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The origins of Centro Cultural Tijuana, and how it continues to shape the city’s art and culture

By
Sandra Gancz Kahan
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Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT
CECUT and its distinctive architectural achievement, La Bola, which houses an IMAX theater, have been cultural landmarks in Tijuana for over 40 years. (Instagram)

Most people think of Tijuana as a place you pass through, a blur of traffic signs and waiting. President José López Portillo, who led Mexico between 1976 and 1982, set out to challenge that notion by commissioning a bold arts and culture center just five minutes from the border. Inaugurated in 1982, Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT) quickly became one of Baja California’s most important cultural institutions.

Spearheaded by a visionary first lady

The creation of CECUT was led by Carmen Romano, the wife of President López Portillo. As Mexico’s first lady from 1976 to 1982, Romano played an active role in the country’s cultural life and firmly believed that access to the arts should extend far beyond the capital.

CECUT Tijuana
President José López Portillo and his wife Carmen Romano were instrumental in the creation of CECUT, which opened in Tijuana in 1982. (Instagram)

Designed by architects who helped shape modern Mexico

The project was entrusted to architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, one of the most influential architects in modern Mexico. Known for integrating pre-Hispanic motifs with modernist principles, he created many of the nation’s most emblematic civil landmarks. Through the National Border Program, for example, he had already designed the Museo de Arte in Ciudad Juárez.

However, his most celebrated work is the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, inaugurated in 1964. With its monumental courtyard and iconic concrete umbrella, the building transformed how history and identity were presented, placing Indigenous cultures at the core. Ramírez Vázquez also designed the Estadio Azteca and multiple venues for the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. His way of showcasing Mexico to the world even reached the Vatican when he designed the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

Manuel Rosen Morrison, an innovator already recognized for designing the beautiful Japanese Embassy in Mexico, was also a designer on the project. He approached CECUT with a bold idea: the building itself should announce that it housed an IMAX theater. By adding color directly into the concrete mix, he gave the structure its warm tone and sculptural presence. The choice was both forward-thinking and practical. Without paint or coatings, the dome ages naturally and requires less maintenance, allowing time itself to become part of its character.

The iconic dome

CECUT unfolds across 3.5 hectares (nearly 9 acres) in one of Tijuana’s most modern districts, functioning less like a single museum and more like a cultural ecosystem. At its center is La Bola, the complex’s most visually striking feature.

The massive sphere was built to house one of the country’s most advanced movie theaters at the time. It originally operated as an Omnimax theater, using a curved screen to create a fully immersive experience, and was later rebranded as IMAX Dome. The first film shown there was created especially for the space and celebrated Mexico’s landscapes and cultures.

An unexpected look at the surrounding seas

Another main attraction is the Tijuana Aquarium, the only facility of its kind in Baja California. Opened in 2012, the 300-square-meter space offers a close-up look at marine life from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. Around 500 animals live here, including native regional fish, species from other parts of the world, Australian corals, jellyfish, turtles and freshwater creatures. Designed as an educational space, the aquarium aims to connect visitors with the sea and ocean that border the peninsula.

The history that blurs the borderline

Museo de las Californias in Tijuana
The Museo de las Californias at CECUT welcomes visitors to explore the region’s fascinating history. (CECUT)

The Museo de las Californias guides visitors through the region’s complex history. The journey begins before California had a name and moves steadily toward the present day. Along the way, Indigenous cultures, Spanish colonization, missionary routes, migration, shifting borders, revolutions and environmental change are woven into a continuous narrative, showing how Baja California and the U.S. West evolved together.

El Cubo is Tijuana’s venue for contemporary art

The sense of evolution continues at El Cubo, a space devoted to contemporary art. It hosts exhibitions that meet international standards, from large-scale installations to photography, sculpture and painting. El Cubo’s more than 1,500 square meters are spread across several exhibition halls, a mezzanine and outdoor terraces, giving curators room to experiment and visitors space to linger. It has hosted exhibits featuring Mexican and international artists, with themes that range from cutting-edge visual trends to deeply local stories shaped by border life and migration.

Where Tijuana’s cultural energy takes the stage

The Sala de Espectáculos is a modern performance hall with a thousand seats. It hosts a wide range of events throughout the year, from theater and contemporary dance to concerts, film presentations and multimedia productions. Its design allows for professional staging and acoustics. On busy nights, the energy spills outside to the adjacent esplanade, where festivals and open-air events turn the surrounding plazas into an extension of the stage.

CECUT also serves as a gathering point for creative communities through events like FotoFilm Tijuana, an annual photography and film festival that brings together local and international creators. Screenings, workshops, and panel discussions turn the center into a meeting place for visual storytellers and curious audiences alike.

A powerful presence at the border

Just steps from one of the busiest border crossings in the world, CECUT invites visitors to pause and see Tijuana not as a place you pass through, but as a city with a strong cultural pulse. It has a way of reshaping first impressions and reminding you that some of the most meaningful stories live right at the edge.

Sandra 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: sandragancz@gmail.com.

Mexico’s soaring tech exports have taken the lead over the automotive sector

By
MND Staff
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tech equipment
Mexico has been emphasizing higher-cost, more-profitable electronic products as demand for them has increased in the United States. (Unsplash)

Helped along by the U.S. decision to decrease tech imports from China, Mexico is exporting record quantities of computer equipment and other electronics to such an extent that tech has overtaken automotive as Mexico’s leading export sector.

According to an analysis by Banco Base, national exports grew 7.64% in 2025, but shipments under heading #8471, which covers computer equipment, grew nearly 145% — a surge so outsized it knocked new automobiles off the top spot for the first time.

big computer stuff
The strength of Mexico’s export figures for electronics has a lot to do with computer equipment not being subject to any rules-of-origin restrictions, meaning that many products fall within the criteria of the USMCA free trade agreement. (Unsplash)

Leading the tech export boom are Chihuahua and Jalisco.

Chihuahua alone accounted for 46% of all computer equipment exports, while Jalisco contributed 23% — together representing nearly seven out of every ten dollars in Mexican tech exports. Both states saw their technology and electronics shipments drive overall export figures to record highs, with Chihuahua reaching an export value of almost $110 billion in 2025 (from 75 billion in 2024) and Jalisco climbing to nearly $53 billion (from $32 billion).

Jalisco had never before achieved the status of the leading non-border state in terms of exports.

The strength of Mexico’s export figures for electronics has a lot to do with computer equipment not being subject to any rules-of-origin restrictions, meaning that many products fall within the criteria of the USMCA free trade agreement. 

As a result, the average U.S. tariff on Mexican electronics stood at just 0.45% throughout 2025, compared to the average tariff of 10.53% on the import of similar products from China. 

Computer processors were the single most exported product, at $80.5 billion, with just 0.71% of their value subject to a 25% tariff, according to the deputy director of economic studies at Banamex, Rodolfo Ostolaza. 

“Decades of investment in North American supply chains have created products that easily comply with the USMCA rules of origin,” explained Ostolaza in an interview with Forbes.

Mexico has been emphasizing higher-cost, more-profitable electronic products as demand for them has increased in the United States. Modernization is also solidifying through automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. 

Move over cars; the computer is king  

The increase in U.S. demand for computer equipment is driven by the growth in the country’s data center sector, with investment growing by 30% between 2024 and 2025 to reach $102.2 billion. Meanwhile, U.S. investment in information processing equipment and computers increased by nearly 22% last year. 

In addition to Chihuahua and Jalisco, Baja California (13% of total tech exports), Tamaulipas (7%) and Nuevo León (5%) also made important inroads in the sector in 2025. 

The equipment is mainly destined for six U.S. states, which accounted for 96.92% of related exports in 2025: Texas (67%), Georgia (10%), North Carolina (6%), California (5%), Arizona (4.11%) and Virginia (4%).

Employment in Mexico’s computer equipment manufacturing sector reached 331,411 workers in 2025, representing over 7% of total manufacturing employment. 

While Mexico’s tech manufacturing sector has the potential to continue growing, it is currently operating at production capacity, meaning there is no room to increase output without investing in new facilities, according to the director of Banco Base Gabriela Siller.

With reports from Forbes México and El Informador 

Opinion: What might a regional utopia look like? Part 2

By
Pedro Casas Alatriste
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Pedro Casas explains why Mexico, the U.S. and Canada need a deliberate strategy that puts small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the center.
Pedro Casas explains why Mexico, the U.S. and Canada need a deliberate strategy that puts small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the center. (Courtesy of the author)

The global contest for industrial dominance isn’t between companies or even countries anymore. It’s between continental production systems.

Over the past two decades, China has built the most expansive manufacturing ecosystem in modern history. Twenty years ago, the United States accounted for more than twice China’s share of global manufacturing output. Today, China claims about 30 percent—roughly twice the U.S. figure.

Scale tells much of the story. China has constructed nearly two billion square meters of industrial warehouse space, the logistical spine of its manufacturing juggernaut. Mexico’s entire industrial real estate market, by comparison, is about 100 million square meters. If Mexico built capacity equivalent to just five percent of the warehouse space in China’s major manufacturing cities, its industrial footprint would double.

For the past three decades, all Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into China had to be anchored in hiring local providers and local workers, partnering with a Chinese company to produce and an obligation to technological transfer, among many other things. All of these have a profound involvement of the Chinese government.

This isn’t to say North America should mimic China. But it should learn from it. To compete with Asia’s integrated bloc, the region needs a deliberate strategy that puts small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the center, as the engine of widespread prosperity.

When we think about who gets the most benefits from the USMCA, most people point first to Mexico, then to Canada and sometimes hesitate about the United States. Yet we must double-click on those figures to be even more precise. A huge winner of the USMCA — not widely discussed enough — are American SMEs. Not the big Wall Street public companies, but actually the farmer from Iowa and Nebraska, the manufacturer from Ohio and Michigan, the family-owned machine shop in Texas and California. Let me explain why.

Mexico and Canada are the top destinations for U.S. SME export value, outpacing every other market. In recent years, SMEs have shipped roughly $90-110 billion to Mexico annually (40–45% of total U.S. exports there) and $80-100 billion to Canada (35–40% of the total). Proximity slashes costs, USMCA rules reward regional content and supply chains are so intertwined that smaller firms can plug right in-shipping parts to Monterrey or produce to Toronto without the headaches of trans-Pacific hauls. Against European or Asian competitors, these near-shore partners give American SMEs a decisive edge: lower barriers, faster turnaround and just-in-time reliability that far-flung rivals can’t match. Those exports keep heartland fields productive, Rust Belt factories humming and small-town paychecks steady — sustaining middle-class jobs where big multinationals often overlook.

Yet this SME success is uneven. FDI in Mexico clusters in the north and Bajío, leaving the south-southeast — a region rich in agriculture and untapped potential — largely sidelined. In the U.S., Rust Belt revival often focuses on headline-grabbing OEMs, ignoring the supplier networks that could revitalize smaller communities. To build a true regional utopia, we need policies that integrate SMEs everywhere, ensuring no part of North America is left behind.

The USMCA recognized this reality: Chapter 25, dedicated specifically to SMEs, was designed to help smaller firms access the opportunities created by regional trade. Yet, the next phase of North American integration should go further.

SMEs should not merely benefit indirectly from integration. They should become a central pillar of the region’s industrial strategy. I see several practical steps that could move North America toward a stronger SME-driven production platform.

First, we must ensure the development of supplier ecosystems. Industrial clusters, business and trade organizations should actively incorporate small firms into their supply chains and communities. Along with this should come trainings, know-how and technological transfers. Incentives for foreign investment could prioritize projects that develop local supplier networks, particularly in sectors such as automotive, electronics, agribusiness and advanced manufacturing. We must lose the fear of asking for conditions for foreign investors, not just set the dollar sign as the sole KPI (cough cough, this message is for you, my dear friends at the EDOs and Mexican Secretarios de Desarrollo Económico).

Second, talent mobility and workforce development. SMEs often face labor shortages and skills gaps. Regional certification systems and targeted mobility programs could enable technicians, engineers and specialized workers to temporarily cross borders to where they are most needed. This in hand can create regional spillovers in knowledge and ways (I will cover this topic in more depth in an article about talent mobility).

Third, digital integration of supply chains. China did it already. Digitalizing SMEs’ supply portfolios in a standardized way is the gateway to accessing big buyers. Small firms often struggle to navigate complex rules of origin, certification requirements and customs procedures. A unified North American digital trade platform, including single-window customs systems and shared supplier databases, could lower entry barriers and connect SMEs directly to regional manufacturing networks.

Fourth is access to capital investment. Development banks — national and regional — should increase capital risk investments to facilitate their access to SMEs and enhance their growth capacity. Without this, none of it will work.

Fifth is trusted-trader interoperability. Programs such as the U.S. CTPAT and Mexico’s OEA initiative already allow certified companies to move goods across borders with fewer inspections. Making these programs fully interoperable for SMEs would reduce border friction and allow smaller firms to participate more easily in cross-border supply chains.

Sixth, secure logistics corridors. Increased security in Mexico is essential for SMEs’ participation in regional supply chains. While big companies have equally big budgets to mitigate security risks, SMEs don’t have that margin. Security instability is an SME’s death penalty. (I will also dive deeper into these two topics when I write about the border).

‘We want there to be zero robberies on Mexico’s highways’: Tuesday’s mañanera recapped

We could increase the percentage of rules of origin for USMCA tariff-free access to North America. Nonetheless, if we don’t enhance the avenues for SME creation, empowerment and capacity building, we’ll undoubtedly be shooting ourselves in the foot (again?).

This isn’t zero-sum. When Mexican manufacturers grow, they buy U.S. machinery. When U.S. agricultural exports rise, Mexican logistics and processors expand too. China didn’t dominate because of a few giants; it built a dense web of suppliers, parks, and clusters.

I have no doubt that strengthening the millions of SMEs across the U.S. and Mexico will prove to be the most decisive step in turning integration into lasting prosperity.

Pedro Casas Alatriste is the Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham). Previously, he has been the Director of Research and Public Policy at the US-Mexico Foundation in Washington, D.C. and the Coordinator of International Affairs at the Business Coordinating Council (CCE). He has also served as a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank.

Fish fraud on the rise: Over one-third of seafood sold in Mexico isn’t what it claims to be

By
MND Staff
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CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 26FEBRERO2026.- Con el inicio de los Viernes de Cuaresma, los precios de pescados y mariscos incrementaron en los puestos del Mercado la Nueva Viga. En la imagen, un vendedor corta un pescado en filetes para su venta.
The study noted that vendors and restaurants are overcharging for things like red snapper, grouper (mero) and marlin, replacing them with cheaper species such as tilapia or catfish (bagre). (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)

According to a new study, seafood lovers in Mexico face some of the world’s highest rates of retail fraud, with more than one-third of fish sold in markets and restaurants turning out to be a different species than advertised.

A new report by the globally respected ocean conservation group Oceana found that 38% of 1,262 fish and seafood samples collected in restaurants and markets in the 10 largest Mexican cities were mislabeled or sold fraudulently — nearly double the roughly 20% global average cited by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

That means in about four out of every 10 purchases at these locations in Mexico, consumers get a different species than the one on the menu or label, often of lower value.

Written in Spanish, the 15-page report is titled “Gato X Liebre: engaño vigente, solución pendiente,” which translates roughly to “Bait and Switch: fraud persists, solution pending.” “Gato por liebre” (Cat for hare) is from a Spanish idiom meaning to cheat someone by passing off something inferior as something better.

The study notes that in Culiacán, capital of the Pacific Coast state of Sinaloa, substitution reaches an astounding 53%. 

Mazatlán, another key Pacific port, has a 36% rate, while Los Cabos in Baja California Sur tops 60%, according to the report.

Some of the most replaced species include sailfish (pez vela in Spanish) at 100% substitution, marlin (marlín) at 91%, sea bass (lobina) 89% and red snapper (huachinango) 54%, Oceana’s analysis found.

Turistas se entretienen viendo a un pescador con un pez vela recién capturado
Does sailfish (pez vela) even exist in Mexico? Oceana’s finding that 100% of “sailfish” sold is actually something else might make you wonder. (Cuartoscuro)

That means that in this particular study, everything purchased as sailfish turned out to be a different species — which is a bit of a flip, because in some coastal towns such as Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, diners say sailfish is routinely served as a cheaper stand‑in for dishes like mahi mahi (dorado) or swordfish (pez espada).

The study noted that vendors and restaurants are overcharging for things like red snapper, grouper (mero) and marlin, replacing them with cheaper species such as tilapia or catfish (bagre).

In some cases, red snapper was replaced with up to 16 different species, while marlin was swapped for shark species listed as at risk.

Oceana warns that the practice hits consumer wallets, undercuts law‑abiding fishing communities and threatens marine biodiversity. 

“There are no measures that give us complete information about the journey of fish products from boat to plate,” pointed out Esteban García‑Peña, coordinator of Research and Public Policy at Oceana.

The group argues that a national seafood traceability standard — tracking each product from catch to final sale — is needed to curb fraud, protect coastal economies and keep endangered species off dinner plates.

With reports from López Dóriga Digital, El Debate and El Heraldo de San Luis Potosí

Was someone really trying to tan on the National Palace?

By
MND Staff
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someone tanning from Mexico's National Palace
There's actually no law prohibiting a visitor from sunbathing on a National Palace window, according to the president. Rather, she said, it's a matter of respect. (Screenshot of video taken from Mexico City's Zócalo)

In an episode that could have been seen in MND’s much-loved El Jalapeño satirical column, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the viral image of a woman working on her tan from one of the windows of Mexico City’s National Palace wasn’t an AI-generated image but, rather, quite real.

The video surfaced a week ago and soon went viral. Although it was recorded from a mobile device at a long distance, it is possible to see that the individual is a young woman with her dress lifted modestly to bare her lower legs, presumably for tanning purposes.

Because the National Palace is the official residence and office of Mexico’s president, the video prompted debate about the inappropriate use of a historical and official building. 

Days later, the Infodemia MX organization, which belongs to the Mexican State Public Broadcasting System (SPR), said that it submitted the video through a verification process and concluded that it was a deepfake. 

However, Sheinbaum revealed during her Monday morning press conference that the content of the video is, in fact, real.

“At first, the relevant department requested information from the area where this window is located and they reported that no one had ever gone out to sunbathe there,” she said. “Later, they checked and it turns out that there was indeed a person who had sat in the window that day.” 

The president chuckled as she delivered the news, but was serious about the issue of respect.

“We must have great respect for what the National Palace represents as a historical landmark,” she said. “While it is not explicitly forbidden to sunbathe on a window at the National Palace, we must respect the meaning of this heritage.”

The woman has been sanctioned and informed that such actions were unacceptable, but Sheinbaum gave no details about what the sanctions consisted of, nor the identity of the woman.

This story has been the subject of countless memes online, including one with the headline “Government considers including the ‘tanning balcony’ in official tour,” by the satirical newspaper el Deforma.

With reports from Infobae

Attention travelers: Truckers and farmers announce mega-blockade on April 6

By
MND Staff
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a highway blockade in Mexico
The highway blockades are expected to commence on Monday morning, with most to be set up by 7 a.m. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)

Truckers and farmers are set to protest on highways across Mexico next Monday, April 6, in a collective effort to create another so-called megabloqueo, or mega-blockade.

The National Truckers Association (ANTAC) and the National Front for the Rescue of the Countryside (FNRCM) have confirmed that a nationwide protest against insecurity on highways and other problems will take place on Easter Monday.

ANTAC leader David Estévez Gamboa said in a video message that April 6 was deliberately chosen as the protest date so as not to affect people using the nation’s highways during the Holy Week holiday period.

“We want people to be able to go on vacation, we’re not irresponsible. But after, on April 6, we have the need to protest,” he said, calling the planned action a “national strike.”

Despite those remarks, it appears inevitable that some vacationers (and many other motorists) will be affected by highway blockades next Monday. School holidays will not end until Friday of next week.

The protest planned for Monday will take place some four months after truckers and farmers blocked highways for days on end to call on the federal government to combat insecurity and extortion and provide more support for producers of crops such as corn and beans.

Cars wait on a highway blocked by tractors bearing protest signs
In November, farmers organized a major blockade in protest of a reform to the National Water Law that created backups in more than half of Mexico’s 32 states. (Adolfo Vladimir/Cuartoscuro)

Estévez asserted that authorities are not interested in resolving the problem of insecurity on Mexico’s highways, a view the federal government rejects. According to the protest organizers, security problems on highways include robberies, abductions, homicides and acts of extortion perpetrated by members of security forces. Eraclio Rodríguez, an FNRCM delegate in Chihuahua, told the Reforma newspaper that the federal Agriculture Ministry hasn’t fulfilled commitments it made to farmers in December.

To express their opposition to the prevailing situation, Estévez called on protesters to “paralyze absolutely everything” next Monday — i.e., bring the country, or at least its highways, to a standstill.

In addition to urging the government to address security problems on highways, truckers and farmers are set to make a range of other demands next Monday. Those demands include:

  • The permanent presence of the National Guard on stretches of highway known for crime.
  • A reduction in the price of diesel and the elimination of the IEPS tax on that fuel.
  • The urgent repair of potholes on highways.
  • The provision of subsidies to offset the increase in the price of agricultural inputs.
  • Action against dumping of agricultural products in the Mexican market.
  • Access to development bank loans for sole proprietor truckers.
  • Access to medical treatment at IMSS Bienestar facilities, including for work-related chronic illnesses.
  • Access to housing schemes designed specifically for transport workers.

Estévez said that the trucking and agricultural sectors are a “key part” of the Mexican economy, and asserted that to date there has been “no clear solution” to the problems they face.

Which highways will be affected? 

ANTAC and FNRCM have not yet confirmed which highways they intend to block next Monday. However, various media outlets reported that total or partial blockades are expected on numerous highways, including:

  • The Mexico City-Querétaro highway.
  • The Mexico City-Cuernavaca highway.
  • The Mexico City-Pachuca highway.
  • The Mexico City-Puebla highway.
  • The Culiacán-Mazatlán highway.
  • The Morelia-Pátzcuaro highway.
  • The Salamanca-Celaya highway.
  • Federal Highway 45.
  • Federal Highway 49.
  • Federal Highway 15D.

The highway blockades are expected to commence on Monday morning, with most to be set up by 7 a.m.

According to the newspaper Milenio, takeovers of customs offices and blockades at border crossings to the United States are also expected. Such actions were part of last November’s mega-blockade.

Interior Ministry claims there is ‘no motive’ for the planned protest 

The federal Interior Ministry (Segob) released a statement on Tuesday in response to the announcement that truckers and farmers will protest next Monday.

The ministry said that “mechanisms” have already been established to “guarantee conditions for dialogue” between truckers, farmers and the government, and to ensure the “solution to their problems.”

Segob asserted that a range of concerns, including those related to highway security, have been addressed in a “timely manner.”

The ministry said that agricultural sector demands, including ones “focused on conflicts that affect transport [of goods] and productive activity,” have also been addressed and “relevant agreements” between the sector and authorities have been reached.

In that context, “there is no motive for the protest” planned for Monday, Segob asserted.

“The Mexican government reiterates its ongoing commitment to open, respectful, and institutional dialogue with all organizations in the agricultural and transportation sectors,” the ministry said.

Referring to the transport sector, Segob said that “specific working sessions have been held, leading to agreements aimed at improving safety, regulation, and operational efficiency on highways.”

Regarding specific “actions” implemented, the Interior Ministry highlighted “the strengthening of security operations in coordination with federal authorities” and “the supervision of inspection checkpoints,” among others.

With reports from Milenio, Debate, N+, Excélsior and Reforma 

Mexico’s foreign affairs minister steps down

By
MND Staff
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De la Fuente (R) said in his resignation message that Sheinbaum had appointed Roberto Velasco (L) as his successor. Velasco is the current deputy foreign minister for North America.
De la Fuente (R) said in his resignation message that Sheinbaum had appointed Roberto Velasco (L) as his successor. Velasco is the current deputy foreign minister for North America. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)

Juan Ramón de la Fuente has stepped down as Mexico’s foreign affairs minister for health reasons and is set to be replaced by Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco.

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced de la Fuente’s decision to resign on social media.

According to the newspaper Reforma, the outgoing foreign minister advised colleagues of his resignation in a written message, telling them that he asked Sheinbaum to allow him to leave his position in order to attend to a spinal problem for which he has already undergone surgery on two occasions.

He told colleagues that he may need to have another operation in order to remain “active” and “productive.”

De la Fuente, a 74-year-old psychiatrist and former rector of the National Autonomous University, said in his message that Sheinbaum has appointed Velasco, deputy foreign minister for North America, as his successor.

“I know his leadership, I know his loyalty. He will be a foreign minister who provides great support to the president from this ministry,” he wrote of Velasco, who has headed up the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s North America department since 2020.

De la Fuente, who served as Mexico’s health minister in the 1990s and as the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations between 2018 and 2023, became foreign affairs minister at the start of Sheinbaum’s presidency on Oct. 1, 2024.

He has been particularly active in defending the rights of Mexicans who live abroad, especially in the United States. De la Fuente has also been involved in negotiations with the Trump administration on issues such as security and trade.

Velasco, 38, stood in as head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry late last year while de la Fuente was on medical leave.

Sheinbaum: ‘I told him, don’t go, Juan Ramón’

Accompanied by de la Fuente and Velasco, Sheinbaum announced the foreign minister’s decision to step down in a video message on Wednesday afternoon.

“I already told him, ‘Don’t go, Juan Ramón,’ but he has this health problem and he has decided that he needs this space for rehabilitation,” she said.

The president said that de la Fuente “will continue helping us on different issues” and will return to the government in an unspecified position when he has completed his rehabilitation.

Sheinbaum said that Velasco is an international relations “expert,” with “a lot of knowledge” about Mexico’s foreign policy. She wrote on social media that she had decided to propose his appointment as foreign minister to the Senate.

Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum in the national palace on a call with Donald Trump looking at Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente who sits aside from her at the same table.
President Sheinbaum and departing Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente on a call with U.S. President Donald Trump following his election in 2024. (Cuartoscuro)

For his part, De la Fuente thanked the president for allowing him to be part of her “political project” — i.e., the “fourth transformation” movement founded by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and now led by Sheinbaum. He said that defending Mexico and assisting and supporting Mexicans abroad, regardless of their migratory status, had been “a great privilege.”

De la Fuente also said that Velasco has been a “great colleague” and declared he was certain that his tenure as foreign minister would be “very successful.”

Velasco thanked Sheinbaum for her confidence in him and said it was an “enormous honor” to be nominated as foreign minister. He said he would take on the position with “a lot of love for the people” and “a lot of commitment to our country.”

“Of course if the Senate ratifies me [as foreign minister], we’re going to continue with this work of defending the sovereignty of Mexico and protecting Mexicans across the whole world,” Velasco said.

With reports from Reforma, El Universal and Milenio

Mexico’s air passenger traffic slowed in January-February, with some bright spots

By
MND Staff
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0
Overall, airlines operating in Mexico did not increase their passenger loads during the first two months of this year as much as they did during the first two months of last year. (AIFA)

Air passenger traffic slowed down in Mexico in January and February compared to the same period last year, but some outlying positive numbers, most notably in Durango, bucked the overall trend.

The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) reports that the combined total of passengers carried by domestic and international airlines operating in Mexico in the first two months of this year reached a 1.5% year-over-year increase, while the increase registered in January-February 2025 was more than twice as high at 3.5%. 

durango airport
Durango International Airport (officially Aeropuerto Internacional General Guadalupe Victoria) was a bright spot in an otherwise slow air travel market during the first two months of this year, registering an 18% jump over its passenger totals during the same period last year. (Facebook)

Even though the number of passengers was actually slightly higher this year than last, the deceleration qualifies the sector’s two-month performance as a slowdown.

The same slowing trend prevailed in other flight categories. For example, domestic operations went up by just 1.1% (to 9.6 million), a clear drop from the 3.9% increase recorded in 2025. 

Between January and February, international flights by domestic Mexican airlines carried 2.9 million passengers, representing a 3.5% increase. That pales in comparison to last year’s 6.9%.

International airlines operating in Mexico were the one bright exception. The 7.7 million passengers served represented a 1.3% increase over 2025 — not huge by any means but considerably higher than the 0.6% increase in January-February of last year over 2024.

February numbers were lower than January’s this year, perhaps owing to the outbreak of violence after the death of cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho,” Oseguerar on Feb. 22. The effect of the flurry of flight cancellations that took place in that period will be reflected in the March data.

Durango International Airport (DGO) was one of several individual airports that bucked the downward trend with some positive numbers. It reported an extraordinary 18% growth in its January-February passenger figures, handling 95,000 passengers. 

According to DGO’s office, the airport handled 570,000 travelers last year; at its current rate, DGO will double its traffic year over year.

Meanwhile, Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) near Mexico City continues its consolidation process. Four years after its inauguration, the airport has handled more than 18.3 million passengers — growing from 913,000 travelers in its opening year of 2022 to over 7 million in 2025.

With 41 domestic and 5 international destinations currently on offer, AIFA is aimed at expanding its route network: state-owned Mexicana de Aviación announced today that it will add a direct connection to Acapulco in June 2026 and Hermosillo in July, with at least three further destinations in the pipeline and 15 new aircraft set to join the fleet this year. Despite this momentum, the airport’s traffic figures trail well behind those of Mexico City International Airport (AICM), which, with annual passenger traffic of approximately 45 million, remains the dominant hub in the region.

With reports from El Economista, La Jornada and El Sol de Durango

C3ntro Telecom hits halfway mark on US $280M fiber route from Querétaro to Phoenix

By
MND Staff
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construction on Project Tikva in Sonora
The cross-border fiber optic network is designed to meet the surging connectivity demands of artificial intelligence and data centers and will extend high-speed internet to key cities along Mexico’s Pacific corridor. (LinkedIn)

A Mexican telecommunications company is pouring more than 5 billion pesos (US $280 million) into a cross-border fiber optic network designed to meet the surging connectivity demands of artificial intelligence and data centers.

C3ntro Telecom, owned by Simón Masri, is at the halfway point of building Project Tikva — a 2,500-kilometer underground fiber route linking Querétaro, one of Mexico’s busiest data center hubs, to Phoenix, Arizona, another major node in North American digital infrastructure.

The company says it has already laid roughly 1,200 kilometers of the network and expects to complete the project by the end of 2026.

Current efforts are concentrated in the northern state of Sonora, where C3ntro, accompanied by Governor Alfonso Durazo, broke ground last week. This phase of construction, which will pass through 16 cities, including Nogales, Guaymas, Ciudad Obregón and Navojoa, represents an investment of 1.25 billion pesos (US $67.4 million) and is expected to create 350 direct jobs.

The route will reach communities and sectors — agriculture, mining and manufacturing — where fiber connectivity has been largely absent.

On the whole, the project aims to reach over 27 million people, including roughly 3 million in Sonora, by selling wholesale capacity to regional internet providers who will handle the last-mile connection.

Governor Durazo accompanied C3ntro executives as they inaugurated the Sonora phase of Project Tikva last week.
Governor Durazo accompanied C3ntro executives as they inaugurated the Sonora phase of Project Tikva last week. (LinkedIn)

CEO Eli Sitt told the news magazine Expansión that the network is designed for hyperscaler-grade applications and that the company is already in talks — though not yet publicly confirmed — with clients including the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta.

Tikva also carries a “Hecho en México” certification under the federal government’s Plan México initiative, which helped streamline right-of-way permits for the underground deployment on both sides of the border.

Mexico’s data center industry is projected to grow sharply, with 73 new facilities expected to open by 2029 alongside the 166 already in operation.

With reports from Expansión and El Sol de México

El Jalapeño: Local woman hosts 46 nations, defuses regional conflicts renovates stadium; Still no FIFA peace prize

By
El Jalapeno
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Better luck next time, we guess. (X)

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

MEXICO CITY — President Claudia Sheinbaum met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the National Palace Monday, marking what officials described as a “productive” encounter and what historians may eventually describe as the most underacknowledged diplomatic performance of the decade, conducted entirely under the cover of football administration.

In the past six months, Sheinbaum has offered sanctuary to Iran after the United States suggested their players might not survive the trip, absorbed 46 separate requests from nations seeking refuge from the US co-host, managed cartel violence in Guadalajara severe enough to threaten Mexico’s hosting status, overseen the renovation of the oldest World Cup stadium on earth, coordinated a transport operation for 80,000 people in a city with unfinished parking lots, and maintained throughout a tone of such consistent and unruffled diplomacy that the phrase “we have relations with every country in the world” has become, effectively, a foreign policy doctrine.

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 30MARZO2026.- Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Presidenta de México, se reunió con Gianni Infantino, presidente de la FIFA, para seguir trabajando en la organización de la Copa del Mundo 2026, cuyo partido inaugural será en el Estadio Banorte.
How many World Cups does a country have to host to get a peace prize around here? (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

Infantino called it “a fiesta.” He also gave her a red card. A novelty one. As a gift. Sources confirmed she smiled.

The FIFA Prize for Peacebuilding Through Football, previously awarded to Donald Trump — a man currently conducting an active military operation in the Middle East — has not been offered to Sheinbaum, who has spent six months using football as a vehicle for actual peacebuilding. The prize committee did not respond to questions about the distinction. Infantino did not raise the subject during Monday’s meeting.

Infantino flew home. Iran still needs somewhere to play. The parking is ongoing.

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