Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez was born in California, and thus is a U.S. citizen; he’s also a Mexican citizen.
Valencia is now the boss of the CJNG (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación) , which is now Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel.
I wrote about Valencia Gonzalez this past March, in the article Can a U.S. Citizen Run a Mexican Drug Cartel? I pointed out that the U.S. government already had a 5 million dollar bounty on his head and I wrote “That bounty will probably be increased soon”.
Well, sure enough, on August 5th, 2026, the U.S. government quintupled Valencia’s bounty to 25 million dollars!
The U.S. government also has bounties on other CJNG leaders: 1. Audia Flores Silva, “Jardinero”, Increase of 5 million to 15 million 2. Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, “Sapo” (Toad), up to 15 million dollars 3. Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, “Chorro”, 15 million 4. Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, “Tripa”, 10 million 5. Julio Cesar Montero Pinzon, “El Tarjetas”, 10 million 6. Carlos Andres Rivera Varela, “La Firma”, 10 million 7. Griselda Margarita Arredondo Pinzon, 2 million
Here’s an excerpt from the government media note: “In a historic and decisive action in support of President Trump’s mission to eliminate narco-terrorist cartels threatening the American people, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing reward offers under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) and Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) totaling up to $102 million for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions, in any country, of eight leaders and associates of Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). These rewards are offered in coordination with the DOJ, DEA, FBI, HSI, IRS, CBP, and the National Coordination Center.”
There are also visa restrictions involved: “Additionally, the Department [of State] is imposing visa restrictions on 65 individuals who are family members or close personal or business associates of persons linked to CJNG (who have been sanctioned under Executive Order 14059, Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade). Twenty-six of those individuals had existing visas, which have now been revoked. Since announcing this visa restriction policy in June 2025, a total of 93 visas have been revoked from family members and associates of sanctioned drug traffickers connected to FTO-designated cartels. Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s leadership, violent cartel operatives and their criminal facilitators are no longer able to enter our country and terrorize the American people.”
And, “Today’s reward offers complement the Department of Justice’s announcement of the unsealing of charges against Mendoza Gaytán, Castillo Rodríguez, Ruiz Velasco, Montero Pinzón, and Rivera Varela.”
The Odyssey is the story of Greek king Odysseus returning home to his island of Ithaca after the Trojan War. In the Nolan movie, Matt Damon portrays Odysseus.
Odysseus in mosaic in Spain, late 4th-5th centuries A.D. Source: Valdavia
The Odyssey (and its companion piece The Iliad) are epic poems. They may be based on some historical events occurring around 1200 B.C. Over time invented elements were added to the stories. The traditional view is that the poems were set into their standard form by a blind poet named Homer around 700 B.C.
Oldest known Odyssey Fragment, 3rd Century B.C. Source: Zunkir
Homer. Roman Copy of 2nd-century B.C. bust. Source: Mike Peel
So The Odyssey is an approximately 3000 year old story and is one of the foundational texts of European civilization and literature.
After 3 millenia the Odyssey continues to captivate because it contains universal themes we can still relate to: honor, perseverance, the love for one’s homeland, the determination to return there, the importance of family and even the love of a faithful dog for its master. It’s all in the The Odyssey.
Nolan’s Odyssey movie is a great production. It’s almost 3 hours long, but it kept my attention the whole time.
I watched the move twice, in two different theaters in two different states. Both theaters were pretty full and there was applause when it was done.
The movie was filmed in various countries, mostly in and around the Mediterranean where the narrative is set. Nolan eschews CGI effects, preferring real actors and real props and scenery.
There’s a scene where dolphins pop up out of the water. The dolphins were not expected and simply appeared as they were filming in the Mediterranean.
Matt Damon as Oysseus looking at dolphin. Source: abplive.com
The action scenes are well-done, with the Cyclops in the cave, the encounter with the enchantress Circe, the Laestrygonian cannibal giants, the Sirens, the Charybdis whirlpool and the Scylla monster, etc.
The film is not without controversy. It’s not just one thing, different people criticize it for different reasons. Yet the controversy itself indicates the importance of the work. Why would people argue about The Odyssey if weren’t important to them?
Of course, every movie based on a classic literary work changes things.
The movie has been criticized for its casting, for the authenticity of various details, the ways the characters are portrayed, and other things.
Left: Lupita Nyong’o. Source: Philip Romano Right: Jon Bernthal (Menelaus), Lupita Nyong’o (Helen of Troy). Source: threads.com
Another casting choice highly criticized was Ellen/Elliott Page as Greek warrior Sinon.
Odysseus’ multiracial crew was also criticized.
In Nolan’s Odyssey the characters speak English like 21st-century Americans, using terms like “Dad”, “ok”, “let’s go!” and even a form of the “f-word”. Of course, the poem was originally written in Homeric Greek, but normally in these types of epic movies a sort of formal, elevated English is utilized.
Another criticism is that it changes the character of Odysseus. The Iliad and The Odyssey portray Odysseus (Latin form: Ulysses) as a cunning warlord, a trickster, a man who thinks outside of the box to survive and thrive.
In the movie, Odysseus is more passive, despondent and guilt-ridden. It was Odysseus who thought up the Wooden Horse trick, which is used to break into the city of Troy, which is than sacked and destroyed. In the poem Odysseus didn’t feel guilty about the trick, but in the movie he does.
These critics have a point. However even in Greek literature there was disagreement over Odysseus, who is the protagonist of the Odyssey but centuries later is criticized by Sophocles, Plato and Aristotle. So we could say that the character of Odysseus has been under discussion for milennia.
One of the principal concepts in movie is that of xenia [ξενία], an ancient Greek hospitality concept, which in the film is called “Zeus’s law”. Xenia includes rules for both host and guest.
A statement in the movie from Penelope (portrayed by Anne Hathaway) likens xenia to the Golden Rule, doing to others as you’d want them to do for you. The concepts are not the same. Xenia strictly refers to host-guest relationship. The Golden Rule covers all of life.
In The Odyssey, the Cyclops is a bad host, and the suitors at Ithaca are bad guests. But Nolan’s Odyssey bases the story around Odysseus feeling guilty for tricking the Trojans with the Wooden Horse, which led to the destruction of the city.
That, of course, isn’t in Homer’s Odyssey, in which the protagonist never felt guilty about that. In Nolan’s movie, however, Odysseus does.
The movie links the story of Odysseus to the Bronze Age Collapse, which occurs around 1200 B.C. There might be something to that. It’s funny though that Nolan’s Odysseus says “Our Age of Bronze is collapsing”, as if people in the Bronze Age knew they were in the Bronze Age!
We could go on and on discussing these issues. And many do. Look around the Internet and you can find plenty of discussion about this movie.
It is noteworthy that a movie based on a 3,000 year old story is such a big event, culturally, commercially and philosophically. Even the criticisms show that this ancient work can still spark strong feelings and controversy.
All that speaks to the power of The Odyssey, one of the foundational works of European civilization, a story that can still attract our attention 3,000 years later.
The Africanews.com website recently provided an update to that story. The article was credited to Africanews with AFP Agence France-Press.
From the article: “The cooking cauldrons and vats of chemicals were left behind in an abandoned shed, hidden in a Nigerian forest — remnants of an alleged multimillion-dollar transnational meth operation. Authorities Wednesday [July 29] dismantled the crude, makeshift meth lab after an ongoing trial involving three Mexican nationals took a day to hold court proceedings on-site last week.”
“AFP visited the lab, in southwestern Ogun state, with officers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as they brought in a local welder and carpenter to dismantle the cauldrons and filtration equipment used to make the meth.”
“West Africa in recent years has emerged as a transit point for drugs making their way from South America to Europe — mostly cocaine. But the meth bust — which nabbed the largest such lab ever discovered in Nigeria — points to Mexican cartel involvement in the country, local authorities have said. ‘About our readiness to combat the cartel… yes, we are ready,’ James Taalba, the NDLEA’s deputy commander of narcotics, told AFP.”
Hopefully they are ready, because it’s likely there’s plenty more where that came from.
“The lab sat on an acre of land in a forest that straddles the border of Abidagba and Iroto villages.In May, authorities arrested 10 people — including seven Nigerians — and raided the facility, as well as two residential properties in an upscale Lagos neighbourhood, netting $360 million worth of meth and the chemicals used to make it.”
“Legal proceedings are still underway, in court — and back indoors — in Lagos.”
“The court ordered the lab dismantled for environmental reasons, said Patricia Afolabi, the NDLEA’s director of forensics, citing groundwater and air pollution from the chemicals used to make the drug. Barrels of chemicals and partially finished product had been left in the shed as evidence, still emitting choking vapours when AFP visited.”
The article reported another meth bust from a month later: “Another Mexican national was arrested in a meth bust in June, in Oyo state.”
Here’s a map of the states of Nigeria. Look at the southwest and you’ll find Lagos state, Ogun state and Oyo state:
On July 25th, 2024, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo Guzman, were taken into U.S. custody in El Paso. Apparently, Guzman Lopez turned himself in but El Mayo was abducted or tricked with the collusion of Guzman Lopez.
It was the first time in his life that El Mayo had ever been arrested! As it turns out, probably the last time as well.
In December of 2025 Joaquin Guzman pled guilty to four charges, but he hasn’t yet been sentenced.
As for El Mayo, on August 25th, 2025, he pled guilty in a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn. About 11 months later, July 20th, 2026, also in Brooklyn, El Mayo was sentenced to life imprisonment.
From the U.S. Department of Justice press release: “Ismael Zambada Garcia also known as El Mayo, 76, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced today to life in prison and ordered to pay $15 billion in forfeiture for his role as the principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise – the Sinaloa Cartel (the Cartel), one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world – and for his involvement in racketeering.”
The war began on September 9th, 2024. According to the Noroeste newspaper report of July 23rd, 2026, “Since the dispute between the Guzmans and the Zambadas began and that the authorities have not been able to contain, Sinaloa has accumulated 3,597 violent deaths….”
Is Ruben Rocha Moya, the Biggest Fish of the Sinaloa Ten, negotiating his surrender with the U.S. government?
On April 29th, 2026, a U.S. federal court indicted ten Mexican officials and former officials, all from the state of Sinaloa, for involvement with the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. This indictment was issued by the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, a U.S. District Court.
The night before, on April 28th, the Mexican foreign ministry had received requests for extradition for the ten.
The Biggest Fish indicted was Ruben Rocha Moya, then serving as Governor of the state of Sinaloa, and a member of President Sheinbaum’s MORENA party. Rocha claimed innocence and took an official temporary leave of absence to fight the charges.
Since the indictment, 3 of the Sinaloa Ten have turned themselves in to U.S. authorities: 1.Gerardo Merida Sanchez, (Former Secretary of Public Security for Sinaloa) 2.Enrique Diaz Vega (Former Secretary of Administration and Finance for Sinaloa) 3.Enrique Inzunza Cazarez. (At time of the indictment a sitting Mexican Senator from Sinaloa)
Now there’s a report that Ruben Rocha himself might be negotiating to surrender.
From Infobae: “Ruben Rocha Moya… is in conversations with authorities of the United States to negotiate his possible surrender…”
The source?
“This was revealed by Jesús Lemus Barajas, journalist and writer specializing in organized crime, who in an interview with Infobae México explained that Rocha Moya allegedly sent one of his lawyers to dialogue with the U.S. Attorney General’s office this past Saturday [July 18].“
“ ‘This weekend, one of his lawyers opened the possibility (of negotiating). With the United States he is seeking the possibility of sitting down to negotiate and to dialogue. There is no doubt he is going to surrender,’ affirmed Lemus.”
According to Lemus, Rocha wants to become an informant and a protected witness.
As Lemus points out, the U.S. government only negotiates with an informant who is going to rat out somebody higher up. Rocha was a governor, so it would have to be somebody or various somebodies who are higher than a governor.
Present at the game were U.S. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Spanish President Pedro Sanchez and the King of Spain.
¡Felicidades a España!
A funny meme was circulating in Mexico:
TRANSLATION: “If it would not have occurred to Miguel Hidalgo to become independent from Spain, we would now be world champions.”
The awards are chosen by the magazine’s readers. This year, 207,000 readers voted. These are probably people who travel a lot.
According to the poll, the Best City in the World is San Miguel de Allende (pronounced “Ayenday”), a central Mexican city (in the state of Guanajuato) popular with tourists and home to many expatriate Americans and Canadians.
Second place went to Kyoto, Japan; 3rd place to Chiang Mai, Thailand; 4th place to Hoi An, Vietnam. Several other Mexican cities were on the list: Oaxaca at #5, Mexico City at #9 and Guadalajara at #15.
The article describes the city thusly: “Tucked away in Mexico’s central highlands is a Colonial-era town known for its charming cobblestone streets, stunning architecture, and global food scene: San Miguel de Allende.“
Check out the article here for photos and information about the city.
I’ve visited San Miguel de Allende a couple of times and enjoyed it.
I invite the reader to check out my article on the Mexconnect website about the state of Guanajuato, located here. It has some information about San Miguel de Allende and three photos of the city:
In a previous article early last month, I reported that the Mexican government is requiring all cellphone users, including foreigners living in Mexico, to register their cellphone numbers with the government. The deadline was June 30th. (See Mexican Government Requiring all Cellphone Users to Register with the Government).
There have been some changes in that requirement, in both the deadline and which phones are to be registered.
From Mexperience: “On January 9, 2026, Mexico enacted a new law requiring all cell phone numbers to be verifiably associated with an individual. The law required users to register by no later than June 30, 2026 and telephone companies were told to suspend all lines not registered on July 1.”
“By late June 2026, it was estimated that less than half of all lines were registered, and the government announced a new timetable that focuses on registration of pre-pay cellular telephony lines—that is, lines without a monthly contract.”
“Only pre-pay (pay-as-you-go) phones need to register now…customers on contract cell phones no longer need to undertake the registration process….Customers using a pre-pay (pay-as-you-go) cell phone must still register their phone, and the new timetable for disconnections is staggered between August and December 2026, based on the last digit of the cellphone’s line number.”
There is an organization in Mexico called R3D: Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (Network in Defense of Digital Rights) which opposed the original cellphone registration plan.
The R3D organization opposed the registration for three reasons: 1. It can be a database for tracking citizens. 2.There are data security risks. 3. There is no evidence that such registration reduces crime.
After the change was announced on June 25th, the R3D organization tweeted this: “An extension for the registration of telephone lines would have to be accompanied by other dialogues. Citizens have the right to doubt, and the government has the obligation to explain what security measures are being implemented to protect our information.”
Do you need some extra spending money? The U.S. government is offering money for information about the “Chapitos“. But you’d better be careful….
The Chapitos are four sons of El Chapo, a former leader of one of the organizations within Mexico’s Sinaloa Drug Cartel.
El Chapo was captured in 2016 and extradited to the United States in 2017. In 2019 El Chapo was sentenced to life + 30 and is imprisoned in the ADX Florence federal prison in Colorado.
The Mexican narco business is a family business. So four sons of el Chapo, Los Chapitos, kept up their end of the cartel business.
The four Chapitos are: 1. Ovidio Guzman Lopez 2. Joaquin Guzman Lopez 3. Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar 4. Jesús Alfredo Guzman Salazar
By utilizing the Spanish-language dual surname system you can see that Chapitos #1 and #2 have one mother, and Chapitos #3 and #4 have another mother. But they are all 4 sons of El Chapo and they are all four chips off the old block.
Two of them are currently in U.S. custody:
Ovidio Guzman Lopez was captured in 2023 and extradited to the United States later that year. Ovidio made a plea bargain with the court but has not yet been sentenced.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez. In 2024, Joaquin, [aka as “El Güero Moreno”] flew to El Paso, Texas, with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, another leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, where both were arrested by U.S. authorities. It’s believed that this was a result of a deal with the U.S. government made by Joaquin, although El Mayo was tricked into going. In December of 2025 Joaquin pled guilty to four charges, but he hasn’t yet been sentenced.
Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzman Salazar are still at large, and the U.S. government has released new wanted posters for them.
Here’s one that shows the 4 Chapitos with the two already in custody indicated:
Check out this one, which has new images of the two Chapitos still at large, presumably done by AI; plus it resembles an Old West wanted poster more than the other one:
Notice the 10 million dollar reward offered. Here’s what the ICE account says about them above the wanted poster with the four Chapitos:
“TWO DOWN AND TWO TO GO WITH $10M REWARD!” “These infamous brothers, known as ‘Los Chapitos,’ inherited drug trafficking networks from their notorious father Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman Loera. Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar remain at large, and there is a $10 million reward for information leading to their arrest and conviction. Do not attempt to apprehend any subject. They should both be considered armed and dangerous. If you have information, please contact ICE HSI at 520-335-7315 or GUZMANsons-Tips@ice.dhs.gov”
Marquez played for several teams in professional soccer leagues: in Mexico for Atlas in Guadalajara and for Leon; for Monaco, Barcelona and Verona in Europe and for the New York Red Bulls.
Here’s a graphic on the legacy of Javier Aguirre, the outgoing coach, whose record was 60 wins, 20 ties and 18 losses.
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