It’s been a while since I had a Mexico update, and yesterday there were some important developments in the case of the murder of the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, Carlos Manzo, on November 1, 2025. This murder resulted in a full-court press by the Mexican government, both by the security services and in creating a Plan Michoacán, which was a comprehensive effort to create an alternative to becoming a member of the cartels by pushing education and other social programs. The latest development is the arrest of a man who goes by the alias of “R1", a leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). He joins 30 other arrests made since the murder of Manzo. The arrest was announced by Omar García Harfuch:

Moving on, one of the issues that President Claudia Sheinbaum is facing is “los chapulines” — “grashoppers” — the name for politicians who are hopping on the Morena bandwagon to try to capitalize on Sheinbaum’s popularity. The latest chapulín, Marina de Pilar Ávila Olmeda, Governor of the State of Baja California, was the subject of a leaked conversation where she was heard bargaining with US officials to resolve a visa issue. One of the techniques the US uses to intimidate and co-opt Mexican officials is to revoke their visas. Del Pilar’s actions are an embarrassment, but they’re unlike the actions of the governor of Chihuahua, Maru Campos, who housed CIA and other US agents in her state and let them run operations there. Campos is still under active investigation and may well face charges of treason.

Moving on to more fun stuff, Claudia went to the final of the World Cup. She tends to travel commercial, but in this case, her flight was cancelled, so she had to travel on an official plane. Claudia did not attend any World Cup events in Mexico. She gave her ticket to a young woman who loved soccer, and Claudia attended fan events in Mexico City with other fans who couldn’t afford to go to the games. I thought this video was interesting — it’s her arrival at her hotel in New York.

As long-time readers of this blog know, Claudia does not have an official security escort. Her security is handled by a dozen personal aides who have multiple roles (when she works a rope line, they take the many different items that Mexicans hand her, like cards, pictures, and other memorabilia). I listened to a podcast that said that her security had to tell the Secret Service that la Presidenta would be interacting closely with the Mexicans who were greeting her. If you watch the video, you can see some very uptight-looking Secret Service agents trailing behind la Presidenta. The guy in the olive shirt with a beard is one of her personal aides.

Claudia is a for-real soccer fan. Her Instagram this month and last was full of her cheering for El Tri, the Mexican national team. The rest of it, as usual, is opening hospitals, passing out pension cards, and shaking hands, fearlessly and joyfully.