After more than a decade on the run, Wedding, 44, was arrested Thursday night in Mexico City and flown to California, U.S. officials said.

A member of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Wedding was sanctioned in November by the U.S. Treasury Department, which, along with other U.S. agencies, has collaborated with the Mexican government on the case.

Labeled an “extremely violent criminal,” he was said to be hiding in Mexico. At the time, a reward leading to his arrest and conviction was raised from US $10 million to US $15 million.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed this week’s arrest, saying Wedding faces charges that include drug trafficking, money laundering, murder and the killing of a federal witness.

Federal prosecutors say he ran a transnational network that moved semitrailer loads of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States and Canada — at times under the protection of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.

“This is a huge day for a safer North America, and the world, and a message that those who break our laws and harm our citizens will be brought to justice,” Patel wrote Friday morning on X.

At a news conference Friday in Ontario, California, he described Wedding as a “modern day Pablo Escobar” and “modern-day El Chapo” who “thought he could evade justice.”

Mexican officials said Wedding’s capture capped years of cooperation as authorities tracked his operations and his lavish life in hiding.

Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch wrote on X that Patel visited Mexico City on Thursday for meetings with federal security and prosecutorial agencies and then departed “taking with him two priority targets.”

The other person was referred to by Patel only by his last name, Castillo. According to law enforcement sources, that would appear to be fugitive Alejandro Castillo, another man among the FBI’s 10 most wanted for the 2016 murder of his ex-girlfriend in North Carolina. 

Taken into custody in the state of Hidalgo, he allegedly crossed into Mexico two months after the murder but as of Friday was labeled as “captured” on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

As for Wedding, U.S. and Mexican authorities say he lived in Mexico for more than a decade while directing a network that allegedly imported about 60 tonnes of cocaine a year into Los Angeles and supplied an estimated $1 billion in cocaine annually to Canada.

FBI Director Kash Patel announces the capture of Ryan Wedding, a former Olympian and accused drug lord, after years on the run.

“Just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco trafficker in modern times,” Patel said.… pic.twitter.com/GZgAFQqvd5

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 23, 2026

Investigators say he did so while enjoying a “colorful and flashy” lifestyle, protected by cartel allies and supported by front companies and luxury assets scattered around Mexico City.

Mexican officials announced in December that they had seized about $40 million in high-end racing motorcycles linked to Wedding, along with luxury vehicles, artwork, drugs and two Olympic medals in raids across the capital.

Earlier, U.S. authorities had impounded a rare 2002 Mercedes CLK‑GTR hypercar valued at roughly $13 million.

Patel said the operation was the result of “tremendous cooperation and teamwork with the Government of Mexico,” singling out President Claudia Sheinbaum, García Harfuch and U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson.

García Harfuch said the joint work, grounded in “respect and shared responsibility,” will continue to target violent groups affecting both countries.

Wedding, who competed in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and finished 24th, is expected to appear Monday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Authorities say he also faces separate Canadian drug trafficking charges dating to 2015.

With reports from El Universal, Associated Press and BBC

The post Former Olympic snowboarder, wanted in US for trafficking, arrested in Mexico appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The interactive showcase — which has been extremely popular in previous stops from Madrid to Melbourne to Buenos Aires — will make its Latin American return in Mexico City, the ninth host city worldwide, according to Formula1.com.

The exhibition will be at Yama Punta Museo, an automobile-themed museum on the third floor of an upscale residential/retail complex in the southern Mexico City borough of Coyoacán.

“Since Formula 1 Exhibition’s debut in Madrid in 2023, the show has gone from strength to strength to attract over 1 million visitors,” said Emily Prazer, Formula 1’s chief commercial officer. “Mexico City is a vibrant cultural hub with a true passion for motorsport, so it made perfect sense for it to be the next stop on the Latin American tour.”

The city has embraced Formula 1 as one of its biggest annual spectacles.

Held each fall at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the Mexico City Grand Prix has sold out every year since rejoining the calendar in 2015. Attendance is roughly 400,000 across the full race weekend, with around 150,000 on race day.

Last year’s race was won by McLaren team driver Lando Norris, ahead of Charles Leclerc in second and Max Verstappen in third.

This year’s race on Sunday, Nov. 1 — with three free practice sessions plus qualifying on Oct. 30-31 — will see local favorite Sergio Pérez compete with F1’s newest team, Cadillac.

The exhibition at the museum 10 kilometers away will feature six immersive galleries across 2,000 square meters, including Pit Wall, a cinematic look at F1’s most unforgettable moments; Design Lab, an insider’s view into race car engineering; and Drivers & Duels, chronicling the sport’s historic rivalries.

A special room will honor Mexico’s racing legacy and pay homage to Pérez, a Guadalajara native who started in Formula 1 in 2011 and drove for Red Bull Racing from 2021 to 2024.

Artifacts will include historic cars, rare photos and the remains of French-Swiss driver Romain Grosjean’s fiery 2020 Bahrain crash — when his car was engulfed in flames for half a minute after hitting a barrier at high speed, yet he escaped alive.

The exhibit debuted in Madrid, where it became Spain’s top-selling temporary exhibit of 2023; the next year in London, it won a prize for being the city’s best visitor experience of the year.

Tickets in Mexico City start at 295 pesos (about US $17), with early-access registration open before public sales launch Jan. 28. There will be no ticket sales on site. The exhibit will run daily from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

No closing date has been provided; past versions have run anywhere from five to nine months, with extensions due to strong ticket sales.

For more information, visit F1exhibition.com.

With reports from Formula 1.com, Infobae and Mediotiempo

The post Formula 1 Exhibition, a deep dive into F1 history, is coming to Mexico City appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) announced Tuesday that FIFA — the world governing body for soccer — has cleared Brian Gutiérrez and Richard Ledezma to represent Mexico in the 48-nation tournament, set for June 11–July 19 in Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

Mexico’s January Camp has a few Mexican-Americans who made the list for their upcoming friendlies 🌎 ⚽️ 🇲🇽

In this week’s “Shooting It Straight”, @herculezg delved into Richard Ledezma, Brian Gutierrez, and a list of new players who want to represent El Tri beyond borders pic.twitter.com/NKrrekPiRF

— Vamos MIB (@VamosMIB) January 17, 2026

They are also eligible for friendlies this week against Panama (Thursday in Panama City) and Bolivia (Sunday in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia).​

Though Gutiérrez and Ledezma are viewed as promising contributors rather than established stars or automatic starters, they should bolster the talent level on coach Javier Aguirre’s 26-man World Cup roster.

The squad has fallen one spot to No. 16 in the newest FIFA world rankings, one place behind the United States and one ahead of Uruguay — a far cry from when Mexico was No. 4 in the world just before the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Gutiérrez, 22, and Ledezma, 25, both were born in the United States and hold dual citizenship, having previously appeared for U.S. teams at the youth or senior level.

FIFA regulations allow a player with fewer than three senior caps before age 21 to change associations after completing the paperwork, which Mexico and FIFA have now finalized for both.

The FMF said the pair had informed officials they wanted to represent Mexico permanently.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Selección Nacional de México (@miseleccionmx)

Gutiérrez (born in Berwyn, Illinois) played in two friendlies for the U.S. men’s national team in January 2025 that did not lock in his allegiance.

Ledezma (born in Phoenix, Arizona) owns a single USMNT senior cap from 2020 and played at the 2019 Under-20 World Cup, requiring a one-time switch under FIFA rules because those games are official youth competition.

Both players recently joined the Liga MX squad Chivas of Guadalajara — Gutiérrez from the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer and Ledezma from PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands’ top pro league. Neither had played in Liga MX previously.

Gutiérrez is an attacking midfielder coming off a nine-goal, three-assist MLS season for the Fire. His 19 goals and 17 assists over the past four seasons for Chicago suggest he’ll add more scoring punch and ball-carrying ability to Mexico’s roster.

Ledezma, meanwhile, has been highlighted for his “European vision” and his ability to create high-level scoring chances since joining Chivas six months ago.

After the games this week, Mexico is scheduled for more World Cup preparation with friendlies Feb. 7 against Iceland (in Querétaro), March 21 against Portugal (in Mexico City) and March 25 against Belgium (in Chicago).

Mexico will open the 2026 World Cup in Group A against South Africa on June 11 at Estadio Azteca, renamed Estadio Banorte for marketing purposes.

The last men’s World Cup was Qatar 2022, where Mexico failed to advance to the knockout round for the first time since 1978.

With reports from Milenio, Reuters and ESPN.com

The post 2 US players switch to Team Mexico ahead of the 2026 World Cup appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Alpine skier Lasse Gaxiola, 17, has been named Mexico’s fifth athlete for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, where he will compete in the same sport as his mother, veteran Olympian Sarah Schleper. 

The Winter Games are scheduled for Feb. 6–22 in northern Italy. 

Schleper, 46, is set for her seventh Olympic appearance, extending a career that began in 1998 when she raced for the United States before later switching allegiances and coming out of retirement after marrying Mexican coach Federico Gaxiola.

Their son, Lasse, secured his Olympic berth through the International Ski Federation rankings after a series of junior and FIS-level races around the globe. He has also competed in age-group races in Europe.

His qualification completes a five‑member Mexican delegation that will compete in Italy. Alongside Schleper and Gaxiola (who split time between Mexico City and ski resorts in Europe and elsewhere), the team includes alpine skiers Regina Martínez and Allan Corona and figure skater Donovan Carrillo.

In 2022, Mexico sent a team of four athletes to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

Schleper’s path to this moment stretches back decades.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by VictoryMe (@victorymedia.oficial)

The native of Vail, Colorado, competed for the U.S. in four Winter Olympics: 1998 in Nagano, Japan; 2002 in Salt Lake City, U.S.; 2006 in Turin, Italy; and 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

Then, after obtaining Mexican citizenship in 2015, she competed for Mexico in 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea, and in 2022 in Beijing.

Her seventh appearance will be one short of the record eight held by Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai and German speed skater Claudia Pechstein.

Her best finish was 10th place in the women’s slalom in 2006, which came one year after her lone World Cup victory, at a slalom event in Switzerland.

Eight years ago, she told Vice.com she was “extremely proud of being Mexican — extremely proud of what I’ve done to get here.”

In that interview, she was also asked if her own kids — Lasse wasn’t even 10 years old at that point — would someday ski for Mexico.

“Sometimes Lasse trains with us in the summer,” she replied. “He doesn’t want to be a racer, but he’s a great skier. I’m pretty sure he’d compete for Mexico, though. It’s a long way away, but there’s an opportunity there.”

In Milan-Cortina, Sarah and Lasse will join Venezuelan lugers Werner Hoeger and his son Christopher (Salt Lake City 2002) as the only parent-child combo competing for the same country in the same event at the same Winter Olympics.

A parent-child combo has occurred several times in the Summer Games, but only one time as a mother-son combo: pistol shooters Nino Salukvadze and her son Tsotne Machavariani at the Rio Games in 2016.

With reports from Latinus, TUDN and the Mexican Olympic Committee

The post Same sport, same Olympics, same country: Mother and son will compete together for Mexico appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Jurgen Mainka, director of the FIFA Office in Mexico, called the level of interest unlike anything seen before. Games in Mexico will be played in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey starting June 11.

“There are 500 million tickets [requested],” he noted. “If we had 500 million tickets today, we could sell 500 million tickets. I haven’t seen this in any other event, product, service or industry.”

In actuality, “only” 6 million tickets are available for all 104 tournament matches in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada from June 11 through the June 19 finale at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Mexico will host 13 matches in the five-week tournament, including the opening game June 11, Mexico against South Africa, at Estadio Azteca, renamed Estadio Banorte for marketing purposes.

In total, Mexico City will host five matches: three in the group stage, one in the round of 32 and one in the round of 16 (leading into the quarterfinals).

Guadalajara — or, more accurately, Estadio Akron in adjacent Zapopan, Jalisco — will host four matches, all in the group stage, including one on the first day, June 11, between South Korea and a to-be-determined qualifier (Denmark, Ireland, North Macedonia or the Czech Republic).

Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA will also host four matches, starting with Tunisia against either Ukraine, Sweden, Poland or Albania on June 14 and finishing with a round-of-32 match on June 29.

Ticket applications were submitted between Dec. 11 and Jan. 13, averaging 15 million per day, according to the newspaper El Informador and other media outlets. FIFA President Gianni Infantino credited fans worldwide for the “extraordinary response,” but he also had to address global backlash over high ticket prices.

The Mexico vs. South Africa opening match in Mexico City ranked among the five most requested games globally, a list topped by the June 27 Portugal-Colombia match in Miami and the July 19 final. Another game in Mexico — Mexico vs. South Korea in Zapopan on June 18 — also landed near the top.

Mainka said FIFA and Mexico’s Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) are building a new digital platform to ensure transparent, lawful ticket sales and limit scalping in the secondary market.

Profeco and FIFA say ticket allocations will be finalized in February.

The first ticket to the opening match was presented by Infantino to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at a ceremony five months ago. Sheinbaum said she planned to give the ticket “to a young girl who likes soccer and wouldn’t [otherwise] have an opportunity” to attend the opening game.

With reports from Milenio and El Informador

The post Unprecedented demand: World Cup ticket requests top 500M appeared first on Mexico News Daily

She has been honored in the student category for using artificial intelligence to address environmental and social challenges in her community.

The international award, presented by technology giant HP and announced Tuesday in London, honors only three people each year — one global leader, one educator and one student — for using technology to achieve social impact and advance education.

Palacios, a student at Ceulver/TecNM University in Veracruz, is the first Mexican to win in any category. The formal ceremony will be held next Tuesday at the Education Leaders Forum in London.

Palacios develops projects that merge AI, robotics and drones to solve local environmental problems.

Her initiatives include Clean Water Drone, which removes floating waste; Drones for Reforestation, which plants seeds in damaged areas; and Project Manta Ray, a rescue drone used in emergency response.

She also created CONIA, a service robot designed to help older adults live independently by recognizing medications, reading printed materials and detecting medical emergencies.

“This [award] reflects my belief that AI should be applied where it can create a real difference for people and the planet,” Palacios said. “Thank you, HP, for recognizing the potential of young innovators in using AI for a positive social and environmental impact.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated Palacios at one of her morning press conferences this week, adding that she plans to meet her soon.

HP Global Director of Education Business and Strategy Mayank Dhingra said Palacios’ work “highlights how leveraging the latest technologies can pave the way for a brighter future in education, offering hope and progress to society.”

The other winners were Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education in Washington, D.C., in the leaders category, and Vineeta Garg, head of IT at SRDAV Public School in New Delhi, India, in the educators category. Approximately 130 countries participated in the competition.

Palacios’ award is the  latest in a string of global honors for Mexicans in the world of education.

In August, three Chihuahua teens won first place at 2025 World Robot Contest in China; in September, Mexican student Alejandro Aguilar won the 2025 James Dyson National Award for creating an app that uses AI to detect retinal diseases in under 30 seconds; and in December, Nelsy Saray Valenzuela Flores of Sinaloa was nominated for the GEMS Global Teacher Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious education awards.

In addition, high school students from Veracruz won the Zayed Prize for their marine conservation project, and an elementary school in Mexico City became the first Mexican institution to win the World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration, an international award from London-based T4 Education.

With reports from Aristegui Noticias and Diario de Xalapa

The post Veracruz student Valeria Palacios wins the World Education Medal appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The singer — whose video of his song “Sueña lindo, corazón” (“Sweet dreams, sweetheart”) went viral earlier this year with more than 14 million views — is scheduled to perform on the same bill with Latin Grammy winner Paloma Morphy and indie rock band Little Jesus.

Tickets range from 920 to 1,265 pesos (US $52 to $71) and the concert will be held at Foro del Lago, a venue at the Guanajuato state fairgrounds.

His first large-scale, ticketed, festival-style show will mark a new milestone for Macario, who has been on a rapid rise from an unknown 23-year-old when his song went viral a year ago.

The former sanitation worker now counts more than 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners, and his songs are featured on over 37,000 playlists. In October, he performed on NPR’s celebrated “Tiny Desk Concert” series at the network offices in Washington, D.C.

His León concert is part of a lineup that has already included Foo Fighters, the post-grunge rockers from Seattle who played to a packed house of more than 20,000 on Saturday.

Other big names in the 14-concert slate include Dutch DJ Tiësto and alternative rock band Zoé from Cuernavaca, Morelos, along with cumbia stalwarts Los Ángeles Azules from Iztapalapa (a borough of Mexico City) and regional music stars La Arrolladora Banda El Limón from Mazatlán.

The annual Feria Estatal de León (FEL) — or León State Fair — is celebrating the city’s 450th anniversary this year as well as its own 150th edition. It opened Jan. 9 and runs through Feb. 4.

More than 6 million visitors are expected, according to the digital news site Líder Empresarial, with about 85% of its shows and activities free of charge.

The fair’s offerings range from family spectacles like Disney’s “Where Dreams Are Born” to “Illusion on Ice Quantum,” a futuristic skating show.

Macario’s highly anticipated debut will be on the same bill as Morphy, a singer-songwriter from Mexico City highlighted by Billboard magazine as a Latin “artist on the rise.” Three years ago, she left her career as a criminal lawyer after gaining popularity for her TikTok song covers, and in 2025, she won a Latin Grammy for best new artist after the release of her debut album, “Au.”

For more details on the fair, visit FeriadeLeon.mx.

With reports from La Silla Rota, Quadratín Bajío, Líder Empresarial and Milenio

The post Macario Martínez, the street sweeper-turned-songwriter, will give his first major solo show in León appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The city announced last week that it recently awarded a contract worth 7.9 billion pesos (US $441 million) to build Cablebús Line 5, a route of 15.2 kilometers (9.5 miles) that is expected to be completed by mid-2028.

Construction will be carried out as a joint venture between Doppelmayr, an Austrian-based firm with offices in Mexico, and the local engineering firm Gami Ingeniería e Instalaciones.

Mexico City’s Cablebús Line 2 in Iztapalapa is currently recognized as the world’s longest urban cable car for public transport at over 10.5 km (6.5 miles) — holding a Guinness World Record.

But at around 11.4 km (7.1 miles), and estimated to open possibly by next year, the upcoming Line 4 is set to surpass it, followed by Line 5 becoming the new longest line when it opens, expectedly in the second half of 2028.

Line 5 is slated to stretch 15.2 kilometers and include 12 stations crossing the boroughs of Álvaro Obregón, Magdalena Contreras and Benito Juárez — with a direct connection to the Mixcoac Metro station and Lines 7 and 12.

Officials say the route will connect 53 neighborhoods and Indigenous communities and cut current travel times from the western highlands by more than 50%.

Doppelmayr said the system will have capacity for up to 3,000 passengers per hour per direction, using cabins designed to carry 10 riders each.

In materials cited in media reports, Doppelmayr said the system “requires significantly lower right-of-way acquisition costs, as it does not depend on surface infrastructure and has a minimal footprint, reducing its urban impact.”

​Officials said the project is part of a broader electric-mobility push, backed in part by a green bond issued in 2025 for 3 billion pesos (US $167.5 million) to help finance new Cablebús lines.

The earliest planning for ​Mexico City’s Cablebús dates back to the early 2010s, though nothing really got cooking until the second half of the decade.

Since the successful opening of Line 1 in 2021, the system has grown to three lines carrying over 100,000 riders per day on average, according to local studies and city data. This includes a 2024 Bloomberg analysis that found the system was being used as daily transportation by “some 80,000 people a day.”

For the calendar year 2025, Line 2 moved 22.9 million riders, Line 1 moved 19.3 million and Line 3 transported 5.5 million, according to figures from the newspaper El Universal.

With reports from El Financiero, Chilango.com, Forbes and Mexico Business News

The post CDMX awards US $441M contract to build world’s longest urban cable car appeared first on Mexico News Daily

With an area of 140 square meters (1,507 square feet), the new store — part of the pharmacy’s initial push into the United States — is not selling prescriptions and medications due to strict U.S. and FDA regulations.

Rather, it is focusing on health products and themed merchandise surrounding Dr. Simi, including the brand’s iconic Simipeluche, a plush toy that’s a cultural phenomenon in Latin America.

The shop is located at 6818 Hollywood Boulevard — within a stretch of the Hollywood Walk of Fame — and is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. A grand opening took place in September 2025.

The store also offers interactive experiences such as video games, dance challenges and selfie stations. One of the activities is “building” a Dr. Simi doll by choosing various outfits and accessories.

A fiberglass sculpture of Dr. Simi dressed as a charro (traditional Mexican horseman) welcomes visitors at the entrance, while murals by Israeli artist Samuel Hagai depict the popular mascot in costumes from mariachi to superhero.

Inside, displays showcase the work of the SíMiPlaneta Foundation supporting environmental causes in Mexico.

Dr. Simi is often in the news in Mexico, where there are already five Similandia-branded stores in greater Mexico City and one in Zapopan, Jalisco, according to Similandia.com.

Over the final five weeks of 2025, for example, the Dr. Simi Foundation set a Guinness World Record for constructing the largest bottle cap mosaic not long after running the second annual Simifest — an 11-hour music festival that drew more than 15,000 people and was promoted via “Simisónico,” a series of in-office concerts like NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts.

Additionally in 2025, Dr. Simi launched a line of budget-friendly veterinary clinics; debuted a Dr. Simi flight simulator and store in Aztlán amusement park; and received thousands of visitors to its four-room Dr. Simi museum and café in Mexico City.

But the store in Los Angeles is a whole new world, one recently experienced by Mexican actor-comedian Eugenio Derbez.

Dr. Simi went all out to celebrate Three Kings Day on Jan. 6 🤩 🎉 There was cake, gifts, and lots and lots of dancing in Hollywood’s “Similandia” 🥳 pic.twitter.com/Tx9Ayu9vfh

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 7, 2026

When visiting the shop in October, Derbez discovered a plush Dr. Simi doll dressed as his character, Ludovico P. Luche, from the old Mexican sitcom “La familia P. Luche” (2002-2012).

“It felt really nice, to be honest,” he said in the newspaper El Universal. “Especially because Dr. Simi has become an iconic figure for Mexicans, and seeing him on the street here in Los Angeles made me feel very proud.”

The plush toys sold at Similandia are handmade in Puebla by employees with disabilities through the social enterprise CINIA, which stands for capacitación (training), industria (industry) and artesanías (crafts). Factory workers craft about 1,000 dolls daily, employing more than 400 people.

Farmacias Similares began its U.S. expansion in 2025, establishing an office in Austin, Texas, and announcing plans to initially focus on locations in California and Texas, to be followed by New York, Illinois, Arizona and Florida.

For now, the chain has partnered with CVS Pharmacy to sell its products nationwide.

CVS locations in Las Vegas are the first to carry supplements, over-the-counter medicines and cosmetics, with California and Texas stores to follow.

“This collaboration with Farmacias Similares is the latest example of how we personalize our assortment for our Hispanic customers,” said Alfredo Martínez, associate vice president of Hispanic Strategy at CVS Health.

Farmacias Similares, founded in 1997, operates more than 10,500 branches in Mexico, Colombia and Chile — and, now, one in Hollywood.

With reports from KABC, El Diario Noroeste, El Universal and El Economista

The post Discover Similandia Los Angeles, Mexico’s top pharmacy’s US flagship appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Rubén Albarrán, one of the founders of the band in 1989, is also calling on fans to boycott the online music platform.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rubén Albarrán (@ru.albarran)

Albarrán posted this week on Instagram that he sent letters to Warner Music Mexico and Universal Music Mexico, asking them to remove Café Tacvba’s music from what he called the “Stupidfy” platform because it “contradicts our artistic vision and our personal and band ethics.”

In a video message, Albarrán said, “The reasons are already known: investments in weaponry, ICE advertising, our miserable royalties, and the use of artificial intelligence to the detriment of musicians and all people, because we believe that music should have meaning.” (ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)

Café Tacvba rose from the late 1980s alt-rock scene to become a defining act in Latin American music, blending rock, punk, folk and electronic sounds.

Named for the famous restaurant Café de Tacuba in central Mexico City, the group won the 2004 Grammy Award for best Latin rock/alternative album for “Cuatro Caminos.” They also have won nine Latin Grammy, and their second album, “Re,” has been ranked the No. 1 Latin American rock album of all time by Rolling Stone.

The group’s move against Spotify aligns it with artists such as Lorde, Björk, Massive Attack, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, who have criticized Spotify’s business practices and its leadership’s investments in defense technology.

​Albarrán said the band wants to avoid having its income tied to U.S. military actions and immigration enforcement.

He has also criticized Spotify because CEO Daniel Ek has invested hundreds of millions of euros in Helsing, a European military-technology company that develops AI-based weapons systems.

Spotify disputed the accusations, saying, “Spotify does not fund war. Helsing is an independent company that has been supplying defense technology to Ukraine. Furthermore, there are currently no ICE ads on Spotify; the aforementioned advertising was part of a U.S. government recruitment campaign that was disseminated across major media outlets and platforms.”

​The company said its artificial intelligence policies are designed to protect human artists and noted that about 70% of revenue is paid to rights holders, adding it remains willing to keep working with Café Tacvba.

​In his Instagram post on Wednesday, Albarrán urged fans to “listen to our music on other platforms” or fully boycott Spotify, arguing it is time “to create a new world, more just and equitable.”

Four days earlier, on Jan. 3, Albarrán joined the Pérez Prado Orchestra for a free Saturday concert at Mexico City’s Zócalo.

During the performance, he stated his position on the U.S. incursion into Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, calling Trump a “terrorista.”

“Today is a sad day for Latin America, and that is why we are dancing and why we send these good wishes to Venezuela,” he told the audience. “This is not about supporting the Maduro regime, but we condemn the violent action of the U.S. in occupying a free and sovereign country. That cannot be.”

With reports from Rolling Stone en Español, El Universal and Radio Fórmula

The post Café Tacvba frontman rips Trump and calls for a boycott of Spotify appeared first on Mexico News Daily