MI’s Mexico Foreign Press Chatter – Jun. 26, 2025

July 3, 2026
12:00 pm

Top stories on Mexico

The jarring contrast between the World Cup festivities and the despair of the families of Mexico’s missing people has been the subject of foreign press coverage both in the leadup and during the tournament, getting long-form treatment in a special report by The Athletic (NYT) this week. The piece is focused on Jalisco and profiles individual members of Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, including Luz and Gabriela, sisters-in-law whose husbands were abducted from their car alarm business in January 2024; Graciela, who has lost two children — both confirmed dead, but only one whose remains have been returned. Their tireless searching and deep frustration and sense of abandonment by the government in the midst of the festivities is palpable. As one searcher says: “The World Cup victimises us more. The ball comes back, but when are our children going to return?”

As Latin America’s rightward turn continues with the victory of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia, the closer ties between the left-wing governments of Mexico and Brazil have been getting attention in the press. Bloomberg reported on the “warm relationship” cultivated by Sheinbaum and Lula, and how it’s starting to extend beyond ideological alignment towards a more concrete alliance, highlighting the non-binding agreement signed this week by Pemex and Petrobras. The opportunities for the two national companies were examined in another piece by Bloomberg, which noted the focus on potential deepwater exploration in the Gulf to determine if there is a pre-salt layer, like the one that kicked off the Brazilian oil boom starting in 2006 (and now responsible for 80% of the country’s production). Trade and investment have also been on the bilateral agenda — as well as Brazilian banks asking Mexican counterparts how to handle the fallout from U.S. FTO designations — but hanging over all this diplomatic goodwill is Brazil’s presidential election in October. Lula, 80, will face off against the 45-year-old son of imprisoned ex-President (and vocal Trump ally) Jair Bolsonaro.

Of course, the World Cup continues to take up most of the headline space, from Merlin the duck’s audience with the president on Monday to Mexico’s historic 3-0 victory over Czechia on Wednesday night — the first time the national team won all three group stage matches — in a joyous, if thoroughly inundated, Mexico City. The Guardian profiled Julián Quiñones, the Colombia-born striker (naturalized in 2023) who has faced overt racism in Mexico but has become a fan favourite since scoring El Tri’s first goal in the tournament (and another in the Wednesday game). The piece zoomed out to how Mexico is diversifying and beginning to reckon with the racial complexities behind the mestizaje: “Mexican diversity has always existed, but soccer possesses a unique ability to bring that reality to light.”

In criminal justice news, Keegan Hamilton covered the strange story of El Chapo’s recent letters in the LA Times this week — who is actually sending them remains a mystery. The outlet also covered what it described as a “media firestorm” in Mexico caused by former US Ambassador Ken Salazar’s soon-to-be-published memoir, which alleges that AMLO feared that El Mayo Zambada would “spill the beans” on corrupt Mexican officials. (Salazar says a source close to AMLO told him this, making it pretty weak hearsay – if this is the most Salazar has, no one need worry too much). In cultural news, art critic and author Hettie Judah covered the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Tate Modern and how Fridamania has sanitised the real Frida, who she describes as “sharp-tongued and scandalously rude, a prodigious drug user, heavy drinker, intoxicating flirt and committed communist” — not the kind of description you’d find on the Frida Barbie box, but not entirely off-brand for the image of a tortured artist.

Notable blogs in English on Mexico

Ioan Grillo reported on Mexico’s precipitous decline in homicides (46 per cent) under Sheinbaum in Crashout this week, concluding that the drop is real even if it’s not as dramatic as the government data suggests. The Mexico Political Economist published the first of a two-part deep dive into the Mexican rail industry and how private interests and state ambitions are coming into conflict as Sheinbaum pushes forward with reviving and expanding Mexico’s train network. In Materia Gris, Eduardo García and Gabriel García Malkin look at the power of the World Cup in commanding global attention, not just for football fans. And Miranda Intelligence’s daily Substack covered key developments in energy, fintech, public affairs and politics in Mexico.

Notable blogs in English on Mexico

CrashOut Media – Have Murders Really Gone Down Under Sheinbaum?
MXPE – What’s stopping trains from becoming Mexico’s economic driver
Materia Gris – What Makes the World Cup Unique
Miranda Intelligence daily reports on Substack

Photo of the week

Alejandro wishes his son could have seen the World Cup. (The Athletic)

MI’s Mexico Foreign Press Chatter – Jun. 26, 2025

Top stories on Mexico

Notable blogs in English on Mexico

Photo of the week

Other stories on Mexico