Hola amigos! We’ve had quite the start to 2026. Less than a week in, and it already feels like we’ve lived a month’s worth of headlines. I invite you to take a deep breath with me.

This week, President Sheinbaum pushes back on U.S. intervention, international flights are expanding out of Cancún, Mexico City, and Monterrey, the Mexico–Querétaro train hits local resistance, and the standoff at Mexico’s embassy in Lima intensifies. 

Plus: the government repeals the used vehicle regularization program, what to know about holding onto your predial receipts, and the story of the rebel nun the Church tried to silence.

Happy Día de Reyes to those celebrating. If you’re sharing a Rosca today, may your slice be delicious, your hot chocolate strong – and your tamale obligations mercifully few.

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❓México Trivia

What animal outwitted the gods to bring fire to the people of Mesoamerica?

Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.

📣 México News Roundup

🇲🇽 In her Monday mañanera, President Sheinbaum rejected U.S. intervention, saying Mexico is a free and sovereign country where cooperation is welcome but subordination and intervention are not.

✈️ Aeroméxico will launch new flights from Mexico to Europe in 2026, including routes from Mexico City to Barcelona and Monterrey to Paris.

🧳 Cancún International Airport will add 17 new international routes in 2026.  

🍞 Your Three Kings Cake will cost you about 10% more this year.

🚔 Peru reinforced security around Mexico’s embassy in Lima to prevent the possible escape of former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who was granted asylum there. 

🚆 Construction on the Mexico–Querétaro passenger rail line was temporarily paused in Teoloyucan after residents demanded a local station and safer crossings, prompting talks with federal authorities.

🍼 Mexico’s lower house is reviewing a health reform that would require the state to provide free infant formula during a child’s first six months of life.

🏨 Mexico City hotel rates for the 2026 World Cup are up 961%. Monterrey and Guadalajara ranked second and fourth for price hikes among host cities, with average increases of 466% and 405%, respectively.

🏖️ International tourism to Mexico rose 5.8% in 2025, driven mainly by visitors from the United States and Canada.

🐄 Mexico confirmed two new New World screwworm cases, including one about 200 miles from the U.S. border.

🚜 Mexico will roll out a Fair Trade program in 2026 offering guaranteed prices for basic crops to support small and medium-sized farmers in marginalized regions.

🍎 Your Health Pulse

How to Find the Best International Health Insurance Broker in Mexico

Finding reliable health insurance in Mexico isn’t just about choosing a plan, it’s about choosing the right broker.

Before you start comparing policies, it’s important to understand what brokers are legally required to do…and what they’re not. Knowing where their responsibilities begin (and end) can help you avoid confusion, missed claims, and costly surprises.

So how do you spot a broker you can truly rely on? Read more here.

📍Immigration Essentials

Mexico Repeals the Used Vehicle Regularization Program

As of December 31, 2025, the federal government published a decree that repeals the framework allowing the regularization of used vehicles that entered Mexico illegally – commonly known as autos chocolate.

The program, officially launched in 2022 under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, allowed used vehicles that entered Mexico irregularly from the U.S. or Canada to be legalized. 

Over nearly four years, close to 2.99 million vehicles were regularized, across 16 states: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, and Zacatecas.

In November 2025, the government announced an extension of the program through December 2026. 

However, at the end of December, President Claudia Sheinbaum signed a new decree, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, that formally repeals the program. The decree specifies that the program’s validity concluded on December 31, 2025, and that the repeal enters into force on the date of its publication

The government’s reasoning is straightforward. Officials concluded that repeated extensions were encouraging illegal imports, with people assuming future amnesty programs would continue. Industry groups also argued the program distorted the car market, allowed vehicles that didn’t meet safety or emissions standards, and reduced tax revenue. 

With the repeal, used vehicle imports are governed once again by existing customs and trade laws, including the Ley Aduanera and applicable USMCA rules. Any vehicle brought into Mexico must comply with age limits and mechanical and emissions requirements, typically at a higher cost.

What this means for you: The decree does not address or modify vehicles already regularized under the program. It also does not explicitly clarify how cases already in progress should be handled. We spoke with several immigration facilitators who told us that, based on what they know, cases submitted before the program’s expiration are generally still being processed. If you’re in the middle of the process, do your own due diligence.

What the decree does make clear is that no new regularizations are permitted under the former framework. Anyone considering bringing a vehicle into Mexico must now do so under existing customs and trade rules, with no active extension of the autos chocolate program.

🧩 Life in México

How Long Should You Keep Predial Receipts?

As a general rule, you should keep predial receipts for as long as you own the property. Why this matters:

• No clear limitation period that guarantees older predial issues won’t resurface. While municipalities often focus on recent tax years, predial obligations are tied to the property itself, not just the current owner. Issues can surface during audits, administrative reviews, or property transactions years later.
  

• Required for transactions. Proof of paid predial is routinely requested when selling a property, transferring title, updating an escritura, formalizing an inheritance, or reviewing a fideicomiso.Missing receipts can cause delays.
  

• Municipal records are not always complete. Even when payments were made correctly, system gaps or errors are common. Your receipt is the strongest proof that the tax was paid.
  

• Fideicomisos and trusts. Banks and notarios may request historical predial receipts as part of compliance or review processes. Having documentation readily available avoids delays and additional verification requests.

Before Paying Each Year

Some of the most common predial issues start at the payment stage. Before paying, property owners should:

• Verify that the Cuenta Catastral number on the predial invoice matches the number listed on the deed documentation.

• Review the annual invoice for accuracy before paying, including owner name, property location, and assessed value.

Recordkeeping Best Practices

Once paid, predial receipts should be treated as permanent property records:

• Keep digital copies (and physical if you get one) of every predial receipt.

• Store receipts with your escritura, fideicomiso documents, and other property records.

• Retain predial records for as long as you hold the property.

🇲🇽 Viva México

The Rebel Nun the Church Tried to Silence

Mexican history is full of women who rewrote the rules and left behind inspirational legacies. 

Few were more brilliant than Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

Born sometime between 1648 and 1651 in San Miguel Nepantla, Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana (a name nearly as impressive as her intellect) was a self-taught prodigy. 

At the time, women were expected to marry and have children. Education wasn’t just discouraged, it was often off-limits.

But Juana Inés had other plans. She learned Latin at an early age. As a child, she was already writing poetry. By her teens, she’d mastered Greek and Nahuatl, and was deeply engaged in philosophy.

She turned down marriage proposals, knowing a conventional life would cost her intellectual freedom. Barred from university, she even tried disguising herself as a man to gain entry. 

When that failed, she chose the convent as the one place that offered her the intellectual freedom to study. Sor (Spanish for the religious title Sister) Juana Inés created an intellectual sanctuary at the Convent of San Jerónimo. She collected over 4,000 books, scientific tools, and musical instruments.

In her famous Respuesta a Sor Filotea, she defended a woman’s right to learn, declaring: “One can perfectly well philosophize while cooking supper.”  

In her poem Hombres necios (“Foolish Men”), she sharply criticized male hypocrisy and the double standards imposed on women.

In Loa to Divine Narcissus, she elevated Indigenous traditions, drawing thoughtful parallels between pre-Hispanic ritual symbolism and Catholic theology to affirm the deep spirituality in both cultures.

At a time of colonial oppression, this was revolutionary, especially from a woman of Spanish descent.

That boldness came at a cost. 

Church authorities eventually condemned her intellectual pursuits, pressuring her to abandon writing and scholarship. Under intense scrutiny, Sor Juana was forced to sell her beloved library and was compelled to abandon public intellectual life, retreating into silence after years of fearless expression.

In 1695, she died during a plague that swept through her convent, after caring for her fellow nuns until she herself fell ill. She was just in her forties.

Today, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is celebrated as a national icon of intellectual freedom and feminist resistance. She’s honored on the 100-peso note, a tribute to her invaluable contribution to Mexican literature and culture. 

🪷 Viva Wellness

The Healing Power of Mexican Honeysuckle

Walk through any traditional mercado and you may spot bundles of dark green leaves sold simply as muicle. Known botanically as Justicia spicigera, this native plant has been used in Mexican wellness traditions since pre-Hispanic times.

Muicle is easily recognized by its long, trumpet-shaped orange blooms. The vivid flowers resemble ornamental honeysuckle, which is how the plant earned the nickname Mexican honeysuckle. Despite the name, it is a distinct native species with its own long history of use in Mexico.

This plant is most often prepared as a tea. When the leaves are simmered, the water turns a deep blue-purple color, a trait that once made the plant valuable not only for healing, but also for dyeing textiles and crafts such as clothing, baskets, and weavings. 

Muicle tea is traditionally used to support healthy blood, help increase red blood cell count, and address circulation-related conditions. It is also used to help regulate blood sugar levels.

Muicle is often brewed to support digestion, and has traditionally been used for gastrointestinal discomfort such as bloating, acidity, and diarrhea. The flavor is mild and earthy, easy to drink on its own or with a touch of honey or limón.

Heads up: Muicle may interfere with blood clotting. Avoid use during pregnancy or breastfeeding unless advised by a medical professional, and consult your provider before surgery or regular use.

🎉 ¡Vamos! Events

Mérida Fest 2025 – Jan 5–18, Mérida, Yucatán
Mérida celebrates the 484th anniversary of its founding with free cultural events across the city, including concerts, dance, theater, visual arts, film, and traditional celebrations. Activities take place throughout Mérida. More info here.

Fiesta Grande de Chiapa de Corzo – Jan 8–23, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas
One of Chiapas’ most important traditional festivals fills Chiapa de Corzo with Parachicos dances, religious processions, music, crafts, fireworks, and regional food during its annual January celebrations, recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. More info here.

León State Fair 2026 – Jan 9–Feb 4, León, Guanajuato
Celebrated since 1876, this iconic state fair returns with amusement rides, concerts, livestock exhibitions, commercial pavilions, and food halls, plus free shows at the Teatro del Pueblo and family attractions across themed zones throughout the fairgrounds. More info here.

Vallarta Cup Race Series 2026 – Jan 10–11 & 17–18, Banderas Bay
The Vallarta Yacht Club kicks off the racing season with two January weekends of distance races for cruising, performance, and multihull boats, with courses set just offshore in Banderas Bay. Open to local and visiting sailors, each race day wraps with results, food, drinks, and live music at the club. More info here.

Bucerías Patron Saint Festival & Blessing of the Boats – Jan 16–24, Bucerías, Nayarit
Bucerías honors Nuestra Señora de la Paz with nine days of community celebrations, live music, and cultural events, culminating on Jan 24 with the Blessing of the Boats, a colorful maritime procession followed by Mass at the Church of Our Lady of Peace. More info here. 

Monarca Paragliding Open – Jan 11–17, Valle de Bravo & Temascaltepec, Estado de México
Certified pilots compete in a cross-country paragliding event organized by Alas del Hombre, with flights based at El Peñón and routes spanning Valle de Bravo and Temascaltepec across multiple competition classes. More info here.

Fiesta de Santa Prisca – Jan 17–20, Taxco, Guerrero
Taxco’s iconic baroque church takes center stage during patron saint celebrations honoring Santa Prisca, with religious processions, regional dances, fireworks, live music, and a colorful parade of floats through the city’s historic streets. More info here.

Bimbo Interactive Museum (MiBIMBO) Opening – Jan 20, Historic Center, CDMX
Grupo Bimbo marks its 80th anniversary with the opening of MiBIMBO, a new interactive museum in Mexico City’s Historic Center that explores the company’s history, innovation, sustainability efforts, and iconic products across 11 hands-on zones. More info here.

💡 Say It in Spanish

No manches

Translation: Literally, it means “don’t stain,” but no one is talking about laundry. It’s used to mean “No way!” “You’re kidding!” or “C’mon!”

Short, expressive, and very Mexican, no manches is the go-to reaction when something surprises you, sounds ridiculous, or just doesn’t add up. It works for good news, bad news, and everything in between.

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Learn How To Apply

🎯 Trivia Answer

The tlacuache – the opossum – known in Nahuatl as Tlacuatzin. 

In indigenous Mesoamerican mythology, especially among the Nahua, Huichol, and Mixtec peoples, the tlacuache is a legendary trickster and unlikely hero. 

While there are different versions of the story across regions and cultures, the heart of the myth remains the same. According to oral tradition, when a bitter winter plunged the world into darkness and cold, the gods hoarded fire for themselves atop a sacred mountain. People and animals suffered… until the tlacuache stepped up. He made the people promise never to eat him, and only then did he agree to help.

The tlacuache crept past the sleeping giants guarding the flame, wrapped fire around his tail, and ran through the night to deliver it to humankind. His tail burned, but the people rejoiced…and to this day, opossums have bald tails as a mark of that brave act. 

In some communities, especially among the Huichol, the tlacuache is still considered sacred – a symbol of cunning, courage, and the idea that even the smallest creature can change the world.

Want the full story? Check out the free government book El tlacuache y el fuego.

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