Happy new year!

Tearing Mexico apart: eight ways to divide Mexico by stereotypes.

Apoala in the Nuttall Codex is in a valley in high mountains of the Mixteca Alta. The valley is made up of a large body of feathered snakes that display stone elements. The large maws of the snake are a huge cave at the extreme of the valley, which is named Yahui Coo Maa, Deep Cave of the Serpiente.

Mexico announced a 16% increase to a tax stimulus for private contributions to Mexican film projects to be deducted from tax bill. The increase follows a strong year for Mexican cinema. Domestic films saw revenues rise 15% and audiences grow 9.5% compared to 2024. elpais.com/mexico/2025-...

Organized crime has become an existential threat to the uncontacted Indigenous peoples of the Amazon as illegal gold miners, drug traffickers, loggers, and poachers advance ever deeper into the world’s largest rainforest. insightcrime.org/news/how-org...

Tearing Mexico apart: eight ways to divide Mexico by stereotypes.

Apoala in the Nuttall Codex is in a valley in high mountains of the Mixteca Alta. The valley is made up of a large body of feathered snakes that display stone elements. The large maws of the snake are a huge cave at the extreme of the valley, which is named Yahui Coo Maa, Deep Cave of the Serpiente.

Mexico announced a 16% increase to a tax stimulus for private contributions to Mexican film projects to be deducted from tax bill. The increase follows a strong year for Mexican cinema. Domestic films saw revenues rise 15% and audiences grow 9.5% compared to 2024. elpais.com/mexico/2025-...

Organized crime has become an existential threat to the uncontacted Indigenous peoples of the Amazon as illegal gold miners, drug traffickers, loggers, and poachers advance ever deeper into the world’s largest rainforest. insightcrime.org/news/how-org...

Jade jaguar pectoral from Monte Albán, Oaxaca, sacred material associated with Pitao Cocijo, gods of the rain. The face has flower-shaped ears, a collar and a pectoral. The sculptor worked on different planes to create faces, a human wearing another face like a mask with distinctive jaguar features.

In president Sheinbaum’s first year in office, $1.5 billion worth of fuel was stolen from pipelines of Pemex, Mexico’s state-oil company. More than 9,000 illegal taps were detected, most of them concentrated in the central state of Hidalgo, a hotspot for fuel theft. insightcrime.org/news/mexico-...

Chilean president-elect Kast speaks with South American leaders to organize a “humanitarian corridor” to facilitate the return (=expulsion) of irregular migrants. Kast met the presidents of Ecuador and Peru, and wants Colombia and Brazil to consider the initiative. www.swissinfo.ch/spa/kast-hab...

For these dark contemplative days between Christmas and New Year: the Aztec god of cold (Dresde Codex), 𝐼𝑧𝑡𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑢ℎ𝑞𝑢𝑖-𝐼𝑥𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖, a special manifestation of Tezcatlipoca as lord of flint, cold, ice, frost, sin and misery. He represents the harsh, unyielding aspects of the natural and moral world.

The US will offer undocumented migrants $3,000 and a plane ticket if they agree to leave the US. Of the 145,000 Mexicans deported in 2025, around 15,000 have chosen to voluntarily deport. Dealing with ICE is the primary reason migrants choose self-deportation. politica.expansion.mx/mexico/2025/...

Mexican low-cost carriers Volaris and VivaAerobus have plans to merge. If approved by the new anti-trust institute of the Economy ministry, the combined airline would control 69% of Mexico’s passenger air traffic, reshaping the country’s aviation market. www.elfinanciero.com.mx/empresas/202...

In the last decade Venezuela suffered the largest economic collapse of any country in the world. A drop in oil prices in 2014 caused a default on foreign debt and curtailed social programs, causing a recession. This was made worse by mismanagement and corruption: 7.9 million people left the country.

Another beauty! Effigy vessel, priest with Copal. Modeled clay, with abundant appliqué, 200-600 AD, Early Classic Zapotec culture, from Oaxaca.

Remarkable (and consistent across time and countries) decrease in inequality in three major economies of Latin America (after-tax income per capita): Brazil from 62 in 1991 to 48 now (-14 Gini points) Mexico from 55 in 1992 to 44 now (-11 Gini points) Peru from 55 in 2005 to 44 now (-11 Gini points)

When Trump raised tariffs, economists feared Mexico’s export-led economy would take a huge hit. Instead, Mexican exports to the US grew, because its tariff ended up lower than other countries. The disparity helped Mexican exports fill the gap left by Chinese products. www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

This is the mother of Huitzilopochtli and is related to the principles of origin and legitimization of Mexica power. Coatlicue, the goddess who carries the skirt of snakes, miraculous mother of the Sun, the Moon and the stars, was found in a heraldry in 1790. arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antig...

Population density in South America.

Fulcrums of order: rising states and the struggle for the future. A new CSIS report identifies 8 countries in the Global South that will play an outsized role in the global order going forward: 🇧🇷Brazil 🇲🇽Mexico 🇿🇦South Africa 🇸🇦Saudi Arabia 🇹🇷Turkey 🇮🇩Indonesia 🇮🇳India 🇦🇪UAE www.csis.org/zbchair/proj...

A flip flopping continent? Left and right in South America: division between political spectrums in the governments of the continent's countries from 2015 to 2025.

Old God 5F: this figure found near Mitla, Oaxaca, is in the lotus position, with goggles, a pectoral, bracelets, and a headdress. Probably of advanced age, wearing elliptical plates on the sides of his head resembling jaguar ears and a pectoral held in place by ribbons and a large bow or knot.

Mexico cancels the tax on violent video games by 2026. The measure was announced after Claudia Sheinbaum mentioned that it is difficult to distinguish which video games should have the 8% tax increase.

Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas) to everyone! Except in Uruguay, the only Latin American country where Christmas isn't an official holiday. To promote the separation of church and state, the government designated December 25th as "Family Day" in 1919. With thanks to: @mexikaaskop.bsky.social

Largest cities in North and South America in 2025, including metro/urban areas. São Paulo is still the largest city, followed closely by Mexico City and third-placed New York.

Lintel 43 Bird-Jaguar: a Maya ruler wearing a feathered headdress, a jade bead necklace with zoomorphic motifs and a jaguar head belt. He carries a staff topped with a seated anthropomorphic figure. Facing the ruler is a high-class woman, extending a plate with cords. Found at Yaxchilán, Chiapas.

Dutch 🇳🇱 inventions: 1. Microscope (1590) 2. Telescope (1608) 3. Artificial Kidney (1943) 4. Heart-Lung Machine (1953) 5. Pendulum Clock (1656) 6. Fahrenheit (1724 with Germany) 7. CD (1979) 8. DVD (1995) 9. Wi-Fi Standards (1990s) 10. Bluetooth Standards 11. ASML Machines 12. Electron Microscope

El Árbol del Tule, the tree with the thickest trunk on earth, is over 2,000 years old. Rooted in the ancestral land of the Zapotec people in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, this is a Montezuma cypress. Its roots hold the past, its trunk anchors the present, and its branches reach into the spiritual.

This map shows the extent of the Spanish Empire in the Americas around the year 1800.

Unpaid domestic and care work in Mexico represents nearly one-quarter of national GDP and continues to fall disproportionately on women. The study finds that unpaid labor accounts for 23.9% of Mexico’s GDP, with women generating more than 70% of this value. mexicobusiness.news/talent/news/...

The magnificent greenstone Heart of Cópil, linked to the destiny of the Mexica people. It is carved with the divine face of the god Tláloc. At its center is a bead, a symbol of preciousness. At the top are two reliefs in the shape of a spiral, indicating the points where veins and arteries connect.

The 10 most relaxing cities to live in: 1. Eindhoven, Netherlands 🇳🇱 2. Utrecht, Netherlands 🇳🇱 3. Canberra, Australia 🇦🇺 4. Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪 5. Groningen, Netherlands 🇳🇱 6. Trondheim, Norway 🇳🇴 7. Bergen, Norway 🇳🇴 8. Porto, Portugal 🇵🇹 9. Brisbane, Australia 🇦🇺 10. Rotterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱 (Timeout)

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum was dubbed one of NYT’s 67 Most Stylish People of 2025. Sheinbaum was the only sitting head of state to make the list, and told reporters credit should go to the Indigenous artisans whose embroidered garments she often wears, calling them “the pride of the nation”

Labour progress in Mexico: the minimum wage will be raised 13% in 2026, bringing the daily pay rate to 315 pesos ($19.48, €16.55). As the government continues to push its labor-forward agenda, the reduction of the work week from 48 to 40 hours (by 2030) probably also will be approved in January.

This cuauhxicalli of Aztec tlatoani Tízoc (ruled 1481-86) records the conquests of Tenochtitlan. The upper face has the image of the Sun, on the sides he is depicted holding lords from 15 different towns by the hair as a symbol of conquest. It was discovered in 1791, in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

In the mountains of Michoacán, the pueblo mágico of Tlalpujahua celebrates Christmas all year long (the giant tree stays up 365 days). Shops like Villa Claus and Navidad Eterna line streets, and the scent of canela and pine floats through the air like a snow globe come to life. youtu.be/5OCaNo-xSyo

In 1886, Mexico’s famous landscape painter José María Velasco traveled to Oaxaca to paint the city's cathedral. However, he also explored the municipality of Tecomavaca, where he painted this scene in 1887. These cacti can reach up to 18 meters in height. National Museum of Art, Mexico City, Mexico.

The most popular happening in posadas is the piñata, whose introduction was by the Augustinians of Acolman (16th century). The piñata in Mexico is a moral allegory: the seven points are the seven deadly sins, while the act of breaking it, with eyes blindfolded, symbolizes the faith to overcome evil.

On 23 December Oaxaca’s central square transforms into a glowing open-air gallery filled with sculptures carved from one of the most unlikely art materials…radishes. La Noche de Rábanos (Night of the Radishes) is more than 120 years old, but its origins go back further. m.youtube.com/shorts/-7r2j...

The Nochebuena (in Nahuatl as Cuetlaxóchitl): before it became a symbol of Christmas, the poinsettia had meaning in pre‑Hispanic Mexico. Its red color linked it to life force and sacrifice, sacred significance in Aztec culture. It was used in rituals, symbolizing vitality, renewal, spiritual power.

The most popular happening in posadas is the piñata, whose introduction was by the Augustinians of Acolman (16th century). The piñata in Mexico is a moral allegory: the seven points are the seven deadly sins, while the act of breaking it, with eyes blindfolded, symbolizes the faith to overcome evil.

On 23 December Oaxaca’s central square transforms into a glowing open-air gallery filled with sculptures carved from one of the most unlikely art materials…radishes. La Noche de Rábanos (Night of the Radishes) is more than 120 years old, but its origins go back further. m.youtube.com/shorts/-7r2j...

The Nochebuena (in Nahuatl as Cuetlaxóchitl): before it became a symbol of Christmas, the poinsettia had meaning in pre‑Hispanic Mexico. Its red color linked it to life force and sacrifice, sacred significance in Aztec culture. It was used in rituals, symbolizing vitality, renewal, spiritual power.

The Zapotec deity Cocijo (Gusii in Zapotec), Oaxaca. This deity is linked to lightning, rain and fertility, is characterized by its bifurcated tongue and the serpent mask, with fangs and jowls. One can see an eye with a trilobed eyebrow, a graphic abbreviation of the lizard and symbol of the earth

The bomb trigger? Venezuela’s president Maduro ordered his navy to escort ships carrying petroleum products from port, risking a confrontation with the US on the high seas as he defied Trump’s declaration of a “blockade” aimed at the country’s sanctioned oil industry. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...

Mexican President Sheinbaum and security czar Harfuch have overseen the most aggressive campaign against cartels in a decade with signs of success: government data show that homicides have fallen 22% to their lowest level in a decade and violent robberies are down 15% www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/w...