A Letter From Mexico City, Where We’re Still Supposed to Be on Lockdown

The Pandemic Might Peter Out Before It's Taken More Seriously

What will happen first—the end of the pandemic, or the beginning of Mexico City taking the pandemic seriously?

COVID-19 hit our side of the world relatively late. That meant that Mexico City, where I live, had one month’s notice to prepare after seeing what was happening in Asia and Europe. Unfortunately, we did not use that advance warning well, and now we are still paying for it. Almost a year after COVID-19 hit us, we have reached approximately 600,000 confirmed cases and 30,000 deaths.

As the city continues to suffer under …

by Greta Ríos | March 18, 2021

A ‘Glittering and Golden’ Museum to Mexico’s Drug War Is Heavy on Trinkets and Light on Tragedy

The Private ‘Narco Museum’ Documents One Side of the Story—Perhaps Someday the Public Will See the Whole Picture

by Ioan Grillo | March 3, 2021

Amid the gridlocked streets of northern Mexico City lies a fascinating and surreal museum that is not open to the public. Officially called the Museo del Enervante—a rather dull technical …

Why Mexico City Is the Capital of California’s Future

The New Constitution of Mexico’s Capital Inspires Badly Needed Democracy and Local Sovereignty

by Joe Mathews | February 25, 2020

For more than two decades of the 19th century, Mexico City was California’s national capital.

I wish it could be again.

Over the past two years, I’ve visited Mexico City regularly …

Trump’s Border Wall Sidelined by Major League Sports

The NBA and NFL Woo Mexico's Newly Affluent Fans, While FIFA Dreams of a Joint U.S.-Mexico World Cup Bid

By Andrés Martinez | December 8, 2016

Last week I asked Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, whether he fears that a Trump presidency will revive the anti-Americanism that was once a staple of Mexican life …

Excavating Mexican History in Modern-Day Vienna

A Transcontinental Journey in the Footsteps of the Last Emperor of Mexico

by M. M. McAllen | January 27, 2015

How do you imagine being in a place that you’ve never visited, that belongs to the past?

Over the five years I spent writing Maximilian and Carlota: Europe’s Last Empire in …

This Is What Outrage Looks Like in Mexico City

Images of the Protestors Who Took to the Streets to Ask Their Government for Accountability—and an End to Violence

November 8, 2014

Mexicans have taken to social media, and to the streets, to express their outrage at the disappearance in late September of 43 students from a rural teachers’ college in the …

Get More Zócalo