Patrick J. McDonnell is the Los Angeles Times Mexico City bureau chief and a foreign correspondent. Previously, he was bureau chief in Beirut, covering conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya and issues in Iran, Lebanon and Turkey. He covered the Iraq war as Baghdad correspondent/bureau chief and then roamed South America as Buenos Aires bureau chief. He began at The Times covering the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego/Tijuana and immigration issues. McDonnell is a native of the Bronx, where he majored in Irish-American studies and N.Y. Yankee fandom. He is a graduate of New York University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, was a Nieman fellow at Harvard and a 2014 Pulitzer finalist in international reporting for coverage from inside Syria.
Latest From This Author
Critics say the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is trying to downplay how people have disappeared in recent years.
Feb. 15, 2024
The son of slain presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio asked that his killer be pardoned, but President Andrés Manuel López Obrador refused.
Jan. 31, 2024
The muxe — Indigenous Zapotec people in Mexico — view themselves as neither man nor woman. They embrace a distinct ‘third gender,’ part of a burgeoning LGBTQ+ movement worldwide.
Jan. 22, 2024
Many Mexicans find it difficult to square recent mass shootings with official statistics showing that homicides are on the decline.
Dec. 31, 2023
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has threatened to annex a large, oil-rich chunk of neighboring Guyana, leading to fears of clashes.
Dec. 14, 2023
Losses are estimated at $15 billion in Acapulco, the storied Mexican beach town that had fallen on harder times even before Hurricane Otis struck.
Nov. 13, 2023
More than two days after Otis struck Acapulco as a Category 5 hurricane, hundreds of thousands of homes are without power and survivors are growing desperate.
Oct. 27, 2023
After deadly Hurricane Otis made landfall in Mexico, communication with Acapulco was still mostly down. Hundreds of thousands were without electricity.
Oct. 26, 2023
Hurricane Otis slammed into Mexico’s southern Pacific coast as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, bringing 165 mph winds and heavy rain to Acapulco and nearby towns.
Oct. 25, 2023
Soldiers and razor-sharp metal at the Mexico-Texas border don’t deter migrants who traveled months to get there, as numbers of those fleeing to the U.S. soar.
Oct. 2, 2023