Sheinbaum calls for unity amid dearth of critical voices
President Claudia Sheinbaum speaking in Mexico City. Image credit: Eyepix Group / Alamy.
by David Agren, writer-at-large.
President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted to US President Donald Trump’s executive orders serenely, delivering a 16-minute monologue the morning after in her daily press conference. She responded dispassionately, calling for cooler heads to prevail and urging dialogue. She dryly downplayed the border emergency declaration as nothing new, having happened previously with Trump.
She disagreed with the Foreign Terror Organization (FTO) designations for drug cartels, however, stating, “They can act within their territory, within their framework and within their Constitution. What we are saying is the defence of our sovereignty and our independence.”
But saved her strongest words for the Mexican opposition. When asked about PAN Senator Lilly Téllez supporting the foreign terror designation, Sheinbaum didn’t hold back, though she maintained her usual frosty tone and slow-speaking style that she borrowed from her predecessor, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She also borrowed his emotionally loaded language and penchant for comparing opponents with villains from Mexico’s past.
“The central theme here … for some opposition figures is to celebrate that there was an intervention, that is treason against the country.
“Well, any Mexican who celebrates any kind of intervention by a foreign country is ‘Miramón,’ they are the ones who went to look for Maximilian to come and govern Mexico or who applauded the French intervention [of the 1860s].
“Now, any Mexican man or woman has the right to think as they want to think. Who evaluates them? The people of Mexico, the people of Mexico.”
Sheinbaum’s supporters have called for unity as Trump’s threats, including 25 per cent tariffs on exports, become reality. She boasts an approval rating of more than 70 per cent, giving her domestic political capital to deal with Trump. She also has the bully pulpit of her morning press conference to beat down opponents or anyone talking out of turn. An army of social media influencers, YouTubers and friendly media outlets can also swing into action as needed.
That army piled on Tellez – who doubled down on her statements by posting on X: “This is a first step towards the truth: there is a narco-state in Mexico.” She later posted a photo of Morena lawmakers supporting embattled Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha, accusing them of “closing ranks with the cartels while violence in Mexico rises.” But Téllez remains an exception – and a controversial figure known for expressing unpopular opinions and trolling the ruling party. In other words, the kind of person willing to endure a social media pile on.
Sheinbaum’s current stature puts her in a stronger position than former president Enrique Peña Nieto, whose deep unpopularity hobbled his attempts at rallying Mexicans around the flag as Trump rose to power. He rallied elites: Televisa, business leaders and the Catholic Church hierarchy. But Mexicans struggled to set aside their misgivings.
Her popularity and political capital also put her in a stronger position than her Canadian counterpart, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada’s premiers have failed to find consensus in confronting Trump’s tariff threats. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith didn’t sign a declaration from the prime minister and the other nine premiers, objecting to possible export tariffs on the province’s massive petroleum exports – most of which flow south to U.S. refineries.
Smith has lobbied Republican politicians to spare Canada from Trump’s tariffs and even visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also appeared often on conservative news outlets. But Smith’s lobbying hasn’t been welcomed by all. And it’s drawn accusations of putting province over country.
Mexico has largely avoided politicians freelancing as envoys to Trump world. (Several former diplomats have noted that AMLO and Sheinbaum haven’t maintained backchannels or built relationships across the aisle in Washington, however.) Mexico’s richest man Carlos Slim, whose companies have won numerous contracts since AMLO took office, has dined with Trump and travelled to Washington for his inauguration. Mexican business leaders have tried “wooing” Trump this time around, unlike 2016, when the avoided him, according to the Wall Street Journal. But they have been cautious.
“The business sector no longer has a dependendable and independent voice,” a consultant prominent in business circles told this newsletter. “Most of the critical voices have been suppressed.” The main voice of business in Mexico has become Altagracia Gómez, coordinator of Sheinbaum’s Economic Development Advisory Council, the consultant added.
Sheinbaum’s popularity and credible performance as president so far provides ample political capital to confront Trump. It also provides a perception of unity. Most dissonant voice are staying silent for now. But how much will the shows of unity be pressured, or even performed, in the name of expediency in the face of a polarized electorate?