Sheinbaum to attend next week’s G7 Summit: Monday’s mañanera recapped

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June 9, 2025

Sheinbaum accepts G7 Summit invitation — Twelve days after she confirmed that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had invited her to the June 15-17 G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Sheibaum revealed that she had decided to attend. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

At the beginning of her Monday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum read out a statement in response to the protests in Los Angeles against raids carried out by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Later in her mañanera, the president revealed she will travel to Canada next week to attend the G7 Summit, and said she could hold a bilateral meeting with United States President Donald Trump at the event.

Sheinbaum urges peaceful protest and due process after 42 Mexicans detained in Los Angeles ICE raids

Among other issues, Sheinbaum also addressed criticism of the incoming Supreme Court justice and condemned the entry of Mexican police to Guatemala on Sunday,

Sheinbaum to attend G7 Summit in Canada; bilateral meeting with Trump ‘very probable’

Twelve days after she confirmed that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had invited her to the June 15-17 G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Sheibaum revealed that she had decided to attend.

She said she would attend the summit on Monday, June 16, for bilateral meetings and June 17 for the G7 “assembly.”

Sheinbaum said that Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente is working to arrange bilateral meetings with various presidents and prime ministers, and declared that a meeting with Trump was “very probable.”

Sheinbaum has spoken to Trump by telephone on seven occasions since the U.S. president won the U.S. presidential election last November, but the two leaders have not met face-to-face. Trade, migration and the trafficking of drugs and weapons will likely be among the top items for discussion if they hold in-person talks next week.

Sheinbaum said she would fly on a commercial airline to Canada to attend the G7 Summit.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum sitting in a commercial flight looking at an e-reader as she heads from Mexico to the 2024 G20 Leaders' Summit — Last year, President Claudia Sheinbaum flew to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro on a commercial flight with Copa Airlines. She sat in economy seating. (Claudia Sheinbaum/Facebook)

She said she would have a layover at an unspecified airport, explaining that there are no “direct” flights from Mexico. However, Sheinbaum didn’t say where she intended to fly from and where she planned to arrive in Canada. Kananaskis is located around 120 kilometers west of Calgary.

The trip to Canada will be Sheinbaum’s third international trip since she became president last October. She attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brazil last November, and the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Honduras in April.

Sheinbaum calls out ‘racism’ and ‘classism’ in criticism of incoming Supreme Court chief justice

Sheinbaum leapt to the defense of Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, an Indigenous lawyer originally from the Mixtec region of Oaxaca and the next chief justice of the Supreme Court, after a reporter suggested it would be difficult to find a “good jurist” among the nine justices elected to Mexico’s top court at the June 1 judicial elections.

“Hugo Aguilar is a good jurist,” she said.

“What’s happening is that there is a lot of racism,” Sheinbaum said, referring to criticism of the Mixtec man who received more votes than any other candidate in the Supreme Court election.

“Classism,” she added.

Aguilar has been criticized for a range of reasons, including that he is allegedly too close to the ruling Morena party. During the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples official played a leading role in the consultation process with Indigenous communities regarding the Maya Train railroad project. The United Nations said in 2019 that the consultation failed to meet all international human rights standards.

‘Not good’ that police from Chiapas entered Guatemala, says Sheinbaum

A reporter asked the president whether members of the federal government’s security cabinet had provided her with a report on whether members of an “immediate reaction” police unit in Chiapas had entered Guatemalan territory as part of efforts to combat criminal groups.

Sheinbaum responded that “everything seems to indicate” that members of the Fuerza de Reacción Inmediata Pakal (Pakal Immediate Reaction Force) did indeed go into Guatemala, which borders the southern state of Chiapas.

The Mexican police reportedly killed four members of an organized crime group during a shootout on Sunday in the Huehuetenango department of Guatemala.

Sheinbaum didn’t refer to the deaths, but said “it’s not good” that Mexican police entered the territory of Guatemala. She frequently asserts that Mexico would never accept any kind of United States intervention in Mexican territory to combat Mexican cartels.

Sheinbaum said that Security Minister Omar García Harfuch would provide “all the information” about the apparent violation of Guatemala’s sovereignty on Tuesday.

The Pakal Immediate Reaction Force, or FRIP, is a special forces police unit created by the current government of Chiapas, which took office last December and is led by Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])

Mexico’s first-ever judicial elections draw international scrutiny over low turnout, process flaws

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MND Staff

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June 9, 2025

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Only about 13% of eligible voters in Mexico participated in the recent judicial elections. (Isabel Mateos Hinojosa/Cuartoscuro)

After observing Mexico’s judicial elections on June 1, the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) offered some blunt advice to other Western Hemisphere countries: don’t attempt to replicate “this model of selecting judges.”

In a 34-page preliminary report published on June 6, the EOM expressed concern about “the low level of citizen participation” in the elections — around 13% of eligible voters — and noted that “a high percentage of null and unmarked ballots was recorded.”

Fewer than 1 in 7 Mexicans voted in first-ever judicial elections

It also highlighted that “there is no precedent in the world in which the entirety of a country’s judges is elected by universal suffrage.”

The publication of the EOM report came after a 16-person mission led by former Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela observed the elections at polling stations in Mexico City and México state.

In addition to monitoring voting on election day, the mission “analyzed various aspects of the elections such as electoral organization, electoral technology, the evaluation and selection process for judicial candidacies, electoral justice, and the participation of women,” the EOM said.

Criticisms of the judicial elections and electoral process

The report stated that the EOM observed that the process related to Mexico’s first-ever judicial elections “was carried out in a very short timeframe and in a complex political context, characterized by strong polarization and a high level of litigation.”

“Last Sunday’s election is the result of the constitutional reform approved in September 2024, which establishes popular vote as the selection mechanism for those who will serve as judges and justices at all levels throughout the national territory,” it said.

A sign reading "Vote June 1 for the new judicial power" in spanish — A sign in Mexico City encouraging residents to vote in the judicial elections on June 1. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

As part of its observation mission, which began May 24, the EOM observers spoke to members of the judiciary, government representatives, academics, judicial election candidates and representatives of civil society organizations, among others.

The EOM said in its report that “most of the actors with whom the Mission interviewed agreed that, despite the efforts of the electoral authority, the electorate had little knowledge about the positions at stake in the election, their different responsibilities and the profiles of the applicants.”

“The interviewees also agreed that the prohibition on buying advertising space on radio, television, or social media made it very difficult for candidates to make themselves known,” the report said.

On June 1, voters faced the gargantuan and confusing task of electing a total of almost 2,700 judges, including nearly 900 federal ones, from a pool of some 7,700 candidates. Despite the low turnout, President Claudia Sheinbaum described the democratic exercise as a great success.

For its part, the EOM noted that:

Some candidates were accused of having links to criminal organizations.
Electoral packages containing 131,000 ballots were stolen in Chiapas.
Delays in the opening of polling stations “were recorded in various regions of the country.”
Complaints were filed “about the distribution of ‘cheat sheets’ (acordeones) during election day.”

Some of those cheat sheets were distributed by people affiliated with Mexico’s ruling party Morena, which, government critics say, will effectively come to control the country’s judiciary given that large numbers of candidates it tacitly supported were elected to judgeships.

The EOM highlighted that “the nine candidacies with the highest number of votes for the Supreme Court were promoted on physical and virtual ‘cheat sheets.'”

“Furthermore, it was verified that six of the new justices were nominated by the Executive Branch’s [candidate selection] committee and the remaining three are current members of the court appointed by the former president, which raises reasonable doubts about the autonomy and independence of the highest tribunal with respect to the Executive,” the mission said.

The OEM also pointed out that the National Electoral Institute (INE) only received just over half the funding it requested to organize the elections. It noted that the INE was consequently forced to cut costs in a range of ways, including by reducing “the number of sectional polling stations by more than 50%.”

Recommendations ahead of 2027 judicial elections

The OEM made a number of recommendations based on its observation of the process related to Mexico’s June 1 judicial elections. A second round of judicial elections is slated to be held in 2027 on the same day that federal midterm elections will take place.

Among the EOM’s recommendations were that:

“The responsibility of verifying the eligibility and suitability of applicants” be assigned to “a single body, institutionally separate from the three branches of State, and composed of figures of recognized competence, impartiality and prestige.”
“Some type of public financing mechanism” be introduced “that allows applicants to truly make themselves known to the citizenry.”
“A working group between the INE and the involved branches of the federal government” be convened “in order to analyze the impact of the budget reduction, and ensure adequate resources for future electoral processes.”
“Civic education and dissemination strategies” be strengthened in order to “better explain voting methods, taking into account the age, cultural and educational diversity of the population.”
“Necessary legal reforms” be introduced to Congress “to avoid the concurrence of presidential, legislative, gubernatorial and local elections with judicial ones.”

Mexico's first-ever judicial elections — The major flaw of Mexico’s first-ever judicial elections, according to the OAS, was an underfunded and polarizing public education strategy. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

‘An extremely complex and polarizing electoral process’

In the “final considerations” section of its report, the EOM said that “an extremely complex and polarizing electoral process” had taken place in Mexico.

“The analysis of this first experience shows that there are multiple opportunities for improvement. The Mission urges electoral authorities and political bodies to consider the recommendations made to strengthen all stages of the process, correct current deficiencies, and ensure the sustainability of the adopted solutions,” it said.

The EOM also said that Mexican citizens and institutions “will have to evaluate whether the current model of selecting judicial authorities through popular vote, which is unprecedented worldwide, contributes to strengthening the fundamental principles of the administration of justice; or if, on the contrary, it ends up weakening the transparency, impartiality, effectiveness, and independence of the Judiciary.”

“The lessons learned in this process highlight the importance that any reform to the model for selecting judges be done gradually, based on a truly pluralistic debate and, above all, on a comprehensive, technical, and professional diagnosis of the problems sought to be resolved and the most effective mechanisms to do so,” it said.

“That being said, the Mission does not recommend that this model of selecting judges be replicated for other countries in the region,” the EOM said.

The Mexican government responds

President Sheinbaum, who argues that judicial elections are necessary to rid Mexico’s judiciary of corruption, declared on Saturday that “it’s not within the functions” of the Washington D.C.-based Organization of American States to “give recommendations on how a country should choose its judiciary.”

She acknowledged on Monday that improvements to the judicial election process can be made.

Sheinbaum on steel tariff — In response to the report, President Sheinbaum said that “it’s not within the functions” of the Organization of American States to “give recommendations on how a country should choose its judiciary.” (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)

“I believe the INE has to do a review, and all of us have to as well, about what we learnt from this election and how to perfect the voting process,” Sheinbaum said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said in a statement on Saturday that through Mexico’s “permanent mission” to the OAS, it “expressed, through a diplomatic note addressed to the secretary general of the organization, its firm rejection of some recommendations contained in the preliminary report of the observers dispatched for the judicial election on June 1.”

The SRE said that it argued in the diplomatic note that the EOM “exceeded its mandate” and carried out “actions contrary to the principles of the [OAS] charter,” in particular the article that says that “every State has the right to choose, without external interference, its political, economic, and social system and to organize itself in the way best suited to it.”

“An Electoral Observation Mission doesn’t have the authority to try to impose its own criteria on the way in which countries, in use of their sovereignty, should put together their judiciary,” the ministry said.

Mexico News Daily

Sheinbaum urges peaceful protest and due process after 42 Mexicans detained in Los Angeles ICE raids

By

MND Staff

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June 9, 2025

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President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday condemned violence in Los Angeles during protests against immigration raids, and urged U.S. authorities to uphold due process when dealing with immigrants.

After three days of protests in Los Angeles that followed the arrest in the city last week of more than 100 undocumented immigrants, including dozens of Mexicans, Sheinbaum responded to the events at her Monday morning press conference.

“We don’t agree with violent actions as a form of protest. The burning of police cars seems more an act of provocation than resistance,” she said, reading from a prepared statement.

“It must be clear that we condemn violence, wherever it comes from. We call on the Mexican community to act peacefully and not succumb to provocations,” Sheinbaum said.

The president also expressed the Mexican government’s “unbreakable commitment” to “the protection and defense of the human rights of Mexicans abroad, regardless of their migratory situation.”

“In this sense, we respectfully but firmly call on U.S. authorities to carry out all migratory procedures with adherence to due process within a framework of respect for human dignity and the rule of law,” Sheinbaum said.

In earlier remarks, she said that Mexicans who live in the United States are “hardworking” and “honest” men and women.

Mexico's president lamented the violent confrontations between protesters and U.S. security forces in Los Angeles, but extended her support to Mexicans affected by immigration raids. — Mexico’s president lamented the violent confrontations between protesters and U.S. security forces in Los Angeles, but extended her support to Mexicans affected by the recent immigration raids. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

“The vast majority” of Mexicans in the United States have work permits or are U.S. citizens, Sheinbaum said. She added that “the vast majority” of those without documents have been living in the United States for more than five years, and “contribute to the economy of the United States and that of Mexico.”

“The United States needs them for their economy,” Sheinbaum said.

She said that her government will continue using “all available diplomatic and legal channels to express its disagreement with practices that criminalize migration and place at risk the safety and well-being of our communities in the United States.”

“Through our consular network, Mexico immediately activated all assistance and consular protection mechanisms to guarantee that our detained compatriots receive adequate legal advice and fair treatment,” Sheinbaum added.

“Our consulates have intensified their efforts to inform the Mexican community about their rights and the actions they can take if they are the target of an immigration operation,” she said, referring to raids carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The protests in various parts of Los Angeles in recent days came after ICE detained scores of undocumented immigrants in the city last week.

The agency said in a social media post on Saturday that “ICE operations in LA this week resulted in 118 alien arrests, including five gang members and numerous criminal aliens.”

“Despite what you may be hearing, the record checks show that we arrested illegal aliens with criminal histories including: child cruelty, domestic violence, drug trafficking, assault, robbery, human smuggling,” ICE said.

Hello from downtown LA, where the sun is setting and the tenor of the protests is shifting

It’s been a long day and has all the markings of a long night

Let’s do this

🧵 pic.twitter.com/bPdxreVhxI

— L. Jedeed, Butlerian Jihadi (@LauraJedeed) June 9, 2025

At an event in Puebla on Sunday, Sheinbaum also defended Mexicans in the United States, saying “they are not criminals,” but rather “good men and women.”

“They have all the solidarity of their government,” she said.

“… Our migrant brothers and sisters go … [to the United States] seeking better opportunities. The majority of them have been working there for many years. For example, there are a lot of poblanos and poblanas who live in New York, they call it ‘Puebla York’ because New York wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for the poblanos who are there. Los Angeles, California, wouldn’t be what it is without the Mexicans who are there,” Sheinbaum said.

“They migrate out of necessity and from there they send resources to their families,” she said.

Foreign minister: 42 Mexicans detained in ICE raids

Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente told Sheinbaum’s Monday morning press conference that 42 Mexicans — 37 men and five women — were detained in recent immigration raids in Los Angeles. He said that four of those people have returned to Mexico.

“Yesterday we learned that four of them had already been deported,” de la Fuente said, explaining that two people were subject to removal orders and two others accepted deportation “voluntarily.”

Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente said on Monday that following the news of the raids in Los Angeles, Mexican consular officials "immediately" went to immigration detention centers in Los Angeles to "try to identify" and interview Mexicans who had been detained. — Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente said on Monday that following the news of the raids in Los Angeles, Mexican consular officials “immediately” went to immigration detention centers in Los Angeles to “try to identify” and interview Mexicans who had been detained. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

The foreign minister noted that ICE carried out two raids in Los Angeles on Friday, at which Mexicans were detained. He said that one raid occurred at a Home Depot and another took place at “a textile factory whose name is Ambience.”

Citing Bill Essayli, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, NBC News reported that “among the sites targeted by federal agents” in immigration raids “was clothing manufacturer, importer and wholesaler Ambiance Apparel in the city’s Fashion District.”

De la Fuente said that Mexican consular officials “immediately” went to immigration detention centers in Los Angeles to “try to identify” and interview Mexicans who had been detained in order to offer them legal advice and contact their family members.

He said that relatives have been contacted “by our consular personnel,” and noted that Mexico is now carrying out “individual case by case” analyses “to see what are the next steps.”

“… I must also say that, on the instructions of the president, over the weekend we were in contact with the United States Ambassador in Mexico [Ron] Johnson and with the Ambassador [Esteban] Moctezuma, our ambassador in Washington, who were supporting us so that out consular agents, our protection personnel, could access the detention centers,” de la Fuente said.

Ambassador Johnson said on social media on Sunday that “the violent protesters in LA do not represent the proud and hardworking Mexican people we know and respect.”

“Our actions protect all communities and uphold the rule of law. Mexico is our partner — and the ties between our nations run deep,” he wrote on X.

Like Sheinbaum, De la Fuente called on Mexicans in the United States to respond to ICE actions in a peaceful way.

“We need to remain calm. We need all expressions [of protest] … to be peaceful,” he said.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “deep concern” about ICE raids in “several cities of the United States, particularly Los Angeles.”

The protests in LA

There were protests against immigration raids in various parts of Los Angeles in recent days, including Paramount, where the raid at the Home Depot took place, and the downtown area of California’s largest city.

Home Depot caught in the crosshairs of L.A. immigrations raids https://t.co/LnF9NCg84u

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 9, 2025

Police vehicles and other cars have been set on fire during protests and some protesters have thrown bottles and rocks. Police have deployed tear gas and fired rubber bullets in response. Dozens of protesters have been arrested.

California Governor Gavin Newsom accused United States President Donald Trump of inflaming the situation by deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to help quell the protests.

“Donald Trump is putting fuel on this fire. Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral. California will be taking him to court,” Newsom wrote on social media.

In another post, the governor wrote:

“Los Angeles: don’t take Trump’s bait. Trump wants chaos and he’s instigated violence. Those who assault law enforcement or cause property damage will risk arrest. Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don’t give him the excuse he’s looking for.”

Trump — who is spearheading a mass deportation program in the United States — declared on his social media site Truth Social that “we made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California.”

“If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated,” he wrote on Sunday.

Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, asserted on X that Los Angeles is “occupied territory” due to the presence of “foreign flags” — including large numbers of Mexican ones — at protests in the city.

In an article headlined “The Mexican Flag Becomes a Potent L.A. Protest Symbol,” The New York Times reported that “Mexican and other Latin American flags have emerged as protest emblems, angering the Trump administration and its supporters.”

“Trump officials have cast flag wavers as insurrectionists and implied that they are not U.S. citizens,” the Times said.

“… But for many protesters who are American citizens, the flag signifies pride in their roots, as well as solidarity with immigrants who are being targeted for deportation,” the Times reported.

With reports from Reforma and Infobae

Historic infrastructure development fund for Indigenous towns begins rollout in Morelos

By

MND Staff

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June 9, 2025

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President Sheinbaum with a gathering of local townspeople. — President Sheinbaum was on hand in Coatetelco, Morelos for the distribition of funds under the new Social Infrastructure Contribution Fund for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples (FAISPIAM), which leaves spending discretion to the local community organizations.(Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

President Claudia Sheinbaum was in the central state of Morelos over the weekend to celebrate the first public allocation from a new program that allows Indigenous communities throughout Mexico access to federal funds for infrastructure without the intervention of state or municipal governments.

Sheinbaum delivered 104 million pesos (US $5.5 million) to 82 Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities in Morelos that will be directly managed by local assemblies under a 2024 constitutional reform package championed by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

woman talking to a gathering of nurses — Two days earlier, the president was in nearby Yecapixtla for the groundbreaking of a new IMSS hospital in the same Morelos town. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

The landmark disbursement comes six months after Sheinbaum decreed the creation of the Presidential Commission on Justice Plans and Regional Development for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples.

The resulting program calls for 12.4 billion pesos (US $650 million) to go to ethnic communities to help them support projects such as drinking water systems, schools, housing, streets and sidewalks, sewage and electrification — each chosen by the communities themselves through local assemblies.

Depending on population and level of marginalization, individual communities will receive allocations ranging from 50,000 to 7 million pesos (US $2,600 to $367,600).

The money is being drawn from the Social Infrastructure Contribution Fund for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples (Faispiam), according to a government press release.

Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples “are not only the essence, the most intimate truth of the Mexican people, but are now recognized in the Constitution as subjects of public law,” Sheinbaum declared at the Saturday ceremony in Coatetelco, Morelos, alluding to 2024 reforms to Article 2 that grant these communities autonomy over resource allocation.

Ariadna Montiel Reyes, Mexico’s secretary of welfare since 2022, hailed the constitutional action being “transformed into reality.”

“Communities now control resources to combat poverty in marginalized areas,” she said.

Sheinbaum creates commission dedicated to ‘justice plans’ for Mexico’s Indigenous peoples

Adelfo Regino Montes, head of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), reported that all 82 communities in Morelos had already held assemblies to elect oversight committees and determine project priorities.

“These communities will leave a legacy for their children by targeting poverty through self-determined solutions,” he said.

Local leaders in Morelos welcomed the new era of autonomy.

“Our peoples will democratically decide how public funds are invested,” said Luis Eusebio Onofre Jiménez, president of Coatetelco, an autonomous Indigenous municipality and one of the few fishing communities in central Mexico — distinguished by a lake considered sacred since pre-Hispanic times.

The Faispiam program, which reserves 10% of Mexico’s federal infrastructure fund for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, is being implemented nationwide.

bike infrastructure Yucatán — The communities receiving direct infrastructure financing via Faispiam are free to determine how they want to use it. (Francisco Balderas/Cuartoscuro)

Its aim is to benefit 15,217 communities in 27,792 locations: 14,742 Indigenous communities in 27,278 locations; 431 Afro-Mexican communities in 462 locations; and 44 multicultural communities in 52 locations.

Yuki Hueda Tanabe, a statistician at INPI, noted that the states with the largest number of Indigenous communities are Oaxaca (2,914), Chiapas (2,735) and Veracruz (2,584).

Sheinbaum’s administration is said to be facing pressure to replicate the Morelos model in Oaxaca, Chiapas and elsewhere.

In Yucatán, 300 million pesos (US $15.8 million) is earmarked for Mayan communities, while Baja California is to receive 11 million pesos (US $578,000), including 8 million pesos (US $420,000) for the Cucapá community.

The implementation of the program involves holding community assemblies, where residents elect an administrative board and an oversight committee. According to the newspaper Novedades Yucatán, there is a requirement that women are mandated to serve as treasurers.

As of June 3, 344 of 558 planned assemblies nationwide had occurred, involving over 22,000 participants, according to federal data.

Critics have questioned whether communities have sufficient administrative capacity, but officials are highlighting precedents like La Escuela es Nuestra (The School is Ours) program, which successfully decentralized education funds.

“This is a new chapter in community development policy,” said Yucatán Welfare Delegate Rogerio Castro Vázquez. “Indigenous peoples are now managers of their own development.”

Mexico News Daily

After 23 days, teachers’ union ends sit-in at Mexico City’s Zócalo

By

MND Staff

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June 9, 2025

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Mexico City Zócalo free of tents — The CNTE sit-in had occupied most of Mexico City's central square and surrounding streets, making it more difficult to get around an already crowded part of the city. (María José Martínez/Cuartoscuro)

The long-running National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) protest in Mexico City’s historic center came to an end on Sunday after 23 days.

The CNTE removed its tents and signs from the Zócalo and surrounding streets over the weekend, and by Monday, the main square had returned to business as usual.

🗣️En el plantón que mantiene la CNTE en el Zócalo, hay puntos que comienzan a liberarse, profesores recogen sus lonas, carpas y casas de campaña.

Este movimiento es más visible en la calle 20 de Noviembre previo a ingresar a la plancha, donde los profes ya tienen la mayor parte… pic.twitter.com/9eDQ3T439Q

— Uno TV (@UnoNoticias) June 6, 2025

The Zócalo/Tenochtitlan metro station also reopened its access points on Sunday afternoon after being closed for almost one month.

Members of the CNTE launched protests as part of a national strike on May 15, demanding changes to working and educational conditions. Union members were specifically calling for the repeal of the 2007 ISSSTE Law, which changed the federal pension scheme from pooled to individual, and which President Sheinbaum previously pledged to reverse.

In addition, teachers are mobilizing for a pay increase of 100%.

On May 15, President Sheinbaum proposed a 10% increase for teachers across the country, which would put the average monthly salary at approximately 19,000 pesos (US $1,000). The CNTE rejected the president’s proposal and intensified their actions to include blockades and attacks on government buildings.

On May 21, members of the CNTE blocked the press entrance to the presidential palace in an attempt to put pressure on Sheinbaum to make good on her campaign promise to repeal the 2007 ISSSTE Law.

Local businesses in Mexico City’s historic center were affected by the disruptions, as restaurants and shops around the square were forced to close. Many began to reopen on Sunday and vendors have now returned to the streets.

Over the weekend, a Mexico City representative of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), Miguel Errasti, called on President Claudia Sheinbaum to launch an emergency economic program to support merchants in the Historic Center who were affected by the protests.

“Business groups report that the CNTE affected more than 30,000 businesses and accumulated losses [have totaled] 25 billion pesos, something the local government tolerated,” Errasti said.

“This is a call for the immediate launch of an emergency economic recovery plan for the Zócalo and Reforma Avenue areas.”

Meanwhile, the CNTE said it plans to continue with local demonstrations until a suitable agreement can be reached with the government.

With reports from El Universal, La Prensa OEM and Sin Embargo

Airbus and Volaris partner to develop sustainable aviation fuels in Mexico

By

MND Staff

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June 9, 2025

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Volaris jet in the air — The Mexican airline Volaris sees the eventual implementation of sustainable aviation fuel as reflecting "our participation in broader international decarbonization efforts.”(Shutterstock)

Airbus and Mexican airline Volaris have established a strategic alliance to support the development and adoption of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in Mexico, marking a milestone for sustainability in Latin America’s air travel industry.

“This initiative supports our environmental objectives and our participation in broader international decarbonization efforts,” Volaris said in a statement.

airbus jet in the air — Airbus also has SAF agreements with Panama, Peru, and Argentina. (Daniel Eledut/Unsplash)

In a Letter of Intent (Lol) presented during the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) 2025 Climate and Aviation Week, the low-cost airline agreed to contribute to the ICAO’s Voluntary Environment Fund to support a feasibility study for sustainable aviation fuel production in Mexico. The study will be conducted through the SAF Assistance, Capacity Building and Training Program (ACT-SAF) in collaboration with the Federal Civil Aeronautics Administration (AFAC) and Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA).

Airbus and ICAO have previously announced feasibility studies for Argentina, Panama and Peru.

The ICAO ACT-SAF program assists countries in developing their SAF implementation potential, including reviewing policy and regulatory frameworks, assessing raw materials and pathways for SAF production, and providing support for implementation and financing.

“Through this collaboration, we aim to support the country in achieving the necessary conditions for SAF deployment,” Airbus executives said.

SAF is an alternative to petroleum jet fuel. It’s produced from agricultural and waste feedstocks and is consumed in blends with petroleum jet fuel. In the United States, investments in SAF have increased because of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and state and federal tax credits incentivizing the use of the fuel.

On November 28, 2023, Virgin Atlantic flight VS100 completed the world’s first transatlantic flight powered by 100% SAF. The Boeing 787 made the 7 hours and 16-minute flight from London Heathrow to New York (JFK) using a SAF blend of 88% hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) supplied by Air BP and 12% synthetic aromatic kerosene (SAK).

Also in November 2023, Emirates Airlines in Dubai conducted a demonstration flight with an Airbus A380. One of its four engines was completely fueled with SAF.

To date, over 450,000 flights have taken off using a mix of SAF and traditional fuels, and more than 50 airlines around the world have introduced SAF in their operations.

With reports from Mexico Business Now and A21

Barbara now a Category 1 hurricane, with Cosme gaining strength off shore

By

MND Staff

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June 9, 2025

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weather image showing storm — As of Monday morning, Barbara was about 186 miles (300 km) south-southwest of Playa Pérula, Jalisco, and less than 190 miles (305 km) southwest of Manzanillo, Colima. (@FerragamoWx/on X)

Tropical Storm Barbara has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, the first of the 2025 Eastern Pacific hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said early Monday that swells generated by the storm system are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip-current conditions along the coast of southwestern Mexico over the next few days.

9 June #Barbara becomes the first hurricane of the 2025 east Pacific hurricane season. For the latest information visit https://t.co/Oy8uoeRKme pic.twitter.com/hBRaSYYoHK

— NHC Pacific (@NHC_Pacific) June 9, 2025

At 6 a.m., Hurricane Barbara — the second named storm of the 2025 Eastern Pacific hurricane season — was located about 186 miles (300 km) south-southwest of Playa Pérula, Jalisco, and less than 190 miles (305 km) southwest of Manzanillo, Colima, one of Mexico’s biggest ports. By 9 a.m., it was within 150 miles (245 km) of Manzanillo.

The storm’s center was moving northwest at 10 mph (17 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 68 mph (110 kph) and gusts of up to 87 mph (140 kph), according to Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN).

No coastal warnings or watches were in effect on Monday morning, according to The Associated Press, but the storm was expected to bring heavy rainfall and wind to coastal areas of the states of Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco. Barbara is not expected to make landfall.

The SMN said Guerrero, Michoacán and Colima would be most affected by Hurricane Barbara, but said the state of Nayarit would also see heavy rainfall, with waves of up to five meters along the coast. Further south, Oaxaca and Chiapas could also be affected by Barbara, the SMN said.

Authorities warned residents of the possibility of localized flooding as total rainfall could surpass 101 millimeters.

Also in the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Cosme strengthened slightly on Monday morning but remained well off the coast of Mexico. It was about 630 miles (1,015 kilometers) south-southwest of the tip of the Baja California Peninsula, the NHC said.

Cosme’s maximum sustained winds increased to near 65 mph (100 km/h) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center. Some additional strengthening is forecast, and Cosme is expected to become a hurricane later today, the NHC said.

Early Monday, Cosme was moving west-northwest near 6 mph (9 km/h) but was expected to turn toward the north with a decrease in forward speed by Monday night, followed by a faster north-northeast motion Tuesday through Wednesday. However, the NHC forecast that Cosme would begin weakening rapidly thereafter.

With reports from El Financiero, The Associated Press and Quadratin

Up-and-coming places to buy vacation property in Mexico

By

Ana Paula De la Torre

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June 9, 2025

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Orizaba, Veracruz — Mexico is a perennial hotspot for vacation properties. Here's where to find a bargain. (Isaacvp/Wikimedia Commons)

We all know the classic vacation destinations in Mexico — the Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Mérida, San Miguel de Allende and Ensenada and the Guadalupe Valley. Of course, these places continue to charm and attract visitors, but Mexico also has hidden gems for vacationers — places with a unique personalities that have still maintained a low profile, ideal for those seeking to unwind and explore in places with plenty to do but not clogged with bars and partying.

According to the Mexican Association of Tourism Developers (Amdetur), vacation property ownership in Mexico is expected to be one of the fastest-growing segments of tourism this year, with an estimated 6% increase. Mexico is expected to have around 785 vacation ownership developments by the end of 2025.

So, where are the new and rising spots? The ideal places for a vacation home base and a smart investment? Read on to find out.

Compostela, Nayarit

This charming Pacific colonial town, about 30 kilometers from Tepic, is known for its beaches, but it is also home to the impressive lake, El Molino, which is an important ecological reserve home to wild boar, deer, chachalaca, chana, peacock and quail. It’s also a culinary destination for many Mexicans due to its fresh seafood and many food festivals throughout the year. Compostela offers scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, parachuting, paragliding, hang gliding, ultralight flying and zip-lining, as well as biking.

In recent years, there has been an increasing real estate development activity, especially in the town of El Monteón around the popular lakeside La Mandarina resort area, which is also less than 5 kilometers from Nayarit’s beautiful beaches.

Valladolid, Yucatán

This charming colonial city, also known as “The Pearl of the East,” this Magical Town quickly becoming one of the most visited places in the state of Yucatán. Surrounded by countless attractions — pristine cenotes you can swim in, a colorful historic downtown filled with restaurants and colonial architecture, traditional Mayan beekeeping farms, nearby archaeological sites and the stunning Coloradas (a series of pools whose high salt content gives them an intense pink color).

Valladolid is also one of the most important and fast-developing areas for real estate in Yucatán, thanks to its accessibility from the Cancún and Tulum international airports and its proximity to major archeological sites like Chichén Itzá. According to the report Forecast for the Real Estate Market in Valladolid, Yucatán (2024–2025), this location is set to become a leading destination for real estate investment in the coming years.

Land in Valladolid will remain a cornerstone of this growth, thanks to factors such as rising land values and government incentives to build new eco-friendly tourism infrastructure between 2024 and 2027.

Cadereyta, Querétaro

This beautiful Magical Town is renowned for its gastronomy, particularly the Querétaro Wine and Cheese Route. In Cadereyta, you’ll find a wealth of traditional local dishes to sample, including barbacoa de carnero, nopal dishes, local versions of pulque — a traditional Mexican alcoholic beverage that dates back to the pre-Hispanic era — and local sweets.

Fans of outdoor activities can explore Cadereyta’s Grutas La Esperanza caves or hike to impressive waterfalls like Velo de Novia in the nearby community of Maconi. Caderetya also attracts mountain bikers and sky divers, thanks to its breathtaking scenic landscapes, and folks intersted in lesser-known Mexican archaeological sites nearby, such as the Ranas y Toluquilla archeological zone, believed by INAH to date back to A.D. 400.

Luxury housing developments such as La Capilla Residencial offer a potential home base for repeat vacationers or a rental property for Cadereyta’s growing tourism. Located in the heart of Querétaro’s five Magical Towns, it offers promising capital appreciation, security and comfort.

Orizaba, Veracruz

Surrounded by forests and the spectacular snow-capped peak of Orizaba, this is one of the most colorful and picturesque cities in Mexico, with an iconic cable car that reaches the Ecoparque Cerro del Borrego, its botanical garden and the Iron Palace designed by Gustave Eiffel.

According to real estate experts, a high demand for housing is expected in Veracruz, particularly in Orizaba, which has become one of the state’s most visited places in recent decades. It’s a perfect place for vacationers interested in outdoor activities like hiking.

Tlaxcala city, Tlaxcala

A few months ago, Mexico News Daily dedicated an entire article to discussing what makes Tlaxcala city one of the best places to live or invest in Mexico. Among its advantages is that the state of Tlaxcala has become one of the safest in the country. It’s also one of the cheapest.

Tourists come to this capital city — only 90 kilometers from Mexico City — for its colonial ambiance and its historic and archeological sites, particularly Cacaxtla, known for its well-preserved murals. Tlaxcala city is also rapidly becoming a foodie haven for those interested in Mexico’s ancestral cuisine.

All these factors have driven tourism in Tlaxcala city up by 42% just between 2022 and 2023. And in 2024, the real estate sector grew by between 10% and 15%, according to Israel Moreno Carpinteyro, president of the Tlaxcala section of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI). Property values in the state also registered an annual increase of 14.7% during the first quarter, making Tlaxcala city the place to invest in a vacation property while the prices are still low.

Sisal, Yucatán

Sisal, on the northwest coast of Yucatán, is a day trip’s ride from the more popular Mérida, with its own treasures to offer: Known for hosting the El Palmar Ecological Reserve, this area is famous for pink flamingo sightings and its turquoise waters and beautiful beaches.

Thanks to its reserve, Sisal remains well preserved. It was officially named a Magical Town in 2020, which has generated significant interest from area real estate investors. It should be noted, however, that there is controversy among residents regarding the promotion of sustainable and orderly development. If you decide to invest in vacation property here, you’ll want to do so responsibly.

Atlixco, Puebla

Known as the “city of flowers” due to the richness of its fields, Atlixco is filled with tradition and history. In recent years, it’s become the most visited city in Puebla, rated as one of the best tourist sites in Mexico in 2024, according to Booking.com. Located just 25 kilometers from the capital, Atlixco is also one of the most affordable of Mexico’s Magical Towns in which to buy property.

Atlixco has several water parks for family vacation fun in spring and summer, an abundance of flower markets famous across Mexico, the Indigenous Huey Atlixcáyotl harvest festival every September, and the Cerro San Miguel, where you can take in sweeping, panoramic views of Atlixco and its surrounding valleys.

Thanks to these attractions and more, Atlixco’s Airbnb market in 2025 is stable and growing, with the city attracting 1.2 million tourists per year. According to the property investment site, airroi.com, the year-on-year revenue increase in Atlixco’s short-term rental market was 3% between June 2024 and May 2025, making this historic city a promising place to invest in vacation property.

Finally, special mentions go to:

Mascota, Jalisco, a beautiful colonial town located near the Western Sierra
Mineral de Pozos, Guanajuato, another gorgeous colonial town surrounded by old mines that got international attention in 2021 when it hosted the Mexico selection of the prestigious wine competition, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.
El Oro, Hidalgo, also a colonial mining town that’s enveloped by a forest known for welcoming migrating monarch butterflies.

Ana Paula de la Torre is a Mexican journalist and collaborator for various outlets including Milenio, Animal Político, Vice, Newsweek en Español, Televisa and Mexico News Daily.

Inside a Mexico City supper club — where cuisine and community collide

By

Simon Chung

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June 9, 2025

0

There’s something special about a supper club, which is probably why the concept is taking off in Mexico City. Whether you show up solo, bring a date, or gather a few friends, you’ll find yourself part of a communal table, sharing dishes and stories with strangers who quickly start to feel like family. The menu is usually set and served family style, and the whole setup feels less like dining out and more like coming home for dinner.

Supper clubs are all about breaking bread together, and there’s a certain magic in the way a shared meal can turn a room full of strangers into friends. In a world where we’re craving genuine connection and new experiences, supper clubs deliver both, offering a taste of global food culture in a relaxed, welcoming space.

A chef plating up food — Nogal Nogal offers great cuisine in non-traditional settings. (Nogal Nogal/Facebook)

While the idea isn’t new — supper clubs have roots in the Prohibition era — they’ve made a big comeback since the pandemic. Chefs love them for the freedom to experiment with seasonal ingredients and try out comfort food with a twist. Guests love them for the chance to be surprised and delighted by dishes you won’t find on a typical menu. At a recent pop-up in Mexico City, for example, Israeli chef Ayuni scattered the table with whole salt-baked fish, picanha steak with pistachio chimichurri, creamy hummus, and roasted cauliflower. There were no rules or etiquette — just forks, conversation, and a lot of laughter as everyone dove in.

That sense of innovation and togetherness runs through many supper clubs. Social media and word of mouth keep the seats filled, and for chefs and staff, these events are a refreshing break from the grind of traditional restaurants. Nogal Nogal, a standout supper club in Mexico City’s Roma Norte, is a perfect example. Owners Rebeca Ortiz and Xavier Pinero started out during the pandemic selling pecan pies and Neapolitan pizza. After a stint in San Miguel de Allende and a residency in Puerto Escondido, they brought their supper club concept back to Mexico City, eventually settling in a cozy, open-plan space where guests and hosts share the same room and the same sense of belonging.

Food has always been central to my life, though being a chef is a more recent chapter. My earliest memories are of my grandmother’s unforgettable cooking and the grand Cantonese banquets at family weddings — fried crab claws, abalone in XO sauce, and shark fin soup. As a kid, I peeled shrimp at age seven and later spent my teenage years working in my parents’ Chinese takeaway and fish and chip shop, peeling potatoes and wrapping up orders while my friends were out having fun. My parents hoped I’d choose a different path, and culinary school never called to me, but my love for food never faded. Years of travel, a decade in New York, and a passion for hole-in-the-wall eateries have all shaped my palate and my approach to cooking. Now, as a sous chef at Nogal Nogal, I get to see the food world from a new angle, in a city that lives and breathes great cuisine.

At Nogal Nogal, supper club nights are intimate and intentional — one seating, a set guest list, and a focus on quality over quantity. I love assembling the plates that chef Xavier dreams up, like our cauliflower carbonara or crispy Brussels sprouts in Caesar dressing. The vibe is casual, but the creativity is serious, and we’re always pushing ourselves to make every dish memorable.

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Before guests arrive, the kitchen hums with last-minute prep — slicing sashimi-grade tuna, roasting cauliflower, steaming flan, baking pecan pies, and whipping cheesecake to fluffy perfection. There’s a little nervous energy as people settle in at the communal table, but a glass of natural wine and a warm welcome quickly melt any awkwardness.

Dinner usually starts around 8 p.m., with platters of homemade ricotta with confit garlic, heirloom tomato panzanella, citrus salad with ginger and pistachio, picanha steak, cauliflower carbonara, and a cloud of whipped cheesecake with fresh strawberries for dessert. Afterward, guests linger over wine, chatting with the owners and soaking up the hospitality that makes Mexican dining so special.

In a city packed with everything from street food to Michelin-starred restaurants, supper clubs offer something different: a chance to connect, to share, and to remember why food brings us together in the first place. If you’re looking for more than just a meal — if you want an experience that feels like home, even when you’re far from it — pull up a chair at a supper club. You might just leave with a few new friends and a story worth telling.

Simon Chung is a chef at Mexico City’s Nogal Nogal restaurant

A short history of street food in Mexico

By

Chris Sands

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June 8, 2025

2

Mexico City residents standing and sitting at a temporary taco stand while waiting for employees to fill their tacos with cooked items in buffet trays. — Chilangos line up for tacos de guisado at a street vendor spot in Mexico City. (Moisés Pablo Nava/Cuartoscuro)

A proper history of Mexican street food would require more than an article, or even a book. Rather, it would need a massive encyclopedia set, covering the evolution of everything from aguas frescas, buñuelos, camotes, cemitas, ceviches, chicharrones, corundas, duros, enchiladas, fruta con chile, huaraches … You get the idea, and I haven’t even gotten to tlacoyos and tlayudas, much less tortas and the innumerable variations of all of the above.

This will be a less exhaustive version, which is to say, a condensed look at the origin of the iconic sextet of Mexican street food — tacos, tamales, elotes, sopes, quesadillas and churros — plus a historical survey of the baskets, carts, stalls, trucks, markets and more from which these specialties have traditionally been sold.

After all, part of the joy of street food is convenience, so a five-minute read seems more appropriate than the much longer alternative.

The taco

Barbacoa tacos on a red plate — The taco in its modern form is younger than you may guess. (Jj saezdeo / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Despite being young, relatively speaking, the taco is the king of Mexico’s street food scene. Its name comes from the small charges used to excavate ore in Mexico’s silver mines during the 18th century. The mine workers of this era were the creators of tacos sudados — sweated tacos — with tortillas dipped in oil and filled with potatoes before being kept warm in baskets— the origin of tacos de canasta. After the mining industry’s decline following Mexico’s independence from Spain, many miners migrated to Mexico City, bringing their favorite treats along.

The first mention of tacos in print was in Manuel Payno’s novel “Los bandidos de Río Frío,” published in 1891. More than 100 other variations of tacos soon followed.

The tamal

Tamales served on a plate with (possibly) champurrado. — There are hundreds of regional varieties of tamales in Mexico. (Shutterstock)

Tamales and atole are the oldest pairing in Mexico, with the former made with corn and other ingredients and wrapped in corn husks, the latter from corn flour and water, spiced with cinnamon, vanilla and other flavors.

Likely the first street food, the Maya have long associated the tamal with fertility and abundance, and the latter cannot be argued, since today there are over 500 varieties.

Elotes and esquites

Corn elote — Corn was first domesticated by human beings in ancient Mesoamerica. (Tim Mossholder/Unsplash)

Corn has been grown in Mexico for 9,000 years, and early versions of elote — grilled corn on the cob — as a proto-street food certainly existed in pre-Columbian times, as did esquites, which are loose corn kernels in a cup.

Modern versions originated in Mexico City during the latter half of the 19th century when ingredients like cheese, sour cream and mayo were added to longtime favorites like lime, cilantro and chili powder. The first evidence of mayonnaise as a topping dates to 1899 and comes from a food ad published in the newspaper El Imparcial.

The sope

Close up of a sope on a plate topped with cream and green sauce — The sope can be seen as Mesoamerica’s answer to the pizza. (William Neuheisel / CC BY SA 2.0)

Like the elote, sopes also have an ancient history. However, while the origin is undoubtedly pre-Columbian, there’s not a great deal of evidence to link them to possible creators like the Toltecs or Mexica, other than that the name comes from the Nahuatl word “sopalli.”

In modern times, Mexico City is the capital for this street food classic, which features a thick, fried masa base with pinched or raised edges to keep tasty toppings from falling off. These toppings often include shredded meat, lettuce, onion, cilantro, sour cream and cheese.

The quesadilla

A quesadilla has to have cheese, right? Not so fast. (Alain Hernández/Cuartoscuro)

With cheese or not with cheese; that is the question.

The answer is usually no in Mexico City unless you specifically ask for it, although in much of the rest of Mexico, it’s a yes.

The corn tortilla, naturally, predates Spanish colonization and dates back to ancient Mesoamerica. However, the Spanish brought wheat for flour tortillas — a specialty in northern Mexico — and plenty of new ingredients to fold into both varieties, including the pork for chicharrón prensado.

Other favored modern ingredients, like mushrooms, huitlacoche and squash blossoms, though, are native to Mexico.

The churro

The art of churro-making is practiced across Mexico. (Ehécatl Cabrera/Wikimedia Commons)

Named for the antlers of the churra sheep, a breed native to Castile and León in Spain, churros weren’t invented in Mexico but were brought to perfection here, thanks to later pairings with hot chocolate.

The dessert treat evolved from Chinese deep-fried dough sticks called youtiao, which were first brought to Portugal, then Spain and finally Mexico by the 19th century, where they were and still are famously dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Cajeta, either as a stuffing or dip, is also popular.

The evolution of how street food is sold in Mexico

Sweet potato and yam street vendor in Mexico — Eating food on the street is a habit that goes back millennia in Mexico. (Orlando Zamudio)

If the origins of Mexico’s favorite street foods all go back centuries, if not millennia, the methods of delivery of these foods are often a mix of old and new. The original street food was sold in tianguis, or traditional marketplaces, the best known of which in pre-colonial times was in Tlatelolco, on the site of the Plaza Tres Culturas in what is now Mexico City.

These days, modern marketplaces have since taken their place, the most notable example being the Mercado de La Merced in Mexico City’s Historic Center. Inaugurated in 1957 on the site of earlier markets, at over 500,000 square meters it instantly became one of the largest gathering places in Latin America.

Between the thousands of vendors here and at neighboring street markets and stalls, hungry chilangos can sample a microcosm of cuisine from around Mexico, from street food favorites like tacos, quesadillas and tostadas to aguas frescas, regional sweets, fresh fruits and vegetables and edible insects from Oaxaca.

For those who don’t live in Mexico’s great cities, though, street food is often a movable feast. Vendors who make their rounds with offerings in baskets still exist, but over time, the arrival of modern bicycles in the early 20th century evolved into the awesome variety of customized two and three-wheeled carts that vendors now peddle across virtually every navigable street in the nation.

The most creative of these was undoubtedly the camote cart, the oven on wheels with a distinctive whistle that became popular in the 1950s and still exists as a vehicle for delivering sweet potato treats to the masses with a variety of toppings, although its use has declined.

The food truck concept was a north-of-the-border innovation, as the modern trend began in Los Angeles in 2008 with a fusion of Mexican and Korean cuisine, courtesy of Chef Roy Choi. However, the model now exists in Mexico too, as does a more primitive version in which vendors drive around in pickup trucks with food packed in coolers in the back. That’s a favorite of seafood vendors in my neck of the woods.

After all, why wait for the customers to come to you? Especially when there are so many other competitors.

Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.