Our weekly roundup of stories in the English and Spanish language press on Mexico and Mexican politics.

Mexican Legislators Approve Reform in Favor of Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Peoples Telesur English. The reform elevates to constitutional status the right of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities to free, prior, informed, and culturally appropriate consultation on legislative and administrative measures that may affect or impact their lives or natural environment.

Étienne von Bertrab, Fin de sexenio: una mirada desde el sur Gatopardo. La presidencia de Andrés Manuel López Obrador está a punto de terminarse, pero el impacto de su legado en el sur de México recién empieza.

Eduardo Verdugo, Mexican president blames the US for bloodshed in Sinaloa Associated Press. During his morning news briefing, AMLO claimed American authorities “carried out that operation” to capture Zambada and that “it was totally illegal, and agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr. Mayo.” “If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they made that decision.”

Jim Mustain y Joshua Goodman, Un agente de la CIA asignado a México drogó, fotografió y violó a decenas de mujeres Sin Embargo. Espía y depredador sexual: otra violación demasiado frecuente y grotesca de los mexicanos y de la soberanía mexicana por parte del imperialismo estadounidense.

Alek Buttermann, Mexico’s President-elect Sheinbaum turns down Zelensky’s invitation to Ukraine BNE Intellinews. The global north’s favorite dictator is less loved outside the Atlantic-sphere.

Rocío Flores y Lisbeth Mejía Reyes, FILO: El negocio editorial detrás de la promoción de la lectura Oaxaca Media. Fondo Ventura, la asociación civil detrás de la Feria Internacional del Libro de Oaxaca, obtuvo millones de pesos en donativos del gobierno estatal entre 2010 y 2023, en detrimento de programas gubernamentales.

Mexican President AMLO Performs His Last ‘Independence Cry’ Telesur English. “Mexican women and men, death to corruption, greed, racism, and discrimination!” he exclaimed, followed by a “¡viva!” for love, Mexican workers, migrant brothers and sisters, Indigenous peoples, Mexico’s cultural greatness, and the Fourth Transformation, his political and ideological program.

Diego Aguilar, México y China deben estrechar más sus lazos: Fernández Noroña Forbes. “No me queda más que desearles, que sea muy intensa su celebración, y desearle larga vida al pueblo de China, larga vida a la República Popular China, larga vida a la amistad entre nuestros pueblos, y larga vida a esta relación de amistad, de comprensión, de respeto a la diferencia, que debe haber entre los pueblos del mundo”, declaró Noroña.

Isabella Escalona, Labor’s Reckoning: What We Can Learn from the Cold War History of the AFL-CIO Workday Magazine. “I say it is time for the labor movement to not have to rely on any funds from the State Department or from the NED and to be able to carry out a totally independent foreign policy.  This is what the United Electrical (UE) workers do. For the last thirty years or so, they’ve had partnerships, in Mexico in particular, where it’s union-to-union, worker-to-worker types of solidarity organizing. I think more of that would be good, without the federal dollars.”

Raúl Romero, Xochimilco: grupos de choque y represión La Jornada. Aunque han comenzado a deslindarse responsabilidades, hay que dimensionar la gravedad de los hechos: los grupos de choque en la policía de la CDMX hacen revivir los peores momentos del México autoritario. Lo sucedido el 5 de septiembre en Xochimilco y Tlalpan no debe pasar desapercibido.