Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Mexico Open golf tournament to be part of PGA Tour next year

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The Vidanta Vallarta golf course
The Vidanta Vallarta golf course, home of the 2022 Mexican Open.

After runner-up success for golfer Carlos Ortiz on Sunday, there was more good news for Mexican golf: its most historic tournament will join the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour for 2022.

The contest is set for April 28-May 1 at the Vidanta Vallarta golf course in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit. The annual competition already existed as the Mexico Championship on the PGA calendar, but has been promoted to an Open event. 

It joins the World Wide Technology Championship at El Camaleón golf course near Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, — where Ortiz placed second on Sunday — as a PGA Tour event.

The Nayarit tournament will offer a purse of US $7.3 million to 132 players, of whom a minimum of four will be from Latin America. 

Two Mexican winners of PGA tour events attended the PGA press conference, where the fixture was announced: Ortiz, who won the Vivint Houston Open in 2020, and Abraham Ancer, who won the St. Jude Invitational in 2021. 

“For my part, I’m very excited, I already want it to start. The presence of this tournament will add to the growth of golf in our country. I have always said that playing in Mexico in front of the people of my country is very special. They give you an extra [impetus]. They help you play your best golf and that is why I am very motivated,” Ortiz said. 

Ancer added that the tournament could help raise participation. “This is great news, especially considering that an event of this magnitude helps golf grow in Mexico and we are trying to get more people involved in this sport. It is always nice to be able to play a tournament of this level in front of your own people,” he said.

The vice president of tournament sponsor Grupo Salinas said expanding golf’s appeal was the company’s priority. “We are honored to host a world-class event in our country …” said Benjamín Salinas Sada. “We are convinced of the importance of taking this type of event to other locations within the country and thereby send a clear message: golf is not owned by just a few, it belongs to everyone. That is what we will always defend at Grupo Salinas,” he said.

Grupo Salinas owns TV Azteca and the Elektra retail and banking chain.

With reports from Reforma 

López Obrador proposes trillion-dollar world plan for ‘fellowship and well-being’

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President Lopez Obrador at UN
President López Obrador addressing the UN Security Council's meeting on exclusion, inequality and conflict. UN

Mexico will present a major global poverty-alleviation plan to the United Nations in the coming days, President López Obrador said Tuesday during an appearance before the organization’s Security Council.

Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, López Obrador claimed that the intergovernmental organization has never done anything substantial to benefit the world’s poor.

“But it’s never too late to do justice. Today is the time to act against marginalization, attending to the causes and not just the consequences,” he said.

“In tune with this idea, in the coming days the Mexico representation will propose a global plan of fellowship and well-being to the General Assembly of the United Nations. The objective is to guarantee the right to a dignified life for 750 million people who survive on less than two dollars a day,” López Obrador said.

The president, on just his second trip outside Mexico since taking office in late 2018, said Mexico’s proposal could be funded by three different sources: an annual 4% “voluntary contribution” from the world’s 1,000 richest people; a similar contribution from the world’s 1,000 biggest companies; and a contribution of 0.2% of GDP from each of the G20 members.

President Lopez Obrador at UN Security Council
Lopez Obrador in his role chairing the UN Security Council’s meeting on exclusion, inequality and conflict.

“Reaching this income goal, the fund could make use of about one trillion dollars annually,” López Obrador said. He suggested that the U.N. could award certificates to individuals, companies and governments that support the plan.

“The resources of this fund must reach the beneficiaries directly, without any intermediaries,” AMLO said, echoing remarks he has made about welfare distributed in Mexico.

“Because when funds are delivered, supposedly to help poor people or non-governmental organizations, … in many cases the money stays in bureaucratic apparatuses to pay for luxury offices and to keep advisors [on the payroll], or it’s diverted and ends up not reaching the [intended] beneficiaries,” he said.

López Obrador said the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund could collaborate on the fellowship and well-being plan, and proposed carrying out a census next year to identify the world’s poorest and neediest people.

Once the target population has been identified, resources would be distributed to seniors and children with disabilities and impoverished students would receive scholarships, he said.

AMLO also said that money could be set aside for tree-planting and youth apprenticeship programs, such as those already in operation in Mexico. In short, he would like to see his government’s social programs rolled out around the world.

House in Benito Juarez, Nuevo Leon
President López Obrador said his plan to alleviate global poverty could be funded by donations from the world’s richest companies, people and governments. Creative Commons

“I don’t believe, I say it sincerely, that any of the permanent members of this Security Council will oppose our proposal because this is not about nuclear weapons or military invasions, nor does it place the security of any state at risk. On the contrary, it seeks to build stability and peace through solidarity with those who most need our support,” López Obrador said.

“I’m sure that everyone, the rich and the poor, donors and beneficiaries, will be calmer with our consciences and we will all live with greater moral force.”

Earlier in his address, the president delivered a lengthy diatribe against corruption. “It would be hypocritical to ignore that the planet’s principal problem is corruption in all its dimensions: political, moral, economic, legal, fiscal and financial,” he said.

“It would be senseless to omit that corruption is the main cause of inequality, poverty, frustration, violence, migration and serious social conflicts. We’re in decay because never before in the history of the world had so much wealth accumulated in so few hands through cronyism,” AMLO said.

“… What are we doing in Mexico? We’ve applied the formula of banishing corruption and allocating all the money freed up [as a result] to the well-being of the people under the criteria [of] for the good of all, the poor come first.”

Mexico News Daily

Tractor-trailer brings down pedestrian overpass in Texcoco

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The truck, the taxi and the fallen overpass.
The truck, the taxi and the fallen overpass.

A tractor-trailer demolished a pedestrian overpass on the Los Reyes-Texcoco highway in México state on Monday night.

Surveillance camera footage showed that the truck’s cargo container, which appeared to have been raised, struck the overpass as the vehicle passed beneath it. A large piece of concrete became dislodged and fell on the truck, just behind the cab.

A taxi was also struck and its driver was transferred to hospital, but his injuries were not reported to be life-threatening. 

The incident occurred at the entrance to Cuautlalpan, whose mayor confirmed there were no casualties.

One side of the highway was closed following the accident. The National Guard confirmed that traffic circulation was restored early on Tuesday.

With reports from El Universal and Milenio 

US judge approves extradition of former governor of Chihuahua

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A United States federal judge has ruled that former Chihuahua governor César Duarte can be extradited to Mexico to face charges of conspiracy and embezzlement of government funds.

Lauren Louis, a United States District Court judge in the Southern District of Florida, wrote in a ruling published Monday that Mexico’s extradition request satisfies the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and its southern neighbor.

“There is probable cause to believe that Duarte committed the crimes charged in the extradition complaint. I therefore certify that Duarte is extraditable as to those crimes and order Duarte detained pending both a review of Mexico’s extradition request by the Secretary of State and Duarte’s potential surrender to Mexico,” she wrote.

The former Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) governor, who held office in the northern border state between 2010 and 2016, fled Mexico shortly after his term ended and was arrested in July 2020 in Miami, Florida, while working at a junkyard. He has 60 days to appeal the judge’s ruling.

According to Mexico’s 13-page extradition request, Duarte is accused of embezzling at least US $6.5 million in public resources and transferring the money to two companies with which he was associated: Unión Ganadera Regional General División del Norte de Chihuahua and Financiera de la División del Norte

He is also accused of diverting 250 million pesos (US $12.3 million at today’s exchange rate) of public money to PRI political campaigns. In addition, he faces charges of deliberately putting the state of Chihuahua in debt to the tune of 48 billion pesos (US $2.4 billion).

All told he faces at least 20 corruption-related charges, according to a report by the newspaper El País, and 11 warrants were issued for his arrest in Mexico before his capture in the United States.

The U.S. District Court ruling said that Duarte challenges the evidence that he diverted government funds.

“Duarte was not the secretary of the treasury, he argues, and was thus incapable of directing the state’s funds and on the other side of the transaction, it was Unión Ganadera and Financiera, not Duarte, alleged to have received the funds, and he contests the government’s ability to impute the acts of these companies upon him. Thus, he argues, the evidence fails to establish that he deviated the funds,” it said.

However, “multiple witnesses have offered testimony that Duarte authorized or instructed the release of the contested funds,” Louis’ ruling said.

Defense lawyers for Duarte claim that their client is a victim of political persecution led by his successor Javier Corral, who completed his five-year term in September.

They claim that Corral, who held office for the National Action Party (PAN) and was a strong advocate for Duarte’s extradition, pressured witnesses to testify against his predecessor.

The ex-PAN governor said on Twitter late Monday that the judge’s decision to give a green light to Duarte’s extradition is another step forward in a “long fight against corruption and impunity.”

Duarte is one of several recent governors accused or convicted of corruption. Among the others are Javier Duarte of Veracruz and Roberto Sandoval of Nayarit.

With reports from El País 

AMLO’s anti-corruption czar resigns after his lavish Guatemala wedding

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Santiago Nieto
Santiago Nieto resigned on Monday.

The head of the federal government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has resigned in the wake of controversy surrounding his lavish wedding celebrations in Guatemala last weekend.

Santiago Nieto, President López Obrador’s anti-corruption czar, announced his resignation on Twitter on Monday night, explaining that he didn’t want to have a negative impact on the government’s project to transform Mexico.

“Due to criticisms derived from the actions of third parties related to a personal and transparent event, I decided to present my resignation as head of the UIF. My loyalty is with President López Obrador, my love for [my new wife] Carla Humphrey,” he wrote.

Nieto’s resignation came after some of his wedding guests – who flew south on the same private jet – were detained at the Guatemala City airport because police found US $35,000 in undeclared cash in a suitcase that belonged to the personal assistant of the general director of El Universal, one of Mexico’s leading daily newspapers.

Erika Telich told police that the money belonged to her boss, Juan Francisco Ealy, and that he took it to Guatemala because he planned to use it to pay for medical expenses in Los Angeles, where he intended to travel on Monday after the wedding.

Guatemalan authorities confiscated the cash, which may in fact have been a gift for the newlyweds, according to media speculation.

Another wedding guest, now-former Mexico City tourism minister Paola Félix Díaz, resigned due to the optics of flying into the Guatemalan capital on a private jet when she is the member of a government that – like its federal counterpart – holds itself up as an example of austerity and rectitude.

Although Nieto attributed his resignation to the actions of others, questions have been raised about his capacity to pay for a sumptuous wedding at an exclusive hotel in Antigua, a pretty colonial city just outside Guatemala City. Regardless of whether he paid for it or not, it didn’t look good for the federal government’s anti-corruption chief to host such an extravagant wedding.

López Obrador, who frequently rails against the excesses of past officials and quips “there can’t be a rich government with poor people,” described the events in Guatemala as a “scandalous affair” and advised officials to act with “moderation and austerity.”

The departure of Nieto is a blow for the president, who has used the UIF as a spearhead in his fight against corruption. The 48-year-old former electoral crimes prosecutor worked closely with the federal Attorney General’s Office on high-profile corruption probes such as the Odebrecht case, which threatens to ensnare numerous high-profile former officials.

Nieto’s tenure at the helm of the UIF was not, however, devoid of controversy. Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero last year indirectly accused him of failing to respect the right to the presumption of innocence after he made public remarks about cases involving ex-cabinet secretary Rosario Robles, ex-Pemex chief Emilio Lozoya and ex-Pemex workers’ union leader Carlos Romero Deschamps, among other high-profile former officials.

Pablo Gómez, a 75-year-old former lawmaker considered a close ally of López Obrador, is the new head of the UIF, the president’s office said in a statement.

Gómez is also a National Autonomous University-trained economist and a professor, the office noted, adding that he is well known for his “career in favor of social causes and human rights beginning with the students’ movement of 1968.”

With reports from El Universal and El País 

Migrants caravan changes course, decides to head for US border in Sonora

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Migrants climb aboard a truck to hitch a ride.
Migrants climb aboard a truck to hitch a ride. ben wein

The migrants caravan that left Tapachula, Chiapas, 17 days ago has changed course: its destination is no longer Mexico City, but the United States border, caravan leader Irineo Mújica said on Monday.

The director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) said he will try to organize another caravan of several thousand migrants who will join the existing one and meet in Veracruz before marching north together.

The convoy achieved a milestone on Sunday when it left Chiapas and crossed into Oaxaca. But the migrants did not get a warm welcome.

They stayed in the town of Los Corazones in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where tensions ran high as young men on motorcycles circled the main square. Some were armed, many migrants claimed.

On Monday the caravan arrived in Chahuites where they were initially blocked over fears the migrants would spread COVID-19, according to a report by Al Jazeera. Once they were permitted to enter the town they found many of its stores had closed and were unable to purchase supplies.

The caravan’s original plan — to appeal for visas in Mexico City — was one of compromise, offering an opportunity for negotiation by a government under pressure from the United States to stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.

Now, with the new plan to head directly to the border, in greater numbers, the political pressure has increased on the government.

The National Immigration Institute said its offer still stands to grant humanitarian visas to migrants who “face some degree of vulnerability,” which would include their families.

The administrative process would take place in offices in Campeche, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Querétaro and Morelos, the institute said. However, it did not confirm whether the visas would include freedom of movement and the right to work across the whole country, or would be restricted to certain states.

In recognition of the mistrust felt by the migrants, the institute assured that it would not try to take them back to Tapachula.

Mexico News Daily

AMLO tours refineries, warns of danger of relying on gasoline imports

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AMLO at Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas refinery
President López Obrador visits the Pemex oil refinery in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas.

The modernization of Mexico’s six existing oil refineries, the construction of a new one on the Tabasco coast and the purchase of one in the United States are crucial to achieving energy self-sufficiency, President López Obrador reiterated during a tour of the Pemex refinery in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas.

The president said his administration is seeking to increase Mexico’s refining capacity so that importing gasoline is no longer necessary. He has previously pledged that the country will be self-sufficient in gasoline by 2023, the year the Dos Bocas refinery in Paraíso, Tabasco, is slated to start operations.

“Just imagine! If a foreign nation decided not to sell gasoline to us it would be chaos, we only have reserves for 10 days,” López Obrador said in Ciudad Madero on Friday.

Mexico must aim for self-sufficiency in food and fuel so that it’s not dependent on “any foreign nation” or “any power,” he said, apparently referring to the United States.

“We’re carrying out a profound change in … petroleum policy; the fundamental objective is to no longer sell crude oil [to foreign refineries] … but rather process all the raw material in our country,” López Obrador said.

The president asserted that the quest for self-sufficiency will generate jobs in Mexico and rejected any suggestion that buying gasoline abroad is cheaper.

“It’s much better to produce what we consume, not bring it [into the country],” he declared, noting that the cost of transporting gasoline into Mexico increases its retail price.

During his refinery visit, López Obrador also sought to reassure Pemex workers that their jobs and working conditions are safe while he remains in office.

“There won’t be any dismissals, we’re not going to tear up your collective contract. You’ll retire at the age agreed to in the contract,” he said. Previous governments had planned to increase the retirement age.

“… We’re also going to ensure that there is union democracy, that everyone … decides who they want to represent them. No more corrupt leaders but rather leaders that represent you and defend you,” the president said.

López Obrador also visited the Pemex refineries in Salamanca, Guanajuato, and Tula, Hidalgo, over the weekend.

The other refineries currently being upgraded are located in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca; Minatitlán, Veracruz; and Cadereyta, Nuevo León.

López Obrador announced in May that Pemex had reached a deal to buy Shell Oil Company’s 50% share in the jointly-owned Deer Park oil refinery near Houston, Texas, for US $600 million. The president is aiming to boost the role the state oil company and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) play in Mexico’s energy market, at the expense of private and foreign companies that entered after the previous federal government opened up the sector.

He sent a constitutional bill to Congress in October that seeks to guarantee 54% of the electricity market to the CFE but a vote on the proposed reform has been pushed back to next April.

With reports from Milenio and El Sol de México 

US-Mexico land border reopens, reuniting families, sending shoppers north

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Vehicles in line to cross at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, California.
George worked at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, California. (Shutterstock)

The United States reopened its land border with Mexico on Monday, almost 20 months after it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The land border with Canada also reopened, as did flights from 33 countries, including the U.K., much of Europe, China, Brazil and South Africa. 

U.S. authorities are only allowing entry to people who had vaccines approved by the World Health Organization. The Sputnik V and CanSino vaccines, administered to millions of people in Mexico, are not currently on that list.

Mexicans were largely banned from crossing the border during the pandemic, which transformed the lives of many who live in border cities. Seeing family and friends, medical appointments or shopping over the border were all ruled out. U.S. citizens, on the other hand, enjoyed greater freedom to travel between the two countries. 

Traffic levels at ports and in the land crossings were expected to register millions of travelers, hitting levels seen prior to the pandemic, the newspaper El País reported, but Monday’s traffic was not as heavy as expected, according to several media reports.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that visa holders should bring proof of vaccination and verbally indicate their reason for travel at the border. 

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the reopening was a positive decision. “We are pleased to take another step toward easing travel restrictions at our borders in a manner that strengthens our economy and protects the health and safety of the American public … We continue working closely with our international partners to sustainably implement new rules for resuming travel,” he said.

The accepted vaccines for nonessential travel are: Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac.

People travelling for essential reasons are not required to be vaccinated until January 2022, when a new phase of border regulations will take force. 

As for under 18s, they will need a negative COVID-19 test taken a maximum of three days before departure, if they are traveling with a vaccinated adult. However, if they are traveling alone or with an unvaccinated adult, they must submit a negative test carried out 24 hours before the trip.

Grandmother Martha Ochoa Moreno, 68, from Ciudad Juárez, was one of many people reunited with loved ones on Monday. She had not seen her 28-year-old granddaughter, Laura Tinajero, since the border closed. Prior to the closure she crossed several times a week to shop and visit family.

“There is nothing like being able to hug [loved ones]; video calls helped us a lot all during those months, but it’s not the same. Today I will finally be able to hug my granddaughter,” she told the Dallas Morning News.

Another relieved family member was 60-year-old Ramón Delgado, from Chihuahua, who saw his sister Bertha Galván, 71, an El Paso resident.

“I was very happy because [we had] not seen each other for a long time since the pandemic began,” said Delgado. “My sister got COVID, not me, and I was scared. And that’s why I really wanted to see her and give her a hug,” he added. 

“There is a lot of emotion to finally be able to hug him; the truth was I was afraid. I thought they were not going to let people through. When he called me and said, ‘I’m here,’ I didn’t believe it,” Galván said. 

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico warned that wait times at borders are expected to increase, and that travelers should plan for longer than normal wait times and exercise patience.

With reports from The Dallas Morning News and El País

Go beyond ordinary storytelling with four November writing workshops

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author Amy Gottlieb
Workshop instructor and book coach Amy Gottlieb’s novel The Beautiful Possible was a finalist for a National Jewish Book award.

Both accomplished and aspiring authors know that deciding who will tell their story is a major decision that can make the difference between mundane and quality storytelling. Just as important are knowing how to effectively revise a story and how to deal with rejection.

The San Miguel Literary Sala will cover all these topics in four different online workshops offered this month between November 8 and November 11.

Workshop times below are all in Central Standard Time:

November 8 and 10, 5:30–7 p.m. — Amy Gottlieb: “Music and Texture: A Creative Approach to Revision.” Revision is often viewed alternately as dreary and ruthless, yet it can be a creative and transformative process when you re-envision a draft in terms of its internal logic, its music, and its patterns. Gottlieb will help participants break down revision into a three-part process, exploring creative techniques to help find the vitality in your work and make it shine.

November 9 and 11, 3–4:30 p.m. — Nadine Kenney Johnstone: “ Writing your Truth in the Personal Essay and Memoir.” If you want to write about your past, it’s crucial to dig deep enough to write your truth, which sometimes means overcoming worries about how people will respond, especially if they are one of the characters you are writing about. By studying other truth-telling writers, participants will learn how to silence their inner critic and tell the story they must.

November 9 and 11, 5:30–7 p.m. — Elizabeth Kracht: “Rejection Bingo! How to Improve Your Manuscript Through Rejection.” Learning how to use rejection to achieve your publishing goals can help get that book accepted for publication. Kracht will teach you participants to change their perspective on rejection in a fun and interactive way and use it to their advantage in the publishing industry. She will also cover the top 10 editorial reasons for rejection.

November 10, 3–6:20 p.m. — Annie Tucker: “Who’s in Charge Here? Choosing the Right Point of View for Your Story.” Tucker will help writers identify all points of view available to them and determine which one to use for consistent story narration. A series of exercises will help participants plumb the depths of their characters’ minds and ensure that readers have the reliable narrators they need to guide them through a novel.

For more information on these workshops and to register, visit the San Miguel Literary Sala at their website.

Weekend ends well for Mexico with wins in boxing and Formula 1 Grand Prix

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Boxer Álvarez and race car driver Pérez.
Boxer Álvarez and race car driver Pérez.

Three Mexican sports stars had a successful weekend – in a Nevada boxing ring, on a Mexico City racing track and on a Quintana Roo golf course.

Saúl Álvarez won his unification title fight against American boxer Caleb Plant with an 11th round technical knockout. With his victory, the red-haired boxer widely known as “Canelo” (Cinnamon) became the first undisputed super middleweight champion.

“Getting here hasn’t been easy but with you, my team and my family we’ve come very far,” Álvarez said after the bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“It’s an achievement for my family and team but above all for Mexico. This means a lot to me and a lot for the history of Mexico,” Canelo said, noting that he is just the sixth boxer to hold all four belts in a single weight division.

Some 3,000 kilometers to the south, Red Bull-Honda driver Sergio “Checo” Pérez finished third behind his teammate Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the Mexico City Formula One Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome.

It was the first time that a Mexican had appeared on the podium at his home Grand Prix. Pérez, who has had two F1 wins in his decade-long career in motor racing’s most prestigious championship, described his third place as an “incredible” achievement, although he lamented that he and Verstappen just missed out on the 1-2 positions they were looking for.

Golfer Carlos Ortiz went one better than Pérez on Sunday, finishing runner up at the World Wide Technology Championship, a PGA event held at the El Camaleón golf course near Playa del Carmen. Ortiz finished with a five under par 66 on Sunday to end the tournament at -19, four strokes behind Viktor Hovland of Norway, who won the event for a second consecutive year.

Another Mexican, Abraham Ancer, finished tied for seventh with a four-round score of -15. Ortiz rose 29 positions to 49th in the world golf rankings as a result of his second placing.

While there was plenty of cause for celebration in Mexico, there was even more reason for jubilation in Guadalajara, where Álvarez, Pérez and Ortiz were all born.

In addition to being tapatíos, as natives of Mexico’s second city are known, all three men were born at the start of the 1990s. Canelo and Checo are both 31, while Ortiz, who doesn’t (yet) have a publicly known catchy nickname, is the youngest of the three at 30.

With reports from Milenio, Reforma and Infobae