Mexico

The US responds by filling the Gulf of Mexico with platforms again

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The horizon of the Gulf of Mexico has once again become populated with lights, cranes and metal structures that rise above the sea as if they were floating cities. At first glance, it might seem like a throwback to a time when offshore drilling dominated American oil, but the context is completely different. At a time when markets anticipate an oversupply of crude oil by 2026 “almost cartoonish”the Gulf is experiencing an unexpected renaissance. An unexpected return. According to the Financial Timescompanies such as BP, Chevron, Talos Energy or Beacon Offshore have reactivated projects that require investments of billions of dollars and that drill more than 3,000 meters under the sea. The clearest signal came from BP. According to Reutersthe British oil company has approved a $5 billion project—Tiber-Guadalupe—that contemplates a platform capable of producing 80,000 barrels per day starting in 2030. It will be its second project in the area prepared to operate at 20,000 psi, a technical leap that opens up deposits previously considered inaccessible. Chevron and Beacon Offshore have also begun producing in ultra-deep fields using these new systems. Gulf production will rise to 1.89 million barrels per day in 2025 and reach 1.96 million in 2026, according to calculations cited by Reuters. These are figures that contrast with the cooling of shale: land formations – especially in the Permian – show slower growth and increasing costs. The keys to the resurgence. There are several very clear drivers for reopening the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. First, the new generation of high-pressure systems—the famous 20,000 psi—has transformed the map of the Gulf. Talos Energy assures that its offshore break-even can fall to $20 per barrel, a level that challenges the myths of the sector and that places the Gulf at an advantage over many shale areas, where the best wells are already exhausted. Land production is no longer the miracle it was in the last decade. As Reuters points outthe most productive areas on land are maturing. The industry must drill more and source less, and that makes each barrel more expensive. Offshore, although requiring massive initial investments, offers decades of stable, large-scale production. In a volatile market, that predictability has become a strategic asset. Finally, another key driver is the political turn. The call “One Big Beautiful Bill”recently approved, requires at least 30 auctions of oil rights in the Gulf of America —name that the White House has begun to impose to refer to its continental shelf— in the next 15 years. In addition, deepwater royalties have been reduced to attract capital. According to Washington Postthe administration is also preparing new auctions in California and the East Coast, breaking with almost 40 years of restrictions. But that movement has sparked a political war: Governor Gavin Newsom rated the plan of “dead on arrival” and warned that he will defend the state’s coast “over our dead body.” A long-term vision. Big oil is not investing for today, but for 2035 or 2040. As Bloomberg has detailedExxon, Chevron and BP are accelerating global exploration because, despite the climate discourse, the International Energy Agency has softened its peak oil forecast, in your current policy scenario (CPS)predicts that global oil demand could increase to 113 million barrels per day in 2050. The platforms that are approved now will produce when the current shale fields are already in decline. The ghost of spills. The rise of the Gulf coincides with a broader geopolitical conflict. According to The Guardianany attempt to drill off California — where no new licenses have been approved since the 1980s — faces fierce opposition, both Democrats and Republicans. Memories of the disaster from Santa Barbara (1969) and of the spill in California (2015) They are still alive. In Florida, explains The New York Times, Even Republicans reject new drilling in the eastern Gulf for fear of the impact on tourism. In addition, the federal moratorium prohibiting drilling off its coast extends until 2032, making any attempt to reopen the area a conflict within Trump’s own party. and the trauma of Deepwater Horizonin 2010, continues to be the underground wound of all debate. Ultra-deep drilling is technically extraordinary, but it also carries high risks: an accident can take months to contain. Mexico looks askance. The boom on the US side of the Gulf has direct repercussions in Mexico. According to the cross-border agreement explained by BOEMthe United States and Mexico share deposits on the maritime border and can exploit them jointly. However, if the United States accelerates drilling with 20,000 psi technologies and Mexico does not keep up with that pace, tension could arise over reserves, inspections and exploitation rights. A saturated global market. The Gulf’s renaissance comes at a contradictory time for the world market. the world heading towards a gigantic crude surplus in 2026, fueled by increased production from Saudi Arabia and Russia. At the same time, China is acting as a global buffer: has purchased about 150 million additional barrels and filled much of its strategic reserves. But that balance is fragile. Analysts warn that if Beijing reduces its purchases, oversupply could emerge suddenly and cause a sharp drop in prices. Furthermore, with interest rates at record highs, storing oil is once again an expensive business: a larger contango would be needed than at any time in the last 25 years for storage to be profitable. A new boom or the last great gasp of oil? Helicopters are flying over the towers again, support ships are queuing in the ports of Louisiana and Texas and oil companies have reactivated one of the largest offshore hubs on the planet. The Gulf of Mexico is experiencing an unexpected renaissance. The question that hovers over this return is uncomfortable and decisive: are we facing a new golden age of deepwater oil or the last great push of an industry that refuses to disappear? For now, politics pushes and technology accompanies, but the reality is that this new “energy heart of the United States” is involved in … Read more

In Mexico, Generation Z has taken to the streets to demand changes. And he did it with ‘One Piece’

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Mexico has joined the wave of protests youth events that over the last few months have shaken Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Peru, Morocco either Philippinesto cite a handful of examples. Marches that share two great hallmarks. The first, who promotes them: young people from Generation Z (born between the late 90s and the first decade of the 2000s) raised in the heat of the networks and now crying out for change. The second, its symbol. It does not matter whether the protests are organized in Lima, Kathmandu or Mexico City. Beyond using networks as catalysts, the mobilizations of Generation Z usually resort to the same emblem: the pirate flag from ‘One Piece’, the manga of Eiichiro Oda that the protesters have turned into their most identifiable banner. And not just because of the flag. In the marches it is also common to see other clear nods to the comic, such as the use of straw hats. How did you get to Mexico? After weeks of brewing online, the most visible mobilization in Mexico took place this weekend, when thousands of people gathered in the capital to make clear their “political fatigue”. The authorities speak of around 17,000 attendeesa human tide that left the monument The Angel of Independence and concluded in the Zócalo. The call was for the most part peaceful and passed without major incidents, beyond the insults to the president (Claudia Sheinbaum); but it was marred by the final altercations, which left more than a hundred of injured (mostly police officers) and several dozen arrested. In fact, the Ministry of the Interior assures that during the “violent acts” homemade explosive devices were used and objects were thrown at the agents. Who took to the streets? Some media they assure that among the protesters there were mainly young people, others qualify that during most of the Mexico City march, Generation Z was a minority and the most common thing was to meet people who were over 30 years old. Sheinbaum herself influenced that message later, commenting on what happened on Saturday in Mexico City: “They say that young people marched, but in reality there were very few, and they violently removed fences and broke windows. No to violence.” The truth is that, beyond Mexico City, there were mobilizations in other points of the country, such as Yucatán, Puebla, Monterrey or Guanajuato, and among the protesters they waved the banners of ‘One Piece’. Also posters demanding improvements in the country and Mexican flags with the face of Carlos Manzothe local leader of Uruapan shot to death just a few weeks ago. His death (a new example of the violence in the country) was in fact one of the levers of the protests. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And why did they go out into the streets? The other key. The TendenciaMax account (656,600 followers) echoed a few weeks ago a manifesto headed by “Generation Z Mexico” and the ‘One Piece’ flag (modified to add a mustache and Mexican hat), on which keys to the call were slipped. To begin with, it was insisted that the movement does not endorse any ideology or party and lacks “disguised agendas.” “We are young people who love our country and we are tired of the same history, the same abuse and corruption.” During the march people could be heard expressing their exhaustion with the violence, insecurity, Sheinbaum’s management or even denouncing that Manzo “the State killed him”. The word “narco-state” was also drawn on the wall built by the authorities to protect the Presidential Palace from protests. Excelsior slips that another point that has caused tension to grow is the decision to apply a 8% tax to video games with violent content. In the opinion of the Executive, the protest is orchestrated actually by the opposition and reply to an “articulated digital strategy” in networks by dint of bots. Why ‘One Piece’? If spontaneous mobilizations have something, it is that it is not easy to define them. Gen Z marches are no exception. Although in recent months they seem to have gained strengthspreading through Asia, Africa and Latin America, the truth is that they can go back even further in time, to student uprising of Bangladesh that led the prime minister to flee to India, or the 2022 revolt in Sri Lanka that forced the president to resign. What they have in common is the mobilization of Generation Z and the fortune that ‘One Piece’ seems to have made in their imagination, something that it doesn’t seem casual. The comic began to be published in the late 90s and continues to be updated, so its popularity has coincided with the Gen Z boom, and much of its plot fits in with the demands of the protests. After all, its main character, the young and charismatic pirate Monkey D. Luffyis presented as a figure of liberation. Images | David Cabrera (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | Young people have become more spiritual than the average in Spain. The problem for the Church is that no more Catholics

Mexico forgets about the 48 hours per week

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According to data OECD 2024, Mexico is one of the countries with the longest working day in the world with an average of 2,193 hours worked per year, compared to the 1,736 hours worked on average in the countries of this group, or the 1,634 hours worked on average in Spain. On average, Mexicans they work 48 hours a week in six business days. For this reason, one of the purposes on the legislative agenda of the current president Claudia Sheinbaum is the reduction of working hours as a way to improve the conditions of the workers and boost the productivity of the country’s industrial fabric. The reduction of working hours will be a reality. In statements to The Countrythe Secretary of Labor of Mexico, Marath Bolaños, assured that the proposal to reduce working hours had been on the table since 2022, but it has been postponed to give priority to other labor reforms such as the increase in minimum wagethe outsourcing reform and the approval of the Chair Law. However, the Mexican executive has taken up the initiative with force and since May 2025 there has been a firm determination on the part of its president to implement this reform before the end of the year. “The objective is that in 2030 all workers are within the 40-hour limit. Our limit is January 2030, but we could reach that objective in less time, in 2029, for example,” Bolaños pointed out in his interview. This spirit of reform is also noticeable in the Chamber of Deputies as a whole, where up to 16 reform initiatives for the working day have been presented by different political groups, according to collected The Economist. What is the work day like?. In Mexico, the Federal Labor Law (LFT) establishes different types of work days with specific time limits for each of them: The daytime shift is the most common and is between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., with a maximum duration of eight hours a day. On the other hand, the night shift ranges from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., but in this case it has a limit of seven hours a day due to its nocturnal nature. Lastly is the mixed day, which includes parts of both time slots (for jobs as a baker, for example), as long as the night period does not exceed three and a half hours. In this case, its maximum duration is seven and a half hours per day. How do they want to reduce it?. One of the keys to this reduction is the modification of section IV of section A of article 123 of the Political Constitution proposed by deputy Susana Prieto Terrazas, from the Morena parliamentary group. This article establishes: “For every six days of work, the operator must enjoy at least one day of rest.” Instead, the proposal contemplates adding one more day of rest, so that the full-time working day would be five days, but maintaining eight hours, which is the maximum allowed by law for daytime work. The text of the rule, therefore, would read as follows: “For every five days of work, the worker will enjoy at least two days of rest, with full salary” How it will be applied. Last May, President Sheinbaum ordered that social agents, unions, employers, consultants and the executive branch begin a series of negotiating tables where they would study how to implement the measure that, relentlesslywill come into force on May 1, 2026, coinciding with Workers’ Day. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare will be in charge to present the final proposal for the labor reform in November 2025, which represents the first step towards its implementation. President Sheinbaum’s plan is to implement the new reduced working day progressively from its entry into force in 2026 until 2030 so that two hours per year will be cut until 2029, ending in 2030 with 40 hours per week: 2026: 46 hours 2027: 44 hours 2028: 42 hours 2029: 41 hours 2030: 40 hours Reduction in working hours, not salary. As happened in the proposal to reduce working hours presented in Spain by the Ministry of Labor, the measure in Mexico is proposed as a reduction in hours that provides better balance and well-being for workers, which is why the reduction in working hours does not imply a salary reduction. “Reducing working hours does not reduce productivity, nor does it reduce the value generated, what it does is signify the existence of workers, giving them back hours of their life and valuing the work they do week after week,” assured the person in charge of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. How it affects part-time work. The reduction in hours is carried out based on the calculation of the full day, so those employees who work part-time hours will apply the modification based on it. That is, if an employee’s working day was 24 hours per week (50% of a full day), they can maintain that working time by increasing the salary in proportion (60% of the full-time salary) or reduce their working day to 20 hours while maintaining 50% of a full day. In Xataka | Airbnb and digital nomads brought dollars to Mexico City: they have also brought the biggest housing crisis in years Image | Unsplash (Jesus Herrera, Nihar Reddy Jangam)

A Microsoft Data Center in Mexico collided with the reality of the electricity network. Your solution: use gas generators

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Artificial intelligence has become daily, but behind each consultation to tools such as Chatgpt either COPILOT There are real buildings that consume a lot of energy and require reliable infrastructure. In that framework, Microsoft announced May 7, 2024 The beginning of operations of its “Central Mexico” data centers region, with several locations in the Querétaro Metropolitan Area. The deployment, however, coexists with very specific tensions: According to the companyat least one of those centers, that of Columbus, cannot benefit from the advantages of the electricity network until mid -2027 and obtained permission to temporarily operate with gas generators. It should be remembered that the proximity of these infrastructure to users is essential: it reduces latency, improves the quality of the service and allows to meet data residence requirements. But that technical advantage depends on something elementary: having an electricity grid capable of sustaining permanent operations and constant cooling. Microsoft stressed the magnitude of its project in the North American country. The new region aims to offer local access to Azure, Microsoft 365Dynamics 365, among other services. The firm also presented the initiative as an “avant -garde” infrastructure aimed at accelerating innovation in the region. The Achilles heel of deployment: energy In a request to the Ministry of Environment delivered in 2023Microsoft acknowledged that, although the data center would connect within the planned deadlines, due to the construction deadlines included in its contract with the Federal Electricity Commission, the energization of the connection would not be ready until the Second quarter of 2027. To save that void, The use of seven generators was approved capable of covering 70% of the demand of the center of Columbus for 12 hours a day, for at least four months. According to Rest of World, Mexico already has about a hundred data centers, with investments that exceed 7,000 million dollars from 2020 by Microsoft, Aws and Google. Querétaro has established itself as the main attraction pole, with 15 facilities that concentrate about 80% of the sector’s energy demand, about 200 MW. The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness projects thatby 2030, the network will face a deficit of 48,000 MWh, more than half of what it produced in 2023. With more than 70 new centers planned in the next five years, the mismatch between installed capacity and electric transmission becomes an obvious threat. The American company has set ambitious environmental goals: Being negative carbon in 2030, eliminating all its historical emissions in 2050 and supplying 100% with renewable energy contracts in 2025. In contrast, in Columbus is the provisional measure of operating with gas generators until it can be fully connected to the network in 2027. What It is not clear is whether these equipment were usedif they remain in operation or what intermediate solution the company will apply in the coming years. Microsoft, for now, has not specified with which energy sources Opera Colón. The launch of the Central Mexico region was presented as a decisive step to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and attract foreign investment. But energy reality introduces a decisive nuance: the infrastructure necessary to sustain that deployment does not advance at the same rate as the technological ambition. The tension between promises of sustainability and limitations of the network is a reminder that the cloud, far from being ethereal, rests on concrete foundations, cables and megawatts that define, in a way, how far artificial intelligence and other services can go. Images | Microsoft (1, 2) In Xataka | This nuclear reactor is different from everyone else. It has been expressly designed for data centers

The great language models ignore the deepest identity of Mexico. The government’s response is to create your own

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Chatgpt, Gemini, Claude, Calls, Deepseek. Today there are dozens of conversational models available to anyone. Some are open, others free. So why did Mexico decided to create its own? What can a national model contribute that Silicon Valley, Europe or Beijing giants do not contribute? The answer has less to do with technology and more with culture. Mexico has announced The development of its own artificial intelligence language model with Mexican cultural identity and inclusion of indigenous languages. When AI does not understand everything. The best known models of today are powerful and versatile, but were not designed to understand the linguistic and cultural diversity of all countries. Their training data prioritizes English and, although many other languages such as Spanish speak, usually sin of low sensitivity to local expressions or original languages. A recent IDB Lab, LlyC and Microsoft study It shows that only 54% of the responses in indigenous languages were correct (the remaining 46% presented errors or mixtures of languages). In particular, in Maya and Quiché the understanding and expression barely reached 1.25/10, while in Nahuatl it was 3.42/10 and in Guaraní 2.77/10 What did the Mexican government say. The Secretary of Economy, Marcelo Ebrard, announced that Mexico will present in November (12 and 13, Expo Santa Fe, CDMX) The advances in its own language during the “Mexico ia + accelerated investment” forum. “If we do not hurry to dominate that alphabet, we will face a very significant disadvantage in this new context that is emerging today,” said. Who does it and how much it costs. The Ministry of Economy, under the direction of Marcelo Ebrard, heads the initiative with the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) and with the technological support of Nvidia, which will provide training and hardware without investing capital in the project. According to the CCE, the construction of the data centers will require an approximate investment of 9,000 million dollars. What will the model be like. The model plans to train with cultural data from Mexico, Mexican Spanish and active indigenous languages. Mexico recognizes 68 linguistic groups and 364 variants (INALI), forces Corpus’s fine collection and healing work. What are other countries doing. In Latin America, a coalition of countries will launch Latam-GPT in September 2025, Led by Cenia (Chile) with the support of more than 30 institutions. It is born to represent regional cultural and linguistic diversity and functions as a regional collaborative project. In Europe, Spain promotes aliaa public infrastructure of models in Spanish and co -official languages. Images | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 Flash In Xataka | The Electoral Institute of Mexico used a synthetic voice such as that of the Dragon Ball narrator. The actors went out

Mexico has declared war on a smuggling that is breaking the Chinese market: the “Cocaine del Mar”

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A little over a year ago, in June 2024a Mexican National Guard team was watching the Tlaquepaque bus station in Jalisco, when something curious happened. Suddenly one of the dogs trained to detect drugs began to sniff two cardboard boxes located in the officia of a messaging company. As they approached, the agents found that it smelled strange, as a “decomposition product”, so they decided to open the packages. Inside there was no coca, nor hashish, nor weapons, but 80 vexigas Fish dehydrated. The fact is that these buches belonged to a very specific species, the Totoaba Macdonaldiand were not any pieces either. As much as they had bad appearance and poured those 80 veils, which together weighed around 18 kilos, they could have sold for 360,000 dollars In the Chinese black market. For something they are known as “Cocaine of the sea”. Totoaqué? Totoaba Macdonaldi. His name may not be familiar to us in this part of the world, but he is well known in his place of origin, in The coasts of Mexico. To be more precise the species is endemic to the Alto Gulf of California and attracts attention for its size. A totoaba can reach the two meters100 kg of weight and 30 years of life. If for something it is (sadly) famous however it is for its swim bladderor buche, the organ that facilitates flotability. Why’s that? Because in certain regions of China it is considered a treasure, a Delicatesen coveted by their alleged Medicinal properties and that quotes stratospheric values in the black market. Among other uses and despite the fact that there are no solid investigations that demonstrate their goodnessin the Asian giant Totoaba buches are used to make soups that supposedly improve articular pains and relieve the discomfort of pregnant. It is so popular in the country that they are even used as an investment, luxury gift or even dowry. And how much does it cost? Quite. It is not easy to specify it because the price of Totoaba’s bladder is closely linked to the Chinese black market, but a quick search arrives on Google to confirm that it is a luxury merchandise. In 2017 the BBC I calculated that the kilo of Buche could easily exceed 8,500 dollars. The same figure contributed recently the Nikkei agency in An article On the vexigas introduced to smuggling in the Asian market. Others go further and talk about $ 20,000 per kilo, 2,200 euros for just 100 grams or even 40,000 euros for the vexigas of the most desired and most desired specimens. There are those who even slide figures still higher. Is it a problem? Yes. The high demand has submitted to the species at such a pressure that the Mexican government has had to take action on the matter. In the 70s prohibited its fishing, in 1991 It was officially declared in danger of extinction and its name has passed, among other documents, to the list of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). It also appears in the “Red List” of the Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose last evaluation is 2020. There is a vulnerable species. And how is it now? In A statement Published at the end of June, the Mexican government recalls that in the twentieth century Totoaba fishing grew “without control to reduce its population and take it to the edge of extinction” and recognizes that the species is still stalked by smuggling. However, there are some signs that invite moderate optimism. Protection measures and especially repopulation work are helping “little by little” to recover the species. A month ago, in fact, the authorities released 40,000 young in Baja California Sur. In total, in that region about 270,000 have already been released. Are there more measures? Yes. Mexican authorities also carry out controls such as the one that allowed to requisition 80 bucho Last year at the Jalisco Bus Station. Not long after the National Guard and the Customs Agency intercepted another 75 pieces In the Customs of Sonoyta, Sonora. Last March the authorities presumed A new ‘blow’ When removing hundreds of meters from Enmalle networks and dozens of copies of Totoaba on the coasts of the Alto Gulf of California. And at the political level? The species is also part of the Mexican political debate. Over the last years the authorities They have been profiling The legal framework that protects the species and in spring a government commission approved A reform package For that same purpose. Your goal? Regulate the tariff codes that would apply to an export, maintaining, ensures digital road map, the veto to the commercialization of buchors. A few weeks ago the Nikkei agency revealed That Mexico has decided to partially raise the veto to the export of the species, although it speaks exclusively of the meat of specimens of fish farm. The measure is accompanied by a stricter monitoring of the merchandise to prevent its smuggling. Cocaine of the sea? Maybe it sounds excessive, but in recent years the totoaba has earned the nickname of “Cocaine of the sea”. And it makes enough sense. Not only for his high pricealso for the consequences of demand in China. The lucrative business of the Totaba fish illegally and its price in Asia has caught the attention of organizations dedicated to drug smuggling. “The posters realized that these Chinese merchants won a lot with the jellyfish, the Totoaba buche, the sea cucumbers, the abult … and these economies began to penetrate to dominate them,” Explain to The country Felbab-Brown, from the Brookings Institute and an organized crime expert. At the beginning of the year the CBC chain revealed A report of the agency and border services of sample how the networks of Chinese organized crime and the Mexican cartels are resorting to the Canadian ports to exchange buffers and precursors of the fentanyl. Are there more factors at stake? The answer is affirming again. There is another involuntary protagonist who … Read more

The US prepares to bomb the border of Mexico with sterile flies. It will not use genetic engineering, but 1950 technology

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The United States wants to stop the Cochliomyia hominivorax, A fly that when it is in the larval phase causes a parasitic disease that mainly affects cattle (although it can also affect humans). A few days ago we talked about the plan to end her: launch millions of sterile flies to stop their expansion. The funny thing is that they are not going to do it using Genomic editionbut for this they will use a technology ago. X -rays and planes. The objective of this initiative is to stop the expansion of this plague and for this what they are going to do is sterilize millions of flies. As? With A technology that has been using since the 70s To combat this plague: X -rays. After raising the larvae and that they transform into pupae, they are placed inside a metal cylinder that is introduced into a gamma irradiation chamber with a dose of between 40 and 65 gray, enough to reach 95% sterility without compromising their survival. The container (left) that is introduced into the irradiation chamber (right). Fountain Once sterilized, you have to reach the affected areas, in this case the southern Texas and Mexico. To ensure that they arrive in the appropriate phase, the pupae remain at 10 degrees so that their metamorphosis to adults slows down. They are released from airplanes and, when the temperature rises, sterile males emerge. Why not transgenic flies? Sterilization of insects by radiation has decades of proven efficacy. Genetic modification is potentially cheaper and efficientbut it is still in an experimental phase and is not ready for mass production. There is also the issue of regulation, more complicated in this case because it requires approvals from two countries: the United States and Mexico. The current legal framework under which sterile insects are released does not contemplate genetic modification and achieve approval I could take years and cost millions of dollars. The threat. The one known as “Cattle Barrenter” is a devastating species, especially for cattle. The females deposit their eggs in wounds and mucous animals and, when hatching, the larvae begin to feed on the meat, causing injuries that become mortal. According to the head of the American Association of Veterinary Medicine, They can kill a 450 kilos cow in two weeks. This pest affects mainly to countries in South America, but It is not the first time that the United States has to deal with it; In 1966 they already eradicated it and in 2017 there was a small outbreak in the Florida Keys. There is a hurry. Although the reduction of transgenic technique costs sounds attractive, the reality is that there is no time to lose. The boreride worm has reappeared in southern Mexico and, although it has not been detected near the border, from the United States They don’t want to take risks. In addition to the release of sterile flies, other measures will also take controls in the transfer of animals, collaborate with Mexico to improve surveillance and provide traps to catch larvae. Image | PSUBRATY in Pixabay In Xataka | Every week, millions of flies are released on the Valencia Community and, although it does not seem like it, it is a sensational idea

The dubbing actors are planting in front of AI. In Mexico, the protest goes beyond image rights

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The protest was this Sunday, but the discomfort had been cooking for weeks. Actors, broadcasters and creatives of the dubbing world mobilized in Mexico City to ask that their voice, their work tool cannot be cloned by artificial intelligence without consent. The trigger was a video published by the INE that, according to the organizers, the voice of the deceased would have used José Lavat generated by means of. Lavat was one of the most recognized dubbing voices in Latin Spanish, known for his role as a narrator in the Dragon Ball series. The impact was immediate. And the answer, too. A protest in the CDMX center. The mobilization took place in the monument to the revolution, in the center of Mexico City. It was not a massive march, but it was significant: not only because of the number –According to the National Association of Actors (ANDA)more than a thousand people attended – but for the diversity of voices who joined the claim. Among the calls and assistants were Ameloc, the Anda herself, the United Voices Organization, Ark Dubbing Mexico, the Esteban Siller Artistic Specialization Center (Ceartes), and also the International Association of Workers of the Show (AITE). As they collect in this Instagram postthe claim was shared by broadcasters, actors, technicians, directors and professionals of all industry levels. “It’s not just about actors,” said Alejandro Cuétara, representative of Anda, cited by Ecos Media MX. “We are supporting a group of directors whose work is also at risk, and the guild in general, which includes the other 60 departments that participate in a filming. From which Barre, to the director: we are all at risk.” From the street claim to Congress. The protest was not just symbolic. The participants took advantage of the call to demand concrete changes in Mexican legislation. The objective: that the human voice – as biometric data and work tool – is protected by law against unauthorized uses with artificial intelligence. As explained by Cuétara, in the last legislature there were up to 58 attempts to regulate the use of AI. “And none came to a discussion,” he lamented. Now, they support a new initiative promoted by local deputy Paulo García, which has already been raised to the federal level. What they ask, in the words of the Anda representative, is clear: “That there are the attempts of law that there are.” Cuétara also made a direct call to President Claudia Sheinbaum, asking her to take the issue as a legislative priority. “We are asking the president, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, to take the matter as her own and that puts a priority initiative to be discussed,” she said in the demonstration. The proposal is not limited to the use of voices in advertising or cinema: seeks broader recognition. “By controlling biometric, not only of talents, actors, actresses … the biometric of all Mexican. That your voice is part of your own image and that no one can or replicate it or use it to feed generative intelligences,” he said. It is a concern that is not only technique: it is also human. Therefore, from the Mexican guild they propose the creation of a new seal, which works as a declaration of principles. To the already known “made in Mexico”, they want to add a new one: “made by humans.” The government takes note (at least for now). This Monday, In its usual public interventionPresident Claudia Sheinbaum referred to the case directly. “They are right,” he said, in relation to the claims of the actors and announcers who participated in the protest. “They are people who dedicate themselves mainly to dubbing and, according to what they raise, even people who already died. This is not correct,.” Sheinbaum confirmed that she has already talked with the legal counselor and the Ministry of Culture to open a dialogue channel with the groups. “We are going to meet them to see which schemes of protection to their work and their voice have to be used to avoid the use of what is their main work tool, which is their voice, through artificial intelligence,” he said during the morning conference. The president admitted that the issue raises legal challenges – as the debate on whether the voice can be considered a biometric data – but also recognized the value of the trade. “The dubbing that is done in Mexico is very good. There are many people who dedicate themselves to it and you have to protect their work, their voice and everything that is associated with this important profession.” The dilemma is not just Mexican. What is played in Mexico is part of a broader debate. Throughout the world, artificial intelligence has begun to enter the creative processes, From script writing to films dubbing. Prime video, for examplehas already launched a pilot program to apply dubbing assisted by AI in titles that did not have a localized version. The plan, they assure, combines AI with human review to make its catalog more accessible. But not everyone see it with good eyes. In Hollywood, critical voices accumulate. Robert Downey Jr., for example, made clear that it will not allow That a digital twin of yours is believed or that its image is used with without consent. “Even if I am dead, my law firm will remain very active,” he warned. Images | Jonathan Velasquez | Igor Omilaev | Ameloc In Xataka | The most experienced developers hoped to improve their productivity with AI. A study showed just the opposite

The Spanish Galeon San José was sunk transporting 20,000 million dollars. Mexico and Colombia are going to bring that treasure to light

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The history of San José Galeon It is very particular. The ship left the shipyards of Guipúzcoa in 1706 to the sea of ​​the Caribem, and there it was loaded to the flag with gold, gems and jewels from Peruvian, Bolivian and Mexican mines. It was a Awesome boat With 40 meters of length, 64 cannons and a crew of 600 people, but was sunk after an attack of British privateers in 1708, leaving only 10 survivors and that juicy treasure in the depths of the sea off the coast of Cartagena. It is one of the More than 1,500 Spanish Spanish ships Through the world and Mexico and Colombia are collaborating to ‘rescue’ those treasures that have been in the back of the ocean for more than 300 years. It has a value My dear of 20,000 million dollars and is the protagonist of an authentic soap opera. A soap opera. The history of San José did not end when the ship touched background. In fact, I may only start. In 1981, the Search Armed Exploration Company claimed to have located the Spanish wreck and delivered the coordinates Not Spain, but Colombia. The treatment? Supposedly, access to half of the treasure. However, in 2015, the Colombian government said they found the remains in a place different from that indicated above. That enraged the company Cazatesoros, who claimed that it was a strategy so that Colombia did not have to share the treasure. Neither short nor lazy, former president Juan Manuel Santos proudly said it was one of the most important treasures in Colombiaand everything pointed out that Search Armada would not see a cent. Meanwhile, Spain was not with crossed arms and appealed to his sovereignty about Galeon. Investigating. In 2024, with the wreck even in dispute, the Commission for the Investigation and Accusation of the House of Representatives of Colombia opened an investigation against former president Santos. The reason? “Intrusion and looting” of the Spanish Galeon. “It’s not a treasure”. The current Colombian government has another point of view and, in May last year, declared as the protected archaeological area the pungent area. The Minister of Cultures of Colombia, Juan David Correa, said that it was “the first time that an archaeological heritage area submerged at such depth is declared, it is historical for Latin America. We already have a special plan of underwater archaeological management.” Protection. The objective, then, is to guarantee the protection and conservation of the Galeon, as Alhena Caicedo, director of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, and said history, and The doors were not closed to treat the wreck as shared heritage. The objective now is to see what the ship was transporting and catalog it. It seems that it is not a treasure rescue mission, such as Correa itself: “It is not an extraction mission for economic value. What we want is to leave Colombia the possibility of a scientific-cultural mission that will have several stages and that starts today.” Mosaic rebuilt from photogrammetry files Mexico + Colombia. And that is where the National Institute of Anthropology and History -INAH- of Mexico comes into play. In an initiative called “Towards the heart of the San José Galeon”, Colombian and Mexican researchers are collaborating to be able to carry out this ‘recovery’ process. Mexico has a great experience when making archaeological expeditions (with recent examples such as the entire Mayan train networkthe application of New techniques to explore the interior of pyramids and the Underground stay mapping). A underwater expedition is different, but there they also have something to say. Colombian researchers asked INAH members about their experience in the project of Our Lady of Juncala ship that shipwrecked in 1613 in the Gulf of Mexico and with which there are parallels in the case of the San José expedition. In addition, between Colombia and Mexico there are archaeologists support programs that are formed in a cross way in both countries, as if it were an Erasmus of archeology. Digitize everything. Therefore, Mexico is advising Colombia, but it is these who, using submarine robots, are exploring San José and its surroundings in a program consisting of four phases: First phase (it began in May 2024): an underwater research ship comes into play with dynamic and acoustic positioning technologies, as well as a remote operating vehicle with sensors that has the mission of reaching the site. Second phase: generation of images of the site with which to prepare a record of the archaeological evidence for the classification of materials and their origin. THIRD PHASE: prediagnosis of conservation to establish starting points on the level of deterioration of the elements. Fourth phase: Digital documenting the archaeological context through photogrammetry techniques for informative purposes. It seems that Colombia’s plans are clear and, according to the details of the different phases, it does not seem that the goal is to get everything they find out of the water, but to catalog it so that we can see the state of the ship and its shipment 300 years later (in addition to the wealth it carried when it was sunk). Next steps. These last weeks, however, There have been important findings. The ICANH confirmed new “areas of interest” on the site, with Chinese porcelain, ingots, weapons and currencies that allow us to know more about the context of the sunken galleon. In addition, both INAH and the Ministry of Culture of Colombia have set October 2025 and the date on which they will detail the next steps of the mission. The idea is to profile that strategy of ‘towards the heart of the Galeon’ in order to exhibit tangible results before the end of the current presidential mandate in 2026. And, surely, it will be then when the controversy between Spain, Colombia, the indigenous community Qhara Qhara that demands Rights on the Treasury and the company that claims to have discovered the wreck to a new level. Images INAH, Wikipedia, ICANH In Xataka | Sunk ships … Read more

Mexico City wanted to shine as Lisbon did. Now they have the same problems: Gentrification and Digital Nomads

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In recent weeks, Mexico City has been the scene of a wave of protests that have put in the center of the debate the coexistence of its inhabitants. The increase in housing prices, due to the gentrification of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, and the uncontrolled tourist They have put the Digital nomads In the spotlight causing an unprecedented social reaction in the Mexican capital. Mexico City is thrown out. Thousands of people went to protest through the streets of the most central and busy colonies (neighborhoods) like Rome and Countess, where rental prices have increased above 100% In the last three years. What began as a peaceful manifestation against the gentrification and the increase of life in those colonies, soon took a more violent look: Several businesses frequented by tourists and digital nomads were attacked under slogans From “Gringo, go home!” Some protesters carried banners with “gringos written messages, stop stealing the house”, while demanding laws to regulate the tourist and policies that allow access to a home at affordable prices for the premises. “They are expelling us from our own neighborhoods,” the protesters shouted. The government responds and the US does not lose Comba. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, He expressed his outrage before the violence registered in the demonstrations and condemned Xenophobic attitudes that the protesters showed against the digital nomads and tourists who found in their path. “It cannot be that due to a lawsuit, however legitimate, that is gentrification, the demand is ‘any nationality of our country,’” said Sheinbaum. “Mexico is a country open to the world and is not discriminatory; then xenophobic attitudes cannot be justified.” The increase in tension against digital nomads, mainly Americans, also have a response component from citizenship to deportation policies That the Government of Donald Trump is applying, expelling many Mexican citizens from the US, while these digital nomads now occupy the homes in which the protesters lived. “Gentrification is colonization!” Some of the banners exhibited in the demonstration. For its part, far from showing a conciliatory message, the US National Security Department, on which mass deportations depend, threw more firewood by the fire by publishing In his X profile The message: “If you are illegally in the United States and want to join the next protest in Mexico City, use the CBP Home application to facilitate your departure.” THE ORIGIN OF THE PROTEST: Gentrification. Such and As I pointed out The president of Mexico in her speech, the origin of the discomfort of the population of Mexico City has as a backdrop Gentrificationa process that has accelerated in recent years. During this period, the local government promoted the investment of foreign real estate funds and the Use of platforms such as Airbnbracing the way for the arrival of professionals with high purchasing power from the global northern. As a result, the price of housing in central colonies It has doubled In the last decade, and the cost of living has become unsustainable for many residents resulting from the pressure of investment funds for removing maximum profitability to their real estate investments. “When talking about real estate cartels, it is rightly said, because between cartels there are disputes over a territory or square, and today the (colony) Juarez is the center of a similar dispute,” assured In 2023 a BBC Neighborhood activist Sergio González. The average rental of an house in Mexico City went from 16,100 pesos per month (about 738 euros to change) in January 2018 to 20,426 pesos (about 936 euros) five years later, although this figure shoots more than double in colonies such as the Countess. The minimum monthly salary in Mexico City is around 8,364 pesos, the equivalent of just less than 384 euros. Digital nomads are not the (unique) responsible. Although US digital nomads have become the main objective of protests, Expert voices like that of the lawyer and activist Carla Escoffié indicate that her presence is only A part of the problem. The mere presence of a few thousand people with high purchasing power in a city like Mexico City does not elevate prices alone, explains Escoffié in his book ‘Country without a roof’. The true Gentrification Motor They are the real estate fundsthe greats LESSORSand the Tourist Rental Platformswhich modify the nature of the neighborhoods building luxury homes and replacing the local trade by multinational chains. President Sheinbaum pointed out that foreigners rejection is a response to mass arrival of digital nomads After the pandemic, mainly from the United States. These “visitors” have much greater purchasing power than the local population and its presence It increased In 60% compared to figures in 2019, and currently, some 700,000 Americans live in Mexico. The precedent: Portugal. Lisbon would have served of Canarian in the mine For the Mexican government to anticipate what would happen in the colonies of Mexico City, since Lisbon has suffered the same symptoms that the Mexican capital now presents. Such and as analyzed in The Guardian The researcher at the University of Lisbon Agustín Cocola-Gant, Portugal promoted for years a low taxation for real estate investors foreigners and launched “golden visas“To attract digital nomads and investors, granting tax advantages over local inhabitants. These policies caused a 105.8% increase in the price of housing in Lisbon between 2015 and 2023, according to published data by The confidential. The result was the expulsion of thousands of Portuguese of its traditional neighborhoodsunable to face the increase in life and housing. As Cocola-Gant explained, Portugal went from occupying the 22 of the 27 countries with the most expensive housing in 2015, to occupy first place today. In Xataka | Cities full of empty houses and neighbors incapable of finding housing: the cities of “Las Persianas descedas” arrive Image | Unspash (Keith Helfrich)

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