Ahí donde naturaleza y cultura se juntan, bailan y se pelean, la literatura de Gabriela Jauregui florece. Hay algo siempre animal en los libros de la escritora mexicana, algo también siempre humano. “Ese espacio de fricción, de falsa separación, es mi obsesión”, dice ella, y sus aretes de cara de zorro tintinean y confirman su argumento. Por si quedaban dudas, es la hembra de este mamífero quien pone el nombre y el misterio a su enigmática segunda novela, Zorra (Sexto Piso en México, Lava en España), una suerte de fábula que transcurre en un futuro tan próximo que es casi presente. “Entre las pandemias sin fin y las guerras en países cada vez más cercanos en el mapa”, resumirán sus protagonistas, Ella y Él, desprovistos de cualquier nombre propio. Podríamos ser cualquiera.

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Only 24 hours remain before the World Cup kicks off in Mexico and the country is going though its final dress rehearsals. Preventing demonstrations on opening day is already a pipe dream: negotiations with teachers have stalled and search groups will march to make their missing relatives visible. With everyone in position and the cards on the table, attention is focused on avoiding the worst-case scenario for the government of Claudia Sheinbaum — an image of a police officer striking a teacher circling the globe on the day the country is playing for its international image. The concern is not unfounded: on the first day of protests a teacher lost an eye in clashes with police. The past two weeks have tested containment measures, and Wednesday will be the last chance to fine-tune the public staging. To ease the pressure, authorities have canceled classes for Thursday and ordered remote work for public servants.

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Teachers in Mexico have launched a nationwide strike that is bringing mounting pressure on President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup.

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With five Academy Awards to his name, Alejandro González Iñárritu, 62, had few things left to achieve, and this week he crossed one off. The award-winning Mexican director, who will release his ninth film this fall — the dramedy Digger, starring Tom Cruise — has returned to his native city to join the Colegio Nacional de México, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the Spanish-speaking world. As its new 38th member and the first filmmaker ever asked to join the honorary academy, his entire craft is also entering the institution: an art that has historically played different roles, he says, from “its use by governments for ideologies and repression” to “poetry and inspiration,” and also “entertainment.”

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