The border states of Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua, as well as Durango state, were put on alert due to “a significant drop in temperatures, strong winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall … and possibly snow or sleet.”

At the same time, Cold Front No. 30 will drift over the northeastern part of the country where it will be reinforced by an Arctic air mass by Friday evening. The SMN report said moisture coming in off the northern Gulf of Mexico will combine with the remnants of Cold Front No. 30 to generate rain and showers there. 

The phenomenon in northern Mexico is the westernmost edge of the potentially historic winter storm that is expected to impact the United States this weekend, prompting extreme weather alerts from the Texas Panhandle to the Northeastern Atlantic states.

The rejuvenated cold front is also expected to produce northerly winds gusting up to 70 km/h (42.5 m/h) in northeastern Mexico. Residents of northern Coahuila are being advised of the possible formation of whirlwinds or tornadoes.

In the Northern Plateau and the Central Plateau, including the Valley of Mexico, cold to very cold conditions will produce fog banks in the morning and persist throughout the day. Minimum temperatures could dip as low as minus-5 C (23 F) in Hidalgo, México state, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Veracruz and Oaxaca. Mexico City’s low is projected to reach 0 C (32 F).

🥶❄️⛈️ Hoy se prevén #Lluvias muy fuertes y caída de #Nieve o #Aguanieve en regiones de #BajaCalifornia, #Sonora, #Chihuahua y #Durango. Más información en ⬇️https://t.co/agFhcoEB8W pic.twitter.com/9scC2Tri7D

— CONAGUA Clima (@conagua_clima) January 23, 2026

In response to the winter storm conditions, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) reported that it has sufficient capacity available to maintain the supply of electricity across the country.

The CFE said it is coordinating with the Energy Ministry to establish strategic actions to protect the continuity of the electricity supply. The CFE also activated its Emergency Response Steering Group, which will remain in permanent session to monitor the evolution of the storm.

The National Coordination of Civil Protection also issued an advisory, urging residents across the country to take preventative measures throughout the weekend. 

“To mitigate the effects of these weather systems and safeguard physical safety and property, specific recommendations are issued. If using gas heaters or fireplaces, maintain adequate ventilation to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and turn them off before going to sleep; protect and insulate external pipes to prevent frost damage and secure sheet metal roofs, windows, awnings and objects that could be dislodged by wind gusts exceeding 60 km/h (37.3m/h).”

Elsewhere, the Regional Hydrometeorological Center in the state of Yucatán forecast stable weather conditions, warm temperatures up to 34 C (93 F) and isolated showers in coastal Quintana Roo, eastern Yucatán and southern Campeche, with wind gusts of up to 40 km/h.

With reports from El Universal, La Jornada and El Diario de Yucatán

The post Winter weather alert: Cold, high winds and heavy rain coming to northern Mexico this weekend appeared first on Mexico News Daily

At the same time, Mexican authorities expressed alarm after the death of a howler monkey, an endangered species, was linked to a larval infestation on its left forelimb. 

🚨 @MillerForTexas is sending a warning to producers to “get ready” for New World Screwworm entering the U.S. 🚨#agtwitter pic.twitter.com/9BnEDSi439

— RFD-TV (@OfficialRFDTV) January 16, 2026

The incident, which occurred in Palenque, Chiapas, was the first death in Mexico of a wild animal from myiasis caused by NWS. Until now, only four cases of screwworm in wild birds and captive exotic animals were known, all in Tabasco and Yucatán, and all reportedly recovered after medical treatment.

NWS is a species of parasitic blowfly whose larvae burrow into open wounds and eat the living tissue of warm-blooded animals. It has been steadily moving north from Central America over the past 16 months, putting the U.S. cattle industry on alert.

The U.S. twice suspended imports of cattle from Mexico last year before the discovery of new cases near the border in September led to a third closure.  

However, the threat has continued to move north.

Mexico’s National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) announced last week that the border state of Tamaulipas has reported 11 active cases of myiasis caused by NWS in cattle since the first case was detected there on Dec. 31, 2025. The initial case was identified as a six-day-old calf in a grazing area with an umbilical lesion.

The spike in cases confirmed by Senasica prompted Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to urge Texas livestock producers, especially those along the border, to check livestock every day and treat any wound as a potential entry point.

“Pay close attention to navels on young animals, isolate anything suspicious and report concerns without delay,” Miller said. “Early detection and aggressive surveillance are how we protect Texas livestock. Texas producers need to stay on high alert along our border.”

The TDA said that, as it has not received confirmation that the affected animals reported by Senasica have a history of movement outside Tamaulipas, the pest may now be spreading naturally rather than being introduced through animal movement. 

The agency reported that as of Jan. 7, there were 692 active cases of NWS in 13 Mexican states. Chiapas leads with 137 cases, followed by Oaxaca with 134, Veracruz 117, Guerrero 65 and Quintana Roo 46. 

Of the total active cases, 343 are in cattle and 184 in dogs, while 45 pigs, 28 horses, 13 sheep, six goats, five cats and one farm bird are also infected.

With reports from El Universal, Texas Border Business and Imagen Radio

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The same energy that brought Hernán Cortés to the land of the Mexica also took conquistadors further north, claiming Texas and a vast area of what is now the U.S. for Spain. This remote area attracted limited European migration, and the small numbers of settlers were never able to subdue the Indigenous people as firmly as Cortés and his handful of warriors had decimated the Mexica. As late as the 1800s, there were still only approximately 3,500 settlers living in the whole of Tejas. It didn’t even merit its own governor but was a neglected northern section known as Coahuila y Tejas.

Spanish Texas becomes Mexican

On the surface, little changed after Mexico gained independence in 1821, Spanish Texas simply becoming Mexican Texas. However, the region had been dependent on Spain for money, priests and manufactured goods, and Mexican independence saw the local economy shrink. Smugglers filled the gap for imported goods, and rancheros drove their cattle north to the illegal but more profitable U.S. markets.

To increase the number of settlers, Mexico encouraged migration from the U.S., and in January 1821, Moses Austin was granted permission to bring the first 1,200 families from Louisiana to Texas. Twenty of the first 23 such settlements were populated by immigrants from the U.S. These new communities tended to be self-contained, and people maintained a close affinity to the U.S. One area of conflict was the keeping of enslaved people, a practice Mexico had outlawed, but which many new colonists felt essential to their prosperity. The Mexican government, seeing itself becoming outnumbered in its own northern territory, introduced the Law of April 6, 1830, prohibiting any further immigration by U.S. citizens. 

The escalation of tensions

The situation simmered until 1833, when Antonio López de Santa Anna was elected president of Mexico and abolished the Constitution of 1824. This moved Mexico towards centralism. For Americans living in Texas, it was both a cause of concern and an excuse to start dreaming of independence. In 1835, Martín Perfecto de Cos, a man related to the Mexican President by marriage, arrived in Texas with 500 soldiers to shore up Mexican rule. After several small confrontations, events blew up in the Texas town of Gonzales.

The community had been loaned a small cannon for protection against the Native Americans, and with tensions on the rise, the Mexican government sent a strong force — 100 cavalry — to reclaim their artillery piece. The soldiers arrived at the Guadalupe River to find a small group of armed Texans on the other bank. The men refused to return the cannon, and as the Mexican army searched for a crossing point, more and more men rode in to confront them. A shot was fired, and the Mexicans, now outnumbered, retreated without the cannon. Nobody realized it at the time, but the Texas Revolution had started.

The Texas Revolution

At this stage, unrest in Texas was less a political movement and more a general rumbling against taxes and central government, but buoyed by their success at Gonzales, a mob of Texans marched towards San Antonio de Béxar. The town had a population of around 2,000, mostly Spanish speakers who supported Mexican rule but were largely unpolitical and just wanted to get on with life. The community centred around the plaza and cathedral, and just one block from the center, you would find simple houses that sat on the edge of their own cultivated fields. In response to raids by the Native Americans, there were several fortified missionary buildings, including the Alamo, which was separated from the main town by the San Antonio River.

The Texans, who were described at the time as “a motley bunch of ruffians with fewer guns than men, short on powder and lead, with no heavy artillery to brag about,” made camp just outside San Antonio. At this stage, the “rebels” lacked any government or a clear list of demands.  While some talked of independence, others only wished for a degree of local autonomy. Stephen Austin, a Virginia-born landowner, led a team to negotiate with General Cos.

When no arrangement could be reached, the general, under pressure from the Mexican government, and with the larger force, felt compelled to act. On an early morning in October, he led a force of around 270 men towards the Mexican camp. A small force of Texans took up a strong position on the banks of the San Antonio River and in just 30 minutes fought off three Mexican assaults, forcing the bigger army back into the town.

‘Who will go with old Ben Milan into San Antonio?’

Nothing had really changed. Cos and his army were still besieged, and the Texans were still too small in numbers to launch an assault on the town. In the Texan camp, boredom was now the greatest danger; men who were volunteers simply slipping away and going back to their farms. This was a pattern that could be expected to worsen as supplies dwindled and winter approached. The Texans were considering decamping and seeking winter billets when a Mexican deserter brought news of the situation in the town. The troop’s morale was low, he reported, and they were running short of both food and water. Colonel Ben Milan offered to lead an attack and, having been given permission to do so, called for volunteers. “Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?” was his famous cry.

After six weeks of siege and five days of house-to-house fighting, General Cos retreated from the town, crossed the bridge over the San Antonio River, and took shelter in the Alamo. When he attempted to launch a counterattack, his cavalry deserted, and Cos sued for peace. The surrender terms were generous, the Mexicans even being allowed to keep their muskets for protection as they marched away.

The Mexican army in Texas had been neutralized, and many Texans now rode home, men such as young Creed Taylor, who arrived at his mother’s log cabin with a new horse, pistols, swords and silk sashes that had once decorated a Mexican officer’s uniform. However, back in Mexico, President Santa Anna had no intention of letting the Texans secede. Transferring his presidential duties to Miguel Barragán, he gathered an army in San Luis Potosí and started the march northwards.

Mexican army on the march

It was a bitterly cold winter, the army lacked supplies, and many of the recruits, who had no military training, had to be given basic instructions on how to use a musket as they marched. There was no money to pay the civilians who worked the supply wagons, so many deserted. The decision to take the inland road, rather than work their way up the coast, meant the army was heading directly towards San Antonio, and as they marched, they met up with Cos and his retreating soldiers, who turned around and joined the column.

By now, Sam Houston was emerging as the leader of the Texan rebels, and aware that a Mexican army was gathering, he sent James Bowie to the Alamo with instructions to remove the artillery and blow up the fortification. Bowie discussed the issue with the Alamo commander, James C. Neill, and on Jan. 26, announced they would stay and defend the fort. There was, at this stage, no certainty that the Mexican army would even reach Texas, and the fort remained undermanned, under-provisioned and generally unprepared. Feb. 21st brought news that Santa Anna and the vanguard of his army had reached the banks of the Medina River, and with the Mexicans just a few days’ march away, San Antonio suddenly became a scene of hectic activity. While many civilians fled the town, the fighting men gathered supplies and herded their cattle into the Alamo. 

Battle of the Alamo

The exact number of men in the mission is uncertain, but it was less than 200, while the Mexicans had around 2,000 troops, with more likely to arrive in the coming days. At 10 p.m. on March 5th, the 12th day of the siege, the Mexican artillery ceased their bombardment, and the exhausted Texans fell into their cots. They were unaware that Mexican soldiers were edging up to the walls to prepare a major assault. The attack came at 5 the following morning. Musket and rifle fire from the walls, and cannons loaded with a jumble of scrap metal, took a toll on the attackers, but a combination of numbers and bravery brought the Mexican infantry into the compound. By 6:30 a.m., the battle was over, and the defenders of the Alamo lay dead. 

Mexico and Texas were now committed to war and a few weeks later, the Battle of San Jacinto would end in Texas independence.

Bob Pateman is a Mexico-based historian, librarian and a life-term hasher. He is editor of On On Magazine, the international history magazine of hashing.

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Now, as a PhD candidate at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Garza is pushing artificial intelligence to an entirely new frontier: the micro-world of chips, sensors, and embedded devices. Forget massive server clusters or data centers sucking up megawatts of power. His vision is of an AI that can think locally — and he is creating miniature, energy-efficient systems that learn and adapt on the fly without ever calling home to the cloud.

That bold idea has earned him a Google PhD Fellowship for 2025, a prestigious award reserved for the most promising young scientists redefining how computing will look in the next decade.

When Big AI gets too big

Most of today’s AI depends on immense computational infrastructure. This is like brainpower outsourced to enormous digital “cathedrals” — endless racks of GPUs chewing through terabytes of data. It’s powerful but also unsustainable.

“Today’s large AI models have an enormous environmental footprint,” Garza says. “We want to show that intelligence doesn’t have to mean excess — that it’s possible to build systems that are just as capable, but far more sustainable and accessible.”

Enter Tiny Reinforcement Learning, or TinyRL — Garza’s minimalist twist on machine learning. In essence, he’s teaching microsystems to be smart. TinyRL combines reinforcement learning (where machines learn by trial and error) with math inspired by the Kolmogorov-Arnold theorem, letting embedded devices optimize themselves in real time. The most incredible part of this process is that no supercomputers are required, unlike the large-scale machine learning systems that are currently popular.

A robot that learns by failing

In the university’s robotics lab, Garza and his team are testing a small ground robot that starts out totally clueless. It doesn’t know where it is, how its wheels move, or what its sensors are for. But through thousands of tiny experiments — bumping into walls, pivoting, adjusting — it begins to figure it out.

After a few hours of digital trial and error, that chaos turns into coordination. “You can literally see intelligence emerging from scratch,” Garza explains. The robot goes from jittery improvisation to purposeful navigation, all without any pre-programmed instructions or cloud-based training.

Soon, these algorithms will evolve to run on multi-microcontroller architectures, where multiple miniature agents learn together and share discoveries, creating a sort of ecosystem of networked intelligences.

The human-centered future of Industry 5.0

The work anchors Tec de Monterrey’s “Research Group for Industry 5.0,” a collaborative effort to design technology that’s smaller, smarter, and friendlier to both people and the planet.

Garza imagines factories where robots learn new tasks on the job, homes where assistive devices adapt to their users, and wearable health monitors that predict problems before they surface. “Imagine a smartwatch that doesn’t just track your pulse,” he says. “It anticipates changes in your health and warns you before something happens.”

For Google, his selection as a 2025 fellow places him among 255 doctoral candidates worldwide tackling pressing computing challenges. The program provides mentorship, funding, and a global research network. For Garza Elizondo, it’s an affirmation that big thinking doesn’t have to live in big machines.

“When people think about AI, they imagine huge systems behind screens,” he says. “But what excites me is the idea that intelligence can live anywhere — even in the tiniest corner of a chip.”

This story was written by a Mexico News Daily staff editor with the assistance of Perplexity, then revised and fact-checked before publication.

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Surrounded by the Sierra Madre mountains, the gleaming, modern industrial city of Monterrey is a place defined more by ambition and industry rather than mass tourism. The city made it into international news a few years ago when Elon Musk announced he would open a Tesla gigafactory there, a plan that has since been put on hold due to US tariffs. But there were plenty of reasons Musk was interested in expanding into Monterrey.

Monterrey is the business capital of Mexico

The city calls itself “the business capital of Mexico,” and with good reason: it has a thriving aerospace, tech, biotech and automotive industry and several major companies are based there — along with a younger demographic of Mexicans who have moved there to take well-paying jobs at these companies. Driving this seemingly never-ending investment is Nuevo León’s affable young governor, Samuel García, who travels the world regularly to talk up Nuevo León as a base for Latin American expansion for U.S., Asian and European manufacturers and tech companies. 

Perhaps emblematic of Monterrey’s modern, ambitious vibe is the city’s Torre Obispado, the tallest skyscraper in all of Mexico. Not content with that status, Monterrey is also building the Torre Rise, which aims to become the tallest skyscraper in all of Latin America, featuring luxury condos, business offices, hotels, bars and restaurants.

Unlike Mexico’s older urban hubs, Monterrey doesn’t promote its history and tradition; its youthful vision is pointed firmly forward toward the future.

‘Dallas, but in Spanish’

The city’s economic success is partly due to its location near the U.S. border, which has also resulted in plenty of cross-pollination with the U.S., both economically and culturally. In Mexico, Monterrey has the reputation of being the most Americanized city in Mexico.

Culturally, it boasts a strong norteño identity, thanks to its proximity to Texas cities like Laredo and San Antonio, so it’s not unusual to see cowboy hats on Monterrey’s streets, and hear the norteño sounds of Los Tigres Del Norte and Ramón Ayala at parties. Many Monterrey natives have family in the U.S. and have spent extensive time there, which means a big demand for U.S.-style amenities and culture. The city’s young, well-educated population, if not fluent in English, tends to speak at least some. 

Thanks to Monterrey’s highly Americanized environment, it can be an appealing option for well-educated, younger workers from the U.S., who know Spanish, whose English can be a boon for international companies looking for workers who are fluent in the business world’s lingua franca.

Monterrey’s reputation for high-ranking universities also attracts young foreigners from the U.S. and other countries seeking to earn a less-expensive but still well-regarded university degree in an environment with plenty of good jobs. An undergraduate degree from even one of Mexico’s most prestigious, and most expensive, private universities, the Tec de Monterrey, can cost well under US $20,000 a year, significantly cheaper than in the U.S. At the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, a public university, international students can pay as little as US $1,000 in yearly tuition. 

Mexican-American Kata Lucia, a Mexican American engineering student at Tec de Monterrey, sees the city as a good option for Mexican-American students who want to connect with their roots in an environment that doesn’t feel entirely foreign. 

“Although I like to call Monterrey ‘Dallas, but in Spanish’ due to how Americanized it is, I’ve really fallen in love with the feeling it gives me,” she said. “It’s like being home in Texas, but also being in the unknown at the same time.”

A welcoming environment

Other expats in Monterrey we interviewed pointed to the warm sense of community they encountered there. Andrea Zavala, a local radio announcer for Monterrey’s Classic 106.9 FM and former Spanish immersion teacher in Ohio, highlights how kind the Monterrey community is towards outsiders, particularly to those with kids in the school system.

“There’s a WhatsApp group for each of our kids’ classrooms. The parents and kids from each class even meet up to celebrate Christmas, Halloween and Mexico’s Independence Day. They use anything as an excuse to get together,” she said. 

Also, she said, she encountered a “lot of support from the start.”

“If your kids need a ride or help with homework, parents from the community are there with a sincere and helping hand.”

After the gentrification protests in Mexico City last summer, a would-be foreign migrant to Monterrey might wonder if outsiders will be welcome. But since Monterrey doesn’t have many tourists or many temporary foreign residents, foreigners who settle in Monterrey are viewed more as new members of the community.

“I truly like how friendly the people are. Being from the southeast U.S., there are many similarities in the [two] culture[s]: greeting strangers, smiling, and making eye contact,” said April Bounds, an American who moved to Monterrey with her family last September. “The wealth inequality is stark here, but it’s important to remember that there are generally kind, hardworking people who are trying to get by like the rest of us.”

There are, of course, some challenges, especially if you don’t have a great command of Spanish, says Steen Kirby, an American expat who has lived in Monterrey for almost two years. Adapting to Monterrey also means adapting to life in a major urban center and all that comes with it, including sitting in rush-hour traffic jams.

But Kirby finds Monterrey to be a part of Mexico filled with unexpected gems. 

“There are companies like [outsourcers for] Tesla, Hyundai and Cemex here, so it makes for an interesting place to be in Mexico,” he says. “The skyscrapers and mountains also make for a wonderful backdrop to the city I call home.” 

Kirby also cites “the amenities and infrastructure in Monterrey, such as the fantastic malls and shopping plazas” and the phenomenal music scene Monterrey has compared to other parts of Mexico, with two major festivals a year — Tecate Pa’l Norte and Machaca Fest. These festivals draw artists like Karol G, J Balvin, 50 Cent, Blink 182, and Kings of Leon to the city as an easy stopover from southern U.S. cities. If you also include Festival San Lucas in the equation, a cultural event with more traditional noteño music, it makes for a year-round, music paradise for those who enjoy concerts. 

“But the biggest thing for me is how welcoming the norterños of Monterrey are towards people who are visibly not Mexican,” Kirby says. “I’ve lived in other parts of the north, like Tijuana, and felt less welcome there compared to being in Monterrey as a gringo.”

Stories like these demonstrate how foreigners can flourish in Monterrey, a rare middle ground between cultures where Americans, Mexicans, and virtually anyone who settles there can feel welcome. Maybe, with Monterrey set to host four World Cup games next June, others will start to fall in love with this unique gem in Mexico. 

What has been your experience in Monterrey? Let us know in the comments below.

Ian Ostroff is an indie author, journalist, and copywriter from Montreal, Canada. You can find his work in various outlets, including Map Happy and The Suburban. When he’s not writing, you can find Ian at the gym, a café, or anywhere within Mexico visiting family and friends.

The post Why moving to Monterrey might just be your Mexican dream appeared first on Mexico News Daily

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the deployment of the barriers on Wednesday during a visit to the Rio Grande Valley that included a roundtable discussion with U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel as well as ranchers whose property is often traversed by migrants moving north after crossing the border.

Standing before one of the buoys — large floating, cylindrical devices that can measure up to 15 feet long and four to five feet in diameter — Noem said 130 miles of the water barrier were already under contract and were beginning to be installed that day.

This water barrier is part of a push by President Donald Trump to build a “Smart Wall” made up of steel barriers, waterborne barriers, patrol roads, lights, cameras and detection technology. The projects are funded by the 2025 tax and spending megabill, which Trump named the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Noem touted the water barrier as a deterrent to people crossing the border illegally as well as drug smugglers and human traffickers.

Homeland Security and the Border Patrol are working with the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission and the state of Texas to ensure proper installation of the buoys, Noem said.

The state of Texas is already familiar with using buoys to deter border crossings. Governor Greg Abbott ordered the installation of a 1,000-foot water barrier along the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass in 2023 as part of his mission to tighten border security, and an additional 1,000 feet of buoys after Trump took office in January 2025.

Texas launches billboard campaign referencing sexual assault to deter US-bound migrants

“Texas finally has a partner in the White House,” Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Abbott, said in a statement Wednesday. “The floating marine barriers deployed by Texas have been a resounding success, and Governor Abbott is proud to work with the Trump Administration and Border Patrol to expand the program. ”

The buoys sparked protests from activists concerned about migrant safety and a complaint from the Mexican government alleging the buoys violated water treaties between the U.S. and Mexico. The U.S. Department of Justice under President Joe Biden sued Texas over the buoys, citing similar concerns. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the buoys to remain in place while the merits of the case move forward in a lower court. The state has argued it has the right to defend itself against an “invasion” of drug cartels.

Weeks after the buoy wall was installed in Eagle Pass, Mexican authorities reported the lifeless body of a migrant had been found on one of the floating spheres. On Wednesday, Noem argued that the water barrier would prevent migrant deaths by discouraging them from trying to cross the river.

“They’ll create a safer environment for agents on patrol, and securing our waterways not only protects Americans, it saves the lives of illegal aliens by deterring them from daring to attempt to cross through this treacherous water,” Noem said.

This article was written by Berenice García and first appeared on The Texas Tribune. 

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For a group of students in their third year at Escuela Secundaria Técnica No. 117 “Guillermo González Camarena,” water cuts were a daily reality that disrupted their home life, education and daily routines. But rather than simply endure the crisis, these teenagers decided to find a solution.

Now, their innovative response has earned them recognition as one of just 33 global finalists for the 2026 Zayed Sustainability Prize. The students are competing against projects from 173 countries for up to $150,000 in funding with their self-made hydrostations — modular machines that literally pull drinking water out of thin air.

From water crisis to community innovation

The students’ journey from victim to innovator reflects what their teacher, Professor Rogelio Monreal Moreno, calls a transformation “from worry to action, and from action to consciousness.” During the peak of the crisis, these students made a decision that would change their entire approach to learning.

“Finding the problem was the easiest part,” one student explained. The challenge was creating a solution that would work independently of existing infrastructure.

By combining solar power with Peltier technology, the students were able to extract moisture from humid air, a process that produces clean water continuously, without drilling, chemicals or dependence on external suppliers. The teens designed and assembled the hydrostations themselves, generating water to feed school gardens, drinking fountains and small planters called “BioCápsulas” in which they grow produce.

The project extends far beyond water production. The students have created what they call “AD COGNIS,” a complete educational ecosystem that transforms their school into a living laboratory of science and sustainability. Through the “ECOmunidad” digital platform, students track data, share progress and participate in environmental challenges. The “ECOnocedor” program develops leadership skills, STEM capabilities (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as well as community service.

“More than learning content, students have learned to see themselves as capable of sustaining something real,” Monreal Moreno explained. “This project took them out of the role of ‘completing an assignment’ and put them in the role of understanding a problem in their environment and acting on it.”

Competing on the global stage

The Zayed Sustainability Prize, established in 2008, recognizes innovative solutions that improve access to healthcare, food, energy, water and climate resilience. Previous winners have impacted over 400 million people worldwide. This year’s competition is particularly fierce, with entries increasing by 30% over last year.

The Mexican students face formidable competition in the Global High Schools category. They’re up against initiatives like Kenya’s solar-powered vaccine refrigeration serving over 1 million people, South Korea’s disease-free potato production benefiting 15 million people, and Rwanda’s smart water ATMs serving over 500,000 people.

What distinguishes the Mexican project is its comprehensive educational approach that goes beyond just technology. While many finalist projects address water access, these students have created both the technical solution and an entire framework for environmental education and leadership development.

Student voices and family pride

For the students involved, the recognition brings both excitement and responsibility. “My parents are happy and proud,” shared one participant, capturing the community support behind the project. Another reflected on the broader significance: “Getting to this prize is a great inspiration for many young people.”

The project has surprised fellow classmates and engaged students in fields ranging from graphic design to photography — all contributing to prototype development and project documentation. Monreal Moreno observed students transitioning from asking “what if it doesn’t work?” to declaring “let’s make it better.”

No inventions come without challenges, and water scarcity wasn’t the only obstacle they faced. The students encountered multiple hurdles in developing their solution. For one student, the hardest part was the development of the idea. “It takes a lot of creativity to figure out how to make it better, and it takes a high level of research.” Another student noted that while the project has proved successful locally, the group is still “missing a way to industrialize it,” scaling their solution beyond their school.

The educational impact extends beyond technical skills. Students have developed teamwork, communication and organizational abilities, but most importantly, what Monreal Moreno describes as “authentic self-confidence, the kind that emerges when their work makes sense and serves others.”

Looking to Abu Dhabi and beyond

The winners will be announced at the Zayed Sustainability Prize ceremony on Jan. 13, 2026, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. At the time of writing, the students were working to raise funds for the international trip, in itself an exercise in learning project management and employing community engagement.

Regardless of the competition outcome, the project already represents something bigger: a model for how technical education can address real-world problems while developing the next generation of environmental leaders. The students plan to expand their network to other schools, sharing open-source manuals and promoting environmental self-sufficiency.

Their initiative demonstrates that innovative sustainability solutions can emerge from anywhere, and especially from young people with the creativity and determination to transform challenges into opportunities. In a region that faced “day zero” for its water supply, these students have created not just a technological solution, but a new way of thinking about education, community resilience and youth leadership.

As student Victoria explained, “The project inspires us because we’re learning by doing something very useful.” Her words capture what makes this initiative so remarkable — students addressing real problems while transforming their own education in the process, proving that the most powerful solutions often flow from genuine understanding and determination.

Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog or follow her on Instagram.

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The group — “México Tiene Vida” (“Mexico Has Life”) — claims more than 220,000 have registered with the organization, which has held assemblies in 107 voting districts. Federal law requires 256,000 affiliations and 200 district assemblies before Jan. 31 in order to petition to become a nationally recognized political party.

México Tiene Vida — commonly referred to as Vida — was founded in Monterrey, the capital of the northern state of Nuevo León, in 2022 and secured registration as a local political party ahead of the 2024 state elections.

Although it did not win any mayoral or state congressional seats, Vida — which relies on the support of conservative business leaders and members of the evangelical churches — received the fourth-highest number of votes in the state (4.3%).

Its rapid rise in its quest to become a national party has raised eyebrows, particularly due to its excessive reliance on the electronic application enabled by the National Electoral Institute (INE) to recruit members.

INE records indicate that Vida has registered nearly 80% of its members via the app, collecting only about 47,000 signatures at assemblies. As noted by the newspaper El País, this proportion is the exact opposite of that of other organizations seeking registration, which have achieved most of their memberships at events.

As its name suggests, Vida is a pro-life (i.e. anti-abortion) party, self-defined as an organization that advocates for the restoration of Mexico’s dignity and the recovery of ethical and moral values.

According to its Declaration of Principles, Vida is guided by six principal values — respect for life, family, liberty, private property, justice and peace — and three fundamental concepts — human and social development; prosperity and sustained development; and justice, governability and security. 

In its Program of Action, Vida argues that the country is in dire need of honest politicians with values ​​and ethics, asserting that there is a crisis of credibility of existing political parties.

In Mexico, it says, politicians “don’t want to serve the public,” but instead “are obsessed with wealth and power, which they can obtain through politics.”

Jaime Ochoa, a Monterrey businessman, is the public face of Vida, along with fellow Monterrey businessmen Eduardo Zamarripa and Jorge Garza, who are listed as the group’s legal representatives in its dealings with INE.

If granted recognition as a national party, Vida would appear on the 2027 midterm ballot, and must obtain at least 3% of the national vote to retain its registration.

With reports from El País and El Financiero

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For most Mexico-based Venezuelans, however, the situation is far more complex than images of demonstrations and debates on social media suggest.

On Saturday morning, U.S. military forces entered Venezuelan territory, killing at least 80 people, including 32 Cuban members of the president’s security detail, before capturing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the capital of Caracas. The pair was transported to New York, where they now face trial on charges including cocaine trafficking, to which both have pleaded not guilty. 

Hours after the operation, U.S. President Donald Trump announced at a press conference that his administration would oversee Venezuela “until we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” adding that U.S. companies would start operating in Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Many Venezuelans living in Mexico, far away from most of their family members, experienced a mix of emotions as information trickled in.

Jessica Valero, who arrived in Mexico in August 2024 after a long and arduous overland journey that took her through the Darién Gap, woke up to a message from her father saying that Caracas had been bombed. “I was really scared, really, really scared. I have some relatives in the military, and I’m very concerned for their safety.” 

Valero immediately called her dad, who confirmed all her family members were safe, and told her that Maduro had been captured. “And I swear you won’t believe me, but I couldn’t feel my legs. I mean, I had to kneel down and lean on something because I couldn’t believe it.”

‘A necessary evil’

Many Venezuelans in exile shared a similar experience: initial confusion, followed by excitement after hearing the news of Maduro’s arrest. However, their perspectives on what is to come differ. 

“Certainly, the situation in my country is very complex, and everything that has happened has generated a lot of controversy, but in my opinion, I think that this surgical intervention by the United States is a step that was necessary to restore democracy and stability to the country,” Valero said, adding that, “deep down, Venezuelans know that the United States’ involvement right now is a necessary evil.”

Bárbara Guevara, who has owned a Venezuelan restaurant in Mexico City for 12 years, echoed a similar sentiment. “I think that if it hadn’t happened this way, we would be like Cuba, and that scares me much more,” she said. However, her fear still outweighs hope. “I want Venezuela to become a new Panama. But based on Trump’s own statements, it’s going to become an Iraq.”

Manuel Chacón, a Chief Operating Officer of a technology company in Mexico City, who left Venezuela in 2017 after being at the forefront of many anti-government protests, is also hesitant to celebrate. “I’m not truly content. Obviously, one feels joy at seeing Maduro imprisoned, but matters are far from being properly resolved.” Worse, he fears the situation could deteriorate. “If the U.S. oversimplifies the problem and only changes the middleman, replacing Maduro with Delcy Rodríguez [Maduro’s vice-president], the situation could become much more complex than it was with Maduro.”    

Chacón had brought a special bottle of rum from Venezuela to celebrate the eventual fall of the Chavista regime, but it remains in his cupboard. “I didn’t want to open it even though I saw the photo of Maduro’s arrest. No, there is still some way to go.”

Mariela Hernández, who has lived in Mexico City for 10 years and currently runs an art workshop business, has a more positive outlook. “A country like the United States is not going to invest millions of dollars for another actor of the same Chavista government to remain in power; that is not going to happen.” She noted that “the transition will certainly be difficult, but there will be a path to democracy for Venezuela that has undoubtedly already begun.”

A Mexican lens

Hernández voiced that some Mexicans have expressed to her that they oppose the United States’ military actions in her country because they violate the sovereignty of the people. To this, she responded, “The sovereignty of my people was violated 26 years ago; there is no longer any sovereignty, there is nothing left to protect.” She added, “Yes, it’s an invasion, but it’s an invasion that will bring freedom to a country that has been oppressed for 26 years.” 

Silvia Lopez, a market analyst with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Monterrey, agrees that, as a Mexican who has not lived in Venezuela during Maduro’s regime, she does not have the knowledge to comment on what the end of Maduro’s presidency means for the country. At the same time, she fears that the foreign invasion of Venezuela sets a precedent for other countries, especially Mexico, as immediate neighbors of the United States: “Today it’s them, and tomorrow it could be us.” 

“I see it as a double-edged sword,” Lopez commented. “On the one hand, you want to celebrate the good news for all the people who have lived in precarious conditions because of Maduro’s regime. But at the same time, it is also worrying to see how easily the U.S. government was able to intervene and kidnap the current president of a country, although not a legitimate or democratic president, and drop bombs and attack the civilian population.” 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has also condemned the U.S. military operation. “We categorically reject intervention in the internal affairs of other countries,” she said during her daily press conference on Monday, after Trump suggested over the weekend that “something has to be done about Mexico.”

Sheinbaum: ‘Intervention does not bring democracy to the people’

Mariana Pinto, a communication sciences graduate from Mexico City, takes a different stance. “I am in favor of the intervention. Whether it was Russia, China or the United States, someone had to intervene because the country was under a dictatorship that had plunged it into extreme poverty.” 

Pinto prefers to trust the opinion of the Venezuelans she has spoken to, who seem happy, instead of casting her own judgment as an outsider. “You shouldn’t talk about a country’s government and give your opinion, because they are the only ones who know what is happening.”

Two communities, contrasting responses

Many Mexican protestors who joined demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday would disagree with Pinto.

In Oaxaca city, for example, members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and other social organizations took the stage on the main square’s kiosk after marching through the city center on Jan. 3 to voice their disapproval of Maduro’s capture.

“The aggression against Venezuela is an aggression against all peoples who fight for their sovereignty, self-determination and control of their natural resources. It is a message of war to any nation that dares to break away from imperialist logic,” one of the spokespeople exclaimed. 

“That is why from Oaxaca, a territory of struggle, resistance and dignity, we call for immediate and permanent mobilization, reaffirming that peace can only be built with social justice and popular sovereignty,” she added. Meanwhile, the public chanted “Stop the imperialist war,” “Yankees out of Venezuela” and “Yankees out of Latin America.”

The same day, a group of protestors in Mexico City gathered at the U.S. and Venezuelan embassies to “express the total rejection of any kind of U.S. intervention,” as Jorge Rivas, a political activist and an active member of the Communist Party of Mexico, put it. 

“This is a clear message to Mexico and the entire continent that any country that does not bow to U.S. interests will be invaded or intervened in,” Rivas said. “Always with an excuse supported by a narrative, such as the weapons of mass destruction of Asian countries, and today, the word terrorism is replaced by drug trafficking, and the same approach is taken.”

Some Venezuelans in Mexico City struggled to understand Mexican protestors’ motives and felt that by using Venezuelan flags, they were posing as Venezuelans while defending Maduro’s government. 

Valero shares this opinion: “It would be very inconsistent of me, coming from a country where freedom of expression is not currently possible, to say these protests [by Mexicans] are wrong.” But she argued, “As a Venezuelan, I reject the fact that there are people of other nationalities who pretend to be Venezuelan, supporting something they don’t really know because they haven’t experienced it themselves.”

Hernández agreed. “We don’t understand why the Mexicans not only spoke, but also pretended to know more about the situation in Venezuela than we ourselves, who have suffered all these years.”

Contrary to these protests, following the capture of Maduro, some Venezuelans took to Mexico’s state capitals to celebrate.

Hernández herself was one of dozens of Venezuelans who gathered at Polanco’s Parque Lincoln in Mexico City. “What motivated me to join this gathering was to celebrate the beginning of the end of the dictatorship in Venezuela,” she explained.

Valero, on the other hand, noted that celebrations feel premature. “There are many families in Venezuela that are crying for their relatives,” she said, “and others cannot celebrate or raise their voices because they are not allowed to.” As the situation develops, for most people, joy and fear continue to exist side by side.

Vera Sistermans is a freelance journalist and security analyst based in Mexico City. Her work mostly focuses on Indigenous culture, violence and resilience.

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Data from the State System for Tourism Influx confirms a 17.5% increase over 2024, positioning Tamaulipas as a premier tourist destination in northeastern Mexico. 

Not long ago, Tamaulipas was regarded as one of the most dangerous places in Mexico. Cities like Tampico, on the Gulf of Mexico, were widely associated with high levels of violence stemming from organized crime. But today, the city has significantly improved its security indicators and is now one of the safest destinations in the country.  

Local officials have said that improved infrastructure, effective promotion strategies, infrastructure and strengthening of established destinations have contributed to Tamaulipas’ tourism boost. 

During the summer holidays of 2025 alone, the state welcomed over 4.2 million visitors,  compared to 3.6 million in 2024, with especially strong numbers at beaches like Miramar, Tampico and La Pesca Biosphere Reserve. They generated nearly 3.9 billion pesos (US $218 million) in revenue that summer.

The state’s vibrant culture, natural beauty, varied beaches and emerging religious destinations have boosted tourism in the state.

State Tourism Secretary Benjamín Hernández Rodríguez highlighted natural attractions such as the deepest cenote (natural underground pool) in Mexico, a lake good for kayaking, and the caves of Los Cuarteles. 

Meanwhile, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy in El Chorrito, in the municipality of Hidalgo, is rapidly becoming a regional religious attraction.

Hernández has emphasized the importance of transforming tourism in the state by providing training, certification and registration for service providers. He said that his government aims to raise quality standards, maximize customer satisfaction, strengthen competitiveness, and professionalize human talent to support the sustainable development of Tamaulipas’ tourist destinations.

“Every effort to provide unforgettable experiences transforms our destination and leaves a mark on every visitor,” he said. 

With reports from Milenio

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