In the last five years, Mexican embassies and consulates have recovered over 13,500 cultural pieces globally. (inah.gob.mx)
Thirty archaeological pieces have been repatriated to Mexico through the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, California, as part of the Mexican government’s international campaign to recover Mexican artifacts from abroad.
The repatriation ceremony was led by Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Bárcena, who was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Cultural Development, Marina Núñez.
One of the pieces that was recovered with the help of the Los Angeles consulate. (gob.mx)
The collection of artifacts includes anthropomorphic figures, vessels, necklace beads and ceramic fragments that vary in style and are associated with pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico’s West, Central Highlands, and Gulf Coast regions. Some artifacts – several of which are Maya and Mixtec – date back to periods ranging from the Classic period (0-650 A.D.) to the Mesoamerican Postclassic period (1200-1521 A.D.).
Speaking at the ceremony, Bárcena announced that the process of recovering Mexican artifacts will no longer be referred to as “repatriation,” but rather as “rematriation,” since the pieces will be returned to the “mother earth” and their “mother communities.”
Throughout the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and under the slogan #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende (“My Heritage is Not for Sale”), Mexican embassies and consulates have recovered over 13,500 cultural pieces globally.
This campaign, which began in 2019, has also managed to prevent auctions of stolen objects or objects that belong to Mexico’s heritage in cities like New York, Paris and Rome.
To showcase the government’s efforts to recover stolen artifacts from abroad, the Chancery Museum of the Matías Romero Institute in Mexico City’s Historical Center is currently showing the exhibition “A Halo of Splendor: Repatriation of Archaeological Pieces from the Cultures of Mexico.”
With a display of 200 artifacts recovered through diplomatic efforts, the exhibition aims to promote an understanding of Mexico’s rich cultural heritage and how it has been recovered.
The exhibition will run through March and is free to the public.
The helicopter blade caught the edge of the flag, shredding part of the gigantic national symbol. (Gpo.Siade.Ac.oficial/X)
An Air Force helicopter destroyed one of Mexico’s “monumental flags” on Saturday when its main rotor made contact with the oversized green, white and red symbol of the nation.
The incident occurred at the military-owned Campo Marte complex in Mexico City, where a lucha libre wrestling event was taking place.
Campo militar 1-A Helicóptero Bell 407 No de cola 1957 de la Fuerza Aérea Mexicana corta la bandera de México con las palas del rotor principal durante una parada aérea. Se aproximó demasiado al asta bandera, poniendo en riesgo la seguridad de la aeronave y las personas en tierra pic.twitter.com/DizxXvWPdd
The accident happened at a lucha libre event in Mexico City (Gpo.Siade.Ac.oficial/X)
Footage posted to social media shows three Air Force helicopters flying overhead, one of which — a Bell 407 — catches the red section of the unfurled “monumental flag” with its three-blade rotor.
Fragments of the flag — a sizable portion of which was shredded — are seen fluttering toward the spectators below. The flight of the helicopter didn’t appear to be affected by the contact it made with the flag.
The Ministry of National Defense didn’t comment publicly on the incident, but military sources told the El Universal newspaper that there are a range of “factors and variables” that have a bearing on “the development of air operations.”
The “bandera monumental” or “monumental flag” at Campo Marte is one of several that fly atop extremely tall flagpoles at various locations in Mexico. Former president Ernesto Zedillo initiated the monumental flag program in 1999.
There are three banderas monumentales in Mexico City, including one in the Zócalo, or central square. The others are located in Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Veracruz city, Cuautla and Iguala, the birthplace of the flag of Mexico.
After more than 50 years of diplomatic relations, Australia and Mexico's trade and interpersonal connections are stronger than ever. (Image generated with Image Creator from Designer)
Editor’s note
Welcome to the first Mexico News Daily Global Mexico series, exploring Mexico’s relationships with other countries around the world. We launch with “Australia in Focus”, a week of stories about relations between Mexico and Australia. What is the diplomatic history between the two? What do these two geographically distant countries have in common? What are Australian companies and individuals working on here in Mexico?
As the premier English-language source of news in Mexico, we are immersed in national political, economic and cultural events. We also see how Mexico is increasingly in the global spotlight — as a destination for investment and tourism, and also as an international cultural influence. The population of foreigners living and working in Mexico is diversifying, as are its economic and political ties with other countries in the region and beyond.
Be sure to check our site every day this week for a new story about the Mexico-Australia relationship, and stay tuned for our next Global Mexico series in March.
Kate Bohné, chief news editor
A deepening bond despite the distance
Three months before making a historic first visit to China by an Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam became the first Australian prime minister to visit Mexico, where he met with Mexican president Luis Echeverría Álvarez in Mexico City.
“In Mexico, which is a leader of opinion in Central and South America, my delegation and I received an enthusiastic and warm reception, especially from President Echeverría and Foreign Minister [Emilio Óscar] Rabasa,” Whitlam told the Australian Parliament shortly after his July 1973 trip.
“I believe the visit has opened a window onto Central and South America; that in [the] future we shall have more frequent and meaningful contacts with Mexico and, indeed, with other Latin American countries.”
Just over 50 years later, Australia and Mexico remain geographically distant, but the relationship between the two nations has grown closer, just as Whitlam suggested it would.
A brief history of key developments in Australia-Mexico relations
Before we look at at the state of the bilateral relationship today, let’s first go back to the 1960s.
Formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in March 1966 when the Prime Minister of Australia was Harold Holt and the president of Mexico was Gustavo Díaz Ordaz.
Those two men — the former Australia’s most famous drowning victim, the latter Mexico’s president when the infamous Tlatelolco Massacre occurred — never met, but their respective governments established embassies in each other’s countries.
Even before diplomatic relations began, Australian flag carrier Qantas established another important connection between Australia and Mexico, commencing in 1964 the so-called “Fiesta Route,” which linked Sydney to London via Fiji, Tahiti, Acapulco, Mexico City, The Bahamas and Bermuda.
“Plenty of Australians still have great memories of the Fiesta Route, including some very lucky Qantas employees,” Qantas says on its website.
A vintage advertisement for Qantas’ “Fiesta Route” to Mexico. (London Air Travel)
The service, which ended in the mid 1970s, resulted in many Australians visiting Mexico, giving a boost to people-to-people links between nationals of the two nations. More on such ties later.
While Echeverría didn’t visit Australia as president, just a couple of years after his six-year term ended he took up a post as Mexico’s ambassador to Australia, a position he held for just over a year in the late 1970s.
In 1982, Australia and Mexico entered into an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation, which provided a platform for collaboration that has increased over the years.
Eight years later, Carlos Salinas de Gortari became the first sitting Mexican president to visit Australia, where he met with Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
“I have come to strengthen the friendship and frank understanding that unite Mexico and Australia,” Salinas said at a lunch with Hawke in Canberra in June 1990.
During the trip, the Mexican president advocated greater trade between the two countries, telling the Australian Parliament there was “a great opportunity to intensify our trade relations and our cultural and tourism exchanges.”
In 1989, Reuters reported shortly after Salinas’ visit, Mexico’s exports to Australia were worth US $77 million, while Australia’s exports to Mexico were worth $30 million.
This century, collaboration between Australia and Mexico has increased in a range of areas, with the two countries signing memorandums of understanding on energy, mining, agriculture, education and indigenous cooperation, among other things.
Australian prime ministers and Mexican presidents have met on numerous occasions since the inaugural meetings in Mexico and Australia in 1973 and 1990, respectively. Several of the more recent meetings occurred at APEC and G20 summits.
Australia’s former governor general, Sir Peter Cosgrove, meets with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2016. (Gobierno de México)
In 2016 — the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Mexico-Australia diplomatic relations — Australia’s governor general at the time, Sir Peter Cosgrove, visited Mexico City and met with then Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto.
Australia and Mexico “share interests regarding global economic liberalization and regional integration,” the Mexican government said at the time.
It also noted that “Australia was Mexico’s 29th largest trading partner worldwide [in 2015], with bilateral trade standing at $1.6493 billion USD.”
Thus, the value of two-way trade had increased by more than 1,400% in the space of 26 years.
While problems are common in bilateral relations, there haven’t been any major disagreements between Australia and Mexico, perhaps due to the vast geographical distance between the two nations.
“The relationship between our people and our countries has always been friendly, prosperous and open, and this continues to be the case,” Cosgrove said in Mexico City in 2016.
The modern-day relationship between Australia and Mexico
Mexico is Australia’s largest trade partner in Latin America, with two-way trade worth just under US $1.95 billion in 2022, according to the Mexican government. Mexican exports to Australia accounted for over 60% of the 2022 total.
Cars, medical instruments, fruit and vegetables, and alcoholic beverages including beer and tequila are among the products Mexico sends to Australia, while barley, iron, steel and wine are among the goods shipped in the opposite direction.
Some of Mexico’s imports from Australia include wines, and Mexico exports tequila and mezcal to Australia. (Wikimedia Commons)
“In 2022, tequila consumption has increased rapidly, placing Australia as the third largest [per capita] consumer of tequila in the world,” according to the Mexican government.
“Other Mexican distillates, such as mezcal, have been very well accepted as niche products in the Australian market,” the embassy says.
While trade is one pillar of the Australia-Mexico relationship, joint participation in a range of international organizations is another.
Those groups include the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the G20 and MIKTA, a grouping that includes Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia.
“Mexico and Australia share topics of interest on the multilateral agenda, in particular, climate change, disarmament, human rights, trade liberalization, combating transnational organized crime and terrorism [and] nuclear non-proliferation,” according to the Mexican government.
As mentioned earlier, another aspect of the bilateral relationship — and one that goes beyond government ties — is scientific and technical cooperation. In a four-year period between 2015 and 2018, more than 3,100 Australian researchers collaborated with Mexican researchers on projects in a range of fields including medicine, agriculture, biology, astronomy and physics.
While it’s not part of the Australia-Mexico relationship as such, another connection between the two countries is the (admittedly minor) rivalry in men’s soccer, or football.
The Australian “Socceroos” might meet “El Tri” at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. (socceroos.com.au)
However, the two teams are yet to meet at a FIFA World Cup. Will there be a first World Cup showdown at the 2026 edition of the tournament, which Mexico will co-host with the United States and Canada?
“Deepening” people-to-people links between Australians and Mexicans
People-to-people links are another important aspect of any bilateral relationship, whether they are between high-ranking political leaders, business people or anyone else.
According to the Australian government, people-to-people links — defined by the Lowy Institute think tank as “ongoing, biding friendships and business relationships between individual people across national boundaries” — between Australia and Mexico are “deepening, with increasing numbers of Australians visiting Mexico and increasing numbers of Mexican students choosing to study in Australia.”
Australian residents of Mexico and Mexican residents of Australia are perhaps best-placed to develop such friendships and relationships in an Australia-Mexico context.
On a personal note, I — an Australian resident of Mexico for more than 10 years — can vouch for my own strong people-to-people links with Mexicans, including within my family.
My wife is Mexican and our young son is a dual Mexican-Australian citizen. We hope he grows up as both a proud Australian, yun mexicano orgulloso.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
The constitution of 1857 laid down the principles of equality, freedom and property ownership. (Shutterstock)
February 5 is an important day in Mexico’s political history — and a public holiday — as it marks the enactment of Mexico’s constitution, officially known as the Constitution of the United Mexican States.
Enacted on Feb. 5, 1917, after the Revolution, it is one of the world’s oldest constitutions still in effect.
Since its inception, the constitution has become essential to the country’s legal framework. It established a new social, economic, and political system to create a modern and democratic state and is the primary legal source for court decisions, rulings and laws.
In other words, it is Mexico’s supreme law.
Today’s story will help you understand how the Constitution helped shape the country you know today, and how it reflects Mexico’s current reality and the direction in which it is heading towards the future.
What was the political and social context at the time of the Constitution’s creation?
When the Constitution was enacted, Mexico was in the midst of the last years of the Mexican Revolution, an internal conflict that began in 1910 to overthrow President Porfirio Díaz’s 35-year dictatorship during a time of extreme social inequality.
Following Díaz’s resignation, the nation went through a turbulent period electing a new president while trying to address the social issues faced by the indigenous people and peasants. These groups were brought together by Emiliano Zapata’s well-known slogan, “The land belongs to those who work it.”
Finally, in 1917, Venustiano Carranza became president and enacted the Constitution, setting the base for Mexico’s new era as a democratic country.
This Constitution not only set the path to change the country, but was also revolutionary worldwide, as it was the first to include social rights in its text.
What were the key principles and rights the constitution recognized?
The Carta Magna, as it is often referred to in Mexico, was the result of two significant constitutions which came together after the Revolution — that of 1857 and 1917.
The constitution of 1857 laid down the principles of equality, freedom and property ownership. It abolished slavery and ensured freedom of religion. It also expanded various freedoms such as education, work, thought, association, commerce and printing.
The same constitution also established Mexico as a federal republic with three branches of power: executive, legislative and judicial.
Meanwhile, the 1917 constitution, which was built upon the foundations of the 1857 one, incorporated the social demands of the Revolution. These demands included the concept of more autonomy for municipalities, addressing workers’ rights, and implementing free and mandatory education.
One of the most important additions to the 1917 constitution was the agrarian reforms, which aimed to distribute land to farmers, provide them with legal ownership of their workspace, ensure food access and grant them organizational autonomy.
The lasting impacts of the agrarian reforms are still alive and regulated under a special commission called Agrarian Commission, and a special branch of law called Agrarian Law.
What are some recent big changes to the Constitution?
Mexico’s constitution constantly evolves to respond to current issues and social demands.
One of the most significant changes in modern history was the constitutional reform of 2011 in the field of human rights law. This reform recognized that human rights are not granted by the state; rather, individuals are inherently born with certain rights that the state must acknowledge and respect.
To align with this international notion, the Constitution replaced the term “individual guarantees” with “human rights.” The amendment also integrated the rights outlined in international human rights treaties into the Constitution.
Other recent modifications include the right to free development of personality; sexual and reproductive rights (which includes the legal termination of pregnancy); mobility; and other economic, social, cultural, electoral, and environmental rights.
These changes can tell us about Mexico’s current social and political context, and where it is heading in the near future.
The juicio de amparo is frequently mentioned in Mexican news. What is its relationship to the Mexican Constitution?
The juicio de amparo (amparo trial) is a trial that anyone can access to, to protect their human rights enshrined in the constitution.
In Mexico, the juicio de amparo is the most important defense mechanism available to anyone — whether a person or a company — who believes the Mexican government is violating their rights. This legal process allows individuals to act against the responsible authorities, whether due to their acts or omissions in carrying out their official duties.
A juicio de amparo can also be triggered by a foreigner, as was the case of French national Florence Cassez, who was convicted of helping her boyfriend run a kidnapping ring and later released. Her case is now a Netflix series.
The juicio de amparo can also protect someone from the effects of a new law, as happened last year with the anti-smoking law.
Who interprets the Constitution?
Like in the United States, Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) interprets the country’s constitution.
While there are several ways that the SCJN can get involved in a case, the most common one is when it takes on a juicio de amparo that it considers relevant to Mexico’s public life.
The SCJN’s verdict sets the direction for how authorities in all other branches of power should apply the Constitution.
How many times has the Mexican constitution been amended?
According to the Legal Research Institute of Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM), until February 2023, the constitution had been subject to 252 reform decrees, which means 748 article changes.
In contrast, the Constitution of the United States of America, which has been in effect since 1790, has undergone some 30 revisions and updates. These changes are primarily the result of interpretation (or case law), by the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies.
It’s important to note that in Mexico, constitutional reforms are just a first step toward changing how laws affect the average person.
To become a reality, a constitutional reform requires the creation of laws and regulations that enforce the provisions of the new text. Therefore, it can take months to years for the effects of a constitutional reform to become visible in the public sphere.
Gabriela Solís is a Mexican lawyer based in Dubai turned full-time writer. She covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her life in Dubai in her blog Dunas y Palmeras
Chinese automaker FAW will return to the Mexican market, 16 years after an unsuccessful partnership with Grupo Salinas. (FAW)
FAW, a Chinese automaker that had previously entered the Mexican market in 2008 without success, is set to launch its cars in Mexico starting in March.
The company will introduce four different models of its Bestune brand vehicles, including the B70 sedan, B70S crossover, and T77 and T99 SUVs. All will be equipped with either a 1.5- or 2.0-liter turbo gasoline engine.
The Bestune T77 SUV is amongst the models that will be imported. (FAW)
Shanghai Auto Assembly Group (SAAG), a Mexican subsidiary of Mirage – an importer of air conditioners – will import the vehicles. Their launch is scheduled for March 14.
SAAG also plans to introduce the JIM brand pickups, owned by Jiangling Motors Corporation Group (JMC). The brand’s product range includes 4×2 and 4×4 models, with manual and automatic transmission.
The CEO of SAAG, Zaid Leyva, told the newspaper Expansión that the company seeks to offer unique features that differentiate them from other Chinese brands on the Mexican market. “We believe that we have found the right formula to provide something different to potential customers in Mexico,” Leyva stated.
When FAW first entered the Mexican market 16 years ago, it did so under the umbrella of Grupo Salinas, after reaching an agreement for the marketing of three models via the retailer Elektra: the F1, F4 and F5.
FAW also plans to move it’s ELAM-FAW truck assembly business to Colima. (ELAM-FAW)
However, Grupo Salinas suspended the sale of FAW vehicles, resulting in the cancellation of the project and the termination of a deal with mechanic workshop Speedy for after-sales service.
This time around, SAAG will create a network of dealerships that groups of distributors will operate.
SAAG plans to open 15 to 20 distributors across Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey by the end of 2024. It has already signed contracts with six distributor groups that will open the first SAAG dealerships. Twelve more groups are currently in the decision-making process.
SAAG will also launch a financial institution, SAAG Financial, to offer financing options with competitive rates.
In Mexico, FAW also has a partnership with the cargo truck manufacturer Latin America Truck Assembly (ELAM) known as ELAM-FAW. They have announced plans to move their current manufacturing plant located in Hidalgo, to expand production capacity in the country and reduce logistics costs.
According to the Colima state government, ELAM-FAW has signed a letter of intent with the state to install their assembly plant there, which will require an initial investment of 7 billion pesos (US $408 million).
Founded in 1953, FAW is one of China’s oldest and largest car manufacturers, and today also makes electric vehicles under the Hongqi, Bestune and Jiefang brands.
S & P Global has maintained Mexico's investment grade credit rating and stable outlook. (Shutterstock)
S & P Global Ratings, one of the “big three” credit rating agencies, believes that “cautious macroeconomic policy” will continue in Mexico regardless of who wins the June 2 elections, but anticipates that the country’s economic growth will be below that of its “peers” in the coming years.
Late last week, S & P affirmed its BBB long-term foreign currency and BBB+ long-term local currency sovereign credit ratings for Mexico. “The outlook remains stable,” the agency added in an article.
The affirmation of the BBB and BBB+ ratings allows Mexico to maintain “investment grade” status as it is deemed as having adequate capacity to meet its financial commitments.
S & P said that “the stable outlook reflects our expectation that cautious macroeconomic management will prevail over the next two years, notwithstanding complex global conditions.”
“This horizon includes the run-up to June’s national elections, the presidential transition period, and the start of the next administration. Our base case assumes that whatever the outcome of June’s elections, the next government will extend Mexico’s record of cautious macroeconomic policy execution, including prudent monetary policy and a return to low fiscal deficits,” the New York-based agency said.
“We do not expect advancement of major policy initiatives that either improve or hurt Mexico’s business climate — or affect trend economic growth — amid the elections in the U.S. and Mexico this year.”
Morena party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum is strong favorite to win the presidency in June. (Daniel Augusto / Cuartoscuro.com)
Recent poll results indicate that ruling Morena party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum will win the June 2 presidential election and succeed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador this October, and that Morena will be the dominant party in the next Congress.
Downside and upside scenarios
S & P said that “the credibility of Mexico’s independent central bank … and its ability to pursue an inflation-targeting monetary policy in the face of challenging circumstances” as well as Mexico’s “solid external position” were key factors in its assessment of economic conditions in the country and consequent decision to affirm its prevailing ratings.
Moving forward, “unexpected setbacks in macroeconomic management” or in relations between the USMCA partners “on strengthening cooperation, supply-chain resilience, and cross-border linkages would likely weaken investor sentiment and investment and could lead to a [credit rating] downgrade over the next two years,” the agency said.
It also said that “persistently higher general government deficits that lead to a sharper-than-expected rise in general government debt would heighten fiscal risks … and could also lead to a downgrade.”
Conversely, “effective political and economic management that bolsters Mexico’s subpar growth trajectory, such as with a more dynamic investment outlook, could lead to an upgrade,” S & P said.
Similarly, initiatives that “bolster budgetary flexibility, support fiscal buffers, and broaden the non-oil tax base to mitigate the potential contingent liability posed by state-owned companies in the energy sector would improve creditworthiness,” the agency added.
Growth outlook
S & P estimated that economic growth remained above 3% last year (preliminary data showed a 3.1% expansion), but forecast that “it will slow to an average 2.2% in 2024-2027.”
Such growth would put Mexico’s per capita GDP at about US $14,700 on average in 2024-2027, the agency said.
The economy’s early 2024 growth has been bolstered by public infrastructure projects like the Maya Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
“We expect real per capita GDP growth to remain below that of peers with a similar level of economic development in 2024-2027,” it said.
S & P said that the anticipated slowdown in 2024 “stems from global and U.S. conditions, with growth higher in the first part of the year as the government finishes flagship projects,” such as the Maya Train railroad and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor project.
“We do foresee continued solid consumption, supported by employment gains and remittances and manufactured goods exports. Investment, however, after a jump in 2023, is likely to slow as some projects conclude and the policy priorities of the next administration remain uncertain,” it said.
While foreign companies made announcements last year in which they committed to invest more than US $100 billion in Mexico, “prospects for nearshoring to bolster trend growth have yet to be realized,” S & P said.
It highlighted a range of challenges that will need to be overcome in order for the nearshoring phenomenon to enable “higher trend growth.”
Those mentioned were “energy and water security, infrastructure needs, qualified labor, and rule of law.”
S & P said that “lingering negative private-sector sentiment toward some of the current administration’s policies, particularly those in the energy sector, have limited upside.”
President López Obrador has remained committed to his nationalistic energy policies — including strong support for the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the state oil company Pemex — despite both the United States and Canada filing challenges against them under USMCA in 2022.
S & P said that the way in which current policies “evolve under the next government will be key to realizing upside from nearshoring or ‘friend-shoring’ opportunities” created by Mexico’s proximity to the United States and competitive labor costs, among other factors.
Though northern cities like Monterrey, Nuevo León, hav seen industrial growth from nearshoring, the trend has yet to make a major impact on national economic growth. (David Liceaga/Unsplash)
Looking back, S & P said that despite “cautious macroeconomic management” in recent decades, Mexico “has not enjoyed as much economic dynamism as other emerging markets.”
The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) said in a statement that the rating agency’s “ratification” of its investment grade sovereign rating “will allow the country to continue with favorable access to national and international markets.”
The SCHP added that it “maintains its commitment” to stability in finances and the management of public debt.
Deputy Finance Minster Gabriel Yorio noted on social media that Mexico currently has investment grade ratings “with a stable outlook with the eight ratings agencies” that assess the country.
Estrada was nominated in the category of Best Overall Musical Performance. (Silvana Estrada/Instagram)
One name in the Mexican contemporary musical landscape resonates with a blend of nostalgia, authenticity and raw talent: Silvana Estrada. She was born in Coatepec, Veracruz, a region steeped in rich musical heritage best known for its traditional son jarocho and fandango. Silvana’s journey into the world of music began at an early age; she comes from a family of luthiers which allowed her to grow up surrounded by instruments and musicians and shaped her musical instincts with the melodies of traditional Mexican folk and jazz. “My music is made of who I am,” she asserts in an interview for Forbes.
Silvana’s musical journey is not just about her beautiful voice or her virtuoso skills on the Venezuelan cuatro (a form of guitar); it’s about the immense power of storytelling through music. Her lyrics are original poems that simultaneously serve as windows into an old and a recent Mexico. Each verse weaves tales of love, broken hearts, longing, violence, gender and just life in Mexico.
But Silvana’s rise to prominence wasn’t very smooth. Like many artists unwilling to transform their art into what is trending, she had to navigate the music industry, facing challenges and setbacks along the way. However, her passion and dedication to her craft kept her forging ahead and thanks to her determination and clarity of mission, she carved a niche for herself in a competitive landscape without sacrificing her beliefs. Now, people of all ages and backgrounds listen to her music because she speaks to the Mexican context and universal feelings.
What sets Silvana apart is her ability to infuse traditional Mexican folk with a contemporary twist, creating a sound that feels both timeless and fresh. Whether she’s singing a heartfelt ballad or a more jazzy number, there’s an undeniable authenticity to her music that captivates audiences far and wide.
Silvana Estrada — Milagro y Desastre (Video Oficial)
The Mexican star made waves with the release of her EP, “Abrazo,” following her dual nominations at the Latin Grammy Awards 2023 for Best Singer-Songwriter Album and Best New Artist. Remarkably, she clinched the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2022 at just 25 years old.
While she didn’t take home the award, her nomination at the 2024 Grammy Awards for Best Global Music Performance with her song “Milagro y Desastre” is an exciting accomplishment. A song that was born from her belief that life-changing events are both a miracle and a disaster. “This idea has helped me a lot to understand and heal my experiences over the years. In this song, I wanted to vindicate all the facets of love, even the love that hurts when it ends,” she said in an interview in Spanish with Rolling Stone magazine.
Collaborations have been a significant part of Silvana’s journey, having performed and recorded with artists like Natalia Lafourcade, Andrew Bird, Devendra Banhart and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Notably, jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter was one of Silvana’s first collaborations in a live show in New York featuring Antonio Sánchez.
Silvana Estrada — Brindo (con Charlie Hunter, Antonio Sánchez y Michael League)
Also, her collaboration with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2023 propelled Silvana to international recognition.
Moreover, her voice extends beyond her music as a feminist voice in the context of Mexican violence. She addresses pressing social issues through her lyrics and activism, sparking important conversations and advocating for change. ‘Si me matan,’ a song about gender violence has become an anthem for resistance in the Mexican feminist protests and context.
Silvana’s childhood home recently served as the stage for a Tiny Desk (Home) Concert for NPR. In a world dominated by fleeting trends and manufactured pop stars, Silvana’s emergence represents a return to the roots of Mexican music, where heartfelt lyrics and melodies matter the most.
Silvana Estrada: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
As Silvana continues to enchant audiences with her mesmerizing performances and soulful compositions, one thing is clear: her journey is far from over. With each strum of her guitar and each note she sings, she carries on the rich legacy of Mexican music, ensuring that its soulful melodies echo for generations.
Camila Sánchez Bolaño is a journalist, feminist, bookseller, lecturer, and cultural promoter and is Editor in Chief of Newsweek en Español magazine.
Mexico City's Aztec stadium will host the first 2026 FIFA World Cup match on June 11, 2026. (Wikimedia Commons)
The opening match of the men’s World Cup soccer tournament in 2026 will take place at the Estadio Azteca (Aztec Stadium) in Mexico City, the sport’s ruling body announced on Sunday.
The schedule released by the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) revealed that group-stage matches from June 11-27, 2026 will start in Mexico and that the final on July 19 will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca will play host to a third FIFA World Cup. (Cuartoscuro)
The June 11 opening match will pit Mexico’s national team against a to-be-determined opponent; Mexico receives an automatic bid to play as a host nation.
The tournament will expand to 48 teams in 2026, and for the first time, it will be jointly hosted by three countries: Mexico, the United States and Canada. Teams and matchups won’t be determined until the qualifying process is completed over the next 14 months.
Guadalajara will host four group-stage matches at Akron Stadium in Zapopan, Jalisco, while Mexico City and Monterrey (BBVA Stadium) will each host three matches in the group stage. The first Guadalajara match will be on June 11, 2026, the same day as the first Mexico City match.
The granting of the opening game to Mexico City was a nice nod to the nation’s soccer heritage Mexico previously hosted World Cups in 1970 and 1986 — meaning Aztec Stadium will become the first venue ever to stage matches in three different World Cups. The legendary stadium now seats about 83,000 after being scaled back from 105,000.
The 2026 World Cup games in Mexico are sure to sell out fast when they go on sale in 2025. (Photo: Archive)
Matches will begin June 12 in the United States at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and in Canada at BMO Field in Toronto.
The knockout stage, which will begin on June 28 with a record field of 32 teams, will include one game each in Monterrey (June 29) and Mexico City (June 30).
Mexico City will host one more game, on July 5, a round-of-16 battle to determine one of the teams in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals and beyond will be contested on U.S. soil.
In all, there will be a record 104 matches held throughout the three nations, with 13 in Mexico, 13 in Vancouver and Toronto, and the rest in the United States. Sixteen stadiums will host games.
The Mexican national team will play two matches in Mexico City (June 11 and 24) and one in Guadalajara (June 18), FIFA announced.
The last men’s World Cup was Qatar 2022, where Mexico was eliminated after a 0-0 tie vs. Poland, a 2-0 loss to eventual champion Argentina and a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. It marked the first time since 1978 that Mexico failed to advance to the knockout round.
Despite a meeting with government officials on Saturday, truckers have gone ahead with their planned strike on Monday. (Cuartoscuro)
Truckers went on strike across Mexico on Monday to protest insecurity on highways and demand action from authorities to remedy the situation.
The national strike went ahead despite the federal government saying Sunday it had reached an agreement with unions to avoid the planned stoppage.
👉En la México-Pachuca aún no inicia el paro de transportistas.🚘 Sin embargo, hay dos camiones que apenas llegaron y aseguran estar esperando a más compañeros. Se identificaron como parte del Sindicato Nacional de Operadores y Transportistas. VIDEO: @LauraBruges. pic.twitter.com/EqLsTw5jbZ
Truckers in Veracruz, Chihuahua, Querétaro, Chiapas, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Guanajuato and Nayarit were among those who stopped work to protest insecurity on Mexico’s highways, where robberies are commonplace.
Ignacio Granados, a member of Indeco — one of the groups with which the government said it had reached an agreement — said in a radio interview on Monday morning that around 150,000 drivers were expected to take part in the national strike.
He said there was no agreement with the government and that “we don’t understand what the intention of the Interior Ministry (Segob) was” with the statement it released on Sunday saying the strike was canceled.
The statement said that the government had reached an agreement with transport organizations to engage in dialogue in order to “continue conciliation work” aimed at “guaranteeing greater security on federal highways.”
As a result of a meeting between federal officials and representatives of four unions on Saturday, the transport organizations “informed that they wouldn’t carry out any national strike nor a blockade of federal roads,” Segob said.
The ANTAC truckers’ association, which wasn’t involved in the talks with the government, published the SEGOB statement on social media with the word “false” superimposed on it in red letters.
“Don’t be fooled colleague, join the national strike this Feb. 5,” the union said.
Truckers protested over the same unsafe conditions in March 2022. (Photo: Archive)
While thousands of truckers stopped work on Monday, there were no immediate reports of major disruptions on highways due to blockades. The El Economista newspaper reported that the Mexico City-Querétaro highway was blocked near a toll booth in Tepotzotlán, México state, but only briefly.
Truckers indicated that they planned to mainly protest on the sides of highways and not block lanes, or at least not all of them.
The strike on Monday comes less than a month after the president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) told a press conference that some 85,000 transport trucks have been targeted in robberies since President López Obrador took office in late 2018.
José Abugaber Andonie said that such robberies — which include the hijacking of trucks in some cases — cost the economy over 7 billion pesos (US $407 million) per year and asserted that insecurity is “rampant” and “out of control” in Mexico.
Foodstuffs, construction materials, auto parts, medications, fuel, clothing and footwear are among the products criminals are stealing on the nation’s highways, Abugaber said, adding that stolen goods may not just be sold on the black market, but also reincorporated into the formal market as a result of criminals pressuring stores to purchase them.
Presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, who will represent the ruling Morena party in the June 2 election, said Sunday that her team has a two-pronged — and very simple — plan to provide security on the nation’s highways.
Truckers, or transportistas, in León gave a speech over a casket to emphasize the risk faced by drivers. (@BexTransportes/X)
It entails “the presence of the [National] Guard on highways in some areas” of the country and “at the same time the arrest of people who dedicate themselves to robbery,” she said at the event in Colima.
Sheinbaum also said that insecurity must be addressed by attending to the causes of crime, as the current government has focused on doing through the delivery of a range of welfare and employment programs.
The Morena candidate’s main rival for the presidency, Xóchitl Gálvez of the Strength and Heart for Mexico opposition alliance, stressed during an interview given in New York last week that “we need to return security” to Mexico’s highways, which are used to move essential goods around and to get huge quantities of exports to the United States.
Javier Robles, director of public relations and sales at the private security company Grupo Multisistemas de Seguridad Industrial, told the La Jornada newspaper last month that “unfortunately there is no presence” or only a “very minimal” presence of the National Guard on Mexican highways.
“The majority of robberies are now with violence and weapons,” he added.
Feb. 2: After several rainy days, a rainbow appeared over the border between Mexico and the United States in Tijuana. (OMAR MARTÍNEZ /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Mexico City
Jan. 27: A Lucha Libre show held as part of a street festival in pasaje San Pablo. (MARIO JASSO/CUARTOSCURO.COM)Jan. 28: Animal rights protesters marched outside the bullring on the day the first bullfight was held in the plaza since 2022. (ANDREA MURCIA /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Oaxaca city, Oaxaca
Feb. 1: On the eve of Candlemas (Día de la Candelaria), Catholics in Oaxaca dress their figures of baby Jesus in preparation for the event, which commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. (CAROLINA JIMÉNEZ/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Ocumicho, Michoacán
Feb. 1: Every year, hundreds of people from the four Purépecha regions of Ciénega de Zacapu, Región Lacustre, Cañada de los Once Pueblos and Meseta Purépecha gather to celebrate a new cycle of life by lighting the New Year Fire, or kurhíkuaeri k’uinchekua on the first of February. (GRACIELA LÓPEZ/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Ocoyoacac, México state
Feb. 2: People line up to buy tamales at the annual tamal festival held in Ocoyoacac for Candlemas. (CRISANTA ESPINOSA AGUILAR /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Tlacotalpan, Veracruz
Feb. 2: Celebration of the traditional procession of the Virgin during the Candlemas festivities in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. (ALBERTO ROA/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Tuxtla Chico, Chiapas
Feb. 2: In Tuxtla Chico, Chiapas, residents prepare carpets of colorful sawdust for the pilgrimage of the Virgin of the Conception. (DAMIÁN SÁNCHEZ/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
