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USMCA ‘remains in force,’ Ebrard says, as Mexico eyes tariff reductions: Thursday’s mañanera recapped

By
MND Staff
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Sheinbaum stands in front of a banner reading "Conferencia del Pueblo"
Sheinbaum reported on the possibility of an extension for the USMCA trade pact and plans for the production of Mexico's Olinia electric vehicle at her Thursday morning press conference. (Carlos Ramos Mamahua / Presidencia)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 🤝 USMCA “remains in force”: A day after the U.S. said it wouldn’t renew the USMCA for an additional 16 years, Sheinbaum and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard emphasized the trade pact remains valid until 2036, subject to annual reviews. Ebrard said the treaty “hasn’t been modified” and that Mexico’s main goal in upcoming bilateral talks is to reduce Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and vehicles.
  • 📈 Investor certainty, despite the news: Sheinbaum argued the USMCA’s continued validity offers “certainty” for investors, pointing to a record US $23.6 billion in foreign direct investment in Mexico during Q1 2026. She noted any of the three countries could withdraw from the pact with six months’ notice — but the U.S. hasn’t done so.
  • 🔄 Door left open for 2042 extension: Sheinbaum said Mexico, the U.S. and Canada could still agree “at any time” during the next decade of annual reviews to extend the USMCA for an additional 16 years, framing the U.S. push for reviews as reflecting a broader protectionist stance.
  • 🚗 Olinia moves to production: Sheinbaum announced the government’s home-grown EV, the Olinia, has completed its design phase and entered production, with a tendering process planned to bring in private companies. She said demand for the vehicle — priced from 150,000 pesos (US $8,575) — is strong among both governments and individual buyers.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Wednesday morning press conference came a day after the U.S. government advised its Mexican and Canadian counterparts that it didn’t want to renew the USMCA free trade pact for an additional 16 years.

At today’s mañanera, Sheinbaum and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard sought to put a positive spin on the development, highlighting that the Trump administration didn’t decide to withdraw from the USMCA and thus the trade pact that superseded NAFTA in 2020 remains in force — and will remain in force for the foreseeable future.

Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard sits at President Sheinbaum's July 2 morning press conference (mañanera) while Sheinbaum stands at the podium
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard joined Thursday’s morning press conference to address the U.S. decision not to immediately renew the USMCA, North America’s free trade pact. (Carlos Ramos Mamahua / Presidencia)

Despite the United States’ decision against extending the USMCA until 2042, the president claimed that the ongoing validity of the agreement will increase certainty for investors in Mexico.

Also of note at today’s mañanera was Sheinbaum’s assertion that there is high demand for the Olinia electric vehicle, which is expected to go on sale next year.

Ebrard stresses that the USMCA remains ‘in force’

At the start of the press conference, Ebrard acknowledged that the U.S. government decided not to extend the USMCA until 2042.

However, he stressed that the three-way trade pact “remains in force from now until 2036,” although it will be subject to annual reviews.

Ebrard noted that both Mexico and Canada were in favor of extending the USMCA until 2042. However, the Trump administration declined to extend the pact and opted for annual reviews as it has “great concern” about the trade deficits the United States has with Mexico and with Canada and wants to “correct” various aspects of the USMCA, he said.

Ebrard told reporters that his virtual meeting on Wednesday with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc was the first USMCA review meeting at which all three countries — Mexico, the United States and Canada — were represented.

Mexico and the United States are set to resume bilateral talks later this month when a U.S. delegation comes to Mexico City. During those talks, officials will aim to resolve concerns of both parties regarding the USMCA, Ebrard said.

He said that Mexico’s main concern is the tariffs the United States imposed on some Mexican exports — i.e., steel, aluminum and vehicles — in accordance with Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act. Mexico is seeking the reduction of those tariffs, Ebrard said.

US tells Mexico it will not renew the USMCA trade agreement

The economy minister subsequently highlighted that the USMCA hasn’t changed from yesterday to today.

“It’s the same treaty, it hasn’t been modified,” he said.

“We don’t expect substantial changes [to be made] in the upcoming talks,” Ebrard added.

Sheinbaum: USMCA can be extended for additional 16 years ‘at any time’

Sheinbaum told reporters that “at any time” in the next 10 years — the period in which annual reviews of the USMCA are slated to take place — the governments of Mexico, the United States and Canada can decide to extend the trade pact for an additional 16 years.

“The annual reviews are reviews that are related to this U.S. vision of greater protectionism,” she said.

“We’re seeking the best [trading ] conditions for our country and to contribute to the strengthening of regional content [in manufacturing] and reduce the content that comes from other parts of the world,” said Sheinbaum, whose government this year imposed new and higher tariffs on imports from China and other countries with which Mexico doesn’t have trade agreements.

President Sheinbaum shares a slide of showing a press release announcing the continuation of the review of the USMCA trade deal
Sheinbaum and other federal officials sought to reassure investors and the public that the USMCA will remain in force until 2036 and could be renewed “at any time” after the U.S. declined to renew the trade pact. (Carlos Ramos Mamahua / Presidencia)

The president subsequently asserted that there is “certainty” for investors in Mexico and that the ongoing validity of the USMCA will create “more certainty.” She cited foreign investment inflows as evidence of the current existence of certainty. Indeed, foreign direct investment in Mexico hit a record high of almost US $23.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026.

Sheinbaum highlighted that the United States hadn’t taken the decision to withdraw from the USMCA, which any of the three countries can do by providing six months’ notice to their trade partners. She reiterated her view that the trade pact — which governs annual trade of around US $2 trillion — has benefits for all three signatories.

Ebrard asserted that investment in Mexico could increase given that the USMCA remains in force and that Mexico and the United States have a “common agenda” to reduce the reliance on imports from outside North America.

He also said that 85% of Mexico’s exports to the United States enter the country tariff-free as they comply with USMCA rules.

Sheinbaum says there is high demand for Olinia, Mexico’s home-grown EV

Sheinbaum told reporters that the government has completed the design phase for the Olinia EV — a prototype of which was unveiled last month — and is now in the production stage.

“The objective is for there to be mixed investment, that it isn’t a vehicle made only by the Mexican state,” she said, explaining that there will be a “kind of tendering process” to find private companies to assist the production, distribution and sale of the Olinia, which is slated to have a starting price of 150,000 pesos (US $8,575).

Sheinbaum asserted that there is “a lot of demand” for the Olinia, “not just from governments, but also from people who like the vehicle.”

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

‘Could we live here?’ Pondering a move to Manzanillo, and what matters in a new home

By
Charlotte Smith
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Las Hadas neighborhood in Manzanillo, Colima
Is Manzanillo a good place to live in Mexico? It depends on what you're looking for, writes Charlotte Smith. (Sergio R. Ortiz)

At home, things are shifting. 

My partner went back to college as a mature student three years ago. It was a decision that felt both bold and slightly unsettling at the time. Last week, he graduated. The finish line has reared its head, and with that comes the inevitable question of “what next?”

Beach in Manzanillo with colorful umbrellas
Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo (pictured here) are both popular destinations on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, but much separates them in terms of desirability as a potential place to make a home. (Charlotte Smith)

We’ve already built a life on the coast. We’re in Bucerías now, and before that we spent several years in Puerto Vallarta. So, were we to make a move, it wouldn’t be about dissatisfaction. 

We may stay exactly where we are if the opportunities present themselves, but if going is what we do, we’d rather be prepared than blindsided. We want to fully understand our options before they become urgent, rather than scrambling when a decision could be made for us by an offer too promising to turn down.

We have a list of places that may fit the bill, and I’ll introduce you to them over the coming weeks. We visit each with a question hanging quietly in the background. Could we live here? To answer that question, we’re looking at cost of living, grocery prices, healthcare, infrastructure and accessibility to airports.

The case for Manzanillo

Manzanillo has been on our list for a while. Not in some dreamy, romantic way, but something a bit more practical than that. Work opportunities. A different pace. A city that, on paper, might make sense.

But neither of us has spent any real time there, and there’s only so much you can understand without walking the streets yourself. Without sitting somewhere long enough for the place to settle around you.

So that’s exactly what we did.

The walkability stood out immediately. The infrastructure, too. Those first impressions matter more than you think, especially when you’ve lived in places where you’ve had to work around them.

Sidewalks that actually exist and continue. Roads that are clearly marked and, more importantly, maintained. Crossings that don’t feel like a near-death gamble. Manzanillo felt like a city that functions in a way that quietly smooths day-to-day routines.

That makes an enormous difference when considering a place you visit as a place you can live.

The cost of living in Manzanillo

Affordability, for us anyway, isn’t something we discuss in a vague sense of can we afford a movie next Thursday, but more in a sit-down-and-do-the-maths kind of way.

Manzanillo isn’t the cheapest place we’ve visited in Mexico, largely because it’s a working port with consistent economic activity, but it hasn’t reached the price levels of more tourism-driven coastal cities. Especially when talking about the broader cost of living, like the accumulation of those small, everyday expenses that define how easy or difficult life feels over time.

Compared to Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias, there’s a noticeable shift. Eating out costs were more reasonable. Groceries felt manageable. Even imported items, the small things that quietly matter over time, came in at a lower cost than where we are now.

Container ship in Manzanillo
Manzanillo is a major port city, with a bustling container ship trade, which contributes to its economic stability. (Charlotte Smith)

You won’t find everything you’ll find in a tourist town, but you’ll find enough. And that “enough” becomes important when you’re thinking long term.

When home is a blend of places (for us, Mexico, the U.S. and England), you don’t necessarily need full replication, but you do need touchpoints like familiar ingredients and the occasional comfort meal. It provides you with a sense that you haven’t completely stepped away from everything you knew before.

Manzanillo offers that, albeit in a quieter, less polished way.

Finding a house and home

But housing is where the conversation really shifted from hypothetical to real. Rents were in the double-digit percentages less expensive than here in the Bay of Banderas.

We aren’t looking for a condo. That part is non-negotiable. We have pets, and my mum comes to stay with us for a few months each year. We need space! Nothing excessive or luxurious, just enough to live without feeling like we’re constantly adjusting around the limits of a property and each other.

A three-bedroom house. A bit of outdoor space. Somewhere that feels like a home, not a temporary setup. And this is where Manzanillo became genuinely interesting.

Because those options exist. Not everywhere, and not always in the most obvious locations, but they’re there. Houses that are still within reach financially in places where we didn’t automatically feel pushed into vertical living because that’s all that’s left.

Compared to Puerto Vallarta and the wider Riviera Nayarit, where prices have climbed steadily and space often comes at a premium, Manzanillo still offered a bit of breathing room. 

You might have to look a little harder. You might need to compromise on proximity to the beach or certain amenities. But the trade-off feels possible, not prohibitive.

Looking at neighborhoods and health care

We spent time exploring neighbourhoods with that in mind. Not just where looks nice for a few days but where would work on a Tuesday morning. Where we’d walk the dogs. Where my mum would feel comfortable staying for three months, not just visiting for a week.

Healthcare was one of those practical checks we made early on. Manzanillo has a mix of public and private clinics, a few hospitals with emergency services, and several well-stocked pharmacies. More than enough to cover routine care, prescriptions and most urgent needs. 

For specialist care or advanced procedures, larger hospitals and more specialist clinics in bigger cities are reachable by road, which is important for us to factor in. Overall, the medical options felt credible and accessible rather than sparse.

Travel and accessibility

Manzanillo International Airport
For those who often travel between their native country, and their adopted home in Mexico, convenient airport access is a must. (Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico)

When it comes to airports and travel links, Manzanillo surprised us with convenience. The city is served by a local airport close to town with flights that connect to major hubs. For wider international options, it’s straightforward to reach larger airports a few hours’ drive away. That accessibility matters to us, and it made the idea of living there feel less isolated than I’d initially assumed.

When it comes to things to do, Manzanillo is quieter, and that’s something we had to be honest about. There are beaches, cinemas, shopping centers, golf courses and everyday conveniences. But it’s not at all built around constant entertainment.

This isn’t a city trying to impress you at every turn. It’s not curated in the way some coastal destinations are. But there’s variety and enough local spots and international options to keep things interesting. 

You’re not overwhelmed with choice, but you’re not lacking either. And in terms of daily life, that balance can be more sustainable. That’s a shift from somewhere like Puerto Vallarta, where it’s easy to step into an existing rhythm of social scenes, events and a steady flow of activity.

A sense of place

Manzanillo felt more grounded; more local. The pace was different. Slower in some ways, and more consistent in others. And whether that works depends entirely on what you want.

We found ourselves talking about that, often without realizing it. Not in structured conversations, but in passing comments. While walking. Sitting somewhere. Driving between neighborhoods.

Could we build a life here that feels full, even in the quieter months? Would we miss the energy of where we are now, or would we settle into something calmer without noticing the difference?

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I realized something I hadn’t expected.

I felt alive there. And I genuinely don’t think it had anything to do with adrenaline. It was more in a quieter sense. A kind of steady, comfortable awareness.

The allure of the ‘new’

I wasn’t pushing against the place or adjusting myself to fit into it. I was just … there. Moving through the day without friction, noticing things without effort, and feeling present in a way that can be surprisingly rare.

Maybe it was because it was new. That’s always possible. New places can sharpen your senses, make everything feel a little more vivid.

Or maybe it was something else. Because alongside that aliveness, there was also a sense of ease that didn’t feel temporary. And that combination of feeling both settled and awake at the same time isn’t something I’ve felt everywhere, even after years of living in Mexico.

Manzanillo seaside with boats and cruise ship in the background
Forging a new path in a new destination requires plenty of decision-making and a careful weighing of factors. (Charlotte Smith)

For a moment, it felt like home. Not definitively, and not in a way that answers every question yet. But enough to recognize the feeling when it appeared. And that’s stayed with me.

Is this going to be our new home?

Manzanillo didn’t try to sell itself to us. It didn’t lean into charm or try to distract from its more industrial side. It simply presented itself as it is. A working city that functions well, offers a reasonable cost of living, and still allows for a kind of space (both physical and mental) that’s becoming harder to find in more established destinations.

By the end of our time there, the question hadn’t been answered completely. But it had changed. It was no longer “could we live here?” in an abstract sense. It became: “Could we choose this kind of life?”

And I think that’s a much more useful place to be.

We didn’t leave with a decision. That’s still tied to so many other factors like work opportunities, timing, the moving parts that come with change and factoring in the pros and cons of everywhere on our list.

But we left with clarity, and with the understanding that if Manzanillo becomes the next step, it won’t be a reaction or a compromise. It’ll be something we’ve considered properly. Something we’ve walked through, quite literally, one street at a time.

Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics, and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.

El Jalapeño: Duck gets legal approval faster than most Mexican infrastructure projects

By
El Jalapeno
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Merlin the duck AI image for El Jalapeño
Mexico's World Cup mascot has been fast-tracked to protected status, and not a minute too soon! (This image was generated using AI tools)

All stories in El Jalapeño are satire and not real news. Check out the original article here.

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property (IMPI) confirmed Monday that it processed and resolved a trademark dispute in under a week, a bureaucratic sprint that legal experts say has never before been achieved for anything that did not involve a duck wearing a soccer jersey.

The trademark, covering the name and likeness of Merlin, a pet duck belonging to Mexico City street vendor Karla Gómez, was granted after IMPI director Vidal Llerenas personally intervened on social media to settle competing claims from three separate applicants who had also attempted to register “El Pato Merlín” in the days following the animal’s viral fame. 

Llerenas, writing from his official X account, declared it “a public and well-known fact” that the duck belonged to the Gómez family — a level of judicial certainty that intellectual property lawyers say typically requires several years, four appeals, and at least one expert witness.

“We’ve had cases pending review since 2019 that still haven’t gotten a comment from the director’s office,” said one IMPI staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But say the word ‘duck’ and ‘World Cup’ in the same sentence and suddenly everyone remembers we have an Instagram account.”

Street vendors near the Zócalo, several of whom began selling unlicensed Merlin plush toys within 48 hours of his first viral video, expressed cautious optimism that the ruling would not affect their existing inventory, on the grounds that nobody at IMPI has historically enforced anything with this level of speed before and presumably would need to file a follow-up form to start.

Gómez, for her part, said she has no interest in enriching outside companies off her pet’s fame, with one notable exception: Corporativo Pascual, the soft drink maker, whom she said she would “like to help,” declining to elaborate — a level of corporate discretion that several PR firms have reportedly tried and failed to achieve for their actual clients.

As of Tuesday, Merlin’s legal team — which is to say, Merlin’s owner and a notario — had not commented on reports that at least two additional parties were exploring trademark applications for “Merlin’s little sneakers” as a standalone brand.

By Thursday, the duck had more enforceable intellectual property rights than most Mexican small businesses ever secure in a lifetime.

Check out our Jalapeño archive here.

Got an idea for a Jalapeño article? Email us with your suggestions!

Experts see a peso at just under 18 to the dollar a year from now

By
MND Staff
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0
Mexican peso money bills and centavo coins pile on table. Mexico coins on banknotes of MXN currency close up
The predicted slight weakening of the peso by the end of June 2027 comes from a panel of foreign exchange experts responding to a poll by the news agency Reuters. (Shutterstock)

A year from now, the Mexican peso will be trading at just under 18 to the US dollar, according to foreign exchange (FX) experts polled by Reuters.

The news agency polled 24 FX specialists between June 26 and July 1, asking them to forecast the USD:MXN rate 12 months from now.

The experts polled by Reuters warned that additional interest rate cuts by Banco de México would risk further weakening of the peso. However, Mexico’s central bank has held rates steady recently and has indicated that future cuts are unlikely.
(Moisés Pablo / Cuartoscuro.com)

The median estimate of the poll respondents was a USD:MXN rate of 17.78, a prediction that implies a slight depreciation of the peso over the next 12 months.

According to the Bank of Mexico, the peso closed at just under 17.50 to the dollar on Tuesday. A rate of 17.78 would represent a depreciation of 1.6% for the peso compared to the June 30 closing rate.

Reuters reported that “[e]xcept for a brief tumble at the start of 2020” — when the peso plummeted to around 25 to the dollar amid the then nascent COVID pandemic — Mexico’s currency “has traded between 16 and 22 per US dollar since July 2015, with a midpoint around 19.”

Citing its poll, the news agency wrote that the peso “will likely hold steady near the middle of its well-established trading range at least into the first ​half of 2027 … supported by foreign exchange market expectations for an ‌economic recovery.”

After a quarter-over-quarter contraction in the first three months of the year, the Mexican economy grew 1.2% in April compared to March and 2.2% on an annual basis.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the Mexican economy will expand 1.6% this year. Reuters reported that Mexico’s economic outlook “remains weak due to uncertainty over the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade,” which is currently subject to a trilateral review process.

Analysts: Additional interest rate cuts could weaken the peso

Reuters reported that it was told by analysts that “the peso may soften if dovish policymakers push for the resumption of interest rate cuts, ​which would reduce carry trade flows to profit from Mexico’s relatively high cost of borrowing.”

However, rate cuts don’t appear likely in the near term.

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) held its benchmark interest rate at 6.50% after a monetary policy meeting last week, and has indicated that it will maintain that rate in the near future.

The peso generally benefits from the difference between a higher interest in Mexico and a lower interest rate in the United States. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate is currently set at a 3.50%-3.75% range, meaning that it is 2.75%-3% lower than Banxico’s key rate. An additional interest rate cut in Mexico could reduce that gap and contribute to a weakening of the peso.

How did the peso perform in the first half of 2026? 

According to Banxico, the peso closed at 18.00 to the US dollar on Dec. 31, 2025 and just under 17.50 on Tuesday June 30. Therefore the peso appreciated 2.85% during the first six months of 2026.

The USD:MXN closing rate on Tuesday was slightly higher than the 17.32 rate from May 26 that Mexico News Daily used for its most recent MND Peso Index™ analysis. After calculating an implied exchange rate from the prices of the same 20 goods and services in Mexico and the United States, MND determined that the peso was overvalued by just over 4% in late May.

Using the same implied rate — 18.02 pesos per dollar — the peso, at Tuesday’s closing rate of 17.50 to the dollar, is overvalued by around 3%.

With reports from Reuters 

Lost dog reunited after live stream shows it celebrating Mexico’s win

By
MND Staff
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dog celebrating
Thousands of people saw videos and live streams of "Gorda" joining in a celebration of Mexico's World Cup victory on June 24. One of them was its owner, who had been searching for Gorda for a month. (Screenshot)

Ale García of Ciudad Victoria in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas had been missing her dog Gorda for nearly a month when her pet was found in the last week of June.

How the two were reunited is a heartwarming example of the human kindness of the Mexican people, the positive use of social media and the power of Mexico’s World Cup fever to unite the nation — even across species.

García had immediately posted a request for help on social media to locate Gorda when her pet went missing on May 27, with no luck. 

But after Mexico’s victory over Czechia on June 24, videos emerged on social media of fans celebrating in the street. Some of them clearly showed fans celebrating with a dog. 

In one video, a man can be seen carrying the dog through the streets as people chant in celebration. People can be heard in the background saying: “Even the dog is celebrating”.

García’s brother saw a live stream of one such celebration and recognized the dog. It was Gorda.

After he told his sister the news, she posted a message asking for the dog to be kept safe until she could arrive. Users who were watching the live stream began sharing the pet’s location, and within minutes, several people helped keep Gorda safe until the long-awaited reunion.

After being reunited, García took Gorda to a vet for a check-up and was reportedly told that her dog, though thin and slightly injured, was healthy. 

Wags on social media posted that the little dog “wasn’t lost; she was just out partying.”

With reports from Infobae and Tribuna de México

1 million celebrants crowd downtown Mexico City after a historic World Cup win

By
MND Staff
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Mexico City's Angel of Independence on El Paseo de la Reforma — an emblematic Mexican monument on an emblematic Mexican street — has long been the scene of victory celebrations — but seldom like that of Tuesday night, June 30. (Clara Brugada/X)

Tuesday was a memorable night in Mexico City following Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador,  with crowds estimated at more than 1 million people taking to the streets to celebrate the country’s furthest advancement in the World Cup tournament since 1986. 

Hundreds of thousands of them gathered around the Ángel de la Independencia in the middle of the stately Paseo de la Reforma, spilling into the surrounding streets. The celebration extended to the Historic Center, including the Zócalo, where the Fan Fest is located.   

celebrants june 30th
The massive celebration, with its party atmosphere, including mariachis and fireworks, went on until morning. (Galo Cañas / Cuartoscuro.com)

President Sheinbaum also watched and celebrated with others, but in the north of the city. Noting the size of the downtown celebrations, she later praised the “happiness” that the team had brought to the country.

The massive celebrations in Mexico’s capital, which kicked off with several rounds of fireworks, went on until Wednesday morning. Videos on social media show a few dozen people still dancing and celebrating near the Angel of Independence monument at about 9:00 a.m.

Throughout the night, Mexico City’s main avenues were overflowing with fans celebrating with waving flags, chants, and caravans of honking cars. Along Reforma, from the Angel of Independence to the Revolution Monument, the crowd flowed through street lanes and sidewalks, while live music and mariachis kept the celebrations going.

Mexico will play another home match at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday against England, after the team secured its spot in the next stage with the goals of Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez.

The celebration inside the stadium after Quiñones’s goal was of such force that it registered on seismographs normally used to measure earthquakes in the capital. 

The toll of the mass celebration: Four tragic deaths

Despite the deployment of screens throughout the city to avoid over-concentration of viewers in one spot, and the imposition of an alcohol ban targeted to popular gathering areas of the city, the sheer magnitude of the events defied all civil planning and four people died during the celebrations. 

In a post on X, Mexico City’s Health Department (SS) announced Wednesday morning that it had received a report of “two unconscious people” on Hamburgo and Lancaster streets, suffering from asphyxiation. A 44-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were taken to a hospital, the SS wrote on X. Despite receiving “advanced resuscitation maneuvers,” they later died.

According to the SS, both individuals have been identified by their family members.

Another victim, a 48-year-old woman, was also found unconscious on Berna Street in the Juárez neighborhood, where she received “resuscitation maneuvers” by paramedics, the SS said on X.  

By Wednesday, the number of confirmed fatalities rose to four, according to press reports.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada joined President Claudia Sheinbaum in expressing condolences to the victims’ families and pledged on her official X account to send “all the support they need” in the coming days.

Brugada also urged fans to “always celebrate with responsibility, care and empathy.”

With reports from Record, La Jornada, Infobae, El Financiero, and El Sol de México

US tells Mexico it will not renew the USMCA trade agreement

By
MND Staff
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Ebrard at podium
In a press conference on Wednesday, Ebrard stressed that the trade pact will continue working as it has been but will require annual trilateral reviews through 2036. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)

The Trump administration has declined to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free trade pact that U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated — and which took effect — during his first term in office.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the decision — which doesn’t immediately terminate the USMCA — in a statement on Wednesday after he met virtually with Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

Greer's statement on the USMCA.
Greer’s statement on the USMCA. (Screenshot)

The USMCA “requires the USMCA Free Trade Commission, composed of government representatives of each Party, to conduct a joint review of the Agreement on July 1, 2026,” Greer’s statement began.

“In accordance with the Agreement, the United States, Mexico, and Canada met virtually today to discuss the operation of the USMCA. The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed,” the U.S. trade representative said.

Greer said that the United States “will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries.”

“However, the Agreement remains in force pending resolution of these issues or until the Agreement’s termination. As previously announced, the United States will meet with Mexico the week of July 20 for a third round of bilateral negotiations related to the USMCA joint review,” he said.

According to Reuters, a senior U.S. official — who was not named by the news agency — said that talks in Mexico City would focus on strengthening North American rules of origin for autos and other industrial goods, and economic security to keep other countries from benefiting from USMCA access.

In early June, both Mexico and Canada notified their North American trade partners that they wished to extend the USMCA for an additional 16 years to 2042. Around a week later, Trump said he wasn’t seeking to renew the pact, which he described at the time as “sort of a good deal,” but which he once called “the best agreement we’ve ever made.”

As a result of the United States’ decision to not renew the USMCA in its current form, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada will have to conduct annual reviews of the pact before it expires in 2036. At some point in the future, the three countries could reach an agreement to extend a modified USMCA for an additional 16 years.

Trump has long railed against the United States’ trade deficits with Mexico and Canada, the two largest trade partners of the U.S. In addition to reducing those deficits, the U.S. president wants to protect U.S. industry, and to that end, has imposed tariffs on Mexican and Canadian vehicles, steel and aluminum. Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed last year to work to reduce Mexico’s trade surplus with the U.S., which in 2025 was $197 billion.

Ebrard: There will be no immediate change to the USMCA 

In a video message on Wednesday, Ebrard noted that if a country wants to withdraw from the USMCA, it has to give six months’ notice to its trade partners.

He stressed that no country has expressed its intent to withdraw from the pact, which superseded NAFTA exactly six years ago on July 1, 2020.

“That has not occurred, nor do we think it will occur based on the information we have up until now,” Ebrard said.

“The first thing we need to be clear about is that,” he said.

Ebrard said that Greer told him and LeBlanc on Wednesday that the United States is “not in the position” to be able to renew the USMCA for an additional 16 years.

“Therefore, we’re going to take the annual review track,” said the economy minister, who noted that Mexico, the U.S. and Canada could at some stage agree to renew the USMCA for 16 more years.

CNBC wrote in an article on Wednesday that yearly reviews “could result in the renegotiation of major parts of the treaty.”

In the short term, Ebrard said that the USMCA will continue working as it has been, asserting that there won’t be any immediate “modification” to the pact.

He noted that most of the trade between Mexico and the United States occurs in accordance with the USMCA, “which will remain in force, as I already said.”

Regarding annual USMCA reviews, Ebrard said that Mexico’s aim will be to reduce the number of “unresolved issues” between the parties year by year.

“In summary, the agreement continues, it’s scheduled to continue until 2036. … The current agreement won’t change in these days or in the coming months,” he said.

LeBlanc: USMCA ‘remains fully in force’

In a statement, LeBlanc said that he “reaffirmed Canada’s unwavering support for the CUSMA and its renewal” during his meeting with Ebrard and Greer. The USMCA is known as CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) in Canada and T-MEC (Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá) in Mexico.

In his statement, LeBlanc also said that “the CUSMA supports millions of jobs across North America, and ensures Canadian businesses retain secure and predictable access to two of our most important trading partners.”

“It remains fully in force until 2036 and can be renewed at any time for another 16-year period,” he said.

The Canadian trade minister said that Canada, Mexico and the United States “agreed on the importance of continuing our discussions and identifying ways to ensure trade and investment frameworks between” the three countries “continue to support North American prosperity and competitiveness.”

“For Canada, this includes substantive discussions with the United States on addressing sectoral tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, autos and lumber,” LeBlanc said.

For its part, Mexico is aiming to have U.S. tariffs on Mexican vehicles, steel and aluminum lowered if not lifted completely.

LeBlanc also said that the Canadian government looks forward to “further engagement with the United States and Mexico in the coming weeks and months as we work together to strengthen our shared economic prosperity.”

The USMCA governs trade worth around US $2 trillion annually. Trade between Mexico and the United States was worth US $873 billion last year. Mexico’s exports to the U.S. were worth $535 billion in 2025, accounting for over 60% of the two-way trade total.

With reports from Reuters, CNBC and El Economista

Wearing pride: Mexico’s counterfeit jersey economy, explained

By
María Meléndez
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19
Authentic Mexico team jersey produced by Adidas
The difference between an authentic Mexico team jersey and a counterfeit version is significant, not only in terms of price but for Mexico's manufacturing economy. (Adidas)

Mexico’s national team jersey is the best-selling shirt of this World Cup cycle. I don’t want to get too sociological about it, but the jersey is, above all else, a symbol. The green of our flag — which stands for hope — the sun, the graphics nodding to the Piedra del Sol (the cosmogonic centerpiece of Mexica civilization), and the eagle that recalls both our flag and the founding myth that gave Mexico its name. It’s national pride translated into performance fabric. After decades of being told to ponte la verde, the jersey became shorthand for Mexican solidarity itself.

On the left chest, opposite the crest, sits the Adidas logo. The official player version retails for around 3,000 pesos; the fan version, around 2,000. In a country where the general daily minimum wage rose to 315.04 pesos as of January 1, 2026 — roughly 9,451 pesos a month — an official jersey still represents a significant investment compared to what the lowest-paid worker earns. And the lowest-paid worker is not a marginal figure. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography’s first-quarter 2025 National Survey of Occupation and Employment, 40.1% of the employed population earns up to one minimum wage, and another 29.2% earns between one and two. Taken together, nearly seven out of 10 working Mexicans live on the equivalent of two minimum wages or less. When the math looks like that, counterfeits don’t appear by accident. They appear as a consequence.

Counterfeit in Mexico

Container ship from Hong Kong preparing to be offloaded in Manzanillo
The port of Manzanillo is one of the main entry points for counterfeit goods coming from China, including knockoff team jerseys. (SSA Marine Mexico)

As you also read here, federal authorities recently raided one of Mexico’s main counterfeit hubs, Tepito, and seized 25 tons of pirated merchandise, mostly national team jerseys. FIFA announced it would pursue legal action against vendors moving the goods, and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) underscored that the operation was about protecting intellectual property.

But the numbers behind that image — stacks of green boxes piled to the ceiling — are enormous. According to the study “Piratería: Entendiendo el mercado sombra en México,” Mexicans consumed 63.262 billion pesos in counterfeit goods in 2025. A decade ago, the figure was 43 billion; it has grown nearly 50% in ten years. The damage translates to roughly 70,000 lost formal jobs, concentrated in the textile sector. According to data from IMPI, apparel (26.3%), footwear (26.3%) and accessories (24.7%) top the list of most consumed pirated goods in the country.

Zoom in on clothing alone, and the picture sharpens. The president of the National Chamber of the Textile Industry (Canaintex), Rafael Zaga, has repeatedly stated that three out of every five garments sold in Mexico come from the black market. The industry, which employs over 1.2 million people — most of them women — currently operates at only 70% of installed capacity. The remaining 30%, according to Canaintex, could be reactivated if department stores, supermarkets and government procurement prioritized Mexican-made products.

Where it enters, where it sells

Most of the counterfeit textiles sold in Mexico are not made here. They arrive, predominantly from Asia — overwhelmingly from China — through the ports of Manzanillo, Colima, and Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, with secondary routes through Ensenada in Baja California and, increasingly, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, after a stop in the United States. Manzanillo is Mexico’s busiest port for containerized cargo; much of the problem passes through there.

How does it get in? Through subvaluation — declaring merchandise at a token value to dodge taxes — through route triangulation, re-labeling, “ant smuggling” (small repeated crossings) and, in the worst cases, with the complicity of customs personnel. In June 2025 alone, container abandonment at Manzanillo spiked 300%: roughly 900 containers, most of them carrying counterfeit Chinese goods, were left at port by importers who preferred to lose the cargo rather than face intensified inspections. Canaintex calculated tax evasion in the textile sector at 8.5 billion pesos in 2023 alone.

Pirate markets

Once inside the country, the merchandise flows to three main hubs that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) identified in its annual Notorious Markets report: Tepito in Mexico City; the Libertad market — better known as San Juan de Dios — in Guadalajara; and El Santuario, also in Guadalajara, which functions more as a wholesale warehouse than a retail point. The National Citizen Observatory has mapped at least 19 “notorious counterfeit markets” across the country, with 31.6% concentrated in Mexico City and 21% in Jalisco. Tepito alone supplies not only the rest of Mexico but, according to the USTR, also Central America.

Tepito Market, aerial shot of sprawling stalls, in Mexico City
The sprawling Tepito Market in Mexico City is one of the main hubs for counterfeit goods flowing into Mexico. (JAPI)

In these markets, a pirated national team jersey sells for between 100 and 350 pesos, depending on “quality” — because, as a vendor once told me, “hay clones y hay piratería.” Canaco CDMX estimates that during the World Cup, counterfeit merchandise could account for up to 25% of informal commerce revenue in Mexico City’s Historic Center.

Who wins, who loses

It’s tempting to imagine that every peso paid for a fake jersey stays in the pocket of the woman selling it outside the market. The reality is considerably less romantic.

Losses to the Mexican textile industry, according to the sector’s own chambers, run into tens of billions of pesos. FIFA estimates that official sales drop by at least 8% due to counterfeiting. The state forgoes VAT, income tax and customs duties — money that will not be transformed into infrastructure. The 70,000 formal jobs lost have names, surnames and benefits left unpaid.

So who profits? According to federal intelligence reports cited by La Razón and Animal Político, after the year 2000 — following the split between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel — the counterfeit business in informal markets moved from the hands of merchant leaders to organized-crime cells. La Unión Tepito has been historically linked to controlling much of this chain, alongside networks dedicated to smuggling and extortion (cobro de piso). Counterfeiting in Mexico is not just a parallel economy: it is one of the financing mechanisms organized crime uses to launder money and hold territory. Globally, piracy generates between US $923 billion and US $1.13 trillion annually — more than the global drug trade.

The street vendors — most often women with children, according to La Razón‘s reporting from Mexico City’s Historic Center — keeps a gross margin of 200 to 300 pesos per shirt. Not nothing, for someone who needs it. But not the fortune, either. The fortune is further up the chain.

The cult of the logo

To quote the Catholic Mexican grandmothers, en el pecado llevamos la penitencia — our sin carries its own punishment. We are a class-conscious society that, like the rest of the hyperglobalized capitalist world, attaches enormous weight to logos and what they signify. Mexicans are still a long way from the “quiet luxury” aesthetic. Exhibit A: the merchant who recently showed up to a meeting with the president head-to-toe in fake Gucci. And to be clear: that’s not a critique, it’s a description.

Mexico team jersey, shown from the back on female model
In class-driven societies like that of Mexico, logos are status symbols, but not everyone can afford the genuine articles. (Adidas)

Most Mexicans are maximalists. We love color, we love whatever calls attention and, above all, we love logos. Logos signal a certain economic capacity to access “exclusive” brands, and in a society that discriminates not by race but by class, the logo becomes a symbol of social mobility. And that is exactly what the Chinese counterfeit market is reading.

False narratives

I got into a silly Instagram argument that prompted this article. The author of the video was essentially saying: “Better the money stays with the vendors than with Adidas.” The narrative is seductive, but it assumes that Adidas and the smuggling network feeding Tepito are the only two actors in the room. I tried to explain that piracy isn’t the solution — because the Mexican textile industry (not in the specific case of an Adidas-licensed jersey, but broadly speaking) also includes the maquiladoras of Puebla, the textile mills of Aguascalientes, the seamstresses of Iztapalapa, the small Mexican brands that pay VAT and the families who depend on the 1.2 million formal jobs the sector generates. It was useless: I only earned the label Whitexican for my trouble.

According to the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco), 85% of Mexican companies are family-owned and there are roughly 4.5 million “micro, small and medium enterprises” (MSMEs). When we buy a 200-peso jersey from a stand, we don’t take money out of Adidas. We take it out of the family tailoring workshop, the young designer trying to launch a brand and the textile worker in Tlaxcala who sews for minimum wage and statutory benefits.

A possible way out — not banning, but reimagining

I understand the phenomenon. When it costs 28,000 pesos in paperwork just to open a small business, when the minimum wage doesn’t stretch to an official jersey, when the shirt is identity rather than caprice, asking people to skip the knockoff sounds like a sermon from someone who’s never had to choose between El Tri and the rent. Counterfeiting will not end with theatrical Tepito raids every six months, nor with moralizing columns like this one.

But maybe we can start doing something else: rethinking how and from whom we consume. Mexico has one of the richest textile traditions in the world. We have Carla Fernández taking Indigenous patterning — la raíz cuadrada — to museums like the Victoria & Albert in London and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, working with more than 175 artisans across 12 states. We have Boyfriend’s Shirt in Guadalajara, Sangre de mi Sangre, MANCANDY, Maison Manila and an entire generation of emerging brands — according to the National Chamber of the Clothing Industry (Canaive), 60% of new fashion brands in Mexico are independent projects — building a national proposal that doesn’t need to copy anyone.

Choosing your own symbol

We also have a domestic sportswear industry — Charly, Pirma and ABA Sports — that dresses Liga MX teams and national selections across multiple disciplines. Not to mention neighborhood workshops that screen-print jerseys to order at reasonable quality. We have options, and many are accessible.

This isn’t about canonizing consumption and demonizing the buyer of counterfeit goods. No one is in a moral position to judge another household’s paycheck. It’s about understanding that the question isn’t “Adidas or fake?” But “what economy am I feeding with each peso I spend?” If we could flip that conversation — from police operations to promoting Mexican talent; from ponte la verde as obligation to vístete de México as conscious choice — we probably wouldn’t solve the problem, but we would start building a response that could last longer than a World Cup.

At the end of the day, the jersey is a symbol. What we choose to wear is one, too.

Maria Meléndez writes for Mexico News Daily in Mexico City.

The MND Sheinbaum Index™ for May 2026

By
MND Intelligence
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8
The Sheinbaum Index™ for May 2026 is 64.8/100.
The Sheinbaum Index™ for May 2026 is 64.8/100. (Mexico News Daily)

THE MND SHEINBAUM INDEX™

Measuring Mexico’s president beyond the polls

MND Intelligence · Third edition

Welcome to the third edition of the MND Sheinbaum Index™, an eight-pillar index designed to give our readers balanced, data-driven insight into the current situation in Mexico across a range of areas under the leadership of President Claudia Sheinbaum.

As we wrote in our inaugural Sheinbaum Index article, most of what you hear anecdotally about Claudia Sheinbaum fits into one of two buckets: breathless admiration or reflexive dismissal, often without a lot of evidence or data to support the opinion expressed.

Neither tells you much about how Mexico is actually doing on her watch. The MND Sheinbaum Index™ was built to fill that gap.

In this third edition of the index — which mainly uses data from the month of May — the headline number is 64.8, representing an improvement of 4.8 points compared to the previous score. A detailed summary of the latest results appears below.

If you need a reminder on how the index works and how each of the eight equally weighted pillars is scored, please read the second edition of the MND Sheinbaum Index™.

Before we look in detail at the latest results and examine the index trend in early 2026, here is a short guide to the significance of a Sheinbaum Index score:

  • 85–100: Exceptional — administration performing at a high level across nearly all indicators.
  • 75–84: Excellent — administration performing well across most indicators.
  • 60–75: Quite good, but room for improvement — meaningful strengths, some areas of concern.
  • 50–60: Mixed — passing marks overall.
  • Below 50: Broad underperformance — more indicators below benchmark than above.
(Mexico News Daily)

The MND Sheinbaum Index™ trend in 2026   

The MND Sheinbaum Index™ score is now back to where it was in February after dipping to just above 60 in March and 60 flat in April. Factors such as inflation of around 4.5% in each of March and April, as well as annual economic growth of 0.5% or lower in those months, caused the deterioration in the index score compared to February, when inflation was very close to 4% and economic growth was above 1%.

The 4.8-point, month-over-month improvement in the index score in May was mainly due to inflation falling below 4%, homicides declining at a faster annual pace and economic growth improving. Scores for five of the eight index pillars increased in May compared to the previous month. More detail on the performance of each of the pillars in May is provided below.

(Mexico News Daily)

MND Sheinbaum Index™ pillars for May 2026

Each pillar is given a stoplight color indicating a strong performance (green), an average performance (yellow) or a poor performance (red). An upward-pointing arrow ⬆️ indicates that the pillar score improved compared to April. A downward-pointing arrow ⬇️ indicates a deterioration in the pillar score. A pause icon ⏸️ means there was no change in the pillar score compared to the previous month.

🟢 ⬆️ INFLATION (10.15 out of 12.50)

In May, the inflation pillar replaced the labor poverty pillar as the top contributor to the overall index score. Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate eased from 4.45% in April to 3.94% in May, the lowest reading since January and just 0.94 percentage points above the Bank of Mexico’s 3% target. The inflation pillar score consequently rose to 10.15 from 8.88 in April — a gain of 1.27 points.

🟢 ⏸️ LABOR POVERTY (10.10 out of 12.50)

The labor poverty pillar score was unchanged from April at 10.10. The labor poverty rate decreased 3.2 percentage points annually in the first quarter of 2026 — the same reading as April, as this pillar runs on a quarterly lag. Real incomes increased 7.4% year-over-year, also unchanged from last month.

🟢 ⬇️ TOURISM (8.78 out of 12.50 — This pillar has a one-month lag)

International arrivals increased 8.1% year-over-year in April, the data period used for May’s index. That represents a slowdown from the 11.9% rise recorded in March, pulling the tourism pillar score down from 9.97 in April to 8.78 in May.

🟡 ⬆️ SECURITY (8.58 out of 12.50)

The pace of homicide reduction accelerated in May after three consecutive months of slowing. The year-over-year decline in homicides was 27.6% in May, per data presented at Sheinbaum’s June 16 press conference, up from 20.3% in April. The security pillar score consequently rose from 7.30 in April to 8.58 in May.

🟡 ⬆️ APPROVAL RATING (8.56 out of 12.50)

Sheinbaum’s average approval rating edged up slightly to 68.5% in May from 68.2% in April. Thus, the approval rating pillar score nudged up from 8.53 in April to 8.56 in May. At the time of publication, Mitofsky/El Economista had not published poll results for May, so we substituted the Enkoll/El País/W Radio poll in its place. That poll detected a 68% approval rating for the president. Per El Financiero, Sheinbaum’s approval rating was 69% in May.

🟡 ⬆️ EMPLOYMENT (7 out of 12.50)

Mexico’s unemployment rate, at 2.8% in May, was unchanged compared to a year earlier. This component of the pillar was scored at 68 out of 100, as the unemployment rate was slightly better than the neutral 3% benchmark (60 points). The informality rate increased 0.3 percentage points year-over-year in May, an improvement on the 0.5-point rise recorded in April. As both sub-components improved — the unemployment component in accordance with the tweaked methodology — the employment pillar score increased from 5.63 in April to 7 in May. While unemployment in Mexico is quite low, the percentage of workers employed in the informal economy is very high — 55.2% in May.

🟡 ⏸️ BUSINESS CONFIDENCE (6.36 out of 12.50)

Mexico’s business confidence score, as measured by a monthly INEGI survey, was 48.2 in May, unchanged from April. The FDI component also held steady at +10.4% year-over-year, as the latest available data is once again the Q1 2026 figure reported by the federal Economy Ministry in late May. With no movement in either sub-component, the business confidence pillar score was unchanged at 6.36.

🔴 ⬆️ ECONOMIC GROWTH (5.25 out of 12.50)

Year-over-year economic growth in May was 1.1%, according to preliminary data from INEGI — an improvement on April’s 0.3% preliminary reading — which was revised upward to 2.2% — but still well below the 2% anchor that earns a neutral score of 60. The economic growth pillar score rose from 3.25 in April to 5.25 in May, though the pillar remains the worst-performing of the MND Sheinbaum Index™.

(Mexico News Daily)

What to watch

The next MND Sheinbaum Index™ will focus on the month of June.

Here are three things to look out for in the June Index, which we will publish in early August.

  • Inflation: Data for the first half of June indicates that the score for the inflation pillar will continue to improve. INEGI reported last week that the annual headline rate was 3.55% in the first 15 days of June, a significant improvement from the 3.94% reading for May as a whole.
  • Employment: When we publish our next MND Sheinbaum Index™, we will be able to directly compare the overall index score, and the employment pillar score, to those of this edition as for a second time we will have used the slightly-tweaked methodology. In each of our three focus months to date — March, April and May — Mexico’s stubbornly-high informality increased from a year earlier. A better performance in this component of the employment pillar is much-needed and would help lift the overall index score.
  • Economic growth: Mexico hosted 12 FIFA men’s World Cup games in June, and according to business group Concanaco, there was a tournament-related economic windfall of US $1 billion in the first 13 days of the tournament (June 11-24). It will be interesting to see whether this spending gives a boost to Mexico’s annual growth rate in June.

Mexico News Daily

* MND acknowledges that President Sheinbaum does not directly control outcomes in all eight pillars. For example, global commodity prices and tariff decisions in Washington can affect Mexico’s inflation and growth rates. The Index measures what is happening in Mexico on Sheinbaum’s watch.

** We note that for this edition of the MND Sheinbaum Index™ we made a slight tweak to our index methodology, and consequently, the overall index score is 1.1 points higher than what it would have been. Instead of scoring unemployment based on the year-over-year change in the unemployment rate, we are now measuring the unemployment rate — which constitutes 50% of the employment pillar — against a 3% benchmark. A rate of 3% yields a score of 60, whereas a rate of 2% (or any number below that rate) gets a perfect 100. Thus, four points are subtracted for every 0.1 percentage point that the unemployment rate rises above 2%. We note that this change makes a comparison between the latest index score and the previous one imperfect. However, we believe that this is a fairer way of scoring Mexico’s unemployment rate, which is one of the lowest among the 38 OECD countries.

Sheinbaum celebrates Mexico’s history-making match: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped

By
MND Staff
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0
President Sheinbaum standing before a tweet she wrote
President Sheinbaum congratulated the Mexican team on Wednesday for playing "with heart, with soul and with pride." (Andrea Murcia/Cuartoscuro)

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • ⚽ El Tri advances, but tragedy strikes: Sheinbaum celebrated Mexico’s 2-0 win over Ecuador — the country’s first World Cup knockout victory since 1986 — calling it “a source of pride for all Mexicans,” but also expressed the government’s solidarity with the families of three people who died of suffocation in apparent crowd crushes near the Angel of Independence during post-match celebrations. She said Mexico City’s Attorney General’s Office will review what happened and consider preventative measures ahead of Sunday’s match.
  • 🎉 Celebrations across the country: Sheinbaum shared a video of El Tri celebrations in the Mexico City Zócalo, Guadalajara’s Glorieta La Minerva and Veracruz, among other places, and read aloud her social media post praising the team for playing “with heart, with soul and with pride.”
  • 🌎 World Cup as tourism boost: Sheinbaum asserted that foreign visitors’ positive experiences during the World Cup — contrasting with perceptions of Mexico as violent — will drive future tourism, crediting “the happy, hospitable people of Mexico” as the country’s best promotional campaign.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Wednesday morning press conference came the morning after Mexico’s World Cup football team, El Tri, defeated Ecuador 2-0 at Mexico City Stadium (aka Estadio Azteca). The victory — Mexico’s first in a World Cup knockout match since 1986 — sparked boisterous celebrations across Mexico, including in the vicinity of Mexico City’s Angel of Independence monument, where around 1 million people are said to have gathered.

Sheinbaum watched the match with Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada at a fan festival in the borough of Azcapotzalco.

President Sheinbaum and Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada watched Tuesday's match with neighbors of Azcapotzalco in the northwest part of the capital.
President Sheinbaum and Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada watched Tuesday’s match with neighbors of Azcapotzalco in the northwest part of the capital. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

At today’s mañanera, the president celebrated the victory, but also acknowledged that the celebrations in Mexico City turned fatal, with three people dying due to suffocation amid the huge crowds.

Despite that tragedy, Sheinbaum said that “the happiness of the people of Mexico today is very great.”

Also of note at today’s mañanera were the president’s remarks about how the World Cup in Mexico — and especially the happiness of celebrating Mexicans — will help attract more foreign tourists to the country.

Sheinbaum congratulates El Tri 

Sheinbaum presented a video showing celebrations in different parts of Mexico during and after El Tri’s match against Ecuador, nicknamed “La Tri.” Among the places featured were the Mexico City Zócalo — site of the official FIFA Fan Festival, Glorieta La Minerva in Guadalajara and the port city of Veracruz.

After the video played, Sheinbaum congratulated “la selección” before applauding the team.

On social media on Tuesday night, the president wrote:

“They played with heart, with soul and with pride. Today our team gave us unforgettable happiness and showed that we must never stop believing in Mexico. Thank you for defending our colors with passion and for making an entire country celebrate together. May the cry of goal continue ringing loud! ¡Viva México!”

Sheinbaum read out her post at this morning’s press conference.

She also said that the Mexican team “gave it their all” on the pitch, displaying “exceptional professionalism.”

“[The victory] is a source of pride for all Mexicans,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum laments death of 3 people during post-match celebrations 

At the start of her press conference, Sheinbaum told reporters she was hoarse from yelling “goal!” during Tuesday night’s match.

She subsequently expressed the federal government’s “solidarity” with the families of three people who died of suffocation during post-match celebrations in the vicinity of the Angel of Independence, a monument on Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma. The victims, a 44-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman and a 48-year-old woman, were apparently killed in crowd crushes. The Mexico City Health Ministry reported the deaths.

Sheinbaum said that Mayor Brugada had been in contact with the victims’ families. She also said she had instructed Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez to provide “all necessary support.”

Later in the press conference, Sheinbaum said that the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office has to review “exactly what happened” during the celebrations near the Angel of Independence.

“We’re going to look at exactly what happened and see if some preventative actions are needed for Sunday,” she said.

At Mexico City Stadium on Sunday, Mexico will play the winner of Wednesday’s round of 32 match between England and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sheinbaum: All foreigners who came to Mexico for the World Cup will return

Sheinbaum asserted that all the foreign tourists who have come to Mexico for the World Cup will return to the country. She has noted on several occasions that World Cup visitors have been warmly welcomed by Mexicans, and claims that the World Cup atmosphere — including post-match celebrations — is better in Mexico than in the United States or Canada.

On Wednesday morning, Sheinbaum said that foreigners who have visited Mexico during the World Cup will talk to their friends and family about their experience in Mexico and what Mexican people are like.

“That part is very important [for tourism promotion], as is the international promotion [showing] how the World Cup is experienced” in Mexico, she said.

“… They said that Mexico was nothing but violence,” Sheinbaum said.

“Nobody imagined they were going to arrive in Mexico City, Monterrey or Guadalajara and there was going to be the jubilation there is,” she said.

“… What is happening in Mexico is the best [tourism] campaign. … And who did it? The people, the people did it. The happy, hospitable people [of Mexico].”

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

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