MI’s Mexico Foreign Press Chatter – Nov. 21, 2025

December 2, 2025
11:17 am

Protests across Mexico on Saturday dominated headlines. The NYT reported that the movement initially meant to associate with the global ‘Gen Z’ movement, but the actual protest drew a far more diverse crowd and revealed the opposition’s fragmented organization, whose anger intensified following the assassination of outspoken mayor Carlos Manzo. In Mexico City, some 17,000 people gathered at the Zocalo, where 120 were injured, according to Reuters. The AP reported on Sheinbaum denouncing the movement as right-wing, rather than acknowledging the continuous frustration caused by insecurity and organized crime. Bloomberg added that a sense of fatigue and recurring tragedies threaten her popularity as she doubled down with a probe into those responsible and downplayed the significance of the mobilization. And Bloomberg’s J.P. Spinetto questioned the president’s growing disdain for opposition, suggesting a new sense of panic and a troubling drift towards authoritarianism permitted by weak institutional checks.

Drug-related headlines centered on high-profile arrests that reflect the globalized reality of drug networks. The Guardian followed up on the escape and capture of ‘Brother Wong’, now in a Brooklyn courtroom, illustrative of the increasingly sophisticated links between the Mexican and Chinese underworlds. The WSJ followed a similar arrest of Ecuadorian kingpin Wilmer Chavarria, who was backed by the Jalisco Cartel, faked his death, and fled to Europe. Domestically, the Guardian spotlighted new forensic tactics, where AI, drones, and even dead pigs (used for their anatomic similarity to humans) have helped researchers notice differences in plants and vegetation in burial sites.

Not surprisingly, bilateral tensions persisted, as the AP reported that Trump continued to flirt with military intervention against cartels, saying he’s “not happy with Mexico”. Sheinbaum continued to reject the notion outright and criticized the confusion caused by U.S. Defense Department signs placed on the Mexican side of the border near the Rio Grande’s mouth. On the opposite side of the border, a capsized boat left 4 dead in Southern California, amid rising ocean-based migration. Meanwhile, the U.S Supreme Court is set to review the “metering” policy that was frozen during the Biden administration and allowed border agents to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S, per the AP.

On the business and economic front, the NYT reported on the growing complementarity between the U.S. and Mexican economies, with new data showing that Mexico is now the United States’ top buyer and seller of goods. Yet interdependence has not eased trade tensions: Trump has blamed migrants for bringing in “sick cows” and driving up beef prices, per the NYT. Aviation disputes also persist as Mexico negotiates more spots for U.S. carriers at Mexico City’s main airport to overturn the DOT’s cancellation of U.S routes at the new Felipe Angeles airport. Meanwhile, Mexico’s reduced crude exports to Cuba due to limited spare capacity, contributing to severe power outages on the island, per Reuters. And in a bittersweet development, Bloomberg reported Fibra Next was finally able to IPO, though raising less funds than originally planned, similar to Esentia Energy.

Shifting gears, both the NYT and the WSJ reviewed Paul Gillingham’s new sprawling Mexican history book, which spans 500 years of a diverse, convoluted, and epic history, calling Mexico the first “global” society in the world. In more history news, the AP reported on a new exhibition at Mexico City’s old city hall examining the Mexica myth behind the foundation of Tenochtitlan and Mexico’s enduring national emblem: an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a serpent. The NYT also documented the unglamorous side of Mexico City’s food scene, showing (rather graphically) how cooking oil dumped into sewers is fueling blockages and worsening rainy-season flooding. In sports, the AP featured the Estadio Azteca’s renovations ahead of the 2026 World Cup, designed to modernize the venue without losing its iconic essence built from previous World Cups. In the arts, the Guardian detailed an investigation that found many missing Frida Kahlo pieces from the Casa Azul, just as the artist is poised to break auction records and cap a year of “Fridamania.” And in the rarely cited intersection of monetary policy, art and zoology, The Guardian reported on the latest challenge faced by Mexico’s central bank: too many people are hoarding their 50-peso bills, featuring the beloved axolotl, because they like the design.

Notable podcasts and blogs in English on Mexico

On this week’s MexMoves podcast, Damian and Eduardo talk to Desteia’s Diego Solórzano, who explains how real, operator-focused AI tools can ease Mexico-U.S. logistics bottlenecks. Then, journalist Steve Fisher recounts the unlikely recovery of a gold mine in Sonora that many had written off, detailing the operational, financial, and human factors behind its revival. They also discuss Mexico surpassing Canada as America’s top export market for the first time; Esentia Energy’s IPO, completed but priced below range; ASUR’s acquisition of 20 airports in South America; Tiendas 3B’s standout quarterly results; and rumors Grupo Salinas is selling Mazatlán FC, potentially opening the door for Atlante’s return to Liga MX.

On the Economist’s daily podcast The Intelligence, Saturday’s protest was framed against the improved violent crime statistics since Sheinbaum took charge. Meanwhile, The Guardian’s ‘Today In Focus’, explored the repercussions of Sheinbaum’s public sexual assault, exploring the dangers of being a woman in Mexico, Sheinbaum’s policies, and the feminist movements in the country. And in Crashout Podcast, Ioan Grillo describes his experience at the Gen Z protest on Saturday, focusing on the violence and widespread sentiment of anger present at the Zocalo.

Mexico-related Substacks focused heavily on the Gen Z march on Saturday. Moments in Mexico sought to decipher who exactly was behind the protests. Meanwhile, in Crash Out, Ioan Grillo interviewed Jesus, a native of the Indigenous Tarahumara community in the mountains of northern Mexico, who has been pushed out due to the rise of illegal loggers in his area, part of a wider phenomenon of cartels driving out communities that defend the environment. In Materia Gris, Daniel Torres follows a baseball team from Sonora that was meant to relocate to Tucson- a cross-border milestone for the Mexican Pacific League- but was held up by visa problems and the government shutdown.

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