Mexico - September 2026

The first article in this September edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Mexico concerns the increase of deaths among Mexican nationals in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and during ICE field operations, which has become a point of friction in the US-Mexico relationship in recent months. The issue has now pushed President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government to move from diplomatic dialogue towards formal legal action.

Femicide is the focus of the next article as authorities in Mexico’s Jalisco state announced the arrest of a suspect in a high-profile femicide case. The murder has shone a spotlight on gender violence and piled pressure on the government to demonstrate how it is tackling femicide. The breakthrough in the case comes as Sheinbaum has recently introduced legislation in an attempt to combat femicides.

Next, we look at private military-style schools in Mexico. The education ministry ordered such schools to close before the start of the new school year on 31 August following the death of a 13-year-old at a military academy in Tamaulipas state. This article looks at the controversies surrounding these institutions.

We then consider the dangers facing journalists in Mexico, which have been thrown into the spotlight with the murder of five journalists in under two months between early June and mid-July. The fact that many of those killed had reported receiving threats but did not receive sufficient protection has led to further calls for the government to improve protection mechanisms for journalists.

The following article focuses on foreign direct investment (FDI), which hit an all-time high in the first half of 2026. However, the apparently positive figure conceals a worrying trend: the vast bulk of Mexico’s FDI (88.5%) consists of reinvested earnings, while new investments are actually falling at an alarming rate, as this piece examines.

Mexico’s strengthening commercial relationship with countries in Asia is the subject of the next article, which analyses recent moves to shore up ties with Japan, South Korea, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

The final article in this issue looks at the partial reopening of the US border to Mexican livestock imports. The US government had closed the border in July due to concerns over the spread of the New World Screwworm (NWS) fly. However, difficulties in eradicating the flesh-eating parasite mean that the risk of new restrictions remains high.