We interview Oscar del Cueto, Head of CPKC Mexico and President of AmCham Mexico, for a conversation about railways and the future of North American trade.
Oscar discusses how nearshoring is showing up in freight volumes, why Mexico still moves so much cargo by truck, the US$100 million expansion at Nuevo Laredo, border bureaucracy, security, tariffs and whether passenger rail can coexist with a growing freight network. We also ask what U.S. companies are telling AmCham ahead of the USMCA review.
First Eduardo and Damian we break down the week’s biggest Mexico business stories:
* Mexico’s 2027 budget: slower and arguably more realistic fiscal consolidation, but debt continues climbing toward 55% of GDP and potentially higher. Can Mexico protect investment grade while funding pensions, Pemex and infrastructure?
* The digital-payments surprise: new powers for authorities could accelerate digital payments, free QR payments, and digital account opening, potentially reshaping Mexico’s payments industry and (optimists hope) moving the economy away from cash and informality
* Kapital raises US$125 million: unlike other fintechs, the neo Mexican bank has acquired legacy businesses, applied technology to improve efficiency and sustain high levels of profitability.
* Televisa and the end of an era: after roughly 30 years, Televisa is set to leave Mexico’s flagship IPC index. We look at how one of Mexico’s most powerful companies went from dominant and hugely cash generating Mexico media gatekeeper to a smaller and less profitable Mexico telecom-focused group plus 45% effective controlling ownership of the TelevisaUnivision, still relevant but now highly leveraged US-Mexico Hispanic media group.
* Mexico Investment Week in New York: investors still like Mexico, but the constraint is turning energy, infrastructure, water, logistics and nearshoring opportunities into actual bankable projects.
