Today’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 🌡️ Sheinbaum sits out press conference: Early on Friday, the president announced she woke up with “very bad flu, cough and fever” and was told by doctors to rest. Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez and INAH chief Joel Omar Vázquez led the conference in her place. Sheinbaum said she expected to resume activities the next day.
- 🏺 INAH reveals discoveries in Chiapas cave: Vázquez said archaeologists found 13 offerings and 179 pre-Hispanic pieces this year in the Mundo Zoque cave, a Zoque pilgrimage site used to request rain and good harvests. Highlights include ceramics from the late Classic Period (600–900 AD) and an incense burner featuring a quincunx design.
- 🇺🇸 🛬 Mexico objects to deportations to Central America: Rodríguez said she told U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson that Mexico disagrees with Washington’s decision to send some Mexican deportees to Central America rather than Mexico.
- 📈 Rodríguez touts July growth data: The interior minister called INEGI’s preliminary estimate of 2.7% annual GDP growth in July “yet another piece of good news,” following 2.1% growth in Q2.
Why today’s mañanera matters
At 6:01 a.m. Friday, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on social media that she had woken up with “very bad flu, cough and fever.”
“It’s nothing serious, but doctors have recommended rest, so today’s [press] conference will be organized by Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez and the general director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Joel Omar Vázquez Herrera,” she wrote.
Les informo que amanecí con gripa muy fuerte, tos y fiebre; no es nada grave, pero los médicos me han recomendado reposo, por lo que la conferencia de hoy estará coordinada por la secretaria de Gobernación, Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez, y el director general del INAH, Joel Omar…
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) August 21, 2026
“Don’t miss it, they will talk about archaeological discoveries. I’m sure that tomorrow I’ll resume my activities. An affectionate hug from afar,” Sheinbaum wrote.
Later on Friday morning, Vázquez spoke about recent discoveries in a subterranean cave in the southern state of Chiapas.
Rodríguez subsequently provided a headline for media outlets by revealing that she had told U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson that Mexico doesn’t agree with the Trump administration’s decision to send some Mexican deportees to Central America.
Also of note at today’s mañanera was the interior minister’s response to data showing that the Mexican economy performed solidly in July.
Discoveries in the ‘Mundo Zoque’ Cave
Vázquez spoke about discoveries archaeologists have made in the Mundo Zoque (Zoque World) Cave, a cave in the municipality of Cintalapa, Chiapas, that is named after the Indigenous Zoque people.
The cave, Vázquez explained, was a pilgrimage site where Zoque people went to “request rain and good harvests.”
The INAH chief said that in the first half of this year, archaeologists discovered 13 ofrendas (offerings) in the cave along with 179 pre-Hispanic pieces, including ceramic bowls.
Vázquez said that INAH has determined that the ceramic pieces were made in the late Classic Period — i.e. between 600 and 900 B.C. He said that the pieces include images of jaguars, tecolotes (a kind of owl), “human representations and plant motives.”
Vázquez highlighted that one of the pieces found by archaeologists is a sahumador (incense burner) with a 32-centimeter-long handle. The incense burner’s plate features “the image of a quincunx, a figure that alludes to the four directions of the universe,” he said, noting also that the end of the handle is adorned with a snake design.
“It’s a sublime piece, a very beautiful piece that is representative of the Zoque culture,” Vázquez said.
He said that archeologists also found stalactites and stalagmites in the cave that had been “modified to look like human figures or the jaws of the monster of the earth.”
Rodríguez: Mexico doesn’t agree with US decision to send Mexican deportees to Central America
Rodríguez told reporters that her meeting with Ambassador Johnson on Thursday focused on migration.
She said that she and the ambassador spoke about the reduction in “irregular migration” to the United States of both Mexicans and nationals of other countries.
“It has declined 96%,” Rodríguez said, apparently referring to the monthly average of illegal crossings during the Trump administration compared to the monthly average during the Biden administration.
The interior minister subsequently noted that the United States has deported some Mexicans to Central American countries.
The Trump administration has been quietly deporting migrants from Mexico to Honduras and Guatemala, despite the Mexican government’s willingness to accept the return of all its citizens, Homeland Security sources tell CBS News’ @camiloreports. pic.twitter.com/qe84ZJNpxi
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 19, 2026
As a result of “this new U.S. decision,” Mexicans have been sent to Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, Rodríguez said. She said she told Johnson that Mexico respects the migration policy decisions of other countries, “but we don’t agree with our compatriots being sent to a third country.”
“… We spoke about this firmly, respectfully but firmly, in order to say that we don’t agree with this decision,” Rodríguez said.
Rodríguez celebrates solid economic growth in July
A reporter noted that INEGI published preliminary data showing that the Mexican economy grew 2.7% in annual terms in July. The publication of the data on Thursday came three weeks after INEGI reported annual growth of 2.1% in the second quarter of 2026. Annual growth in the first quarter was just 0.4%, and the Mexican economy contracted on a sequential basis in that period.
Rodríguez said that the growth data for July is “yet another piece of good news” for the Mexican economy.
“… It’s a very good indicator,” she said.
“… It’s another good result of the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum, and we’re going to continue on this same path,” Rodríguez said.
