Governor Salomón Jara Cruz’s legal threat on Tuesday was the latest charge of cultural appropriation emanating from Oaxaca. Earlier this year, a group of 300 Oaxacan artisans accused two U.S. fashion brands of using traditional huipil patterns in their clothes.

In the current complaint, the governor emphasized concerns that the creators did not obtain consent from the community of Villa Hidalgo Yalalág, whose signature huarache craftsmanship inspired the sandal. He also expressed his disdain over the use of the name “Oaxaca” for the new shoe.

“We will approach our brothers and sisters in Yalalág to file a report for identity theft,” Jara Cruz stated at a press conference.

The Oaxaca Slip-On was officially unveiled this week during a massive Adidas event at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art in San Juan. Adidas has taken over the historic facility’s exhibit halls and gardens for three weeks to celebrate five years of creative partnership between Adidas Originals and renowned Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny.

Chavarría and other creative forces from Adidas kicked off the event by participating in panels that also unveiled new models — including the Oaxaca Slip-On.

The shoe features a premium leather upper in a hand-woven style reminiscent of traditional Oaxacan huaraches, paired with a chunky Adidas sneaker sole.

An acclaimed U.S. designer known for fusing streetwear, political activism and Chicano cultural references, Chavarría said the shoe seeks to merge Indigenous Mexican footwear heritage with Chicano style and contemporary streetwear.

“I celebrate Latino culture and celebrate queer culture because that’s like me,” Chavarría told Sneaker News at the event. “But at the end of the day … it’s about human dignity. It’s about respecting and loving one another.” 

Chavarría was born in 1967 in Huron, a small farmworker community in Fresno County, California.

“It makes me very proud to be working with a company that really respects and uplifts culture in the most real way,” he added.

Nonetheless, Oaxacan artisans and officials have raised concerns about recurring incidents of cultural appropriation, where international brands, including luxury designers, have been accused of taking Indigenous Mexican designs without permission or benefit to the communities.

Levi’s accused of culturally appropriating indigenous designs

Previous cases have involved fashion companies such as Carolina Herrera, Zimmermann and Shein. The Mexican fabric company Modatelas was accused of plagiarizing traditional designs from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the U.S. brand Anthropologie was accused of using the Xaam nïxuy design from a Mixe community without permission.

In 2022, the Ralph Lauren brand apologized after being accused of plagiarizing Mexican textile designs.

The Ministry of Culture has long argued these practices represent both economic harm and “symbolic dispossession” of Indigenous identity and creativity.

Villa Hidalgo Yalalág is a Zapotec community in the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca, roughly 90 kilometers northeast of Oaxaca City. The community is recognized for its hand-woven huaraches, textiles and other traditional crafts that are emblematic of Oaxacan heritage.

With reports from El Financiero, Publimetro and Sneaker News

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The barbacoa feast of 100 sheep (lambs) and more than 2,000 chickens will be slow-cooked underground in two enormous, custom-built ovens as part of the annual Dajiedhi Fair, a six-day festival starting Wednesday.

State by Plate: Barbacoa of Hidalgo

The popular fair will feature church services, fireworks, dancers, music, carnival rides, craft sales and food — like other patron saint festivals in Mexico. But this event, like many others across the country in early August, pays homage to El Divino Salvador (the Divine Savior, aka Jesus).

Much of this year’s focus is on Sunday, when the large ovens will be ignited by local barbocoyeros (pitmasters) to begin the barbecuing process. On Monday, a free tasting for an estimated 15,000 visitors will begin at 11 a.m.

“It’s just a tasting, so we ask for your understanding that there should be enough for everyone,” emphasized Alex Santiago Mejía, a member of the fair committee.

For those wanting more, barbacoa will also be available for purchase for about 650 pesos (US $34.50) per kilogram.

Last year’s event featured the cooking of 68 sheep and more than 200 chickens, though organizers opted against trying to obtain a Guinness World Record due to costs.

Like last year, this year’s barbecue will be prepared in a traditional manner that dates back to pre-Hispanic times.

¡En #Actopan se rompió el récord Guinness de la fila de tacos de barbacoa más larga del mundo!

Este es un logro que pone en alto la gastronomía de #Hidalgo, reflejando el orgullo por nuestra identidad.#PrimeroElPueblo pic.twitter.com/cIs7mLuTR4

— Julio Menchaca (@juliomenchaca_) July 13, 2025

Sheep and chickens donated by Dajiedhi residents and farmers in neighboring towns will be prepped and seasoned by the barbocoyeros and volunteers.

The meats will then be cooked in stone pits that are lined and topped with maguey leaves to protect ingredients from the dirt and to seal in flavors from vegetables and mesquite branches placed in the pits.

Dajiedhi, population 2,400, is located in the municipality of Actopan, Hidalgo, about 30 kilometers north of the state capital, Pachuca. Its unique name is almost certainly Indigenous, likely of Otomí-Hñahñu origin, but its precise meaning is unknown to scholars.

In Actopan and other areas of the Mezquital Valley, barbecued meats have been prepared in earthen ovens since 1518, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Culture. The newspaper Milenio referred to Dajiedhi as “the birthplace of barbacoyeros.”

At the Barbacoa Fair in Actopan in early July, the community reportedly set a Guinness World Record for the longest line of barbacoa tacos — more than 12,000 placed side-by-side in a single row. Vendors made about 300 tacos each, and when the tacos were lined up, no overlapping was allowed, according to the on-site Guinness adjudicator.

With reports from Milenio, N+ and Central Hidalgo Irreverente

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Available for free through both Google Play and the App Store, the app was developed jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris).

During the platform’s official launch earlier this month, Semarnat head Alicia Bárcena said the app will allow “people to have timely information about the water quality of our beaches from their cell phones … Mexicans [have a] right to know which beaches they can go to without problems.”

Bárcena said the new app is in line with a government initiative launched on World Environment Day last month: the National Campaign for the Cleanup and Conservation of Mexico’s Beaches and Coasts, 2025-2030.

“We would like to achieve plastic-free beaches, and that’s why working in synergy with Cofepris seems fantastic to demonstrate the quality of the seawater that residents will encounter,” Bárcena said. “We want to reduce coastal pollution and, of course, restore ecosystems like mangroves.”

During her speech, Bárcena emphasized that “in Mexico, we have 12,000 kilometers of beaches and 3 million square kilometers of maritime surface, equivalent to 62% of the national territory.” 

With the app, people can get information — or provide it.

“People can tell us if a beach isn’t as clean as reported, or give us suggestions,” Bárcena added.

The app displays monitoring results from 393 sampling points, reflecting data collected during the 2025 summer vacation season.

According to Cofepris, 94% of the beaches tested meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards: fewer than 200 colony-forming units of fecal enterococci per 100 milliliters. In all, there are 273 such “clean” beaches (some beaches had more than one testing point) — including a top 10 cited in Mexico News Daily. 

The remaining 16 beaches — located mainly in Guerrero, Michoacán and Jalisco — were deemed unsuitable due to bacterial contamination exceeding safe limits.

The worst-rated beaches are Tijuana Beach I (Baja California); El Real Beach (Tecomán, Colima); Carabalí, Hornos, Caletilla and Papagayo beaches (Acapulco, Guerrero); Cuale and Camarones beaches (Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco); Mismaloya Beach (south of Puerto Vallarta); La Bocana Beach (Huatulco, Oaxaca); and Nexpa, Boca de Apiza, Jardín, Las Peñas, Chuquiapan and Caleta de Campos (Michoacán coast).

National Beach Cleanup Strategy aims to eliminate plastic pollution

“Samples collected during the July period indicated that bacterial concentrations exceed the permissible limit of 200 MPN/100 ml, which represents a risk to the health of bathers,” authorities noted.

Exposure may cause “gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory infections.”

Armida Zúñiga Estrada, the head of Cofepris, the federal agency charged with protecting the public by regulating health-related risks, called the Playas MX app “a technological innovation that offers reliable data on the microbiological monitoring of primary contact water.”

The app features geolocated search, color-coded suitability indicators and a feedback section for users.

With reports from Milenio, El País and Sin Embargo

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Dubbed “Operation Liberation” — “Operación Liberación” in Spanish — the coordinated raid spanned 14 municipalities in the state, including Valle de Bravo, Malinalco, Ixtapan de la Sal and Texcaltitlán.

Federal and state forces deployed 2,866 personnel and 698 vehicles while executing simultaneous searches of businesses used for hoarding and selling construction materials, meat, animals and other goods at vastly inflated prices.

La Familia Michoacana, sometimes called La Nueva Familia Michoacana, is one of six cartels the United States government designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in February.

Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch — who survived a 2020 assassination attempt reportedly orchestrated by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel when he served as police chief of Mexico City — said the crackdown was urgently needed “to protect the local economy and the peace of mind of thousands of families.”

In a press release from the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, García Harfuch added that it was essential “to halt these practices that sought to control economic sectors, from food supplies to construction materials … [to] dismantle their operations, seize assets linked to crime and regain control of the territory for the benefit of the public.”

Among those arrested was Yareli “N,” a councilwoman from Ixtapan de la Sal, about 60 kilometers south from Toluca, the state’s capital, and leaders of the cartel’s management structure.

The perpetrators allegedly forced merchants and residents to buy products exclusively from cartel-controlled stores or face violence. Anyone purchasing from outside sellers was subject to robbery and threats, authorities said.

“Residents are unable to turn to other establishments,” said State Prosecutor José Luis Cervantes Martínez.

Como resultado de los trabajos conjuntos con el @GobiernoMX, @SSPCMexico, @GN_Mexico_, @Defensamx, @SEMAR_mx, @SS_Edomex, @PJEdomex y @FiscaliaEdomex en el #Edomex, el pasado 21 de julio inició la #OperaciónLiberación. pic.twitter.com/vzUcXXiDQ4

— Gobierno del Estado de México (@Edomex) July 23, 2025

Investigators said the group manipulated prices through fake labor unions and front businesses, as well as through mines, butcher shops, egg stores, and chicken and pig farms.

In one case, according to authorities, a ton of rebar was sold for 23,950 pesos (US $1,292) — 33.5% above the market rate in Mexico — while a kilogram of whole chicken fetched 115 pesos, 53% more than normal.

In Texcaltitlán, for example, customers paid a mandatory five-peso fee per kilo to weigh cattle, while in Tejupilco, the group monopolized package delivery, charging “illegal fees” and sometimes confiscating goods.

Seized assets include 4,174 poultry, 17,657 kilograms of feed, 3.9 tons of meat, 5,000 bags of cement, 128 vehicles and 18 exotic animals — including pumas, peacocks, swans and raccoons.

The 52 properties seized included six mines, 24 warehouses, a slaughterhouse, a ranch, a hotel and an unnamed number of butcher shops, chicken farms and lumberyards.

Officials pledged many materials would be distributed to benefit affected communities, while also saying that the operation is ongoing and will continue until all responsible parties are brought to justice.

With reports from Animal Politico, Infobae and El Financiero

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In the northeastern border state of Tamaulipas, officials last month hosted a workshop titled “Nopal Protein Feed for Livestock: An Affordable, Drought-Resilient Solution” in the municipalities of Llera and Tula, aiming to equip farmers with technical knowledge on cactus-based feeding strategies.

The benefits of nopal — including its inherent drought resistance and its ability to thrive in harsh conditions — make it an attractive and economical option for livestock feed.

“We know that the cactus is an alternative food for livestock, especially due to its protein content,” said René Lara Cisneros, mayor of Tula. “We live in times when the countryside demands innovation, efficiency and sustainability, and the cactus is a noble, resilient plant with a long tradition.”

The initiative, led by the state’s Department of Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture, includes a commitment to providing practical tools to bolster rural productivity.

Two of the main speakers were Francisco Javier Macías Rodríguez, an agronomist at Chapingo Autonomous University (UACh) in México state, and Santiago de Jesús Méndez Gallegos, a specialist on goat farming and forage management.

The benefits they spoke of extend beyond Tamaulipas. 

In the northwestern border state of Sonora, the Navojoa Livestock Association has held similar workshops in conjunction with national agencies — including a 2021 project addressing the demands of livestock farmers in the face of water scarcity.

Jorge Luis García Rodríguez, regional director for the National Commission for Arid Zones, explained: “We seek to reduce water consumption in forage production and are turning to [UACh] to strengthen the cultivation of forage cactus, which uses only a quarter of the water required by forage corn or alfalfa.” 

Advances from research have boosted the protein content of cactus forage to commercial levels as high as 36% to 42%, and producers report significant savings on fodder purchases.

However, promoting its adoption requires robust technical support for producers in states and regions where drought has intensified the forage crisis.

Although much of Mexico has seen drought conditions ease since June, northern states such as Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Baja California still face extreme or exceptional drought, according to government data as of July 15.

Many areas are hoping for some relief when the rains come, but for a growing number of farmers, resilience means embracing drought-tolerant alternatives like nopal.

With reports from En Círculos, El Imparcial, El Debate, El Financiero and Meteored

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This year’s edition — themed “In Free Fall” and inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 renowned psychological thriller “Vertigo” — includes a focus on the role of artificial intelligence in cinema.

With over 4,000 submissions received, the selection committee settled on a program that includes 18 world premieres and 51 Mexican premieres.

Pretty much every screening — including a late-night showing of two horror films in Guanajuato city’s old Santa Paula Cemetery — is free, with seats offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The festival, which last year included screenings in the state’s largest city, Léon, carries the name Guanajuato in reference to the landlocked state in central Mexico known for its colonial-era architecture, rich mining history and highlands location. It will conclude Aug. 4.

Each of the host cities will have its own opening-night film.

“Un Futuro Brillante” (“A Bright Future”) from Uruguay will open the Guanajuato city portion of the festival on Friday night at the famous Teatro Juárez. Films here will run through Monday at nine venues, including two late-night, ticketed screenings in one of the city’s vaunted tunnels: “Salão de Baile” (“This Is Ballroom”) from Brazil and a collection of international LGBTIQ-themed shorts.

The San Miguel de Allende portion of the festival will run from Tuesday, July 29 through Thursday, July 31, officially opening with the U.S. production “Omaha” at the Cinemex la Luciérnaga. It’s about a middle-America family searching for a better life during the tough economic times of 2008.

The Aug. 1-4 lineup in Irapuato officially opens with “No dejes a los niños solos” (“Don’t Leave the Children Alone”), a Mexican psychological thriller about a 10-year-old and his 7-year-old brother being left at home alone. It will screen at Teatro de la Ciudad on Friday, Aug. 1.

Other highlights of GIFF 2025 include the Epicentro program (with immersive virtual reality experiences, plus panels and workshops focused on filmmaking technology and the use of A.I.) and the panel “Women in Innovation” (featuring four Mexican women in cutting-edge professions, including Glenda Michel, who leads tech and AI projects at Facebook’s parent company, Meta).

Notable figures in Mexico cinema will be honored with awards, including actress Verónica Castro, who played the matriarch Virginia de la Mora in the first season of the popular Netflix comedy series “La Casa de las Flores,” and TV producer Rosy Ocampo, who adapted the global hit “Ugly Betty” into “La Fea Más Bella” (“The Prettiest Ugly Girl”), a hugely popular telenovela comedy in Mexico.

Legendary Mexican singer Emmanuel will be celebrated Sunday in the Music + Film program, and other awards will go to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, actress Arcelia Ramírez and director-screenwriter Carlos Carrera, all Mexicans.

Highlight entries from Mexico’s Cinematographic Training Center include “Mudanza” and shorts such as “Amare” and “Gasolina,” which explore emotional reconnections, family fractures and magical realism.

More festival details can be found at GIFF.mx.

With reports from Crónica, Infobae and Once Noticias

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Released this month on Apple México’s YouTube channel, “El lazo de Petra” (“Petra’s Lasso”) is a tense, heartwarming, tech-driven tribute to Mexican heritage that features a modern-day charra defending her town with her courage, her rope and a bit of help from her valiant horse, Benito.

Shot on an iPhone 16 Pro, the Spanish-language film has amassed more than 33 million views since it hit YouTube 12 days ago.

It fuses cinematic ambition with mobile technology, and its inventive production has been praised as a landmark achievement in accessible, high-end storytelling. English subtitles are available.

For Guerrero, filming with an iPhone 16 Pro — a smartphone that was released in both the United States and Mexico last September — wasn’t a limitation, but “an incredible experience” and a creative revelation.

“As a director, it has inspired me to create stories at any moment,” she said. “It allowed me to streamline production, but also to make more creative decisions that perhaps you can’t make on a traditional shoot.”

The story involves a preteen girl who visits her grandmother’s ranch and hears a bedtime story about a brave charra who battles a bevy of mythical figures known to most Mexicans: La Llorona, or the Weeping Woman, a ghostly spirit who kidnaps or harms unsuspecting children after losing her own; Los Chaneques, goblins who can steal people’s souls or make them get lost in the forest; and El Coco, a bogeyman often used to scare children into obedience (presented in the film as Day of the Dead zombies).

The 35-year-old Guerrero is a Mexico City native who grew up in British Columbia, Canada, starting at age 13. A graduate of Capilano University in Vancouver, she has established herself as one of genre cinema’s rising stars.

Nicknamed “La Muñeca del Terror” (The Doll of Terror) for her signature horror-influenced style, she has directed full-length features such as “Culture Shock,” “Bingo Hell” and “Satanic Hispanics.”

Initially, she broke through with short films and the acclaimed web series, “La Quinceañera,” which won the Golden Skull Award as an audience favorite at the 2017 Mórbido Film Festival in Mexico City.

In “El lazo de Petra,” Guerrero blends her passion for folklore and strong female characters with bold storytelling, horror and cultural references. The project was commissioned by Apple.

“My grandmother was the main source of inspiration when creating this film,” she said. “I wanted to pay tribute to all those strong Mexican women.”

Along with a cast of multidimensional female characters, the film has also sparked national pride in Mexico with its modern portrayal of charrería — Mexico’s national sport.

Complementing the film is a photo series by Puebla-based photographer Ana Joaquina, also shot on iPhone, currently being exhibited across public spaces in Mexico.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ana Joaquina (@ana_joaquinaaa)

The film was shot using advanced features such as 4K Dolby Vision, 48-megapixel resolution and Action Mode stabilization, demonstrating the potential of smartphone cinema.

The creative team even used the device’s LiDAR scanner to produce a video game-style animated sequence with help from Guadalajara-based Halberd Studios.

Guerrero said she respects the film as a technical showcase, but to her, it’s more than that. It’s a cultural statement.

“It celebrates the beautiful chaos of Mexican culture — with heart, monsters and mariachi.”

With reports from GQ Mexico & Latin America and El País

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According to the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), nearly two months of persistent rainfall have brought water levels in Lake Texcoco to depths reaching four meters.

La estructura del aeropuerto de Texcoco está hoy totalmente inundada convirtiéndose en un cuerpo de agua de un ecosistema que nunca debió ser desecado. pic.twitter.com/ycYy85sGZj

— César Pineda (@cesarpinedar) July 7, 2025

The waters have covered the partially constructed terminal and the concrete foundations left after work on what was to be a new Mexico City International Airport was abruptly cancelled nearly seven years ago.

Being built on an ancient lakebed in Texcoco, México state, the airport was the signature infrastructure project of former president Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018).

The controversial U.S. $15-billion project was canceled by Andrés Manuel López Obrador near the start of his six-year term in 2018, following a public referendum and a widely criticized four-day consultation on the project.

Since then, Lake Texcoco has been inaugurated as an ecological park last August and subsequently designated as an Ecohydrology Demonstration Site by UNESCO — the first of its kind in Mexico.

Now, thanks to the rains, the waters are rising.

“The 100 hectares of the terminal building are partially flooded, but we expect that by the end of September — with the end of the rainy season — the level at that site will rise two more meters,” said Jorge Daniel Fonseca Cando, director of the Texcoco Lake Natural Resources Protection Area.

The higher water level “will allow us to see a more unified body of water that, we estimate, will measure approximately 700 hectares within the Texcoco Lake Ecological Park area.” The full ecological area stretches across 14,030 hectares, 10,000 of which are categorized as lakebed.

Community members and activists, notably from the People’s Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), have led efforts for years to prevent construction and restore the land.

On a recent tour for the media, FPDT leaders showed over 1,800 hectares already filled with water in the now protected area.

FPDT leader Ignacio del Valle Medina expressed hope of surpassing 4,000 hectares by the season’s end.

¡El Lago de Texcoco resiste, no se rinde!
Está en el centro de la bandera… y en el corazón de todas y todos.

Hoy lo reafirmamos junto a Nacho y Trini, compañeros del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra: ejemplo de dignidad, lucha y amor por el territorio.

¡Que el… pic.twitter.com/iOyI5JCSO2

— Adán Peña (@adanmexic) July 17, 2025

“What we can tell you from here, from the lake, is that the people and the water are here, and we will erase every trace left by that deadly project, and we will reclaim Lake Texcoco for Mexico, for the nation’s capital and the eastern part of the State of México,” he said.

Simultaneously, Lake Texcoco is witnessing a resurgence in native flora and fauna, with recent counts registering 230,000 migratory birds — including seven species unseen in years — and thriving populations of aquatic plants and shorebirds.

The lake, part of the basin of the Valley of Mexico, and its system of lagoons and wetlands provide a lifeline for a polluted valley that includes Mexico City and its metropolitan area.

“Lake Texcoco is beginning to recover and refuses to disappear,” said FPDT member Arturo González Cando. “We will be able to concentrate up to seven million cubic meters of water by the end of the rainy season.”

The structural remains of the failed airport, such as sunken concrete piles and foundation wells, are now submerged under millions of cubic meters of water, creating new habitats. The lake area is home to 250 species of flora and 370 species of fauna.

Restoration efforts by the FPDT, CONANP and local organizations have involved redirecting nearby rivers and building dams to further expand water storage.

The architect behind the restoration, Iñaki Echeverría, helped inaugurate the ecological park — now one of the world’s largest urban green spaces — last August, shortly before the end of López Obrador’s term.

“This is what we defended, a unique life in the center of the country,” González Cando said, highlighting the area’s importance as a natural barrier against urban sprawl and a crucial reservoir for the Valley of Mexico’s hydrological future.

With reports from El País, La Jornada, Sin Embargo and El Economista

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Under “Order 1 for a Livable and Affordable City with Identity and Local Roots,” officials announced measures to cap rent increases, create a rental price index, and regulate Airbnb and other short-term rentals.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada lauded the Housing Master Plan, which also includes an initiative to create thousands of new, affordable rental units that she announced last week.

“We have made a firm decision: to confront gentrification through public policies focused on housing justice,” she said. 

She cited examples in Berlin, London and Rome where rent stabilization policies have helped preserve affordable housing, adding that “there are areas [in Mexico City] where rent prices have doubled from one year to the next, reaching increases of 100% without objective justification.”

This increase, she said, “leads to the expulsion of residents who have lived in the neighborhoods their entire lives.”

The push for new regulations in Mexico City comes amid rising demonstrations, such as a recent protest against gentrification in the Condesa neighborhood.

The ordinance — which aims to protect residents’ rights while fostering stable, inclusive communities in rapidly evolving urban neighborhoods — names 14 key actions.

These include establishing a Reasonable Rental Price Index to gauge fair rents based on factors such as property value, location and local income levels.

The government will also enforce a law enacted in 2024 prohibiting rent increases beyond last year’s inflation rate, create a new Office of the Tenant Rights Ombudsman to protect renters from eviction abuses, and propose a “Fair, Reasonable and Affordable Rent Act” to formalize rent controls.

Aiming to reduce inequality and control real-estate speculation, the plan targets neighborhoods in the Cuauhtémoc and Miguel Hidalgo boroughs — areas facing the steepest rent hikes. 

“It will include the Hipódromo, Condesa, Juárez, Roma Norte, Roma Sur, Doctores and Buenos Aires neighborhoods in Cuauhtémoc, and in Miguel Hidalgo Escandón in its two sections, and San Miguel Chapultepec first and second sections,” explained Mexico City  Planning and Territorial Development Minister Alejandro Encinas.

Additionally, the government aims to boost construction of affordable public housing and provide support programs for vulnerable groups like single mothers and seniors.

Experts note the city’s chronic housing shortage fuels gentrification, with six in 10 residents living in overcrowded homes.

Federico Sobrino, president of the Mexico chapter of the International Federation of Real Estate Agents (FIABCI), said the underlying problem is not Airbnb or foreigners, but rather the lack of new housing in the capital .

“The solution is to allow construction,” he said. “There are those who want to invest in it, but the permit process is closed. This would be perfectly viable if the mayoralties were given the power, but we don’t want to lose central control and all the revenue it entails. This dynamic forces people to move to peripheral areas.”

He said that over the past 15 years, 75% of people in Mexico City who have received housing loans through Infonavit (the Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers) have been using their loans in the State of México, due to the high cost of purchasing a home in CDMX.

These types of Infonavit loans are intended to help workers buy, build or improve an existing home, making home ownership more accessible.

Though landlords are generally wary of rent controls, real estate professionals acknowledge the need for mechanisms to balance tenant protections and property owners’ interests.

Brugada said that all measures and actions aimed at curbing gentrification in Mexico City “will be discussed with all those who wish to contribute, debate, propose and discuss this issue.”

She added that there will be working groups, forums and meetings — noting that she has already invited the leaders of anti-gentrification marches to participate.

With reports from El Economista, El Universal and Chilango.com

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Recognized by their lion-like gills, achoques have remarkable regenerative powers and a cultural significance that have captivated both the public and the scientific community.

Froylán Correa, who spent decades harvesting fish from the high-altitude waters of Michoacán’s Lake Pátzcuaro, now dedicates himself to collecting amphibian eggs as part of a collaborative project to keep the achoque from vanishing forever.

“There used to be a lot of achoques,” Correa recalled. “Nowadays, the new generation doesn’t even know about them.”

The achoque is endemic to Lake Pátzcuaro, about 50 kilometers southwest of the state capital, Morelia.

However, overfishing, pollution and dwindling water levels at Lake Pátzcuaro have pushed the species onto the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with approximately 80 to 100 individuals estimated to survive in a narrow zone of the lake.

That’s “much lower than it was 40 years ago,” said Luis Escalera, a biologist at the nearly 500-year-old Michoacán University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH).

Researchers attribute the amphibian’s rapid decline to habitat loss and local traditions, as the salamander has been used since pre-Columbian times as both food and a folk remedy for respiratory illness.

Biologists, led by Rodolfo Pérez of UMSNH have partnered with the Indigenous Purépecha community of San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro, offering compensation in exchange for their labor in collecting eggs, raising hatchlings and ultimately re-releasing them into the wild.

“It’s been a lot of work,” Pérez said, noting that “the biggest challenge is finding money to compensate the fishermen, since achoques require constant care.”

The effort has produced initial stability for the population, with hatchlings protected in community reserves before being returned to the lake.

Yet, for those on the front line like Israel Correa — a relative of the aforementioned Froylan Correa — the commitment remains unwavering.

“We can’t miss a day without coming because otherwise they’ll die,” he said. “Rain or shine, party or not, we have to be here.”

The battle to save the achoque is a delicate race against extinction, echoing the larger plight of Mexico’s endangered amphibians, most notably the axolotl.

With reports from AFP and México Desconocido

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