Thread on it: President López Obrador backs electoral institute reform in Mexico - CSMonitor.com Mexico’s Senate approved a reform that downsizes the electoral institute and restricts its authority. Detractors say the reform undermines democracy, while President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asserts it will save money and curb political privileges. Some opposition lawmakers held up posters reading, “Morena wants to steal the elections,” referring to Mr. López Obrador’s ruling Morena party. Mexico has presidential elections scheduled for next year. The legislative initiative, known as “Plan B,” was proposed by the president in December after he did not obtain enough votes in Congress for a constitutional reform that carried deeper electoral changes. The president has repeatedly denied that the reform package could put the elections in Mexico at risk, saying the initiative seeks to cut the National Electoral Institute’s large budget and end its privileges. Mr. López Obrador and his supporters have been critical of the electoral institute since 2006, when he came within 0.56% of the vote of winning the presidency and denounced his loss as fraudulent. He and his supporters launched a mass protest movement. Despite the institute confirming his landslide victory in 2018, Mr. López Obrador has repeatedly complained about how costly it is to run elections in Mexico and sought to curtail the institute’s budget. He frequently says that the independent body is in the hands of the elite. Some Mexicans see similarities to the rhetoric used by former United States President Donald Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of elections in those countries that aimed to erode confidence in the process. Many in Mexico see the electoral institute as a key pillar of the country’s modern democracy. After 71 years of uninterrupted single-party rule, the opposition finally broke through in 2000. Mr. López Obrador’s ruling Morena party is favored in next year’s national elections and the opposition is in disarray, which would seem to give the president little incentive to attack the electoral institute. He remains highly popular in Mexico, but is not eligible for reelection. Lorenzo Córdova, the institute’s leader, has aggressively defended it in public and framed the reforms as a threat to Mexico’s democracy. His outspokenness has made him a frequent target of Mr. López Obrador. After Wednesday’s vote, the institute said via Twitter that the reform “puts at risk the equity and transparency of the elections” by weakening the sanctions the institute can apply to candidates and parties that violate campaign finance rules. Even before Wednesday night’s vote, the opposition had called a march in Mexico City Sunday in defense of the institute. The opposition held a similar march in November, which was ridiculed by Mr. López Obrador who led an even larger march days later. The president had already worried some observers by frequently attacking Mexico’s judiciary and concentrating enormous responsibility in the hands of the military, raising questions about his respect for the country’s democratic institutions.
I read the NYT article about this and unfortunately this appears to be a trend around the world paring back democratic institutions.
Just supplying that world's most lucrative illegal drug market..... Now you want to cancel supply and demand!?!?
Mexican migrants in Texas could play a role in choosing the country’s next president next year, and Mexican political leaders are setting up outreach networks — including one in Dallas — to court expat voters. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/17/mexico-voters-texas-politics-presidential-election/
Another example of how easy it is when dealing with foreign countries to only expose Americans to one point of view usually conservative or helpful to US multinationals. Frum of course is a traditional American conservative, though since he is not a Trumper he is now more palatable to some Democrats. Conservatives in Mexico and the US are having a hissy fit as Mexico has a democratic leftist president Andres Manuel Amador Lopez AMLO, who is popular with the majority of Mexicans. Much more than our recent presidents including Trump and Biden. His party has strong support in both houses of Congress and they look very likely to win again. Panic time among the elite. They think that they have found an issue with the election reform designed to reduce expenses and which was designed to be more favorable to the traditional parties, the PRI,PAN and PRD that resonates so they are pushing it Especially for foreign consumption a standard technique is to try to smear progressives, who not cater to the traditional more liberal segments of the elite, as "populists" or being like Trump or Bolsonaro. For the first time in many years many of the upper class Mexicans have to pay taxes (vastly less than even in the USA). AMLO's government has balanced the budget while not raising taxes on the vast majority of Mexicans. The Mexican peso due to this balanced budget and with no need to borrow internationally has been one of approximately three currencies that have not been devalued against the US dollar in the last roughly 4 years. His government has practically doubled the minimum wage in real terms. International investment in Mexico is at all time high.. They have instituted national health care (making the US the only country in North America which such poor access to millions)and instituted old age pensions for millions who have never had them before. They have expanded free public education. He has given free fertilizer to many of the small peasant farmers and Mexico is now self sufficient in beans and almost in corn. Mexico is now self sufficient in gasoline after revitalizing the state owned oil refineries that were auctioned off to foreign investors who paid off previous conservative administrations-- this has given US international oil companies a fit. These accomplishments are to be barely. mentioned if at all as they are of no consequence to upper class Mexicans who hang or our elite, including often mainstream journalists and who have gone frequently to the same elite US universities. Having delivered the goods to the lower 70% the folks can't be shaken in their support by the virtually 100% opposition from the mainstream media and the traditional political parties which are even more dominated by the extremely wealthily than here. If any of you speak Spanish or have access to working class immigrants in Houston ask them about their president who they are quite proud of. Checkout https://www.jornada.com.mx/. or youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/lopezobrador/videos
Regarding cartel violence Garcia Luna (google him and Mexico) who was the head of internal security and who was on the payroll of one of the two recent conservative presidents Felipe Calderon and an important leader in the PAN during his successor Vincente Fox , while receiving millions in bribes was convicted in NY Fed court recently. For devotees of Trump just citing crime whether here or in Mexico is viewed as helpful
