Editor’s briefing for the week commencing 18 August 2025
A federal security operation across Jalisco, Nayarit, and the State of Mexico led to the arrest of Héctor Agustín “N,” aka “El Cachorro,” a suspected leader in a Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) arms trafficking cell, along with 13 others, as authorities say they dismantled a network involved in buying, modifying, and selling weapons.
Responding to the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s claim of “a bold new initiative” to combat drug trafficking with Mexico called Project Portero, President Sheinbaum denied that any such partnership exists.
The murderer of Ximena Guzmàn and José Muñoz, aides to Mexico City mayor Clara Brugada, remains at large. But on August 21, a judge in Mexico City ordered preventive detention for Nery Cotonieto “N,” one of the 13 people arrested in connection with the May 20 killings and charged with homicide, feminicide, and criminal conspiracy; her legal status will be reviewed again on August 25.
According to a study by México Evalúa and reported on in El Financiero, between January and July 2025, Mexico City reported 1,306 missing persons, making it the place with the most disappearances in the country — reflecting a decline in the capacity of prosecutors and escalating conflict among criminal groups.
Responding to opposition Senator Magarita Zavala’s criticism of her appointment of journalist Genaro Lozano as ambassador to Italy, President Sheinbaum claimed that it was not the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s job to remain impartial, but instead “to represent the interests of Mexico,” according to reporting by Proceso.
Figures published by INEGI suggest that Mexico’s economic growth has remained more or less flat for the fifth consecutive month, meaning that Mexico is likely facing its second economic contraction of the year if the provisional findings are confirmed.
Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize have agreed to create the "Great Maya Forest Biocultural Corridor,” billed as a large, trinational protected area covering 5.7 million hectares to safeguard the region’s natural ecosystems and cultural heritage.
President Sheinbaum announced that the controversial biomettric CURP identification number will not be mandatory, after concerns were raised by critics regarding civil rights, privacy, and state surveillance. The President announced that the government would be making significant investments in data collection and management, nonetheless, and that the majority of Mexicans were expected to take up use of the idenification number.