High impact
Mexico City's government mourns, plus friends of MAGA welcome Ambassador Johnson
Welcome to The Mexpatriate.
In today’s edition, I cover the murder of two members of the Mexico City mayor’s inner circle, the arrival of Trump’s new ambassador to Mexico and efforts to inspire voters to participate (or abstain) in the judicial elections.
Last week got off to a somber start following an accident on May 17 that made global headlines and quickly went viral on social media: Mexican tall ship collides with the Brooklyn Bridge. Two Mexican Navy cadets died and 22 others were injured.
Cuauhtémoc, the “buque escuela,” first launched as a goodwill ambassador for Mexico and training operation for the Navy in 1982. The ship had just pulled away from the dock near the bridge (where it had been anchored for five days) and according to the NYPD, it lost power. But in a press conference on May 20, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is conducting an investigation of the accident, said the boat accelerated above the speed of the current shortly before impact with the bridge. According to Mexico’s Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, a specialized harbor pilot from the New York government was navigating the ship at the time of the crash.
In between defending the Navy from online snark and getting out the vote for the judicial elections, Sheinbaum has also shown solidarity with Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila this week, who has been in hot water since her U.S. visa was revoked earlier this month (as was her husband’s).
“She has done very good work leading Baja California,” said Sheinbaum, who has swatted away rumors suggesting other Morena party governors may soon get the same treatment, as part of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. As suspicion about Ávila—and criticism of Sheinbaum for shielding her—mounts, a local Morena lawmaker had a facepalm moment while defending the governor in a congressional session: “To think they only give visas to honest people…please! I know the worst people who have visas, who work in drug and human trafficking, and they have visas and show photos of themselves in the U.S. on social media.”
While the reason for the governor’s visa revocation hasn’t been clarified, it did happen within the broader context of at least 1,500 non-immigrant visa cancellations since Trump took office. The U.S. Department of State has called this part of a “zero tolerance” policy for foreign visitors who “support terrorist organizations, participate in activities that harm national security, or participate in activities that harm our foreign policy interests.” Or have been accepted at Harvard.
One more quick antojito from the national conversation this week before getting to the main course. Remember Sandra Cuevas? She’s baaaaack.
After her disappearance from social media for a few weeks amidst rumors of an investigation, Cuevas was spotted at the Acamoto 2025 motorcycle rally in Acapulco—a chaotic three-day event that tallied eight deaths and 42 arrests—wearing a US $700 Louis Vuitton baseball cap. Then the erstwhile Cuauhtémoc borough mayor reappeared in Mexico City for the opening of her art gallery in Colonia Anzures on May 21, accompanied by a handful of telenovela stars. This is one of 10 businesses she says will help her to finance her political ambitions, since “founding a political party is expensive.” Cuevas doesn’t mince words, and true to form, she said at the inauguration that “politicians don’t have balls” while taking aim at those of her former allies, including Morena federal deputy Ricardo Monreal, whom she accuses of threatening her. “I listen to and read all the hate directed at me, and I don’t feel anything, it makes me laugh.”
As aptly put by Carmen Morán Breña in El País, “Sandra is a walking reality show,” and it seems a new season just started.
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