What’s on in the Riviera Maya in February?

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January 31, 2025

2024 Cozumel Carnival King Tonio Marrufo on stage — (Gobierno de Cozumel)

It’s Carnaval! Glitz and glamour are the highlight of February throughout the Riviera Maya region this month. Don’t be surprised if you find feathers and sequins in the streets as the festivities begin on Feb. 1, building up to the big parades beginning at the end of the month and early March. Cozumel has the region’s oldest Carnaval tradition, at over 150 years, but you’ll find festivities and dancing in the streets in Mérida, Cancún and Playa del Carmen as well.

Also this February you’ll find fantastic fun activities like singles nights, axe throwing, big gamefish fishing tournaments, comedy nights and more.

Cozumel’s Great Carnival Ball

Kicking off the 2025 Carnival fun is the Great Carnaval Ball. Announcing the candidates for King and Queen of Carnival 2025 and the farewell of last year’s Carnival monarchs. Six days of music, dance and creative competition at the end of the month are led up to by weeks of preparations, starting with candidate nominations on Feb. 1 and 2. Although the King and Queen are chosen earlier, throughout the rest of the month and Diversity and Youth monarch titles are up for grabs.

Official dates for Carnival are Feb. 26 to March 5, with the long-awaited float rides on the boardwalk on March 1, 2 and 4. Until then, each week there is a fun free event to see.

Date: Events run throughout February
Location: Quintana Roo Park, Cozumel
Cost: Free

Ladies’ night for axe throwing in Cozumel

With Splinters Axe House, Cozumel officially has its first axe-throwing venue. To welcome the ladies they’re starting Ladies Night with a free cocktail and first half hour of axe throwing for free each Wednesday. If you’ve never tried, it’s easier than you think and quite therapeutic.

Date: Feb. 5
Location: Splinters Axe House, Calle 5 bt/w Av. Rafael Melgar and 5 Av. Sur, Cozumel Centro
Cost: Free drink, free first half hour, 400 pesos afterwards

‘90s and 2000s singles night in Puerto Morelos

Bust a move and go crazy on the dance floor at this singles’ night event. Sip welcome cocktails or mocktails, dance to rad music of the 1990s and 2000s and don’t forget to dress to impress: you might win Best Dressed. There are raffle prizes, good grub, beverages and a chance to show off your best dance moves.

Date: Feb. 8
Location: Taberna Bar & Restaurant, Puerto Morelos
Cost: Presale available, 600 pesos at the door

Super Bowl watch party in Playa del Carmen

All-you-can-eat food stations with the best Super Bowl grub like hamburgers, hot dogs, wings and barbecue ribs. Add a premium open bar and you have the way to watch the Super Bowl on a giant screen in style. Guest DJs will provide musical entertainment.

Date: Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.
Location: The Fives Rooftop, 10 Avenida Nte., Centro, Playa del Carmen
Cost: 1,200 pesos

Island Time Fishing Tournament on Isla Mujeres

Every die-hard fisherman’s dream. Not just a fishing tournament, Island Time bills itself as “a catch-and-release sailfish showdown that boasts some of the most coveted trophies around.” The rich waters surrounding Isla Mujeres hold a wealth of game fish that has skippers setting their compasses and sails for the three-day competition. Coinciding with the Island Time Music Festival, each entrant lands four VIP passes to enjoy days on the water. Proceeds from registration fees go towards helping the special needs children of Little Yellow School House.

Date: Feb. 12-15
Location: Isla Mujeres. Captains meet at Blue Ballyhoo.
Cost: US $1,500 per boat

Valentine’s Day sunset sail

The perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day, Cancún Sunset Cruise always fills up fast for Feb. 14. With Sailing options around Cancún and the Riviera Maya, cruise the stunning crystal clear waters while enjoying a fully stocked open bar and a variety of gourmet appetizers. A relaxing deckside ambiance adds to the romance of a Caribbean sunset. Score a 30% discount booking seven days in advance.

Date: Feb. 14
Location: Cancún and the Riviera Maya, round trip transport from most hotels
Cost: US $109, or $76.30 if booked a week in advance

Ajeet in Tulum

Ajeet - Alive feat. Peia & Nessi Gomes (Official Music Video)

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World music artist Ajeet weaves inspiration from traditional folk to produce mystical and meditative soundscapes. Many experience Ajeet’s music as healing, a place of deep connection. This night is set to be the night of the season, if not the year.

Date: Feb. 14, 6 to 9 p.m.
Location: IKAL ARENA Hotel, Tulum
Cost: 777 pesos

MEL Artist Studio Tour in Mérida

Enjoy a leisurely tour of the studios of Mérida’s best artists through the Mérida English Library. Shining a spotlight on local, national and international artists who live in and call Mérida home. So popular, it’s in its 12th year and for three days only, these artists throw open their doors for you to visit their studios. A sneak peek into the hidden world otherwise only seen in galleries and museums around the globe.

Date: Feb. 14, 15 and 16
Location: Various locations in Mérida
Cost: Tickets go on sale Feb. 1 at the Mérida English Library online shop

ZoukMX 2025

Mixing the ultimate beach vacation and dance party rolled into one, ZoukMX is so popular they’re in their tenth year. Grab your partner and sway those hips with the Lambadas’ evolution into Zouk dancing. If you don’t know how, don’t worry: you’ll learn over the seven days of this event’s run. With training and socials events, there’s cenote parties, jungles parties, rooftop dances and top DJs from around the world.

Date: Feb.18 at 7 a.m. to Feb. 24 at 11 p.m.
Location: Quinta Avenida, Playa del Carmen
Cost: Tickets range from US $94.08 with an early bird discount – up to $311 US.

“Garage Comedy: The Sequel” in Cozumel

A night of laughter and side-splitting fun, starting with headliner Cedric Newman, of “Traitors” and “Amazing Race Canada” fame. Last year’s event was so much fun they’re doing it again. Book your table ahead to enjoy a meal with your giggle fits, or take your chances at the door. It’s first come, first served.

Date: Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
Location: Buzos, Calle 26 Norte, Gonzalo Guerrero, Playa del Carmen
Cost: 200 pesos

Bel Woodhouse, Mexico Correspondent for International Living, is an experienced writer, author, photographer and videographer with more than 500 articles published both in print and across digital platforms. Having lived in the Mexican Caribbean for over seven years now, she’s in love with Mexico and has no plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

To tame its ‘taxi mafia,’ Quintana Roo approves stricter penalties on transportation-related assault

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MND Staff

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January 31, 2025

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Taxis parked by the road in Quintana Roo, where the legislature has recently increased penalties for transit-related violence and extortion — Taxi drivers in Quintana Roo have developed an unfortunate reputation for extortionary pricing and violence against drivers for competing services like Uber. (Shutterstock)

The Quintana Roo state Congress has taken steps to address concerns about violence and extortion involving taxi drivers, stiffening penalties for such crimes and allowing the authorities to open investigations without formal complaints being filed.

In a special session convened specifically for this issue, lawmakers on Wednesday passed amendments to the state’s penal code and transportation law.

Governor Mara Lezama praised the legislators for their action, the news site Infobae reported. “We had to establish order,” she said, telling reporters that nobody should be able to prevent people from utilizing the transportation of their choice.

Penalties for assaults involving transportation and public byways now include the cancelation of licenses, permits and concessions. Sentences for murder and assault involving public or private transportation were also increased.

Quintana Roo — home to popular tourist resorts such as Cancún and Playa del Carmen, as well as the islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres — has seen a rise in violence involving taxi drivers who have been targeting ride-sharing companies.

Scenes of taxi drivers assaulting drivers and vehicles have not been uncommon, according to the Reforma newspaper, prompting fears that tourism will be impacted.

Penalties for assaults involving transportation and public byways now include the cancelation of licenses, permits and concessions. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)

In November, taxi drivers vandalized a rental car in the parking lot of Xcaret Park, mistakenly believing it was an Uber. Investigators later noticed a bullet hole in the vehicle’s carriage.

The state Congress convened their session three weeks after a popular YouTuber complained about exorbitant taxi fares in Cancún, saying he was charged 2,000 pesos (US $96) for a 20-minute taxi ride from the Cancún International Airport to the Hotel Zone in early January, the Diario de Yucatán newspaper reported.

At the time, according to the newspaper Riviera Maya News, state officials initially side-stepped the issue by saying that taxi fares at the airport are regulated by the federal government.

“[The Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation Ministry] is the one who rules there,” Government Minister Cristina Torres said on Jan. 6, insisting state authorities do not have the authority to intervene. “However, we have taken up this complaint … and will be requesting greater transparency and greater control in the application of these rates.”

Unfortunately for Quintana Roo, the traveler in question was internet influencer Luisito Comunica, whose YouTube channel boasts nearly 44 million subscribers, third among all Mexican YouTubers. He posted a video on social media and it quickly went viral.

“I am impressed by the taxi mafia there,” he said. “For a 20-minute ride, they charged me 2,000 pesos. … This needs a lot of regulation. This is what a taxi in New York charges from the airport to Manhattan for a ride of more than an hour … and after stealing 2,000 pesos from you, they still have the nerve to ask for a tip … they are rats!”

Luisito Comunica added that the taxi companies force passengers to pay in cash but no receipt is provided.

In April last year, a Canadian traveler reported being charged a taxi fare of US $1,000 for a ride between terminals at the Cancún airport. When the tourist complained, the driver tried to drive off with his luggage.

In that instance, the government intervened. The Montreal native had his credit card refunded and the taxi driver was arrested.

On Dec. 29, 2024, Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama said her administration was working to address airport transportation complaints, including the rates being charged to travelers.

State Tourism Minister Bernardo Cueto said irregular transportation companies have been operating at the airport for several years, their presence “tolerated” by the airport management company.

He says those irregular companies will no longer be allowed to operate out of Cancún International Airport.

On Jan. 8, the Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association urged the federal government to take greater control of the situation by assigning a larger National Guard contingent to the airport.

With reports from El Economista, Riviera Maya News, Reforma and Diario de Yucatán

Trump administration: Tariffs on Mexico and Canada will go into effect Saturday

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MND Staff

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January 31, 2025

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U.S. President Trump speaks at a podium in front of an American flag — Though some U.S. officials said there would be more time for Mexico and Canada to negotiate before the import duties went into effect, the White House press secretary said otherwise in a statement on Friday. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

United States President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is going ahead with his plan to impose 25% tariffs on exports to the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, and the White House press secretary confirmed on Friday they would take effect this Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that that the tariff announcement was coming on Saturday.

Trump confirms Canada tariffs come into effect Saturday, “may not” include oil

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On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the tariffs would be implemented, as planned, on Saturday Feb. 1.

“I was just with the president in the Oval Office and I can confirm that … the president will be implementing tomorrow 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” she said.

Leavitt said that a Reuters report stating that the tariffs wouldn’t be implemented until March 1 was “false.”

She said she didn’t have any information about products that would be exempt from the tariffs.

“I don’t have an update or readout for you on the exemptions but those tariffs will be for public consumption in about 24 hours tomorrow so you can read them then,” Leavitt said.

On Thursday, Trump said “we’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons.”

“Number one is the people that have poured into our country so horribly and so much,” he said in reference to migrants that have entered the United States via its southern and northern borders.

“Number two are the drugs, fentanyl and everything else, that have come into the country and number three are the massive subsidies that we’re giving to Canada and to Mexico in the form of [trade] deficits,” Trump said.

Signing ceremony for the USMCA in 2018 — President Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau of Canada and former President Enrique Peña Nieto signed the USMCA trade deal in 2018. (Wikimedia Commons)

“I’ll be putting the tariff of 25% on Canada and separately 25% on Mexico and we will really have to do that because we have very big deficits with those countries. Those tariffs may or may not rise with time,” he said.

Trump said on Friday afternoon that there was “nothing” Mexico, Canada and China could do on Friday night to forestall the implementation of the tariffs on Saturday.

“Not right now,” he said, telling reporters that his tariff threat wasn’t a negotiating tool.

“It’s a pure economic [decision],” he said.

Trump said on Thursday that Mexico and Canada — the United States’ USMCA free trade partners — “have never been good to us on trade.”

The economies of Mexico, the United States and Canada are highly integrated, but the U.S. president said that the U.S. doesn’t need “the products that they have.”

“We have all the oil you need. We have all the the trees you need, meaning the lumber,” Trump said.

With regard to oil from Mexico and Canada, he said that the United States “may or may not” impose tariffs.

“It depends on what their price is — if the oil is properly priced, if they treat us properly, which they don’t,” Trump said.

Trump nominee Howard Lutnick discusses tariffs at the World Economic Forum — U.S. commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said Wednesday that U.S. trade partners would have more time to negotiate the tariffs. (World Economic Forum/Flickr)

He said on his first day in office that his administration could impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Feb. 1, but the Mexican government remained confident that he wouldn’t act on his threat.

Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump intended to go ahead with his tariff plan, but Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said Wednesday that Mexico and Canada could avoid blanket 25% tariffs on their exports if they acted quickly to stop the flow of fentanyl to the U.S.

“As far as I know, they are acting swiftly, and if they execute it, there will be no tariff. And if they don’t, there will be,” Lutnick said.

Trump, based on his comments on Thursday and Leavitt’s remarks on Friday, is not yet satisfied with the efforts made by Mexico and Canada, even though Mexican authorities regularly make large drug busts and the number of migrants crossing into the U.S. between official ports of entry has declined significantly in recent months.

‘We have plan A, plan B, plan C,’ says Sheinbaum

Speaking at her morning press conference on Friday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government is prepared for whatever decision the Trump administration takes with regard to tariffs.

“We have plan A, plan B, plan C for whatever the United States government decides,” she said.

“… We’re going to wait with a cool head, as I have always said,” Sheinbaum said, adding that her government would maintain dialogue with its U.S. counterpart.

#EnLaMañanera | “Tenemos Plan A, Plan B y Plan C para lo que decida el Gobierno de #EU; siempre vamos a defender la dignidad de #México”: la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum responde a posibles aranceles de 25% que prometió imponer Trump a partir del 1 de febrero pic.twitter.com/gqsuZZPOI3

— El Financiero (@ElFinanciero_Mx) January 31, 2025

Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard reiterated that tariffs on Mexican exports would have an adverse impact on consumers in the United States.

“You have to take into account … that Mexico is the main exporter [to the United States] of final goods such as cars, computers, televisions and refrigerators,” he told Sheinbaum’s press conference.

“… United States consumers would be affected” by the tariffs, Ebrard said.

“In first place because prices will be higher. The price of all those products will rise 25%,” he said.

Ebrard also said that a 25% tariff on Mexican exports would diminish the availability of Mexican-made (or grown) products in the United States, and that the duty could cause supply chain problems in a range of sectors including the auto industry.

The “main impact,” he stressed, is that “millions of families in the United States will have to pay 25% more” for a wide range of products including Mexican fruit, vegetables, meat and beer.

Economy Minister Ebrard explains the impact Trump tariffs would have on U.S. families at Sheinbaum's morning press conference — (Presidencia)

After Trump pledged in November to implement a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian exports, Ebrard said that the United States would be shooting itself in the foot if the plan eventuated.

The economy minister said on Nov. 27 that 400,000 jobs would be lost in the United States if the 25% tariff was imposed on Mexican exports. He stressed that Trump’s proposed tariff would affect companies in the United States that operate in Mexico, particularly automakers that have long had a manufacturing presence here such as General Motors, Stellantis and Ford. On Friday, Ebrard stood by his previous remarks.

The imposition of blanket 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian exports to the United States would violate the terms of the USMCA, but Trump appears unconcerned about that.

The U.S. president — who issued an “America First Trade Policy” memorandum on his first day as president that laid the groundwork for his proposed tariffs — also appears unconcerned about the impact of the duties on U.S. consumers, even though he has pledged to make life more affordable.

Mexico News Daily

‘Goddesses, warriors and governors’: Exhibition on power of women in ancient Huastec society opens in Torreón

By

MND Staff

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January 31, 2025

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Clay figures of women in a museum display case — The Huastec were famously excellent ceramicists, and the power of women in their society can be seen in many centuries-old statues and figurines. (CNME INAH)

In pre-Columbian times, Huastec women living along the Gulf Coast were influential members of their society, holding significant roles in politics and other realms of public life. Now, a new exhibition coming to Torreón, Coahuila, is showcasing that power thanks to a collaboration with Chicago’s National Museum of Mexican Art.

Dubbed “Mesoamerican Huastec Women: Goddesses, Warriors, and Governors,” the exhibition examines 132 archeological objects through iconographic and symbolic analysis, showing women’s positions and influence within the social structure of their time.

A poster for an archaeological exhibition on women in Huastec society — The show will open Feb. 2 in Torreón. (CNME INAH)

This exhibition is the result of a bilateral collaboration between the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago (MNAMC) in the United States, that stemmed from the discovery of two sculptures of “La Joven de Amajac” (The Young Woman of Amajac) in Veracruz. One of the statues was unearthed in a citrus grove in 2021 while the other one was discovered below a street in 2023, in Hidalgo Amajac.

The project aims to explore the role of women in Mexican society over time.

The exhibition, led by museographer David Morales Gómez and INAH researcher María Eugenia Maldonado Vite, seeks to make visible the political, military, religious, social and family role of women in the Huastec culture before the Spanish colonization.

The 132 pieces in exhibition were recovered from excavations along the Gulf of Mexico and in the states of Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz. These findings showcase the remarkable skills of jewelers and potters, who skillfully captured, shaped, and embodied the role of women in the public and private spheres.

A map showing Mexico's La Huasteca region — The region of La Huasteca, shown in pink, is located along Mexico’s Gulf Coast, and includes parts of Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Hidalgo, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí. (Raxerios/CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Huastec (or Téenek) culture flourished in the modern-day states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosí. They were the only group whose language was of Mayan affiliation despite not belonging to this region, and were renowned asexcellent potters, a reputation confirmed by the numerous clay vessels they made.

Before opening in Torreón, the exposition was shown in Chicago from April 26 to July 21 last year. It drew 22,661 visitors who learned about female roles and representations through pieces such as jewelry, pectorals, clay figurines, vases and large-format sculptures dating from the Preclassic to the Postclassic periods (1500 B.C.- A.D. 1521).

While in Chicago, the exhibition made headlines for the display of a rare relic of a female ballplayer — the first life-size representation of a ritual ballplayer found to date in the Huasteca region. It is also the first representation of a female ballplayer and the first at this scale holding a decapitated head.

The statue is expected to be part of the Coahuila exhibition, which will open Feb. 2 at the Regional Museum of La Laguna in Torreón.

The exhibition will open on Feb. 2 at the Regional Museum of La Laguna in Torreón.

With reports from Milenio and The New York Times

Trump has sent over 6,000 US deportees to Mexico: Thursday’s mañanera recapped

By

MND Staff

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January 30, 2025

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Mexican soldier in a military chef's uniform standing in an industrial kitchen with his hands folded in front of him. In the room are several others dressed just like him, waiting for people to arrive. — A soldier in Baja California waits to serve food for people deported from the U.S. to Mexico. (Luis Bautista/Cuartoscuro)

The arrival of deportees in Mexico since U.S. President Donald Trump took office last week and the midair collision between a plane and a helicopter in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night were among the issues President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Thursday morning press conference.

She also commented briefly on the case of a well-known social media content creator who was convicted of attempted femicide and sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence on Wednesday.

President Claudia Sheinbaum fielded questions from reporters about mass deportations from the U.S., a social media influencer convicted of murder and more at Thursday’s daily press conference. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez)

More than 6,000 deportees have arrived in Mexico; 2 said their human rights were violated

Sheinbaum said that 5,282 people were deported to Mexico from the United States between Jan. 20 and 26 — the first seven days of the second Trump administration.

The number is higher than the 4,094 deportees she cited for the same period when speaking to reporters on Monday.

Sheinbaum said that an additional 527 people were deported to Mexico on Monday, Jan. 27, and that 435 deportees arrived on Tuesday.

All told, 6,244 people were deported to Mexico from the United States between Jan. 20 and Jan. 28, according to the figures cited by the president. About three-quarters of that number are Mexican.

Sheinbaum said that deportees are interviewed by Mexican authorities when they arrive “to find out whether their human rights were violated” after they were detained in the U.S.

Group of male migrants sitting on a bus, many with COVID-style masks on their faces. — Migrants being taken to an attention center after being deported by the U.S. to Tijuana on Monday. (Luis Bautista/Cuartoscuro)

“We have two cases: one of a Guatemalan woman and another of a compatriot,” she said.

Sheinbaum declined to specify the nature of their complaints but told reporters that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would report the cases to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Before he took office, Trump pledged to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Last week, the Mexican government unveiled a support plan for deportees called “México te abraza” (Mexico embraces you).

‘Zero impunity for femicide’

A reporter asked Sheinbaum about the case of Rodolfo “Fofo” Márquez, a social media influencer who was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for attempted femicide after he attacked a 52-year-old woman in a parking lot in Naucalpan, México state, in early 2024.

The attack occurred after the woman accidentally hit the side mirror of Márquez’s vehicle with the side mirror of her own car. Video footage showed the 27-year-old influencer punching and kicking his victim.

Sheinbaum made her view on violence against women very clear.

“Zero impunity for femicide, zero impunity,” she said.

“… Any death due to violence is terrible, but femicide is classified as ‘a violent death due to the sole fact of being a woman.’ So zero impunity for femicide,” Sheinbaum said.

President Claudia Sheinbaum at the presidential podium during a press conference. — Sheinbaum also briefly addressed the topic of femicide. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)

Sheinbaum comments on Washington D.C. plane crash

Sheinbaum described Wednesday’s fatal crash between an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 plane and a United States Army Black Hawk helicopter as “very terrible.”

“Our solidarity with the families who lost a loved one and the people who died,” she said.

A total of 67 people — 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines flight and three soldiers on board the helicopter — were killed, according to authorities in the United States.

The collision was the deadliest air crash in the United States since 2021, the Associated Press reported.

Mexico’s worst-ever aviation disaster was the crash of a Mexicana de Aviación flight in Michoacán in March 1986. All 167 passengers and crew onboard the Boeing 727-200 plane were killed.

In July 2018, Aeroméxico Connect flight 2431 crashed shortly after taking off from the Durango International Airport, but all 103 people onboard the Embraer plane survived.

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

Mexico’s space agency chief quits amid closure rumors

By

MND Staff

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January 30, 2025

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Colmena project - Gov of Mexico — The Mexican Space Agency has typically collaborated with other countries to implement its missions. (Government of Mexico)

A day after it was revealed that the director of the Mexican Space Agency (AEM) had submitted his resignation, President Claudia Sheinbaum dismissed rumors that she was shuttering the agency and invited Dr. Salvador Landeros to stay on.

El Universal newspaper reported Wednesday that Landeros had quit his post as AEM chief, explaining in a Jan. 24 resignation letter that he objected to “the government’s failure to give the agency the attention it deserves, both as regards budget and management.”

Dr. Salvador Landeros, head of the Mexican Space Agency. A middle-aged Mexican man wearing a suit and tie and posing for a publicity photo. He is wearing wire-rimmed glasses and smiling. — Dr. Salvador Landeros was picked by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to lead the Mexican Space Agency in 2019. A pioneer in the field, he was responsible for sending Mexico’s first generation of telecommunications satellites into orbit in 1985. (Government of Mexico)

Landeros also said that his complaints to the Digital Transformation and Telecoms Agency (ATDT) fell on deaf ears.

“I was told that [AEM] would disappear,” he wrote, “which I consider unfortunate considering all the work it took to create it.”

During her morning press conference on Thursday, Sheinbaum insisted it was all a misunderstanding, saying that the AEM was being folded into the MexSat program, Mexico’s satellite system.

“It’s not disappearing, it is being strengthened,” she said, explaining that the confusion was likely caused by the proposal of a name change for the new agency.

ATDT director José Merino was on hand to provide more details about the proposed merger.

“We have no intention of weakening the AEM,” Merino said, according to Expansión. “Instead, we are merging the two agencies to promote the president’s satellite project and boost ties with academia and [universities] … so as to enhance growth with regard to Mexico’s design capabilities and technology transfer.”

Head of Mexico's Digital Transformation Agency standing at the presidential podium of Mexico, with President Claudia Sheinbaum standing nearby behind him, at a press conferencr at the National Palace. Merino's mouth is puckered and his eyes are wide. Sheinbaum is unsmiling as she looks out at the audience while Merino speaks — José Merino, head of Mexico’s Digital Transformation Agency, disputed Landeros’ suspicions that the Mexican Space Agency would be rendered redundant amid a merger with MexSat, the nation’s satellite system. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)

Neither Merino nor Sheinbaum addressed Landeros’ concerns about AEM’s budget, however.

The AEM saw its budget shrink considerably during the Andrés Manuel López Obrador administration.

In 2019, López Obrador’s first year in office, the AEM budget sat at 125.2 million pesos (US $6.1 million). Four years later, the annual budget had shrunk to 69.5 million pesos (US $3.4 million).

An audit carried out by the federal comptroller’s office (ASF) in 2022 noted that the failure to fund the AEM adequately was a risky proposition.

The ASF found that “[T]he limited regulatory, organizational and budgetary structure [at AEM] … not only puts the institutional objectives at risk but also hinders the consolidation and invigoration of the space program.”

Although AEM funding has held steady the past two years (73 million pesos in 2024 and 70 million pesos in this year’s budget), the agency has largely been an afterthought since Sheinbaum took office last October.

The last time Sheinbaum mentioned the AEM, according to El Universal, was on Nov. 27, when she said Mexico would lead a Latin American space mission in 2027.

Astronaut Katya Echazarreta is expected to participate in the proposed mission, which is to include the launch of the first 100% Mexican telecommunications satellite to be developed through a partnership between the government, academic institutions and the private sector.

However, the last press release issued by AEM was published more than a month ago, and the agency’s social media account has since only been reposting about Sheinbaum’s presidential press conferences.

Although Merino and Sheinbaum called on Landeros to stay on the job, Sheinbaum also said that Landeros would be welcome to participate as an external consultant.

With reports from El Universal, Expansión and Latinus

Mexican Olympic boxer Marco Verde goes pro

By

MND Staff

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January 30, 2025

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Verde turned heads at the 2024 Olympics when the middleweight took home Mexico's first silver medal in boxing since 1984. (Marco Alonso Verde/Facebook)

Mexican boxing has a new rising star as Olympic silver medalist Marco Verde has officially transitioned to the professional ranks.

The 22-year-old native of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, made the announcement Wednesday following months of speculation about his future after captivating Mexico in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Boxer Marco Verde looking upward to the ceiling in his 2024 Olympic boxing uniform and his boxing gloves on, posing in front of the Mexican flag with an older man in a 2024 Olympics shirt — By going pro, Verde is setting his sights on a world title in the middleweight division. (Marco Verde/Facebook)

Verde reportedly will make his professional debut in May on the same card as super-middleweight champion Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, who is in talks for a title defense against International Boxing Federation super-middleweight champion William Scull, probably on the weekend right before Cinco de Mayo, which falls on a Monday this year.

Having compiled an amateur record of 43 wins and 7 losses, including 15 victories by knockout, Verde is now setting his sights on a world title in the middleweight division, which has a weight limit of 72.57 kilograms (160 pounds). His first pro opponent has yet to be determined.

“Ready for this new beginning. Amateur boxing is over, professional boxing is starting. I have always been told that I have what it takes,” Verde, who will turn 23 on Feb. 11, said during his press conference.

“There were beautiful moments as an amateur in the Central American and Pan American Games. But when I got on the podium in Paris, I felt that cycle was over,” said Verde in the company of manager Eddy Reynoso, who has managed Álvarez for years.

Verde, whose full name is Marco Alonso Verde Álvarez, won the gold medal in the 71 kg category at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, and took home a silver medal in the 67 kg category at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

His route to the silver medal made him a national hero at home, as no Mexican boxer had won anything beyond a bronze medal in the Olympics since Héctor López’s silver in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Overall, Mexico has won 14 medals in Olympic boxing — including two golds and four silver — the country’s second most, behind diving, in any single Olympic event.

Verde’s manager thinks the sky is the limit for the 22-year-old Mazatlan native.

In the gold-medal bout in Paris, the left-handed Verde lost a unanimous decision to Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev. In the semifinals, he beat Great Britain’s Lewis Richardson in a 3-2 split decision by the five judges.

Verde now joins a pantheon of professional Mexican boxers that has produced more world champions than any country besides the United States. His manager, for one, thinks the sky is the limit.

“He was already an Olympic medalist,” Reynoso said of Verde. “I have no doubt that if he stays disciplined and does things well, he will become a champion and a boxing star.”

Unlike Álvarez, whom Reynoso both manages and trains, Verde will continue to train with his longtime coach, Radamés Hernández, with Reynoso handling his career management.

Verde is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Mexican greats who have transitioned successfully from Olympic to professional boxing. This list includes Alfonso Zamora, a silver medalist in the 1972 Munich Olympics who went on to win a world bantamweight title, and López, a silver medalist at age 17 in 1984 who later was good enough to box in three world title bouts (losing each time).

Whether he can join the list of all-time Mexican greats that includes Álvarez, Julio César Chávez, Carlos “Cañitas” Zarate, Ricardo “Finito” López and Érik “El Terrible” Morales remains to be seen.

As for Verde’s yet-to-be-determined foe in May, Reynoso said, “We’re going to look for a good opponent according to his level. He’s already faced the best in the world as an amateur, so we want to test him in the professional arena.”

That means moving from the fast-paced, three-round format of amateur boxing to professional bouts ranging from four to 12 rounds.

“I need to calm down a bit,” Verde said. “I’m used to intense three-round fights, but now I have to be smarter, win round by round, and not rush it.”

With reports from Infobae and Excélsior

NOTE: This article originally misstated that Marco Verde is scheduled to fight boxing champion Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez.

Mexico’s economy shrank in late 2024

By

MND Staff

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January 30, 2025

4

A close-up of a tattered Mexico flag waving in the sky — Economic contraction at the end of 2024 puts Mexico on the verge of recession, according to Banco Base's lead economic analyst. (Cuartoscuro)

The Mexican economy contracted on a sequential basis for the first time in more than three years in the final quarter of 2024, according to preliminary data from national statistics agency INEGI.

Mexico’s GDP shrank 0.6% in the October-December quarter compared to the previous three-month period, INEGI reported on Thursday.

The quarter-over-quarter contraction was the first since the July-September quarter of 2021, and larger than the 0.2% economic decline forecast by economists surveyed by Reuters.

INEGI’s data showed that Mexico’s primary sector (agriculture, fishing and mining) contracted 8.9% between October and December compared to the previous quarter. The secondary or manufacturing sector also contracted, declining 1.2% compared to Q3, while the tertiary or services sector grew 0.2% on a sequential basis.

Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Mexican bank Banco Base, said on X that the 0.6% quarter-over-quarter contraction “places Mexico on the verge of a recession.”

Andrés Abadía, chief Latin America economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, described the latest economic data as “terrible,” saying that it was “consistent with the overall story of slowing growth as the effect of tighter financial conditions hits harder and external conditions become less friendly.”

A tweet by economist Gaby Siller about Mexico's 2024 economic contraction — (Gabriela Siller Pagaza/X)

The new Mexican government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum was in office for the entire final quarter of 2024, having taken office on Oct. 1.

Annual growth in 2024 was well below 2%

INEGI’s data showed that the Mexican economy grew 0.6% on an annual basis in the final quarter of 2024, the slowest pace of annual growth since the first quarter of 2021 and well below the 1.2% consensus forecast of economists polled by Reuters.

Annual growth for 2024 as a whole was 1.5% in real terms and 1.3% in seasonally adjusted terms, INEGI said.

Growth slowed significantly compared to the annual rate of 3.2% in 2023. Mexico’s annual GDP expansion in 2024 was also well below the 2.8% growth rate of the United States economy.

A miner in a hard hat looks over a landscape including a mine — Both in Q4 and annually, losses in primary sector industries like mining and agriculture dragged down Mexico’s economy. (Demian Chávez/Cuartoscuro)

In real terms, the primary sector contracted 2.5% annually in 2024, while the secondary and tertiary sectors grew 0.3% and 2.3%, respectively.

Mexico’s economic growth is forecast to be weak in 2025 as well. The World Bank sees the Mexican economy growing by 1.5% in 2025, while some other organizations and analysts are forecasting an even weaker expansion this year.

Other need-to-know economic data

The Mexican peso was trading at 20.71 to the US dollar at 3:30 p.m. Mexico City time.
The Bank of Mexico’s benchmark interest rate is currently set at 10% after five cuts in 2024. The central bank’s board will hold its next monetary policy meeting on Feb. 6 and is widely expected to vote in favor of an additional cut, especially given the weak GDP data and an improving inflationary situation.
Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate was 3.69% in the first half of January, its lowest level in almost four years.
The value of Mexico’s exports hit a record high in 2024, increasing 4.1% annually to more than US $617 billion.

With reports from El Economista and Reuters

Sheinbaum sends Congress implementation plan for energy reform

By

MND Staff

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January 30, 2025

2

President Sheinbaum has submitted six bills to Congress that would cover how an energy reform law Congress passed in October would be implemented. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro)

Mexico is poised to reshape local energy markets with a reform that prioritizes state control of the sector and reduces the role played by private companies.

President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday submitted six bills to Congress that would allow for public-private electricity generation projects, but only when the state holds a majority stake.

Mexico's former president Enrique Pena Nieto signing a document at a table with the official seal of Mexico in front. He is surrounded by other Mexican politicians and a member of the military. Behind him is a sign saying Reforma Energetica. — Sheinbaum’s proposals pull back on reforms to the Energy Law put in place by Peña Nieto, center, in 2013. His reforms made it easier for foreign energy companies to operate in Mexico. (Emiliano Ruval/Cuartoscuro)

Upon unveiling the proposal, Sheinbaum said the proposal would strengthen both the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the state-owned petroleum corporation Pemex, making them more efficient and transparent.

The legislation establishes that at least 54% of all electricity supplied to the national grid must be provided by the CFE, according to the news agency Reuters.

The proposal is part of the enabling legislation to an energy reform passed by ruling party lawmakers last year.

In October, Sheinbaum and her ruling Morena party approved sweeping changes to the country’s electricity and hydrocarbons industries by reclassifying state-owned enterprises Pemex and CFE from productive to public companies. It also allows the two companies to operate as monopolies since they are seen by the new law as operating for the social good.

Permits and contracts already authorized under current law would remain valid until they expire.

According to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), market sources say the latest change reflects a partial reversal of the energy reform implemented in 2013 by then-President Enrique Peña Nieto, who touted it as fostering greater competition between private and state-owned energy companies.

Sheinbaum went further, calling the new legislation transcendent and historic.

Claudia Sheinbaum standing at the presidential podium in Mexico's National Palace during a press briefing. She's in the middle of speaking to reporters with one closed hand resting on the podium. She's wearing a beige and white blazer and a white turtleneck and her hair is in a ponytail — Sheinbaum said Thursday that the reforms “reclaim the public essence” of the Federal Electricity Commission and Pemex as guarantors of energy provision to Mexico’s people. (Galo Cañas Rodríguez/Cuartoscuro)

“It is indeed a reversal of Peña Nieto’s 2013 reform, whose objective was to privatize,” she said. “In fact, it is also a reversal of the 1992 reforms so as to reclaim the public essence of the CFE and Pemex as guarantors of energy provision as well as defending national sovereignty.”

The proposal reflects the policies promoted by Sheinbaum’s predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who sought to restore state control over energy.

Sheinbaum, who took office on Oct. 1, has pledged continuity with López Obrador’s policy preferences and has argued that national sovereignty requires the CFE to serve as the power sector’s main driver.

Both López Obrador and Sheinbaum have insisted the CFE is better positioned to provide services to the population than profit-maximizing private companies.

The energy reform bill’s text enshrines the CFE’s role as system guarantor while ordering the power system to operate under conditions that ensure reliability, Reuters reported.

Some of the bill’s elements, however, appear to go beyond Lopez Obrador’s unconditional defense of oil and gas and his oft-stated skepticism of green power. Sheinbaum — a trained physicist who studied energy engineering and climate change — has frequently said she favors more renewable energy, although she’s been vague on specifics.

Reuters reported that the draft of the bill stipulates that the national power system promote decarbonization and the transition away from fossil fuels, a policy that differs from that promoted by López Obrador.

The bill also requires self-supply permit holders to sell any surplus power they generate to the CFE, Reuters reported.

Valeria Vázquez, lead energy and resources partner at the global consulting firm Deloitte, told the OPIS blog that it is unclear how private companies will participate in hydrocarbons.

“The law now establishes Pemex and CFE as the main operators in the market with specific rules for private participation [that are] different from what we have today,” Vázquez said.

Electricity substation in Mexico surroundied by an urban landscape in the background. — Although the energy reform guarantees Mexico’s state-owned energy companies preeminence in the Mexican market, most sources said it will at least provide clear operating rules for foreign firms wishing to operate in Mexico. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)

The energy reform also imposes similar conditions on operations in Mexico’s states, which will be responsible for enacting implementing policies, according to Bernardo Cortés, a partner with the Cortés and Quesada law firm.

Cortés told the OPIS blog that the changes likely mean private companies will have fewer investment opportunities than when the 2013 reform was enacted.

Despite the skepticism, most sources said the energy reform should provide the benefit of establishing clear rules for operating in the market, according to the OPIS blog.

However, others argue that Mexico’s judicial reforms, along with the elimination of regulatory bodies that served to delineate the roles of the state, regulators, and state-owned companies in the market, have increased uncertainty for companies looking to invest in the country.

With reports from El Economista, Reuters and The OPIS blog

Grupo Herdez to invest up to 2 billion pesos in Mexico operations

By

MND Staff

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January 30, 2025

5

A variety of Grupo Herdez salsas that are exported and sold in the United States — Though they are best known for their salsas, Grupo Herdez also produces ice cream, pasta and a wide variety of other processed foods in Mexico. (Hormel Foods)

Grupo Herdez, one of Mexico’s leading processed food companies, announced plans to invest between 1.5 billion and 2 billion pesos (US $73.3 million to 97.9 million) in Mexico this year.

In a report to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) on Wednesday, Herdez explained that 500 million pesos (US $24.4 million) of this investment will be allocated to software migration for its enterprise resource planning (ERP), which manages core business processes.

In addition to its Mexicans salsas, Herdez produces sells a variety of products for brands like McCormick Mexico, Barilla Mexico and Helados Nestlé. (McCormick Mexico/Facebook)

The remaining funds would be destined to enhance export capacity for its salsas, install a new long pasta line for Barilla Mexico, and remodel stores in its Impulse division, which includes ice cream, coffee and canned foods.

The company, which produces and markets food brands such as Del Fuerte, McCormick Mexico, Helados Nestlé and Nutrisa, expects sales growth of 6% to 8% during 2025, with two-thirds of the projected growth in net sales coming from higher volumes.

The company’s Impulse division is expected to see the greatest growth, at an estimated rate of 19% to 21%. This would be followed by Herdez’s Preserves division, with an anticipated increase of 5% to 7%, and exports, which are expected to grow by 1% to 2%. According to the company’s preliminary figures for last year, net sales in 2024 were 37.4 billion pesos (US $1.8 billion).

Grupo Herdez anticipates pressures from rising costs, exchange rate fluctuations and higher operating expenses, especially in logistics, which is expected to put pressure on its operating margins and operating cash flow (EBITDA) this coming year.

However, the report said Herdez expects consolidated net profit to increase by 9% to 11% compared to 2024, driven by the normalization of avocado prices.

Grupo Herdez began operations in 1914. It currently has a portfolio of 1,500 products ranging from tuna, spices, guacamole, ice cream, mayonnaise, jams, honey, mole, mustard, pasta, organic items, ground tomatoes, homemade sauces, ketchup, tea and canned vegetables.

Other brands include Búfalo, Cielito Querido Café, Del Fuerte and Doña María.

The Mexican-food company also has operations in the United States, where it has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the authentic Mexican food industry. Its brands are sold in 21 countries, thanks to a network that includes 15 plants, 24 distribution centers and over 9,000 employees.

With reports from Milenio and El Economista