Simon Romero

Why Are Protesters in Mexico City Angry at Remote Workers?

Remote workers in Mexico City are facing the ire of protesters.

This wave of anger against relatively well-heeled foreigners didn't come out of nowhere.

Our explainer:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/w...

He Was a Goatherd as a Boy. Now He’ll Lead Mexico’s Top Court.

The new chief justice of Mexico's Supreme Court started life as a goatherd in a remote Mixtec-speaking village in Oaxaca.

I interviewed Hugo Aguilar Ortiz for this story:

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/w...

Low Turnout in Mexico’s Far-Reaching Judicial Election Fuels Legitimacy Concerns

Mexico's sweeping judicial overhaul is getting off to a rocky start: Nearly 90 percent of voters opted not to cast ballots, an exceptional level of abstention.

Our analysis:

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/w...

Hello! Good to be in touch!

Mexico’s Reliance on U.S. Natural Gas Could Be Its Achilles’ Heel (Gift Article) Mexico’s imports of U.S. natural gas are surging, kindling fears that the Trump administration could weaponize this trade.

Now fears are emerging that the Trump administration could weaponize this trade, much in the way that Russia moved in 2022 to cut off gas supplies to Europe

My latest, exploring what this reliance means at a time of simmering tensions over trade, migration, fentanyl

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...

Mexico’s Reliance on U.S. Natural Gas Could Be Its Achilles’ Heel (Gift Article) Mexico’s imports of U.S. natural gas are surging, kindling fears that the Trump administration could weaponize this trade.

Mexico has a staggering dependence on imports of natural gas from the U.S., which is used to make electricity and power the country's export-driven industrial base.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...

Thank you

Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peruvian Novelist, Dies at 89 (Gift Article) Mr. Vargas Llosa, who ran for Peru’s presidency in 1990 and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, transformed episodes from his personal life into books that reverberated far beyond the borders o...

The obituary of Mario Vargas Llosa that I wrote for The New York Times:

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/o...

Mexico’s Response to Trump’s Tariffs: Troops, Cartels and China Aiming to appease President Trump, Mexico is hitting China with tariffs, handing cartel leaders over to the United States and using C.I.A. intelligence to hunt down others.

Aiming to appease Trump, Mexico is hitting China with tariffs, deploying thousands of troops to deter migration, handing cartel leaders over to the United States and using C.I.A. intelligence to hunt down others.

Will that be enough to stave off tariffs?

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/u...

An Interview with New York Times International Correspondent Simon Romero Simon Romero is a New York Times correspondent based in Mexico City covering Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

My Green Room interview with @zocalopublicsquare.bsky.social where I talk about my path to journalism, New Mexico chile and Sofia Imber's sublime contemporary art museum in Caracas

www.zocalopublicsquare.org/new-york-tim...

Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab (Gift Article) In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.

Escalating executive power grab:

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/u...

How North America Averted a Trade War, for Now Mexico and Canada persuaded President Trump to delay a threatened 25 percent tariff, hours before it was scheduled to bite.

After Mexico reached a deal to avoid tariffs -- for now -- I joined colleagues at The Daily to discuss trade tensions between Mexico and the United States.

We explored the question: Where does North America go from here?

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/p...

Trump Hits Colombia With Tariffs in Feud Over Military Deportation Flights Gustavo Petro said that the United States should not treat Colombian migrants as criminals and that he had already turned away U.S. military flights carrying deportees.

NEW: Trump hits Colombia with 25% tariffs + sanctions

--Colombia's president rejected U.S. military deportation flights

--Measures call into question Colombia's longtime status as a top ally in Latin America

--Brazil also complained about treatment of deportees

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/w...

--Some extortion payments, even if made under duress, could be considered “material support” to cartels

--Banks could ultimately decide to avoid entire sectors perceived as high risk

--Companies and individuals face severe penalties — including fines, asset seizures and criminal charges — for paying ransom or extortion payments

--Cartels have extended their operations far beyond drug trafficking and human smuggling

Labeling Mexican Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could Expose U.S. Companies to Sanctions Isolating U.S. companies from cartel activities could be almost impossible given that the criminal groups operate in sectors like agriculture and tourism, leaving some American businesses vulnerable t...

How Labeling Mexico's Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could Hurt the U.S. Economy

w/ Maria Abi-Habib

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/w...

How Mexico Is Preparing for Tariffs Negotiations With Trump (Gift Article) President Claudia Sheinbaum is detaining more migrants, seizing more fentanyl and positioning her country as a key ally against China. But the U.S. stance has shifted, too.

Mexico is getting ready to negotiate with Trump. Here’s what’s different this time.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/w...

What Border Crisis? Mexican Migrant Shelters Are Quiet Ahead of Trump Ahead of the inauguration, migrant shelters south of the Rio Grande are far from full, a reflection of the tougher measures imposed on both sides of the border.

What border crisis?

--Unlawful border crossings are at their lowest level in years

--Migrant shelters in Mexico's border cities are way under capacity

--Movement through the Darién Gap is falling sharply

Our story:

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/w...

Fascinante matéria sobre Joseph Novitski piaui.folha.uol.com.br/o-correspond...

A Mexican Mayor’s Odyssey: From Undocumented Migrant to Cartel Target A former undocumented resident of California who now runs a town in Mexico, Crispín Agustín Mendoza has survived one assassination attempt. But he says, “I have to learn how to survive.”

Crispín Agustín Mendoza has been many things in his life: undocumented migrant in California, college graduate, successful businessman, returnee to Mexico

Now he's facing attempts on his life as mayor of a small town in Guerrero

My profile of Crispín:

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/01/w...

Desperate Haitians Who Fled to the Dominican Republic Are Being Sent Back in Cages Relations between the neighboring countries on the island of Hispaniola have long been frosty. They are now complicated by up to 10,000 deportations a week.

The other mass deportations: More than 71,000 people sent to Haiti from Dominican Republic since October

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/w...

Trump’s Tariff Threat Pits Canada Against Mexico (Gift Article) The president-elect’s opening salvo in trade and border talks with the United States’ neighbors is casting a harsh light on the North American alliance.

If Trump’s threat of hefty tariffs on Canada and Mexico was intended as a divide-and-conquer strategy, early signs show that it might be working

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/w...

Mexican President Mulls Retaliatory Tariffs After Trump’s Threats President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to President-elect Trump’s threat to impose high tariffs, saying such a move would inflict damage on both countries.

Sheinbaum says Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own:

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/u...

Trump Plans Tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico That Could Cripple Trade The president-elect said that he would impose the across-the-board tariffs on Day 1 and that they would stay in place until Canada, Mexico and China halted the flow of drugs and migrants.

Trump Plans Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China That Could Cripple Trade

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/b...

Breaking news related to two big stories by @SearchlightNM's
@MrJoshuaBowling about lavish spending by a university president who's married to Valerie Plame. First one here, from late 2023: searchlightnm.org/the-finer-th...

Brazilian Police Arrest Soldiers in Alleged Plot to Kill President Lula Members of an elite army unit planned to kill Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022 as part of an effort to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power after he lost the presidential election.

Brazil's Lula was targeted in assassination plot by members of an elite army unit. Their aim in 2022, investigators say, was to keep Bolsonaro in power.

More from @anaionova.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/w...

“If you put 25 percents tariffs on me, I have to react with tariffs,” Ebrard said. “Structurally, we have the conditions to play in Mexico’s favor.”

While Mexico is far more dependent on trade with U.S. than vice versa, Mexico still absorbs nearly 16 percent of all U.S. exports.

U.S. farmers, as well as manufacturers of semiconductors and chemicals, rely heavily on exports to Mexico.

Mexico Signals It Could Hit Back With Tariffs at U.S. Could a tariff war erupt between the United States and Mexico? A top Mexican official said his country might retaliate if the Trump administration placed steep tariffs on Mexico.

ICYMI: Could a tariff war erupt between the United States and Mexico?

Marcelo Ebrard, who is poised to be one of Mexico’s top negotiators with the Trump administration, said that retaliatory tariffs are on the table.

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/w...