Cancún tourists and locals alike love Playa Delfines, seen here on a busy day during the winter holidays. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Millions of travelers have voted three Mexican beaches to be among the 25 best beaches in the world, in Tripadvisor’s latest travel awards.
The Travellers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best list is based on the high volume of reviews and opinions by Tripadvisor’s community over a 12-month period. Out of 8 million listings, less than 1% get this recognition.
At the north end of Isla Mujeres sits Playa Norte, a protected Caribbean beach with white sand and clear turquoise water. (File photo)
Playa Delfines in Cancún, Playa Norte in Isla Mujeres and Playa Balandra in La Paz, were among those which received the title thanks to the traveler’s high level of satisfaction.
“Tripadvisor’s Travelers Choice Awards uniquely reflect the voices of millions of global travelers and help guide people to plan their best trip yet,” head of the platform Kristen Dalton said. “The diversity of this year’s winners reflects all the things a trip to the beach can offer,” she celebrated.
In the category of Best of the Best Destinations, Cancún ranked as the world’s 24th best place to travel. It was the only Mexican destination on the list.
Playa Delfines, Cancún (No. 16)
Playa Delfines in Cancún, Quintana Roo is famous for El Mirador, a viewpoint offering stunning vistas of the turquoise waters, and its colorful block-lettered Cancún sign. It is the city’s largest public beach and one of the few without large resorts in the vicinity.
On Playa Delfines in Cancún, visitors can take a break from the sun under the small palapas that dot the beach. (Tripadvisor)
“It is a peaceful beach with clear-blue waters, soft white sands, and stunning ocean views,” Tripadvisor wrote.
The beach is great for spotting dolphins and for water sports. It offers showers, bathrooms, straw umbrellas and free parking (a rarity in the city), “making it the perfect place to spend the day.”
Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres (No. 19)
“Soft, white sand and shallow, clear water makes Playa Norte a perfect spot for a relaxing beach day,” Tripadvisor says.
Also in Quintana Roo, Playa Norte is popular for its crystal-clear waters and palm trees. It’s a recommended destination for water activities like snorkeling, jet-skiing and parasailing. It is also home to bars and restaurants serving Mexican food.
“I highly recommend stopping at the beach here if you are in Isla Mujeres because it will be one of the best beaches you have ever been too [sic],” one reviewer writes.
Balandra Beach, La Paz (No. 21)
Balandra in La Paz, Baja California, is one of the Mexican beaches that consistently ranks among the best beaches in the world.
“This stunning cove is a favorite among locals who come to relax among the white sand dunes,” Tripadvisor wrote. The beach is great for water activities and for hiking in the adjacent rugged hills.
Playa Balandra wraps around the the bay of the same name, just sound of La Paz, Baja California Sur. (File photo)
Travelers love this place due to its calm, shallow and crystal-clear waters that are perfect for beginners and families. However, many reviews advise to arrive early as it can get crowded.
“Otherworldly! Words and photos can’t really do it justice,” one traveler wrote in her review.
Life in Mexico is some much richer once you get out of the expat bubble. Here are some tried-and-tested tips on expanding your social horizons. (Omar Lopez/Unsplash)
I have a Mexican friend whom I met in a Pilates class in Guanajuato about eight years ago. Ever since the beginning of Covid, she and her husband have lived in Mexico City to be near their daughter, so I only see her occasionally.
Since I miss her, I decided to write an article to find out how others do it. I had no idea I’d come away so inspired. If you have hesitated, It’s easier than you may think to make Mexican friends! Here are some of the ways that the gringos whom I interviewed overcame perceived barriers.
They didn’t let limited Spanish stop them
(Brooke Cagle/Unsplash)
You don’t have to be fluent or even speak advanced Spanish to make friends. Of course it helps, but it doesn’t have to be an obstacle. Most of the responders described themselves as intermediate level, and two even said they were beginners.
For example, Marvin, a Canadian who lives in Guanajuato, has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Although he has studied the language, he speaks “basically no Spanish. Because of my CFS, I haven’t been able to physically and mentally practice Spanish while working at my online tutoring job.” Instead, he works on overcoming the language barrier with his Mexican neighbor, by relying on the voice-activated translator on his cell phone.
Kate, an artist, speaks at an intermediate level. “In my language studies, I focus on vocabulary related to art and music, so that I can converse somewhat intelligently,” she says, “The language gap is challenging, but I’m working hard to close that.”
Adam, a dancer who visits Guanajuato twice a year, says, “When my vocabulary falls short, I make up the word from my English and Latin knowledge, and that often works. I also use my hands in many situations. If all else fails, I just smile or laugh; it’s one of the best ways to communicate.”
So don’t let limited Spanish stop you; on the other hand, keep plugging away on it. As Joshua, a musician in Guanajuato, says, “The cool thing about people here is that if they see you making an effort they really appreciate it.”
They ignore age and other barriers that frequently separate people
(John Moeses Bauan/Unsplash)
Everyone I queried reported making friends with Mexicans of all ages. Mary Anne, who has lived in Queretaro for five years, has made several acquaintances through a course she takes on the history of the city. “Several of my current classmates are 15 to 20 years older than I,” she says. And a close friend who is married to an American is 12 years younger than she is.
Guanajuato resident Dave meets Mexicans at a neighborhood cantina, where the age range is from 20’s to 80’s. The clientele, who are mostly men but a few women, include miners, engineers, lawyers, university professors, business owners, artists, and even a guy who washes cars in a parking lot nearby.
From that group, he made a good friend who is half his age. They get together regularly for a drink or a meal, and last November, they visited Arizona, where Dave still lives part of the year. Dave took him to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and other famous areas, as well as introduced him to his friends.” He speaks no English, Dave says, “so as his translator, it was good for my Spanish.”
They take courses and workshops
(Artemio Guerra Baz/Cuartoscuro)
Beth, who lives in Marfil, a suburb of Guanajuato, takes a yoga class where at the beginning of each session, participants go around greeting each other one by one. They do the same thing at the end. “It makes us all approachable,” she says.
Adam meets people in salsa classes. Both the teachers and fellow students became friends quickly. “Dancing is a very social activity,” he says, “and the level or type of dancing is immaterial.”
Jenny made a close friend when she was studying at a Spanish school, which also offered English classes to Mexicans.
For many, their love of the arts is a bridge
(Millesime)
A songwriter and guitar player, Joshua found friends in Guanajuato’s music world. “We have a band, so we gig and rehearse. My bandmates, in addition to being stellar musicians, are all great guys and I love having them as my friends.” His musician friends have, in turn, introduced him to other people.
Guanajuato residents Peter and Faith became friends with their US/Mexican neighbors, who, in turn, introduced them to many creatives. A film director, Peter produced a fashion show and film featuring a number of local designers. “Many of our friends were either cast or crew on the feature film,” says Faith. We’ve participated in making and distributing our friends’ films. Everyone shares equipment. We show up to their events — exhibitions, fundraisers, screenings, their girlfriend’s dance recital, their family’s funerals.”.
“The arts,” she says, is a social class [in itself], aside from the usual lower, middle and upper classes.”
They made friends with people they had hired
(CDC/Unsplash)
Unlike in the U.S., where the saying goes “You can’t mix pleasure and business,” here gringos do just that, and it works just fine. Respondents said they made friends with their Spanish teachers, hairdressers, massage therapists, realtors, and property managers.
They just start chatting
(John Pint)
Mexicans are so friendly that several people reported they found it easy to start a conversation while waiting in line or sitting on a bus. At an outdoor restaurant, Adam asked a mom who was playing with her toddler if he could take a photo of them. They started talking, shared contact information and over time he and his wife became friends not only with her but with her parents.
Final advice
“Give genuine compliments whenever possible, speak Spanish regardless of your level of competency, throw out class/education/age distinctions, and above all smile a lot,” says Adam.
“Don’t get caught up in the gringo trap,” says Dave. “I’ve worked at assimilating into the culture, and now my friends tell me I’m mexicano.“ He adds, “Laugh at your mistakes. Mexicans have a great sense of humor and love to tease each other.”
Several respondents feel as close to their Mexican friends as to English-language ones.Adam says, “My wife and I find our Mexican friends to often be less judgmental, curious, very honest, and loyal. We haven’t noticed any hidden agendas with any of them.”
Above all, as Kate says, “Be brave.” It’s worth it!
Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers
President Claudia Sheinbaum had many pressing topics to cover, many of them due to actions of U.S. President Donald Trump. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
At her Wednesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about CIA drone flights over Mexico, the reasons why she is not afraid of Donald Trump and the United States’ designation of various Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Later in the day, Sheinbaum traveled to the northern state of Nuevo León to take part in a Mexican Army Day ceremony.
“There is nothing illegal [going on],” President Sheinbaum told reporters when asked about recent revelations by news media that the CIA is conducting spy drone flights over Mexico. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum: US drone flights a part of long-standing security collaboration between Mexico and US
A day after CNN network and the New York Times newspaper reported that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been flying drones over Mexico to spy on drug cartels and hunt for fentanyl labs, Sheinbaum said that the missions are an aspect of the long-standing security collaboration between Mexico and the U.S.
“In the first place, there is nothing illegal [taking place]. What there is, is collaboration and cooperation that has been going on for many years; it’s not something new,” she said.
The U.S. drone flights over Mexico only occur after the government of Mexico has requested them in order to obtain information to be able to respond to prevailing “security conditions,” Sheinbaum said.
The flights occur within the “frameworks of collaboration that are established mainly between the armed forces of Mexico and the different institutions of the United States government,” she said.
“So there is nothing illegal, and it’s part of a collaboration and coordination in which information is shared, always within the framework of the four essential principles of collaboration between the United States and Mexico, among which a main element is respect for our sovereignty,” she said.
Sheinbaum also gave the floor to Navy Minister Raymundo Morales Àngles to talk to reporters about how the drone flights fit into Mexico and the U.S.’s long-standing partnerships. (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
“Now the question is: “Why does this article appear in The New York Times?” Sheinbaum said.
“Who gave this article to The New York Times?,” she said. “What do they want to provoke with the article? And [then there are] all the chorus leaders in the Mexican media — or in the opposition — saying, ‘The president of Mexico is weak. She had to yield to the espionage of the United States government. Sovereignty is being violated,’ when in reality it’s a protocol of coordination and collaboration that has existed for years between the governments of the United States and Mexico.”
Asked why she believes The New York Times published the article about the CIA drones, Sheinbaum responded, “Because they want to damage us.”
She claimed that the aim was to make the Mexican government appear “as if we were negotiating national sovereignty.”
“Never. And they’re not going to damage us because the people of Mexico and the government are one. There is no divorce here, and we never lie,” Sheinbaum said.
No fear of Trump
“Aren’t you afraid of Trump?” a Brazil-based Swedish journalist asked the president after highlighting that there are “so many threats” from the U.S. president, including ones to deport large numbers of Mexicans and impose tariffs on Mexican exports.
“No,” Sheinbaum responded.
“I have the people [of Mexico] behind me. When one has certainty and conviction and knows what one’s principles are, why should one be afraid?” she said.
Sheinbaum noted that her government is currently engaging with its U.S. counterpart, including over proposed tariffs, and declared that “we will never allow our sovereignty to be violated.”
Faced with questions about the U.S. drone flights over Mexico, Sheinbaum instead put the focus on the New York Times, which published the revelations. She said that the newspaper had an agenda to make it look like Mexico is “negotiating national sovereignty.” (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)
“And if it is violated, there is an entire people [ready] to defend their homeland,” she said.
Earlier in the press conference, Sheinbaum reiterated her view that “there will be a good relationship between President Trump and the presidenta of Mexico.”
Mexico will not accept ‘extraterritorial actions’ from US in light of the designation of cartels as terrorists
While Sheinbaum is not opposed to the flying of CIA drones over Mexico, she has said on numerous occasions that she wouldn’t accept any kind of U.S. military intervention on Mexican soil.
On Wednesday, she declared that if the United States’ designation of Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) “has to do with extraterritorial actions, we will not accept those.”
The United States government has designated six Mexican cartels as FTOs, according to a public notice from the Department of State. The designations of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as FTOs will take effect on Thursday once the notice is published in the United States Federal Register.
Trump congratulates US military after airstrike that killed official of Al-Qaeda affiliate: ‘Dealt Justice’https://t.co/QbXt4kOs5M
On February 15, the U.S. conducted a precision airstrike to kill an official with the Syrian al-Quaeda affiliate terrorist group Hurras al-Din. Is the U.S. prepared to conduct these types of attacks on Mexican soil to capture or even kill cartel leaders? Sheinbaum said Mexico would not tolerate “extraterritorial actions” by the U.S.
If the designations are made to further support investigations of money laundering in the United States and the operation of the designated criminal groups in the U.S. then the move is a “very good” one, Sheinbaum said.
“What we don’t accept is the violation of our sovereignty,” she added.
“That’s why it’s collaboration, coordination without subordination, without interventionism, without interference,” Sheinbaum said.
She noted that the government of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador modified Mexico’s National Security Law to make it “very clear” what “United States agents” can and can’t do in Mexico.
“And we’re evaluating, assessing, what additional things [are required] to protect our sovereignty because we can’t allow activities to be carried out [by the United States in Mexico] that aren’t part of the [bilateral] collaboration or coordination,” Sheinbaum said.
A seal swimming in the Gulf of California, one of the two bodies of water that the proposed marine reserve would occupy. (Government of Mexico)
A coalition of environmental groups and local fishermen is continuing its push for the creation of a new Marine Protected Area off the coast of Baja California Sur (BCS), aiming to conserve marine ecosystems and support sustainable fishing practices.
The proposed Dos Mares (Two Seas) Biosphere Reserve would cover approximately 192,000 square kilometers, stretching from the BCS coastline to 50 miles offshore in both the Pacific Ocean and the southern Gulf of California (aka, the Sea of Cortés).
The proposed reserves would create a zone around the Baja California Peninsula where only small-scale traditional coastal fishing, sport fishing and other water tourism activities would be allowed (shown in green on the map). The brown area indicates where all activities would be prohibited. (Depesca)
Proponents say the reserve would help Mexico meet international conservation commitments while protecting local livelihoods.
“This is not our project. It is a project of the people,” Gabriela Gómez, director of the Fund for the Conservation of the Seas (FOMARES), said this week in the news magazine Expansíón ESG.
The plan was developed by DEPESCA, a 2-year-old marine association in BCS whose name is likely derived from desarrollo pesquero (fisheries development).
“In our state, what we have called a ‘Coastal Wave’ has formed,” DEPESCA writes on its website. “This is an unprecedented event, since for the first time artisanal and sport fishermen, aquaculturists and nautical tourism service providers are joining forces to defend our marine heritage.”
Dos Mares supporters argue the reserve would benefit the region economically. According to the La Paz newspaper El Sudcaliforniano, a study by researchers at the Colegio de México projected the MPA could lead to a 7.68% increase in real income for the local economy, driven by increased tourism and improved fishing productivity.
However, the proposal faces opposition from some coastal fishing communities. Tomás Camacho, president of the Puerto Chale Fishing Cooperative Society, expressed concern that the reserve could impose additional restrictions on traditional fishing practices.
The initiative to create the reserve is a joint effort by environmental groups and traditional coastal fishermen in the state, whose scale of fishing is considered sustainable. But not all fishermen in the region support the initiative. (Government of BCS)
“They tell us the same thing as always, that shrimp boats will not be able to enter and that the Don Diego Mine will be off-limits too,” Camacho told El Sudcaliforniano.
Proponents of Dos Mares say it would help preserve biodiversity and support migratory species by creating corridors connecting existing protected areas.
Launched in mid-2023, the project is still in the proposal and advocacy stage. Current efforts are focused on gaining support from local communities, government officials and other stakeholders.
The proposed reserve would potentially increase Mexico’s marine protected areas from 5% to 12% of the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone, a 3.27-million-kilometer maritime area (ranked the thirteenth largest in the world) that contributes significantly to the country’s territory and resources.
Advocates are hoping that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s background in sustainable development may positively influence the project’s prospects.
Over 3,000 new hotel rooms will be awaiting visitors to Mexico City for the FIFA World Cup in 2026, but the city is still facing a massive shortage of hotel rooms for the 5.5 million soccer fans expected to arrive. (Marriot Hotel St. Regis)
More than 3,000 new hotel rooms will be developed in Mexico City ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the general director of the Mexico City Mixed Fund for Tourism Promotion Carlos Martínez Velázquez said on Tuesday.
“All luxury hotel brands are looking at Mexico City as a tourist investment hub and are building 3,300 rooms for the FIFA World Cup in 2026,” Martínez said, according to the news site Forbes México.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada welcoming FIFA official Jürgen Mainka in October. Saying yes to a Mexico City World Cup was the easy part. Accommodating 5.5 million football fans? Not so much. (Graciela López Herrera/Cuartoscuro)
There are currently 61,500 hotel rooms in Mexico City, meaning that accommodation offerings will need to increase significantly for the arrival of an anticipated 5.5 million visitors during the Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Mexico, the United States and Canada from June 11–July 19, 2026.
Martínez said he is working with the Territorial Planning Minister of Mexico City, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez, on an infrastructure roundtable to accelerate hotel real estate investment in the city.
A Mexico City mobility plan is also being developed for the Cup and will be presented by the city’s mayor, Clara Brugada, according to Martínez.
“Mexico City is ready to receive tourists since there are enough hotel rooms and digital platforms ready to accommodate all visitors,” he said.
Insufficient capacity
Contrary to Martinez’s optimism — and despite the planned hotel expansions — there are fears of insufficient capacity to accommodate the influx of tourists during the highly popular sporting event. The Mexico City government is therefore assessing potential options on the city’s outskirts.
Mexico City officials appear to be counting on short-term rentals in the city to ease the hotel room shortage for the World Cup, but some have expressed concerns that a recently passed “Airbnb Law” will encourage many to take their properties off the short-term rental market. (Airbnb México)
The government is looking at neighborhoods such as Tláhuac, Xochimilco, Magdalena Contreras and Coyoacán — all located within the general area of Estadio Azteca, where Cup games will be played — for accommodation alternatives, according to the Director of Special Projects at Mexico City’s Tourism Ministry Hannah de la Madrid.
“I think what’s going to happen is a mosaic of options that we had not even considered… Mexicans are creative, and we have a natural talent for finding the ‘how to,’” de la Madrid told the newspaper El Universal.
Could Airbnb fill the gap?
Rental sites like Airbnb are also expected to provide alternative accommodation for tourists during the World Cup.
However, in October 2024, the government modified Mexico City’s Tourism Law to establish a 180-day-per-year limit on online vacation rentals. In the city’s demanding housing market, Airbnbs had become de facto long-term rentals for those who could afford the prices — i.e. the wealthy and those with favorable foreign currency exchanges to the peso — and had taken many would-be rental homes and apartments off the market.
Airbnb has filed an injunction against the changes, to which the government has not yet responded.
“Temporary accommodation is a natural complement to these large events, and without it, it will be difficult to serve all these visitors who will come to Mexico City,” Airbnb’s Director of Public Affairs Jorge Balderrama told the news site El Financiero, adding that Mexico City does not currently have the necessary hotel infrastructure to accommodate World Cup visitors.
While the government must address the influx of visitors, it must also address rising rental prices, Martínez said.
“[Airbnb] is within their right, and as a city we must protect [residents], above all. All these platforms generate an increase in the use of municipal services. What we are working on is a review of whether the regulation is optimal for the city. We do not want to generate ‘tourismophobia,’” Martínez told El Financiero.
Valeria Moy, the general director of public policy think tank the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), and Enrique Covarrubias, chief economist and head of research at the financial services company Actinver, both attended the recent Future of Mexico Forum presented by Mexico News Daily and Querencia. (Mexico News Daily)
On Feb. 6-7, Mexico News Daily and Querencia hosted the “Future of Mexico Forum” at the Querencia Private Golf & Beach Club in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. The forum brought together leaders from Mexico and the United States to discuss the future of Mexico across a diverse range of topics. As part of this Forum, the MND team conducted a series of exclusive interviews with each of the speakers and will be sharing the highlights with you in this series.
The second and third interviews we’re publishing are with Valeria Moy, the general director of public policy think tank the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), and Enrique Covarrubias, chief economist and head of research at the financial services company Actinver.
Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies with Mexican economist Enrique Covarrubias. (Mexico News Daily)
Covarrubias, an economist, academic and contributor to media outlets such as Expansión and Investing.com, has a PhD in mathematics and economics from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and was a research scholar at the University of Oxford.
At the MND/Querencia “Future of Mexico Forum,” Valeria Moy and Enrique Covarrubias engaged in a conversation about a range of economic issues with Travis Bembenek, Mexico News Daily CEO and publisher.
After their “Mexico Economic Outlook: Challenges and Opportunities” discussion, Moy and Covarrubias spoke exclusively to Mexico News Daily, discussing Mexico’s near-term growth prospects and the federal government’s Plan México economic initiative, among other issues.
Mexico News Daily Future of Mexico Forum: In conversation with Enrique Covarrubias
Uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff intentions and the outcome of Mexico’s upcoming judicial elections is not conducive to investor confidence.
Covarrubias said that most investors “have decided it’s a wait-and-see environment” and therefore, foreign direct investment in Mexico is likely to be weak in 2025.
“It’s not only about foreign investment, it’s also about domestic investment, both private and public,” he added, explaining that Mexican companies need “more clarity” about the USMCA — which is up for review in 2026 — “before making massive investments.”
“… In terms of public investment, we’re definitely not going to see the same level of investment we saw in previous years,” largely due to a reduction in spending on infrastructure projects compared to the outlay during the López Obrador administration, Covarrubias said.
“… It’s more about finishing the things that have been started,” he said.
For her part, Valeria Moy said that public finances are currently so “stressed” that the federal government needs private investment to spur growth in Mexico.
If the recently proposed energy sector rules attract additional private investment “and provide at the same time better energy for the whole country,” economic growth “might be a little bit higher” than predicted in the near term, she said.
Valeria Moy on Plan México: ‘It’s good news to have some idea of where you want things to go’
The federal government last month presented Plan México, an ambitious economic initiative whose goals include making Mexico the 10th largest economy in the world, attracting additional private investment, reducing reliance on imports from China and creating 1.5 million new jobs over the next six years.
Moy described the plan as “industrial policy 101.”
Mexico News Daily Future of Mexico Forum: In conversation with Valeria Moy
“… It’s good news to have some idea of where you want things to go. Things might change of course, but at least in Plan México there are some ideas regarding social development, social infrastructure, changing the norms for electricity [and] changing water supply. So there are things that I do like about Plan México and I think that if it is well implemented, it might … in the medium and long run change some things,” for the better, she said.
“What it is lacking is funds. … That’s where the plan is not very solid,” Moy added.
‘A brilliant opportunity for the Mexican economy’
The trade tensions between the United States and China create “a brilliant opportunity for the Mexican economy,” Coavarrubias said because Chinese products could “suddenly” be blocked from entering the U.S.
U.S. protectionism targeting Chinese products “might force a lot of that production to be shifted toward Mexico, and it could finally generate some sectors where Mexico can be as competitive as China,” Covarrubias said.
“… American companies need to bet on Mexico as the place where this production is going to happen,” including by increasing their investment in Mexico, he added.
Covarrubias: 25% US tariffs would be ‘disastrous’ for Mexico, but are not likely
Covarrubias said that 25% tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States — as proposed by Trump but which are currently paused until early March — “would be disastrous for the Mexican economy.”
However, he noted that “whenever external shocks happen” — such as the imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods — the Mexican peso “tends to depreciate,” and thus Mexican exports become more competitive and labor costs decline for foreign companies operating in Mexico.
Still, Covarrubias sees a 25% tariff scenario as unlikely, “not only because it would hurt the Mexican economy, and I don’t think any country in the world wants its neighbor to suffer economic consequences of such actions, but also because those tariffs would impact directly American companies at a time when North America as a whole is trying to compete with many different Asian companies but in particular with Chinese companies.”
Moy: ‘We should be changing and adapting our educational models to a new world’
Moy told Mexico News Daily that economic prosperity depends heavily on high-quality education before criticizing Mexico’s system for its rigidity and resistance to change.
“We should be changing and adapting our educational models to a new world that has changed a lot,” she said.
Continuing her response to a question about the economic lessons Mexico can learn from other countries, Moy said that the Mexican government needs to learn how to invest public money more wisely.
During her participation in the economy session of the Future of Mexico Forum, the IMCO chief was critical of the previous federal government’s enormous outlay on infrastructure projects such as the Maya Train railroad and Pemex’s new refinery on the Tabasco coast.
Both Moy and Covarrubias spoke about the low fiscal multiplier effect generated by public spending on infrastructure projects given that the significant outlay hasn’t translated into higher economic growth for Mexico — at least not yet.
The United States is Mexico’s biggest export market for automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. (Cuartoscuro)
United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he plans to impose tariffs of around 25% on automobile, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports.
Trump said he would “probably” announce the specifics of the tariff on April 2, but that “it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25%.” His cabinet is set to deliver reports outlining possible import duty options on April 1.
Trump Floats 25% Tariffs on Autos, Chip and Pharmaceuticals | WSJ News
Trump made the latest tariff announcement from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday.
Trump has previously indicated that tariffs on automobile exports respond to an “unfair” treatment of U.S. automotive exports in foreign markets.
The U.S. imposes a 25% tariff on pickup trucks imported from countries other than Mexico and Canada, which are not subject to tariffs under the United States-Canada-Mexico (USMCA) trade agreement. However, Mexico and Canada together account for approximately half of the United States’ automobile, auto body and parts imports.
In the past month, Trump has announced tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports beginning on March 1 and broad reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose duties on U.S. products. He also said he would press European Union officials to import more cars and other products from the U.S.
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Wednesday to discuss the potential tariffs.
In 2023, the U.S. courted Mexico as a key partner in creating a homegrown North American supply chain for semiconductors as part of the 2022 CHIPS Act’s International Technology Security and Innovation Fund. (Shutterstock)
For pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips, “the [tax] rate will be 25% or even higher and will increase substantially throughout the year,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday.
The president has not yet set a date for introducing tariffs on chips and drugs and said that the delay in introducing the tariffs was aimed at giving companies time to establish semiconductor and pharmaceutical operations in the U.S. to avoid tariffs.
He said he expects some of the world’s biggest companies to announce new investments in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks.
Impact on Mexico
Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet with his American counterparts in Washington on Thursday to discuss the planned tariffs.
“It is a very important dialogue because with this begins not only the dialogue on tariffs that have been announced but mainly to agree on what route we are going to take given the integration that exists between Mexico and the United States,” Ebrard said in an interview with Radio Fórmula.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard relaunched the brand Wednesday. It was first adopted by the Mexican government in 1978. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon relaunched on Wednesday the iconic “Hecho en México” (“Made in Mexico”) brand to boost production and consumption of Mexican-made goods.
“We were exporters of imports. Now is time to get back on track and triple our capacity,” said Francisco Cervantes Días president of the Business Coordinating Council, at the event. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)
“The purpose of all these efforts is for Mexico to move forward, to overcome anything that comes our way, and to bring us together,” Ebrard said during the relaunch event.
Mexican designer Omar Arroyo Arriaga created the original brand image, adopted by Mexico in 1978, but it has been updated numerous times.
President Sheinbaum recently directed the Economy Ministry to promote the seal anew because, Ebrard told a meeting of business leaders on February 4, “first of all, we should start by recovering the pride of what is made in Mexico.”
Ebrard said that “Made in Mexico” seeks not only to boost and protect the national market but to propel Mexico’s global standing as a leader in advanced manufacturing and creative industries.
“When you get on a plane, whichever one you take, you will find that with each passing month and year, an increasing number of components are produced in Mexico,” Ebrard said.
The original logo, adopted by Mexico in 1978, has been updated multiple times throughout its history. (Omar Arroyo Arriaga/Government of Mexico)
The relaunch fits into one of Plan México’s many initiatives, which is to boost homegrown Mexican manufacturing, a strategy to boost GDP but also to reduce dependence on cheap goods from China currently flooding Mexico’s retail markets.
Mexico also recently updated its textile tariff rules to prevent exploitation by online retailers from China like Temu and Shein selling clothing in Mexico at what Ebrard has called “unbelievably low prices,” a trend that he implicated in the Mexican textile industry losing a total of 79,000 jobs in recent years.
Ebrard noted that he will travel to Washington on Thursday to meet with United States officials, and that he will bring the “Hecho en México” seal as a symbol of the country’s industrial and technological strength.
Head of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) Francisco Cervantes Días celebrated the initiative and highlighted the importance of raising national production at a time of readjustment in trade relations.
“We were exporters of imports. Now is time to get back on track and triple our capacity,” Cervantes stressed. “The Minister’s experience will be vital to moving Mexico forward in this new scenario.”
Meanwhile, the Mexican Association of Women Business Managers (AMMJE) assured that local consumption is an alternative to face external threats like the imposition of tariffs by the U.S.
Head of AMMJE Sonia Garza said that she trusts Sheinbaum’s government strategy to negotiate with Donald Trump’s office to avoid a trade conflict.
“We all have to join Plan México and the Hecho en México brand,” she said.
The U.S. government has officially designated the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the United Cartels, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as FTOs. (Cuartoscuro)
The United States government has designated six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), according to a public notice from the Department of State.
The designations of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the United Cartels, the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana as FTOs will take effect on Thursday once the notice is published in the United States Federal Register.
🚨 The U.S. has officially declared the following as Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Gulf Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the Michoacán Family. pic.twitter.com/cgcw9juyEl
The notice was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Feb. 6 and is currently available for public inspection ahead of its publication in the Federal Register on Thursday.
Rubio said that, in consultation with the U.S. attorney general and secretary of the treasury, he concluded that the six Mexican cartels as well as Tren de Aragua, an organization that originated in Venezuela, and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a gang founded by Salvadoran immigrants in the United States, meet the criteria to be designated as FTOs.
Under section 219 of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, the criteria include that “the organization must engage in terrorist activity” and “the organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.”
Rubio endorsed the notice 2 1/2 weeks after United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 that directed the secretary of state to make recommendations on the designation of specific cartels and criminal organizations as FTOs within 14 days.
'Mexico Is Largely Run By The Cartels': Trump Issues Defense Of CIA Drone Flights Over Mexico
Trump’s executive order referred to Mexican cartels broadly and said it was “the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures.”
Asked on Jan. 20 whether he would consider “ordering U.S. special forces into Mexico” to “take out” cartels, the U.S. president said it “could happen.”
What will the terrorist designations allow the US government to do?
The designation of the six Mexican cartels (read about them here), Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as FTOs will allow the U.S. government to “impose broad economic sanctions on the groups and on people or entities linked to them,” The New York Times reported.
The new designation could allow the U.S. Department of the Treasury to apply sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, to cartel members and associates. (Wikimedia Commons)
Reuters reported that “designating a group as a foreign terrorist organization, or FTO, is aimed at disrupting its finances through sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on its members and associates.”
The scope of the new designations “was not immediately clear,” the news agency added.
Trump considered designating Mexican cartels as FTOs during his first term as president, but ultimately didn’t go ahead with the idea.
Reuters reported that some top U.S. officials at the time “privately expressed misgivings that the measure could damage relations with Mexico and hinder the fight against drug trafficking.”
“Another concern was that the designations could make it easier for migrants to win U.S. asylum by claiming they were fleeing terrorism,” Reuters added.
Sheinbaum on terrorist designations and drones
President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that if the United States designated Mexican organized crime groups as FTOs, Mexico would have to broaden its existing lawsuit in the U.S. against gun manufacturers and distributors because they could be considered “accomplices” to terrorism, given that cartels use the firearms they make and sell.
“…There is nothing illegal [taking place]. What there is is collaboration and cooperation,” President Sheinbaum said on Wednesday after a reporter asked her about a CNN report of recent CIA drone flights over Mexico. (Presidencia)
She has expressed opposition to the United States’ designation of Mexican cartels as FTOs on numerous occasions, saying that such a move would not help combat problems such as drug trafficking and illegal migration.
Sheinbaum has stressed the need for collaboration to overcome shared security challenges rather than “unilateral decisions.”
On Wednesday, she said that CIA drone flights over Mexico to collect information on cartels and their illegal activities — as reported by CNN and The New York Times on Tuesday — were part of Mexico’s security collaboration with the United States.
“In the first place, there is nothing illegal [taking place]. What there is is collaboration and cooperation,” Sheinbaum said, adding that U.S. drone flights in Mexico have been taking place for “many years.”
She said that all U.S. drone flights in Mexico have occurred after Mexico requested them in order to obtain information to respond to “security conditions.”
“… So there is nothing illegal and it’s part of collaboration and coordination,” Sheinbaum said.
El Terrible Juan has four locations in Guadalajara: Chapalita, Providencia, La Estancia and Colonia Americana. (El Terrible Juan/Facebook)
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, the first list — and event — of its kind to rank cafés around the globe, named a coffee shop in Guadalajara as one of the best in the world.
“We are filled with pride from being able to represent our country and our city in an international event, while sharing the list with incredible projects that we admire,” an Instagram post on the café’s official account said.
The 2025 awards ceremony, held in Madrid, Spain, on Feb. 17, granted recognition based on the results of combined scores from public and expert votes. Coffee enthusiasts from around the world were invited to cast their votes online prior to judging.
A panel of experts made up of renowned baristas, coffee roasters and connoisseurs assessed the nominees based on criteria such as coffee quality, barista expertise, atmosphere, innovation, customer service, consistency, quality of food and sustainability practices.
El Terrible Juan Café’s popularity in Guadalajara has helped the coffeemakers open three branches in the Chapalita, Providencia and La Estancia neighborhoods, in addition to its flagship location in Colonia Americana — which recently celebrated 10 years. It also has four pop-up cafés dubbed the “Juanito Coffee Club express bars” in Plaza Andares, the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) and at the offices of Wizeline Guadalajara and CompuSoluciones.
“Thank you to every one of our clients, collaborators, friends and family, for believing in our project. We couldn’t be happier to see what we have built,” the Instagram post concluded.
CDMX-based coffee snobs: El Terrible Juan Café isn’t the only Mexican coffee shop on the list!
Camino a Comala in Mexico City also made it onto the list of World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, at number 96. The coffee shop has locations in the San Rafael, Santa María la Ribera and Condesa neighborhoods. Outside of the capital, Camino a Comala has one branch in Manzanillo, Colima.
According to the ranking, the best coffee shop in the world is Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
