GUADALUPE
VICTORIA: First President.
In September 1979.
He met with Jimmy Carter at the White House.
There were disagreements over the Mexican leader's activism and oil discoveries.
HAVE MADE 55 OFFICIAL VISITS TO THE UNITED STATES.
MEXICAN PRESIDENTS' VISITS TO U.S. SOIL HAVE BEEN CRUCIAL FOR BILATERAL RELATIONS, ADDRESSING COMMON ISSUES SUCH AS MIGRATION.
In
ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Current President.
The
He met with his counterpart, Barack Obama, in 2010.
He politicized the welcome speech, angered by criticism of his government.
The first visit was in January 2015, and the last was in September 2018 (10 visits).
In 2015, he met with Barack Obama at the White House. He aimed to regularize millions of Mexican migrants.
He presented five cooperation measures to tackle inflation, address migration, and promote the development of both countries.
REASON. To propose a special relationship.
From the Mexican Consulate General in Houston, Texas, in an exclusive interview for El Heraldo de México USA, María Elena Orantes, a native of the state of Chiapas, clearly outlines the work she is carrying out in this presidential assignment. She has been in this position for a little over a year, heading the third most important consulate in the United States.
With a degree in Communications from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and a master’s in administration from the Complutense University of Madrid, Orantes has focused her career on working for and empowering women through her legislative efforts. She was the first female legislator in her home state, particularly advocating for the codification of violence in civil and criminal codes.
María Elena Orantes describes herself as a motivated woman. In her efforts to break glass ceilings, she founded 50+1, an organization for the empowerment of women, bringing together diverse political currents within its membership.
She has seamlessly incorporated her legislative and political background into her role at the consulate, and the community has recognized her closeness and commitment
“Mexicans
are changing the face of the diaspora, not just seeking opportunities, but also creating opportunities, making a significant economic contribution through taxes paid to the IRS and as employers who hire others and become business owners.”
It hasn’t always been easy balancing being a mother, a daughter, and at the same time fulfilling the beautiful duty of participating in a race, winning, feeling the thrill of a majority ballot, and being one of the first women striving to write a different story.”
You can tell Mexicans are here because you can always smell success.”
50+1 is a great collective of academic women, businesswomen, politicians, judges, magistrates, professionals in general. It started in Mexico and is now international, as a support network, a platform for empowerment and sisterhood.”
The issue with patriarchy is that they always tried to reduce us to individualistic and divided matters.”
since her appointment, ratified by the Mexican Senate on March 15, 2023. She describes the Mexican diaspora in Houston as brave and hardworking. According to consular figures, this community numbers approximately 2.3 million people, representing 28% of the city’s population.
The jurisdiction covered by the Mexican Consulate General in Houston spans 37 counties. Among the neighborhoods with significant Mexican populations are Bellaire, The Woodlands, and Galena Park. The consulate has implemented the “consulate on wheels” program to bring necessary services to those in need.
Mexicans are active in all sectors of the economy in Texas. They can be found working in restaurants and hotels; in places like Victoria, they are laborers and work in the manufacturing industry.
Additionally, there is a strong presence of Mexican entrepreneurs and investors in the city. Houston, known as the energy capital, is home to numerous major companies in the oil and energy industries, a key sector in this consular district. Mexicans hold leadership positions in these companies.
While the Mexican community has achieved a prominent place in Houston’s society and economy, the consul acknowledges that there are barriers, such as language. Lack of English proficiency can limit access to goods, services, and job opportunities.
For this reason, the consulate offers courses and workshops to help individuals acquire business-level language skills.
For María Elena, it has been crucial to empower Mexicans in the fight against anti-immigrant laws, which have generated significant fear and uncertainty.
The consulate serves as a safe space and a communication channel to inform people about their rights as migrants. There has been an effort to extend this training to representatives of other countries in the city.
Additionally, one of the areas where the consul has focused efforts is consular protection. In a country and state where migrants, particularly women, are vulnerable, she has prioritized guiding people in cases of domestic violence and informing them of their rights in family and immigration matters.
These are the primary challenges in her close work with the Mexican community in Houston.
Regarding relations between Mexico and the United States, as well as Texas’ border location, María Elena has recognized the importance of fostering and boosting the economy through business and investment initiatives between the two countries.
Culturally, she sees cultural diplomacy as a tool to strengthen Mexico’s rich heritage in Houston. She has organized monthly activities, including themed nights such as Veracruz and Oaxaca nights, which are part of tourism promotion and a way to connect people with their roots and the culture they come from.
A historic moment that cannot go unnoticed is the participation of the Mexican community in the June 1st electoral process, in which Mexico elected its first female president, Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
The activities organized by the National Electoral Institute (INE) with the support of the consulates, particularly in credentialing voters, were key in encouraging participation from the Mexican community abroad.
In Houston and its surrounding areas, Mexicans predominantly hail from the states of Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Hidalgo, Puebla, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo León.
For these people, but also for others, the consulate aims to be a gateway to opportunities and possibilities for their life plans.
Few partnerships are as crucial to North American prosperity as the Texas-Mexico relationship. The economic, cultural, and geopolitical ties that bind this megaregion are not only profound but indispensable to mutual success. At the heart of this relationship lies San Antonio, Texas—strategically positioned and deeply connected to Mexico, it plays a pivotal role in driving the future of this binational alliance.
BY ROLANDO PABLOS
We want to make sure that we continueto have a vibrant relationship, not only as neighbors and great friends, but also as excellent trade and commercial partners.”
San Antonio’s proximity to Mexico, combined with its robust infrastructure, positions it as a natural hub for facilitating cross-border commerce. As trade between the United States and Mexico continues to grow, San Antonio has the potential to be the principal conduit for goods, services, and tourism flowing between the two nations. With the passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the city’s role as a logistics hub for cross-border trade has only expanded. By capitalizing on these opportunities, San Antonio can become a central player in shaping the future of Texas-Mexico relations and North American commerce.
Moreover, San Antonio’s established role in fostering cross-border business relations makes it an ideal location for building bridges between the private sectors of Texas and Mexico. Business leaders in San Antonio are already well-versed in the cultural and regulatory nuances of doing business with Mexico. This expertise can be leveraged to create stronger binational partnerships, especially in emerging industries such as advanced manufacturing, technology, and energy.
A HUB FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING One of the most promising avenues for deepening Texas-Mexico relations is through the development of the advanced manufacturing value chain in the megaregion, with San Antonio at the center. Texas, and by extension San Antonio, has long been known for its strength in manufacturing, particularly in sectors like automotive, aerospace, and electronics. As manufacturing technology evolves, San Antonio is poised to become a hub for advanced manufacturing that utilizes cutting-edge technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
The city’s robust industrial base, coupled with its proximity to both Mexican suppliers and U.S. markets, makes it an ideal location for companies seeking to capitalize on the efficiencies of nearshoring. Nearshoring—the practice of relocating supply chains closer to home—has become increasingly attractive in recent years as companies look to reduce risks associated with global supply chain disruptions. San Antonio’s strategic location makes it a prime candidate for serving as a hub for advanced manufacturing, with goods flowing seamlessly between Texas and Mexico. Mexico, for its part, has a burgeoning manufacturing sector that has benefited from the country’s skilled workforce and competitive labor costs. By fostering closer ties between Texas and Mexico’s manufacturing industries, San Antonio can help facilitate the creation of a regional manufacturing ecosystem that spans both sides of the border. This collaborative approach would benefit both economies by creating new jobs, increasing innovation, and enhancing regional competitiveness.
SAN ANTONIO AS A LOGISTICS HUB In addition to its potential as a center for advanced manufacturing, San Antonio is also well-positioned to serve as a major logistics hub for Texas-Mexico trade. The city is home to a network of highways, railroads, and airports that connect it to major markets in both the United States and
with its
to
and Eagle Pass, makes San Antonio a
for companies looking to streamline their
the
of cross-border trade. One of the most
chains and
advantages that San
offers is its
to the Port of Laredo, the busiest inland port in the United States. More than $200 billion worth of goods pass through Laredo annually, with a significant portion of that trade involving Mexico. By positioning itself as a key logistics hub, San Antonio can play a vital role in facilitating the movement of goods between Texas and Mexico, reducing transit times and lowering costs for businesses on both sides of the border.
BY MARK MAGAÑA
While we successfully elevated the voices and input of national Latino/a/e leaders on the impact of carbon pollution on our communities and passed the bill in the House of Representatives, the bill failed to receive a vote in the Senate and was abandoned in 2010. This left many in the environmental community reeling, and NLCCC searched for a broader and more sustainable mission.
In December 2012, motivated by the birth of my first child and the passing of my mother, I began working with partners on the idea of a new central hub for Latino/a/ es environmental and conservation advocates. Born out of the experience of Latino/a/e environmental and conservation champions who felt underappreciated, misunderstood, and isolated in their organizations and communities, who yearned for a place to come together, collaborate, create relationships and partnerships, develop leaders, advocate, and access the support and resources to build power, NLCCC was reborn as GreenLatinos in 2013.
Since 2013, GreenLatinos has built a nationwide comunidad and an inclusive table at which its members establish collaborative cross-sector relationships and partnerships that help us to share resources, access, information, and power to strengthen our actions through local, state, and federal advocacy for the environmental liberation of our communities.
To define its purpose, strength, and focus from the bottom up, GreenLatinos convened its inaugural National Summit in 2014, bringing together more than 50 Latino/a/e environmental, conservation, and climate justice leaders from across the country, representing Latino/a/ es from grassroots environmental justice organizations, national environmental.
Historically, Latine, Black, Indigenous, Asian, and other communities of color in the United States have suffered from a long history of racism, classism, and political apathy in the U.S. What’s more, these families are considered low-income and are especially vulnerable to the dangers of the climate crisis. These systemic and systematic injustices have affected where these people live, what types of jobs we occupy and the lack of access to robust health services. As a result, America’s Latine communities are particularly hard-hit by the climate crisis.
Today, as extreme weather events worsen and politicians ignore or deny the existence of any real threat from our continued planet’s warming, GreenLatinos continues to fight and organize because we know that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. Studies have shown that people who identify as Latino/a/e are more likely than non-Lati -
Latinos/as/es are green but disproportionately affected:
Latine communities are disproportionately on the frontlines of the
GREENLATINOS, AN ENVIRONMENTAL FAMILIA, WAS FOUNDED IN 2008 AS THE “NATIONAL LATINO COALITION ON CLIMATE CHANGE” (NLCCC), A COALITION OF LATINO/A/E ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERS COMMITTED TO ADDRESSING OUR CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY PRIORITIES, INITIATED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF THE WAXMAN-MARKEY CAP-AND-TRADE BILL.
no/a/e identifying people to say that addressing climate change is a top personal concern and that it impacts their local community. In a Pew Research study from 2001, 39% of all Latine people surveyed said that addressing the global climate crisis is “a top concern to me personally.” This outweighs just 29% of all non-Latine people surveyed saying that addressing the climate crisis is “a top concern to me personally.” Additionally, in that same study, 26% of all Latine people surveyed said that the global climate crisis is currently affecting their local community,” versus 15% of all non-Latine people surveyed who said that addressing the global climate crisis is affecting their local community.”
Moreover, according to a study by Unidos.US and Mi Familia Vota released in late 2023, only 6% of all Latine people surveyed believed that the climate crisis was not real. Through its various programs, including the Latino Climate Justice Framework the Sustainable Cities Urban Greening Initiative and the Justicia y Equidad Fund GreenLatinos works to ensure that grassroots environmental, conservation, and climate justice groups who are often overlooked from federal funding, access the resources required to ensure they have funding and a seat at the decision making table. This ensures that those communities most harmed are heard and their voices are prioritized. Through this vision, we address the most existential issue of our lifetime.
In 2024, GreenLatinos represents thousands of members across 40+ states from the United States and its territories committed to protecting their communities from the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis on our communities. We aim to ensure that environmental justice frontline communities like the Latine community are prioritized when developing solutions for the climate crisis. We need to ensure that when policies and laws are drafted, Latine communities are represented and earmarked to ensure proper mitigation, preparedness, and prevention are in place against the devastating impacts of extreme weather events and the dangers posed by fossil fuels and other polluting sources. We cannot afford to continue consuming fossil fuels and receiving subsidies from the fossil fuel industry. Investments must be made to advance local and community control of clean, renewable energy production and distribution while holding fossil fuel companies accountable for their impact on our communities’ health and wellness. Through our advocacy efforts, GreenLatinos seeks to ensure that communities have clean air, pure water to drink, and equitable access to nature so our familias can enjoy America’s majestic public lands. We invite you to join our movement to fight for environmental liberation and become a member today.
With her example, Alexa Grasso paved the way for Mexican women in the UFC, and at 31, she continues to write her story.
BY ERIKA MONTOYA
ALEJANDRO OYERVIDES
Mexican fighter Alexa Grasso came to revolutionize mixed martial arts and leave her name engraved in history.
Thanks to her example, a large number of female fighters now see it possible to fulfill their dream of reaching the most important league and becoming top contenders.
Her love for combat sports runs in the family, as her grandfather was a boxer, and this passion was passed down through generations. At 13, she had her first encounter with boxing, and it was love at first sight. Her father, Luis, took her to her uncle Francisco’s gym to show her what it was all about, and she was hooked.
Although her mother opposed it, Alexa promised to keep her grades up, and that allowed her to return and start practicing regularly. Her uncle and father taught her jiu-jitsu, and in her first fight, against a boy her age, she won with a rear-naked choke.
From there, the jump to MMA, alongside her teammate Irene Aldana, was the next step.
“I’m very satisfied with what I’ve achieved. We’ve worked hard to get here, and we’ll keep working,” she stated in an interview with El Heraldo de México.
ALEXA GRASSO MEXICAN FIGHTER
One jolt and straight ahead," Alexa Grasso broke her silence after her defeat.
She also has wins over Viviane Araujo and Maycee Barber. Alexa’s fighting style
She’s the first Mexican woman to win a UFC championship. She’s part of the Lobo Gym team in Guadalajara.
for eight years.
It has taken years of psychological work, alongside Mexican therapist Alethia Olmedo. Against Shevchenko: one submission win (2023), one draw (2023), and one loss (2024). ONE
Waitress, receptionist, but always a fighter, Alexa is a symbol of persistence, hard work, and perseverance, as she didn’t stop until she dominated an entire division in the most important league: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), becoming the first Mexican female champion and reigning pound-for-pound queen. In August 2016, Grasso announced that she had signed with the UFC, and her debut fight was against Heather Jo Clark on November 5, 2016, on the Dos Anjos vs. Ferguson card in Mexico City, where she won by unanimous decision, starting her legend.
At 31, with a record of 16 wins, four losses, four knockouts, and two submissions, Alexa stands as one of the great figures in MMA, alongside stars like Brazil’s retired Amanda Nunes and her eternal rival, Valentina Shevchenko, with whom she had the first female trilogy in the UFC.
A Rivalry That Defines a Career Alexa reached the pinnacle of her career in March 2023, during UFC 285. With four straight wins and determined to make her dream of becoming the first Mexican UFC champion a reality (joining Yair Rodriguez and Brandon Moreno), the Guadalajara native faced off against Kyrgyz fighter Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC flyweight belt.
Grasso was up against one of the most effective champions to date, as “The Bullet” had seven title defenses and was a 17-time Muay Thai world champion. However, Alexa had other plans. The Mexican came out aggressively in the first round, using speed and grappling, but after some adjustments, the champion managed to adapt her game and take the judges’ scorecards in rounds two and three. By the fourth round, and with the scores against her, it seemed everything was set... until Grasso capitalized on a poorly executed spinning elbow by Shevchenko, taking her back. Valentina was caught off guard, and Alexa managed to get her forearm right across her jaw and locked in a face crank. The Kyrgyz tried everything to escape, but there was nothing she could do; she tapped out,
and her reign was over.
The spark of rivalry was ignited instantly, and six months later, in September 2023, they met again in the octagon. Both knew each other well, and it was a much closer fight.
So close that the judges couldn’t determine a winner, declaring a draw. The victory and the draw earned Alexa several accolades: Fighter of the Year, Surprise of the Year, and Submission of the Year.
Both sustained injuries that kept them out of action, but this allowed them to participate as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, becoming the third women to headline a season of the show.
They showcased their personalities and added an emotional and personal element to their competition. For Valentina, there was a debt to settle,
In June 2023, she was declared the number one pound-forpound fighter.
and that’s why she accepted a rematch a year later to face her arch-enemy once again.
The Mexican had been inactive for a year but accepted the challenge. They met at UFC 306 during UFC Noche, marking the debut of the Las Vegas Sphere in combat sports. Grasso lost control of the fight from the first round. Valentina came out aggressive, outstriking her and securing takedowns, relying on her jiu-jitsu skills and tiger Muay Thai style. Alexa responded with back submission attempts, but the former champion was prepared for everything. By the end of the night, Valentina won by decision, and 18 months later,
