MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first 100 days of administration of Claudia Sheinbaumwhich the president celebrates this Sunday with a mass bath in the Zócalo of Mexico City, have been marked by the constitutional reforms inherited from her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador that remodel the basic institutions of the State, the changes in security and the economic and political uncertainties marked, above all, by the start of Donald Trump’s second administration in the United States on January 20.
“There is no recent historical precedent for such a complex transition process, so complicated internally and externally,” said academic Carlos Pérez Ricart, from the Center for Economic Research and Teaching.
Here, a quick look at three key points from this period:
Changes to the Constitution
Since Congress was installed following the June elections, changes have come into force in more than 60 articles of the Magna Carta. Half were approved with López Obrador but, overall, it is a restructuring of important parts of the Mexican State and a concentration of power.
“I don’t know where all this wealth of power is going to go,” Pérez Ricart said.
It could lead to the State recovering stewardship of key sectors, removing power from criminal networks and implementing more public policies, which in the academic’s opinion would be positive. “Or it can lead to a process of centralization that extinguishes criticism, renders Congress inoperative or consolidates a one-party state.”
“Both horizons are open,” he added.
The most important change is the reform of the Judiciary, the most criticized because for many it will mean the politicization of justice by having judges elected by popular vote. Autonomous bodies were also suppressed and constitutional changes were shielded.
In addition, mostly praised reforms were introduced on indigenous and gender rights and others that, rather than serving as a general framework of government, are party policies: the popular social programs or the questioned usefulness of prohibiting fentanyl or vaping devices in the Magna Carta. .
Security changes
If there is a policy where Sheinbaum did not opt for continuity, it is security, although the effects of this change will take time to produce results.
Instead of the “Hugs, not bullets” of its predecessor, there are more actions against the cartels.
According to Pérez Ricart, twice as many cases are being prosecuted, more drugs are seized and there are surgical operations against local criminal networks.
The power of the head of Federal Security, Omar García Harfuch, has grown and it remains to be seen how the relationship with the strengthened Armed Forces is established.
Political scientist Georgina de la Fuente considers that inter-institutional coordination and intelligence have been emphasized. But De la Fuente believes that the most serious problem is the lack of funds because the strong pressures on public spending have meant significant cuts to the security budget.
Uncertain future and the arrival of Donald Trump
Foreign policy is not going to be simple with three key issues, trade, migration and security, strongly conditioned by the actions taken by the future US president who has threatened tariffs, mass deportations or more direct actions against the cartels.
“It remains to be seen if he can assemble a professional and technical team that will generate favorable conditions in the bilateral relationship” with the United States, De la Fuente indicated.
And although for the moment Sheinbaum has shown firmness in the face of Trump’s threats and occurrences, something that his electoral base likes and that keeps his popularity very high, “that is not enough,” Pérez Ricart added. “And the worst is yet to come.”
Mexico’s condescension with governments such as Venezuela, Cuba or Nicaragua could also cause problems for Sheinbaum.
“Certain internal conditions allow us to glimpse an uphill situation, with an unsustainable insecurity crisis, but also with the approval of structural reforms that have eroded institutionality and legal certainty towards the future, transmitting an idea of Mexico as an unreliable partner,” Source alert.
Pérez Ricart points out another “structural” problem: the Sheinbaum government “cannot promote its achievements without making specific criticism of the previous administration.”
This article was published by MARÍA VERZA on 2025-01-12 09:29:00
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