MI’s Mexico Foreign Press Chatter – June 20, 2025

junio 20, 2025
8:17 am

This week, headlines still focused on the US-Mexico tensions in the aftermath of the LA protests. In an opinion column for the New York Times, renowned Mexico observer Ioan Grillo made the case for President Trump to ‘listen to the saner voices on Mexico in his inner circle and keep working fruitfully with Ms. Sheinbaum’. Meanwhile, the Times also reported on President Sheinbaum’s continued efforts to mends things with Trump and his team, including describing the use of the Mexican flag in violent protests as a ‘provocation’; it also noted the continued trend in the reduction of border crossings. The two presidents missed each other at the G7 summit, as Mr. Trump had to return to Washing to tend to the Israel-Iran conflict, but Reuters reported they had a ‘very good’ phone call.

The judicial election also stayed in the conversation, with an interesting post-mortem in the NYT, which summarized the results as ‘a crucial step in Morena’s consolidation of power’, while also underscoring that ‘many questions remain about how the system will change in practice, especially since the overhaul did not address elements that many Mexicans criticize as corrupt or unresponsive, like prosecutors and the police’. For its part, Reuters reported that former El Chapo lawyer Silvia Delgado won her contest and is set to become a judge; her candidacy had been described by critics as ‘emblematic of broader fears about the vote’s threat to Mexican democracy’. We’ll have to wait and see how that goes in practice.

Speaking of drugs, the Wall Street Journal covered the ‘desperate’ journey some Americans make to Mexico in order to get treatment with ibogaine, a substance banned in the US that promises an almost miraculous cure to addiction. The catch: potential side effects include death.

In business news, Bloomberg reported on Canadian companies pitching President Sheinbaum at the G7 summit to help Mexico reduce its dependence on US natural gas by expanding its pipeline network, which would help it boost its domestic production. Less cheerfully, Reuters covered the ongoing woes of Pemex’s suppliers, with a trade group describing it as an ‘unprecedented crisis’, adding that it ‘cannot guarantee operational continuity as of July’. The WSJ also reported on Green Corridors, an American startup that received clearance from the American government to ‘build a guideway on which autonomous hybrid shuttles would ferry freight between Mexico and Texas’. While it might seem far-fetched, one might find solace in the fact that the White House looks positively at a project that would ‘improve supply-chain resilience and create additional capacity to support growing trade with Mexico’.

Shifting gears, The Guardian profiled Baldío, a Mexico City restaurant noteworthy not just because of its recently earned Michelin star, but for its radical zero-waste regenerative ethos. ‘Ultimately, I hope the project shows people that a more just and better food system is possible’, said Lucio Usobiaga, one of the restaurant’s co-founders.

Lastly, on this week’s MexMoves, Damian and Eduardo speak with César Hernández, former Deputy Electricity Minister, and José Antonio Aguilar, founder and managing partner of wind-power company Vive Energía, to assess the sector’s prospects. They also discuss the new large Fibra that just listed, FIEMEX, another one (Fibra Next) that is preparing to follow, and how telecom regulator IFT hit Telcel with a major fine just before its dissolution. You can listen to it here.