Opinion Can Mexico move past its authoritarian streak with a new president?
Kitroeff’s doxing prompted immediate condemnation from the Times, the Committee to Protect Journalists and various voices in Mexico. But López Obrador remained indifferent: A few days later, in an exchange with journalist Jesica Zermeño, he showed no remorse, suggesting that Kitroeff should simply change her cellphone number. When Zermeño pointed out the potential illegality of disclosing Kitroeff’s private information, López Obrador offered a revealing response: “The political and moral authority of the president of Mexico is above the law.”
This declaration of presidential impunity was met with further criticism. “A president who claims to be ‘above the law’ is a president outside the law,” wrote journalist Pablo Hiriart. On Saturday, in a video posted on social media, López Obrador doubled down. He targeted Univision journalist Jorge Ramos and then turned his attention to me, revealing what he believed to be my salary at Univision, a private company I no longer work for. On Monday, he again went after me, again invoking an absurd figure he claims I was paid at my job.
It would all be comical if it weren’t part of a pattern of autocratic press intimidation, endangering lives in a country where being a journalist often carries the risk of paying the ultimate price. López Obrador has similarly targeted a long list of writers and investigators, including Mexican journalists Carlos Loret de Mola and Ciro Gómez Leyva. The latter narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 2022.
López Obrador’s reckless provocations continue to endanger journalists. But with elections slated to take place in June, the term-limited president is on his way out. Is Mexico about to move on from a shameful episode in its history?
In just over three months, the country will get to pick between two candidates: Xochitl Gálvez, a senator chosen to lead a coalition across Mexico’s traditional political parties, and Claudia Sheinbaum, López Obrador’s handpicked successor and political heir.
Gálvez immediately spoke out against López Obrador’s doxing of Kitroeff. “Leaks of personal data must be punished according to the law,” she posted on social media. “No political project or moral authority is above individual rights.”
Sheinbaum is more of a mystery, but she has people worried. Throughout her candidacy, Sheinbaum has aligned herself closely with the president. She has fully embraced López Obrador’s agenda, including a series of controversial reforms recently submitted to Congress, which could significantly threaten the institutional process of selecting Supreme Court judges as well as undermine the integrity of future elections in Mexico. “There is no sign that Claudia Sheinbaum disagrees with [López Obrador’s] view of the law,” political columnist Jesús Silva-Herzog Márquez wrote.
Sheinbaum also appears to echo the president’s many grievances. She followed his lead in sharply criticizing the massive marches in defense of democracy in several Mexican cities on Feb. 18.
The presidential campaign in Mexico commences on March 1. Sheinbaum holds a clear early lead in the polls. The next 90 days in the spotlight present an opportunity for her to take a clear stance on the increasingly despotic methods of the man she intends to succeed — and to whom she owes most of her political career. With three presidential debates scheduled and numerous interactions with the media sure to follow, she will have plenty of opportunities to express her commitment to the basic democratic values that have come under attack during López Obrador’s presidency.
Failure to so will serve as a warning for voters. They hold the future of Mexico’s democracy in their hands.
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