Mexico

For those who know of the spectacle that is Juan Gabriel there is no explanation necessary, for those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.

A new Netflix docuseries attempts to capture the magic of the frequently bedazzled genre- and gender-defying showmanship of “El Divo de Juárez,” who died at 66 of natural causes in 2016, while also investigating the internality of the man behind Gabriel — Alberto Aguilera Valadez.

Juan Gabriel was known for his epic stage performances, where he was often accompanied by an orchestra, dancers and dozens of mariachis dressed in tight jackets and sombreros, while belting out such hits as “Hasta Que Te Conocí,” “El Noa Noa” and “Amor Eterno.”

His colorful outfits and flamboyant dance moves drew speculation about his sexuality, but he famously preferred to remain coy on the issue and to this day remains a queer icon throughout the Latin American world.

“Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will,” which premieres Oct. 30, utilizes a goldmine of hundreds of thousands of personal and never-before-seen voice recordings, photos and videos of one of Mexico’s most revered singer-songwriters, giving audiences a holistic look at the pain, joy, contradictions, artistry and genius that informed Gabriel’s worldview and perception of himself.

The project is director María José Cuevas’ second production with the streaming giant — her 2023 documentary feature “The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders” recounted the story of famous Mexican serial killer Juana Barraza, who was sentenced to 759 years in prison for killing 16 elderly women and the suspected killing of dozens more.

Cuevas’ implementation of the juxtaposed duality of Juan Gabriel and Alberto Aguilera Valadez was inspired by his insistence that the two entities were distinct yet symbiotic, as was shown in a 2014 filmed self-interview the singer conducted.

“In order to understand the greatness of Juan Gabriel, I had to know Alberto. He always played with that duality,” she said. “From a very young age he would say in interviews that he invented Juan Gabriel to shield Alberto, he invented an idol in order to protect his private identity.”

In an interview with The Times, Cuevas spoke about her personal connection to the famed singer, the overwhelming archives she had access to and the ways in which Juan Gabriel united and continues to unite people to this day.

This interview was translated and edited for length.

What was your relationship to Juan Gabriel before taking on the task of directing this documentary?

I remember clearly turning on the TV [when I was young] and seeing video clips of Juan Gabriel with his red sweater and white jeans. I later had the opportunity to go to his first performance at the Palacios de Bellas Artes in 1990 with my parents. One is accustomed to going to Bellas Artes for opera, ballet, classical music and the concert began with that formal tone, but there reached a moment where audience members couldn’t keep up the facade of elegance and everyone let their hair down.

For me that moment was incredibly revelatory, I finally noticed that he was a whirlwind in every sense of the word. I didn’t realize at the time that I was present at a such an important cultural milestone. When I watched it in retrospect, from all the camera angles we were privy to for this documentary, I got goosebumps and I wish I could go back to being 18 years old and experience it with the intensity that I have for his music now.

I think that Juan Gabriel always transports us to something personal, but also to something collective. In Mexico, Juan Gabriel’s death was a very collective experience. You would go out into the street and you would hear his music in cars, the corner store, coming out of neighbors’ houses.

How did you gain access to the vast collection of archived materials that are present in the documentary?

That’s really the treasure of the project. Juan Gabriel’s story has already been told, but what makes this project unique is that it’s a story told by [the recordings and photos] he left behind. One of the first things he did after reaching success wasn’t just to buy his mom a house, but also to buy himself a Super 8 camera. From then on he picked up the habit of recording his everyday activities as Alberto Aguilera and later on he always had a camera following around as Juan Gabriel.

From our first meetings with Netflix, I figured we should ask Gabriel’s family if they had anything to share with us. I thought maybe it would be a photo album that was laying around, maybe a box of memorabilia or a few cassettes. So it was to our great surprises when they sent us over a photo of a warehouse with shelves full of every different kind of film. It was crazy. And that’s when I remembered that Juan Gabriel’s close friend and actor Isela Vega was helping him catalog all of his videography.

I never imagined that within those videos that we’d find the public persona of Juan Gabriel and the private persona of Alberto Aguilera. Another elucidating moment was that Juan Gabriel reached a moment where he became conscious of the level of his celebrity and that it wasn’t a coincidence that he recorded most of his life. And there reached a moment where I realized he saved all these recordings so that one day people could revisit all his saved materials and they could reconstruct his personal story through what he left behind.

There’s a moment in the documentary where we’re at one of his concerts and there are men of all orientations in the crowd that are asking JuanGa to marry them. That seemed particularly powerful to me because in that moment the veil of machismo seemed to fall.

Yeah, I think an important part of making this portrait of Juan Gabriel was understanding the context of Mexico in the ‘80s. It was very conservative, very machista and then all of a sudden this guy drops in with all this talent and charisma and he says, “Here I come, get out of the way because I’m gonna conquer everyone.” And that wasn’t so simple at that time. He showed his greatness at any and every stage he was put on. He was able to win over people in every social class in a very elitist Mexico. He won over everyone from the most macho man to women.

Even greater than the achievement that was his performance at Bellas Artes were his performances in palenques when he was young. Palenques being these circular stages where you can’t hide because you’re standing right in the middle of everything. And he would take the stage late at night when everyone was already drunk and they were audiences that were, in general, very machista.

Suddenly a very young Juan Gabriel would appear to perform rancheras. I always say he was a provocateur, but also a seducer because of his ability to win over a crowd. There were audiences that would yell derogatory things at him and that’s when he’d really play with the audience.

It feels almost impossible not to be moved by the music as you watch your documentary.

He’s really magnificent. I remember throughout the whole process of making the doc and I was watching the intimate home videos of Alberto Aguilera and it really reminded me that Juan Gabriel was a human like everyone else [not just this grand entertainer]. I’d put any concert of his and I was bowing at the altar of a star. It’s amazing what a powerful character he was up on that stage.

And how have you seen JuanGa’s legacy represent something very specific in the U.S.?

For Latinos in the U.S. he’s such an important figure because his work pulls people back to their roots. One of his greatest accomplishments as a performer was when he filled the Rose Bowl in 1993. In that moment he showed his influence and strength within the Latino world. He’s absolutely one of the key figures in Latin music.

The stench of decay extends miles beyond Poza Rica in one of the regions most devastated by last week’s torrential rains that inundated central and eastern Mexico.

By Wednesday, the official death toll had reached 66, with the number of missing people increasing to 75. Nearly 200 communities remain isolated — predominantly in Hidalgo’s central mountainous region, where persistent cloud cover has hindered helicopter access.

A persistent dust cloud hangs over the main avenue of Poza Rica, a gulf-adjacent oil-producing city, where soldiers laboured continuously. To the east, near the overflowed Cazones River, numerous streets remained submerged under 3 feet (about 1 metre) of water and mud, covered by an additional 6 feet of accumulated rubbish, furniture, and debris.

“A week later, this looks horrible — worse. You can’t even cross the street,” lamented Ana Luz Saucedo, who escaped with her children when water rushed in “like the sea”.

She now fears disease because a decomposing body near her home remains uncollected. “The dead body has already started to rot, and no one has come for him.”

The impact of last week’s catastrophic rains, floods, and landslides continues to unfold as Mexico’s government proceeds with rescue and recovery operations.

Officials attribute the disaster to multiple converging weather systems — two tropical systems colliding with warm and cold fronts — arriving as an unusually intense rainy season concluded, leaving saturated rivers and unstable hillsides.

Residents like Saucedo believe warnings were insufficient, particularly in Poza Rica.

“Many people died because they didn’t give notice — really, they didn’t warn us,” she said. “They came only when the river was already overflowing … not before, so people could evacuate.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum explained that alert systems for such events differ from hurricane warnings. She acknowledged the need to review river maintenance and emergency protocols after the crisis to determine “what worked, what we need to improve and whether there are better alert mechanisms”.

Military, naval, and civilian emergency teams continue operating across affected states, supplemented by hundreds of volunteers.

In Poza Rica, women from Veracruz distributed clothing and 1,000 pots of homemade tamales to flood victims.

Meanwhile, authorities work to clear blocked roadways, restore electricity, and monitor dams — many now at maximum capacity.

A FOOTBALLER has been arrested on suspicion of killing an opponent more than a year after the brutal brawl.

Luis Torres was killed following an alleged attack by Moisés Pulido on 9 September 2024.

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The incident happened during a seven-a-side amateur football match between Torres’ Viper 3.0 and Pulido’s Deportivo Esmeralda on a synthetic pitch in Guadalajara, north west of Mexico City, Mexico.

Torres, 16, is said to have been charging through the midfield in the second half when he laid the ball off before having a go at a rival for a mistimed tackle.

Pulido, 25, is then reported to have rushed over and punched the teen in the face multiple times during the Cannán League game.

After Torres fell to the ground, Pulido allegedly carried on striking him in the back of the head, which caused fatal trauma.

Emergency services were called to the scene but Torres had died by the time they arrived after he was seen convulsing.

Pulido is then said to have fled the scene.

He was arrested on Friday, October 10 after a court order was issued for him to be tracked down.

A court judge charged him with intentional homicide, and he remains in police custody as the investigation continues.

In a statement the Public Prosecutor’s Office said: “On the night of 9 September 2024, Moisés ‘N’ was taking part in a soccer game with the victim on opposing teams.

“At one point, the suspect allegedly hit the victim in the face and then continued to hit him on the back of his head.”

The majority of the deaths have occurred in the states of Veracruz and Hidalgo.

At least 64 people have died in Mexico after heavy rains and flooding hit five states last week.

The National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) chief, Laura Velazquez Alzua, speaking during President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily news briefing on Monday, said another 65 people were still missing.

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The state of Veracruz on the country’s southeastern coastline has confirmed 29 deaths, followed by 21 in Hidalgo, 13 in Puebla and one in Queretaro, Alzua said.

Forty-three people are also reported missing in Hidalgo, along with 18 in Veracruz and four in Puebla.

Thousands of military troops have been deployed to offer assistance across the five affected states, and governors are also working together to coordinate support, Sheinbaum said.

Early estimates show that about 100,000 houses have been affected, she added, with some near rivers having “practically disappeared”.

Facing questions about Mexico’s alert system, Sheinbaum said there were no meteorological signs “that could have indicated to us that the rain was going to be of this magnitude”.

Meteorologists have said the rains occurred thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Rainstorm Raymond, which caused rivers to rapidly rise, leading to flooding and landslides.

The heaviest rainfall was reported on Wednesday in Veracruz’s city of Cerro Azul and Puebla’s Cuetzalan del Progreso, which saw 280mm and 286mm of rain, respectively, Alzua said.

The Mexican Army, Air Force and National Guard have jointly implemented response efforts, distributing food and clean water, sometimes by air, to locations otherwise made inaccessible by landslides and road closures.

Nearly 400 repair workers have restored more than 80 percent of the electricity supply across the five states, where about 263,000 users lost power, electricity officials said during the briefing.

Crisis has damaged more than 16,000 homes and caused widespread electricity cuts.

Torrential flooding has continued to sweep parts of central and southeastern Mexico, raising the death toll to at least 44 people in less than a week.

Heavy downpours caused by two tropical storms have triggered landslides and flooding across five states, including Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

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Floods have killed 18 people in Veracruz state, 16 in Hidalgo, nine in Puebla and one in Queretaro, the statement said.

Mexico’s El Universal newspaper put the death toll even higher — at 48 — and reported that dozens remain missing.

Around 320,000 people have experienced power outages, and at least 16,000 homes have been damaged, according to authorities, who fear that more landslides and overflowing rivers could exacerbate the damage.

‘We will not leave anyone’

President Claudia Sheinbaum said the military has been mobilised to help with rescue operations and aid distributions. “We will not leave anyone without support,” she said in a post on X.

Photos posted by the military showed people being evacuated by soldiers with life rafts, homes flooded with mud, and rescue workers trudging through waist-high waters.

Mexico has been hit by particularly heavy rains this year, and Mexico City recorded its rainiest June in more than two decades.

Authorities have attributed the latest deadly downpours to the remnants of Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Rainstorm Raymond, both of which dumped heavy rains on Mexico’s west.

The remnants of Raymond, with wind gusts now at 45km/hr (28mph), were expected to hit the southern part of Baja California on Sunday.

From deadly antigovernment protests in Madagascar to military parades celebrating the 80th founding anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, here is a look at the week in photos.

MEXICO CITY — Jasmín Ordóñez looks out from a wooden boat at the water as she crosses a narrow channel that connects a labyrinth of chinampas, island farms that were built by the Aztecs thousands of years ago.

“Let’s close our eyes and ask our Mother Water for permission to sail in peace,” she said as the boat moves slowly, in contrast to the frenetic traffic of Mexico City just a few miles away.

Ordóñez owns one of these island farms, first created with mud from the bottom of the lakes that once covered this area. When the boat arrives at her island, she proudly shows the corn and leafy greens she grows. Her ancestors owned chinampas, but she had to buy this one because women traditionally haven’t inherited them.

“My grandmother didn’t get any land. Back then, most was left in the hands of men,” she said. At her side, Cassandra Garduño listens attentively. She also didn’t inherit the family chinampa.

Today both are part of a small but growing group of women who have bought chinampas to cultivate sustainably in an effort to preserve an ecosystem that is increasingly threatened by urban development, mass tourism and water pollution.

Making their way in an area still dominated by men hasn’t been easy. In the chinampas of the boroughs of Xochimilco and San Gregorio Atlapulco, hardly any women work the land.

“People believe that men are the [only] ones who have the physical abilities to work them,” said Garduño. The mud stains her pale pink shirt, matching her boots. She knows her outfit gets funny looks from longtime male chinampa workers, but instead of getting upset, she finds it amusing.

After years away, she returned to San Gregorio in 2021 to dedicate herself to chinampa farming. She had gone to college and then spent long periods in Ecuador working in conservation efforts to protect manta rays and sharks. Then one day she came back to San Gregorio and was struck by the degradation of her own land: the lower water levels of the canals, the increasing pollution, the abandoned chinampas.

“That’s where I started to realize: ‘You are part of this space. And part of your responsibility is to safeguard it,’” she said.

After saving up for a year, she bought a chinampa — and was shocked to find it in such a bad state. A cleanup found pieces of armchairs, televisions and beer bottles. She worked to reopen canals that had been crammed with garbage and began planting crops. The distrust among the neighbors was palpable.

“They said: ‘Let’s see, this girl has never been down to this place, nobody knows her. And she’s already doing what she wants,’” she recalled.

But she knew much more than they thought. Garduño had learned a lot as a little girl who ran around her grandfather’s chinampa — “a paradise” of flowers. She learned that the mud from the bottom of the canals is the best fertilizer because it contains the mineral-rich ashes from the volcanoes surrounding Mexico City. She learned that planting a variety of crops keeps frost from destroying one entire crop and that the flowers attract insects, so they don’t eat the cabbage or kale.

Sharing the knowledge

“Chinampas can have up to eight rotations per year, whereas in other systems you might have two or three,” Garduño explained.

That’s why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recognized chinampas as one of the most productive agricultural systems on the planet. Today, her field is a melting pot of colors: the pale green of broccoli to the vivid yellow of marigolds.

Since 2016, she has been collaborating with Mexico’s National Autonomous University, advising other farmers who want to stop using agricultural chemicals and recover these traditional practices which also help preserve the ecosystem. Kneeling next to a planting bed, Garduño suggests elevating it so it won’t flood when it rains. Ordóñez takes note.

She bought this chinampa three years ago and is now seeking to obtain the “Etiqueta Chinampera,” the sustainability tag granted by the university to producers who, among other things, use mud as fertilizer instead of chemicals. With this label, their products can fetch higher prices.

Sixteen farmers have obtained the label so far, four of them women, said Diana Laura Vázquez Mendoza, of the university’s Institute of Biology, adding that the project encourages women to “take back their chinampas and produce.”

Cleaning the canals

In the chinampas supported by the university, filters made from aquatic plants are installed to clean the water and prevent the passage of carp and tilapia. Introduced in Xochimilco in the 1980s, these invasive species became predators of the most distinguished inhabitants of this ecosystem: Mexico’s salamander-like axolotl. Today, this amphibian is on the verge of extinction because of these invasive species and a combination of factors polluting the canals: the discharge of sewage from urban growth, mass tourism and agricultural chemicals in many chinampas.

“Chinampas are an artificial agro-ecosystem that was created to supply food in pre-Hispanic times to the entire population. And that endures to this day,” Mendoza said. “So the way to conserve Xochimilco is to also conserve the chinampa.”

But a walk through the area on any given Sunday makes it clear that fewer chinampas are dedicated to agriculture. Every weekend, hundreds of people come here to play soccer on chinampas converted into fields or to drink aboard the brightly painted boats known as “trajineras.” The impact of this transformation to the wetland is evident: contaminants have been found there, from heavy metals such as iron, cadmium and lead to oils, detergents and pesticides, according to a study by biologist Luis Bojórquez Castro, of the Autonomous Metropolitan University.

Most come from the treatment plants that discharge their water in Xochimilco and from the chinampas that use agrochemicals, according to Castro’s study.

Preserving what’s left of the past

“Look at the clarity of the water,” said Ordóñez as she reaches into the canal where she has installed her biofilter. She knows that taking care of the water is essential to preserving this ecosystem. This wetland is the last remnant of what was once the great Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire built on the lakes that once filled the Valley of Mexico. Although today what remains of Xochimilco represents only 3% of the original extent of those lakes, it’s still key to the stability of the city. If it were to disappear, the average temperature of the capital could rise by up to 3.6 degrees, according to biologist Luis Zambrano.

Xochimilco and San Gregorio also reduce flooding during the rainy season, provide a natural carbon dioxide reservoir and are home to hundreds of species, such as herons and the Tlaloc frog. “Look at the red-headed birds in the lagoon!” exclaimed Garduño, driving home at dusk along a dirt road after a long day at her chinampa.

For her, this is still the paradise she roamed with her grandfather. She’s convinced that women are needed to preserve chinampas and hopes that within 10 years, many more will own and take care of them.

“From the shared labor of women and men, we can do what we all want, which is conserve what we have left for as long as possible,” she said.

De Miguel writes for the Associated Press. This article is a collaboration between AP and Mongabay.

MEXICO CITY — Amid the constant blare of car horns in southern Mexico City, it’s hard to imagine that Cuicuilco was once the heart of a thriving ancient civilization. Yet atop its circular pyramid, now surrounded by buildings and a shopping center, a pre-Hispanic fire god was revered.

“This is incredible,” said Evangelina Báez, who spent a recent morning at Cuicuilco with her daughters. “In the midst of so much urbanization, there’s still this haven of peace.”

Her visit was part of a monthly tour program crafted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History, known by its Spanish initials as INAH.

Aside from overseeing Mexico’s archaeological sites and museums, the institute safeguards the country’s cultural heritage, including restoring damaged monuments and artworks as well as reviewing construction projects to ensure they don’t harm archaeological remains.

Its historians and archaeologists also lead excursions like the one in Cuicuilco. Each academic expert picks a location, proposes a walking itinerary to the INAH and, once approved, it’s offered to the public for about 260 pesos ($15).

“I joined these tours with the intention of sharing our living heritage,” said archaeologist Denisse Gómez after greeting guests in Cuicuilco. “Our content is always up to date.”

According to Mónica de Alba, who oversees the tours, the INAH excursions date to 1957, when an archaeologist decided to share the institute’s research with colleagues and students.

“People are beginning to realize how much the city has to offer,” said De Alba, explaining that the INAH offers around 130 tours per year in downtown Mexico City alone. “There are even travel agents who pretend to be participants to copy our routes.”

María Luisa Maya, 77, often joins these tours as a solo visitor. Her favorite so far was one to an archaeological site in Guerrero, a southern Mexican state along the Pacific coast.

“I’ve been doing this for about eight years,” she said. “But that’s nothing. I’ve met people who have come for 20 or 25.”

Traces of a lost city

Cuicuilco means “the place where songs and dances are made” in the Nahua language.

Still, the precise name of its people is unknown, given that the city’s splendor dates back to the pre-Classic era from 400 to 200 B.C. and few clues are left to dig deeper into its history.

“The Nahuas gave them that name, which reveals that this area was never forgotten,” said archaeologist Pablo Martínez, who co-led the visit with Gómez. “It was always remembered, and even after its decline, the Teotihuacan people came here to make offerings.”

The archaeological site is a quiet corner nestled between two of Mexico City’s busiest avenues. Yet according to Martínez, the settlements went far beyond the vicinity and Cuicuilco’s population reached 40,000.

“What we see today is just a small part of the city,” he said. “Merely its pyramidal base.”

Now covered in grass and resembling a truncated cone, the pyramid was used for ritual purposes. The details of the ceremonies are unknown, but female figurines preserved at the site’s museum suggest that offerings were related to fertility.

“We think they offered perishable objects such as corn, flowers and seeds,” Gómez said. “They were feeding the gods.”

Echoes of living heritage

According to official records, Mexico’s most visited archaeological sites are Teotihuacán and Chichén Itzá. The first is a pre-Aztec city northeast of the capital known for its monumental Sun and Moon pyramids. The latter is a major Mayan site in the Southeast famed for its 12th-century Temple of Kukulkán.

The INAH oversees both. But its tours focus on shedding light on Mexico’s hidden gems.

During an excursion preceding Cuicuilco’s, visitors walked through a neighborhood in Ecatepec, on the outskirts of Mexico City, where open-air markets, street food and religious festivals keep local traditions alive. A few days prior, another tour focused on La Merced market, where flowers, prayers and music filled the aisles during the feast of Our Lady of Mercy.

October’s schedule takes into account Day of the Dead traditions. But tours will feature a variety of places like Xochimilco, where visitors can take a moonlit boat tour through its canals and chinampas, and Templo Mayor, the Aztec empire’s main religious and social center in ancient Tenochtitlán.

“These tours allow the general public to get closer to societies that are distant in time and space,” said historian Jesús López del Río, who will lead an upcoming tour on human sacrifices to deities in Mesoamérica.

“Approaching the pre-Hispanic past is not only about how the Maya used zero in their calculations or how the Mexica built a city on a lake,” he added. “It’s about understanding how those societies worked — their way of seeing and relating to the world.”

Hernández writes for the Associated Press.

Flooding set off by heavy rainfall in Mexico has left at least 28 people dead and more missing, and has caused landslides, damaged homes and highways, according to local authorities.

Downpours in the affected areas in the central and southeastern parts of the country led to overflowing rivers and road collapses that cut off power in some municipalities, the national coordinator for civil defence, Laura Velazquez, said on Friday.

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Civil defence authorities reported intense rainfall in 31 of 32 states, with the worst-affected areas being Veracruz in the east, Queretaro and Hidalgo in the centre, and the north-central state of San Luis Potosi.

One of the hardest hit areas was the central state of Hidalgo, where 16 deaths have been reported, according to state Interior Secretary Guillermo Olivares Reyna.

At least 1,000 homes, 59 hospitals and clinics, and 308 schools have suffered damage in the state because of landslides and overflooding rivers.

In neighbouring Puebla state, nine people died and 13 were missing. According to the state governor, some 80,000 people were affected by the heavy rains, while a gas pipeline was ruptured by a landslide.

In the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, two people died, including a police officer, according to its state governor. Some 5,000 homes were damaged and the navy evacuated nearly 900 people to shelters.

Earlier, authorities in the central state of Queretaro confirmed that the child had died after being caught in a landslide.

The heavy rainfall also caused power outages affecting more than 320,000 users and damage to almost 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) of roads in six states, authorities said.

Tras las fuertes lluvias, la Secretaría de Marina (@SEMAR_mx ) desplegó tres mil 300 elementos en Puebla, Veracruz y San Luis Potosí.

También puso a disposición 18 embarcaciones, seis helicópteros, tres plantas potabilizadoras, tres aviones, tres cocinetas y cuatro mil… pic.twitter.com/O7ES5XBoKC

— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) October 11, 2025

Translation: Following the heavy rains, the Secretariat of the Navy (@SEMAR_mx ) deployed 300 personnel in Puebla, Veracruz, and San Luis Potosí. It also made available 18 vessels, six helicopters, three water purification plants, three aircraft, three mobile kitchens, and 4,000 food baskets ready to be distributed.

“We are working to support the population, open roads and restore electrical services,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said after a meeting with local officials and cabinet members. She shared photos of emergency responders carrying supplies as they waded knee-deep in flooded streets.

The country has deployed more than 8,700 military personnel to help monitor, evacuate and clean up affected areas.

Mexico has been hit by particularly heavy rains throughout 2025, with a rainfall record set in the capital Mexico City.

Tropical Storm Raymond is currently off the country’s Pacific coast, dumping heavy rains as it moves northward. It is projected to make landfall on Mexican territory until Sunday. Raymond was announced midday on Thursday by the United States National Hurricane Center, making it the third system this week off the western coast of Mexico. It joined Tropical Storm Priscilla and post-tropical cyclone Octave, which threatened heavy rain and flooding in their paths.

Powerful waves crashed into Mexico’s Pacific coast as Hurricane Priscilla brought flooding along Puerto Vallarta’s waterfront. pic.twitter.com/P3s5lsiz9r

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 10, 2025

Meteorologists have warned that the Pacific Ocean cooling pattern called La Nina, which can warp weather worldwide and turbocharge hurricanes, has returned.

It may be too late in the hurricane season to impact tropical weather in the Atlantic, but this La Nina may have other impacts, from heavy rains to drought across the globe.

Though the new animated feature “Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires” bears the name of one the most emblematic American superheroes, its creation was entirely a Mexican affair.

The action-packed saga reimagines the caped crusader as a young Aztec man named Yohualli, whose father is killed when conquistador Hernan Cortes arrives on the coast of what we know today as the state of Veracruz. By the time Cortes and his troops reach the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the brave Yohualli has become a fierce warrior protected by the bat deity known as Tzinacan (an actual Aztec god that fits perfectly within this fictional narrative).

Produced by Mexico City-based animated outfit Ánima Estudios, a company at the forefront of the medium in the country for over two decades, “Aztec Batman” emerged as an attempt to expand Ánima’s relationship with Warner Bros. Ánima previously produced two CG-animated films based on “Top Cat,” the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon owned by Warner.

Released Sept. 18 on HBO Max, “Aztec Batman” was initially conceived as a miniseries, and eventually took the more concise form of a film. And while it’s a work meant to entertain, the creators hope that it also ignites new curiosity in younger audiences, particularly those in Mexico and of Mexican descent elsewhere, to learn more about Indigenous peoples.

“The movie seeks to generate pride because part of our roots as Mexicans are Indigenous cultures,” Ánima co-founder José C. Garcia de Letona said in Spanish during a recent video interview. “For many of us, the other part comes from the Spanish. We’re not passing judgment because we are a consequence of what happened, but rather giving a slightly more respectful place to the Aztecs and all Indigenous cultures.”

Why focus on the Aztecs out of the numerous civilizations that existed in the territory that now constitutes Mexico? “Because they were the ones who confronted the Spanish. As the name suggests, it was a clash of empires,” Garcia de Letona adds.

“The victors usually decide who the good guys and the bad guys were when they write their version of the story, but they always omit or diminish the other side. And this is an opportunity to tell this chapter of history from a perspective that isn’t often told,” explains director Juan Meza-Leon, a native of Ensenada, in the Mexican state of Baja California Norte, who has worked in the U.S. animation industry since the mid-2000s. While Meza-Leon has a story credit, Ernie Altbacker, a veteran in the world of DC Comics, wrote the screenplay.

Key to the aesthetic and historical authenticity of “Aztec Batman” was the knowledge that Alejandro Díaz Barriga, one of the most prominent historians of Aztec culture, shared with the production.

“Alejandro accompanied us from the script stage to the character design up to the final cut of the film,” explains Garcia de Letona. Díaz Barriga’s contributions included details on how clothing differed depending on the person’s social class, and letting the production know that the Aztecs didn’t have chairs, tables or doors in their daily lives.

The armor for this Batman took inspiration from Aztec eagle warriors and jaguar warriors, and integrated elements referencing the god Tzinacan. For example, the Batman insignia in the film is at once recognizable as an Aztec design, while also instantly identifiable as the superhero’s logo. “We wanted the designs to have that pre-Columbian quality, but at the same time to look appropriate for what they are: comic book characters,” says Meza-Leon.

The animation team behind “Aztec Batman” consisted mostly of Mexican talent with a few other artists in Brazil and Peru. “Many of us in Latin America, myself included, never imagined being part of a Batman project, and that excited us all infinitely,” says Garcia de Letona.

From the onset, Warner insisted “Aztec Batman” should be produced in Spanish first, and then dubbed into English. The Spanish cast includes actors Horacio Garcia Rojas and Omar Chaparro, while the English version features Mexican American actors Jay Hernandez and Raymond Cruz. U.S.-based Mexican filmmaker Jorge Gutierrez (“The Book of Life”) voices Yohualli’s father, Toltecatzin, in both versions.

Whether you watch with the original Spanish track or the English dub, the dialogue is laced with phrases and words in the Nahuatl language, the native tongue of the Aztecs. “Once the story was finalized, we collaborated with a Mexican writer named Alfredo Mendoza, who helped us incorporate the Nahuatl language to differentiate between the different empires since they both speak Spanish in the film,” said Meza-Leon.

Batman’s classic villains are also transformed into characters that exist organically within the Aztec context. The Joker, for example, becomes Yoka, a shaman and right-hand man to emperor Moctezuma who can communicate with the gods. Catwoman appears here as a jaguar warrior, since there were no domestic cats at that point in history in the Americas. Some creative liberties were taken — the Aztec wouldn’t allow women to become trained fighters. The dubious Cortes becomes Two-Face, while Poison Ivy appears as an enigmatic goddess.

“The idea wasn’t to make a copy of the characters, but to capture their essence, so you could say, ‘That’s the Joker,’ ‘That’s Two-Face,’ ‘That’s Catwoman,’ although we never called them by those names,” says Meza-Leon. “We also never call him Batman; it’s Tzinacan or Bat Warrior, but the spirit of the character is there.”

Since the project was originally developed as a series, Meza-Leon has already developed a larger world. If this first chapter succeeds with audiences, an “Aztec Batman” sequel is feasible. The film is currently playing in Mexican cinemas and streaming globally. “I hope it is successful enough for us to continue exploring this alternative version of the conquest of Mexico, because there are still many ideas left,” says Meza-Leon.

This palatial hacienda dating to 1616 is wonderfully maintained as a restaurant that feels like the prototype setting for a noirish telenovela, where sleek-haired businessmen and heirs negotiate their fortunes and the future of the country over hours consumed with cigars and tequila. San Angel Inn is a destination for upper-crust locals attracted to its unabashedly old-school approach to food, cocktails and service. Everyone here swears by the stately margarita service or a frosty martini, the kind that conjures images of Prohibition-era afternoons spent betting on the races in Tijuana. The menu feels like a journey over the greatest hits of classic Mexican fine dining: oysters, snails, escamoles and fideo seco with foie gras beckon as starters. Taco service is family style, in orders of three to eight, of rib-eye prime, arrachera, shrimp, lengua, duck, chicharrón and so on. Mains are Falstaffian, from lengua de res a la veracruzana to chateaubriand bouquetiere. The wine list leans heavily Mexican, followed by Spanish, Argentine, American and Chilean — just as it should be for this hemisphere.

Words don’t mean much for Kacey Musgraves and Carín León as Texas meets Sonora in the music video for their latest single, “Lost in Translation.”

The song, which dropped in August, is about how intimate connections between people can transcend languages and borders.

The newly-released video shows the pair gallivanting across the streets of the vibrant and not-so-tourist-filled streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Interspersed between scenes of the two musicians dancing and longing for each other are standalone shots of young Vallartenses donning colorful outfits and interacting with wildlife, while older men play card games and young adults perform dance routines.

In a press release for the single, Musgraves expressed how essential Mexican music has been in her own musical journey and formation.

“Growing up singing traditional country and western music, I’ve always loved exploring the borders of country and where it blends with other styles like Norteño and some regional Mexican sounds I heard a lot of in Texas,” she said.

The recording session for the song came about when the duo warmed up by singing one of León’s favorite songs: Juan Gabriel and Rocío Dúrcal’s “Fue Un Placer Conocerte.”

The collaboration isn’t León’s first bilingual rodeo; he collaborated with country singer Kane Brown for the 2024 single “The One (Pero No Como Yo)” and teamed with Leon Bridges for 2024’s “It Was Always You (Siempre Fuiste Tú).”

Last month, it was announced that León would be the first Latino artist to headline Las Vegas’ Sphere next year. The Mexican singer is set to perform three concerts as part of the city’s Mexican Independence Day celebrations, which are scheduled for Sept. 11, 12 and 13, 2026.

Musgraves has long been a champion for Mexican music. At a recent show in Mexico City, Musgraves performed a rendition of the ranchera classic “Tú, Solo Tú” alongside Mariachi Oro de América.

“Mucho respeto to the Mexican community. This is a tribute to your endless passion, hard work and valiance. (I could literally cry right now as I’m typing this bc I love y’all so much),” Musgraves wrote in an Oct. 4 Instagram post. “I am forever inspired by you and the Ranchera spirit. See y’all at the carne asada?”

Back in 2019, the “High Horse” artist sang a cover of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez’s hit “Como La Flor” at the Houston Rodeo.

“I love the queen Selena just as much as you do,” she told the crowd at Houston’s NRG Stadium. “This is our chance to honor her, by singing as loud as we can together.”

FORMER World Cup star Omar Bravo has been arrested on suspicion of child sex abuse.

The 66-time Mexico striker, 45, was cuffed during an operation in his homeland.

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According to the Associated Press, police arrested Bravo in the municipality of Zapopan.

And the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office declared that investigations indicate he allegedly “abused a teenage girl on several occasions in recent months.”

It’s also claimed Bravo may have “committed similar acts before.”

The former Mexico star is now expected to appear in court “soon” while the investigation continues.

Bravo is regarded as one of his nation’s best forwards in the 21st century.

He burst through the ranks at Guadalajara.

And Bravo ended up playing 382 times for them across three separate spells, scoring 132 times in the process.

He also spent time playing in the US with Sporting Kansas City, North Carolina and Phoenix Rising.

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In total, Bravo made 536 career appearances, netting 169 goals.

He also scored 15 times in 66 games for Mexico between 2003 and 2013, starring for them at the 2006 World Cup.

Bravo retired from playing in 2020.

And he later had a brief spell as a manager, taking charge of Arizona Monsoon FC in 2024.

The Associated Press adds that a lawyer for Bravo “could not be immediately reached.”

ORLANDO, Fla. — After Paola Freites was allowed into the U.S. in 2024, she and her husband settled in Florida, drawn by warm temperatures, a large Latino community and the ease of finding employment and housing.

They were among hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the state in recent years as immigration surged under former President Biden.

No state has been more affected by the increase in immigrants than Florida, according to internal government data obtained by the Associated Press. Florida had 1,271 migrants who arrived from May 2023 to January 2025 for every 100,000 residents, followed by New York, California, Texas and Illinois.

Freites and her husband fled violence in Colombia with their three children. After some months in Mexico they moved to Apopka, an agricultural city near Orlando, where immigrants could find cheaper housing than in Miami as they spread throughout a community that already had large populations of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Her sister-in-law owned a mobile home that they could rent.

“She advised us to come to Orlando because Spanish is spoken here and the weather is good,” Freites, 37, said. “We felt good and welcomed.”

The data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which must verify addresses of everyone who is allowed to enter the U.S. and stay to pursue an immigration case, shows Miami was the most affected metropolitan area in the U.S. with 2,191 new migrants for every 100,000 residents. Orlando ranked 10th with 1,499 new migrants for every 100,000 residents.

The CBP data captured the stated U.S. destinations for 2.5 million migrants who crossed the border, including those like Freites who used the now-defunct CBP One app to make an appointment for entry.

Freites and her husband requested asylum and obtained work permits. She is now a housekeeper at a hotel in Orlando, a tourist destination with more than a dozen theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld. Her husband works at a plant nursery.

“We came here looking for freedom, to work. We don’t like to be given anything for free,” said Freites, who asked that the AP identify her by her middle and second last name for fear of her mother’s safety in Colombia.

Orlando absorbed new immigrants who came

Historically, Central Florida’s immigrant population was mainly from Mexico and Central America, with a handful of Venezuelans coming after socialist Hugo Chávez became president in 1999. In 2022, more Venezuelans began to arrive, encouraged by a program created by the Biden administration that offered them a temporary legal pathway. That same program was extended later to Haitians and Cubans, and their presence became increasingly visible. The state also has a large Colombian population.

Many immigrants came to Florida because they had friends and relatives.

In Orlando, they settled throughout the area. Businesses catering to newer arrivals opened in shopping areas with Mexican and Puerto Rican shops. Venezuelan restaurants selling empanadas and arepas opened in the same plaza as a Mexican supermarket that offers tacos and enchiladas. Churches began offering more Masses in Spanish and in Creole, which Haitians speak.

As the population increased, apartments, shopping centers, offices and warehouses replaced many of the orange groves and forests that once surrounded Orlando.

The economy grew as more people arrived

New immigrants found work in the booming construction industry, as well as in agriculture, transportation, utilities and manufacturing. Many work in restaurants and hotels and as taxi drivers. Some started their own businesses.

“It’s just like a very vibrant community,” said Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director at Hope CommUnity Center, a group that offers free services to immigrants in Central Florida. “It’s like, ‘I’m going to work hard and I’m going to fight for my American dream,’ that spirit.”

Immigrants’ contributions to Florida’s gross domestic product — all goods and services produced in the state — rose from 24.3% in 2019 to 25.5% in 2023, according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s annual surveys. The number of immigrants in the workforce increased from 2.8 million to 3.1 million, or 26.5% to 27.4% of the overall population. The figures include immigrants in the U.S. legally and illegally.

Immigrants looked for advice

Groups that help immigrants also increased in size.

“We got hundreds of calls a week,” said Gisselle Martinez, legal director at the Orlando Center for Justice. “So many calls of people saying ‘I just arrived, I don’t know anybody, I don’t have money yet, I don’t have a job yet. Can you help me?’”

The center created a program to welcome them. It grew from serving 40 people in 2022 to 269 in 2023 and 524 in 2024, Melissa Marantes, the executive director, said.

In 2021, about 500 immigrants attended a Hispanic Federation fair offering free dental, medical, and legal services. By 2024, there were 2,500 attendees.

Hope, meantime, went from serving 6,000 people in 2019, to more than 20,000 in 2023 and 2024.

Many now fear being detained

After President Trump returned to office in January, anxiety spread through many immigrant communities. Florida, a Republican-led state, has worked to help the Trump administration with its immigration crackdown and has enacted laws targeting illegal immigration.

Blanca, a 38-year-old single mother from Mexico who crossed the border with her three children in July 2024, said she came to Central Florida because four nephews who were living in the area told her it was a peaceful place where people speak Spanish. The math teacher, who has requested asylum, insisted on being identified by her first name only because she fears deportation.

In July 2025, immigration officials placed an electronic bracelet on her ankle to monitor her.

Because a friend of hers was deported after submitting a work permit request, she has not asked for one herself, she said.

“It’s scary,” she said. “Of course it is.”

Salomon writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

It’s not all sun and beach, there’s also stunning cenotes, vibrant towns and world-class reefs.

As the UK braces for the onset of winter, sunnier climes beckon abroad. If you’re looking to dodge the autumn chill, now’s the perfect time to plan your escape.

The best part? You don’t have to break the bank for a luxurious retreat. According to loveholidays, the shoulder season is an ideal time to travel.

With fewer crowds and lower prices, yet still boasting beautiful weather, this picturesque beach town is a top pick.

By opting for travel during early spring or autumn, you can avoid the summer and winter rush. These “shoulder seasons” offer a fantastic opportunity to save some quid while enjoying a more laid-back holiday, reports the Express.

Nestled on the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Puerto Morelos offers all the allure of the Maldives without the throngs of tourists.

What’s more, this coastal gem boasts October temperatures around 31C, making it an ideal spot for some late-season sunbathing and relaxation.

This Mexican treasure has something for everyone. Alongside a bustling hospitality scene with bars and restaurants, you’ll find vibrant coral reefs, awe-inspiring geological wonders, and some of the finest beaches around.

If breathtaking scenery is what you’re after, Puerto Morelos delivers in abundance. A must-visit is the Cenote La Noria.

Cenotes, rainforest sinkholes filled with crystal clear rainwater over thousands of years, are a sight to behold and La Noria is a particularly stunning example.

Fish dart through the water while stalactites hang from the ceiling in this magical spot tucked away in the forest.

There’s also the opportunity to explore the coral reefs around Puerto Morelos, with a plethora of snorkelling and boat tours on offer.

The region boasts the world’s second largest reef, and diving beneath the surface of the warm, clear ocean provides a glimpse into an entirely different world.

The vibrant reef is teeming with life, housing over 500 species of fish and 65 types of coral, as well as sharks, rays and turtles. It’s a protected marine park, ensuring these creatures can continue to thrive for many more years.

What makes Puerto Morelos even more appealing is its affordability. Despite its breathtaking beauty, a holiday to this picturesque town won’t leave you penniless – especially during the shoulder season.

In fact, a seven-night, five-star holiday here starts from just £899pp, including all flights and transfers.

This tropical paradise is the ideal spot to catch some last-minute sun and immerse yourself in all the beauty Mexico has to offer.

Jerardyn sat quietly on the bus, her mood relaxed as her eyes scanned the fleeting horizon of Southern California one August afternoon.

But as the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a towering barrier of steel pillars, came into view, she began taking big, deep breaths. Her heart began to race as she clutched her immigration documents and tried to hide her anxiety from her two youngest children traveling with her. She caught what she believed would be her last glimpse of the United States for now.

A refugee from Venezuela, Jerardyn, 40, entered the United States last year with her family, hoping to obtain asylum. But this was before President Trump took office and launched immigration raids across Southern California, shattering her sense of safety. She lived in fear that immigration agents would detain her or, worse, send her family back to Venezuela, where they risked facing retribution from the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

So after eight months of living in the basement of an L.A. church, she made a painful decision. She would migrate again. This time she’d voluntarily move back to Mexico with her two youngest kids, leaving behind her two eldest, who are applying for asylum.

She planned meticulously. She withdrew her asylum application from immigration court. She found an apartment outside Mexico City. She filled two boxes with toys, clothes and shoes to ship to Mexico ahead of her departure. She bought bus tickets to Tijuana and plane tickets to Mexico City.

The bus ride from Los Angeles to Tijuana had been smooth, but as they pulled into the National Institute of Migration, Mexico’s border immigration office, she felt a sense of dread.

“I’m panicking,” she said.

She hadn’t expected to face Mexican immigration officials so soon. She tried to self-soothe by telling herself that no matter what, she would figure it out.

“I’m going to make it in any country because I’m the one doing it.”

Gathering her bags and suitcase, she shepherded Milagro, 7, and David, 10, into the empty line and handed her Venezuelan passport to an immigration officer. He gave her a stern look and pulled Jerardyn and her children away from the counter and into another room.

Would Mexico deport her to Venezuela? Or grant her some mercy? All she knew was that the doors leading to Mexico were, for now, closed.

Jerardyn grew up in a comfortable, middle-class family in a seaport city, the youngest of eight, and was doted upon by her father. She had aspirations of becoming a social worker, but at 15, she became pregnant. Her parents initially disapproved, but her father, a former police officer, came around after she told him she would name her firstborn after him.

Jerardyn asked that her last name not be published, for fear of retribution for fleeing Venezuela, an act viewed as treason by the government. Her children are being identified by their middle names.

With help from her parents, she earned a certification to become a medical technician. But after her second son, Jahir, was born, her father died, upending her life.

When she was 22, Jerardyn said, she was assaulted by a man who had hired her to do some office cleaning, an ordeal that left her scarred. Violence became rife in Venezuela, as family members got caught up in illegal activity. A nephew she helped raise since he was young was shot by a police officer in front of her, she said.

Conditions in Venezuela continued to worsen. The economy collapsed, bankrupting an auto parts shop she had been running with her husband. By the time Milagro was born in 2018, their relationship had become strained, and they were no longer a couple.

As corruption ran rampant in Venezuela, Jerardyn learned that government officials were kidnapping teens. It wasn’t long before her oldest son, Jesus, then 17, became a target.

During a nationwide power outage in 2019, Jesus went out to buy gasoline around 10 a.m. but never returned. Panicked, she went looking for him, but no one knew where he was.

Frantic, she prayed to God for his safe return. At midnight, government officials released him.

Jerardyn, who lovingly refers to her children as her pollitos — baby chicks — concluded they were no longer safe in their homeland. So without notifying her family, she fled with the children to neighboring Colombia. Milagro was 4 months old.

“No one knows what you live through in your country,” she said of her decision to escape Venezuela. “If I had stayed there, my kids could have died from hunger, suffered psychological torture, kidnappings, so many things…. I’m just trying to save them.”

Aid workers in Colombia helped the family relocate to Lima, Peru, where Jerardyn worked as a server and in clothing stores.

She made one foray back to Venezuela during that time — attempting to obtain passports for her children. But that effort backfired. Government officials detained her and her children in a white room and forced her to pay the equivalent of $3,000 to be released, with no passports for David and Milagro.

Peru did not prove to be a refuge either. The country was growing increasingly hostile to Venezuelan immigrants, and her sons faced bullying in school. So after four years of living abroad, she began researching what it would take to travel through the Darien Gap, the dangerous strip of jungle linking Central and South America.

She made a list of what they needed to pack to survive.

Altogether, there were six on the journey through the Darien Gap — Jerardyn, her four children, her daughter-in-law, and Pelusa, a dog they had found in Peru. She was especially worried about David, who was 8, and Milagro, then 5.

The jungle was “a living hell,” she recalled, a place where people lost their humanity. Migrants robbed other migrants. Travelers were left injured and abandoned by their families. Jerardyn and her kids had to hike past decomposing bodies, an image she cannot shake. They could hear snakes slithering past their tent when it was not raining, which it often did.

It took the family five days to cross the jungle. She was certain that if one of them died, she would have stayed behind too.

After a month traveling through Mexico, they arrived in the capital covered in dirt, their sandals worn down from the miles behind them. Jesus’ feet were bloody. A taxi driver recommended they visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They arrived at 6 a.m., exhausted and penniless.

After the morning Mass, Jerardyn kneeled and prayed for her family’s safety and a pathway to a life in Mexico, while they waited to enter the U.S.

A pathway soon emerged. A friend helped her settle in Texcoco de Mora, a town northeast of Mexico City. Jerardyn began working at a salon and enrolled Milagro and David in school. Jesus and Jahir hawked vegetables at street markets, and her daughter-in-law worked at a restaurant. Every day, they tried to land a CBP One appointment, which would allow them to enter the U.S. legally to seek asylum.

By a stroke of luck and persistence, the family secured a coveted appointment on Dec. 11, 2024. They continued north to Nogales, Mexico, and suddenly Jerardyn was seeing the U.S. southern border for the first time.

Moments later, she heard a U.S. immigration official voice the words she had long awaited: “Welcome to the United States.”

Immigration raids had been roiling Los Angeles for more than a month when Jerardyn went to Mass one Sunday in July. Having just finished her overnight shift cleaning up a stadium after a concert, she smiled tiredly as she joined her children in the front pew at the church in South L.A. She hugged them as Pastor Ivan began preaching about immigrants and how they shape communities.

Before the raids, the pews would be filled with dozens of families. Now, only a handful of people sat scattered around.

Pastor Ivan’s voice boomed as he urged the congregation to pray for families torn apart by the raids. After a prayer, Jerardyn stood, picked up the collection basket and began gathering donations for the church. She had given Milagro and David a few dollars, which they dropped into the basket.

The church became their haven in January after Jerardyn spent a night homeless. Along with her kids, she had originally been staying with the father of her children, who arrived in the U.S. from Venezuela on his own years ago. But after an argument, he kicked her out of the apartment, forcing her to find a new refuge for herself and her kids.

Pastor Ivan, whose church The Times is not naming because Jerardyn’s family members still reside there, said the church has a history of sheltering immigrants, including Afghans, Haitians, Mexicans and Venezuelans. The pastor said he lived in the U.S. for a decade without documents and knows firsthand the plight of migrants.

“They feel that everything is closing up around them,” he said. But the church’s role is to not stay silent, he said, and instead, to offer help and compassion.

That is why Jerardyn and her family began to slowly build a semblance of a normal life in the church’s basement. David and Milagro attended school nearby, where Milagro was praised for picking up English quickly.

But the family found everyday life stifling. In the basement, Jerardyn felt like they were hiding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Once, when the school notified her that immigration agents were nearby, she panicked, she said, wondering whether they would seize her children.

In the eight months they lived there, she had taken her children on public transit only six times. Once, on the metro, a homeless woman pulled her pants down in front of them and urinated. Another time, on a bus, a man became visibly irritated while she spoke Spanish to another passenger.

In the most jarring incident, Jerardyn and David watched from a bus window as immigration agents detained a woman. Suffering panic attacks, the boy would wake up crying from nightmares in which Jerardyn was the one arrested. She shed tears thinking of the stress she was placing on her children.

In the church, she spent several nights mulling over whether to leave the U.S. She would lie on the carpet, alone, in tears, and ask God for answers. But the choice became clear, she said, when David told her he wanted to return to Mexico.

In her request to close her asylum case at immigration court, she carefully wrote out a translated version of a plea to the judge.

“I am requesting voluntary departure because my children and I are experiencing a very stressful situation,” she wrote, recounting how she and David watched a woman get detained. Milagro loved going to school but suffered from anxiety too. “For me it is difficult to make that decision, but it is preferable to leave voluntarily and avoid many problems and even so in the future I can get my documents in the best way and return to this country legally. Thank you very much.”

The judge approved her request. Jesus, 23, and Jahir, 18, would continue to seek asylum and live at the church, with support from Pastor Ivan, who assured Jerardyn they would be safe.

When it came time to say goodbye as they boarded the bus for Tijuana, Jerardyn told Jesus to look out for Jahir. She hugged Jahir, caressed his head, and told him to listen to his older brother. Milagro pressed her small face into Jesus’ stomach and held him tightly until it was time to board. She then sobbed quietly in her mother’s arms as the bus pulled away.

There are no clear numbers yet on how many migrants have opted to self-deport this year. In a statement, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that “tens of thousands of illegal aliens have utilized the CBP Home app.” The app offers to pay for one-way tickets out of the U.S., along with a $1,000 “exit bonus.”

Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said the Trump administration has pushed hard to get people to leave on their own, as the White House appears to be falling short of its goal of 1 million deportations a year. The raids, courthouse arrests and threat of third-country removals are compounding a climate of fear.

“Some of the high-profile moves that this administration has taken [have] been aimed at trying to scare people into self-deporting,” she said.

At the immigration office in Tijuana, Jerardyn, Milagro and David were placed in a white room with one window and told they would be deported because Jerardyn did not have a visa to stay in Mexico.

As they waited, Jerardyn started to pace the small room, which was reminiscent of the one Venezuelan officials had placed her in when they extorted money from her. She had no luggage or phone. Mexican officials had taken them.

As the officials questioned her, she said, she maintained that she had committed no crimes and that she knew she had rights to travel into the country. Somehow, Milagro and David remained calm, eating tuna and crackers provided by the officials.

The family waited for more than three hours before the officials returned with news: They could stay. All were granted temporary status for a month while Jerardyn sought legal status. Officials fingerprinted them, staining their fingers green, took their pictures for documents that would allow them to travel freely and — 12 hours after leaving Los Angeles — let them leave for their flight to Mexico City.

Because of her preparations, Jerardyn had a job lined up at the hair salon where she previously worked. But a big question mark was Gonzalo. She had met him in Texcoco and they had become close. He showered her children with adoration and care. He asked to marry her, and she had said yes. But when she departed for the U.S. just days later, the distance became too difficult, and they broke off their engagement.

When she and the kids returned, Gonzalo met them at the airport in Mexico City, and the children hugged him in greeting.

Now that she was back, Jerardyn hoped that she and Gonzalo would rekindle their romance. At first they did, easily falling back together, holding hands while strolling through the streets.

At her new two-bedroom apartment, Jerardyn unloaded air mattresses that would serve as beds until she could afford real ones. She made a note of what she would need to buy. A fridge. A trash can and bath mat. A couch for the kids to relax on after school.

One Sunday, the family walked through Texcoco’s crowded central plaza, the air warm and scented with cooking meats and sweets. They navigated around the vendors and chatting families sitting on benches and enjoying snacks. Her children were smiling, and Jerardyn was at peace, something she hardly ever felt in the U.S.

She was finally back in “mi Texcoco,” she said. This feeling of tranquility reminded her of the first time she left Venezuela, when she no longer feared that the government would take her children from her.

“I feel free, complete peace of mind, knowing I’m not doing anything wrong, and I won’t be pursued,” she said.

During her first week back, Jerardyn and the children made the trek into Mexico City, where she found herself nearly asking for directions in English, only to remember that everyone spoke her language too.

She returned to the Basilica, her family’s first stop in Mexico City, and gave thanks to the Virgin Mary for guiding her safe journey. The three bowed their heads and knelt in prayer. David prayed for the well-being of his brothers.

That first week, she signed her children up for online English classes at a nearby academy. She worked on a client’s hair, her first gig. She also started therapy to begin sorting through everything she has lived through.

One crisp August morning, Jerardyn helped Milagro slip into the in-line skates Jesus had given her as a parting gift. The little girl had carried them in her pink backpack all the way from L.A., and she wanted to show them off.

In the safe, enclosed space of the apartment complex, where the buildings were painted vibrant shades of red, yellow and blue, Milagro went slowly at first, using a pillar to make turns and the wall as a stop. But as she settled into a flow, she began to speed up, making the turns smoothly on her own.

A few times, she fell with a huff. But with her mother looking on, she’d pick herself back up and keep going.

1 of 3 | The remains of Colombian musicians Bayron Sanchez, known as B-King, and DJ Jorge Luis Herrera Lemos, known as Regio Clown were found Tuesday, days after Colombian President Gustavo Petro pleaded for their return. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 23 (UPI) — Mexican authorities said Tuesday they had found the bodies of a pair of Colombian musicans days after the country’s president pleaded for their return, blaming drug cartels and the United States for their disappearance.

Prosecutors in Mexico City announced they had found the remains of Bayron Sanchez, known as B-King, and DJ Jorge Luis Herrera Lemos, known as Regio Clown, after they had been missing for a week, reported El Pais.

Officials have not offered any explanation for the deaths of the musicians who had just played one of their first international concerts. But Colombia President Gustavo Petro suggested in a post to X Sunday that “multinational mafias” had a role in their disappearance.

Petro also wrote that the mafias are growing in South America because of the “rampant drug consumption in the US,” which he called a “decadent society” lacking in love.

The Trump administration has had a fraught relationship with Colombia under the leadership of Petro, a former Marxist guerilla turned left-wing politician. President Donald Trump has accused Petro of not fulfilling his country’s counter-narcotic obligations. Trump administration officials also raised concerns about the assasination of conservative Colombian politician Miguel Uribe Turbay.

“It is a source of second-hand embarrassment to see a Head of State behaving in this rude manner, blaming the United States for the disappearance of two of his citizens in Mexico,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote in a response to Petro on X.

In his post, Petro appealed to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for help and stated that the musicians disappeared after a performance in the Mexican state of Sonora. However, the artists were last see at a gym in Mexico City’s upscale Polanco neighborhood, reported Parriva.

Sheinbaum, for her part, said Monay that the Mexican Foreign Ministry had been in touch with Colombia and that investigations into the musicians’ deaths were underway, the news outlet reported.

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday called Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip a “genocide,” marking a decisive shift in her government’s stance on the conflict — and putting it at odds with the United States.

Sheinbaum, who is one of a handful Jewish heads of state, has come under increasing pressure from members of her leftist coalition to more forcefully condemn Israel’s assault on the small Palestinian enclave, where at least 65,000 people have died and more than half a million are trapped in famine.

Speaking to journalists at her daily news conference, Sheinbaum said Mexico stands “with the international community to stop this genocide in Gaza.”

Her comments came amid a meeting in New York of the United Nations General Assembly, where several countries, including France, Britain, Canada and Australia, have formally recognized Palestine as a state. Mexico has formally supported Palestinian statehood for years.

Sheinbaum, 63, is the first Jewish leader of Mexico, a nation that is overwhelmingly Catholic. She grew up in a secular household and rarely talks about her Jewish identity.

Sheinbaum, who entered politics from the world of leftist activism, has long supported the Palestinian cause. In 2009, she wrote a letter to Mexican newspaper La Jornada fiercely condemning Israel’s actions in an earlier war with Gaza, where 13 Israelis and more than 1,000 Palestinian civilians and militants had been killed.

Sheinbaum evoked the Holocaust, saying “many of my relatives … were exterminated in concentration camps.”

“I can only watch with horror the images of the Israeli bombing of Gaza,” she wrote. “Nothing justifies the murder of Palestinian civilians. Nothing, nothing, nothing, can justify the murder of a child.”

The latest conflict broke out in 2023 after Hamas fighters broke through a border fence encircling Gaza and killed more than 1,000 Israelis, most of them civilians.

Israel responded with a punishing assault on Gaza from air, land and sea, displacing nearly all of the strip’s 2 million people and damaging or destroying 90% of homes.

Since taking office last year, Sheinbaum has repeatedly called for a cease-fire and reiterated Mexico’s support for a two-state solution in the region, but until Monday she had refrained from categorizing what is unfolding in Gaza as a genocide.

That was possibly to avert conflict with the United States, which has given more foreign assistance to Israel than any other country globally in the decades since World War II, and which has supported the war on Gaza with billions of dollars in weapons and other military aid.

Sheinbaum, whose nation’s economy depends heavily on trade with the U.S., has spent much of her first year in office seeking to appease President Trump on the issues of security and migration in order to avoid the worst of his threatened tariffs on Mexican imports.

Her comments on Gaza come amid growing global consensus that Israel is committing genocide.

The world’s leading association of genocide scholars has declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The International Assn. of Genocide Scholars recently passed a resolution that says Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition as spelled out in the United Nations convention on genocide.

And this month, a U.N. commission of inquiry also found Israel has committed genocide.

“Explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group,” the commission wrote.

It added that under the Genocide Convention, other nations have an obligation to “prevent and punish the crime of genocide.”

Israeli officials dismissed the report as “baseless.”