Long before it rumbled through the jungles and ports of southern Mexico, the British Class 43 High Speed Train was the sleek steel face of a confident, modernizing Britain, one that was hurtling out of the 1970s at 125 mph. Its journey from London to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a story of reinvention and of a record‑breaking icon that refused to fade quietly into a scrapyard.

With its new home, the massive ​Interoceanic Train project (CIIT) coming into the headlines this week after a devastating crash, we take a look at the locomotive spearheading the Mexican government’s push for an alternative to the Panama Canal.

Birth of a speed icon

In the late 1960s, British Rail faced a problem: aging diesel fleets, rising competition from cars and planes, and no spare billions for brand‑new high‑speed lines. The answer was audacious but practical — they needed to build a very fast train for the Victorian track network that Britain already had.​

The result was the InterCity 125, officially the British Rail Class 43 High Speed Train (HST), a formation with a power car at each end and a train of BR Mark 3 coaches in between. Designed and built between 1975 and 1982, the Class 43 power cars packed a 2,250‑horsepower Paxman Valenta engine and quickly earned the distinction of being the fastest diesel locomotives in the world, with a record run reaching 148.5 mph.​

When HSTs entered service in 1976, first on the Western Region out of London Paddington, they transformed long‑distance rail travel almost overnight. Journeys that had taken hours longer suddenly felt sharp, punctual and distinctly modern, accompanied by bold “Inter‑City 125” branding that became a visual shorthand for speed.​

The HST spread from the Great Western and South Wales main lines to the East Coast Main Line and beyond, anchoring many of Britain’s flagship routes for decades. Through new liveries, refurbishments and engine replacements, the Class 43s outlived multiple corporate identities and government policies, becoming an everyday backdrop to British life and a favorite among railfans.​

A classic in search of a second life

By the 2010s, the same qualities that had once made the HST cutting edge started to count against it. New electric and bi‑mode trains began to replace Class 43 sets on core routes, and passenger operators thinned their fleets. For the power cars, the future forked three ways: preservation, scrap or export.​

Fortunately, not all of them were destined for the torch. Preserved examples entered museums and heritage railways, while others found extended careers on secondary routes in Britain. But a growing number were sold abroad, their robust engineering and relatively low purchase price making them attractive for countries seeking proven, mid‑speed intercity trains without investing in new high‑speed rolling stock.​

Among those new horizons were two particularly ambitious export programs: one to Nigeria and one to Mexico. For a handful of Class 43s, the story would now be written in Spanish.​

Crossing the ocean: the Mexico deal

The stage for the Mexican chapter was the CIIT, the railway crossing the narrowest part of Mexico between the Gulf of Mexico port of Coatzacoalcos and the Pacific port of Salina Cruz.

Strategically, the corridor is designed as a rival and complement to canal‑based shipping, offering shippers a land bridge that can shorten routes and diversify options for interoceanic trade. It is also framed domestically as a development engine for southern Mexico, aiming to attract industry, logistics parks and related services along the line and nearby highways.

​Politically, the project sits alongside other flagship rail schemes (like the much more modern and high-speed Maya Train), as part of a broader pivot back toward rail after decades of road‑centric policy. Inaugurated in 2023 by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the final bill clocked in at US $2.8 billion.​

To provide fast passenger services over the rebuilt route, Mexico acquired several HST power cars and Mark 3 coaches, working with leasing and logistics specialists to purchase, overhaul and ship the vehicles across the Atlantic. The first batch — three Class 43 power cars and 11 Mk 3 trailers — was dispatched in 2023 for trials, with further batches following in 2024 and 2025.

In Britain, the exported power cars were recorded with new Mexican numbers: 43022 and 43207 became FIT 3008 and FIT 3009, while 43170 became FIT 3007. Preparation work before shipping included mechanical overhauls and adaptation for new operating conditions on the Isthmus line.​

Reinvented on the Isthmus

In Mexico, the once‑familiar British silhouettes began to look subtly different. The trains received new liveries to match FIT branding, trading InterCity stripes and later British operators’ colors for bright schemes suited to their new national role. They were also fitted with standard North American‑style couplers, allowing Mexican locomotives to rescue or haul the sets if needed, and adapted to local safety and operational requirements.​

Trials on the Isthmus route began by late 2023, with videos showing HST sets running through tropical landscapes a world away from Yorkshire moors or the Severn estuary. After the infrastructure rebuild, the line was formally inaugurated, with HST‑based passenger services forming part of the renewed offering across the corridor between Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. In July 2025, FIT 3009 had the leading cab ripped off after colliding with a cement truck at a crossing in Oaxaca. Footage emerged online of the train, with pieces of carbon fiber wedged back down, carrying steadfastly on with its duty, a minor delay after damage that would have removed many other trains from service — possibly permanently.

That crashed Mexican HST is back underway with only a minor delay
byu/David-HMFC inuktrains

FIT3008 was most recently spotted rescuing passengers after the tragic derailment ​at Asunción Ixtaltepec. The loco involved in the derailment was an ex-Union Pacific SD70M, pulling a train of U.S.-built Budd SPV-2000, itself an import from New York’s Hudson Line, which once ran between Croton and Harmon.

An unlikely but fitting epilogue

For the engineers who drew the first lines of the Class 43 in the early 1970s, it would have been hard to imagine their creation decades later carrying passengers across the mountains of Mexico, its Paxman‑engined heritage blending with tropical heat and port traffic. Yet the arc of the HST’s life — designed for austerity‑era tracks, crowned as the world’s fastest diesel, then repurposed for another continent — fits the locomotive’s character: pragmatic, tough and endlessly reusable.​

The British Class 43 did not simply “end up” in Mexico by accident; it was chosen, exported and rebuilt because it still had something valuable to offer: reliable, relatively fast, intercity service on existing rails. On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as the old InterCity 125s thunder past palm trees instead of signal gantries, they carry with them half a century of British railway history — proof that some legends keep rolling as long as there is track ahead.

Chris Havler-Barrett is the Features Editor at Mexico News Daily.

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With U.S. President Donald Trump threatening military action against Mexico, we take a look at some of the previous battles and invasions fought between the two North American neighbors.

The Tennessee slaver who tried to conquer Mexico

In the 1800s, Baja California faced more than storms and pirates — it faced would‑be conquerors armed with cannons, foreign flags and expansionist ambitions. French aristocrats, U.S. adventurers like William Walker and influential border businessmen who sought to claim the peninsula for profit, slavery and personal glory. Chris Sands highlights the Mexican generals, ranchers and communities whose resistance ensured that Baja California remained Mexican territory.

Who were the 19th-century scoundrels who kept trying to invade the Baja Peninsula?

How Mexico lost more than half its land to the U.S.

One treaty permanently redrew the map of North America — and left deep scars that still shape U.S.–Mexico relations today. War, broken promises and land grabs forged a shared but uneasy history that remains painfully relevant. Monserrat Castro revisits the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which cost Mexico 55% of its territory, upended the lives of 80,000 Mexican residents and fueled the road to the U.S. Civil War.

176 years ago today, Mexico lost 55% of its territory

The failed occupation of Veracruz

In 1914, a brief arrest of nine U.S. sailors in Tampico spiraled into a full‑scale U.S. invasion of Veracruz, while Mexico was already engulfed in revolution. Leigh Thelmadatter retells the Tampico Affair from the Mexican side: Wilson’s gambit to topple Huerta, civilian resistance, and a bloody occupation that left 500 Mexicans dead and deepened anti‑U.S. sentiment across the country.

The Tampico Affair: how Mexico saw the US’ 1914 invasion

What’s the real story of Mexico’s hero cadets?

In Mexico, six cadets known as the Niños Héroes are honored as martyrs who died defending Chapultepec Castle from U.S. troops in 1847, wrapped in the flag rather than surrender. Oxford University’s Shyal Bhandari writes exclusively for Mexico News Daily and asks how much of that story is history and how much is myth, tracing missing records, conflicting accounts and an Indigenous officer whose sacrifice may have been erased.

Were these Mexican-American War heroes real?

90 years ago, almost 2 million Mexicans were deported en masse

Nearly a century before today’s mass‑deportation efforts, the United States already removed 1.8 million Mexicans at the height of the Great Depression. This deeply reported piece revisits Herbert Hoover’s 1930s “American jobs for real Americans” campaign, saw deportations without due process, condemning many U.S. citizens to removal. From park raids and hospital round‑ups to California’s modern apology, Sheryl Losser reveals a history many prefer to forget but which echoes ominously into the present.

Almost a century before Trump, the US deported its Mexicans

The most recent incursion

On a windswept stretch of Tamaulipas sand, beachgoers suddenly found signs warning they were on U.S. Department of Defense property and could be detained and searched. After the Mexican Navy tore down six unauthorized signs on Playa Bagdad, Washington said contractors “made a mistake.” Why does this episode hit a nerve when talk of unilateral U.S. military action in Mexico grows louder?

Navy removes signs claiming a Mexican beach is US territory

Mexico News Daily

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Here are some of the highlights of his work.

The death of the dinosaurs

Mexico’s Chixulub crater is an ancient scar that marks the spot when life on earth changed forever. What happened when a giant asteroid slammed into the Yucatán?

The day the world ended

Who were Mexico’s earliest humans?

The Olmecs might be considered Mexico’s first dominant civilization, but the region was inhabited for centuries before that. From the Stone Age to the advent of agriculture, Bob chronicles the history of the earliest recorded Mexicans.

Prehistoric Mexico: Mesoamerica before the Olmecs

When did Spain first discover Mexico?

While Hernán Cortés was the man who conquered the country, he was not the first Spaniard to set foot in what would later become Mexico. A tale of exploration, daring and discovery that culminated in one of the most momentous moments of early modern history, we take a look at how the old world met the new.

Between Columbus and Cortés — How Spain encountered Mexico

Mexico City wasn’t always the center of the country

While it seems hard to believe today, Mexico City was not always the economic powerhouse that funded the nation. At the height of the Spanish Empire, the city of Acapulco was possibly the most prosperous city on earth, at the center of a vast and powerful trade network.

When Acapulco was the center of the world

Mexico’s navy was once the best in the world

A newly independent Mexico was fighting to defend its vast lands from threats in the north and south — as it took on both United States troops in Texas and separatists forces in the Yucatán. It was able to fight both thanks to the power of modern naval technology.

When Mexico fought Texas and Yucatán

When did Mexico become a global cultural force?

Almost 60 years after independence from Spain, Mexico was still somewhat of a cultural unknown to most of the world. That all changed at the World Fair of 1889, when Parisian audiences were wowed by Mexico’s culture, history and promise.

1889: When the world discovered Mexico

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.

The post From dinosaurs to despots: Mexico before the 20th century appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Mexico News Daily’s most opinionate writer has some thoughts about everything that has gone on this year, and luckily for us, she isn’t afraid to share them.

To finish up 2025, we collected some of Sarah’s best, most insightful (and occasionally controversial) musings.

Should corporations be allowed to deny us access to water?

Ever courting controversy, Sarah asks how far Mexico should allow businesses to go, as the government takes action against obesity rates in the country.

The relentless imperialism of Coca Cola and our rights to health

Is remote work in 2025 all it’s cracked up to be?

Moving to Mexico used to be a clever workaround for US citizens squeezed by costs back home, but rising prices, shaky remote work, AI job threats, and local tensions mean that “gaming the system” is fading. Does community support matter more than cheap tacos now? Sarah investigates.

Is ‘gaming the system’ in Mexico still a good economic solution for US citizens?

Who’s gentrifying who?

Sarah unpacks Mexico City’s anti-gentrification protests, pointing out that locals are really furious at soaring prices and uneven capitalism, but foreigners become the easy, visible target. With a messy mix of economic injustice, resentment, tourism policy, and some ugly xenophobia bubbling over in trendy neighborhoods, who is really doing the gentrifying and where does the blame lie?

The awkward truth behind Mexico City’s ‘anti-gentrification’ protests

Economic policy or punishment?

Ever the campaigner, this personal tale of making ends meet on both sides of the border sees Sarah take aim at the economic policies of one Donald Trump. Will she approve of his plan to tax remittance payments back to Mexico?

The remittance tax in the United States: A bad, cruel idea

Nothing says ‘safe for women’ like the President getting groped

When even Mexico’s president gets groped in broad daylight, what hope do the rest of women have on the street? See why Claudia Sheinbaum pressing charges could mark a turning point—and why being grabbed is never “just part of the job.”

No women are exempt from groping … even the president

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.

The post 2025 according to Sarah DeVries appeared first on Mexico News Daily

One year into her presidency, the former Mexico City mayor has not only secured a level of political authority that her detractors had questioned, but has also benefited from something else: the disappearance of any meaningful political opposition. Her sweeping electoral win last year also delivered Morena control of both chambers of government, leaving the longstanding parties that once dominated Mexican politics in tatters.

Mexico’s political opposition parties

Sheinbaum, formerly mayor of Mexico City, rose on a wave of support for outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s so-called “Fourth Transformation” of Mexican society. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) failed, for the first time since its 20th-century heyday, to produce a viable presidential candidate. The center-right National Action Party (PAN) fractured under ideological and leadership disputes, while its candidate, former senator Xóchitl Gálvez — once a strong opposition bet — saw her campaign unravel in the face of the internal divisions. Another contender, Nuevo León Governor and Citizens’ Movement party candidate Samuel García, withdrew early.

Mexico’s opposition parties, though weakened, represent a range of ideological positions that contrast with the ruling Morena party’s leftist populism. The PAN stands for market-oriented reforms, rule of law and a blend of social and Christian democratic values, emphasizing private enterprise and security.

The PRI, historically centrist, now leans toward moderate economic liberalization and a pragmatic, big-tent approach, trying to uphold stability and incremental reform.
Movimiento Ciudadano (MC), the most dynamic of the new opposition, promotes social democracy, progressive reforms and transparent governance.

However, all three have struggled to offer a compelling alternative to Morena’s broad social spending policies, its anticorruption narrative and its “the poor come first” stance.
The parties’ recent attempts at forming coalitions have been undermined by internal divisions, a failure to mount charismatic leadership, and widespread, enduring public trust in Morena’s promise of transformation.

The populism is coming from the left

The marginalization of Mexico’s opposition is not only about personalities or parties. The country’s political culture heavily encourages moderation. Polling from the Latin American Public Opinion Project shows that 51% of Mexicans self-identify as centrist, a far higher share than those identifying with either the left or right. This broad center complicates any attempt to build the sort of polarized, anti-elite right-wing movement seen in other Latin American countries.

The PRI’s historical role as a big-tent party, which absorbed diverse ideologies and smoothed out regional divides, helped create a system with less of the urban-rural and secular-religious tensions seen elsewhere. Even figures attempting a populist, rightward challenge — like celebrity activist Eduardo Verástegui — failed to resonate. Verástegui’s campaign, which borrowed tactics from both Donald Trump and Brazilian right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro, quickly floundered amid controversy, but mostly due to a lack of mainstream appeal.

Meanwhile, Sheinbaum, like AMLO before her, has managed to co-opt many traditional conservative constituencies. Both their governments have paired progressive social rhetoric with commitments to family and tradition, making them hard targets for the opposition to exploit — especially as her political rivals often also endorse similar social policies, albeit with a less progressive bent.

Morena itself is a broad coalition

Mexico’s electoral rules add another layer of resistance to fragmentation. The country does not employ second-round runoffs, which compels parties to campaign for wide coalitions instead of betting on polarizing or fringe platforms. This dynamic pushes most mainstream figures to the political middle, further depriving right-leaning populists of electoral oxygen.
But Morena’s dominance is not merely a repeat of the old PRI big-tent machine.

Morena has blended AMLO’s tried-and-true methods — such as state-directed spending and ties to local power brokers who control — with left-populist rhetoric for a new era. Many former PRI members and political elites have migrated to Morena, pragmatically following power and opportunity. For now, Morena appears to have stitched together a stable coalition able to withstand elite defections and internal rivalries.

AMLO’s reforms have cemented Sheinbaum’s position

While Sheinbaum has proved popular in the polls — and with the man on the street — there is an elephant in the National Palace that the new president has benefitted from immensely.

While AMLO’s presidency was generally well received by working-class Mexicans, his sweeping reforms of the military, police and legislative systems has provided a platform that allows Morena and its allies to disarm political opposition.
The recent (and highly controversial) judicial reforms have bolstered her ability to pass controversial legislation, as Sheinbaum’s popularity with the public has allowed the election of key allies to the Supreme Court, at the expense of Mexico’s more traditional conservative justices and institutions.

Supporters of the reform claim it establishes a more authentic rule of law and democratizes justice. Detractors express concern that the changes favor one-party dominance and could damage investor trust and Mexico’s trade relations, particularly with the United States and Canada. The reforms have sparked significant controversy, including nationwide strikes by judicial workers and sharp public debate over the best path for Mexico’s legal future.

The defanging of both the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and the Protection of Personal Data (INAI) have also limited the number of bureaucratic tools that Mexico’s opposition parties have at their disposal when looking to act against the current government.

Observers caution that such an overwhelming concentration of power — amid weak checks and modest political pluralism — could breed its own long-term perils. Questions about judicial independence, institutional resilience and the prospect of meaningful opposition continue to animate debate in more affluent areas of Mexico, where Morena is less popular.

What’s next?

Mexico’s present, at least, is defined by Sheinbaum’s remarkable mandate. The scale of her victory and the collapse of her rivals mark a resounding victory not just for her personally, but for a pragmatic, technocratic left that, for now, faces little organized dissent.

If and when a new challenger emerges — left, right or otherwise — they will have to confront a system fundamentally altered by Morena’s ascent, and a political center that has, so far, proven remarkably durable in the face of global populist tides.

Chris Havler-Barrett is the Features Editor at Mexico News Daily

The post Why doesn’t Mexico have a strong opposition party? appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Welcome to MND Tutor! This interactive learning tool is designed to help you improve your Spanish by exploring real news articles from Mexico News Daily. Instead of just memorizing vocabulary lists or grammar rules, you’ll dive into authentic stories about Mexican culture, current events, and daily life… What better way to learn Spanish?

Mexico’s incredible ecosystem boasts mountains, jungles, deserts, lakes and plains. While this means that the country enjoys an incredible level of biodiversity, it is also putting residents at increased risk from the effects of climate change.

To combat this, the Mexican government has announced “Project Ixtli” aims to create and launch a series of locally-built weather satellites to monitor the country. Project organizers hope that it will help reduce the risk of fires, landslides, floods and hurricanes, as extreme weather becomes commonplace. Learn about this exciting new technological undertaking and practice relevant reading and vocabulary skills in this edition of MND Tutor.

To get started, choose your level of Spanish:

🌵 Choose your level of Spanish
— Choose Level —🇲🇽Beginner🌵 Intermediate🌶️ Advanced

Let us know how you did!

The post MND Tutor | Satelite appeared first on Mexico News Daily

The game takes place at the dawn of the Mexica empire, as you look to establish your grand capital in Lake Texcoco. Set in the stylized world of ancient Mesoamerica, you play as the divine leader of the Mexica, the Tlatoani, tasked with building the city of Tenochtitlán in the waters of Lake Texcoco. 

What is gameplay like?

The team at Play2Chill provided Mexico News Daily with an advance copy of the game, so we were able to test out everything Aztecs: The Last Sun has to offer. 

During the day, you grow your city by adding different structures, including housing, resource collecting, academies and temples. At night, however, work stops as your people take cover from the Moon Goddess’s curse, put on the populus after she declared war on the Sun. The blood zone, powered by the blood of captives, commoners and nobles who follow you, is the only thing keeping the curse at bay. Fate lies in your hands: will you protect your people and grow your empire, or will you fall to the tyranny of the moon? 

Choices matter as you decide what to do with new captives and your population, assigning them to specific roles, putting them into hard labor, or sacrificing them to appease the Gods and maintain your protective blood zone. It is a fine balance for survival between keeping your population alive, which risks unemployment and the failure of your protective blood zone not activating at night, and excessive bloodletting, which weakens the population’s trust in you but gives you more Grace with the Gods to avoid cataclysms.

Expansive gameplay elements include scouting and exploration, which reveal a map far greater than Tenochtitlán, opening the world up to other cities and trade routes in the Valley of México. The Calendar system assigns a patron god to each day, who has an unpredictable and powerful impact on the world. It also shows upcoming events and allows the player to prepare accordingly.

The day/night cycle triggering a supernatural antagonist is one of the many survival gameplay elements that gives Aztecs: The Last Sun a unique feel. Homelessness is a constant factor as your city expands, and housing needs to be built around canals and reservoirs to avoid sickness and loss of trust. Harvesting mud is essential for land reclamation and molding your environment to fit your building style. Food management is flexible and feels important, even telling you how many meals each citizen has per day. 

To find out why a team of developers in Poland decided to create a game set in pre-Hispanic Mexico, we caught up with developer Paweł Brągoszewski, who helped bring the ancient city streets of Tenochtitlán to life. 

”Frankly, the obvious setting for [city building] games is medieval Europe. There are hundreds of games about medieval Europe. So we didn’t want to do another medieval Europe castle builder or something. We wanted to have an unusual, interesting setting,” explained Brągoszewski.

Historical accuracy 

Keeping Aztecs: The Last Sun as accurate as possible was a major concern for the team, who are based in Warsaw. While none of the team had ever visited Mexico, they were determined to do what they could to create an immersive, vibrant world that resembled the ancient capital as much as possible. 

It wasn’t all smooth sailing on the historical front though, as Brągoszewski explains. ”We created the very first trailer for the game, a video teaser for the game it is no longer available and in that teaser, [we] made all sorts of mistakes with the architecture. [We] mixed Mayan architecture and Aztec architecture, all sorts of stuff.” 

“When we released that, we got a very, very nice, critical but very constructive letter from [a historian] from Mexico. We contacted him and we corrected [the game] ourselves to make sure [that] if we show something that really existed, it is accurate.”

“He provided us with a huge document about what we did wrong and what should be corrected and what to do.” It is clear that the team took this information and used it to rework the game — with great results. 

The building processes are historically accurate too — as Tlatloani, you will assign workers to create new chinampas, helping raise your city from the lake just as the Mexica did centuries before. Your people will need jobs, homes and will use traditional tools and wear the traditional clothes of 15th century Mexica.

Time for the obvious question, though: How does the game handle the human sacrifices for which the Mexica were so infamous? 

“We had a lot of design discussions on how to incorporate the gods and religion, which was important as the empire, but we didn’t want to do the obvious crazy bloodbath stuff,” Brągoszewski said. While blood does play an essential role in the game (as it did in real life), it is simply a part of everyday life, rather than an all-consuming goal to be met at all costs.

The religious element presents the one historical question mark in the game. But, within the overarching narrative and the immersive gameplay, sorcerers and angry gods feel like an exciting augmentation to real life, rather than a lazy stereotype of Indigenous blood magic.

Is Aztecs: The Last Sun good?

Game journalist and developer James Springer described the game as “not being the most complex city-builder out there, but its artistic style, focus on survival and unique environment, coupled with its small twists on genre gameplay mechanics, make it a fun and relaxing experience, depending on your difficulty setting. The characters and storytelling are also worth mentioning, despite the noticeable AI-created voiceovers.”

So far, the game is still in Early Access mode, meaning there is more development to come. “We have like two chapters. This is like a full story. There is everything we wanted in the game in terms of gameplay, buildings and features,” Brągoszewski said.

“Everything is there, but there will be another chapter added after the early access.”

For fans of Frostpunk, Tropico or Sid Meier’s Civilization, there is a lot here to love. For fans of Mexican history, the care that the team at Play2Chill have taken to ensure their game is historically accurate is evident in every moment. So if you fancy your chances of being the next Mexica god king, head over to Steam and try your hand at building an empire!

Aztecs: The Last Sun is available in Early Access on Steam from September 23rd

James Springer is a freelance journalist interested in history, culture, software development and gaming. Chris Havler-Barrett is the Features Editor at Mexico News Daily.

The post Rebuild Tenochtitlán as a God-King in this historically accurate videogame appeared first on Mexico News Daily

In a brief video address confirming his signing, Martial, 29, greeted fans in French. “Hello Rayados family, I’m Anthony Martial. I’m very happy to join Monterrey. Let’s go Rayados!” he told the club’s social media channel.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rayados (@rayados)

Martial joined Monterrey from Athens’ AEK, where he had spent a single season after leaving Manchester United after nine seasons at the iconic club. Now, he will link up with two time European Champion and World Cup winner Sergio Ramos, who joined the club earlier this year as one of Mexican football’s biggest signings in decades.

The Frenchman made his name in northern England, where he played 317 matches, scoring 90 goals, and winning the Europa League, two FA Cup titles, a League Cup and the FA Community Shield. 

Martial is the third major European player to join the league this year, after teammate Ramos and Welsh international Aaron Ramsey, who joined UNAM Pumas last month. The league has seen an influx of high profile talent, including Allan Saint-Maximin at América and Brazilian João Pedro at Atlético San Luis.

In an official announcement, Monterrey outlined his extensive career achievements, before finishing, “His talent, speed and ability to finish in key moments will be an asset to the team’s quest to achieve its goals. Welcome to Monterrey, Anthony!”

Mexico News Daily

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In 2025, that growing presence reached a new peak with the unveiling of “Kauyumari Ceremonial Center” an enormous deer sculpture created by 50 Mexican artists, including 18 Indigenous Wixárika artists and local artists from Torreón, Coahuila. This years’ offering has been designed by Mexican multidisciplinary artist Leyla Brashka under the auspices of the Mexico-based Burning Man collective ¡AXOLOTL!. Rising 6.5 meters high and equally wide, Kauyumari is beyond an artwork, a ceremonial space for peyote ceremonies to be held which will be donated to the Wixárika culture embodying Indigenous symbolism and contemporary festival culture in a single, awe-inspiring installation.

“Kauyumari is not only a sculpture,” said Brigham Golden co-founder of ¡AXOLOTL! “It’s a vessel for ancient wisdom, a meeting place between the ritual practices of Mexico’s Indigenous communities and the transformative spirit of Burning Man.”

A city built on ideals

Burning Man is often misunderstood as simply an art festival or music gathering. In reality, it’s a self-built city that comes alive for just one week each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Founded in 1986 as a small beach gathering, it has grown into one of the world’s most celebrated creative events. Its core is guided by 10 principles — from radical inclusion and self-reliance, to communal effort, gifting and leaving no trace.

During that week, participants construct Black Rock City, complete with restaurants, clinics, workshops, airstrips, even a post office all operating by volunteers in a non commodified evening where everything is shared — or “gifted”. But perhaps its most defining feature is art: massive, interactive works designed to be touched, climbed, burned or experienced collectively.

It is here that Mexican collectives like La Calaca, Mayan Warrior, Maxa and AXOLOTL have found their voice, introducing installations that bridge heritage with innovation.

Mexico’s artistic presence

The Mexican influence at Burning Man has been steadily growing for a decade. The Mayan Warrior art car — an electronic music powerhouse and mobile light installation — helped establish Mexico’s reputation as a creative force on the playa. La Calaca and Maxa brought monumental fire-driven and sculptural artworks.

AXOLOTL, named after the storied Mexican amphibian often known as the “walking fish,” has become one of Burning Man’s most recognizable mobile installations. Its vibrant art car, shaped like a massive glowing axolotl, has embodied the whimsical, surreal qualities that define desert nights.

But with kauyumari, the collective has shifted from whimsical to spiritual, offering what participants describe as one of the most profound creations of Burning Man 2025.

The Deer Spirit

For the Wixárika people, who live primarily in the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico, the deer is not just a symbol — it is sacred. Known as maxa, the deer occupies a central role in ceremonial life, representing a messenger between humans and the divine. It is also tied to the peyote cactus, a plant regarded as a portal to spiritual knowledge.

Kauyumari channels this spiritual role. The immense deer, painstakingly assembled and hand-embellished by artisans over the course of a year, contains an inner chamber where festival participants can gather, reflect or even perform ceremonies in conversation with the art. Decorated in the Wixárika tradition of intricate bead and yarn patterns, the sculpture is bathed at night in luminous light, transforming into a shrine within the desert expanse.

“This is more than an artwork to admire,” said Leyla Brashka who spearheaded the design. “It is a prayer and a teaching, expressed in monumental form. By bringing kauyumari to Burning Man, we are inviting thousands to encounter the living traditions of Mexico’s Indigenous communities.”

In a festival where giant robots, interactive LED temples and fire-shooting dragons roam the dunes, kauyumari offers something different. Its very presence highlights how art at Burning Man has evolved: no longer just a playground of radical experimentation, but also a platform where ancient traditions find fresh expression.

Scholars of contemporary art point to Burning Man as one of the largest living museums in the world — though without walls or tickets. And in that open-air, ephemeral museum, Mexico’s contributions have become among the most celebrated.

“Artists from Mexico have reshaped the visual language of Burning Man. What makes works like kauyumari powerful is how they bring Indigenous aesthetics into conversation with global audiences in ways that are profoundly respectful and deeply moving.

After the burn

Although each Burning Man installation by tradition is temporary — many destroyed, burned or dismantled at the festival’s end — collectives increasingly work to preserve their most impactful works. Discussions are already underway to bring kauyumari back to Mexico after the festival, where it could continue its role as a ceremonial and artistic gathering space.

In that sense, the work embodies another principle of Burning Man: continuity. What is born in Black Rock City does not end when the desert empties but instead reverberates outward, reshaping culture across borders.

Looking ahead

With collectives like AXOLOTL and visionaries like Leyla collaborating with Indigenous communities, Mexico’s presence at Burning Man shows no signs of slowing. Even as the festival continues to draw participants from more than 70 countries, Mexican artists are establishing themselves as leaders at the intersection of spectacle, heritage and technology.

As the glowing deer of kauyumari casts its light across Black Rock City this year, it reminds participants that art is not only something to marvel at but also to learn from. In the desert, the future of festival art is converging with the wisdom of ancestral traditions.

And at the vanguard of that convergence are the Mexican artists reimagining what Burning Man — and monumental art itself — can be.

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The Guadalajara native will partner with Finland’s Valterri Bottas, also released at the end of the 2024 season, at the brand new Cadillac entry. Between them, they have won 16 races, six of which were taken by Pérez between 2021 and 2023. Both drivers have also scored second-place finishes in the Drivers’ World Championship.

General Motors’ entry to the top level of motorsport has been long-awaited, and the team has made it a priority to hire two experienced drivers to help the outfit during their first season of F1. Rumors of Pérez’s imminent signing have been swirling through the paddock for most of 2025, with the Mexican driver said to command a powerful portfolio of financial backers, as well as a nation of loyal fans. 

Cadillac Chief Executive Dan Towriff gave his backing to the new lineup.”Their experience, leadership and technical acumen are what we need,” Towriss was quoted saying by the Associated Press. “We’re humbled by their belief in us and this project.”

In a team statement, Pérez said that he was looking forward to returning to motor racing, and that the Cadillac project was particularly exciting. “”From our first conversations, I could sense the passion and determination behind this project. It’s an honor to be part of building a team that can develop together so that, in time, we will fight at the very front.” 

“To help bring such a fantastic company to F1 is a huge responsibility, one I’m confident of taking on,” Pérez said.

 

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The competitive nature of the sport means that 2026 will likely see Pérez and Bottas struggling at the back of the grid, but Checo called on his countrymen — on both sides of the border — to come together and support Cadillac. 

“I believe we can help shape this team into a real contender, the team of the Americas. We’re counting on support from across the continent – and we want to make everyone proud,” he said.

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