Sheinbaum is one of the world’s most popular leaders. But what do her critics have to say?

During the past 12 months, Mexico News Daily reported connected galore polls that recovered that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s support standing was 70% oregon higher, making her 1 of the world’s astir fashionable leaders.

In the 2nd portion of our bid examining “President Sheinbaum’s archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau successful 12 numbers,” we looked astatine a scope of reasons wherefore the 63-year-old erstwhile Mexico City politician is truthful popular.

In this article, we’ll see the views of immoderate of the Mexicans who are opposed to the president, her government, the ruling Morena enactment and the alleged “Fourth Transformation” (4T) governmental task that was founded by erstwhile president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) but which is present led by Sheinbaum.

While Mexico’s archetypal pistillate president is highly popular, it is important to retrieve that a sizable percent of Mexicans — 27% of the population, according to the results of the astir caller El Financiero canvass — do not o.k. of her performance.

The purpose of this nonfiction is not to delve profoundly into the reasons wherefore astir 3 successful 10 Mexican adults don’t enactment Sheinbaum, but alternatively to supply immoderate further position connected wherefore the presidenta is not universally popular.

To bash this, we person compiled a postulation of quotes from immoderate of the astir salient critics of President Sheinbaum, and others, whose opinions provender into broader anti-Sheinbaum sentiment.

The quotes are categorized according to the issues they correspond to. Our work of the views does not, of course, represent an endorsement of them.

Much of the disapproval relates to reforms that were archetypal projected by López Obrador. Sheinbaum is an ardent defender of AMLO’s legacy, and is perpetuating overmuch of his governmental docket arsenic she seeks to physique the “second story” of the alleged “fourth transformation” helium initiated.

On the enduring power of AMLO

While Sheinbaum wasn’t precisely handpicked by AMLO, she was wide considered the erstwhile president’s preferred successor. Sheinbaum was a curate successful López Obrador’s authorities erstwhile helium was politician of Mexico City successful the aboriginal 2000s and has looked up to — and remained loyal to — the ex-president ever since. Claims persist that Sheinbaum is fundamentally a “puppet” of AMLO, who has much oregon little disappeared from nationalist beingness since concluding his presidency conscionable implicit a twelvemonth ago. Those claims are unfounded oregon justified, depending connected who you talk to. While Sheinbaum’s adjacent relation with AMLO has undoubtedly helped her politically, it is besides a hindrance to winning implicit Mexicans who were staunchly opposed to the 2018-24 authorities helium led.

Raymundo Riva Palacios, a columnist for the El Financiero newspaper: 

“The president governs connected the razor’s edge. On 1 side, the request to amusement she has her ain leadership: different, technical, and calm. On the other, the work to wage tribute to the antheral who brought her to powerfulness and who, though officially retired, has not stopped influencing each enactment of nationalist politics. The erstwhile president is not successful the National Palace, but his shadiness is. It seeps into the greeting property conferences, into speeches and declarations, into societal programs and into the reverential obedience of governors, legislators, and Morena leaders who respond much to the laminitis of the ‘Fourth Transformation’ than to the president.”

President Sheinbaum’s adjacent narration with her predecessor, López Obrador, benefited her politically but besides led to accusations that she was a puppet of the erstwhile president. (Cuartoscuro)

On payment programs

The Sheinbaum medication has maintained each the payment programs offered by the erstwhile authorities and introduced 3 caller ones. The outlay connected the programs exceeds US $45 cardinal successful 2025.

Senator Alejandro Moreno, nationalist president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). 

“[The national government] has gone truthful acold arsenic to manipulate the colonisation with societal programs that don’t warrant rights oregon lick structural problems, but bash guarantee governmental loyalty.” 

Alejo Sánchez Cano, a columnist for the El Financiero newspaper:

“Most of the societal programs implemented by this authorities deficiency wide objectives, operating rules, mechanisms for societal participation, and autarkic evaluations. In addition, they are granted based connected clientelist governmental logic alternatively than to code poorness and marginalization.”

On the judicial elections

The erstwhile government’s arguable judicial betterment took effect conscionable earlier Sheinbaum was sworn successful arsenic president. It allowed Mexico’s first-ever judicial elections to instrumentality spot connected June 1. Sheinbaum was a staunch protagonist of this year’s judicial elections, arguing they were needed to renew the judiciary and escaped it of corruption and different ills.

Denise Dresser, a salient Mexican governmental scientist:

“The predetermination deals a devastating stroke to Mexico’s young electoral democracy, signaling a instrumentality to a competitory authoritarian regime. Morena volition present predominate the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, marking the extremity of a thirty-year epoch characterized by the part of powerfulness and checks and balances.”

Former president Ernesto Zedillo: 

“These elections are a farce not lone successful their justification but besides successful their execution, arsenic has already been intelligibly demonstrated by events during caller months. In fact, the authorities has selected farcically astir of the candidates, evidently without ensuring that they genuinely person the nonrecreational and ethical qualifications to administer justice.”

Former President Ernesto Zedillo has been an outspoken professional of the judicial reform, which was approved astatine the process extremity of López Obrador’s statesmanlike term. (Andrea Murcia Monsivais/Cuartoscuro)

“All the arguments enactment guardant by erstwhile President López Obrador, and repeated by his successor, successful defence of this ineligible and governmental atrocity are fallacious from commencement to finish. They person said, for example, that judges are besides elected by fashionable ballot successful different parts of the world, citing the United States arsenic a reference. However, they neglect to clarify that this ne'er occurs astatine the national level and that lone immoderate states bash truthful astatine the section level. In fact, the statement of superior law scholars astir the satellite is crystal clear: The predetermination of judges by fashionable ballot undermines, and adjacent nullifies, judicial impartiality, independence, and integrity.”

Former president Felipe Calderón: 

“The judicial subdivision is [now] successful the hands of militants and supporters of Morena. Some of … [the caller judges] were lawyers of narco-traffickers, others are radical without experience.”

Norma Piña, Supreme Court justness from 2015-25, main justness from 2023-25:

“The demolition of the judiciary … is not the mode to physique the peace, justness and reparation Mexico truthful desperately needs.” 

On the disbandment of authorities autonomous agencies 

Seven autonomous authorities agencies were disbanded arsenic a effect of a law betterment that was approved by Congress precocious past year. The betterment connection was submitted to Congress by López Obrador, but was besides supported by Sheinbaum. The National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and the Protection of Personal Data (INAI), the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) and the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) were among the agencies that were eliminated, their functions absorbed into different authorities departments.

Alejandro Moreno:

“The elimination of these autonomous bodies represents a nonstop onslaught against the rights of Mexicans and against ideology itself.” 

The Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex):

“This measure, justified nether the statement of austerity, severely compromises antiauthoritarian stableness and the equilibrium of powers successful our country.”

Senator Alejandro Moreno — the nationalist president of Mexico’s once-dominant PRI enactment — leads a governmental confederation that opposes the existent medication and the Morena party. (File photo)

On huachicol fiscal

Allegations that members of the Mexican Navy — a highly-trusted information unit — and customs employees engaged successful a substance smuggling/tax evasion strategy via an illicit signifier known arsenic huachicol fiscal was the biggest authorities corruption ungraded of the archetypal twelvemonth of Sheinbaum’s presidency.

Jorge Romero, nationalist president of the National Action Party: 

“The celebrated huachicol fiscal is not a insignificant matter. It’s the largest corruption ungraded successful the past of Mexico, overmuch bigger than adjacent the 5-billion-peso Master Fraud oregon [the] 15-billion peso Segalmex [scandal]. With huachicol fiscal we’re talking astir about 200 cardinal pesos of corruption each year. You tin inquire me, what does that mean? It means that portion you wage your taxes, others evade them done networks of complicity with authorities emanating from Morena who are filling their pockets.” 

“It’s virtually organized crime, but from the government, successful the government.” 

On authorities austerity

Like the erstwhile government, the Sheinbaum medication says it is committed to austerity and the liable absorption of nationalist money.

Javier Garza Ramos, a writer for assorted media outlets including Latinus:

“Austerity ends up creating problems. For example, this is intimately related to the contented of medicine shortages, which is different of the large problems that President Claudia Sheinbaum inherited and which she hasn’t yet been capable to solve.”

Budget-cutting surely hasn’t helped resoluteness the persistent medicine shortages that plague Mexico’s nationalist wellness system. (IMSS)

On nationalist security

Homicides declined importantly during Sheinbaum’s archetypal twelvemonth successful office, but insecurity remains a large occupation successful assorted parts of Mexico, including Guanajuato — the country’s astir convulsive authorities — and Sinaloa, wherever rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel person engaged successful a bloody warfare implicit the past year.

Javier Garza Ramos: 

“Although this authorities has boasted astir a simplification successful homicides, it has had to admit an summation successful extortion. It has besides had to woody with blistery spots, specified arsenic the unit successful Sinaloa.”

National Action Party Senator Lily Téllez: 

“The world is that the Mexican authorities can’t combat the cartels due to the fact that if the Mexican authorities were capable to combat the cartels, it would person already done it, right?”

“This authorities is intelligibly associated with the cartels.”

On alleged corruption

Sheinbaum often states that her authorities does not tolerate corruption and is committed to “zero impunity.”

Not everyone agrees.

Alejandro Moreno: 

“The scandals of corruption are nary longer counted arsenic isolated cases, but arsenic full networks of complicity: inflated contracts, unfinished nationalist works, societal programs turned into electoral spoils, appointments of friends and relatives, and shady deals that contiguous prolong a authorities that lives disconnected rhetoric but rots successful deeds. Morena did not travel to banish corruption; it came to normalize it, institutionalize it, and usage it arsenic an instrumentality to perpetuate itself successful power.”

Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity, a non-governmental organization: 

“During the archetypal twelvemonth of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, we recorded 51 important cases of corruption and impunity. All came to airy during her government, though astir fractional occurred successful the erstwhile administration: 47% of the cases occurred during López Obrador’s term, 10% correspond to Peña Nieto’s government, and 41% took spot betwixt October 2024 and October 2025. A peculiar case, that of huachicol fiscal, spans the past 2 administrations.”

Members of Mexico’s Navy among 14 arrested successful large substance smuggling crackdown

On the alleged ‘spy law’

In July, the Mexican Senate approved authorities dubbed the “Spy Law,” which gives the national authorities wide quality and surveillance powers. Sheinbaum has rejected claims that information authorities volition beryllium capable to entree citizens’ idiosyncratic data, including connected their compartment phones, without archetypal obtaining a judicial warrant. She besides asserted that the national authorities “is not going to spy connected anyone.”

National Action Party Senator Ricardo Anaya, a statesmanlike campaigner successful 2018:

“Big Brother is watching you. This bonzer [Senate] league volition spell down successful past arsenic the darkest. Morena consolidated the #SpyGovernment: geolocation, entree to your health, bank, and biometric information without a judge. We volition not beryllium accomplices.”

On alleged authorities censorship

In June, the Senate approved a telecommunications betterment measure that had been modified aft concerns were raised astir its alleged limitations connected escaped speech. Those concerns persisted adjacent aft the bill’s modification.

Institutional Revolutionary Party Senator Manuel Añorve Baños: 

“Morena wants implicit power implicit the media and the integer ecosystem. That’s why, from the PRI Senate group, we volition ballot AGAINST the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law— oregon rather, the #CensorshipLaw — which intelligibly goes against state of expression.”

On the alleged erosion of democracy 

The fashionable predetermination of judges and the abolition of autonomous agencies, among different initiatives supported by Sheinbaum, person led to claims that ideology successful Mexico is nether threat.

León Krauze, a salient journalist: 

“Though Sheinbaum has handled President Donald Trump’s bullying deftly, her ain autocratic impulses are live and well. She seems intent connected dismantling Mexico’s ideology — a task initiated by her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which she is present enthusiastically pursuing.”

“Sheinbaum’s Mexico is nary beacon. If anything, it’s a flashing reddish informing airy — a cautionary communicative of however democracies steadily erode nether years of organization battle by autocratically minded politicians.”

León Krauze, a well-known Mexican journalist, has been a Univision anchor and a columnist for the Washington Post and El Universal, among others. (File photo)

Jesús Silva-Herzog Márquez, a writer and Reforma paper columnist: 

“Sheinbaum has persevered connected the authoritarian way and has insisted connected giving the caller authorities each the tools for its consolidation. She is liable for the definitive propulsion toward the demolition of the Judicial Branch arsenic an autonomous and nonrecreational power. It is she who has called for an electoral betterment whose explicit intent is to enforce the powers of the caller majority. It is she who has projected a ineligible betterment to assistance the authorities wide licenses for arbitrariness. … Sheinbaum’s ambition is to consolidate competent authoritarianism.”

Carlos Loret de Mola, a writer and salient authorities critic: 

“[Sheinbaum] changed [Mexico] from the database of antiauthoritarian countries to the database of authoritarian countries.” 

On the alleged extortion of Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández

Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández, Morena’s person successful the precocious location and a erstwhile interior curate and politician of Tabasco, has been embroiled successful a ungraded involving his erstwhile information curate successful Tabasco, who is accused of heading up a transgression group. Opposition politicians and others person claimed it is not imaginable that helium was unaware of the alleged transgression enactment of his information curate successful Tabasco.

Sergio Sarmiento, a columnist for the Reforma newspaper:

“Adán Augusto won’t adjacent beryllium investigated. The 4T is dominated by a mafia of powerfulness made up of bigwigs who person gotten affluent nether the extortion of the authorities and officials who let organized transgression to operate. They are each supra the law.” 

Raymundo Riva Palacios: 

“Senator Adán Augusto López knows helium is protected, which is wherefore helium has resisted for weeks the unit from President Claudia Sheinbaum to measurement down from starring Morena successful the precocious location and judge an embassy post. … Neither Sheinbaum, nor a faction of Morena, nor the opposition, nor the press, nor adjacent the United States, which has demanded it, has been capable to determination him, due to the fact that helium is backed by his patron saint: Andrés Manuel López Obrador.”

By Mexico News Daily main unit writer Peter Davies ([email protected])