This is a list of events that happened in 2018 in Mexico. The article also lists the most important political leaders during the year at both federal and state levels.
Incumbents
President
President
Enrique Peña Nieto Institutional Revolutionary Party PRI, until November 30
Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) MORENA, starting December 1
Cabinet
Governors
Events
January through March
January 23 — Marco Antonio Sanchez Flores, a student at Prepa 8 in Mexico City, is detained by the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica and the Policia Auxiliar. Several hours later, he was released in Melchor Ocampo, State of Mexico. Months later, the detention is unexplained.
February 16 — A helicopter of the SEDENA crashes, leaving 14 dead. The helicopter, which was carrying the Secretary of the Interior, Alfonso Navarrete Prida and the Governor of Oaxaca, Alejandro Murat, crashed in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca, as it was inspecting the damage caused by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that had taken place at 5:39 p.m.
February 18 – Five minors are killed and three are injured when their car crashes on Eje 10 Sur in Mexico City. They had visited a fair in Santa Catarina Yecahuízotl, Tláhuac.
March 19: Three film students from the Universidad de Medios Audiovisuales (CAAV), Javier Salomón Aceves Gastélum, Daniel Díaz y Marcos Ávalos, disappeared in Tonalá, Jalisco. Later it was discovered that the students were beaten and killed, and their bodies were dissolved in acid.
March 20 – A man walks into a store in "Reforma 222" shopping mall in Mexico City, shoots his ex-wife, and causes panic among the shoppers.
March 30 – Campaigning for the 2018 Mexican general election begins.
April through June
April 5 — U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to militarize its southern border.
April 10 – Despite not having sufficient signatures, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón "El Bronco" is allowed to run for President as an independent candidate.
April 11 – After two weeks, a capuchin monkey is captured and taken to Chapultepec Zoo.
April 22 – First Presidential debate, in Mexico City is watched by 11.4 million people.
May 8 – A crack in the high-speed lane of Viaducto Miguel Alemán in Iztacalco, Mexico City, frightens motorists. It requires 1,100 m3 of concrete to be repaired.
May 16 – Margarita Zavala, the only female candidate for President, drops out.
May 18 — An airplane crash in Cuba results in the deaths of 112 people, including the seven members of the crew, all Mexicans.
May 20 – Second Presidential debate, in Tijuana, Baja California
June
Floods cause multiple problems throughout the country, particularly in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Guanajuato.
Two dismembered bodies, presumably belonging to drug traffickers, are found on Avenida Insurgentes Norte y Flores Magón in Nonoalco Tlatelolco, Mexico City.
July through September
July 1 — Andrés Manuel López Obrador wins the presidency.
July 12
A shopping center in Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City partially collapses. No one is hurt, and it reopens 40 days later.
Third Presidential debate, in Mérida, Yucatán.
August 7 – Elba Esther Gordillo Morales is cleared of charges of money laundering and organized crime membership, after spending five years in prison.
August 8 – Roberto Moyado Esparza, a.k.a. ‘El Betito’, presumed leader of La Unión de Tepito drug gang, is arrested.
August 17 — The government issues a new MXN $500 bill, featuring Benito Juarez.
September 4 — A group of pseudo-students known as porros attack a peaceful march by students from the Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (CCH) Azcapotzalco, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), who were demanding greater security measures on campus. Several students are injured.
September 15 – Peña Nieto leads the Independence Day Celebration for the last time.
October through December
October 2 – 50th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre.
October 11 - The collapse of a shopping mall under construction in the Mexican city of Monterrey results in at least 7 deaths and nine people missing. 15 others are injured.
October 19
A caravan of migrants from Central America begins a trek across Mexico in defiance of Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric. A fence separating Guatemala and Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas is torn down.
'El Calavera' is arrested for sexually abusing 39 children in the "Marcelino de Champagnat" preschool in Mexico City.
October 31 — Repairs to the water system in Mexico City and the State of Mexico leave millions without water for a week.
November 5 — The trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Loera Guzman begins in New York, accused of drug trafficking.
December 1 — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is inaugurated.
December 15 — At 18:57 local time, Popocatepetl spews lava, ash and rock.
December 24 — The governor of Puebla, Martha Erika Alonso and her husband, Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, a senator and former state governor, die in a helicopter crash.
December 28 – Seven minor children burn to death in a fire in their home in Buenavista, Iztapalapa, Mexico City.
Holidays, festivities, and special events
Awards
Deaths
January
January 1
Santiago Elias Castro Escobedo, former mayor of Piedras Negras, Coahuila; heart attack.
Carlos Tirado Montero, 70, businessperson and politician (b. 1947).
January 5
Glafiro Alanís Flores, 73, biologist and educator (author of El valor de nuestras plantas, and Flora nativa ornamental para Monterrey); illness (b. 1944).
Isauro Medina Hinojos, 95, businessperson and former mayor of Parral, Chihuahua (b. 1922).
Enrique Cárdenas González, 91, Mexican politician, Governor of Tamaulipas (1975–1981), Municipal President of Ciudad Victoria, and Senator (1968–1971).
Maria Rubio, 83, actress (Cuna de lobos, Imperio de cristal, Querida enemiga).
March 2: Adela Calva Reyes (50), Otomi writer (Ra hua ra hiä / Alas a la palabra and Maga pädihu te’ä ra b’edi ra nanoteknología / Vamos a conocer la nanotecnología) (b. 1967).
March 3: Aarón Vargas Contreras, political scientist and chronicler of Papantla, Veracruz.
March 4
Cuauhtémoc García Pineda (El Matador), photographer and journalist who filmed the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968.
Octavio Novaro, 78, Mexican physicist specialized in theoretical catalysis, awarded the National Prize for Arts and Sciences (1983) and UNESCO Science Prize (1993).
Benito Rosel Isaac (79), Yucatan politician (PAN) (b. 1939).78
March 7: Ricardo Espinosa Cárdenas (79), writer, actor, theater director, television presenter
March 8
Samuel 'Tuxpan' González (72), soccer player for Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz; heart attack.
Arcelia Larrañaga (77), actress.
Rafael 'Cobra' Mendoza (80), boxing promototer and representative (Vicente Saldívar, Daniel Zaragoza, Pipino Cuevas) (b. 1937).
March 11
Gabriel Berumen Castillo (80), photographer (El Heraldo de Saltillo).
Misael Meneses Carmona (19), 3rd division soccer player in Puebla; drowning.
Juan Carlos Olivas, 34, actor ("El Güero" in "El Chapo (TV series)"); cáncer (b. 1984).
April 28: As Charro (69), professional wrestler.
May
May 1: Wrestler Universo 2000 (Andrés Reyes), 55, heart attack in León, Guanajuato.
May 3
Feliciano Guirado Méndez (77), journalist.
Federico Terrazas Torres (85), businessperson (Cementos de Chihuahua).
May 7: Jesús Kumate Rodríguez (93), pediatritian, polítician, and Secretary of Health (1988-1994) (b. Nov. 12, 1924).
May 8
Ana Marisa Lugo Miranda (55), publicity person.
Felipe Muñoz Barba (54), polítician; diabetes (b. 1964).
May 10: Mexican actor Fela Fabregas died at 87 due to a cardio-pulmonary illness (b. 1930).
May 14: María Elena Meneses Rocha, 56, Mexican journalist, technologist and academic (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education).
May 11
José Remedios Aguirre Sánchez, polítician ; murdered.
Nicanor Moreira Ruiz, businessperson and politician.
May 14: José Manuel García Arreola, social activist; cáncer.
May 15 José Lavat, 69, Mexican voice actor, renal failure.
May 16: Alejandro Caballero Vértiz, lawyer and judge.
May 17: Hernán de Mata Quinta, Oaxaca politician (PT); murdered.
May 19: Carlos Ximénez Estrada (81), cultural journalist and writer.
May 20: Jacinto Contreras Martínez (89), polítician (b. 1928).
May 23: Adrián Páez Martínez, businessperson (Comercial America).
May 29
Arturo Antonio Szymanski Ramírez, 96, first archbishop of San Luis Potosí.
René Yañez, 75, Mexican-born American artist, founder of Galería de la Raza, cancer.
June
June 3: Héctor Miranda (57), voice actor (b. 1961).
June 5: Mauricio Caro (42), actor.
June 7: Fernando Purón Johnston (43), polítician; murdered (b. 1975).
June 11: Martín Luna (50), television producer (TV Azteca).
June 13: Arkangel de la Muerte, 52, Mexican professional wrestler (CMLL), heart attack.
June 25: Jaime Bermúdez Cuarón (94), polítician and businessperson (b. 1923).
June 29: María Luisa Mendoza, 88, Mexican journalist, novelist and politician.
July
July 5: Trinidad Martínez Tarragó (89), Spanish-born economist, writer, and académic (b. 1928).
July 6: Antonio Toledo Corro, Governor of Sinaloa 1981–1986 (b. 1919)
July 8: Piratita Morgan, 49, professional wrestler.
July 11: Television producer Santiago Galindo was murdered in his car in Alvaro Obregon, Mexico City. Another report is that he committed suicide.
July 19: Wrestler Maximino "Max" Linares Moreno, a.k.a. Rayo de Jalisco died of natural causes at the age of 85 in Mexico City.
July 24: Rubén Pat, Quintana Roo journalist and reporter; murdered.
July 26: Alfredo del Águila (83), soccer player (b. 1935).
July 30: Claudia Heinze, model; heart failure.
July 31: Rafael Amador, 58, soccer player (Pumas UNAM and national team) and coach (Pumas UNAM).
August
August 2: Gabriel Covarrubias Ibarra, 88, politician, Senator (1997–2000), Mayor of Guadalajara (1989–1992).
August 13: Rico Pontvianne, 74, basketball player, Pan American championship silver medalist (1967).
August 15: Musician Fabio Melanitto was murdered while riding his motorcycle in Colonia Navarette, Mexico City. He was 32.
August 18: Gabriel López Zapiain, 75, soccer player (Irapuato, Guadalajara, national team).
August 21: Villano III (Arturo Díaz Mendoza), 66, professional wrestler (UWA, CMLL, AAA), cerebral infarction.
August 26: Federico Barbosa Gutiérrez, 66, Mexican jurist and politician, member of the Congress of the Union (2003–2006), heart attack.
August 31: José Luis Dibildox Martínez, 75, bishop of the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Tarahumara (1993–2003) and Tampico (2003–2018); long-time illness (b. 1943)
September
September 5
Roger Aguilar Salazar 79, Mexican politician, deputy-elect for Moreno from Yucatan, died of leukemia (b. 1938)
José Antonio Fernández Salazar (62), journalist Televisa; cáncer.
September 6: Ernesto Juárez Frías (87), músician and composer (b. 1931).
September 9: Javier Usabiaga Arroyo, 79, Mexican politician, Minister of Agriculture (2000–2005) and Deputy (2009–2012); cancer (b. 1939).
September 27: Virginia Ramos, 65, Mexican-born American chef.
October
October 4: José Sacal (63) writer (b. 1955).
October 5: Yolanda Martínez actress
October 12: Marbella Ibarra, soccer coach and promoter of women's soccer (b. 1972); murdered.
October 17: Elizabeth Nava Hernández 55, politician Morena; cancer (b. 1963)
October 19: Martha Beatriz Isela Fregoso Zepeda (51), journalist (Excélsior) and executive (b. 1967).
October 26: César Zambrano Pérez, polítician (Acapulco) and businessperson; murdered.
October 31: Arnulfo "Fito" Avilán Cruz 94, soccer player (Rayados).
November
November 1: Manuel Villamor Reyes 90, Mexican-Belizean painter and muralist (b. 1928)
November 4:
Melquiades Sánchez Orozco (90), journalist and radio announcer (b. 1928).
Sofía Tejeda Becerra (82), actress (b. 1936).
November 6: José Lothario, 83, Mexican professional wrestler and manager (NWA, WWF, CWF).
November 7: José Fortunato Álvarez Valdez 50, Catholic bishop of Gomez Palacio, Durango died after a long illness (b. 1967).
November 11
Pedro Aranda-Díaz Muñoz, 85, Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Tulancingo (1975–2008).
Olga Harmony, 90, Mexican playwright.
November 14:
Chilean singer of boleros Lucho Gatica, a long-time resident of Mexico, died at the age of 90.
Mexican writer Fernando del Paso died at the age of 85 in his home in Mexico City.
November 18: Héctor Beltrán Leyva 53, Mexican drug lord, died of a heart attack (b. 1965)
November 19: Isidro Olace (83), actor (b. 1935).
November 20: Lorena Villegas, voice actress.
November 21: Luis Trujillo Llame (32), Catholic priest; accident (b. 1986)
November 26: Patricia Quintana, 72, Mexican chef, writer and academic; natural causes.
November 27: Benjamín Gallegos Soto 58, Mexican pilot and politician, member of PAN, Senator from Aguascalientes (b. 1960)
December
December 5: Carlos “Bobby” Treviño, 70, baseball player (California Angels); sudden death (b. 1948).
December 14: Salvador Flores Huerta, 84, Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas (1993–2006).
December 16: Juan L. Maldonado, 70, Mexican-born American education administrator, President of Laredo Community College (2007–2016).
December 18: Angels Bravo (73) Spanish-Mexican doubling actress (b. 1945)
December 19: Raúl Mata, 71, Mexican professional wrestler (EMLL, CWF, NWA Hollywood).
December 22: Angélica García Arrieta (64), Mexican accountant and politician, founder of Morena (b. 1958)
December 24: The governor of Puebla, Martha Erika Alonso (b. 1973) and her husband, senator and former governor Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas died in a helicopter crash.
December 27
Lourdes Deschamps (68), actress and producer (b. 1950).
Martha Elena Venier (80), professor and researcher (b. 1938).
December 29: Rosenda Monteros (83), actress, director, and producer (b. 1935).