challenges for the new president of Mexico

Washington—

Strengthening democracy, stimulating economic growth, protecting human rights, solving insecurity and strengthening relationships with key allies such as the United States, will be some of the challenges that will be faced by whoever inherits the presidency of Mexico in the next few years. historic elections next Juneanalysts warn.

The participation of more than 99 million voters makes these elections the largest in the history of the nation, where some 20,000 local, state and national positions will be elected, in addition to the Head of State, which will remain for the first time in the hands of a woman.

Regardless of who inherits the leadership between the two main candidates: the ruling party Claudia Sheinbaum and analyst Lila Abed, the interim director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute.

Among the areas where the new Mexican president will have to work “insecurity and the presence of organized crime, the lack of transparency and the absence of the rule of law, access to health and medicines stand out,” Abed specified in a virtual seminar sponsored by the Washington-based think tank.

“As well as maintaining fiscal stability and stimulating the economy, ensuring the supply of energy and water, reducing poverty and femicides, improving the quality of education, generating opportunities for young people, offering social programs for the most vulnerable sectors” , he listed.

The journalist and researcher also insisted on the need to “develop a foreign policy that brings Mexico closer to its main allies in the international community, strengthens democracy and protects the human rights of all citizens.”

Democracy and the financing of public spending

The protection of citizen rights and the rule of law is one of the most sensitive issues in the North American country, and among the main obstacles that the new president will have to overcome, who will inherit a nation with a “hybrid regime, where practices authoritarian regimes coexist with democratic procedures and institutions,” warned human rights activist Maria Elena Morera.

According to the director of the NGO Common Cause, the authoritarian side “is increasingly threatening to gain ground” over the democratic side. “Democracy is at risk and will have to face very important challenges,” said Morera, who cited the Democracy index published by The Economist, where Mexico fell 19 places in the last six years.

“Mexico fell to 90th place out of 167 in the international ranking of democracy. (…) And with this I do not mean that before we were an example to follow, but I do believe that we are much further away from living in a State of right,” he said.

Morera pointed out the concentration of power in the Executive, the weakening of the Judiciary and threats to freedom of expression as well as direct attacks on journalists and media, among the main deficiencies of the government of current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who, however, continues to be very popular among citizens, he added.

On the other hand, among the administration’s achievements is fiscal stability and the boost to the economy, which the new Presidency must maintain or increase. In addition, there is the challenge of financing “the great demands that the population in Mexico has, the great demands in health, in education, the sustainability of public security expenses,” highlighted the adjunct professor of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Georgetown, Gabriel Farfán.

The relationship with the US, the great “uncertainty”

The relationship with its neighbor to the north, with whom it shares a border and a long commercial history, is one of the least clear areas, even for experts. The US will also decide who will occupy the White House for the next four years.

The main American candidates: the current Democratic president Joe Biden, and the Republican Donald Trump, maintain sometimes totally opposite policies in terms of commercial cooperation and foreign policy.

Neither of the two Mexican candidates, Sheinbaum and Gálvez, “has spoken very strongly about what their public policy is going to be, how they are going to deal if Trump arrives or if Biden stays. And I think we are in a moment of great uncertainty.” , but hey, also, as in all moments of change like these, they are also opportunities to improve,” said María Elena Morera.

“The most difficult of all, without a doubt, to incorporate in the US and Mexico is the security part. But we also have this part of migration. And the good and the bad of migration. The good thing is that both sides have the incentive to cooperate, to try to limit (irregular) migration today, because the majority of people migrating are not Mexicans. The majority are Central Americans, but above all, the largest group today are non-Mexicans, non-Central Americans,” he specified. for her part Pamela Starr.

The analyst, professor and researcher specialized in Latin America at the Wilson Center insisted that “Mexico has an enormous advantage in its relationship with the United States economically, which is geography,” however, the possibility of a new Trump mandate presents the “great unknown in the bilateral relationship.”

This is due to the “somewhat extreme” positions of the former president, who has promised to deport a large number of undocumented migrants in the US and toughen entry requirements, also to “his tendency to not value the relationship with Mexico,” Starr explained.

The possible decision to close the border and insist that Mexico accept migrants trying to enter US territory is one of the questions. “The question is whether Mexico is going to accept it, because it is Mexico’s sovereign right to say no. So, that could cause a problem,” the expert warned.

“The relationship is going to be much more complex with a Trump than a Biden. But even with a Joe Biden, the relationship is going to be more complex than in the past, because the problems are bigger and more difficult to solve,” Starr concluded. .

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