Mexico’s week in review: Sheinbaum delivers her second-year report as trade tensions simmer
The week of Aug. 31, President Claudia Sheinbaum delivered her second annual government report, reflecting on the state of the nation as her second year in office draws to a close. She touted falling homicides and a stable economy, only to face a pointed rebuttal from opposition leaders who accused her administration of manipulating crime statistics and shielding officials tied to drug trafficking.
Mexico continues to grapple with security challenges on a variety of fronts, a fact underscored by a car bomb in Zacatecas Sunday night — the state’s third such attack in four days. But Mexico’s security forces remain active and on Monday claimed a high-profile target: Soldiers and marines killed Luis Enrique Barragán, alias “R5,” the accused leader of extortion against Michoacán’s avocado growers, in a shootout in Tocumbo.
Trade friction with Washington ran through much of the week. A dispute over cheese naming rights is complicating already-strained talks over the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Mexico continues to push back against the threat of U.S. tariffs, and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the sidelines of a G20 gathering Wednesday to press Mexico’s case against tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars.
Didn’t have time to catch this week’s top stories? Here’s what you missed.
Sheinbaum’s second-year report meets a sharp opposition response
President Sheinbaum delivered her second annual government report Tuesday, a 67-minute address touting a 51% reduction in homicides since taking office, record foreign direct investment and a stable economy. She said her administration’s relationship with Washington “has had its challenges” but reiterated that “sovereignty isn’t negotiated, handed over or shared.”
Opposition senators offered a starkly different account. PAN’s Ricardo Anaya disputed the government’s homicide figures, arguing that reclassified deaths obscure a rising toll, while PRI’s Alejandro Moreno accused the administration of an unspoken “pact” with organized crime, pointing to the unresolved U.S. extradition request for Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya. Sheinbaum has said her administration won’t shield anyone who has committed a crime.
In second annual report to the nation, Sheinbaum hails a stronger, safer and more prosperous Mexico
The president also used Wednesday’s press conference to accuse the Trump administration of trying to “create divisions” within her cabinet ahead of November’s U.S. midterms, calling it part of a long-standing U.S. pattern of pressuring “independent governments.” Her approval rating stood at 68% heading into the report, among the highest of any Mexican president at this point in a term, according to polling firm El Financiero. Along with the high approval rating, the newest results of the MND Sheinbaum Index™ found an almost 10-point increase in the president’s performance.
Security: Zacatecas car bomb and a cartel leader’s death
Eleven people, including a policewoman, were injured Sunday night when a car bomb exploded outside a municipal police station in Ojocaliente — the third explosives attack in Zacatecas in four days. Authorities are investigating whether the blast was retaliation for the Saturday capture of an alleged Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) sicario. The explosion damaged 30 properties and 13 vehicles; classes were suspended and army troops deployed to the municipality.
The next day, Mexican Army and Navy forces killed Luis Enrique Barragán Chávez, known as “El Güicho” or “R5,” in a shootout in Tocumbo, Michoacán. Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch identified Barragán as the leader of the Cártel de Los Reyes and the main coordinator of extortion against avocado producers in the state; the U.S. had offered a $3 million reward for his arrest on drug and firearms charges.
At her Friday mañanera in Zacatecas, Sheinbaum’s Security Cabinet reported the state’s daily homicide rate fell 85% in August compared to September 2024, and that more than 3,800 people have been arrested there since she took office. Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, responding to a Fox News report on U.S. anti-drone operations at the border, said the drones are mainly used by migrant smugglers and declined to confirm Mexican military involvement in the U.S. takedowns.
Mexico-U.S. trade relations: Tariffs, cheese and an uncertain USMCA
Mexico-U.S. trade talks hit a snag over cheese this week, with U.S. officials pressuring Mexico to amend a May agreement with the European Union that grants regional-name protections to products like Parmigiano Reggiano and manchego. The U.S. government’s position is that these names are generic; the European Commission says the deal isn’t open to amendment, leaving Mexico caught between two trading partners.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the sidelines of a G20 Innovation Ministerial in North Carolina on Wednesday, pressing the U.S. to lift tariffs on Mexican cars, steel and aluminum, which Mexico calls unjustified. Sheinbaum said Thursday her government is working to secure a better tariff agreement, noting that most Mexican exports still enter the U.S. duty-free under the USMCA.
The tariff dispute traces back to Washington’s decision not to renew USMCA in its current form for a further 16 years, leaving the pact’s future — and Mexico’s manufacturing-heavy states — in limbo pending ongoing bilateral talks.
Economy: The peso strengthens as growth forecasts improve
The peso hit a 28-month high against the dollar on Friday, trading at 16.863, reviving talk of a “super peso.” Analysts attribute the gains partly to peso strength and partly to the dollar’s weakness. A stronger peso cuts import costs and inflation but squeezes exporters’ margins and remittance values, with agricultural states like Michoacán most exposed.
Earlier in the week, Banxico raised its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 1.5%, up from 1.1%, citing stronger-than-expected second-quarter growth, while flagging USMCA uncertainty and geopolitical tensions as downside risks.
Mexico’s tourism sector added a bright note: The World Travel & Tourism Council ranked Mexico fourth globally in tourism-generated GDP, behind only the U.S., China and Germany, with Quintana Roo cited as the main driver.
Looking ahead
Trade talks with Washington remain unresolved on both cheese labeling and industrial tariffs, with no clear timeline for a new USMCA agreement as bilateral dialogue continues. Meanwhile, Hurricane Marie, a Category 2 storm off Baja California Sur, is expected to weaken to a Category 1 by Saturday as it moves out to sea, though Conagua warned that atmospheric instability could keep bringing rain to the country’s interior into next week. Zacatecas remains under heightened security following last week’s car bomb attack, with federal, state and municipal forces reinforcing operations in Ojocaliente.
Some good news to end the week
- Cheesemakers in Pijijiapan, Chiapas reclaimed the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest cheese ball.
- Heavy August rains pushed Mexico City’s Cutzamala reservoir system to its highest level in a decade.
- A team of Mexican researchers will build a detector to track particles from the universe’s earliest moments for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
- Archaeologists in Veracruz uncovered a ceremonial plaza and stele with features never before recorded in the region.
Mexico News Daily
This story contains summaries of original Mexico News Daily articles. The summaries were generated by Claude, then revised and fact-checked by a Mexico News Daily staff editor.
The singing frog that came to symbolize midcentury Mexico
While it may be a fine place to avoid New Orleans’ sweltering heat, Tulane University’s Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library serves a much larger purpose as a repository of Mexico travel and tourism ephemera, including magazines, hotel brochures and highway maps.
Together, the collection offers a unique look at how the United States’ southern neighbors were constructed as attractive vacation destinations throughout the midcentury.
Mexico especially loomed large in the imagination of U.S. tourists. It was a period when, as historian Mauricio Tenorio notes, Mexico was understood as a “Brown Atlantis” — where revolutionary thought fermented, and the Pan-American Highway promised access to exotic adventures. Everyone wanted to meet Frida Kahlo and visit Teotihuacán, all while dreaming up global politics anew.
Two brochures found in the Mexican ephemera collection tell how Mexico feted itself for an international community, including the crooning amphibian that would become the country’s unofficial mascot during the time.
The singing frogs of Taxco
First is a trifold brochure from arguably Mexico’s most famous nightclub during the second half of the 20th century — Cantarranas. However, the site didn’t always host the international glitterati.
Located in the silver-mining town of Taxco, roughly 2.5 hours outside of Mexico City, the estate was initially conceived in 1538 by Hernán Cortés, who ordered its construction so that he could extract the region’s precious materials.
Dubbed Hacienda Cantarranas, – literally “singing frogs” due to the loud chorus of frogs living in the nearby area – Cortés’ son Martín de Cortés oversaw its construction, which featured large stones along a hillside. Over the years, the infrastructure took its toll on the unstable land it was built on and was ultimately abandoned in favor of a new locale.
For the next four centuries, the site was nothing more than a derelict ghost of Mexico’s colonial past. That is, until one entrepreneur saw an opportunity.
Antonio “Tony” Reyes Ramírez, who would later become Taxco’s minister of tourism, officially opened Cantarranas in 1957. Eager to capitalize on its history, Reyes Ramírez kept the name and leaned on its playful imagery in his marketing materials.
Cantarranas quickly developed a global reputation as a lively hangout throughout the 1960s and 70s, and even featured prominently in a popular television show of the time.
The brochure for Catarranas promises tourists a night of “flamenco dancing by Estela Calderón,” “Carl Brice directly from Nassau, Bahamas,” “Primitive African Drums by the owner and Manager of Cantarranas Tony Reyes,” and “The Latin American Rhythms of the great pianist Juan García Esquivel.”
The nightclub also housed several distinct spaces, including the “Twilight Room,” the “Patio,” the “Flamenco Room” and the “Mulata Room.” Newspapers of the time reported that, inside Cantarranas, “the audience moves en masse from room to room as each show finishes.”
During that same decade, the brochure from Tulane notes that Cantarranas was chosen as the backdrop for an episode of the NBC series, “I Spy,” entitled “Return to Glory,” which aired Feb. 23, 1966.
In it, Alexander Scott – played by Bill Cosby – is tipped off by U.S. intelligence to visit Cantarranas, where he rendezvouses with the wife of a deposed president of an unnamed Latin American country. Famed Mexican actress Dolores del Río plays the part of the wife, as Cosby and costar Robert Culp try to negotiate the democratic leader’s return to his home nation.
Cantarranas’ popularity continued to grow throughout the early- to mid-1970s.
A newspaper article from 1974 lists several of the club’s attractions, including “Flying Indian Men,” a discotheque called “The Psychedelic Cave,” bullfighting lessons, a piñata party, and calypso songs by Carl Brice.
Got 1 min? Mariachi frogs stolen from Acapulco found hundreds of kilometers away
However, as a new decade dawned, Cantarranas was beginning to lose its luster.
An article from 1978 reported that “Cantarranas is a little rough around the edges.” Two years later, the club was described as “the kind of place that you wouldn’t miss if you missed it. But worth it if you’re utterly bored.”
Unable to sustain itself any longer, in 1983, the Mexican state of Guerrero acquired the property and converted it into a culinary school and arts center. In 1992, it changed hands once again, this time to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México as a school for foreign nationals.
Despite its short life, Cantarranas heralded Mexico’s midcentury miracle as its nascent legacy was beginning to be forged.
The birth of Señor Frogs
Twelve years after Cantarranas opened, another Mexican restaurateur, Carlos Anderson, was cooking up a similar concept that would come to define the Mexican resort experience well into the 21st century – Señor Frog’s.
First opened in Mazatlan in 1969, Señor Frog’s capitalized on that same midcentury swagger, with waiters slinging tequila shots and cajoling spontaneous conga lines in a neon cave. It’s unclear why Señor Frog’s succeeded where Cantarranas ultimately failed, but it did.
It wasn’t just the nightclub scene, either. The Tulane collection includes another brochure with a singing frog on it — this one from Pemex or Petróleos Mexicanos, the company formed in 1938 by the Mexican government to sell the nation’s significant oil supply.
The brochure includes maps of Mexican highways and invites travelers to explore the best routes. There is no mention of Cantarranas, or Taxco, or even nightclubs. However, at this point the singing frog had become emblematic of Mexico’s exotic sights, electric nights and cultural spectacle.
From Hacienda Cantarranas to Tony Reyes’ “Singing Frogs” bar, through a national oil company and today’s Señor Frog’s franchises, the brochure in Tulane University’s Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library chronicles the birth of a national symbol, while documenting how tourists were meant to imagine the delights of midcentury Mexico – strange, inviting and culturally savvy, not unlike a crooning amphibian.
Kevin M. Anzzolin earned a PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago. He is the author of “Guardians of Discourse: Literature and Journalism in Porfirian Mexico,” published by the University of Nebraska Press (2024), which received an Honorable Mention from LASA-Mexico for Best Book in the Humanities in 2025. He currently teaches language and literature courses at Christopher Newport University (Virginia, USA). He also publishes in more public fora.
Is Mexican-made kombucha underrated?
There are few drinks in history with an eccentrically bubbly origin story like kombucha.
The fermented probiotic can be traced back to China around 221 B.C. during the Qin Dynasty, when it was consumed as a “remedy for immortality” by those who considered the yeasty, naturally carbonated black tea a source of long-lasting health and vitality.
The long history of kombucha
In 414 B.C., the Smithsonian reports, the cloudy beverage was imported to Japan by a Korean doctor named Kombu, in order to treat Emperor Inkyo. To further complicate its history, Japan already had its own form of kombucha, made from kombu (brown seaweed) and cha (tea).
According to Forbes, kombucha began to spread during the global trade expansion of the 20th century, when the fermented Chinese tea variety migrated into Europe, with Russia and Germany having adopted it as “kambucha” and “kombuchaschwamm,” respectively.
In 1955, Italian piano prodigy Renato Carosone delivered a hit single, “Stu Fungo Cinese!” (translated as “The Chinese Fungus!”), which was rooted in a Chinese mushroom infusion similar to kombucha.
The drink gained mainstream popularity in China during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, with homebrews known as “Stomach Treasure” touted as digestive tonics.
Finally, in the 1990s, kombucha entered the North American market, largely thanks to major U.S. brands like GT’s Kombucha.
In the past decade, kombucha’s ubiquity — and value — has skyrocketed as one of the fastest-growing beverage markets on the continent. Now a mainstream supermarket item, North American kombucha sales generated revenue of US $2.1 billion in 2025, with revenues expected to top US $4 billion by 2033.
Tío Scoby kombucha: a healthy — and fizzy — alternative to soda
Of course, the United States accounts for much of the lion’s share. But a market study revealed that Mexico is predicted to have the continent’s largest compound annual growth rate for kombucha in the coming years.
So what has taken kombucha so long to work its magic in Mexico?
Mexico as a country of many beverages — except kombucha, until recently
In my personal recollection, the Eurasian style of kombucha was never plentiful in Mexico. As a child, I could get all sorts of aguas frescas, carbonated sodas and any flavored drinks imaginable. As I grew older, that evolved into other forms of consumption (micheladas, carajillos, etc.). But I have no memory of ever seeing kombucha on a restaurant menu, at a cafe or in mercados.
Here’s my theory: With all of the other beverages that are made in, and often native to, Mexico — including tepache, a naturally fermented pineapple drink — the craft of Asian and Western kombuchas couldn’t get a foothold. In a country where you can easily get tequila, mezcal, pulque, sugar cane aguardiente, rum, atole, arroz con leche and so much more on practically every corner in any pueblo (often made by someone in the neighborhood with generations of family knowledge, ancestral practices and native ingredients at their disposal), kombucha didn’t necessarily have much demand. I’ve watched señoras prepare natural tea remedies from flowers they’ve handpicked from their gardens. But getting offered kombucha inside someone’s home? Never.
It wasn’t until the mid-to-late 2010s that I started to notice kombucha — commercially and independently bottled — as a relatively more common option around Mexico.
Kombucha in Veracruz and other states in Mexico
Near my home in downtown Xalapa (a region known for its rich and deeply rooted coffee history), all of the new-school cafes now offer kombucha, with a noticeable amount of homebrewed and locally made brands available. While recently enjoying my neighborhood on foot, I popped into a few nearby cafes — touted for their espressos, flat whites and other caffeinated brews — and was excited to see artisanal kombucha on nearly every menu. I asked the owner of Marcelo whether she has noticed a rise in kombucha’s popularity and consumption; she confirmed that within the past five years (by her estimation) kombucha has exploded with trendiness across Mexico. She even started to experiment with brewing her own batches, but after failed attempts, opted to get her supply from LindaSol Fermentería, a micro-kombuchería located a few miles from her cafe in Xalapa.
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My personal go-to is Agua Brava, made by the chef at Bravo Pizza, a small pizzeria that opened in Xalapa two years ago. Their kombucha flavors rotate weekly and are made in-house and bottled on-site. Among other favorites that I’ve found in Veracruz are Komboocha Puerto (from the port city of Veracruz), Dominga Kombucha (from Cholula, Puebla) and Naran Fermentos (from Xalapa). Mexico City, Guadalajara, San José del Cabo and other cities are no different, offering their own unique brands like Cali Kombucha in Baja California Sur. Data and testimonials suggest that kombucha first infiltrated Mexico’s market roughly a decade ago, when Mexican-owned brands like the aforementioned Cali Kombucha and Brew Lab from Oaxaca launched their brands around 2015 and 2016, respectively.
To highlight the Mexicanization of kombucha since then, “kombucherías” are now a thing in Mexico — as evidenced in the social media reel above, made by a British tourist tasting Oaxacan kombucha in Mazunte. Spoiler: It’s “banging.”
Kombucha a la mexicana: Basil jamaica, pineapple coconut, and more
Though you won’t casually walk past a kombuchería on every corner, you’re likely to encounter a local kombucha brewer in your neighborhood, who might directly sell unmarked jugs or labeled microbatches of their SCOBY-made (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) concoctions. You’ll also find it in most grocery markets with a cosmopolitan clientele, or in small businesses that are dedicated to holistic living and organic products.
Rancho La Puerta — From US $17.50 a day to one of the world’s greatest destination spas
Often, the flavors have a tropical Mexican vibe: maracuyá, tamarindo, coconut, mango. Some brands add additional ingredients like ancho chile peppers, jalapeño, honey or kiwi for an extra kick of spice, sweetness or tang. Puebla’s Domingo Kombucha has a killer guayaba option — subtly effervescent, fruity and mellow. Mexico City’s Umani offers canned options including orange turmeric, Mexican pepperleaf and fig. Bruja Sana from Yucatán emphasizes herbally minty options with green, earthy additions like romero and hierba buena.
Many of Mexico’s leading kombucha brands are independent, and offer or encourage other lifestyle supplements like yoga and Pilates classes, SCOBY workshops and more. It’s far from commercial profit and mass-made consumer-targeted sales; instead, kombucha offers a doorway into a wider range of health-centered practices and mindful consumption with regional flavor.
Alan Chazaro is the author of “These Spaceships Weren’t Built For Us” (Tia Chucha Press, 2026), “Notes from the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021), “Piñata Theory” (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), and “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album” (Black Lawrence Press, 2019). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and was selected as a Lawrence Ferlinghetti Poetry Fellow at the University of San Francisco. His work can be found in NPR, The Guardian, SLAM, GQ, L.A. Times, and more. He is currently based in Veracruz.
New episode: ‘Confidently Wrong’ podcast tackles expat money habits and mistakes
Money affects everyone living in or traveling to Mexico. It is with that in mind that Mexico News Daily has launched a new weekly series called “Mexico and My Money.” You can read about the thinking behind the series here: Mexico and My Money: A new series MND on personal finance.
Our team recently conducted a survey of over 700 expats living in 25 states throughout Mexico about how they handle money while living in the country. The results were striking: Despite wariness of Mexican banks, 71% of respondents own a home in Mexico and nearly eight in 10 have made some kind of investment here — in real estate, a business, stocks or bonds. Nearly one in five respondents said they’d been victimized by a financial crime, with stories ranging from a landlord who kept a deposit “without cause” to a household employee who stole from a family over eight years. You can see the full results here: Mexico and My Money: What you told us about your personal finance habits and hang-ups.
In this week’s episode of “Confidently Wrong,” George and I dig into those results. We talk about banking in Mexico, cash and credit cards, the money mistakes expats wish they’d avoided. You will learn what are others doing differently and about best practices for money in Mexico. Check it out!
Confidently wrong about Mexico and my money: Episode 7 - Season 3
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
Why isn’t the peso at 37 to the US dollar? A perspective from our CEO
Here is a mindblowing number to think about: If the peso had performed similarly from 2020 to the present as it did in the previous 25 years (from 1995 to 2020), the current exchange rate would be near 37 pesos to the US dollar!
That statistic puts into perspective how incredible the current exchange rate of 16.86 (as of Friday) really is. With the peso back near record highs in what seems like an unbreakable trend, I thought it would be a good time to do a refresher on the topic of the MXN:USD exchange rate.
For decades, the peso reliably lost about 10% of its value against the dollar every year. Although that devaluation was bad for some and good for others, its consistency and predictability allowed businesses, governments and families to plan around it. The fact that the past five-plus years have been so dramatically different — so unpredictable — has had some real impacts on Mexico.
With that in mind, I thought I would share some of the top columns I have written about the peso over these past several years to help us understand why its its happening, if it might continue, and what we can do about it. Each one tackles a different angle of the story. Please enjoy.
- When will the Mexican peso begin to behave rationally again? — Why the peso stopped following its old, predictable rules — and what “rational” behavior would even look like now.
- Is the peso punching above its weight? The results of our latest MND Peso Index™ — Our MND Peso Index™ compares real prices in Mexico and the U.S. to understand the real value of the peso.
When will the Mexican peso begin to behave rationally again? A perspective from our CEO
- Mexico in Numbers: The peso’s wildest swings since 2000 — A numbers-driven look back at 25 years of exchange rate history.
- What’s next for the peso? — A forward-looking read on where the exchange rate could realistically head next.
Mexico in Numbers: The peso’s wildest swings since 2000
- Is the peso about to peak? — The signs that suggest the peso’s historic run might be nearing its limit.
- How to stop a speeding super peso — What tools the government and Banco de México actually have to slow the peso down, and whether they’re likely to use them.
How to stop a speeding ‘super peso’: A perspective from our CEO
- How can we predict what will happen next with the Mexican peso? — A practical framework for reading the signals, so you’re not just guessing.
- Pros and cons of the superpeso — Who wins and who loses when the peso gets this strong, and why it’s not all good news.
Pros and cons of the ‘superpeso’: A perspective from our CEO
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
135 doctors sickened by salmonella outbreak at Mexico City’s General Hospital
A salmonella outbreak at Mexico City’s General Hospital has sickened 135 doctors, leaving 41 hospitalized, including 15 who find themselves in the intensive care unit.
The doctors began showing symptoms last week, but the authorities initially ignored them, according to a source cited by the newspaper Reforma. However, as more and more physicians reported abdominal pain, diarrhea, low-grade fever and vomiting, an investigation was carried out.
The hospital’s dining room was finally shut down on Monday after bacterial infection and E. coli coinfection were confirmed, but administrators are receiving criticism after disregarding the initial complaints.
Reforma reported that as a result of the delayed care, the conditions of several of the doctors worsened, with some developing kidney failure and hypovolemic shock.
A shelter that previously housed family members of long-term patients was converted into a ward for the sick doctors. The area had been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the emergency room was overflowing, it was reopened.
Officials cited by the newspaper El País said that all those affected had received medical attention and were in stable condition, although 41 remained hospitalized as of Thursday.
Health Minister Dr. David Kershenobich downplayed the reports that doctors were admitted to intensive care, saying on Friday that it was “not related to the severity of their symptoms, rather it was a matter of making available any space we had to receive the staff and hydrate them.”
The hospital has two cafeterias, one for health care staff and workers, and another for resident physicians, which is outsourced. Early analysis suggests contaminated eggs caused the infection.
Once the source of the outbreak was confirmed, hospital administrators ordered the suspension of the outsourced dining service.
Management is actively searching for and monitoring those potentially exposed to the contaminated food.
El Financiero newspaper reported that Restaurantes Grogi, a commercial food service and catering company, holds the food preparation contract for the dining room that was shuttered.
The company holds two federal contracts worth over 333 million pesos (US $19.7 million) to run medical dining halls. The contracts require the company to perform routine bacteriological testing on all prepared food.
With reports from Reforma, El País and El Financiero
The super peso is back. What does that mean for Mexico?
The peso gained against the dollar in early trading on Friday, hitting its strongest point in 28 months and highlighting recent assertions that the “super peso” is back.
But before Mexico’s currency gets fitted for a cape, it’s worth examining what the peso’s surge means for Mexico.
At 10 a.m. Mexico City time on Friday, the spot exchange rate hit a new yearly low of 16.863 pesos to the US dollar, a gain of 6.5 centavos compared to Thursday’s close of 16.928 pesos.
With the peso on track to gain nearly 10 centavos this week and last month’s 1.87% gain pushing yearly appreciation to nearly 6%, it’s no wonder that talk of the super peso has been revived.
What is driving the peso appreciation?
The peso — one of the most-traded emerging market currencies — is not unusually strong compared to other emerging market currencies, Graham Stock, an analyst at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, told Reuters.
Instead, “the dollar has been weak compared to previous cycles.”
If the peso’s strength were purely a result of dollar weakness, however, it would be rising alongside other currencies. Instead, it has gained against other major currencies.
Alejo Czerwonko, emerging markets analyst at UBS Global Wealth Management, says this is “a sign that domestic factors, not just broad dollar weakness, are at play.” Those factors include lower trade-risk premiums, political stability and solid macroeconomic conditions, Czerwonko said.
Marco Oviedo, senior strategist for Latin America at XP Investments, said that after Mexico’s 2024 election many long-term investors, such as pension funds and insurers, stepped back from the peso and have largely stayed away.
Recent gains have been stoked primarily by “fast money” investors (i.e., hedge funds and short-term traders) rather than by the reappearance of longer-term institutional buyers — an important distinction, analysts say, since the type of investor can shape how long a rally lasts.
Investors, strategists and economists have also issued warnings about trade policy.
For instance, RBC BlueBay’s Stock cites “clear uncertainty” around how the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship plays out after the Trump administration declined to approve a 16-year extension for the USMCA free trade agreement.
It remains to be seen what the USMCA will look like afterward, Stock said, particularly as Mexico pursues separate bilateral discussions.
Is the peso punching above its weight? The results of our latest MND Peso Index™
So what are the positives and negatives?
A stronger currency can be a mixed blessing.
On the positive side, there are lower import costs, less inflationary pressure, cheaper inputs and greater purchasing power for those who buy products from abroad.
On the negative side, there is lower value in remittances, pressure on exporters’ margins and a loss of competitiveness for domestic producers against cheaper imports.
The stakes are high since Mexico sends more than 80% of its exports to the United States. A stronger peso benefits sectors that import a significant portion of their inputs, machinery and equipment. The agricultural export sector, meanwhile, faces a less favorable outlook because its costs are not linked to imported inputs, preventing it from compensating for losses when exporting.
“About 77% of Mexican imports are intermediate goods … [and] used to produce other goods,” Ana Karen García, a researcher at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) told the newspaper El Economista. “This protects the manufacturing sector, since although it loses money when exporting, it pays less for these goods when importing.”
As a result, states with strong manufacturing sectors integrated into global supply chains, such as automotive, electronics, electrical and machinery, stand to benefit, García said.
On the other hand, states dominated by the agriculture sector lose out. Many of those states — such as Michoacán — rely on remittances which often shrink in the face of the super peso.
With reports from El Economista and Reuters
Led by Quintana Roo, Mexico’s tourism GDP ranks fourth globally, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council
Mexico has been ranked fourth globally by the World Travel & Tourism Council in tourism-generated revenue as a contribution to the GDP, both overall and in the specific category of leisure tourism.
The high-level performance places Mexico behind only the United States, China and Germany, and makes it the only Latin American nation in the top 10 in both rankings.
“It is a pleasure to announce that Mexico ranks fourth in both rankings, which reflects its consolidation as an international tourist destination,” head of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Gloria Guevara said during the presentation of the rankings in Cancún, Quintana Roo.
The famous beach resort was a fitting site for the presentation, as it is part of its state’s Caribbean coast that the data shows is the driving force behind Mexico’s tourism dominance.
In the indicator of direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP, Mexico registered US $149.4 billion in 2025. This figure includes the value generated directly by activities such as lodging, transportation, restaurants, travel agencies, attractions, and services contracted by visitors.
The U.S. topped the list with US $885.8 billion, followed by China with US $434.8 billion and Germany with US $202.9 billion.
Mexico also ranked fourth globally in visitor spending on leisure and recreation travel (as opposed to other travel categories, such as medical, cultural, adventure, ecological, etc.). This indicator, which considers mainly visitors on vacations and short breaks, again places Mexico behind the three largest economies in the ranking.
Guevara, a former Mexican tourism minister, mentioned that Mexico was the fastest-growing market in North America, ahead of Canada and the United States, where tourist spending contracted due to fewer travelers.
The WTTC ranked Mexico sixth in the Americas in growth of international visitor spending compared to 2019, with an increase of 1.7%. That percentage is above the world average but below Cuba, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil for that period.
Quintana Roo strengthened its position as one of the driving forces of tourism in Mexico. According to Guevara, the state maintains its momentum with its sun and beach offerings, connectivity, and collaborative efforts between the state government, hoteliers and the WTTC itself.
With reports from El Economista and SPD Noticias
El Jalapeño: Aside from derailments, budget overruns, low ridership and environmental issues, Maya Train a massive success, officials say
All stories in El Jalapeño are satire and not real news. Check out the original article here.
SAN FRANCISCO DE CAMPECHE, Campeche — State rail officials confirmed Tuesday that the Maya Train project has officially achieved all primary strategic milestones, provided one excludes the ongoing sequence of track-related incidents, multi-billion-peso operating deficits, unmaterialized passenger volume, and ecological disruption across the Yucatán Peninsula.
Speaking at a morning press conference following Monday’s partial derailment near San Francisco de Campeche — officially classified as a “50-meter lateral track-adjustment phenomenon” — officials praised the flagship infrastructure project for exceeding performance metrics in every category that does not involve continuous, forward train movement.
“When you step back and evaluate the project holistically, removing minor operational variables like wheel-to-rail contact and revenue generation, the Maya Train is operating at peak efficiency,” said Director of Strategic Messaging Arturo Velázquez, gesturing toward a series of charts that ended cleanly before the first quarter’s financial data. “The tracks exist, the scenery remains breathtaking and passengers are receiving unprecedented road-transportation exposure during precautionary evacuations.”
According to internal reports, the system’s safety protocols performed flawlessly on Monday afternoon when the final carriage of a Cancún–Palenque train gently departed the steel rail moments after leaving the terminal. Officials emphasized that transferring 123 passengers onto highway buses to complete their rail journey demonstrated the project’s flexible, multimodal transit vision.
“Many rail lines only offer rail service, which reflects a narrow, single-transport mindset,” Velázquez said, noting that the Railway Accident Review Commission expects to issue a comprehensive report on the incident as soon as the track-switching components finish their scheduled period of administrative reflection. “Our passengers enjoy a dynamic, hybrid experience where the train journey organically transitions into a scenic motorcoach tour.”
Regarding concerns from ecological groups, management clarified that the felling of millions of jungle trees and the puncturing of ancient subterranean cenotes were not environmental damages, but rather strategic structural aerations designed to allow local wildlife a better view of the passing locomotive. Addressing ridership numbers that remain a fraction of initial projections — and operating losses that continue to swallow massive federal subsidies — officials celebrated the quiet, uncrowded carriages as an exclusive luxury feature.
“Most modern mass transit suffers from severe overcrowding,” Velázquez pointed out. “By maintaining an average daily ridership that allows every single passenger to have three empty rows to themselves, we have created the world’s most peaceful, low-density megaproject.”
“To focus exclusively on whether the train stays on the tracks or turns a profit is to miss the broader narrative,” he added. “The Maya Train was built to connect communities, and yesterday, 123 travelers were brought remarkably close together while waiting on the shoulder of Highway 180.”
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