MI’s Mexico Foreign Press Chatter – Sep. 25, 2026

October 2, 2026
12:00 pm

According to the New York Times, Mexico is Trump’s “new favorite neighbor”; at least in comparison to Canada. As US-Canada relations deteriorate, the NYT reported this week how Trump has turned Mexico, once his “favorite punching bag”, into a useful ally. Drawing on nearly a dozen anonymous officials, the piece cites the 87 per cent fall in monthly border encounters since Biden’s final full month in office as well as the steep drop in fentanyl seizures at the border as evidence of effective cooperation and compliance with US demands on Sheinbaum’s part. It also reports that, as a result, US plans for air strikes on Mexican soil have been shelved (for now). The NYT notes the friction, including the deaths of two CIA officers in Chihuahua in April and anger within Morena over US visa revocations, but emphasises that officials in both governments are keen to express how closely they are working together.

David Agren at the Globe and Mail drew the contrast from the Canadian side. While Carney pivots towards the EU, Sheinbaum has doubled down, pledging to buy more US imports, imposing 50 per cent tariffs on some products from countries without a free-trade agreement and tightening rules on Chinese steel and aluminium transshipments. Reuters reported that Sheinbaum called her latest conversation with Trump “very good” as both sides push for a deal before the 3 November midterms. But the timetable has since slipped: the fourth round of bilateral talks, due next week, has been postponed, ostensibly for “logistical reasons” according to the Trump administration.

In Sinaloa, the Financial Times’ Christine Murray reported from Culiacán on the ongoing intra-cartel war between the Chapitos and the Mayiza, which residents and experts call the worst in the state’s 100-year history of drug trafficking. Despite a deployment of some 20,000 troops and police, an estimated 3,800 people have been killed and 4,400 kidnapped, and the state has lost more than 20,000 formal jobs.

Bloomberg reported that Sheinbaum offered public support for Lula ahead of Brazil’s 4 October election, calling him “a very good president” while stopping short of an endorsement. Lula, 80, faces a neck-and-neck race against Flávio Bolsonaro, and the two leaders are increasingly isolated: the NYT notes seven consecutive right-wing electoral victories in the region since Trump took office. Polymarket now has Bolsanaro as slight favorite, a turnaround from a month ago.

Banxico held its rate at 6.5 per cent for a third straight meeting, but as Bloomberg noted, the real news was in the guidance. The statement dropped language implying the hold would continue and flagged exchange rate pass-through as a factor in future decisions. The bank said it would not “react mechanically” to last week’s Fed hike, though the narrowing differential nudged the peso to around 17.75 to the dollar. Invex economists argued the exchange rate “remains overvalued in both real and market terms”.

In lighter news, the NYT visited Xalapa’s annual melon race — “not only one of Mexico’s most colorful traditions but also one of its most random” — and also reported on the discovery that pygmy racoons in Cozumel make and play with toys, the first time this has ever been documented by researchers.

Notable blogs in English on Mexico

Ioan Grillo reported from the mountains of Guerrero on one of the country’s oldest networks of self-defence militias, the CRAC-PC, which not only provides security but also has set up its own makeshift jails and alternative justice system. “While the government doesn’t assume its responsibility to provide security to the people, the people will carry on taking care of themselves,” one regional coordinator told Grillo. The Mexico Political Economist examined how Mexico’s Circular Economy Law, published in January, lacks the tools and incentives to get the private sector on board. By contrast, the EU and China have treated circularity as hard-nosed industrial policy, and the piece concludes that pragmatic, profit-driven alternatives, such as a Querétaro plant turning urban waste into fuel for cement and steel makers, may be Mexico’s more realistic path towards sustainability. Miranda Intelligence published its incisive, polymathic daily Mexico reports – spanning the country’s Culture, Fintech, Markets, Public Affairs, Energy, Podcasts, Politics, and Foreign Press (i.e., what you are currently reading). It is currently offering new subscribers a 25% discount on the list price to celebrate Mexico’s Independence. ¡Viva México! ¡Viva la inteligencia!