Mexico was already the largest exporter to the United States. Now it’s the largest importer from the United States.
From Mexico News Daily: “In 2023, Mexico became the world’s top exporter of goods to the United States, surpassing China. Now it also the top buyer of U.S. goods, outpacing Canada, according to U.S. government data published on Wednesday [November 19th].”
Mexican drug cartels have their tentacles extending into various countries and continents. (See for example Mexican Cartel Meth Labs in Europe, Asia and Africa).
In Spain, Mexico’s madre patria, police broke up operations of the CJNG – the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, which is based in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
From CBS News: “Spanish police on Tuesday [November 18] said they broke up the local operations of a powerful Mexican drug cartel designated a terrorist organization by President Trump, making 20 arrests. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) smuggled ‘large shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine’ from South America for distribution in Spain and other European countries, Spanish police said in a statement.”
This time, industrial machinery was being used to conceal drugs. What’ll these guys think of next?
“The investigation started earlier this year when police detected drugs hidden in heavy industrial machinery, which was stored on estates near Madrid and the neighboring province of Avila and transported across Spain.”
“Among the detainees were two ‘priority targets’ of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as well as suspected members of the Italian Camorra mafia dedicated to transporting the drugs abroad.”
“The operation, carried out jointly with the DEA and Dutch authorities, seized 1.8 tons of cocaine, cash, cryptocurrency, weapons and vehicles.”
Click here for a short video showing bits of the operation in action.
Spain’s location and its cultural links with Latin America make it a logical place for cartels to get drugs into Europe.
“Spain is a major gateway to Europe for North African hashish and South American cocaine, making the country a magnet for international criminal gangs.”
Well, they caught these guys, but how many more operations like theirs are still active in Spain and elsewhere in Europe ?
For six consecutive months, remittances to Mexico have decreased.
Remittances are funds sent by people from Country A working in Country B. It’s sent back to families in Country A. Many countries have grown to depend on remittances.
In the case of remittances going to Mexico, most of those funds are from Mexicans working in the United States.
From Mexico Business News: “Mexico recorded a decline in remittance inflows for the sixth consecutive month in September, totaling US$5.21 billion (MX$97.4 billion), a decrease of 2.7% compared to the same month last year, according to Mexico’s Central Bank (Banxico). This drop was driven by a 4.7% contraction in the number of transfers, partially offset by a 2.1% increase in the average remittance amount. This marks the fifth consecutive month with monthly inflows exceeding US$5 billion.”
Then there’s the January to September figures: “The accumulated flow of remittances for the first nine months of the year (January to September 2025) totaled US$45.68 billion, representing a contraction of 5.5% compared to the US$48.36 billion captured during the same period in 2024.”
Many families in Mexico receive remittances.
“The aggregate decline impacts an estimated 4.1 million recipient families and 11.1 million individual Mexican beneficiaries. In September 2025, the average remittance received per Mexican beneficiary was US$396, the lowest amount in four months. The funds entered Mexico through 13.1 million operations, a moderation compared to the 13.8 million transactions observed in September 2024.”
“Remittances represent a substantial portion of income for recipient families, making the sustained contraction a matter for the domestic economy. According to BBVA Research, remittances represent 30% of the income of households that receive these resources.”
“The economic dependence is more pronounced when factoring in labor income, with the bank noting: ‘In households receiving remittances, the sum of this money from abroad plus labor income represents 65.9% of current income.’ “
“Based on estimates from the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH) 2024, remittances account for more than 50% of income in 360,000 households across Mexico.”
So what is the reason for this decrease in remittances?
“Analysts point to external factors, including US labor market dynamics and security policies, as drivers of the contraction.”
That would be the Trump crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States
Also, it has to do with the value of the Mexican peso.
“The strength of the Mexican peso also reduced the real value of the transfers, given an annual appreciation of the Mexican peso of 6% against the dollar, remittances experienced a fall of 11.5% in real terms (discounting inflation). This means that, when converted to the local currency, the funds purchased fewer goods compared to the previous year.”
Over 99% of this is sent via electronic transfers.
“During the first nine months of 2025, 99.2% of total remittance income was sent via electronic transfers (US$45.3 billion). Of those electronic funds, 50.1% (US$22.69 billion) were sent as deposits to accounts, while 49.9% (US$22.61 billion) were collected in cash.”
Some Mexican states, however, are moving in the opposite direction.
“In contrast to the national trend, several states in the center-south region registered growth in the first nine months of the year, including: Guerrero (4.2%), Oaxaca (2.0%), Puebla (1.9%), Morelos (1.3%), Chiapas (1.2%), and Veracruz (0.9%).”
A recent English-language article in Spain’s El País is entitled Indigenous Guatemalans denounce exploitation on Mexican farms: ‘Bananas are worth more than us’. It’s about Guatemalans working on banana plantations in the Mexican state of Chiapas (bordering Guatemala).
From the article: “…hundreds of Guatemalans work every day on the banana plantations of Chiapas. Many of them are Indigenous, mostly from the Q’eqchi’ Maya region that encompasses the Guatemalan departments (states) of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Petén and Izabal. Most don’t speak a word of Spanish, or they speak very little: it’s difficult for them to understand the tasks assigned to them. Sometimes, they don’t even know exactly where they are, or how much they’re going to earn.”
About the banana business: “Mexico is one of the leading banana producers and exporters in Latin America. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), the country produces around 2.5 million tons annually, primarily in the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz and Colima, which together account for more than 80% of the national total. Chiapas alone contributes nearly 30% of that production, with municipalities like Tapachula, Mazatán and Suchiate being veritable banana-growing enclaves. The fruit produced in Chiapas not only supplies a large part of the domestic market, but also supports a significant export network to the United States, Europe and Asia.”
What company is the main buyer of Chiapas bananas?
“The main buyer of bananas produced in Chiapas is Chiquita Brands International, formerly known as the United Fruit Company. The firm is responsible for some of the darkest chapters in Latin American agricultural history. Under its corporate umbrella, dozens of farms along Mexico’s southern border operate with strict quality standards. However, according to workers and organizations, it has an exploitative model and offers meager wages. The farm owners have opted to hire cheap labor, mostly from Guatemala.”
Sometimes this cheap labor is legal, sometimes it’s illegal.
“The practice of bringing Guatemalan laborers to work in Chiapas is a long-standing one. And there are two ways to do it. The first is through legal channels established in Article 52 of the Mexican Migration Law, which allows those living in Guatemalan border states to obtain temporary permits to work only in the southern states of Mexico. The other involves people known as ‘coyotes.’ They drive to the Indigenous or peasant villages of northern Guatemala in trucks, recruiting manual laborers to work in southern Mexico for three or four months at a time.”
For many of them that’s it,
“A large number of the workers brought to the banana plantations by coyotes don’t stay long. They work for periods of three or four months and don’t usually return to Mexico again. This is according to Roberto, one of the plantation managers. The workdays are typically 10 to 14 hours long, while the pay is between 200 and 300 pesos per day ($11 to $16).”
The article focuses on several of the workers.
One is a transgender called Nancy who knows Spanish while another is a four-foot tall Guatemalan named Domingo who doesn’t.
“Domingo is a Q’eqchi’ man who arrived in Mexico less than a month ago with Nancy’s group. He doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, nor does he seem to need it for many of his tasks. All day long, he does the same thing: pick, wash, sort. He only stops for lunch. And, while it might not seem like it, that’s when things get complicated.”
“Domingo doesn’t understand when the foreman instructs the workers to go eat, nor does he understand when any other order is shouted out. Back in Guatemala, he also didn’t understand the details when the recruiters told him to get on the truck.”
“Domingo doesn’t know exactly how much he’s going to be paid, or why he sometimes isn’t paid at all. All of his communication with the farm managers, who only speak Spanish, is through his friend Carlos, another Q’eqchi’ man who, in addition to his native tongue, speaks a little Spanish.”
“With Carlos acting as translator, Domingo tells EL PAÍS that he works to support his wife and two daughters. They live back in the village, in Cobán, Guatemala. He explains that he spent more than a decade working on farms in his home region, but the pay was very low and the days were grueling. So, when he saw his neighbors getting on the truck, telling him in Q’eqchi’ that they were heading to Mexico, he thought it would be a good opportunity.”
“ ‘He says what he doesn’t like about the job is sleeping on the floor and that he’s paid very little. Sometimes, only 200 pesos a day (less than $11). He said he didn’t expect that to be his pay,’ Carlos translates.”
“Without knowing the language and without papers, Guatemalan workers like Domingo, Carlos and Nancy, who come to work on the plantations in Chiapas, are at the mercy of whatever a boss says. They never fully know what’s going on around them.”
“ ‘And does Domingo know where he is?’ ”
“ ‘In Mexico,’ Carlos replies.”
“Through Carlos, Domingo is asked if he knows which part of Mexico.”
“ ‘He says in Chiapas. Near the United States, right?’ ”
Carlos and Domingo. Source: Jose Torres
A consulate is a diplomatic establishment of Country A in Country B. One of its tasks is to give aid to citizens of Country A who are in Country B.
When I resided in Mexico, I went to the nearest American consulate several times and received good service there.
At what point however do consulate personnel cross the line and go from helping their fellow citizens to meddling in Country B? Certainly, it has occurred before.
An October 30th article in the New York Times reports on an activity carried out by the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, California. The title of the article is As ICE Raids Upend L.A., Mexican Immigrants Vent, and a Diplomat Listens .
Mexico’s Consul General in Los Angeles is Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez.
From the New York Times: “Every Monday morning, Mexico’s top diplomat in Los Angeles, Carlos González Gutiérrez, holds public forums that have become a kind of help desk for Mexican nationals whose lives have been upended by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The meetings, known as ‘audiencias publicas,’ or public hearings in Spanish, have drawn dozens of people to the Mexican consulate since the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids began in the Los Angeles region in June.”
What are the meetings like?
“People grumble about difficulties nabbing an appointment for a Mexican passport or dual citizenship, or complain about the security guards who screen visitors at the consulate entrance. There are desperate pleas from people facing removal from the country, and there are other, odder inquiries. A man at one meeting claimed he could prove that the homeland of the Aztecs was in the United States and that he just needed the consulate’s help getting his research in front of President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico.”
“The meetings unfold in what feels like a colorful D.M.V. lobby. Mr. González Gutiérrez and his deputy, Gustavo Martínez Cianca, sit at a table draped in green cloth in the consulate’s lobby, with a Mexican flag and the seal of Mexico behind them.”
“The attendees fill a few rows of metal chairs in front of the table, as Mexican historical figures look on from a mural on a wall. The chatter from people waiting in line at the surrounding service windows makes it hard to hear those speaking.”
Here are some examples of things discussed: “One mother worried about being forced to return to Mexico, and urgently sought dual citizenship for her American children. A man wondered if he could self-deport with his family but bring his work tools, too. A woman fought back tears as she pulled up the leg of her jeans to reveal the device strapped to her ankle — evidence of her recent ICE detention.”
People at the meetings have shouted at the Consul General. “ ‘I have had very angry people yelling at me in those public hearings,’ said Mr. González Gutiérrez, who has served as the head of the consulate since last year. ‘I have had very concerned, anxious people crying as a way of catharsis in front of me.’ “
The meetings actually started before the ICE raids. “The meetings began in the spring to fulfill a mandate from President Sheinbaum requiring the country’s consulates in the United States to do more to engage with constituents. The focus of the sessions shifted after the federal raids started on June 6.”
So is Consul General Gonzalez Gutierrez crossing the line into meddling?
“Yet Mr. González Gutiérrez said that as foreign guests of the American government, there is a limit to how much he and his office can do for the Angelenos who show up on Monday mornings.”
“The consulate often helps people get legal advice or provides financial assistance. A network of immigration lawyers that works with the consulate offers free consultations, and in some cases, the office helps pay for legal fees. But Mr. González Gutiérrez stops short of speaking out against the Trump administration’s hard line on immigration at the meetings, even though Mexican nationals living in Los Angeles said they wished he would.”
“ ‘We are not activists,’ Mr. González Gutiérrez said. ‘We don’t go to demonstrations. I don’t opine about the president of this country or the politics of this country.’ ”
It sounds as though Consul General Gonzalez Gutierrez is not crossing that line into meddling.
The Mexican government has extradited a Chinese fentanyl kingpin to the United States.
From CNN: “Mexico has handed an alleged Chinese fentanyl kingpin over to authorities in the United States, where he is wanted for money laundering and drug trafficking.”
“Zhi Dong Zhang is accused in court documents of exporting, transporting and distributing more than 1,000 kg of cocaine and 1,800 kg of fentanyl as well as laundering more than $150 million in illegal annual profits, according to CNNE.”
“Investigators claim the Chinese national, known by the alias ‘Brother Wang,’ operated in the US, Central America, Europe, China and Japan and that he formed alliances with Mexican criminal organizations to carry out trafficking, the records show.”
“[Zhi Dong] Zhang was first arrested in Mexico last October and granted house arrest while awaiting a court hearing for his extradition to the US. On July 11 this year he escaped from house arrest and was later recaptured in Cuba, National Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a post on X. “Today he was handed over to the United States authorities,” Harfuch said on Thursday [October 23rd]. He thanked the Cuban government for its ‘valuable cooperation’ in recapturing [Zhi Dong] Zhang.”
According to Soldier of Fortune magazine, Zhi Dong Zhang was working with both the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG.
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day on September 16th, 2025 portrays the recently-discovered comet SWAN25B over the state of Zacatecas:
From the NASA caption: “A newly discovered comet is already visible with binoculars. The comet, C/2025 R2 (SWAN) and nicknamed SWAN25B, is brightening significantly as it emerges from the Sun’s direction…The featured image was captured at sunset three days ago [September 13th, 2025] just above the western horizon in Zacatecas, Mexico.”
Puerto Vallarta is a resort city on Banderas Bay on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Our family visited there when the boys were little.
One of the longstanding attractions at Puerto Vallarta has been the Marigalante, a replica of the Santa Maria, flagship of Christopher Columbus on the discoverer’s first voyage to the Western Hemisphere in 1492.
On the outside, it looks like the Santa Maria, but inside is an engine. And the vessel has circumnavigated the globe.
When our family visited, we went on the tourist voyage in the bay. The Marigalante sailed through the bay and arrived to a small beach, where we got into a boat and went to a small beach for a spell. As I stepped out of the ship and into the boat, they were both moving, and I was holding my infant son tight so as not to drop him into the water!
On the voyage, we were treated to a pirate show on the ship, my least favorite part. The pirates were in 1700s garb, not 1400s garb, but hey, I guess it’s entertainment, right?
What I really enjoyed was the historical significance of the vessel and the voyage through the bay. I also had a good conversation with the captain.
Now, I’ve learned that, two days before Columbus Day 2025, the Marigalante sank in the bay. Yes, it actually sank!
From the New York Post: “The Marigalante, a replica of Christopher Columbus’ famed galleon, the Santa Maria, took on water as it attempted to return to port for repairs in Puerto Vallarta Friday afternoon [October 10th], according to Pirate Ship Vallarta, the company that operated the iconic tourist attraction.”
“The wooden vessel was traversing through the Pacific waters to return for technical repairs when it became inoperable near the Buenaventura Hotel in the Mexican state of Jalisco.”
“The system failure worsened and the ship began to sink while first responders rushed to evacuate crew members from the doomed vessel.”
“Everyone onboard was evacuated from the ship before it submerged into the waters, the company and area firefighters said.”
“The Marigalante tilted to its starboard side as water washed onto the top deck and the vessel plummeted into the water…Rescue boats and other vessels moved away from the shipwreck as the three towering masts disappeared, while barrels and other debris floated back to the surface.”
Why did it sink?
“The cause of the sinking was blamed on a bilge system issue resulting from a mechanical or electrical failure in the pumps. ‘Due to the strong tide, it was impossible to rescue the boat, which unfortunately ended up sinking,’ the Puerto Vallarta civil protection and firefighters said. ”
“Built in 1987, the ship was launched five years later in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas, according to the company. The ship was a popular tourist attraction at the resort town, offering sailing tours around the bay with an ‘incredible pirate show,’ fireworks, dinner and an open bar, according to the company.”
Also, “Pirate Ship Vallarta [the company] reaffirmed it would help its staff ‘throughout the process.’ The company reassured customers that they would be refunded for the ship’s future tour dates.
And, “It was also announced that the Marigalante’s sister ship will replace the lost vessel in the coming months.”
For more photos and video click here.
Flooding in Mexico, caused by heavy rains, has left at least 64 dead and 65 missing, as of October 13th.
From The Guardian: “The death toll from flooding in central and eastern Mexico has risen sharply to at least 64, with another 65 still missing, authorities said on Monday [October 13th]. The flooding, caused by intense rainfall, was focused mostly in the Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla states, said Laura Velázquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defense authorities…The floods sent overflowing rivers through entire villages, triggered landslides and swept away roads and bridges. President Claudia Sheinbaum said that thousands of troops as well as boats, planes and helicopters had been deployed to assist the rescue efforts…Mexico has been hit by particularly heavy rains throughout 2025, with a rainfall record set in the capital Mexico City.”
Mexico’s Excelsior broke down the deaths and disappearances thusly:
Veracruz state: 29 deaths, 18 disappearances
Hidalgo state: 21 deaths, 43 disappearances
Puebla state: 13 deaths, 4 disappearances
Queretaro state: 1 death, no disappearances
Super Bowl LX is scheduled for February 8th, 2026, in Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California.
The scheduled halftime musical act is already controversial.
The scheduled performer is Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, record producer and professional wrestler.
It’s controversial because Bad Bunny is to perform the entire halftime act in Spanish.
Another perspective, however, has been expressed in a meme circulating in Mexico:
Translation: “The Gringos are angry because Bad Bunny will sing in Spanish at the Super Bowl and they won’t understand it. If they only knew that we don’t understand him either!”
