After three consecutive years at record highs, the number of migrants applying for refugee status in Mexico has sharply declined. (Alejandro Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)
The number of migrants seeking refugee status in Mexico in 2024 has diminished significantly while the government takes steps to streamline the application process and provide support and protection for them.
The Mexican Refugees Assistance Commission (Comar) reported this week that the number of migrants seeking asylum in Mexico is down 48% from last year’s record highs, a statistic that aligns with government data that indicates irregular migrant flows are down 66% from 2023.
The majority of the applications were filed in Comar offices in the southern state of Chiapas. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
The majority of the applications were filed in Comar offices in the southern state of Chiapas, Ramírez reported in another social media post, but asylum requests were received in all 32 states of the Republic.
On Monday, Ramírez announced that beginning Wednesday, migrants in Mexico will be able to track their asylum status online instead of having to go to Comar offices.
On Monday, Comar launched “Comar Digital,” which will allow migrants to check their asylum status online instead of having to go to Comar offices. (Damián Sánchez/Cuartoscuro)
The digital platform is available in four languages — Spanish, English, French and Creole — and has earned the approval of the United Nations for its confidentiality and facility of use. Migrants can receive updates and can consult frequently asked questions via their electronic devices.
In addition, an intersecretarial commission comprised of six federal ministries is collaborating with Comar and the United Nations to improve the treatment of migrants in Mexico.
In a statement issued last week, the intersecretarial commission (Ciaimm) said improved coordination among federal agencies has helped reduce human trafficking which often impacts migrants arriving to Mexico’s northern and southern borders.
In the same statement, Welfare Ministry Undersecretary Raúl Paulín Hernández detailed the success of the three Integrated Welfare Centers established in northern Mexico. These centers — which also benefit from UN cooperation — offer programs that target the health and welfare of migrants, while also helping migrants find jobs.
The Ciaimm also reiterated its commitment to guarantee safe, orderly and regulated migrant and migrant labor flows.
On Sept. 4, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) released a book outlining the government’s official migrant policy, providing data reflecting the policy’s results, and an evaluation of the structural causes of migration to and from Mexico.
The book explains how the government uses statistical analysis to help design public policy in support of migrants and how regional cooperation addressing the structural causes of migration can mitigate these external factors that produce refugees.
One strategy the SRE touted is its effort to institute social programs that have had some success in Mexico, such as Sembrando Vida and Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro, in other parts of Latin America. Thus far, Mexico has helped install these programs in Belize, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haití, Honduras and Venezuela.
Aeroméxico cut wages in the face of steep profit losses during the coronavirus pandemic. (Erik Si/Unsplash)
Mexican airline Aeroméxico unveiled new flights to the United States for the upcoming winter season, in partnership with Delta Air Lines.
The SkyTeam Alliance member will offer non-stop flights to select cities in the U.S. from two of Mexico’s biggest cities: Guadalajara, Jalisco and Monterrey, Nuevo León. These routes, the airline said, aim to “reinforce” Aeroméxico’s presence in the U.S.
Guadalajara recently inaugurated a second runway at their growing international airport. (Visita Guadalajara)
New routes to the US from Guadalajara
Planned routes from Guadalajara include the following:
Denver, Dec. 21, 2024-April 20, 2025 one flight a week
Miami, Dec. 19, 2024-Jan. 12, 2025, one flight daily
Las Vegas, Dec. 19, 2024-Jan. 12, 2025, six flights a week
Orlando, Dec. 19, 2024-Jan. 12, 2025, four flights a week
These routes will be operated on the Boeing 737 MAX.
Starting Jan. 13, 2025, the frequencies of flights to Orlando and Miami will be reduced to four per week. Flights to Las Vegas will be discontinued.
“Guadalajara is a destination with a long tradition for Aeroméxico. We have been operating here for more than 70 years, and during this time our goal has been to evolve alongside the city,” Pasquale Speranza, Aeroméxico’s vice president of sales said in a statement.
In addition to the seasonal flights announced from Monterrey and Guadalajara, Aeroméxico will also expand its winter schedule from other destinations in Mexico, offering more frequent flights to the following U.S. cities:
Cancún-Miami, one daily flight from Dec. 19
Manzanillo-Atlanta, one weekly flight from Nov. 2
Manzanillo-Los Angeles, one weekly flight from Dec. 21
Monterrey-Denver, one weekly flight from Dec. 21
The Miami and Denver route will operate aboard the Boeing 737 MAX, the Los Angeles route on the Boeing 737-800, and the Atlanta route on the Embraer E190.
According to preliminary reports from Pemex officials, the explosion at the oil refinery in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, was caused when the facility's waste treatment system overflowed after unusually heavy rains in the area. (Oaxaca Politico/X)
Two workers died and another suffered burns in an explosion and fire Saturday at Pemex’s Salina Cruz oil refinery on the Oaxaca coast.
The early-afternoon conflagration — which caused much concern among residents in the Oaxaca port city — occurred after heavy rainfall caused drains filled with oily waste to overflow onto walkways inside the complex, plant manager Arturo Recio Espinoza told reporters on Monday.
Pemex plant manager Arturo Recio Espinoza gave a press conference two days after the accident confirming the deaths of two employees and the hospitalization of another, whom he said was in stable condition. (Screen capture)
For more than 24 hours after the fire, officials with Pemex, Mexico’s state oil company, denied that there had been any deaths, but on Monday, Recio admitted that Mariana Sánchez Bailón, 21, and Erick Martínez Rodríguez, 26, both lost their lives.
The injured person, who was hospitalized with burns on various parts of his body, was identified as Julián Meléndez Martínez, 25.
According to the online news outlet Oaxaca Político, Sánchez was an administrative employee and Martínez was an engineer. Sánchez died while sitting in the back of a pickup truck parked in the complex and Martínez was located near the truck when the explosion happened, the news outlet reported. According to various media sources, Sanchez’s body was desiccated by the intense heat of the explosion.
Recio said the incident led to a “temporary halt” in operations at the facility’s main distillation and gasoline plants but that no other units were affected.
The oil refinery, one of Mexico’s largest, has a crude oil processing capacity of 330,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters. On Monday, however, it was operating at approximately 70% of capacity.
Recio also revealed that the plant’s cleanup-and-repair operation included a pumping procedure that sent sludge onto La Ventosa Beach, about 5 kilometers away. Refinery personnel were hurriedly cleaning up that spill, he added.
A coking plant under construction at the Salina Cruz refinery. The two employees who died were associated with the company contracted to build this plant at the Salina Cruz refinery, which Pemex hopes will monetize residuals leftover from the refining process, providing new income sources. (Pemex)
The Pemex plant manager also explained that “atypical” rains caused the refinery’s internal drainage and storm management system — which handles industrial waste such as oil and gasoline — to overflow. When the slurry rose to the surface and came into contact with a spark or flame, it caused an explosion and the fire, he said.
“We are in the initial stages of investigation and interviews to establish the root cause of where the fire started,” Recio said Monday.
He also noted that the deceased worked for Eseasa and Pesado, a transport company subcontracted by ICA Fluor, a company responsible for engineering, procurement and construction at the oil refinery. According to El Universal, ICA Fluor is under contract with Pemex to build a coking plant at the Salina Cruz refinery.
Meanwhile, the newspaper El Universal reported that fishermen and oil workers in the area blamed the fire — and the “constant spills that contaminate La Ventosa Bay” — on the refinery’s obsolete sewage and wastewater treatment systems.
These sources told El Universal said that the systems haven’t been operating for at least 10 years, which causes oil and gasoline waste to go untreated. Instead, they said, the industrial waste goes straight into a drainage system that discharges into La Ventosa Bay.
Local fishermen and oil workers told El Universal newspaper that the refinery’s sewage and wastewater treatment systems haven’t been operating for a decade and that the refinery pumps untreated waste into nearby La Ventosa bay. (Video capture)
Three months ago, a spill of oily waste covered the beach and flooded its fishing and oyster area, the newspaper reported.
“We are tired,” said fishermen and oyster extractors as quoted by El Universal. “We are going to make decisions in the next few days to show the oil company that it cannot contaminate with impunity.”
Though usually called the Salina Cruz refinery, the Pemex plant is officially named the Antonio Dovalí Jaime refinery in tribute to a late civil engineer from Zacatecas.
This was not the first Pemex oil refinery in 2024 to experience an explosion: in February, state Civil Protection officials in Hidalgo, reported an explosion at Pemex’s Tula refinery — the nation’s most productive — that they said occurred inside its hydrodesulfurization plant, where the sulfur is removed from refined petroleum products using a high-pressure process.
Mexico has seen a significant amount of announced foreign investment this year, but uncertainty regarding the judicial reform and the U.S. presidential elections could be making investors hesitate. (Samuel García/X)
Foreign companies are holding back approximately US $35 billion in investment in Mexico due to uncertainty related to the federal government’s judicial reform proposal and the upcoming United States election, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The figure comes from company representatives and advisers cited by the Journal in a report published Sunday under the headline “Why Mexico’s looming judiciary overhaul spooks U.S. business.”
The Wall Street Journal published the report on Sunday. (Screen capture)
Approved by the lower house of Congress last week, the proposed judicial reform seeks to allow citizens to directly elect thousands of judges, including Supreme Court justices and other federal judges.
Senators could vote on the reform as soon as today, and it appears quite likely that the ruling Morena party and its allies will have the numbers to reach the two-thirds majority required to approve constitutional bills such as this one.
The Journal reported that “American companies are delaying investment plans in Mexico as they review how a shake-up of the country’s judicial system would affect doing business with the U.S.’s largest trading partner.”
The newspaper said that the proposed overhaul of the judiciary “has worried foreign investors who fear judges will become beholden to constituents or political considerations instead of the law.”
The lower house of Congress approved the judicial reform bill last Wednesday, with 359 votes in favor and 135 votes against. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
The stalled foreign investment amounting to some $35 billion is for projects in sectors ranging from information technology and car manufacturing to natural-gas pipelines and industrial infrastructure, the Journal said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in July that the project was “paused,” not because of uncertainty related to the judicial reform proposal, but due to uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election and the possibility that Donald Trump will impose tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico if he wins on Nov. 5.
Tesla’s position on the judicial reform is unclear, but former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne told the Journal that American executives have disclosed to him that they are pausing investments in Mexico while they wait to see what happens with the judicial reform proposal.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar (left) with president of the American Society Larry Rubin. Both have been critical of the Mexican government’s judicial reform and warn it will impact investment. (Cuartoscuro)
Larry Rubin, president of the American Society of Mexico, made similar remarks last week, and called on the Mexican Congress “to take into consideration the voice of the most important investment in the country, which is United States investment.”
Wayne, a public policy fellow at the Wilson Center and co-chair of its Mexico Institute Advisory Board, told the Journal that Mexico will find it hard to attract nearshoring investment, create jobs and combat poverty if the judicial reform is approved.
“Mexico is going to get a lot of negative attention,” he said.
Another $18 billion in investment ‘at stake’
The Wall Street Journal also reported that the judicial reform proposal places “at stake” another $18 billion in private investment “that Mexico needs to cover rising electricity demand for industrial use.”
The Journal noted that the Supreme Court has “blocked policy initiatives that could have disrupted Mexico’s electricity sector in violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement” (USMCA), but added that “some investors fear a new, elected court would approve them.”
Supreme Court justices and other judges would be elected from candidates nominated by the president, the Congress and the judiciary.
The president and his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, both support the judicial reform bill. (Lopezobrador.org.mx)
Current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — the foremost proponent of the judicial reform — and his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, are both affiliated with Morena, which also controls both houses of Congress. Critics of the reform argue that the president and Morena will therefore be able to stack courts with judges sympathetic to their agenda, and thus eliminate a crucial check on executive and legislative power.
They are also concerned about a separate reform proposal that seeks to disband a number of autonomous government agencies and absorb their functions into the executive branch, potentially removing other checks on executive power.
López Obrador and Sheinbaum reject claims that the independence of the judiciary — and foreign investment inflows — are at risk by the plan to allow citizens to directly elect judges.
The latter asserted last week that “the reform to the judicial power doesn’t affect our trade relationships or private national and foreign investment.”
Other warning bells
The Wall Street Journal reported on a range of other concerns about the judicial reform proposal. It said that:
Expensive international arbitration over investment rights is “likely to increase as companies seek to avoid Mexican courts.”
“Corporate lending in Mexico would also be affected because of the uncertainty, according to bankers.”
The reform risks “undermining talks to review the USMCA in 2026, according to Global Companies in Mexico, a group of top executives from 60 or so companies operating in the country.”
“The replacement of the judiciary would also disrupt labor tribunals under the USMCA and violate treaty provisions that call for independent magistrates, according to the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Norma Piña told the Journal that the reform, if enacted, would violate Mexico’s free trade agreements.
“A state can’t invoke its internal law as an excuse for failing to comply with international obligations,” she said.
Juan Luis González Alcántara, another Supreme Court justice, also spoke to the Journal.
Norma Piña, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, has criticized the judicial reform bill and said it would violate Mexico’s free trade treaty obligations. (Cuartoscuro)
“It’s difficult to imagine a country that attracts foreign investment or encourages domestic investment when the minimum conditions of legal certainty don’t exist,” he said.
Mexico is currently amidst what has been described as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to attract foreign investment, but there are a range of factors that make capitalizing on it a challenge, including insecurity, water and electricity concerns, lack of infrastructure and uncertainty about the rule of law.
There are also external factors outside of Mexico’s control that worry foreign companies that already have a presence here or are considering establishing one.
“A victory in the presidential election by Donald Trump, who wants to impose more tariffs on imports, would complicate the trade relationship between the U.S., Mexico and Canada,” the Journal reported.
Pedro Casas, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, shares his opinion on how Mexico can reform its judicial system without destabilizing its economy. (Cuartoscuro)
On Aug. 26, the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham) released a statement regarding the government’s judicial reform, where we warned that: “When multiple voices rise in a chorus of warnings, it is wise to pay attention. The convergence of diverse opinions on a risk is not mere coincidence but an echo of shared experiences and knowledge.”
To provide context for the conversation, I want to make two points very clear.
The first is that AmCham Mexico has been the chamber representing the binational trade relationship between Mexico and the United States since 1917. Today, we bring together more than 1,400 companies from the U.S., Mexico and around the globe; large, medium, and small; and operating in every state of the country. Together, we generate one-quarter of Mexico’s GDP and more than 10 million formal jobs.
Secondly, our Chamber has thoroughly followed and analyzed the reform process, from the president’s initial proposal to today. We have shared recommendations with the current government, the transitional government and representatives of Congress.
Our activity in Mexico for more than a century has taught us that the key to overcoming any challenge lies in dialogue, deep analysis, and finding common ground amidst differences, not in incendiary statements. This has never been and will never be AmCham’s approach. Thus, we are concerned that the discussion about the reform has been reduced to the popular election of judges, ministers, and magistrates; however, this is not the only factor that could divert Mexico from a path of growth and prosperity.
The first problem with the proposal lies in the independence of the judges elected under the conditions of the new judicial discipline tribunal. This body could sanction judges based on vague and imprecise criteria, such as “acts or omissions contrary to the law,” “administration of justice,” or subjective metrics like “excellence.” This ambiguity of criteria can lead to arbitrary sanctions and compromised justice.
A second issue is the re-election of judges. We should aim for those elected to serve for a reasonable and continuous period. Only then can we avoid the temptation for elected judges to seek popular approval rather than fulfill their primary duty, which is to administer justice.
Another relevant issue is the eligibility requirements. The criterion established in the president’s initial project, regarding the accreditation of professional experience, is essential. Our proposal includes the implementation of a knowledge and professional practice exam, developed and implemented publicly, openly, and transparently, under the supervision of law schools, faculties, and professional bar associations.
An additional concern is the implementation and its effect on the functioning of the justice system. Conservative estimates suggest that this reform would result in the election of more than 10,000 candidates among magistrates and judges from the 32 circuits nationwide. Thus, a resident of Mexico City would have to choose over 600 officials among more than 4,000 candidates, using 175 ballots — a task seemingly designed to test patience, logistics, and the very purpose of voting.
Abruptly changing 50% of the Judiciary in 2025 and the other 50% in 2027 would create significant challenges. In any scenario, we recommend a gradual implementation that allows for an orderly and viable transition without affecting ongoing cases. This could include extraordinary elections in 2025 to fill vacancies, with subsequent partial elections in 2030, 2033, 2036, and 2039.
If, at a minimum, the points previously mentioned are not modified, the social and economic impacts will be inevitable and devastating. I highlight three ways these effects could materialize in our economy.
The first and most significant impact will be on the country’s credit rating. Losing investment-grade status — a warning already raised by several institutions — would be like playing with fire: the consequences would be serious and could shake the country’s economic stability, affecting debt costs, interest rates, exchange rates, country risk, and ultimately, inflation.
The second impact is the implementation of the USMCA. The potential dysfunction of independent and specialized courts in labor matters, as well as insufficient protection of investments through alternative justice mechanisms, increases the risk of renegotiating the treaty in 2026.
Finally, the third blow will be felt in investment. With a fragile judicial structure, a downgraded credit rating, and a poorly implemented USMCA, it is to be expected that the appetite for investing in the country will diminish, ending the opportunity to take advantage of nearshoring.
The message is clear. The reform we need is one that is debated, discussed, and ideally agreed upon, combining the best of all worlds: democracy, with certainty and growth. Why take rushed steps when we all agree that we can, together, improve the national justice system?
An accessible and democratic judicial system is also achievable without undermining the rule of law and checks and balances. We are at a historic and opportune juncture to start a new government where dialogue is the cornerstone upon which we build a more democratic and just country.
Pedro Casas Alatriste is the executive vice president and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.
Why? Because the constitutional bill — which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies last week — needs the support of a supermajority, or two-thirds of the Mexican Senate, to pass Congress.
In case you haven’t yet completed the calculation, two-thirds of 128 is 85.33.
So the number of votes needed to reach a two-thirds majority in the Senate is …? It depends who you ask.
As Congress considers constitutional changes to Mexico’s judicial system, legislators are debating the exact requirements of a Senate supermajority. (Dassaev Téllez Adame/Cuartoscuro)
Politicians of all persuasions sometimes present half-baked ideas, but none of the lawmakers is just half — or one-third — of a human-being. Thus finding one-third of a vote to get to 85.33 votes in order to reach a supermajority is not a viable option.
So 86 it is!
Not so fast! Haven’t you heard of rounding down?
Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña certainly has.
On Sunday, the ruling Morena party senator claimed that a constitutional bill could be approved in the Senate with just 85 votes rather than 86.
“It’s like in school, when it was point four and below you rounded down to the number immediately below. When it was point six and above you rounded up to the number immediately above,” Fernández Noroña said.
“There is not 0.3 of a senator. From my point of view, in a strict sense, 85 senators would be enough,” he said.
Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández, Morena’s leader in the upper house, made the same argument last week.
The president of the Senate, Morena party Senator Gerardo Fernández Noroña, suggested that 85 — the number of senators in Morena’s coalition — is enough to pass constitutional amendments. (Cuartoscuro)
Fernández Noroña claimed last Wednesday that Morena and its allies would have a “surplus” of support in the Senate, but he now appears less certain that at least one of 43 opposition senators will vote in favor of the reform that seeks to allow citizens to directly elect Supreme Court justices and thousands of other judges.
Francisco Burgoa, a constitutional law professor at the National Autonomous University, predicted there will be a constitutional crisis if Morena and its allies, the Labor Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, attempt to push the reform proposal through the Senate with just 85 votes.
If they were to do so, they would be making an “incorrect interpretation” of the Constitution “given that 85 doesn’t exceed a supermajority” in the Mexican Senate, he said.
“Eighty-five is not more than 85.33 and having an absolute majority doesn’t give them the power to decide that this 0.33 can be left out or rounded down,” Burgoa said.
“There are precedents in the Senate where 86 votes have been demanded … to change the Constitution,” he said.
“Even Ricardo Monreal publicly acknowledged it at another time,” Burgoa said in reference to a remark the former Morena senator and current ruling party deputy made in 2022.
A vote on the judicial reform proposal could be held in the Senate as soon as this Tuesday.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, 128 fully-formed men and women will vote on the reform proposal that the government argues is needed to eliminate corruption in the judiciary, but which the opposition contends will threaten the independence of the nation’s justices, judges and magistrates.
Expect things to get rather interesting if the final vote count is 85-43 in favor of the constitutional bill.
Mexican swimmer Ángel Camacho won the most medals of any Mexican at the Paralympic Games this year, taking silver in the 50-meter backstroke (category S4) as well as two bronze medals. (CONADE)
Mexico’s delegation, made up of 67 athletes, won 17 medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games including three gold, six silver and eight bronze.
While the country’s winnings in Paris didn’t match those of Tokyo three years ago — when it won 22 medals — Mexico’s head of mission at the 2024 Paralympic Games, Israel Benítez Morteo, said the athletes’ performance “considerably increased” this year and that he’s confident “Mexico is set to be a power in Paralympic sports.”
Mexican athletes won a total of 17 medals at this year’s Paralympic Games. (COPAME)
Swimming and track and field competitions led the way for Mexico with a combined 11 medals, including three gold by swimmer José Arnulfo Castorena Vélez (men’s 50-meter breaststroke in the SB2 para-swimming category), track and field athlete Gloria Zarza Guadarrama (women’s shot put, category F54), and track and field runner Juan Pablo Cervantes García (men’s 100 meters, category T54).
Meanwhile, the swimmer Ángel Camacho from León won the most medals for the Mexican delegation, collecting three in total: two bronze and one silver. With these achievements, he now has four medals under his belt, making him the most decorated Mexican in Paris 2024.
During his morning-press-conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador applauded those who won a medal in this sporting event.
“We are going to give special recognition and mention to all the Paralympic athletes who are participating in Paris, who are representing us and doing very well […] a round of applause for them,” he said.
Amalia Pérez won bronze in the 61 kg powerlifting category, her seventh Paralympic medal. (CONADE)
López Obrador added that he will receive the Paris Olympic and Paralympic delegations on Sept. 17 to award them monetary recognition. The money, he said, will come from the fund of the Institute to Return to the People What Was Stolen (INDEP).
As for the international medal table, China came in first — for the sixth time in a row — with 220 medals, followed by Great Britain with 124 and the United States with 105. Mexico ranked No. 30.
The country’s best record at the Paralympic Games was in Arnhem, Netherlands, in 1980: it won 42 medals, including 20 gold.
Andrew Parsons, the International Paralympic Committee president, said Paris had set a new standard, particularly in terms of the experience for both athletes and fans.
“Quite simply Paris 2024 is the new benchmark for the Paralympic Games, in every aspect, in every single point of the organization,” Parsons told The Guardian. “I think that in terms of the athlete experience it has been amazing, the services they have had at the village. At the venues the crowds have been amazing. I think after the athletes they are probably the main characters of these Games.”
The Paralympic Games in 2028 will be hosted in Los Angeles, marking the city’s third time hosting the event.
As president, Sheinbaum will make her residence at the National Palace of Mexico. (File photo)
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum will follow in the footsteps of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and make her residence in the National Palace.
“Yes, I’m going to live in the Palace, that’s the news of the day,” she told reporters on Monday.
Sheinbaum, who will be sworn in on Oct. 1, said she wouldn’t immediately move into the colonial-era building located opposite Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo.
“I’m going to give space to President Andrés Manuel and his family. They’re going to be there until, I don’t know, … the night of the 30th [of September] or the first [of October],” she said.
“…Obviously they’re living there so for a while I’m going to stay in my apartment that I rent,” said the former Mexico City mayor, explaining that she would remain in her home in the borough of Tlalpan until December.
Between 1934 and 2018, the official residence of the Mexican president was Los Pinos, a residential complex within Chapultepec Park.
President López Obrador and his wife Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller currently live in a comfortable 300-square-meter appartment within the National Palace. (Andrés Manuel López Obrador/YouTube)
In mid-2019, AMLO, his wife Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller and their son Jesús Ernesto moved from their home in southern Mexico City to an apartment within the walls of the National Palace. He portrayed his decision to live there as an austerity measure.
The president holds his weekday morning press conferences in the building, making it a very convenient place for him to live.
Sheinbaum said last month that she too will hold 7 a.m. morning pressers in the National Palace. At the time, she said that she and her husband were discussing whether they would live in the historic building.
On Monday, the president-elect said that living in the National Palace would allow her to use her time more efficiently.
“I decided [to live] there because at the moment I don’t have my own house, … but the first thing is … that if you work in the Palace and live there, it allows you to make better use of your time,” she said.
“… I wouldn’t return to live in Los Pinos nor in Chapultepec Castle,” Sheinbaum joked, referring in the latter case to the official residence of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and his consort Empress Carlota, as well as late 19th century and early 20th century presidents.
Although she is very close to the president, Sheinbaum said she had never been inside his National Palace apartment.
“I’ve seen it from the outside, but I haven’t gone in,” she said.
The men's team dominated the stadium on Saturday, making 13 of the game's 15 shot attempts and scoring three goals. (Mi Selección MX/X)
The third era of Mexican men’s soccer coach Javier Aguirre started off on the right foot on Saturday as Mexico’s El Tri defeated New Zealand 3-0 in an international friendly in Pasadena, California.
Orbelín Pineda scored five minutes after the opening whistle while César Huerta and Luis Romo netted early in the second half to lead El Tri to a comfortable win in front of a lot of empty seats in the Rose Bowl.
Mexico established control early and attacked throughout the match. If not for the strong play of New Zealand goalie Max Crocombe, the final score would have been even more lopsided.
Mexico nearly doubled its lead 10 minutes later when Israel Reyes served up Santiago Giménez but Santi’s first-time shot from 8 meters out was blocked by Crocombe.
Romo missed a chance to get on the scoresheet just before the half when Julián Quiñones found him making an overlapping run into the box. Romo’s one-timer zipped past Crocombe but clanged off the far post and out of danger.
Head coach Javier Aguirre is back for this third go at leading the Mexican men’s soccer team. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro)
Two minutes into the second half, El Tri hit the woodwork again. This time, Pineda ran onto a Luis Chávez cross but his side-footed flick volley banged off the near post.
Mexico’s luck changed shortly thereafter. From the top of the box, Pineda found Romo wide right and the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist fired a low cross into the goalie box where the onrushing Huerta redirected the ball inside the far post.
Just four minutes later, Romo increased Mexico’s advantage to 3-0, blasting a right-footer from just outside the box. The shot deflected off a New Zealand defender and bounced inside the right post.
Although continuing to create chances, Mexico would not find the net again. Aguirre’s men also displayed solid defense throughout, holding the Kiwis to two shots, neither of which was on target.
Mexico was 10-4-7 under Lozano who had replaced Diego Cocca in June 2023, but the team was playing poorly. El Tri was just 4-1-3 this year and had scored just seven goals, conceding 10 times.
El Tri’s stumbling performances of late help explain why only 25,271 fans showed up at the Rose Bowl (capacity 89,700).
Mexico will face Canada in their next game, another friendly schedule for Tuesday in Dallas, Texas.
The Ariel Awards, honoring the best in Mexican cinema, were held in Guadalajara on Saturday, Sept. 7. (Gobierno de Jalisco/X)
Already honored with more than 20 awards from film festivals around the world, Lila Avilés’ “Tótem” cleaned up Saturday night at the 2024 Ariel Awards, which were held in Guadalajara instead of Mexico City for the second year in a row.
The gripping drama nabbed five Arieles, or Mexican Oscars, including best picture, best director and best original screenplay, which Avilés wrote.
The movie also generated a best supporting actress award for Montserrat Marañón (in a tie with Ludwika Paleta for “All the Silence”), and a best new actor award for Naíma Sentíes.
In “Tótem,” Sentíes plays a 7-year-old girl, Sol, whose world turns upside down after she finds out her father has terminal cancer. Her performance has been praised for its authenticity and emotional depth.
“Tótem” — available on Netflix with English subtitles — was on the festival circuit much of 2023. It made its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February before finally opening in Mexico on Nov. 30, 2023.
“It’s been crazy,” said Avilés, 42, a Mexico City native who got her start in the film industry as an actress. “[Tótem] has taken me to more than 100 international festivals, more than 40 countries for distribution, more than 35 award nominations” (and 24 wins).
Lila Avilés’ “Tótem” took home five Ariel awards including best picture, best director and best original screenplay. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro)
Everywhere she went, the film was “heard and resonated,” she added. “Realizing that it is the same in China as in the United States or in Australia or in Peru … In the end, even in this universe of diversity, we are all quite similar.”
Avilés’ busy 2023 also included the release of a Barbie doll in her image, able to hold either a movie camera or a clapboard. Mattel’s “Role Models” line also honored actresses Helen Mirren (England) and Viola Davis (U.S), music stars Shania Twain (Canada) and Kylie Minogue (Australia), comedian Enissa Amani (Germany), model Nicole Fujita (Japan) and influencer Maira Gomez (Brazil).
The 66th edition of the Ariel Awards was held at Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara and presented by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences. Actors Michelle Rodríguez and Kike Vázquez were the hosts.
Naíma Sentíes, who plays the 7-year-old Sol in “Tótem,” won best new actor. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro)
In pursuit of awards in 24 categories, 174 films were entered, including 69 feature films and 96 shorts from Mexico, plus nine films from other countries in Latin America.
“Tótem” led the way with 15 nominations and came away with five awards.
Another top winner was “Todo el silencio” (“All the Silence”), a moving film about hearing impairment that’s available on Amazon Prime Video. Nominated for six awards, it took home four: Adriana Llabrés for best actress, Ludwika Paleta for best supporting actress, director Diego del Río for best debut feature film and best sound.
David Zonana’s “Heroico” (“Heroic”) and Elisa Miller’s “Temporada de huracanes” (“Hurricane Season”) each had 11 nominations and three wins.
The wins for “Heroic,” which addresses the reality of military institutions, were Fernando Cuautle for best supporting actor, best costume design and best art direction.
“Hurricane Season,” which explores a mother’s tumultuous relationship with her estranged daughter, won best adapted screenplay, best makeup and best editing.
Best actor went to Noé Hernández for “Kokoloko,” a drama set on the Oaxacan coast.
Other notable wins included “El eco” (“The Echo”) for best documentary, “Humo” for best animated short and “Apnea” for best fiction short. “The Echo” depicts growing up in rural Puebla.
“Mexican cinema is very special,” said Avilés, whose 2018 “La camarista” (“The Chambermaid”) earned her an Ariel Award for best debut feature and a best director nomination. “Tótem” is her second feature film.
“Every year wonderful films are released that generate a lot of talk, but more initiatives are needed to produce them,” she added.
Mexican cinema is going through a difficult time, with budget cuts following the eradication of the Film Investment and Stimulus Fund (Fidecine) in 2020.
