Politics: Changes at the Attorney General's Office, controversial rulings by the Supreme Court, and growing social protests
A rift has appeared between Sheinbaum and newly elected Supreme Court justices perceived as favorable to the 4T. The judges’ intent was to eliminate a basic judicial principle that legal conflicts must have a definitive conclusion. Without this certainty, disputes would become endless. This would obviously generate opposition from business circles, interested in legal certainty. The alarm sparked among business leaders was so intense that President Sheinbaum had to publicly state that she does not agree with reopening final rulings.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, November 26, rumors began circulating that Alejandro Gertz Manero would resign as Federal Attorney General, which in the end proved to be true. Gertz Manero was considered close to Andrés Manuel López Obrador although it turned out that his own interests came first. The plan is for Gertz Manero to be replaced by the Legal Advisor to the Presidency of Mexico, Ernestina Godoy, a staunch Sheinbaum loyalist. This will give the President even more power over law enforcement and the system of justice.
However, in terms of popularity among different social groups Sheinbaum faces important challenges. On the heels of the successful November 15 opposition protests called by the Generation Z youth movement and backed by broader sections of the population, President Claudia Sheinbaum has not had time for a reprieve from protests centered on different sectors of the population. Underlying issues of public security and organized crime, ineffective government policies, and broken promises continue to fuel social indignation. In the past two weeks, Mexico has witnessed major popular mobilizations that have put pressure on her government. By far and away the most dramatic and significant were the highway blockades by truckers and peasant farmers angered over poor security on the roads and lack of support for agriculture. These blockades paralyzed whole sections of the country highways and eventually forced the government to give in to protesters’ demands. Meanwhile, health-care workers and medical personnel protested the lack of pharmaceuticals in hospitals, low salaries, and poor treatment by hospital and clinic directors. Judicial employees and former judges protested the government’s failure to abide by labor legislation on severance pay. And radical teachers continue to take to the streets and plan work stoppages demanding the repeal of past labor reforms. In the coming days, air traffic controllers may enter the fray with their own protests. These and other mobilizations and the resulting political fallout are having an adverse effect on President Sheinbaum's popularity.
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