David Agren

Personal 🧵: I recently began writing in earnest again for a paper I hardly wrote for in several years, due to burnout and some lingering effects of the PTSD that hit my like a torpedo about a decade ago. I'm writing this for my younger colleagues: take care of yourself, don't repeat my mistakes. 1/9

Mexico burns after drug cartel leader is captured and killed Mexico exploded in violence after special forces killed drug cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, leader of the fearsome Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Its foot soldiers fanned out across 20 st...

“Sunday’s operation was ... the result of sustained pressure from the White House that altered the incentives of the Mexican state. The bilateral security relationship has entered a more demanding phase with less political room for ambiguity.” www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...

Mexico’s uneasy balance of power between cartels and government Many Canadians were left stranded due to cancelled flights on Sunday after the Mexican army killed cartel leader El Mencho

My two cents. #Mexico
www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the...

El Mencho death shows Trump’s growing influence in Mexico Yesterday, the Mexican military carried out one of its most important operations in the war on cartels by killing a prominent cartel boss. Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera was the leader of one of the cou...

“Killing Oseguera was one more step toward pacifying the United States, albeit a big one. It’s more politically palatable for Sheinbaum to target big cartel bosses than arrest politicians with drug cartel ties.” unherd.com/newsroom/el-...

Migrants in Chile fear what’s next after Kast wins election President-elect campaigned on a platform of expelling undocumented migrants and constructing special prisons

Non-governmental groups working with migrants say images of ICE raids (in the US) have stoked disquiet among some immigrants in Chile – and provoked calls for similar enforcement in South America. “There are people who wish we had a police like that in Chile.” www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Delcy Rodríguez anuncia una ley de amnistía general para los presos políticos y el cierre del Helicoide en Venezuela www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/del...

Nicaragua keeps a low profile as Trump targets Latin American leftists Sandinista regime has been co-operating on drug enforcement, toning down hyperbolic discourse

“It’s a matter of time. There’s an opportunity to change Venezuela permanently. Cuba is clearly on the radar and in the crosshairs now. And after something is done on Cuba, Nicaragua is the logical next step from there.” www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Trump’s capture of Maduro has more support in Latin America than in the U.S. More than a half dozen right-leaning, Latin American heads of state supported the U.S. intervention in Venezuela to depose Nicolás Maduro, including the pro-Trump leaders of Ecuador, Argentina and El ...

"Because of the instability promoted by Chavista policies, people 'started to support anything that would undermine and eventually remove them,' to the point where there was eventually more LatAm support for Maduro’s removal than there was in the U.S." www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...

En medio de máxima reserva, el pontífice recibió a la líder opositora de Venezuela, quien también tiene previsto ver a Trump esta semana www.lanacion.com.ar/el-mundo/el-...

Latin American leaders give mixed reaction to Maduro’s capture Deep divisions emerge over American military intervention in region long aggrieved by U.S.-backed regime changes

“The crisis of the Latin American anti-imperialist left is so profound that a person like Trump is capable of influencing the decisions of many countries.” #Venezuela www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

British baker’s criticism of Mexican 'ugly' bread triggers social media outrage A British baker's critique of Mexican bread has sparked outrage on social media, leading to a public apology.

"Don't mess with the bolillo" ☝️https://apnews.com/article/british-baker-hart-mexico-bread-social-media-outrage-5b2f23a36f9f714f4d4c96e1509b43a5

Interesting map! The Mennonites in Chihuahua actually immigrated from Canada and there’s still a lot of movement between communities in both places, though they were originally from Russia and Prussia

Can’t Sleep? Try Listening to This Man Talk About Torture and Death Fans of ‘Forensic Files’ seek comfort in the voice of narrator Peter Thomas talking about feeding bodies through a woodchipper.

The crimes described on “Forensic Files” keep most people up at night. But for a subset of fans, the show is the only thing that puts them to sleep.

Sheinbaum ante Uruapan: negar, minimizar y eludir | Letras Libres Comunicar desde el gobierno en una crisis obliga a decir la verdad, dar explicaciones, asumir costos y hacer cambios. Propagar un relato faccioso, en cambio, es negar el dolor de la sociedad.

Sheinbaum ante Uruapan: negar, minimizar y eludir

letraslibres.com/politica/esp...

Can bright light banish winter depression? It seems so. And it might work for other kinds of depression, too

How well bright-light treatment works is tricky to test. But the available evidence looks good—and the benefits appear significant enough for researchers to look into whether it can help non-seasonal forms of depression, too

Analysis: Sheinbaum at one year: A ‘complex’ operator emerges — The Mexico Brief. by David Agren, writer-at-large. President Claudia Sheinbaum swore the oath of office one year ago in a ceremony laden with symbolism as she became Mexico’s first female president. Flanked by femal...

New & Free Today: One year into Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s term, a “complex” operator is emerging, writes @davidagren.bsky.social

Opinion: Catherine McKenna’s memoir trashes Trudeau. So why was the carbon-tax-killing Carney spared? The polarizing former environment minister publishes a candid book about her triumphs and trials in government

"(Trudeau) was preachy and talked down to people. ... Though he was right to have a gender-balanced cabinet (a former minister wrote) he never stopped talking about it, never stopped the virtue signalling: 'It made it sound like we were there to fill a quota'" www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

A year into her presidency, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is stepping out of her predecessor’s shadow Country’s first female president arrived an unknown quantity, but is taking a different tack than that of her mentor Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Her approval rating sits at 73 per cent, according to the newspaper El Financiero, as middle-class Mexicans unsettled by Mr. López Obrador’s class politics and populist policies warmed to Ms. Sheinbaum’s more sober and serious style.

www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Bessent Says All Options on Table to Help Milei’s Argentina US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged to provide “all options for stabilization” to President Javier Milei as he works to keep Argentina from falling back into crisis, prompting a rally in the S...

Donald Trump’s treasury secretary pledges to provide “all options for stabilization” to Javier Milei as he works to keep Argentina from falling back into crisis, prompting a rally in the South American country’s assets
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
(Gift link)

'Not a democratic ally': Canadian PM Carney visits Mexico to push closer ties Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney travelled to Mexico to thaw frosty ties. President Claudia Sheinbaum greeted his trip with talk of Canadian mining companies' supposed environmental shortcomings.

“The electoral reform could be the final nail in the coffin. It’s a return to a controlled democracy,” which existed in the days of one-party rule under the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
open.substack.com/pub/davidagr...

🇺🇸 No voy a ir
🇳🇮 No voy a ir
🇯🇵 No voy a ir
🇬🇹 No voy a ir
🇨🇦 No voy a ir
🇲🇽 Te aviso

Defense Dept. warns Venezuela after its jets buzz U.S. Navy destroyer The department accused Venezuela of trying to interfere with counternarcotics operations two days after the U.S. announced a deadly strike on an alleged drug vessel.

RECAP
• U.S. sends warships off Venezuela
• Maduro mobilizes troops, militias
• U.S. strikes alleged drug boat
• Venezuelan planes buzz U.S. guided-missile destroyer
• U.S. warns Venezuela
•

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

"The #mañanera (the morning news conference) has dragged down the public discourse with an unedifying mix of trolling, shittalking, gaslighting, provoking, deflecting and accusing", opines @davidagren.bsky.social for @themexicobrief.bsky.social.

#Mexico #4T

Award-winning cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz reimagines the Cracker Barrel logo using an old time favorite mexican icon: El Chavo del Ocho.

If you’re not following @laloalcaraz.bsky.social you’re doing social media wrong

Scuffle in Congress reflects Mexico’s entrenched culture of political trolling — The Mexico Brief. by David Agren, writer-at-large. The permanent session of Mexico’s congress ended on Thursday with fireworks and fisticuffs with Institutional Revolutionary Party president Alejandro Moreno c...

An entrenched culture of political trolling reached an unedifying peak this week in Mexico’s Congress, @davidagren.bsky.social breaks down how we got here. Free now:

Analysis: Does Mexico have a bargaining advantage over Canada? — The Mexico Brief. Mexico expelled 26 narco bosses to the United States on Wednesday, responding to the Trump administration to crack down on drug cartels. Among those expelled were Servando Gómez Martínez, “ La Tuta ...

Mexico probably isn’t looking to Canada as an ally. "Canada is not going to send mounted police to rescue Mexico from the DEA. We know that.” www.themexicobrief.org/latest/does-...

"What Happens When Politicians Meddle With Economic Data: Argentina’s Example" www.wsj.com/economy/trum...

Mexico’s Sheinbaum has more leeway than Carney when dealing with Trump Mexican President can say whatever she wants in public, all the while acquiescing to U.S. demands as the trade war continues

With my commentary on the different look one gets at the US tariffs madness when watching from Mexico City or Ottawa... By @davidagren.bsky.social
www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...