After weeks of U.S. tariff talk, Mexico's southern neighbor finally got some time in the limelight at Thursday's presidential presser. (Presidencia)
President Claudia Sheinbaum missed her Wednesday morning press conference as she traveled to Honduras to attend the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Tegucigalpa.
But on Thursday morning she was back in Mexico City to preside over her regular mañanera at the National Palace, where she spoke about plans to extend two railroads into Central America, among other issues.
Here is a recap of the president’s April 10 morning press conference.
She said that the Interoceanic Train railroad — whose main line crosses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz — will enter Guatemala at Ciudad Hidalgo, located on Mexico’s southern border in the state of Chiapas.
Much of northern Guatemala is protected forest, so the Maya Train would have to connect indirectly via Ciudad Hidalgo in Chiapas, Sheinbaum said. (Pau de Valencia/Unsplash)
“Guatemala has to do its projects [to extend the railway into the Central American country] and they’re working on that. … It’s mainly a freight train, although it will also take passengers,” Sheinbaum said.
She didn’t give any timeline for when the railroad might extend into Guatemala.
“So in the case of the Maya Train the option is to enter through Belize and then go down to Guatemala,” she said, adding that the proposal has already been discussed with the prime minister of Belize.
Sheinbaum didn’t mention when the multi-billion-dollar Maya Train railroad might be extended into the territory of Mexico’s two southern neighbors.
Is Mexico preparing a ‘mega expulsion’ of cartel figures?
A reporter noted that Mexico-based British journalist Ioan Grillo reported that Mexico is considering sending 40 cartel figures to the United States.
“The Mexican federal government is looking at carrying out another mass ‘expulsion’ of senior cartel figures from Mexican prisons to U.S. custody, with a list of 40 potential targets including the Jalisco Cartel’s ‘El Cuini,’ or Abigael González Valencia, according to a Mexican source familiar with the planning,” Grillo wrote in an article published Wednesday on his CrashOut Substack site.
Sheinbaum declined to confirm or deny the report.
Mexico overrode ongoing appeal processes to extradite 29 cartel figures to the U.S. in February. (Gobierno de México)
“The [federal government’s] Security Council has to report on that. … It’s not that the president orders [expulsions or extraditions], no. There is a process that has to be followed,” she said.
Mexico sent 29 cartel figures including notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero to the United States in late February. The day after the extraditions, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said that there was a risk that some of the 29 defendants sent to the U.S. could have been released from prison if they remained in Mexico.
‘Now we can speak’
A reporter noted that the Federal Electoral Tribunal ruled on Wednesday that the president and other government officials and institutions can promote participation in the upcoming judicial elections — without speaking in favor of or against any individual candidates.
The National Electoral Institute had prohibited federal, state and municipal governments, public institutions and individual officials from promoting Mexico’s first ever judicial elections.
“Now we can speak,” Sheinbaum said.
“On June 1 you have to go to vote for judges, magistrates and Supreme Court justices,” she said.
Tijuana clinics have seen a significant drop in business this year. (Jafar Ahmed/Unsplash)
Health tourism is on the decline in Baja California thus far this year, with industry representatives saying the slump is partly due to economic tension between Mexico and the United States.
In 2024, the northern border state received 3.5 million foreign visitors seeking medical or dental care. Local hotels often advertise travel packages and special rates for medical tourists who contributed roughly US $2 billion to Baja California’s economy, according to Fox News.
Tijuana is popular destination for U.S. and international medical tourists. (Barbara Zandoval/Unsplash)
Clinics in the state of Baja California, just south of the U.S. border, are popular with medical travelers from the U.S. and Canada. Medical centers in Baja that feature health services certified by the Joint Commission International and Mexican authorities can be found via the Medical Tourism Mexico website.
Medical Health Cluster, a health consultant firm based in Tijuana, reported a 20% to 40% drop in surgery patients arriving in Baja California through the first three months of the year.
Sánchez also conceded that international competition has increased “as countries like Costa Rica, Turkey, Thailand … have very aggressive campaigns to promote services.”
Beyond the friction between the U.S. and Mexican governments, local health sector representatives said problems related to the rule of law have hurt the industry.
Ricardo Vega Montiel, president of the Baja Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery College cited violence in cities such as Tijuana and reports of unlicensed doctors and clinics throughout Baja California as deterrents.
Medical Health Cluster said requests for bariatric surgery — gastric bypass and other weight-loss procedures — have declined since the procedures are now covered by U.S. insurance policies.
According to Medical Tourism Magazine, Mexico can provide equal or even higher quality treatments to patients than what they might find at home, and at a significantly lower cost.
Plastic surgery and other elective procedures are significantly cheaper in Mexico than in the U.S., though problems with unlicensed practitioners deter some would-be medical tourists. (Freepik)
Medical tourists can save from 30% to 80% on procedures ranging from cardiac surgery to orthopedics to plastic surgery, Mauricio Reyes Morales Vázquez, the president of the Los Cabos Association of Medical Tourism, told El Sudcaliforniano newspaper. Los Cabos is located in the state of Baja California Sur.
For example, Reyes said cardiac catheterization can cost more than US $200,000 in the United States, whereas in Los Cabos it costs roughly US $50,000.
Top medical tourism procedures in Baja California include dental, plastic surgery, bariatric surgery and orthopedics. Ophthalmology, neurology and fertility treatments are also popular among health tourists.
After U.S. President Trump yesterday announced a new "reciprocal tariff" rate of 10% across the board, the impact on Mexico was initially unclear. (White House/X)
After several hours of confusion and uncertainty on Wednesday, it was confirmed that Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement didn’t change the status quo for Mexico on trade with the United States.
It all began with a lengthy Truth Social post by the U.S. president, in which he announced he was raising tariffs on imports from China to 125% and lowering the maximum “reciprocal tariff” rate for scores of other countries to 10% for 90 days.
After the U.S. appeared to mistakenly announce tariffs on Mexico and Canada, chaos ensued on Wednesday. (Cuartoscuro)
The United States hasn’t imposed any so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on imports from Mexico and therefore it appeared that Mexico was unaffected by the announcement.
Enter U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“Mexico and Canada, are they part of the 10%?” a reporter asked Bessent.
“Yes,” the treasury secretary responded, prompting The New York Times to report that “in a strange turn of events, the president seems to have added another 10 percent tariff to Canada and Mexico,” thus lifting the U.S. tariff on some Mexican products, such as steel and aluminum, to 35% — or so it appeared.
The Times reported that a White House official clarified “that was the case,” while the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said it received a statement from the White House also confirming that the 10% tariff applied to goods from Canada and Mexico.
“What’s not clear … is what happens to the earlier tariffs on Canada [and Mexico], the so-called fentanyl tariff of 25 per cent on some products, and similar tariffs on steel, aluminum and some automotive trade,” CBC News said on Wednesday afternoon.
At Mexico News Daily, we continued to monitor developments. If an additional 10% tariff has been imposed on Mexico’s exports to the United States, as the NYT reported, why is the Mexican peso strengthening, I wondered.
I opened X and came across a post by José Díaz Briseño, the United States’ correspondent for Mexico’s Reforma newspaper.
• Bessent’s answer can be interpreted BOTH as a hike & as a reduction of the tariff rate applicable to Mexico & Canada.
• Proof of the improvised nature of Trump’s announcement.
“Yeah, that’s what I think,” a Mexico News Daily editor responded after I conveyed my thinking to her in a message.
Fast forward an hour and I read this: “CBC News is learning initial information that the 10 per cent baseline tariff applies to Canada may not be accurate.”
“No one knows what the deal is,” I wrote to my editor.
Eventually, the truth came out. The situation had not in fact changed for Mexico and Canada, the United States’ largest trading partners.
“From Washington: I am officially informed that we’re not included in the 10% reciprocal tariffs announced today,” Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard wrote on X.
Desde Washington : me informan oficialmente no estamos incluidos en los aranceles recíprocos de 10% anunciados el día de hoy. Saludos.
Economy Minister Ebrard said last Thursday that the Mexican government’s “goal in the next 40 days is to achieve the best conditions among all countries of the world for the [Mexican] auto industry.”
“The same thing for steel and aluminum,” he added.
Mexico has not imposed any retaliatory tariffs on imports from the United States.
Home away from home: "Foreigners" from Teotihuacán built their own altars after arriving in the Maya city of Tikal. (Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala/X)
A 1,600-year-old altar discovered in the heart of Tikal, Guatemala, offers striking evidence of the intricate and often contentious relationship between Maya society and the ancient metropolis of Teotihuacán.
According to a study published this week in the journal Antiquity, the altar wasn’t built by the local Maya, but rather by “foreigners” from Teotihuacán, located 1,500 kilometers away in what is now central Mexico.
The altar appears to have been built by residents of Teotihuacán, the ancient metropolis that preceded Mexico City. (INAH)
Teotihuacán, known as “The City of the Gods,” was a sprawling area northeast of modern Mexico City renowned for its monumental pyramids, vibrant murals, and influential cultural and economic reach across Mesoamerica during its peak between 100 B.C. and A.D. 750.
Tikal was founded in 850 B.C. before ballooning into a dynasty around A.D. 100.
Guatemala’s Culture and Sports Ministry also announced the findings this week, detailing an altar adorned with vividly painted murals and linked to ritual sacrifices — which researchers say reshapes understanding of Mesoamerican power dynamics.
Buried beneath a residential complex in Tikal National Park, the 1-meter tall limestone altar features talud-tablero architecture (one inward-sloping panel topped by a perpendicular, rectangular panel) and painted panels depicting a deity resembling Teotihuacán’s “Storm God” or “Great Goddess.” The national park is located in northern Guatemala, less than 100 kilometers from the Mexican state of Campeche.
By studying the remnant pigment on the surface, researchers were able to reconstruct what the ancient altar looked like in its heyday. (Román Ramírez et al./Antiquities)
This figure, with almond-shaped eyes, a fanged nose bar and a feathered headdress flanked by shields, can be seen on four sides of the square piece. Archaeologists used advanced imaging technology to reveal its original red, yellow and blue pigments.
“What the altar confirms is that wealthy leaders from Teotihuacán came to Tikal and created replicas of the ritual facilities that would have existed in their home city,” said Stephen Houston, a professor at Brown University who was part of a global team of researchers who studied the altar. “This shows that Teotihuacán left a heavy imprint there.”
In an interview on National Public Radio (NPR), Andrew Scherer, another co-author of the study, said a central tenet of the research was trying to figure out just how heavy that imprint was.
“The growing sense of things is that rather than just a few folks coming down from central Mexico to sort of trade or interact at Tikal, they were more deeply embedded in the politics and the daily life, to the point that there were actually settlers who were sort of living permanently at Tikal,” said Scherer, a professor of anthropology, archaeology and the ancient world at Brown and director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology.
The altar was found 1,500 kilometers away from the ancient metropolis of Teotihucán, the location of present-day Mexico City. (Román Ramírez et al./Antiquities)
Built around A.D. 378, the altar coincides with a pivotal coup in Tikal’s history, when Teotihuacán elites deposed Tikal’s king, Chak Tok Ich’aak, and installed Yax Nuun Ahiin, whose father Spearthrower Owl was at least a noble, if not a king, in Teotihuacán. His installation is seen as a high point in Teotihuacán influence at Tikal.
Another sign was revealed in a Lidar scan in 2016: a scaled-down replica of Teotihuacán’s citadel near Tikal’s center, suggesting prolonged occupation before the coup.
“Teotihuacán saw the Maya region as a land of wealth — jade, feathers, cocoa — and sought to control it,” said Houston, a professor of social sciences, anthropology, and the history of art and architecture at Brown.
Hoy presentamos el Altar de estilo Teotihuacano de Tikal. Mañana saldrá la publicación en la revista científica Antiquity. https://t.co/Q0NHfeY53m
Excavations around the altar, led by Guatemalan archaeologist Lorena Paiz, uncovered the remains of three children, all under age 4. One was interred in a seated position — a practice common in Teotihuacán but rare among the Maya — alongside a green obsidian dart point, a material emblematic of central Mexico.
Paiz said the altar was believed to have been used for sacrifices, “especially of children.”
Radiocarbon dating indicates the site was abandoned around A.D. 550–645, coinciding with Teotihuacán’s own decline.
The altar remains under guard, with no plans for public access.
Don Neto, shown here in an undated photo, has been released after 40 years in Mexican federal prison. (X)
Guadalajara Cartel founder Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo walked free on Saturday after completing a 40-year prison sentence in Mexico.
Fonseca, known as “Don Neto,” was convicted by the Mexican judicial system for his role in the February 1985 torture and murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. The 94-year-old Fonseca had been held in home confinement since 2016.
Neither the U.S. Justice Department nor the DEA have issued a public statement regarding Fonseca’s release.
When asked about the case during her Thursday morning press conference, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was unaware of any requests from U.S. authorities regarding Fonseca.
Fonseca co-founded the Guadalajara Cartel, which dominated drug trafficking in Mexico in the 1980s and controlled the key smuggling routes into the United States.
Don Neto frequently appeared in the popular Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico,” portrayed by actor Joaquín Cosio. (Carlos Somonte/Netflix)
The DEA indicted Fonseca in San Diego, California, on money-laundering charges in 1982, but he fled back to Mexico before he could be apprehended.
Agent Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in February 1985 three months after he spearheaded a raid on a Guadalajara Cartel marijuana plantation that the DEA called its largest drug seizure ever.
Don Neto was arrested for Camarena’s murder in Puerto Vallarta on April 7, 1985, but continued to contest both the criminal and civil charges for decades thereafter.
A Mexican appeals court ordered Fonseca freed in March 2017. The appeals court ruling granted him a form of early release usually given to prisoners who have completed most of their sentences.
However, Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s Office annulled the appeals ruling and Fonseca remained under house arrest.
In 2022, Fonseca won an injunction against a civil court ruling that ordered him to pay 20.8 million pesos (US $1.2 million) in restitution to the family of the murdered DEA agent and relatives of his pilot, Alfredo Zavala, who was tortured and killed in the same incident.
In March 2025, the Camarena family filed civil charges against Fonseca in a U.S. federal court in San Diego.
Second Guadalajara Cartel co-founder meets a different fate
Another principal figure in the murder of the DEA agent was recently turned over to U.S. authorities. Rafael Caro Quintero was among 29 cartel figures transferred to the United States on Feb. 27 as part of a bilateral effort between the neighboring countries to battle drug trafficking.
As leader of the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1980s, Caro Quintero was one of the top suppliers of heroin, cocaine and marijuana to the U.S. The DEA asserts that Caro Quintero ordered the kidnapping of Camarena in retaliation for the Rancho Búfalo raid.
Like Fonseca, Caro Quintero was sometimes able to use Mexico’s judicial system in his favor. He was released from prison in 2013 after an appeals court overturned his murder conviction on jurisdictional grounds.
Mexico’s Supreme Court annulled that ruling three months later. A new warrant was issued for Caro Quintero’s arrest and the U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. He was finally recaptured in July 2022.
What happens when a woman from the U.S. or Australia gets together with a Mexican man? (Melissa Sombrerero/Pexels)
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2021 census, only 2,140 Mexicans live in the Greater Sydney area, which boasts a population of 5.5 million people. As one might imagine after reading those stats, authentic, mouth-watering, throat-tickling Mexican restaurants are few and far between. So when Sunny, a born-and-raised Australian, met Héctor, a Mexican expat working in Sydney, and asked what he missed the most about living in Mexico, he didn’t hesitate in answering: “tacos al pastor.”
The problem was that Sunny had never even heard of tacos al pastor. “I went immediately to Google,” she said during our recent interview over Zoom, laughing. Drawing on years of working as a professional chef and a childhood spent in her family’s restaurant, Sunny scraped together her first of many traditional Mexican dishes.
Intercultural relationships can open up new universes of understanding— but t (Nathan Jennings/Unsplash)
Héctor hadn’t been able to visit Mexico for three years due to Australia’s border policy during the pandemic, and he’d been surrounded predominately by Tex-Mex and other foreign interpretations of Mexican food. “I was so nervous when he was about to take his first bite,” Sunny says.
There was nothing for her to worry about, though, because Héctor was delighted. “It tastes like home,” he told her. Several years later, they tied the knot. Héctor later told her that it was those same tacos al pastor that sealed the deal.
Doing it the Mexican way: Going from personal struggle to community solutions
Relationships are rarely an obstacle-free ride. Learning to communicate with anyone, regardless of their background, is a lesson in humility, patience and curiosity. Coming from different cultures can add yet another layer to the mix, and many people facing road bumps in intercultural relationships find themselves wondering “is this cultural, or is it just my partner?”
Specifically, if you’re an Anglo woman dating a Mexican man, you probably already know that there aren’t many resources out there that can help you navigate the nuances. “When Héctor’s mom came to Australia for the first time, I had a hard time finding anything online to help me prepare for it. None of my friends were married to a Mexican, so they couldn’t offer me any advice.” How was Sunny supposed to greet her? What was she supposed to call her? This gap in information led Sunny to building an online community of women like her. Through that community, she started to see how unique her relationship paradigm truly was.
Daily contact with a Mexican partner’s family can be jarring for a person coming from a culture where boundaries are more rigid. (Nicole Michalou/Pexels)
Taking off the Anglo goggles
A U.S.-raised woman myself, I can completely identify with the role we’re expected to fill these days – strong, independent, financially stable, able to raise a kid on her own if she wanted to. A woman like that definitely doesn’t “need” a man. But what happens when that woman falls in love with a Mexican man?
Clearly, we can’t fit the millions of Mexican men in and outside of Mexico into one shiny box with a list of instructions. Still, there are undeniable cultural differences that could, without the proper research, lead to unnecessary friction. Sunny believes that the uncertainty we face when entering intercultural relationships can all be avoided with cultural fluency. By “taking off your Western goggles and putting on your Mexican sunglasses,” the following dynamics might begin to surface.
Noncommittal responses: Mexicans often prefer to say “maybe” instead of a direct “no” to avoid causing disappointment. This tends to clash with the Anglo preference for concrete plans and direct refusals.
Group decision-making: People raised in Mexico may consult their family and friend group before finalizing plans in contrast to a U.S. or Australian emphasis on decisions made primarily by the couple for their own benefit.
Family involvement: Daily contact with parents and a tendency to seek family input during conflict may come as a surprise to women used to greater boundaries between the nuclear family and extended relatives.
Different emphases on the individual: Mexican culture tends toward group-oriented decision-making that prioritizes collective harmony as opposed to the Anglo tendency toward self-reliance and independence.
Traditional gender roles: Relationships may involve protective behaviors that might seem controlling by contemporary Anglo standards. Mexican cultural expectations tend to embrace traditional masculine and feminine expressions while Anglo culture trends toward more fluidity between gender roles.
Seeing the relationship through this lens will also help you identify which parts of your culture might leave him feeling confused. Héctor, for example, didn’t initially understand the casual approach to dinner parties in Australia. His upbringing taught him to always bring a gift for the host or hostess and make a point to personally thank them before leaving. Sunny’s experience was a bit more casual. What he initially thought of as rude simply became “Australian,” in a way that his formality might simply become “Mexican.”
Sunny’s adventure from a single Australian woman to creator of the Facebook community “I’m Married to a Mexican” has been a joyful one. More than building a strong partnership with her husband, she’s met women from all over the world in situations similar to her own, and the resulting insight has been fascinating.
She’s able to document cultural nuances that aren’t found in traditional resources, and offer advice that takes into account the cultural backstory, something nearly impossible for AI to do. She started conducting hour-long calls with women from different countries in relationships with Mexican men, discovering a host of interesting quirks and unique approaches to conflict that keep these relationships strong and healthy.
With this information, Sunny wants to create a pool of resources for women, and eventually men, to refer to when they find themselves asking the question, “Is it cultural, or is it him?” Some practical strategies she’s found up to this point include using food as a cultural connector, knowing the major themes in Mexican history, understanding a collectivist mindset versus an individualist one and identifying what emotional safety feels like for you
The future of cross-cultural relationship resources
Sunny’s vision extends well beyond her thriving Facebook community. “What I’m trying to create is a way to avoid the angst, the overwhelm and the constant questioning of what’s going on, what to do and what’s considered correct social etiquette,” she explains. “I want to create a pathway for women to stay strong within themselves, even when cultural differences might throw them off balance.”
Unlike generic advice that tells intercultural partners it’s best to just adapt to the other’s quirks, Sunny’s approach emphasizes cultural fluency without sacrificing who you are. The mentorship program she is developing is aimed at giving newcomers a chance to connect with experienced women for help when navigating challenges like communicating with their partner’s mother and sisters, first visits to Mexico and understanding when something is truly a red flag versus a cultural misunderstanding.
“When you’re struggling with these issues, you can’t always talk to your mom or friends about it because they’re viewing everything through a Western lens,” Sunny says. “You also can’t always talk to your Mexican friends because, for them, it’s normal.” Guidance from someone who’s walked this path before can be a game-changer.
Are you in a committed relationship with a Mexican partner and starting to feel the effects of those pesky cultural differences? Sunny is currently conducting research calls with women who feel confused, disconnected or unsure what’s cultural and what’s personal. She’s also interested in speaking with women who have it all figured out! If you’d like to participate, visitCalendy to schedule a call or join her Facebook group, I’m dating/I married a Mexican.
Dry northern states like Nuevo León, pictured, could see their state water resources confiscated by the federal government as it seeks to increase water deliveries to the U.S. (Gabriela Pérez Montiel/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico currently owes the United States more than 1.5 billion cubic meters of water with just six months left to settle the debt, putting the federal government in a difficult situation as it seeks to appease its northern neighbor while ensuring there is sufficient water to meet the needs of Mexican citizens, agriculture and industry.
The United States government is pressuring Mexico to send the water north, but the country’s northern states are in drought, making it very difficult if not impossible to comply with the obligations set out in a 1944 bilateral water treaty.
The 1944 treaty governs the distribution of water from rivers like the Rio Grande, shown here in Ciudad Juárez. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)
What the outcome of this situation will be is not yet clear, but the potential for conflict between Mexico and the United States — at a time when the bilateral relationship is already strained — is high.
The current five-year cycle concludes in late October, but by March 29, Mexico had delivered just 28% of the water it is required to send to its northern neighbor in the 2020-25 period.
Consequently, Mexico currently owes the United States about 1.55 billion cubic meters of water. That quantity of water, Reuters reported, is enough to supply a mid-sized city for around 30 years.
Why is Mexico so far behind on its water debt?
In a word — drought. The Mexican government has said that it has been unable to fulfill its water commitments under the 1944 treaty due to widespread drought that is particularly severe in the north of the country.
Poor infrastructure and growing local demand for water have also had an impact on Mexico’s capacity to meet its treaty obligations, according to Reuters.
Under the treaty, water debt can be rolled over into the next five-year cycle when drought precludes either Mexico or the United States from meeting its obligations to supply water to its neighbor.
That situation looks set to become increasingly common.
Reuters reported that the 81-year-old treaty “never contemplated climate change or massive industrial and agricultural growth along the border fueled by free trade between the two countries.”
“That is the disconnect,” said Vianey Rueda, a University of Michigan researcher who specializes in water issues.
Northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest are considerably drier than when the water treaty was signed over 80 years ago. (Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar/Cuartoscuro)
“… There is pressure to continue to abide by a treaty, but there’s really no water to comply,” she said.
Federico Mancera, a water consultant and academic at CIDE, a Mexico City university, described the treaty as obsolete because it doesn’t consider the impacts of climate change and the decrease in water availability. The solution to the current conflict between Mexico and the United States is to update the treaty, he told the Expansión news website.
In a statement posted to social media, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs defended the decision by saying that “Mexico’s continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture — particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley.”
In addition to taking the unprecedented step of denying Mexico’s non-treaty request for water, the State Department “continues to urge the Mexican government at the highest levels to meet its 1944 treaty obligations and ensure predictable water deliveries,” a spokesperson for the agency told Reuters.
Mexico’s continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture–particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley. As a result, today for the first time, the U.S. will deny Mexico’s non-treaty request for a special…
— Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (@WHAAsstSecty) March 20, 2025
In March, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in an interview that Mexico is “decimating our farmers while they’re building their agriculture industry and breaking the agreement under that 1944 water treaty.”
“But no more,” she added.
Republicans from Texas have been especially vocal in their condemnation of Mexico for failing to meet its treaty obligations.
“Mexico’s repeated failure to uphold their end of the 1944 water treaty has devastated South Texas farmers, hindered the growth of our Texas agriculture economy, and threatened our national food security,” Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz said in January.
“Holding the Mexican government accountable is the first step in ensuring our farmers have the resources they need to thrive and I will continue to work to ensure South Texans are not left to deal with the consequences of Mexico’s non-compliance,” she said.
Reuters reported that the United States has “largely fulfilled” its obligations to send water to Mexico, “although recent deliveries have been reduced due to severe drought, something the 1944 accord allows for.”
Could Mexico’s water debt threaten the USMCA?
Citing multiple sources, Reuters reported on Wednesday that Mexican officials are “scrambling to come up with a plan” to increase water deliveries to the United States.
Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the urgency is due to growing concern that United States President Donald Trump could bring the water dispute into trade negotiations with Mexico.
Trump has already imposed tariffs on Mexican steel, aluminum and vehicles, as well as imports from Mexico not covered by the USMCA free trade pact. He has indicated that he wants to renegotiate the agreement rather than just review it, as is scheduled to occur in 2026.
Ongoing tariff negotiations with the U.S. have added pressure as Mexico struggles to keep up with water deliveries. (International Container Terminal Services)
A Mexican source who works on water issues told Reuters that there are even concerns in Mexico that Trump could terminate the USMCA due to the Mexico’s water debt. The source said the issue has become “very political.”
Another option for Trump could be to use tariffs to pressure Mexico to meet its water commitments. He has already demonstrated he is willing to use protectionism to effectively force Mexico to ramp up action against the flow of fentanyl and migrants to the United States.
Last month, Texas Senator Ted Cruz expressed confidence that the United States will get the water it is owed.
“I believe with President Trump in office and the new administration, we are going to get the water. Mexico is going to comply. Ignoring the treaty will no longer be an option for Mexico,” he said.
A second Mexican source with knowledge of the dispute told Reuters that Mexico hopes to reach an agreement with the United States “in the next few weeks” in order to prevent the issue from affecting trade negotiations. The Mexican government is aiming to negotiate better trading conditions for Mexico — i.e. secure the suspension of U.S. tariffs that are currently levied on Mexican goods.
The source warned that “the expectations of the U.S. should be grounded in reality.”
“We cannot deliver water that does not exist,” the person told Reuters.
The news agency reported that “with the U.S.-Mexico relations already frayed over security, migration and tariffs, the two countries could now be on a collision course over water too, adding to Mexico’s woes as it struggles to navigate a minefield of issues with the Trump administration.”
Attempt to appease the US angers northern states
President Claudia Sheinbaum last week told reporters that her government was in discussions with its U.S. counterpart and “will comply with the treaty bit by bit.”
Reuters said it was told by eight sources that Mexico is working to increase water deliveries to the United States before the current five-year treaty cycle comes to an end in October.
Six of those sources told Reuters that in order to increase its water deliveries Mexico will likely need to make use of a controversial amendment inserted into the 1944 treaty last year.
Under a new treaty provision, the federal government could seize water belonging to northern states to make up for shortfalls in water deliveries to the U.S. (Cuartoscuro)
The amendment empowers the Mexican government to take extra water from states in order to meet its water delivery obligations.
Water in the northern border states of Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Tamaulipas is specifically in the sights of the federal government, according to six sources who spoke to Reuters.
“In recent weeks, at least one meeting has taken place between state governments and the federal water authority discussing how to increase Mexican deliveries to the United States,” the news agency reported. “… Tension is building both with the U.S. and within Mexico,” Reuters added.
None of the four border states mentioned above is happy about the federal government’s apparent plans for their water, according to Raúl Quiroga, Secretary of Hydraulic Resources for Social Development in Tamaulipas.
He said that in a meeting with federal government representatives last month, officials from Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Tamaulipas all protested the treaty amendment that allows their water to be taken without their consent under certain circumstances.
Mario Mata, the executive director of Chihuahua’s water council, said the state is considering launching legal action against the treaty amendment.
Of the states that could face federal water seizures, Chihuahua has been the hardest hit by the current drought. (Conagua)
Mexico narrowly met its water delivery obligations in the 2015-20 treaty period, but it appears almost certain it will fail in this current cycle.
A Mexican official told Reuters that the federal government has already agreed to send 150.48 million cubic meters of water to the United States and is working on a plan to deliver an additional 99.91 million cubic meters. But even if that water is delivered, Mexico would still fall more than 60% short of meeting its treaty obligations.
Of significant concern in Mexico is that there is no guarantee that the United States will be appeased by only receiving around 40% of the water Mexico is required to supply in each five-year treaty cycle.
‘To deliver water right now is death’
National Action Party Senator Mario Vázquez of Chihuahua said that “for Chihuahua to deliver water right now is death.”
La Boquilla dam in Chihuahua has been the site of protests in the past, when water from its reservoir was diverted to the United States. (Nomonday)
Yessica Silva and her husband Jaime Torres, both farmers, came under fire by the National Guard while driving home in September 2020 after attending a protest against the diversion of water to the United States at La Boquilla dam.
Silva died at the scene while Torres was seriously wounded and spent two weeks in the hospital.
Farmers in northern Mexico — where large swathes of land are currently affected by severe, extreme or “exceptional drought and water levels in many reservoirs are low — remain vehemently opposed to the diversion of water to the United States, meaning that the Mexican government will face fierce resistance as it seeks to placate its powerful northern neighbor.
The rescued felines are now safe in their new home, the Ostok Santuary near Culiacán, Sinaloa. (Seguridad Pública de Sinaloa/Facebook)
Two Bengal tigers were rescued from an abandoned lot in San José de Gracia, a Sinaloa municipality located in an area known as the “Golden Triangle” — a key region for organized crime operations.
The rescue was carried out by Ostok Sanctuary staff on April 7 after receiving a report from the Navy Ministry (Semar) and the Office of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) about a pair of felines that were apparently abandoned.
Sanctuary founder Ernesto Zazueta said both tigers — an adult white tigress and a yellow tiger — were displaying violent behavior.
“We responded to the call from Semar and Profepa to rescue two tigers,” Zazueta said. “We found them very upset, violent, and very aggressive. A tough rehabilitation task awaits us, but I believe we will succeed,” he noted in a video documenting the rescue.
Due to the risk they posed to security personnel, rescuers had to use chemical restraints to handle them safely, Zazueta added. The video shows that once they were calm, rescuers covered them with blankets to relocate them from the property where they were found.
The tigers’ aggressive behavior was attributed to their living conditions, as both were confined in small space. However, Zazueta said both animals appear to be in good health.
Authorities are yet to release information about who the property belongs to.
During the journey to Ostok Sanctuary, the rescuers and tigers were guarded by federal forces.
Zazueta revealed that since the armed conflict between factions of drug cartels began in Sinaloa on Sept. 9 last year, the sanctuary has rescued 14 large felines. “On average, we rescue two felines per month,” Zazueta remarked.
One of the tigers, in fine physical condition, during the recent relocation effort. (Seguridad Pública Sinaloa/Facebook)
According to a report by the Washington-based think tank Brooking Institution, criminal groups have turned to smuggling exotic animals, often to China. In exchange, China provides cartels with chemicals used in the production of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Cartel associates are also known for sometimes keeping exotic animals as pets. In 2023, U.S. prosecutors revealed that a Sinaloa Cartel drug lord fed his enemies, alive and dead, to tigers that he kept.
London's National Gallery is hosting the first-ever UK exhibition of the works of painter José María Velasco through Aug. 17. (National Gallery)
A landmark exhibition honoring one of Mexico’s most important artists, “José María Velasco: A View of Mexico” is now on display at London’s National Gallery through Aug. 17. The first time the gallery has dedicated a solo show to a Latin American artist, the exhibition marks 200 years of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United Kingdom.
The National Gallery, located in London’s Trafalgar Square, is one of the world’s most visited museums. It houses over 2,300 Western European paintings, from the Middle Ages through the early 20th century. Unlike many European museums, the National Gallery wasn’t founded on a royal collection; Instead, it began in 1824 when the British government acquired 38 paintings from a private banker. From the beginning, its mission has been clear: these paintings belong to the public. Admission has always been free.
José María Velasco as a younger man. (Gaceta UNAM)
The imagery created by José María Velasco is deeply woven into Mexico’s national identity. His landscapes are well known, and he is a household name across the country. Yet Velasco’s art is rarely seen in Europe. There isn’t a single Velasco painting in a UK public collection, and there hasn’t been a major international exhibition dedicated to the painter since 1976. This London showcase offers a rare and long-overdue opportunity for global audiences to experience his work.
A painter who defined a nation
Born in 1840, José María Velasco studied at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City under Italian painter Eugenio Landesio. Although trained in the European tradition, Velasco quickly developed his distinct style and became Mexico’s most celebrated landscape artist. Velasco was a true polymath: a man of deep intellect and wide-ranging curiosity, he pursued studies in fields that enriched his art, including anatomy, geology, botany, paleontology and Mesoamerican history. Velasco approached art from a scientific perspective, using it not only to capture beauty but also to explore and understand the world around him. His paintings reflect a deep reverence for nature and a growing awareness of its fragility during an era of rapid industrialization.
When José María Velasco began his career, Mexican painting was largely focused on the human figure. Nature, if included, was often just a backdrop. Velasco changed that by devoting most of his work to landscapes, placing the natural world at the center of his art. His paintings are visually stunning and technically sophisticated with a distinctive visual architecture: layered perspectives, precise compositions and a harmony of color and proportion that encourage viewers to pause and reflect on the richness of the natural world.
Combining the eye of a scientist and the soul of an artist, Velasco created nearly 300 works, including oil paintings, watercolors, lithographs and miniatures. These became valuable educational tools and brought him national and international recognition. In 1881, he was named president of the Mexican Society of Natural History, a rare honor for a painter and a testament to his standing in both the art and scientific communities.
Velasco’s “Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel.” (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Letras)
Among his most iconic works are the “Valley of Mexico” paintings, panoramic views of the Valley of Mexico that he painted in multiple versions over the years. These sweeping landscapes offer a glimpse of the area around Mexico City before it was transformed by urban growth. One version was gifted to Pope Leo XIII and now belongs to the Vatican Museums.
Velasco at the National Gallery
The exhibition includes 30 works from public and private collections, 17 of which come from the Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico City. Three paintings are on loan from the National Museum in Prague. These were once owned by František Kaška, personal pharmacist to Emperor Maximilian I. During Maximilian’s short-lived reign in Mexico, Kaška commissioned works directly from Velasco. After the emperor’s execution in 1867, Kaška continued to play a diplomatic role, helping to secretly rebuild ties between Austria and Mexico.
Among the highlights of the exhibition is “Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl seen from Lake Chalco,” an 1885 painting commissioned by František Kaška as a tribute to the lake’s vanishing beauty before it was drained. Velasco places the viewer at water level, drawing the eye upward to the two snow-capped volcanoes.
The exhibition covers more than 50 years of the artist’s career and is organized into six thematic sections, each reflecting Velasco’s wide range of interests and how they shaped his art. The section “Landscape and Industry” looks at how the artist documented the rise of factories and railways in the late 1800s with paintings like “The Valley of Mexico from the Molino del Rey” and “The Textile Mill of La Carolina, Puebla.” The section “Flora” focuses on his love for plant life as seen in “A Rustic Bridge in San Ángel” and “Cardón, State of Oaxaca.” At the heart of the exhibition is “The Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel,” often considered Velasco’s masterpiece. Other sections include “Ruins and Archaeology,” “Geological Time” and “Late Works,” including his last known painting, “Study.”
Velasco’s “The Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon.” (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Letras)
Velasco’s work helped define the visual identity of the nation. In 1943, the Mexican government declared his body of work a National Historic Monument in recognition of its enduring cultural value. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity for overseas audiences to explore the richness of his work, from volcanic peaks to ancient ruins, giant cactuses and bustling industrial scenes. For visitors to the National Gallery, it’s a chance to see Mexico through Velasco’s eyes in vivid, unforgettable detail.
Sandra Gancz Kahan is a Mexican writer and translator based in San Miguel de Allende who specializes in mental health and humanitarian aid. She believes in the power of language to foster compassion and understanding across cultures. She can be reached at [email protected]
Grabbing headlines for her style and poise, Altagracia Gómez has become an important part of President Claudia Sheinbaum's team. (Geocentenario)
Lawyer and businesswoman Altagracia Gómez Sierra, 32, is making a significant impact as one of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s key team members. As Coordinator of the Business Advisory Council for the Mexican government, she plays a crucial role in connecting the private sector with federal initiatives.
Gómez is vital to the success of President Sheinbaum’s economic vision, particularly through the ambitious Plan México, which seeks to position Mexico among the world’s largest economies. Before recent tariffs and protectionist policies took hold, Gómez Sierra championed nearshoring in critical sectors such as semiconductors, automobiles, and agribusiness. However, as global economic conditions shift, she faces new challenges.
Who is Altagracia Gómez Sierra, Coordinator of the Business Advisory Council?
Additionally, she is tasked with aligning private industry with President Sheinbaum’s goals by encouraging job creation, boosting local production and consumption, and supporting sectors affected by tariffs. Gómez must also work closely with government ministers and negotiators to strengthen ties with American counterparts.
The challenges are considerable, and the coming months will reveal how Gómez navigates these complexities. Her work presents a key opportunity to prove that public-private collaboration in Mexico is not only possible but essential for economic success, explains Mexico News Daily’s María Meléndez.
