El sargazo jaquea al turismo en México, República Dominicana y otras zonas del Caribe con una intensidad nunca vista y comienza a impactar en la economía regional.

Esta alga marina de color marrón y que flota libremente en el océano está cubriendo enormes extensiones de playa con su característico olor desagradable. Su efecto es demoledor en la industria turística, ya que puede causar mortandad de peces y oscurecer el agua, lo que perjudica actividades como el snorkel y el buceo.

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Las cifras son impactantes. La Secretaría de Marina (Semar) de México anunció que ya superó el récord histórico de recolección de sargazo en las costas del estado de Quintana Roo, en el Caribe. Allí, están las playas más reconocidas del país, como Cancún y Playa del Carmen.

Según el informe oficial, desde 2019 se removieron 290.000 toneladas de sargazo solo en las playas de ese estado caribeño.

El turismo sufre por este fenómeno. En el balneario de Tulum, en el Caribe mexicano, la ocupación hotelera cayó al 40%. Empresarios locales advierten que la ciudad sufre la peor caída en el flujo de viajeros de los últimos 10 años.

Cómo son los operativos contra el sargazo

Las autoridades mexicanas lanzaron un plan contra el sargazo denominado Estrategia de Atención al Sargazo 2025, según informó la prensa local.

Para ello, desplegó maquinaria, embarcaciones y personal naval especializado en tres puntos de Quintana Roo. Los trabajos se realizan en Isla Mujeres, Cancún y Puerto Morelos (norte); Playa del Carmen, Cozumel y Tulum (centro), y desde Mahahual hasta Xcalak (sur).

El plan busca evitar que el sargazo llegue a las costas mexicanas a través del despliegue de 400 militares, un buque “sargacero” oceánico, 11 buques costeros y 22 naves de apoyo. El operativo incluye la instalación de 8850 metros de barreras de contención.

El sargazo es un problema recurrente en la temporada de verano boreal. Este año, se retiraron 44.000 toneladas.

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Los informes son críticos. En isla Mujeres, uno de los puntos turísticos de referencia del Caribe mexicano, llegaron 140 toneladas de sargazo entre el 13 y 14 de este mes. La limpieza obligó a desplegar a miembros de la Marina, Defensa Civil y bomberos, así como a trabajadores de la rama turística y taxistas que viven de la llegada de visitantes.

Pero la solución es solo momentánea.

Este 2025 se perfila como el peor año y superar el máximo histórico de 522.226 toneladas que llegaron en 2018 a todo el Caribe.

El panorama es desolador. La masa de sargazo que se forma en el Trópico alcanza los 37,5 millones de toneladas métricas y algunos informes hablan de 40 millones, casi el doble del récord de 2018. Se cree que un 10% (unas 400.000 toneladas) llegará a las costas del Caribe.

México espera el arribo de 100.000 toneladas este año.

República Dominicana lucha contra el sargazo

México no es el único país afectado. El fenómeno se extiende por una amplia franja del Caribe.

República Dominicana teme por el impacto que el sargazo pueda tener en el arribo de visitantes a su centro turístico estrella: el balneario de Punta Cana. Allí y en otras partes del país las máquinas que recogen estas algas amontonadas en la arena o quienes llenan carretillas forman ya parte del paisaje.

Las grandes cadenas hoteleras utilizan maquinarias que recorren las playas, recogiendo y triturando las algas en un carro.

“La verdad es que impresiona” la presencia de sargazo, comentó a EFE una turista española que solo se identificó como Fernanda.

El fenómeno afecta también a los instructores de buceo. “Está complicado ahora mismo. Es difícil conseguir clientes que quieran ir a bucear porque la gente supone que donde la llevemos en la lancha todo estará igual de cubierto de sargazo”, comentó un guía.

Mientras tanto, los turistas pasean junto a la maraña de algas que se extienden por kilómetros sobre las blancas arenas de la zona. Para llegar al agua deben pasar por encima o saltarlas. Un poco más adelante una joven se entretiene agarrándolas con las manos y separándolas para abrir pequeños caminos, mientras una pareja se hace fotos junto a las algas acumuladas, como si se trataran de un ‘souvenir’ más.

La proliferación de sargazo afecta a otras zonas del Caribe en Puerto Rico, Cuba o México, por lo que en la reciente Conferencia de Naciones Unidas sobre los Océanos (UNOC3) el presidente dominicano, Luis Abinader, pidió que se reconozca como “una emergencia regional”.

El sargazo, alertó, “ha dejado de ser una anomalía para convertirse en una crisis” con consecuencias económicas, ambientales y sociales.

The White House called out Hunter Biden after he slammed the Trump administration’s immigration policies in a recent web series interview.

The younger Biden echoed a popular Democratic talking point during a heated rant while appearing on Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan.

«Am I not supposed to feel for someone? Am I going to be like all these Democrats say, ‘You have to talk about and realize that people are really upset about illegal immigration?’ F— you. How do you think your hotel room gets cleaned?» Biden later added.

«How do you think you got food on your f—ing table?» he continued. «Who do you think washes your dishes? Who do you think does your f—ing garden? Who do you think is here? By the f—ing sheer f—ing just grit and will that they figured out a way to get here because they thought that they could give themselves and their family a better chance.»

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The White House pulled no punches after the interview from Biden, who was a major player behind the scenes during the Biden administration and faced a lot of scrutiny for his past overseas business dealings.

«A CBP agent was just shot in the face by two criminal illegal aliens that Joe Biden let into the country but Hunter is more concerned about who is going to clean up his hotel room after his benders,» Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital.

«This sort of callous, self-interested maliciousness from the entire Biden Crime Family is exactly why Joe Biden left office with record-low approval ratings,» Jackson added.

The administration has sent those believed or known to be from designated foreign terrorist organizations, like MS-13, to the prison in El Salvador, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to ramp up immigration operations across the country, including in sanctuary cities. Meanwhile, many people in the country illegally have opted to self-deport, as the Department of Homeland Security is offering $1,000 and free travel out of the country for those without an additional criminal background.

OBAMA SEEMS TO SWIPE AT TRUMP IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN, SAYING MIGRANTS ‘TREATED AS ENEMIES’

First lady Jill Biden, with Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden, attends her granddaughter Maisy Biden’s graduation from the University of Pennsylvania on May 15, 2023, in Philadelphia. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

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Democrats have repeatedly gotten into hot water for mentioning the service and agricultural industries to counteract Trump’s stances on immigration.

Famously, Kelly Osbourne was slammed for saying, «If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilets? Donald Trump?» on «The View» in 2015, which she later apologized for.

«We have a shortage of workers in our country, and you see even in Florida, some of the farmers and the growers saying, ‘Why are you shipping these immigrants up North? We need them to pick the crops down here,’» Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in 2022 when she was speaker of the House. 

More recently, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, faced scrutiny for remarks at the South by Southwest Festival in March.

«How many of you are sending your kids to college?» Crockett said.  «How many of you are sending your kids to college to go and work on the farms?»

«Now, how many of you are looking to send your kids into hospitality after this college education so that they can go and make the beds at the hotels?» the Democrat asked. 

«How many of you are planning to send your kids to college – because that’s what we do, we send everybody to college – how many of you are planning to send your kids to college so that they can then go and build these houses?» Crockett continued. 

In the interview, the former president’s son also called both President Donald Trump and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a «dictator,» and referred to the Central American nation’s terrorism confinement center as a likely «death camp.»

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President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, speaks to reporters after arriving at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1, 2025.

«What we’re going to do is we’re going to send masked men to this marginalized group and we are going to take them, put them on planes, put them on buses, put them on trains, and send them to a prison camp in a foreign country,» he said in an interview with the «Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan» YouTube channel. «What am I describing right then? Am I describing Germany? Am I describing the United States right now? Because I will tell you what, if you think that the prison in El Salvador is not a f—ing concentration camp, you’re out of your f—ing mind.»

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Biden was granted a pardon by his father in December for any crimes he «has committed or may have committed» dating back to 2014. Biden said his son was «being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted» after he was convicted in two federal cases in 2024 for tax and firearm offenses.

«I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,» Hunter Biden said in a statement at the time.  

«Is it really a surprise that Hunter Biden has no respect for Americans who are upset about the criminal illegal aliens let into our country by Joe Biden? Under Biden’s reckless open-border policies, terrorists, gang members, murderers, and child pedophiles were released into American communities,» DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in response to Biden’s podcast comments.

«These policies had real consequences. Young Americans, like Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, lost their lives because of illegal aliens who should have never been in this country. Just two days ago, two illegal aliens who entered our country and were released under President Biden shot and nearly killed one of our brave off-duty CBP officers. President Trump and Secretary Noem will never abandon these victims or their families. DHS will continue to deliver on the mandate of the American people to make America safe again,» she added.

Iran on Monday confirmed it will not give up its nuclear enrichment program in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, set to air at 6 pm on Monday’s «Special Report.» 

Araghchi confirmed that the U.S.’s top ambition in preventing Tehran from further developing a nuclear weapon by blocking all enrichment capabilities is unlikely to come to fruition, despite threats of intense international sanctions.

«We cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,» Araghchi said. «Our enrichment is so dear to us,» he told Bret Baier, anchor and executive editor of Special Report, in a clip released before the full interview airs.

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The foreign minister confirmed that the extent of the damage to its nuclear facilities caused by the U.S. strikes last month was «serious,» but he would not comment on whether any enriched uranium survived the strikes.

«Our facilities have been damaged – seriously damaged,» Araghchi said. «The extent of which is now under evaluation by our atomic energy organization.

«But as far as I know, they are seriously damaged,» he added, noting that the damage has also currently ceased all enrichment capabilities for the time being. 

Iran has maintained that it was not seeking a nuclear weapon, but in the lead up to the Israeli and U.S. strikes, security experts were sounding the alarm that Tehran was likely capable of producing at least one nuclear weapon in a matter of days, and several warheads in a matter of weeks. 

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While nuclear enrichment is a process needed for nations that also rely on nuclear power, Iran’s nuclear energy usage amounts to less than one percent of the nation’s energy consumption. 

The U.S. has suggested that given the low amounts of nuclear energy which Iran relies on, it should join a consortium that could potentially involve nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia for its enriched uranium needs for civil nuclear power use. 

But Iran has repeatedly rejected this proposal, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also referring to Tehran’s capabilities as a source of national pride just last month.

«The number of countries in the world that have achieved a complete nuclear fuel cycle is perhaps fewer than the number of fingers on a person’s two hands,» Khamenei said in early June. «We’re capable of producing nuclear fuel starting from the mine and all the way to the power plant.»

An illustration showing a list of Iran’s nuclear facilities such as Arak’s heavy water nuclear reactor and the Natanz enrichment plant.   (FDD/Fox News)

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But Iran also faces immense international sanctions and even greater arms restrictions should it fail to reach a nuclear agreement by the end of August – though it is unclear if that agreement must include the U.S. or just European nations including France, Germany and the U.K., also referred to as the E3.

Iranian officials will not only be meeting with its top allies and chief adversaries to the West, Russia and China, on Tuesday, but Tehran is also set to hold talks on Friday with officials from the E3.

Washington and Tehran have yet to resume talks following the U.S. strikes last month.