Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico launched its army-run airline Tuesday when the first Mexicana airlines flight took off from Mexico City bound for the Caribbean resort of Tulum READ MORE:a Caravan of migrants in southern Mexico marks Christmas Day by trudging onward under hot sun It was another sign of the outsized role that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given to Mexico’s armed forces The airline’s military-run holding company now also operates about a dozen airports the country’s customs service and tourist parks said that having all those diverse businesses run by the military was “common in developed countries.” Argentina and Colombia have military-run airlines They are mostly small carriers with a handful of prop planes that operate mostly on under-served or remote domestic routes But the Mexicana airline plans to carry tourists from Mexican cities to resorts like Cancun Flights appear to be scheduled every three or four days The carrier hopes to compete mainly on price: the first 425 tickets sold offered prices of about $92 for the flight from Mexico City to Tulum which the government claimed was about one-third cheaper than commercial airlines Mexicana’s first flight didn’t go according to plan The company said Flight MXA 1788 had to be re-routed to the colonial city of Merida because of poor weather conditions in Tulum it finally took off again and arrived in Tulum about five hours after it took off from Mexico City Mexicana also hopes to fly to 16 small regional airports that currently have no flights or very few For those worried about being told to “Fasten your seatbelt and that’s an order,” the cabin crew on the Mexicana flight appeared to be civilians Sandoval said the airline began operations with three Boeing jets and two smaller leased Embraer planes and hopes to lease or acquire five more jets in early 2024 López Obrador called the takeoff of the first Boeing 737-800 jet “a historic event” and a “new stage,” marking the return of the formerly government-run airline Mexicana then went bankrupt and finally closed in 2010 The airline combines Lopez Obrador’s reliance on the military — which he claims is the most incorruptible and patriotic arm of the government — and his nostalgia for the state-run companies that dominated Mexico’s economy until widespread privatizations were carried out in the 1980s López Obrador recalled fondly the days when government-run firms operated everything from oil which were carried out because Mexico’s indebted government could no longer afford to operate the inefficient READ MORE: Court orders Texas to move floating barrier that drew backlash from Mexico “They carried out a big fraud,” the president said at his daily morning news briefing saying these state-run companies didn’t work.” the state-run companies in Mexico accumulated a well-deserved reputation for inefficiency Mexico’s state-run paper distribution company often refused to sell newsprint to opposition newspapers When the national telephone company was owned by the government customers routinely had to wait years to get a phone line installed and were required to buy shares in the company in order to eventually get service problems that rapidly disappeared after it was privatized in 1990 While unable to restore the government-run companies to their former glory the administration depicts its efforts to recreate them on a smaller scale as part of a historic battle to return Mexico’s economy to a more collectivist past “This will be the great legacy of your administration and will echo throughout eternity,” the air traffic controller at Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles airport intoned as the first Mexicana flight took off López Obrador has also put the military in charge of many of the country’s infrastructure building projects and given it the lead role in domestic law enforcement the army built both the Felipe Angeles airport and the one in Tulum Apart from boosting traffic at the underused Felipe Angeles airport the army-run Mexicana apparently will provide flights to feed passengers into the president’s Maya Train tourism project which will connect beach resorts and archaeological sites on the Yucatan Peninsula which has no experience running commercial flights has created a subsidiary to be in charge of Mexicana © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins The Prix Versailles list of the World's Most Beautiful Airports for 2024 has been announced with six projects earning distinction for their aesthetic qualities and impact on the travel experience of users in five countries Zayed International Airport Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) Felipe Ángeles International Airport Suvarnabhumi Airport Midfield Satellite 1, Bangkok, Thailand, HOK Logan International Airport Terminal E, Boston, United States, luis vidal + architects and AECOM Kansas City International Airport, Kansas City, United States, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) Changi Airport Terminal 2, Singapore, BOIFFILS Architectures Kinderspace: Architecture for Children's Development #2 UNESCO ANCIENT THEATRE: Valorising an Extraordinary Historical Heritage Land Art Generator Initiative 2025 Fiji: Climate Resilience for Island Communities Here in Mexico many resulted shocked to know the Felipe Angeles Airport won an Architectural Design Prize Does anyone knows what criteria did they use After studying the skeletons of 112 prehistoric humans found near Mexico City between 2019 and 2021 the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has pieced together insights into the lives of pre-Columbian peoples in the area including the hypothesis that some of the skeletons belonged to ancient female warriors The skeletons were all found during construction of Mexico City’s newest airport Felipe Ángeles International (AIFA) in Zumpango sits in the Altiplano Central region once occupied by Otomies This week, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) shared details of the examination carried out by its scientists The human skeletons were recovered from 104 burial sites at two locations that INAH has dubbed “Tlatel 7” and “Sin Cuadrícula 5,” both dating from A.D and another location named “Xaltocan polígono 6” (1200-1500 AD) All were located at or near the airport construction site The 19 adult skeletons found at Tlatel 7 are of 12 males and seven females all between 25 and 35 years of age at the time of death The most significant discovery was that of a female skeleton whose lower left arm appeared to have been amputated violently According to Jorge Arturo Talavera González director of INAH’s bioarchaeology team within the Archaeological Rescue Division (DSA) the skeleton’s fractured area showed bone tissue growth indicating that the woman had survived the injury for five to seven months afterward “It is likely that the prosthesis had been attached to stabilize and heal the arm which would have been impossible without surgery,” Talavera said “She possibly died as a result of an infection.” Talavera said his team came up with two hypotheses for the injury: either she instinctively raised her arm to protect her face while being attacked or the woman was a warrior struck in the arm while holding a shield The theory that this was a community of warriors is reinforced by the fact that the other female skeletons at this site all presented significant trauma to their skulls and faces The 66 skeletons found at the Xaltocan site were also a revelation as half of them were infants or fetuses “It’s the first time I’ve seen so many well-preserved skeletons of infants in one site,” Talavera said “Our theory is that since Xaltocán was in conflict with Cuautitlán [an ancient site also located in the Valley of Mexico] the boys and girls here were subjected to constant stress and This week’s report on the 112 skeletons was the second issued by INAH detailing the findings of the AIFA excavation project which lasted from May 2019 through May 2022 INAH’s analysis of the archaeological findings began in November of 2021 and was concluded in March 2024 With reports from Infobae and La Jornada ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Mexico — In an enormous housing development on the edge of this scrappy commuter town Lorena Serrano’s 11-foot-wide shoebox of a home is flanked by abandoned houses a few bodegas and a small community center that offers zumba classes no cantina,” said Serrano of the 8,000-home development Her husband’s commute to the capital takes two hours each way by bus and consumes a quarter of his salary “We’re in the middle of nowhere.” bought houses through a government program that made mortgages available to low-income buyers initially hailed by some experts as the answer to Mexico’s chronic housing deficit fueled a frenzy of construction and helped inspire similar efforts in Latin America and beyond My Life,” which aims to build at least 3 million homes by this year But the concrete sprawl around Mexico City and other big towns grew faster than demand “We started off with dormitory towns and we ended up with ghost towns,” said Gabriela Alarcón director of urban development at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness As cities in the increasingly urbanized developing world struggle to provide housing for low-income workers Mexico’s housing saga illustrates the drawbacks of building developments with little heed to location or sustainability “You solve one problem but you create a series of other problems,” Alarcón said President Enrique Peña Nieto — who as governor of Mexico state from 2005 to 2011 presided over a building spree that included the developments here in Zumpango — rejected the model of suburban sprawl embraced by two previous opposition governments soon after he came to power in December 2012 Calling the “uncontrolled expansion” of low-rise suburbs “unviable and unsustainable,” Peña Nieto said government financing would go to compact whose heart is the 16th-century Purísima Concepción Church is grappling with the pangs of a changing population Even though thousands of homes have been abandoned the population has more than doubled during the past 15 years The 2010 census put the population at 159,000; the mayor says he thinks it is nearly double that Construction companies built 36 developments and now that the developers have gone bust and then they built the infrastructure,” he said “It should have been the other way round.” The developments around Zumpango sit in a desolate expanse of open scrubland with high perimeter walls that contain stark lattices of identical houses Thousands of homeowners have returned to the capital leaving their houses prey to squatters and criminals About 14 percent of Mexico’s 35 million homes are unoccupied; in Zumpango according to research published last year by the Spanish bank BBVA a group based in Mexico City that promotes sustainable cities said that linking residents in the developments to the cities where they worked would require heavy investment in suburban public transportation The housing developments attracted a lot of young families seeking a home of their own but those families were now far from their relatives and raising children in areas with few jobs or colleges “It’s a time bomb,” he said Serrano said she and husband moved to La Trinidad so they could live independently leaving her alone with their 13-year-old son they bought their house with a loan from the federal institute for workers’ housing The institute acts as a housing fund for private-sector workers and accounts for about two-thirds of all mortgages in Mexico Serrano said: There was the middle-age man who was strangled last year; the young man stabbed in the Saturday market; the friend whose house was burglarized when she was in the hospital; and the neighbor beaten by muggers as she walked home one night Peña Nieto’s government suspended subsidies for construction far from city centers — effectively devaluing land bought by construction companies and used as collateral Corporación Geo and Desarrolladora Homex Under Peña Nieto’s government subsidies and mortgages will now be focused on improving and expanding existing houses Of about 600,000 mortgages that Infonavit plans to offer this year But while Peña Nieto’s support for compact cities is a good step inexpensive housing in places like Mexico City will remain a fantasy without big government subsidies or changes to make land cheaper “Without measures to make land less expensive you end up with compact cities for the rich,” said Enrique Ortiz Flores project coordinator for Habitat International Coalition-Latin America an umbrella group concerned with housing rights Serrano said she hoped pledges to bring jobs to Zumpango would come to something She doubts her house is worth the $20,000 she paid for it “You have to come to terms with what you have,” Serrano said “At least I don’t have to listen to their noise,” she said Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser The Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) the army-built airport north of Mexico City that opened in 2022 has been recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful airports Located in Zumpango, México state, and designed by Mexican architect Francisco González-Pulido, AIFA is one of six laureates in the airports category of the Prix Versailles known as “The World Architecture and Design Award.” In a press release announcing “the World’s Most Beautiful Airports List for 2024,” Prix Versailles said that AIFA and five other airports including Kansas City International Airport and Changi Airport Terminal 2 in Singapore “have left extraordinary imprints on their environments.” All of the six laureates are newly opened or renovated airports and all will compete for “three 2024 World Titles – Prix Versailles Interior and Exterior – whose laureates will be announced at UNESCO Headquarters on 2 December 2024,” according to the press release Prix Versailles said that “with its control tower reminiscent of an Aztec macuahuitl,” – a pre-Columbian wooden club AIFA “sets the tone in a brotherly tribute to the country’s different states.” the sun stone installed in the middle of the terminal features carefully designed iconography The interior staging showcases Mexico’s rich historical heritage and invites passengers to explore the different museums and thematic toilet facilities as part of a voyage that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is original.” Prix Versailles also noted that the AIFA terminal “contains 18 separate modules and 1,316 columns each one mounted on special pendulum isolators for earthquake protection.” is the biggest in the Americas to be fitted with this technology “The site also skilfully maximises the attention given to its natural setting by optimizing its boarding gates’ exposure to natural light and arranging a 4,300 m² central garden plus many more green areas all great places for activities or relaxation,” Prix Versailles said “Its unique landscape makes this project the perfect fit for its environment.” President Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged AIFA’s recognition by Prix Versailles in a social media post on Thursday “Look: the Felipe Ángeles International Airport was selected by the prestigious Prix Versailles award as one of the most beautiful architecture and design achievements in the world Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador took the decision to build AIFA on the Santa Lucía Air Force base after canceling the previous government’s international airport project in Texcoco, México state While it’s an international airport by name only a few international passenger flights arrive at and depart from AIFA Prix Versailles also designated 16 newly opened or reopened hotels as “the world’s most beautiful hotels.” located north of the Caribbean coast resort city of Playa del Carmen “Between a tropical jungle and a white sand beach, in the beating heart of the Riviera Maya, Tara Bernerd & Partners were tasked with restoring the resort to its natural and cultural environment,” Prix Versailles said “This challenge was met and exceeded by Maroma’s 72 guest rooms all of which embrace ancient Mayan traditions … The renovation drew on Mexican heritage … whilst showcasing Maroma’s original architecture with white stucco buildings aligned according to the sacred geometry of Mayan masonry,” it said “In addition to the experiences offered by the hotel the entire site now contributes to the spirituality tied to the genius of the place the spirituality of a mind in perfect symbiosis with its environment.” Maroma is not the only Mexican hotel to have recently earned international recognition Last month, Michelin, the French tire company known for its star scheme in recognition of outstanding restaurant cooking, awarded “Michelin Keys” to 87 hotels in Mexico that offer “extraordinary, exceptional” or “very special” stays Earlier this week, Global travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler announced its Readers’ Choice Awards 2024, including its list of the top 10 hotels in Mexico More than half of the world’s large lakes and two-thirds of its rivers are drying up Mexico is no exception: Millions of people in Mexico are at risk of losing water supply as the country’s largest bodies of water continue to dry up at a rapid rate Lake Chapala (bordering the states of Jalisco and Michoacán) Lake Zumpango (in México state) and the Colorado River in northern Mexico are all facing extinction according to a report by the news site Sin Embargo The Guadalajara metropolitan area depends on Lake Chapala for its potable water but authorities have been unable to devise a plan to address the crisis A study in February indicated that Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest freshwater lake, is at just 45% of capacity as a result of an extended drought as well as poor water management more than 500 dams were built on the Lerma River causing lake levels to drop dramatically lake levels were at a staggering 15% of capacity the federal government designated Lake Chapala a protected lake and forced farmers to allow more water through their dams to maintain the lake at 60% capacity drought and uneven rainfall has seen lake levels drop registering below 50% capacity for the past two years Last month, we reported that Lake Cuitzeo, the country’s second-largest freshwater lake, has lost 70% of its water over the past 25 years Nearby cities and towns depended on the lake for drinking water The economies of the lake-side towns relied heavily on fishing as both a food supply and by way of fishing charters Zumpango — a regulating reservoir north of Mexico City — is not only threatened by drought but also by the construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) directly next to the protected wetland Drought and high temperatures have caused a significant amount of water loss in the area such that the wetland is no longer a tourist attraction and many of the 200 bird species that frequented the lake are no longer arriving The lack of tourists to the lagoon and a rise in disease traceable to the increase in effluence in the lake (up to 30% of the lake is made up of wastewater) have prompted residents to close down shops and move to look for work elsewhere The National Water Commission (Conagua) has been attending to the Colorado River crisis since 2022 when it declared an emergency in four northern states after large sections of the river dried up completely More than 40 million people depend on the Colorado River which extends from the United States into Baja California. By treaty, Mexico is to receive 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually, but climate change and drought has seen that figure drop in recent years Mexico received 7% less than that agreed to with the U.S Farmers and city managers in northern Mexico have been meeting with Conagua to devise conservation plans but they are a work in progress have also been enforcing new conservation rules while officials in seven U.S states are also learning how to get by with less water With reports from Sin Embargo and El Informador MEXICO CITY (Landscape News) — Mexico City’s ancient system of water channels and lakes provide a home for one of the world´s most charismatic amphibians: Ambystoma mexicanum Known locally as an axolotl in Nahuatl language, it is an endemic species to the complex lagoon system, which 300 years ago encompassed the lakes of Texcoco, Xochimilco, Chalco, Zumpango and Xaltocan. Mexican axolotls are now found only in nature in the Xochimilco wetlands Often referred to as a “walking fish,” unlike other salamanders the axolotl keeps its larval attributes throughout its entire lifespan which looks like a tadpole and is almost the full length of its body It also retains external gills which stick out on the back of its head characterized by canals that cut through farmland frequented by flat-bottomed boats carrying tourists represents only 2 percent of the original massive wetland system Conservation efforts to protect the axolotl and its shrinking habitat face challenges on many fronts from urban development poor water quality and unregulated tourist activities The axolotl has been listed as critically endangered on the International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since 2006 invasive species (carp and tilapia) and an inefficient sewer system that overflows and releases human waste into the Xochimilco system whenever it rains heavily Like many other amphibians around the world, the axolotl is facing extinction in the wild. If current trends continue it could disappear within the next 10 years, according to Luis Zambrano, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico Ambystoma mexicanum had a prominent role among pre-Columbian cultures and at that time it was very abundant in the Valley of Mexico. The axolotl population dropped from 6,000 individuals per square kilometer 20 years ago to less than 100 per square kilometer 10 years ago the surviving wild population in Xochimilco is estimated to be less than 35 individuals per square kilometer As one of the most widely studied amphibians — as a model organism in regenerative medicine development science and cancer research — several Mexican axolotl captive colonies exist around the world captive bred colonies are fragile and may lack the genetic diversity ensuring their long-term survival both in captivity and in the wild reintroduction is not recommended unless current threats can be mitigated Xochimilco might be the axolotl´s last chance to survive were once an important part of the livelihoods of one of the most important civilizations in the Americas The hydrological and physical characteristics of these lakes were first modified about 1,000 years ago with the construction of pre-Columbian agricultural plots known as chinampas which were created to allow crops to flourish The unique and ancient agricultural system of artificial islands (or “floating gardens”) is created with reeds and sticks into which surrounding vegetation and fertile soil are built up to form a bed on which to grow crops The chinampas are fertilized with soil from the bottom of the lake allowing nutrients to be renewed year after year Chinampas are an example of a sustainable use of the wetland ecosystem and they are still common in Xochimilco. The islets vary in size, but on average measuring roughly 20 x 200 m. Additionally chinampas create spatial heterogeneity and increase the resilience of the ecosystem The habitat of the axolotls is found within the 180 km of channels between the chinampas Zambrano´s group along with local producers and other academic groups have created refuges at Xochimilco on isolated channels between chinampas by building natural filters made of stones These filters improve water quality and prevent exotic fishes from entering wild Mexican axolotls can reproduce and grow in safety Local users of the chinampas are encouraged to use them in a way that most suits them heterogeneity is an asset for the axolotl conservation project as well as for other local flora and fauna He believes that this diversity increases biodiversity The Xochimilco wetlands are also home to many other native species of flora and fauna (including more than 100 species of migratory birds) and help to filter water, amongst other ecosystem services. It has been suggested that Xochimilco provides Mexico City with more than $15 million in ecosystem services per year including carbon capture and an improvement in water quality Due to its charisma and attractiveness, the axolotl has recently been used as a flagship species to protect the Xochimilco wetlands academic and governmental groups are now working on the axolotl´s conservation the axolotl has effectively increased public awareness of the environmental significance of the area the survival of the axolotl might also be Xochimilco´s last chance to survive Interest in the intriguing creature has increased to such an extent that now the attractiveness of the axolotl threatens to overwhelm the significance of the Xochimilco wetlands in some cases demonstrating how the fate of the two are entwined Interest in the axolotl is becoming greater than the ecosystem that sustains it, according to Luis Zambrano and his colleagues who say it is vital to maintain the connection between the survival of the species (the axolotl in this case) and the conservation of its ecosystem As a new stage of his project is beginning this month Zambrano feels optimistic about the future of the axolotl: “If we had at least 150 chinampas with refuges (with one or two axolotls per square meter) we could boost axolotl wild population survival,” he says Join International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the Global Landscapes Forum Third Investment Case in Washington for a panel discussion on The Many Faces of Blended Finance for Forest Landscape Restoration on May 30 Our mission is to make them freely accessible to everyone We believe that lasting and impactful change starts with changing the way people think That’s why we amplify the diverse voices the world needs to hear – from local restoration leaders to Indigenous communities and women who lead the way not only are you supporting the world’s largest knowledge-led platform devoted to sustainable and inclusive landscapes but you’re also becoming a vital part of a global movement that’s working tirelessly to create a healthier world for us all Every donation counts – no matter the amount Alida O’Connor’s notes on land management in Kalomo District How farmers can build an equitable and climate-resilient future A new report assesses the main drivers of zooneses and how the knock-on effects of unstainable food systems can lead to future pandemics ThinkLandscape is a multimedia platform bringing you original knowledge-backed news and feature stories about climate and landscape solutions from around the world In just over two years since Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles Airport (AIFA) opened The new travel option now averages between 35 and 40 daily flights. Though most of these flights are operated by low-cost domestic airlines a handful of international flights to Houston and Caracas have also recently begun to fly out of AIFA One hurdle: AIFA is not actually in Mexico City in the municipality of Zumpango de Ocampo — roughly 40 miles away a cab ride to AIFA from Mexico City can take as little as one hour this commute can extend well beyond three hours. A light rail station will offer flyers a fast and affordable option to get into town the only transportation option is your own driver a shuttle bus to the capital’s main airport The latter will run you 900 pesos or roughly US$50 if you’re headed to Mexico City Passengers are often stranded for hours waiting for one Ride-sharing apps are banned by airport authorities who have signed exclusive contracts with a handful of transportation providers. or any other location popular with visitors. Since the newer airport is within the boundaries of a military base the area surrounding it only has two hotels for long layovers or stuck travelers. The airport itself is attractive and has several restaurants as well as a handful of exhibits featuring the airport’s namesake The airport’s bathrooms are decorated according to different themes including the golden age of Mexican cinema if your travel plans to Mexico include AIFA call in a favor with a friend or family member or hire a private driver ahead of time. Senior Editor Carlos Rosado van der Gracht is a Mexican expedition/Canadian photographer and translation degrees from universities in Mexico An attempt to get vendors off the streets and into a “people’s shopping center” has ended in failure The protestors set up camp outside of the facility and took to laying on mats and pieces of cardboard to demonstrate their commitment to settling the issue without violence Yucatán — From renting chairs and tables to offering food service for press conferences officials at the Palacio de la Música finding ways to pay expenses in 2020 explained that government budget cuts have forced them to find ways to earn their keep… has been traced to a single farm in Tenabo As expats increasingly prefer smaller properties Yucatan — A PRI deputy and seven employees in the legislative office building were suspected of being infected by COVID-19 while three employees of Yucatan’s Congress tested positive for the virus Both the legislative and judicial branch of the state government will work on a minimal schedule next week as a result Advertise With Us Get our news on your inbox! Suscribe x MercoPress, en Español Montevideo, May 6th 2025 - 03:22 UTC The remains of dozens of the extinct mammoth giants and other prehistoric creatures skeletons have been found in Zumpango on the northern edge of Mexico City which sits on an ancient lake bed and where a new airport was to be built The authorities say they have kept a careful watch to ensure the precious remains are preserved during work on the airport which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised will be inaugurated in March 2022 Experts believe the mammoths were drawn to the area by food and water provided by a lake that existed in prehistoric times “The place had a lot of natural resources enough for these individuals to survive for a long time and for many generations,” said archaeologist Araceli Yanez “It attracted a large number of mammoths The lake was also very good for preserving the remains Mexico has been the scene of surprising mammoth discoveries before workers building the Mexico City subway found a mammoth skeleton while digging on the capital's north side workers digging to build a wastewater treatment plant outside the capital discovered hundreds of bones belonging to mammoths and other Ice Age animals And last year archaeologists found the skeletons of 14 mammoths in Tultepec Some bore signs that the animals had been hunted leading experts to conclude at the time that they had found “the world's first mammoth trap.” The government began construction of the new aviation hub in 2019 at the Santa Lucia military airbase months after canceling work on another partially completed airport had criticized that project championed by his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto as an unnecessary mega-project marred by corruption His administration has tasked the military with overseeing construction of the new airport which will house a museum showcasing the mammoth skeletons and other ancient remains Commenting for this story is now closed.If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar greets U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken upon his arrival at Felipe Angeles International Airport in Zumpango Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures during a news conference as his government re-launched former state airline Mexicana de Aviacion Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Felipe Angeles International Airport in Zumpango MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexico said on Wednesday it had struck unspecified "important" deals with the United States after talks that U.S officials sought to focus on curbing record-high migration Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the closed-door negotiations for the U.S and Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena told reporters she had pushed U.S officials to ease any remaining curbs on cross-border trade President Joe Biden is seeking the help of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to reduce a record high number of migrants wanting to enter the world's wealthiest economy from Mexico a key issue with voters ahead of Biden's expected re-election bid next year Lopez Obrador hailed what he described as "important agreements" following the talks with U.S but without giving any details on the deals Lopez Obrador said he had requested the meeting to discuss cooperation on migration The meetings come after more than half a million migrants this year crossed the dangerous Darien Gap jungle connecting South America with Central America – double last year's record – with many fleeing crime poverty and conflict to seek better prospects in the United States border authorities temporarily closed two key rail border crossings for five days and shuttered other crossings in order to redeploy enforcement resources elsewhere in response to spiking migration In remarks outside Lopez Obrador's downtown offices Barcena described reopening the crossings as a "priority" for Mexico as well as the structural causes of migration," she said Lopez Obrador pledged to help ease migratory pressures on the United States and earlier on Wednesday he urged U.S lawmakers to invest more to help the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean "instead of putting up barriers the leading candidate to take on Biden in 2024 has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and restrict legal immigration if elected Trump focused on building a wall on the Mexico border His administration built 450 miles (725 km) of barriers across the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border but much of that replaced existing structures delegation also included Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "We had a very productive meeting," Mayorkas said in a post on X adding that "the regional challenge of migration requires regional solutions." thousands of migrants and asylum seekers marched slowly north hoping to reach the U.S "We don't need to go back to our country if we don't have anything there," said Nohemia Zendejas Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Agustin Garcia looks with dismay at the dry bed of the lake where he once fished for a living -- a symptom of the water problems facing Mexico and its capital and now it's dry," the 55-year-old said by the sunbaked shore of Lake Zumpango to the north of Mexico City After water supply cuts in several neighborhoods this year nervousness is growing among the 20 million residents of the Mexico City metropolitan area about whether they will avoid major shortages before the rainy season arrives The use of tanker trucks to deliver water has already increased while some residents have installed big storage tanks as they anxiously await the regular downpours that usually begin in May Despite talk in the media of "Day Zero" when the taps might eventually run dry the government has insisted there is no need to worry The increased jitters follow a significantly less wet than usual rainy season last year combined with hotter than average recent temperatures which have left reservoirs near Mexico City more depleted than normal Rainfall in Mexico in 2023 was 21 percent below average making it the driest year since record keeping began in 1941 according to a report published by the National Meteorological Service "This is part of global environmental change," said Roberto Constantino an expert at the Metropolitan Autonomous University Variations in meteorological cycles are "predominantly causing the lack of water," he told AFP believes that "rapid urbanization and careless management of our water resources" are also part of the problem in Mexico City Water leaks involving aging pipes are not uncommon Activists have also called for tighter control of water use by major corporations such as breweries and construction companies six boats lay abandoned on the dusty lakebed -- a far cry from past years when Garcia and his colleagues caught carp and other fish unable to earn an income so that I can continue to support myself," he said "We were all used to feeling an early morning breeze adding that some fishermen gave up and went to the United States to seek work reportedly for drilling and pumping wells to supply Mexico City with water The water is ours," read graffiti on a nearby wall The National Water Commission did not respond to AFP's request for information about the equipment With less than three months to go before Mexico holds presidential elections candidates have put the water issue at the heart of their campaigns Opposition hopeful Xochitl Galvez has promised to treat 100 percent of wastewater for recycling -- following the example of other cities such as Los Angeles and Singapore Ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum has proposed that water be recognized in the constitution as a national resource and opposes giving new concessions to the private sector It is not just Greater Mexico City that has been affected residents of the northern industrial hub of Monterrey faced weeks of water rationing due to depleted reservoirs Lake Cuitzeo -- one of the biggest in the country -- has lost more than half of its surface area They only remember the lake when they are campaigning," said fisherman Rafael Vazquez More than 140 families in his community of La Mina depend on fishing A heat wave is forecast to continue in the coming days Symmetrical subdivisions with a radial design and closed residential streets as well as houses with the windows covered with plastic bags and sheets for doors as if their neglect was an open invitation Dotted among them are homes where the owners stayed put the official version was that these houses were abandoned because their owners couldn’t pay their mortgages and the lack of essential services also played an important role Mexico’s Institute of the National Workers Housing Fund (Infonavit) counted nearly 661,942 houses abandoned under these conditions in Mexico from Mexico’s National Evaluation Council of Social Development Policies suggests there could be as many as five million The houses in the Santa Isabel subdivision in Zumpango are an example of these types of immense areas of cookie cutter houses that look like they were cut out of cardboard for a miniature model Their location is likely the first problem so far away that people that lived here would have to spend the majority of their daily wages on transportation “That’s why many people don’t come live here because the District (Mexico City) is really far away.” A river of sewage passes alongside the Santa Isabel subdivision where there are hundreds of abandoned homes who has lived in this residential subdivision for more than 20 years “The problem isn’t just the distance time-wise –on a good day it can take as little as 50 minutes– but the cost of the trip It’s about $120 pesos (US $6) per day to come and go.” Beside Ana’s house there are two others that are abandoned “When I arrived here there was nothing at all but the issue of transportation was central At first we would go around pleading for a bus to take us.” When Ana bought her house she never thought that Homex the company that promised her a home with electricity would leave her living in an unfinished subdivision without services That was what caused many people to leave their homes A few blocks away from Ana’s house is a street full of houses that are lived in the tenants are people who need housing and can’t afford it Some of the neighbors in Santa Isabel developed a method to prevent such invasions which are sometimes taken advantage of by criminals If one of the residents notes any sign that someone from outside the development is living in the houses or wandering around Sometimes they do so through a Whatsapp group they evaluate the situation and decide how to proceed That’s how they approached these two journalists as we walked out of an abandoned house towards the street Is this house yours?” they ask from a distance the neighbors start to describe the challenges of living in a subdivision that has been forgotten by those who built it Raúl and Jaime are residents of Nisperos Street in the Santa Isabel subdivision They walk their street to avoid robberies and potential invasions of abandoned houses it’s up to us to care about something that isn’t ours,” says a man in a Cruz Azul jersey He’s immediately interrupted by another woman wearing pajama shorts and a sleeveless camisole and snakes and it’s us who are out there cleaning it is more like communal work.” As if they were on the same wavelength I don’t want the weeds grown over and I don’t want spiders in my house we don’t run the risk that they come and take over; if they see everything trimmed down There were people who wanted to take over the houses and they would hide in the trees until night,” said Raúl This group of neighbors looks after their “U,” as they call the shape of the street they live in They estimate that 60 percent of the homes here are abandoned The receipts for our property tax don’t say Santa Isabel the subdivision she lives in doesn’t legally exist the receipt shows with the name of one of the nearby subdivisions These are some of the long term impacts that the construction company Homex created One of many abandoned houses in the Santa Isabel subdivision in Mexico State a company that together with Casas Geo or Urbi With the arrival of the National Action Party (PAN) to power they began the construction of hundreds of thousands of housing units around the country but when the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) came back to power left half finished with a pitiful lack of basic services It wasn’t until some residents built their own that the electricity meters were installed Water supply is lacking and there is no sewage system a nearby canal of untreated sewage overflows and fills the houses with a layer of liquid waste of up to a foot deep Even though the subdivision was slated to have more than one school the construction company only built the elementary school The recreational center was never finished its half built shell stands over the remains of the center of the former hacienda where it says stop” said Iris Zita as she pointed towards the end of the street There’s some that look after where the pool was supposed to be but there’s nothing there.” She says the pool was one of the reasons she bought her home there and that she would take swimming lessons in the recreation center.” Homex left various housing developments unfinished The company experienced a boom in the first decade of the 2000s with the arrival of PAN governments housing developments were started all over the country but when the PRI came back to power the companies went bankrupt and abandoned the developments What has happened with Infonavit is a disgrace who doesn’t mince words as he described the events but a whole series of a kind of neoliberal policies A series of measures were adopted which privileged the sale of homes over the demand for them [Infonavit] became a financial organization Urias is currently a professor at the University of Sonora where he teaches courses on construction and the history of housing in Mexico Ever since he was a student at the Autonomous National University of Mexico he has dedicated an important part of his scholarship to studying social housing he received a prize from the World Bank for developing a system of remunerated self-construction “If you read about how Infonavit was created it was one of the best government institutions in Mexico,” said Urias “But what has happened between the time of [Carlos] Salinas and today They converted it into a financial company more concerned with money than with people in the Law [regulating] Infonavit there was no way to repossess a home because of missing payments They had to wait until that person had an income again but when [Infonavit] became a financial organization “That’s how Infonavit started to repossess houses,” said professor Urias they brought lawsuits and they removed families from their homes but it turns out that they didn’t have the infrastructure to look after those homes and since the paperwork to reassign [the homes] was not straightforward privileged one in which the Institute would develop its own housing units That line of credit disappeared in 1992 and a new one was created Abandoned houses Infonavit houses in Mexico state in which the developers build the housing and offer to sell it to Infonavit and it goes through an authorization process and the developer is the one who agrees to bring customers seeking housing to Infonavit Regarding potential solutions to this residential juggernaut professor Urias notes that there is a path forward that has thus far not figured into the federal government’s vision to rescue Infonavit: find out what happened to the families who lived there and were dispossessed and then create mechanisms to reassign houses to those who need them most all the police cars that hadn’t been seen for a long time arrived at the Santa Isabel subdivision on a single day the [director] of Infonavit and the [secretary] of Sedatu [the Secretariat of Agrarian Territorial and Urban Development] arrived and who knows if it’s true or not but they came in they went around and the people from Sedatu met behind closed doors with Gamboa [the mayor] that they were going to improve the subdivision There were state and municipal police and the National Guard and they locked down the entire elementary school.” According to an announcement by the head of Sedatu there are 250,000 abandoned homes in the seven municipalities that surround the new Felipe Ángeles airport in Mexico State of which they are planning to recover 40 percent Sedatu proposed a special Program for Urban Improvement aimed at those seven municipalities which could feed residential speculation in the area as a consequence of the construction of the new airport Not far from the Santa Isabel subdivision is another subdivision called Las Plazas which was completed and has street lights and public recreational spaces there is a small mall where a real estate company has it’s office A real estate office in the Las Plazas subdivision where staff seek people who want to transfer homes abandoned by their owners in order to sell them to buyers seeking a home we’re seeing that many people are looking for houses around here,” said Juan Mía We’re all waiting for it but it hasn’t come we’re certain that the airport will have an economic impact in the whole area.” “Lots of people are looking to live nearby They will go up unless another President comes along and moves the airport to Toluca.” This office is dedicated to reassigning the mortgages of some of the houses that are abandoned but also of those in which the owners are present “I’m looking for someone that wants to pay for it I’m looking for someone that also has one and who can pay your debt you’ll get that back,” said Ivonne Ramírez “I’ll do the paperwork with the institution Then I’ll go to a notary and another person will be assigned the house in the voice of someone making a sales pitch Zumpango is the municipality with the third largest number of abandoned Infonavit houses in the country Among the more than 13,000 abandoned homes it is common to see sun-worn signs that say “for rent” “for sale.” Santa Isabel which has more than half of the abandoned homes there are others like Santa Cecilia where the solitude seems to cover up for unspeakable crimes The two developments are connected by a highway that isn’t finished there is a collection of tin shacks clustered into an improvised market Guillermo Alcántara and one of his friends wait for a repair in a tire shop that looks like a newspaper stand all these houses are unoccupied and they’ve been stripped because the owners never come then no one wants to live in them because that’s also dangerous.” when I used to live by the tower over there I would put out a table and display the blenders and he said to me ‘…I’m from the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación I’m going to charge you rent now,’” said Alcántara puffing up his chest and lowering his voice to imitate his would-be extortioner Alcántara spoke in an animated way as he narrated what the different subdivisions are like while his friend made a hiss that sounded like air escaping a punctured ball The house I’m living in is abandoned and it has Polish air [cold drafts] all over the place they just leave the shell and you have to fix it up as much as you can.” who lives in an abandoned house in Zumpango Guillermo has lived in Zumpango for two years He moved here after being ripped off by a crooked politician from Mexico City but he tells the story so quickly it’s impossible to get the details straight there are people who have been occupying houses for six or seven years “There are people who have put up doors and railings the people living in them aren’t vandalizing them,” he said as if he remembered he’s living in a home that isn’t legally his “And if [the government] comes and fixes them up Arturo Contreras is a journalist on a constant journey to find the best way to tell each story and tells of experiences in a way that makes sense of our reality Duilio Rodriguez is a photographer and editor interested in art, cinema, architecture, literature, rock climbing and spots in general (except soccer). duiliorodriguez.com *Headline picture: Aerial view of one of the subdivisions built by Casas Geo La Cantina Del Pueblo is a spot for freshly made corn tacos and juicy lamb barbacoa This casual restaurant will definitely hit the spot when you're craving some Mexican food eaten to a playlist of mariachi and ranchera tunes Owners Fermin and Nancy Venegas have more than 20 years of restaurant ownership under their belt with two restaurants in Mexico that are still in business They're serving some of the same dishes you'd find at their surf and turf in Zumpango, or their restaurant in Tultitlan The signature thing here is definitely their fluffy and moist tortillas which are made fresh to order and flattened by Nancy in a tortilla press imported from Zumpango They don't fall apart despite holding some saucy suadero beef ($8) The baja fish ($10) tacos are also an easy favourite You'll also get a whole basket of piping hot tortillas with your order of the alambre campechano ($18): a grilled steak pork in adobo sauce with Oaxaca cheese which are equally good with one of three house-made hot sauces: salsa verde and a delicious pineapple sauce with a mild kick Enchiladas verdes ($16) comes with four tortillas stuffed with chicken and doused in green tomato sauce The dish I'm definitely coming back for is the barbacoa hidalgo ($23) a juicy lamb that's steamed and served in a banana leaf with a side of delicious lamb broth and a side of rice Pour the sauce on top of the lamb or vice verse there's also a list of exemplary cocktails The Jamaica Mezcal Sour ($13) takes mezcal and blends it with hibiscus The cantaro rimmed with a mix of Migeulito chili powder and Tajin Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Police in search of man who was shooting in the air at a wake while Corridos were playing in Zumpango and members of the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office have already launched a joint operation to locate the perpetrator.Authorities urged the public to cooperate with the investigation If anyone has information about Omar Orozco’s whereabouts they can report it anonymously to the emergency numbers or directly to the Attorney General’s Office The case has raised concerns among local residents who noted that such violent acts have become more frequent at social gatherings especially when linked to individuals involved in criminal activities.The video of the attack shows Orozco wielding two guns while firing into the air and at random points off camera VIDEO HERE Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive Stepping into La Trinidad suburb in the town of Zumpango Streets of identical rows of houses line up La Trinidad is one of the Ciudades Bicentenario a failed government project launched in 2007 to improve subsidized housing in the country La Trinidad was the first of five projected Ciudades Bicentenario (Mexico's War of Independence began in 1810.) Of the 73,400 units that were built And those that are still in use have turned into a place to run away from jokes when remembering the day she moved in we thought we only had room for either the beds or us How disappointing,” she told the Spanish newspaper El País agreed: “They made it look so good.” Martínez moved to La Trinidad hoping to leave something for her children to inherit She moved from a shared house in Mexico City to an apartment that turned out to have just one room and a kitchen so narrow that only one person at a time fits in it Martínez bought the house with help from the Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores (Institute of the National Fund for Workers' Homes which is the state-owned mortgage provider Martínez calculated it will take her 15 years to pay off the loan of 600,000 pesos (approximately $45,800) The failure of Ciudades Bicentenario illustrates the housing problem in Mexico there are 5 million unused housing units out of a total of 35.6 million according to a report by Spanish bank BBVA (MCE:BBVA) Around 300,000 are considered “abandoned houses” by the Urban Development Ministry -- meaning that they are vacated along with the rest of Ciudades Bicentenario They were built where land was the cheapest “We call this model of town DDD: distant dispersed and disconnected,” said Luis Zamorano of CTS Embarq a Mexican NGO working with construction companies to build more accessible cities Architect Arturo Ortiz calls this model “anti-cities.” “These places are like islands in the middle of nowhere nothing to go out for,” he explained to architecture magazine Ensamble The six biggest agencies have a collective debt of $2 billion according to a June report by Standard and Poor’s Government help is not forthcoming; President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has made it clear that it is not one of its priorities