According to data from the Michoacán Security Ministry, 1,645 IEDS were neutralized by state authorities last year, an increase of 122.5% compared to 2024. The figure doesn’t include IEDs seized and deactivated by federal security forces such as the army and National Guard.

Crime groups that operate in Michoacán, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Los Viagras, attach IEDs to drones to carry out aerial attacks and also use the devices as landmines and car bombs.

In 2023, the Michoacán government created a police task force called the Explosive Devices and Dangerous Materials Specialized Group to combat the use of IEDs, whose detonation has claimed the lives of civilians, police officers and soldiers in the state.

The newspaper El Universal reported that the group’s efforts are mainly concentrated in the Tierra Caliente and Sierra Costa regions of Michoacán, where organized crime activity is particularly prevalent.

According to Carlos Roberto Gómez Ruiz, chief of the specialized group, the use of IEDs by cartels and other criminal groups is now common.

“All the criminal factions are using these kinds of explosive devices,” said Gómez, who was quoted by El Universal in a Jan. 15 report.

“Not just here in the state [of Michoacán], in the whole country. Unfortunately, it is a common practice,” he said.

The New York Times reported last September that “like other armed groups around the world,” cartels in Mexico “combine old and new weapons to deadly effect.”

IED attacks in Michoacán

Improvised explosive devices have been used in numerous attacks in Michoacán in recent years. Among the fatal incidents are:

• The explosion of a car bomb outside a community police station in the town of Coahuayana last month that killed six people, including three police officers. The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office attributed the attack to members of the CJNG.
• The explosion of a landmine in the municipality of Los Reyes last May that claimed the lives of eight members of the National Guard. The location where the landmine detonated is part of an area where both the CJNG and the Cárteles Unidos (United Cartels) are vying for control, El Universal reported.
• The explosion of a land mine on a lime farm in the municipality of Buenavista last February that claimed the lives of two workers, including a 15-year-old boy.
• The death of four soldiers in the municipality of Aguililla in a May 2024 attack that was perpetrated by landmines, firearms and drones carrying explosives. The attack was attributed to the CJNG.

With reports from El Universal

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​The first Maya peoples

According to current research, the first people to inhabit this territory did so during the Holocene period, around 10,000 B.C. — the current geological era that began after the last Ice Age. One of the most famous finds from this period is the skeleton of a young woman nicknamed Naia, discovered in 2007 in the submerged cave of Hoyo Negro in Quintana Roo, Mexico. She is believed to be about 13,000 years old. Stone tools, along with rock shelters containing cave paintings, are among the other evidence pointing to an early human presence in the region.

Only with the domestication of the ancestor of maize — teosinte — around 5,000 B.C., and the appearance of the first distinct ceramic groups in the archaeological record, is it possible to trace the emergence of settled communities throughout the Maya area. Specialization in ceramic production and the development of distinct regional manufacturing traditions reveal not just the beginnings of sedentary life but also the rise of long-distance cultural and commercial networks.

​Societies in the Maya Lowlands​

During what is known as the Middle Preclassic period, roughly 1,000-450 B.C., monumental architectural complexes with large platforms appeared in the Maya Lowlands, especially in the Southern Lowlands. Initially built of earth, these platforms were gradually replaced by stone buildings. Among them are the so-called E-Groups — distinctive architectural complexes likely used for astronomical observation and commemoration. These massive pyramidal structures were crowned by three temples: a central one flanked by two smaller shrines.

At the same time, the earliest stone sculptures appear in the form of carved stelae and associated altars. Ceramic figurines with varied facial features and clothing, as well as burials accompanied by different types of offerings, all point to emerging social hierarchies that would fully crystallize in the Late Preclassic period.

This era, spanning roughly 450 B.C. to A.D. 250, marks the transition of settlements into fully urban, state-level societies with pronounced social differentiation. The earliest known examples of Maya writing, such as those from San Bartolo in Guatemala, date to this period. In the Petén region — on both the Mexican and Guatemalan sides — and the adjoining area of Belize in the Southern Lowlands, early cities such as Nakbé, Cival, Cahal Pech and El Mirador began experiencing significant growth.​

The great city of El Mirador

El Mirador lies in the Guatemalan Petén, north of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, within the area known as the El Mirador Basin. Hundreds of pre‑Hispanic settlements of varying size have been documented there, including Tintal, Xulnal, Balamnal, Nakbé and others. Throughout the basin, E‑Groups and large triadic pyramidal complexes — classic architectural markers of the Preclassic period — stand out.

El Mirador was first identified in the early 20th century during expeditions led by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Since the 1980s, it has been the focus of ongoing archaeological projects directed by Dr. Richard Hansen. Occupied since the earliest phases of the Preclassic, the site reached its peak in the Late Preclassic, when both its population and monumental architecture expanded dramatically. Some buildings, such as the great Danta pyramid, exceed 70 meters in height — roughly equivalent to a 23-story building.

A well-organized and connected metropolis

Such monumental architecture in El Mirador implies strong control over population, ritual life and cosmological symbolism, likely exercised by a ruling elite. This group would also have overseen production systems and the circulation of goods, including water and a range of commodities from basic necessities to luxury items. Excavations by Hansen’s team have revealed a network of sacbeob, or “white roads” — true pre-Hispanic highways connecting El Mirador with both nearby and distant areas.

In the first case are roads leading to what have been interpreted as suburbs or neighborhoods near the political-ceremonial core, where obsidian artifacts were produced for later redistribution. Longer sacbeob linked El Mirador to other political centers such as Tintal, about 24 kilometers to the south, and Nakbé, about 14 kilometers to the southeast. The existence of these causeways radiating from El Mirador has led Hansen to propose an early “dendritic” model of regional political organization, with El Mirador as the main hub of a territory that may have covered some 80 square kilometers.

For these reasons, El Mirador is regarded as the great metropolis of the Preclassic period, with an estimated peak population of around 100,000 inhabitants between roughly 200 B.C. and A.D. 150. Along the margins of the La Jarrilla bajo — a seasonally inundated depression that borders the city — terraces and raised fields were constructed, enabling intensive agriculture to supply the entire population. This production was likely controlled by a ruling class about which we still know relatively little.

Many triadic complexes at El Mirador preserve remains of monumental masks associated with symbols of power, such as tied knots or jaguar claws. The faces often blend human and animal features, and the few written records available do little to clarify the rich iconography seen in sculptures and stelae. Together, these factors complicate efforts to reconstruct the sociopolitical organization of this major pre-Hispanic city.

Nonetheless, these images likely represent early manifestations of political power, in which cosmogonic ideas are closely tied to the city’s ruling groups. This is why the monument known as the “Popol Vuh Frieze,” or “Panel of the Swimmers,” associated with a structure used to collect and redirect water, is so important. According to Hansen’s hypotheses, the scenes depicted there may allude to episodes in the “Popol Vuh,” the famous K’iche’ Maya manuscript compiled in the colonial era. If so, the images at El Mirador would demonstrate the deep historical roots of these ideological concepts.

Crisis in El Mirador​

Around A.D. 150, El Mirador underwent a major sociopolitical crisis, probably linked in part to the intensification of building activity and exacerbated by environmental stress. Virtually all constructions — buildings, roads, monuments and so on — were coated in thick layers of white stucco and then painted in vivid colors. Because stucco erodes over time, it had to be reapplied in multiple layers. Limestone for stucco production was quarried near the site’s central sector and fired in large kilns that required enormous quantities of wood to achieve the temperatures needed to produce quicklime.

Hansen’s studies suggest that widespread deforestation and its consequences were among the key factors in El Mirador’s decline. At the same time, growing competition and political tension with other centers, such as Uaxactún and Tikal, likely contributed to the crisis.

After about A.D. 150, El Mirador’s population shrank and the construction of monumental buildings and complexes diminished drastically. Even so, the city and the basin were never completely abandoned. Archaeologists have discovered Chen Mul ceramics, characteristic of the Postclassic period (approximately A.D. 1000-1524) and the Northern Lowlands, as well as settlements with spatial patterns associated with late Kejache groups.

Despite this later occupation, the site’s decline was profound and irreversible. The once-great metropolis that had dominated the region for centuries faded into the jungle, its towering pyramids slowly consumed by vegetation. This collapse ushered in a new era that would give rise to what is known as the Classic period — a time when new centers of Maya power would emerge to fill the void left by El Mirador’s fall.

Pablo Mumary holds a doctorate in Mesoamerican studies from UNAM and currently works at the Center for Maya Studies at IIFL-UNAM as a full-time associate researcher. He specializes in the study of the lordships of the Maya Lowlands of the Classic period.

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The 5.0 magnitude temblor was barely perceptible in most of the capital, but did produce some minor shaking closer to the epicenter in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.

.@SismologicoMX: Hasta las 08:00 horas del 16/enero/2026 se han registrado 4,700 réplicas del sismo de M 6.5 ocurrido en San Marcos, Guerrero el 2/enero/2026, la más grande de magnitud M 5.0 pic.twitter.com/XS0IZzhhgn

— Webcams de México (@webcamsdemexico) January 16, 2026

 In a social media post shortly after the incident, President Claudia Sheinbaum said no damage had been reported, adding that “the National Civil Protection Coordination is initiating the review protocol” in Mexico City and in areas around the epicenter.

Hours later, federal and local authorities said no injuries had been reported and confirmed that no significant damage to infrastructure had been identified.

Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN) described the tremor as an aftershock related to the Jan. 2 earthquake that rang in the New Year.

“Through 8 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2026, we have registered 4,700 aftershocks related to the 6.5 magnitude earthquake that occurred in San Marcos, Guerrero, on Jan. 2, 2026, the largest being magnitude 5.0,” the SSN said on its website.

Forty-eight more aftershocks occurred in the seven hours immediately after the Friday morning temblor, the largest reaching just 4.1, the SSN reported.

Newspaper reports indicated the epicenter of the 5.0 magnitude tremor was 17 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of San Marcos, and about 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Acapulco.

The distance from San Marcos to Mexico City is roughly 365 kilometers (225 miles).

The SSN explained that the recent seismic activity in San Marcos, also near the epicenter of the Jan. 2 quake, is due to “the readjustment of the Earth’s crust after a major rupture.” Additionally, it said, “Guerrero sits at the confluence of the Cocos and North American tectonic plates, and the movements arise when the former slides under the latter, in a phenomenon known as subduction.”

Scientists have dismissed speculation that a so-called San Marcos Fault has formed, explaining that San Marcos is located very close to the Guerrero Gap, which extends approximately 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Acapulco to Papanoa-Petatlán, and is part of the Cocos-North America boundary.

Movement along the Guerrero Gap occasionally produces large earthquakes, but frequent, slow-slip events that release strain, known as silent earthquakes, are more characteristic.

With reports from El Universal, El Financiero, N+ and Infobae

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This past weekend, Señor Blue, a history and archaeology social media influencer, shared a video of the discovery of roughly 60 pre-Hispanic artifacts in San Pedro Jaltepetongo, a rural town in the mountains about 140 kilometers north of the state capital, Oaxaca city.

The post was accompanied by photographs showing dozens of vases, pots and a piece of gold extracted from a well, prompting the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to warn against irresponsible reporting.

INAH issued a statement urging citizens, journalists and content creators to “exercise due care when disseminating information about archaeological sites not open to the public,” lest they facilitate looting by revealing their location.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to care for and preserve our heritage for future generations,” the statement said, “and to avoid misinformation that … promotes looting and the destruction of the pre-Hispanic legacy of the people of Oaxaca and Mexico.”

As the story spread, some criticized the amateur excavation for destroying the archaeological context of the find, while others thanked Señor Blue for his offer of legal support to keep the artifacts in the local community.

In response to one social media comment that “If you have so much love for the past, … you should know this: it’s a serious mistake to dig pieces out of that hole,” Señor Blue wrote: “The most serious thing is when INAH removes everything, cleans it up and takes the items away, storing them in a warehouse, in the best of cases, or selling the pieces.”

Señor Blue claims to have infiltrated Facebook groups where pieces are offered for sale, saying some individuals even display INAH employee credentials to “authenticate” the pieces being sold. INAH did not respond to the allegations.

The influencer said the residents of San Pedro — who he’d worked with before — contacted him for fear that INAH would sell the artifacts on the black market.

He also defended his actions, arguing that the townspeople should have a say in what happens to the artifacts, citing the removal of treasures from the village of San Francisco Caxonos in Oaxaca’s Northern Sierra.

Archaeologists find a massive, 3,000-year-old map of the universe in Tabasco

An INAH dig there in the late 1990s uncovered six tombs with valuable Zapotec pieces — including a gold pectoral — from the Late Postclassic period (1300 to 1521 AD). The archaeologists removed all the pieces without informing the community, which, only years later, discovered the objects were housed in a Mexico City museum. They have since been returned and can be viewed at the local community museum.

“I prefer that people safeguard their local treasures,” Señor Blue wrote, “I hope INAH will provide them with a museum, but they will say there are no resources.”

INAH has confirmed that the collection of artifacts found in San Pedro — discovered after a local woman gathering epazote in the fields outside the town came across a hole in the ground — are part of a pre-Hispanic funerary context that corresponds to the Late Postclassic period and exhibits distinct characteristics of the Mixtec cultural tradition.

With reports from El País, Excelsior and El Universal

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Samuel García Rivero, a former director of public relations and protocol in the Uruapan municipal government, and Josué Elogio “N,” a taxi driver, were detained in Uruapan late last week, according to information García Harfuch presented at a press conference.

The security minister said it had been established that the two men communicated about Manzo’s schedule and movements before the mayor was shot in the central square of Michoacán’s second-largest city during a Day of the Dead event.

He also said that the two suspects have ties to the criminal group accused of orchestrating the murder of the mayor, namely the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The two men allegedly became aware of the plan to murder Manzo two weeks before the outspoken anti-crime crusader was killed. Warrants for their arrests had been issued on homicide charges.

More than a dozen other people are in custody in connection with the assassination, including Jorge Armando “N,” an alleged mastermind of the crime. The person who actually killed Manzo — a 17-year-old alleged meth addict identified as Víctor Manuel Ubaldo — was shot dead at the scene by one of the mayor’s bodyguards after he had been apprehended.

García Harfuch said that García Rivero — who has a prior criminal record — provided information to Josué Elogio “N” about Manzo’s movements on Nov. 1, and that information was sent to a WhatsApp group that was “led” by Jorge Armando “N” and used to plan and coordinate the murder of the mayor.

“For example, [García Rivero] told him about the mayor’s delays [and] the time at which he would leave the Casa de la Cultura [building in Uruapan],” he said.

García Harfuch also said that García Rivero had maintained contact with Ramiro “N,” who authorities say belonged to the WhatsApp group that was used to plan and coordinate the murder of Manzo. Ramiro “N” and another man allegedly involved in the assassination were found dead on Nov. 10 on the Uruapan-Paracho highway in Michoacán.

García Harfuch said that after the arrest of the two men in Uruapan last Thursday and Friday, authorities conducted searches at properties linked to them, seizing drugs and “communication equipment” that “has provided more evidence to continue with the ongoing investigation.”

The brazen assassination of Manzo attracted more attention than any other single murder committed in Mexico in 2025.

It shocked a nation that has been somewhat numbed by many years of relentless violence, triggering protests and precipitating the creation of a major “peace and justice” plan for Michoacán.

In 3 weeks, Plan Michoacán reduced homicides in the state by 50%

Manzo’s wife, Grecia Quiroz, was sworn in as mayor of Uruapan just a few days after her husband was killed.

All the arrests in the Manzo case 

Fifteen people are now in custody in connection with the murder of Carlos Manzo.

• Jorge Armando “N,” known as “El Licenciado” (The Graduate) was arrested in Morelia, the capital of Michoacán, on Nov. 18. García Harfuch said on Nov. 19 that he had been identified as “one of the masterminds” of Manzo’s murder as well as “one of the leaders of the criminal cell that planned the homicide.”
• Ricardo “N,” a taxi driver who allegedly picked up people involved in the attack after it occurred, is also in custody.
• Seven of Manzo’s municipal police bodyguards were arrested on Nov. 21 “for their probable participation in the crime of aggravated homicide” against Manzo.
• Jaciel Antonio “N,” an alleged CJNG recruiter known as “El Pelón” (Baldy), was arrested on Nov. 23. He allegedly recruited Víctor Manuel Ubaldo, Manzo’s murderer, at a drug rehabilitation center.
• Gerardo “N” and Flor “N,” suspects who allegedly collaborated with the criminal cell responsible for Manzo’s murder, were arrested in early December.
• Alejandro Baruc “N,” an alleged leader of a CJNG cell, was detained in connection with Manzo’s assassination on Dec. 30.
• Samuel García Rivero, the former municipal official, was arrested last week. He has previously been convicted on assault and robbery charges.
• Josué Elogio “N,” the taxi driver who allegedly received information about Manzo’s movements, was arrested last week. He is also known as “El Viejito” (The old man).
• Yesenia Méndez Rodríguez, Manzo’s personal secretary, was arrested last Thursday but released a few hours later. She doesn’t currently face any criminal charges. Méndez has been serving as Quiroz’s personal secretary since she assumed the mayorship of Uruapan.

With reports from Reforma, El Universal, La Jornada and Milenio

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This time around, National Geographic included the Costa Chica region in the southern state of Oaxaca as one of the top places to travel to in 2026.

“It’s a surfer’s dream, but on a quieter coastline,” the magazine says.

Historically, Oaxaca City, the state’s capital, has gotten the spotlight due to its vibrant cultural scene, pre-Hispanic monuments, culinary heritage and Mexican traditions. But just 100 miles southwest of the colonial city lies Costa Chica, a stretch of coastline between Pinotepa Nacional and the Huatulco area.

Costa Chica has remained a “less traveled, quieter destination than Mexico’s more popular and accessible stretches of sand,” National Geographic says, adding that still, “it is every bit as enticing.”

Renowned for its world class surf, the travel publication praises the destination’s “spectacular, undeveloped beaches, endemic birds, design-centric hotels, and countercultural enclaves, such as the queer-friendly, clothing-optional community of Zipolite.”

Even though the area has increased in popularity with national and international travellers, many beaches remain underdeveloped, making them attractive to those seeking quiet places, surfing, and community projects rather than large resorts.

Places like Puerto Escondido and nearby beaches are world-renowned for surfing — the Zicatela wave, called “Mexican Pipeline,” is emblematic — and early this year, Puerto Escondido was recognized as a World Surfing Reserve, to promote the conservation of historic beaches.

In addition to long stretches of uncrowded beaches, Costa Chica stands out as one of the few places in Mexico with a strong Afro-Indigenous identity, which reveals itself in Indigenous and mestizo dances and music such as the chilenas of Pinotepa and the sones of Pochutla.

Nat Geo also highlights the area’s inclination for architecture and design, starting with Casa Wabi arts complex, designed by celebrated Japanese architect Tadao Ando. It also mentions two nearby hotels, both designed by Mexican architect Alberto Kalach: Casona Sforza, an adults-only boutique hotel consisting of 11-suites, and the 100 percent solar Grupo Habita eco-hotel Hotel Terrestre.

Desde la llanada de la Costa Chica de Oaxaca llegó a la Ciudad de México una tradición que pocas veces había salido de su territorio. En San Juan Bautista Lo de Soto, uno de los pueblos más antiguos de la región, la Danza de los Diablos se ha conservado por décadas gracias a su… pic.twitter.com/kaVmXfKuMY

— Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México (@CulturaCiudadMx) November 15, 2025

In 2025, Hotel Terrestre earned a Michelin Key, recognizing exceptional experience the hotel offers to guests.

Reaching this paradisiac coastline is now easier than ever following the opening of a new superhighway between Oaxaca City and Costa Chica, which turned the 10-hour drive through the mountains into a 3.5-hour drive. And in December, American Airlines began operating a nonstop service between Dallas-Fort Worth and Puerto Escondido.

Mexico News Daily

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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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The quake damaged two major water systems, leaving operational only one of the three water intake and pumping systems supplying Acapulco with drinking water: the Papagayo 1 system. Papagayo 2, which supplies most of the city’s water, suffered a collapse in a section of its pipeline during the earthquake, preventing water from being sent to Acapulco from the Papagayo River.

Antonio Lorenzo Rojas Marcial, director of the Acapulco Municipal Water and Sewerage Commission (CAPAMA), said that the organization was working at full speed to restore water to the city of 800,000, with most water services expected to be restored by Jan. 12.

The earthquake also disrupted the electrical system, resulting in fires in the south and north wells of the Lomas de Chapultepec aqueduct, as well as damage to equipment, including the starters and the transformer. This is expected to take longer to fix as it requires specialist parts.

CAPAMA plans to temporarily provide water by establishing a bypass or connection at the Puerto Marqués water treatment plant once the Papagayo 2 system is repaired.

Mayor Abelina López told residents that the drinking water supply is already stable in the tourist zone and some neighborhoods of the port city that receive their water from the Papagayo I system. 

“I want to emphasize that, given our prompt attention to these issues, the drinking water supply to the tourist zone was restored on Saturday,” Mayor López said.

CAPAMA is thought to be working in coordination with the National Water Commission (Conagua) to repair the damage, although no state or federal government representatives joined Mayor López or CAPAMA directors at a press conference held at the Playa Suites Hotel in the Golden Zone on Monday to provide an update on the situation.

With reports from Milenio and La Jornada

The post More than 400,000 are without water in Acapulco after last week’s earthquake appeared first on Mexico News Daily

When he agreed to share some of his poetry about Mexico with us, we immediately said yes, pleased also that it came as a package deal with art by Mexican photographer and visual creator Andrea Quintero Olivas, whose work captures her country at times with stark realism and at times with dreamlike beauty. If you have spent any extended amount of time here in Mexico, you’ll find below words and images that will seem at once both familiar and new, views of the unseen. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Acatzingo: Dreamfields

San Cristobel de las Casas: Barrio Cuxtitali

Puerto Escondido: El Faro

Valladolid: Cenote Zaci

Oaxaca: Xoloitzcuintli

The post Do you often feel moved by what you encounter in Mexico? Then read this appeared first on Mexico News Daily

However, this vibrant, radish-themed parade (Convite de la Noche de Rábanos) was just a prelude to the main event: Night of the Radishes, held Dec. 23. 

Night of the Radishes

Night of the Radishes is an annual festival where local artisans carve giant radishes into sculptures, competing for prizes. They often form religious scenes such as the Last Supper or the Virgen de Guadalupe. Sculptures are completed and displayed in the afternoon of Dec. 23. Visitors can view the competition entries that evening.

Naturally, the perishable nature of radishes means they can only be displayed for a short time. 

The tradition dates back to the 1600s, when Dominican monks encouraged Oaxacan farmers to use oversized and strangely shaped radishes to make attractive displays to draw people to their stalls during the Christmas Eve market, held in the zócalo. At that time, the radishes were cultivated in the village of Trinidad de las Huertas. It became an official festival and annual competition on Dec. 23, 1897, and was formalized by Mayor Francisco Vasconcelos. 

A tradition not to be missed

Despite being a bit of a gimmick, the idea grew in popularity over the decades. Nowadays, the radishes are bigger than ever (as long as 50 centimeters, or 20 inches). They are grown in fields near Tequio Park, which are allocated for these giant vegetables. Each artist receives a stipend for entering the competition. The winner receives a cash prize, which is approximately 30,000 pesos (approximately US $1,666).

The radish parade and festival attract both locals and tourists. It is a chance to enjoy the creative radish carvings along with traditional foods, and the celebration ends in a fireworks display. Night of the Radishes is thus a unique cultural experience in Oaxaca — and one not to be missed!

Anna Bruce is an award-winning British photojournalist based in Oaxaca, Mexico. Just some of the media outlets she has worked with include Vice, The Financial Times, Time Out, Huffington Post, The Times of London, the BBC and Sony TV. Find out more about her work at her website or visit her on social media on Instagram or on Facebook.

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