties for wasting water.
President-elect Sheinbaum met with Canada's Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly on Wednesday. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
The USMCA trade pact, which is up for review in 2026, was a key focus of a meeting on Wednesday between President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly.
Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on Oct. 1, received Joly at her “transition headquarters” in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa. Mexico’s future foreign affairs minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente also attended the meeting.
Sheinbaum was joined by her future foreign affairs minister, Juan Ramón de la Fuente (left). Canadian Ambassador to Mexico Graeme C. Clark also attended. (Mélanie Joly/X)
Sheinbaum revealed on X that she spoke about “the future” of the Mexico-Canada relationship with Joly and the “importance” of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the free trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020.
“The foreign minister’s main interest is to know our position on USMCA,” she told a press conference on Wednesday.
“We agree with her and the idea of strengthening the agreement,” Sheinbaum said.
The USMCA, the product of trilateral negotiations that began in 2017, is scheduled to be reviewed in 2026. While expressing support for a strengthening of the pact, Sheinbaum said she believed the review would be “minor.”
Former presidents Peña Nieto and Trump and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the USMCA in 2018. (Ron Przysucha/U.S. Department of State)
The president-elect also said she and Joly discussed “the possibility of maintaining and increasing [the number] of work visas for Mexicans” interested in working in Canada.
The two countries collaborate on the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, in which tens of thousands of Mexicans travel to Canada to work every year.
Sheinbaum also told reporters that she and Joly discussed Canadian investment in Mexico, and Julian Assange’s release from prison after the Wikileaks founder accepted a plea deal from the United States.
“We acknowledged his fight for freedom of speech and the right to information. We were very pleased that he was finally released,” she said.
For her part, Joly said on X that she and Sheinbaum discussed “how we can continue to strengthen the Canada-Mexico relationship and advance our shared priorities as North American partners.”
The Canadian government said in a statement that the foreign minister congratulated Sheinbaum on “her historic electoral victory that will see her become the first woman president of Mexico.”
The statement also said that Joly, Sheinbaum and other officials “reflected on 80 years of friendship and robust relations between Canada and Mexico.”
“… While highlighting the 50th anniversary of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and its successes, Minister Joly and her counterparts underscored the importance of regular migration pathways for both countries’ economies,” the Canadian government said.
“They agreed to continue to regularly review the broad range of issues affecting mobility, including visa processes, to support safe and orderly migration.”
Among other issues, the Canadian government statement said that Joly and Sheinbaum “discussed the importance of collaborating to advance North American economic competitiveness” and “the need to work together to combat climate change.”
Joly also met with soon-to-be economy minister Marcelo Ebrard during her visit to Mexico City. (Marcelo Ebrard/X)
Joly also met with Mexico’s incoming economy minister Marcelo Ebrard, with the former saying on X that they discussed the “importance of working together to advance North American economic competitiveness and how our counties can collaborate to expand trade and investment.”
The proposed reform — which if approved would allow citizens to directly elect Supreme Court justices and other judges — is a decision for the Mexican government, “but at the same time we hope that a country like Mexico respects the rule of law,” Joly said.
She emphasized the need for stability and predictability in Mexico because “it’s difficult to invest in a business environment where there are too many risks.”
Among other remarks, Joly said that Canada, Mexico and the United States have the opportunity to establish a “fully integrated” supply chain and to be “one of the most successful [economic] partnerships in the world.”
With that comes an opportunity “to bring lots of Mexicans out of poverty, increase the middle class in Canada and Mexico, and fundamentally be a hub for talent and innovation,” she said.
“I’m really optimistic, but at the same time we need to do the work. So that’s why I’m here,” Joly said.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced five more cabinet appointments on Thursday, including health minister, public administration minister and energy minister. (Cuartoscuro)
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced five additional appointments to her cabinet on Thursday, including new ministers for energy, health and public administration.
Sheinbaum, who will take office on Oct. 1, announced that Luz Elena González Escobar, a former finance minister in the Mexico City government, will be her energy minister, and David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, ex-director of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, will be her health minister.
Sheinbaum announced her new picks at a press conference on Thursday morning, a week after presenting six initial appointments. (Cuartoscuro)
Raquel Buenrostro Sánchez, the current federal economy minister, will become public administration minister, a role in which she will have responsibility for the ongoing government fight against corruption.
Sheinbaum also announced that Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, the current public works and services minister in the Mexico City government, will be her infrastructure, communications and transport minister.
The fifth and final cabinet appointment the president-elect announced Thursday was Edna Elena Vega Rangel as minister of agrarian, land and urban development. Vega is currently a deputy agrarian, land and urban development minister.
Sheinbaum described her new appointees as a “great team,” and noted that Buenrostro, Esteva and Vega will remain in their current government roles for the time being.
“They have double duty because they’ll be participating in all the transition processes,” she said.
Two of the appointees, González and Esteva, were members of Sheinbaum’s government when she was mayor of Mexico City between 2018 and 2023.
The president-elect has now named 12 members of her cabinet.
Sheinbaum named an initial six cabinet appointments on June 20, which included Alicia Bárcena as environment minister, Juan Ramón de la Fuente as foreign affairs minister and Marcelo Ebrard as economy minister. (Cuartoscuro)
Among the key appointments still to be announced are the interior minister, security minister, defense minister and welfare minister roles.
Based on the announcements made to date, Sheinabum’s cabinet — made up of six men and six women — is as follows:
Economy minister: Marcelo Ebrard
Environment and natural resources minister: Alicia Bárcena
Finance Minister: Rogelio Ramírez de la O
Minister for science, humanities, technology and innovation: Rosaura Ruiz
Foreign Affairs Minister: Juan Ramón de la Fuente
Legal counsel to the president: Ernestina Godoy
Agriculture and rural development minister: Julio Berdegué
Energy minister: Luz Elena González Escobar
Health Minister: David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz
Public administration minister: Raquel Buenrostro
Infrastructure, communications and transport minister: Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina
Agrarian, land and urban development minister: Edna Elena Vega Rangel
What are the backgrounds of the new cabinet appointees?
Luz Elena González Escobar
The soon-to-be energy minister served as administration and finance minister during Sheinbaum’s 2018-2023 mayorship in Mexico. She has degrees in economics, law and urban management.
Luz Elena González Escobar will serve as Mexico’s next energy minister. (Cuartoscuro)
González has held a number of other positions in the Mexico City government, including the directorship of the capital’s Passenger Transportation Network in the early 2000s.
She will succeed Miguel Ángel Maciel Torres as energy minister.
Mexico’s next health minister is a veteran medical doctor and surgeon with more than 50 years’ experience in the field. The octogenarian has also worked as a professor of medicine at the National Autonomous University (UNAM).
Kershenobich was general director of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition between 2012 and 2022.
The next health minister will be David Kershenobich, succeeding Jorge Alcocer. (Cuartoscuro)
She has served in a range of other government roles, including as a high-ranking official in the federal Finance Ministry. She has degrees in mathematics and economics.
Raquel Buenrostro will be the public administration minister in the next term. (Cuartoscuro)
Buenrostro will succeed Roberto Salcedo Aquino as public administration minister.
Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina
The future infrastructure, communications and transport minister has been the minister of public works and services in Mexico City since 2018, when Sheinbaum became mayor.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Esteva was the Mexico City government’s director of infrastructure projects and subsequently worked as UNAM’s director of planning and infrastructure evaluation.
The next infrastructure, communications and transport minister will be Jesús Esteva Medina. (Cuartoscuro)
He has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s in structural engineering.
Esteva will succeed Jorge Nuño Lara as infrastructure, communications and transport minister.
Edna Elena Vega Rangel
Mexico’s next agrarian, land and urban development minister was general director of the National Housing Commission for almost four years before becoming a deputy minister in the ministry she will soon lead in 2022.
Edna Elena Vega Rangel will take over as agrarian, land and urban development minister in Sheinbaum’s administration. (Cuartoscuro)
Vega has also held a range of public roles in Mexico City, including head of the capital’s Housing Institute.
She has undergraduate and doctorate degrees in sociology, and a master’s in urban planning.
Vega will succeed Román Meyer Falcón as agrarian, land and urban development minister.
Two tropical systems in the Atlantic are currently approaching the Yucatán Peninsula. They both have the potential to become tropical cyclones in the next seven days, according to Mexico's National Meteorological Service, one a much more likely bet than the other. (Conagua-SMN)
Already battered by more than a week of stormy weather, Cancún and the rest of the Yucatán Peninsula are bracing for more heavy rain this weekend — and the strong possibility of a new tropical system in the Atlantic becoming a tropical storm early next week.
The tropical system could turn into a depression or a tropical storm this weekend as it reaches the southern Caribbean, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). Its path could then continue directly toward southeastern Mexico.
Various Mexican states are still recuperating from flood damage brought by Tropical Storm Alberto a week ago. (Cuartoscuro)
As of Thursday afternoon Mexico City time, the tropical system was located about 5,700 kilometers east of the Quintana Roo coast and was moving west at 24 to 32 km/h.
Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN) gave the developing storm “a 60% probability of developing into a cyclone within 48 hours, and 80% [of doing so] within seven days.”
If that happens, the cyclone would be called Beryl, the second named storm of what’s expected to be a busy Atlantic storm season. Experts are saying that the season could see as many as 25 named tropical cyclones this year, 11 more than the seasonal average of 14.
Of that 25, between eight and 13 could turn into hurricanes.
The season’s first named storm — Tropical Storm Alberto — made landfall in the northeast state of Tamaulipas last Thursday. Although it quickly weakened into a tropical depression, Alberto’s wrath was felt over much of Mexico and southern Texas, with four deaths in Mexico being attributed to associated rains.
The Yucatán Peninsula felt some early effects from Alberto’s outer bands as it moved northwesterly. A different storm system then ravaged the peninsula over the next couple of days, causing extensive flooding and power outages. Parts of Mérida, the Yucatán state capital, were underwater as recently as Tuesday.
Even before Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Mexico, Cancún’s streets were already experiencing flooding from rains associated with the storm.
Now a similar, smaller low-pressure system — different from the one currently located 5,700 km east of the Quintana Roo coast — that is associated with a tropical wave, is approaching Quintana Roo, bringing with it “widespread but disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity,” according to the NHC.
As of Thursday afternoon, the smaller system was much closer to the Yucatan, currently passing over the western Caribbean Sea, approximately 575 kilometers southeast of Chetumal, Quintana Roo. Its probability of developing into a cyclone was tabbed at 30% or less, but it is likely to bring intense rain to an already soaked area.
Already on Thursday morning and afternoon, there was scattered rain and showers, along with occasional thunderstorms and heavy fog in the south and southeast of Mexico. This area includes the Yucatán Peninsula, but similar conditions were expected up through Puebla and Mexico City and as far north as Querétaro.
Conagua also was predicting wind gusts of 30 to 50 km/h in Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, and lightning had been observed from Veracruz to Zacatecas to southern Baja California Sur.
The Riviera Maya News used the word “historic” to describe the recent torrential rains in Quintana Roo, noting that the state capital of Chetumal accumulated 518 mm in one seven-day period — the most rain it had seen in 72 years, according to Conagua director Érika Ramírez Méndez.
The paper also noted that “nearly every municipality [in Quintana Roo] experienced flooding, many more than once.” Many streets and homes were “under meters of water,” the paper added.
Jesús Almaguer Salazar, president of the Hotel Association of Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres, said that tourist properties took an economic hit, mainly due to many employees not being able to report for work. He said the hotels have been accommodating, but the employee absences have hurt.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama reported that 1,100 people affected by the storm had registered for assistance in Chetumal and Bacalar. Some suffered flood damage to their homes, and others were affected by blockades that were set up due to rising water levels.
She said the response included the allocation of 37 million pesos (US $2 million), which includes 18 million pesos for the delivery of household goods, 5.5 million pesos for repairs and 2 million pesos for small businesses.
The governor also said there was no impact on tourism and that all the airports in the state remained open. Even on Holbox Island, she added, tourist activity retained “normality” despite the need to use bilge pumps to drain the rising waters on the island.
Last week, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum announced six cabinet picks, including former Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who will be economy minister in the next administration. (Cuartoscuro)
The United States “will need Mexico to be able to compete” with China.
Mexico’s bilateral relationship with the U.S. is “always difficult.”
“Mexico has immense potential. We just need to open the door.”
They are among the remarks Mexico’s next economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, made during an interview with La Jornada.
Marcelo Ebrard, who ran against Sheinbaum for the Morena 2024 nomination, is perceived by many as having close ties to business, and his pick as Sheinbaum’s economy minister seems to have reassured foreign investors. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
On his appointment as economy minister
“This was the product of a conversation I had with Dr. Sheinbaum, thinking of the years ahead and the great task for the 4T* – [the construction of] its second story,” Ebrard said.
* The “fourth transformation,” or 4T, is the name of the political project initiated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The term inherently equates the importance of the current “transformation” of Mexico to that of its independence from Spain, the enactment of 19th century liberal laws collectively known as La Reforma, and the Mexican Revolution.
On the United States and its trade relationships and policies
“The United States is becoming a country on the defensive because it senses growing competition with China and suddenly realized they’re very dependent [on the East Asian country]. The United States will need Mexico to be able to compete [with China],” Ebrard said.
He also said there is “growing protectionism” in the United States and that Mexico is therefore faced with a “a different political position in the U.S. to that we saw some years ago.”
Ebrard said there is a protectionist “consensus” in the U.S., implying that regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins in November, the U.S. will continue to learn towards protectionist economic policies. (File photo)
“That is the main risk. There is a kind of protectionist consensus [in the United States]. That’s why the review* of the trade agreement with the United States, and the trade relationship with them in general, could be more complex,” Ebrard said.
* A review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020, is scheduled for 2026.
On the USMCA review
Ebrard said that the USMCA’s dispute settlement system* needs to be improved.
“We must strengthen the dispute resolution system, with the panels, where you can present your arguments to avoid unilateral measures,” he said.
Changes are also needed in other areas, Ebrard said. One issue he cited was labor mobility, an apparent reference to a need for workers to be able to move more freely across national borders in North America.
What is needed, Ebrard said, is to “bring a series of regulations into line to favor Mexican companies.”
Agricultural products, like avocados, are one of the primary exports from Mexico to the United States. A recent pause in USDA inspections caused significant losses to the industry in Michoacán, which Ebrard cited as an example of a “unilateral decision” on the part of the United States. (Cuartoscuro)
“We have to support transport companies, for example, which have always had disadvantageous conditions,” Ebrard said, apparently referring to trucking and rail companies that move goods around the region.
“We have to limit unilateral decisions, like what happened in the avocado case, he added.
“… We should try to limit that as much as possible. That’s what we should seek in the review of the agreement, which, we must clarify, is not a renegotiation, but a review.”
Ebrard also said that, “unlike the [NAFTA] renegotiation in 2018,” which resulted in the creation of the USMCA, a “very important geopolitical factor” will be at play during the 2026 review — “competition between the United States and China.”
“The bilateral relationship is always difficult” because the two countries have “different interests,” Ebrard said.
Ebrard, seen here at U.S.-Mexico high-level security talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2022, said that the two countries have never been closer in economic terms. (SRE)
“But we have a good chance of succeeding because of the conditions I’ve just mentioned,” he said, referring to the growing economic interdependence of the two countries.
Ebrard said that Mexico and the United States have never previously been as close as they are today “in terms of trade, economic and financial exchange.”
* At bilateral security talks in late 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “more than ever before” in his 30 years of experience in foreign policy, “the United States and Mexico are working together as partners in common purpose.”
On the nearshoring opportunity
“What North American companies that … import technology from Asia want is to bring [production] to North America in order to not depend [on Asia],” Ebrard said.
As an example, he noted that North American electric vehicle companies (such as Tesla) rely on microprocessors that are made in Asian countries. Those microprocessors should be manufactured in Mexico, the United States and Canada, Ebrard said.
Manufacturers like Tesla require microchips, which Ebrard said could be manufactured in North America rather than imported from Asia. (Tesla)
Asked what the “pillars” of the Mexican economy will be in the coming years, Ebrard nominated “the relocation” of companies to Mexico, but stressed that foreign investment in Mexico must serve “the country’s interests.”
He also said that Mexico shouldn’t wait around “to see who comes,” but rather “go after the companies we’re interested in having [here].”
Ebrard says he and Sheinbaum share the same vision and that Mexico has “immense potential.” (Marcelo Ebrard/X)
He stressed that “the development, growth and wealth of the country” shouldn’t be concentrated in “just some of its regions.”
“We have to seek to spread out [development and economic growth]. We have to support new companies [in Mexico]. … They’re going to be the pillars [of the economy] in the coming years,” Ebrard said.
“I’m very excited because [Sheinbaum* and I] agree on the ideas. I agree with what the doctor is proposing. Mexico has immense potential. We just need to open the door,” he said.
A great Tres Leches cake is a thing of (moist) beauty. (Aranzazu)
I was always a pie guy before I moved to Mexico. I had found cakes to be miserably dry for my liking, with the generic birthday cake being the most egregious offender.
Cut to my late 20’s when I discovered the antidote — the supremely juicy and indulgent tres leches cake! Tres leches cake is soaked in about a liter of a combination of different milks and I was finally in moist cake mecca. With summer nights and bright mornings on the way, I felt it was finally time to share my chocolate tres leches cake recipe.
Tres leches started life as a marketing campaign for tinned milk. (Nestlé)
The history of this magical cake dates back to the 19th century, during which time recipes for milk-soaked cakes began appearing in cookbooks across Europe, particularly in England. These early versions likely influenced the creation of tres leches in Latin America. Nestlé, believe it or not, played a significant role in popularizing the cake in the 1940s, as part of a marketing campaign to boost sales of evaporated and condensed milk, when they added a recipe for tres leches on the labels of its products distributed in Latin America.
Today, I want to share with you one of my favorite versions of tres leches, a recipe with cocoa powder and a secret weapon, espresso.
Chocolate Tres Leches with Espresso
Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Tres Leches Mixture:
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 shot of espresso
For the Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cocoa powder, for dusting
A shot of espresso will transform your cake from tasty to perfect. (Jeremy Yap/Unsplash)
Instructions
1. Preheat and Prepare:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. Mix Dry Ingredients:
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat Egg Yolks:
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar until the mixture is thick and pale yellow.
Add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
4. Beat Egg Whites:
In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
5. Combine:
Gently fold the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture until just combined.
Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites until no white streaks remain.
6. Bake:
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
7. Prepare the Tres Leches Mixture:
In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and espresso until well combined.
8. Soak the Cake:
Once the cake has cooled, pierce the surface with a fork all over.
Slowly pour the tres leches mixture over the cake, making sure to cover the entire surface. The cake will absorb the liquid.
9. Chill:
Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours or overnight, allowing it to soak up the tres leches mixture.
10. Make the Topping:
In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form.
11. Serve:
Spread the whipped cream frosting over the cake.
Dust with a generous amount of cocoa powder before wowing your guests.
Enjoy your new favorite dessert and let me know what you think of my chocolate tres leches recipe in the comments!
Stephen Randall has lived in Mexico since 2018 by way of Kentucky, and before that, Germany. He’s an enthusiastic amateur chef who takes inspiration from many different cuisines, with favorites including Mexican and Mediterranean.
As Pride Month draws to a close, make sure to check out some of these fantastic bars, restaurants and markets, all owned by members of the LGBTQ+ community. (Revuelta Queerhouse)
So, as Pride month wraps up, here are five under-the-radar, queer owned businesses around Mexico. Each is highly rated and offers a creative twist on its particular business niche. Check them out whenever you get the chance.
Culture meets community in Roma’s Revuelta. (Revuelta Queerhouse/Instagram)
Revuelta Queer House is a community space in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighborhood that offers cultural activities, a queer art gallery and a casual rooftop bar serving food and drink. “We want everyone to feel welcome, to express their identity and connect in community,” the group says.
Revuelta is located in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood, in two old homes that the group’s five co-founders restored. They host a range of events including guest DJ performances, poetry readings and drag lotería, to name a few.
Queer Spanish Classes offers online small-group classes designed specifically for queer women and trans and nonbinary people. “I created Queer Spanish because I know first hand how intimidating it is to learn a new language and how vulnerable we feel when we are part of the LGBTQ+ community,” founder Sandra Romero writes on the Queer Spanish Instagram account. Sandra, who is based in Mérida, moved to Mexico from her native country of Spain in 2018 and has taught Spanish since 2014.
Sandra teaches all levels of Spanish in sessions focused on speaking skills and tying in grammar, reading and film. She describes her classes as “a safe, welcoming environment where you are allowed to make mistakes.”
Sandra told Mexico News Daily. “I teach aspects of the language that they won’t learn in a traditional class, like for example how to use inclusive language in Spanish, [which is] so important today in the queer community.”
She asks that interested students follow and send her a message on her professional Instagram page, @queerspanishclasses, to schedule an introductory call.
More than a great seafood spot in Sinaloa, La Celestina is an important hub for LGBTQ+ activism in Northern Mexico. (La Celestina/Facebook)
La Celestina is a seafood restaurant in Celestino Gazca, Sinaloa, a small beach town known for its yearly oyster festival. Oysters feature prominently on the menu, along with other Sinaloan seafood classics like pescado zarandeado.
The owners, Vicky Ibarra and Paola Cázares, married in 2020, just months after the Sinaloa state congress rejected a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage (in defiance of a Supreme Court mandate). In an act of protest, the couple married on the beach on neighboring Nayarit, one meter from the Sinaloa state border. Today, La Celestina is a sponsor of Pride parades in the cities of Mazatlán and Culiacán.
La Celestina is most active on the weekends, when day trippers from the Sinaloan cities of Mazatlán and Culiacán come to sip beers and chow down on aguachile in the shade of its beachside palapas, away from city crowds. On Sunday afternoons, it’s common to find a local female-fronted band playing in the main bar area.
Mercadita Diversa provides opportunities for marginalized queer entrepreneurs in Monterrey. (Mercadita Diversa)
Mercadita Diversa is an initiative from nonprofit Queer XP to highlight queer art and entrepreneurs as part of their mission to further the economic well-being of the queer community. The roughly monthly markets feature art, accessories, food, jewelry and more from dozens of LGBTQ businesses, and often take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Monterrey.
“Our goal for the future is to become a network of resources for the economic development of entrepreneurs of all socioeconomic backgrounds and emerging businesses that can benefit from our services,” said Rogelio González of Queer XP’s communications team.
Rogelio invited Mexico News Daily readers to support these queer owned businesses and entrepreneurs by following the social media accounts (Instagram @queerxp.ac y Tiktok @queerxp).
From left, Jorge Fitz, Emilio Pérez and Beto Estúa, the team behind the high-end cuisine of Casa Jacaranda. (Casa Jacaranda)
Founded by the husband-and-husband team of chefs Beto Estúa and Jorge Fitz, Casa Jacaranda offers traditional Mexican cooking experiences. The classes pick out fresh ingredients at the market then back at the house, chefs (including Beto and Jorge) teach recipes and techniques. The event finishes with a delicious, seasonal meal prepared together by the class.
The project began ten years ago, when the couple was living in a Roma neighborhood home “with one of the loveliest jacaranda trees in the city in front,” Jorge told Mexico News Daily. The house became a social hub for friends who shared a love of cooking. “We were always in the kitchen or hosting.” That experience and their proximity to markets inspired them to develop an experience “representing those childhood days we both spent in the houses of our grandmothers or aunts, cooking as a family to create a feast together,” Jorge said.
Casa Jacaranda offers private and group cooking classes as well as more intense multi-day bootcamps.
Any more queer owned businesses in Mexico that you think are worth visiting? Let us know in the comments.
Rose Egelhoff is an associate editor at Mexico News Daily and a freelance writer. She’s on Twitter and the internet.
