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The programming in this bonus episode of the Tacos of Texas podcast was originally aired live on the Texas Standard in July, 2025.
Tacos of Texas host Mando Ray discusses the search and rescue group who came from Mexico to help find victims of the July 4th floods.
In the weeks since the Fourth of July floods hit Central Texas, help has come in many forms. From relief concerts to restaurants donating profits, volunteers have been a huge part of relief efforts – including one trained rescue group from Mexico, which made it a priority to search for flood victims despite current rocky U.S. relations with Mexico.
The group is known as Los Topos Azteca and formed after Mexico City’s devastating 1985 earthquake. Tacos of Texas podcast host Mando Rayo discusses their involvement and the magnitude behind it in this political climate.
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The full transcript of this episode of Tacos of Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Well, tell us more about this group. Who are this group of volunteers, and is it often that they come to the aid of the U.S.?
Mando Rayo: Yeah, the Topos Aztecas, as you mentioned, they were formed in 1985 after the Mexico City earthquake. And so it’s a search and rescue team, and they go where they’re needed, right? It doesn’t matter about boundaries, about borders or whatnot.
For them, it’s about supporting and supporting a community, supporting humanity, and for them, outside of what may be going on in between countries, the political mess of it, they’re just there to save lives. And yeah, they’ve been doing it for over 40 years.
Yeah, that’s a long time. When natural disasters hit, in particular, does it feel sometimes like an opportunity to just move beyond whatever political issues or sticky international relations are there for, as you say, sort of the benefit of humanity?
Yeah, I mean, we have to, right? If we’re really going to put people’s lives first.
And so yeah, sometimes we kind of get stuck in the politics of everything. You know, I guess part of the main question is like, what are we doing for others? And they’re – the Topos Aztecas – are answering. They’re here for a service to humanity.
One of the lead Topos – Héctor Méndez – said, for him, it’s like “it doesn’t matter what the politics are, we’re here as one people to serve humanity.”
Well, you mentioned Hector, we’ve actually got a clip of him. This is from AJ+ Media, from an interview – the founder of Los Topos. Could you listen to this? And I think this underscores what you were saying.
Héctor Méndez (in clip): Voluntario eso otro tipo que gente estamos más allá de cuestiones de tipo político, racial, religioso, de género. El voluntario está al servicio de la humanidad.
So he’s talking about volunteers there, what’s he saying?
Yeah, I mean, same thing – this whole idea that, you know, volunteers are there in service of others. You got to put racial and divide lines and political lines aside because they are here to serve humanity.
And, you know, at the core, what you do for others, if that’s your calling then it doesn’t matter the language – any barriers – if you’re there to help and support. And we saw that with the floods and supporting communities in Central Texas.
I mean, in a time where Mexicans and immigrants are not being welcome in the United States, you got this group that said, “you know what? It doesn’t matter. We’re here to help.”
You know, it makes me think a little bit about USAID. And of course, that’s been pulled back a lot. But, really, there was no hiding that one of the goals of USAID was to yes, support the world, but also to garner good sentiment towards the United States.
In this case, these are volunteers acting outside of federal support. They don’t have any other goals here of improving international relationships. They’re just doing what they think is right. Is that right?
Yeah, and you know, at the end of the day, yeah, do what you think is right. Lead with your heart, and just help a neighbor out, you know? Help someone in need.
And at the of the end day – funny thing – volunteering, it doesn’t pay, but you get tenfold back, right back in your heart.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
