The fragile Mexican democracy is at risk due to the attacks against various national institutions orchestrated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and executed by his allies in Congress and his followers in the streets of the cities, especially those of CDMX.
In the first place, the attacks by the president and his morenistas against the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, in general, and against its new president Norma Piña and various ministers, in particular, stand out.
Secondly, it should be noted the campaign that AMLO launched since 2006 against the disappeared IFE after he did not recognize his alleged victory in the presidential election of that year, a victory that could not be legally proven. The creation of the INE in 2014 did not stop it from continuing its attacks, especially against its main officials.
Then there are his attempts, some successful, to manipulate or weaken various autonomous constitutional bodies such as the Bank of Mexico, the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (Inai), the National Institute of Statistics and Geography ( Inegi), the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) or the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece).
He has also questioned the relevance of regulatory bodies such as the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) and the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).
In the name of republican austerity and as part of his campaign against corruption, Andrés Manuel seeks to control and centralize all political power in his person, as happened during the decades in which the country was controlled by the PRI-government headed by the presidents of the Republic.
The actions of AMLO and his followers tend to weaken our country’s fledgling democracy and everything seems to indicate that not many people care, according to the 2021 edition of Latinobarómetro, an annual public opinion survey that includes some 20,000 interviews. in 18 Latin American countries (1,200 in Mexico) whose purpose is to measure “the development of democracy, the economy, and society as a whole, using public opinion indicators that measure attitudes, values, and behaviors.”
The Latinobarómetro shows that only 43% of Mexican citizens were in favor of democracy in 2020, five percentage points above the 38% registered in 2017 and 2018. This percentage is one of the lowest registered since 1996 and was only lower in 2009 (42%), 2011 (40%), 2013 (37%) and the aforementioned 2017 and 2018. Also in 2007 it was 43 percent.
Long gone are the years in which more than half of the citizens supported democracy: 1996 (53%), 1997 (52%), 1998 (51%), 2002 (63%), 2003 and 2004 (53%), 2005 (59%) and 2006 (54%).
If 57% of Mexicans do not support democracy, it is not surprising that Andrés Manuel’s efforts to concentrate power in the hands of the Executive Branch do not generate widespread rejection. Interestingly, that 57% is a percentage similar to that of those who approve of the presidential administration.
The democratic experiment in Mexico could come to an end in the 2024 elections, which would have serious consequences for the political stability and economic prosperity of the country.
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