Evidence of absence

Ay Jalisco, no te rajes...

Welcome to a news roundup edition of The Mexpatriate.

This week, I’m changing up the format. In today’s newsletter I cover:

• Teuchitlán and the language of horror

You’ll receive the rest of the news roundup in additional installments in the coming days.

To read the rest of this edition and support my work, you can upgrade to a paid subscription below (for US $6/month or US $50/year).

This is starting to feel like Groundhog Day, but here we are, with Mexico facing down another looming Trump tariff deadline on Wednesday, fresh off the latest body blow to the USMCA: a 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars and car parts announced last week. President Sheinbaum has said she will give Mexico’s “complete response” after T-Day on April 2.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stopped in Mexico to meet with Sheinbaum last week, fresh off a visit to El Salvador, where she delivered a video warning message—wearing a US $50,000 gold Rolex and ICE ballcap—to “criminal illegal aliens” while standing in front of crowded cell at Bukele’s mega prison. Milenio reported earlier in March that the U.S. and Mexican governments have discussed building a similar prison “for drug lords” in Mexico.

However, despite the ongoing boxing match with the Trump administration, Mexico’s attention has turned inward in recent weeks. The story of Izaguirre Ranch in Teuchitlán first broke on Ash Wednesday (March 5) and while mass graves are discovered with sickening regularity across Mexico, the imagery from this site ignited a firestorm of both national and international media attention—challenging the government’s security strategy narrative and making the administration wobble.