Politics: Sheinbaum's administration under fire on multiple fronts
With Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential administration now into its second year, prospects are not as bright as they once appeared. Sheinbaum had everything going for her, including AMLO’s legacy and high approval ratings and a weak opposition. But her incapacity to break with AMLO’s erroneous policies—in the fields of public security and the economy, among others—coupled with intense pressure and threats from Washington, have led to a situation marked by a weak government with an inauspicious outlook.
In the past six months, the 4T’s fortunes have massively declined. The uninterrupted succession of violent incidents involving organized crime, conflicts and political scandals, natural disasters, threats and pressures from the United States, bad economic news, and protest demonstrations in the streets against various government policies have led to the perception of a presidential administration under siege, that merely reacts to the current situation, without its own agenda or general governmental plan or strategy. The situation dramatically worsened in the past two weeks with the November 1 assassination of Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán. The killing sparked massive indignation not only in Michoacán but also nationwide.
This came on the heels of other developments and incidents that have weakened Sheinbaum and Morena’s narrative of uninterrupted progress, violence under control, and a government free from the moral defects of past administrations. Such developments include scandals involving links between Morena officials and organized crime, “huachicol fiscal” (corruption-ridden gasoline imports), and the disclosure of luxurious lifestyles of Morena legislators and leaders, which weakens the party’s claim to moral superiority.
On the economic front, the situation is also less than stellar. Low economic growth of between 1% and 2% for the rest of Sheinbaum’s term and major problems in agriculture and with Pemex could have a spill-over effect on other government plans and spending.
In that context, on Saturday, November 15, a march took place in Mexico City and in other cities across the country, to repudiate the government, among other reasons for its complicity with organized crime that led to the murder of Mayor Carlos Manzo. The novelty of that march was that it was called for by young people who identify as "Generation Z". If there is any depoliticized social sector, it is the youth. It remains to be seen if, following this march, a new and unexpected actor can consolidate and enter into active politics in opposition to the 4T.
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