Sheinbaum pledges ‘all the support’ Colombia needs following deadly earthquake: Monday’s mañanera recapped

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

  • 🇨🇴 Sheinbaum pledges support for Colombia: After a deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Colombia’s Chocó department, Sheinbaum said Mexico would provide “all the support” Colombia needs. She noted that her government was in close contact with Mexico’s ambassador in Colombia and Colombia’s ambassador here.
  • 📱 Social media regulation “up for debate”: Sheinbaum reiterated that platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok need regulation, but stressed the government won’t decide unilaterally — the issue is being discussed nationally with teachers and parents ahead of the formulation of a bill.
  • 🏫 Education minister flags “digital immediacy”: Mario Delgado said teachers face major challenges holding students’ attention amid cell phone use, describing children’s desire for instant information without research as a growing classroom hurdle.
  • 🏔️ Sheinbaum proposes renaming Paso de Cortés: Marking International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Sheinbaum proposed renaming the mountain pass used by Hernán Cortés to “Paso de los Pueblos Indígenas,” saying place names reflect “who we venerate and who we don’t.”

Why today’s mañanera matters 

At today’s mañanera, President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged that a powerful earthquake had struck Colombia on Monday morning. The quake, whose epicenter was in a department on Colombia’s Pacific coast, toppled buildings, including in the city of Cali, and claimed at least 47 lives, according to preliminary reports.

The earthquake occurred six weeks after a temblor in the neighboring country of Venezuela killed more than 6,000 people.

On Monday morning, Sheinbaum said that Mexico would provide all the support Colombia needs.

Today’s mañanera was also significant as the president once again spoke about the need for children’s use of social media to be regulated.

It is not yet known whether the government will seek to ban young people under a certain age from using social media as part of a legislative proposal that could be submitted to Congress later this year. However, Education Minister Mario Delgado, who was at today’s mañanerasaid earlier this year that the Mexican government was exploring the possibility of imposing age restrictions. The government is currently facilitating a national debate on social media and artificial intelligence ahead of the formulation of a draft law.

Sheinbaum pledges to support Colombia after powerful earthquake

At the start of her press conference, Sheinbaum said that she had just heard about the “serious earthquake in Colombia,” a 7.4-magnitude temblor whose epicenter was about 280 kilometers west of Bogotá in the department of Chocó.

“We don’t yet have more information, but we’re very attentive to our ambassador [in Colombia] and to the [Colombian] ambassador here,” she said.

“Of course, [we’ll provide] all the support that the people of Colombia need,” Sheinbaum said.

In a message posted to social media shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said it was monitoring the situation in Colombia.

“Mexico expresses its solidarity with the people and government of Colombia in the face of this unfortunate event. Contact has been established with the Colombian Foreign Ministry, to whom Mexico reiterated its willingness to provide all the support required. To date, there is no knowledge of any Mexican nationals affected,” the SRE said.

Sheinbaum reiterates her support for regulation of social media

Amid the ongoing debate about children’s use of social media, Sheinbaum reiterated her view that “there has to be regulation of platforms,” such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

“From my point of view, that’s what we have to discuss as a society,” she said, adding that the use of artificial intelligence platforms and tools should be part of the discussion.

“It’s not a situation in which the government decides what the regulation. Rather, we’re putting the issue up for debate with teachers, parents and everyone,” Sheinbaum said.

“It’s something that we face [together] that can have very serious impacts on the education of our children and on society in general,” she said.

Earlier in the press conference, Education Minister Delgado said that teachers face “very significant challenges” regarding students’ use of devices inside and outside the classroom.

“When a school, a classroom, has cell phones, or even when they don’t, the challenge is to hold children’s attention,” he said.

Delgado said that teachers also face “the challenge of digital immediacy.”

“Now children want everything very quickly, automatically, without researching, without spending time looking for the information,” he said.

Education Minister Delgado explained that after engaging in a digital distraction, it can take a student up to 20 minutes to refocus on a learning task. (Juan Carlos Ramos/Presidencia)

Sheinbaum proposes renaming Paso de Cortés as Pass of the Indigenous People 

A reporter asked the president about her participation on Sunday in the 2026 National Reforestation Day, an initiative announced last week.

In the state of Puebla on Sunday, Sheinbaum “led the commencement of the 2026 National Reforestation Day, which aims to plant 6.6 million trees and plants and one million seeds across 32,184 hectares in the country’s 32 entities,” according to a statement issued by the president’s office.

Sheinbaum said that her participation in the initiative was “very nice,” and noted that “there is a video there” — i.e, on her social media accounts.

She also noted that Sunday was International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and thus she “took the opportunity” to propose that the Paso de Cortés — a mountain pass between the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes through which Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men traveled in 1519 — be renamed Paso de los Pueblos Indígenas, or Pass of the Indigenous People.

“Some people got upset, some media commentators as well. But the names of streets, of monuments, the references we have speak about society,” Sheinbaum said.

“What is our reference? Long before Cortés — … who Carlos V … recognized as a savage for bringing about the massacres he caused — … Indigenous people obviously traveled through there,” she said.

Sheinbaum said that names of places reflect “who we venerate and who we don’t.”

“So [I made] a proposal. … It has to do with a vision and he or she who gets upset venerates Hernán Cortés, right?” she said.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
President Claudia Sheinbaum at the podium of her August 7 mañanera

Mexico reestablishes diplomatic relations with Peru: Friday’s mañanera recapped

1
Peruvian political asylee Bettsy Chávez landed safely in Mexico as Sheinbaum announced restored relations with Peru, at a press conference also covering inflation, avocado exports and an ex-governor's arrest.
President Claudia Sheinbaum at her August 6 press conference, with a chart of natural gas consumption, imports and non-conventional (fracking) projected production

Sheinbaum rules out fracking for Mexico’s top shale basin, opens door elsewhere: Thursday’s mañanera recapped

9
Sheinbaum promised Thursday to adopt an expert panel's recommendation to ban hydraulic fracturing in the Tampico-Misantla basin in Veracruz, citing risks to biodiversity, water supplies and densely populated communities.

China’s approval rating in Mexico: Is it a genuine preference or evidence of a bilateral agenda?

8
Mexican adults have a more favorable view of China than they do of the U.S., writes Maria Meléndez, and it's not particularly close. Among younger Mexicans, the gap is even larger.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity