Thousands protest president's plan to overhaul Mexican electoral system
Thousands of people marched down Mexico City's main thoroughfare on Sunday to protest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's proposed electoral reforms, The Associated Press reported.
The colossal crowd seemed to undermine López Obrador's stance that the protestors were among a small minority of elitists within Mexico.
The heart of the protests concerned the country's National Electoral Institute, the government agency responsible for running Mexico's federal elections. The crowd was gathered in opposition to López Obrador's announced plan to overhaul the institute and replace its council members with publically elected delegates. The president's plan would also include cutting financing for political parties and eliminating state electoral offices, per AP.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While López Obrador has continually pushed these proposed reforms, many critics are worried that the institutional restructuring could cause democratic backsliding within Mexico. A recent op-ed in the Miami Herald called the president's plan "an alarming political development that could mark the end of democracy in Mexico."
It seemed many in the crowd of protesters agreed with this sentiment.
"I'm already fed up with [López Obrador], with so many lies, so much crime," Alejandra Galán, a 45-year-old manager, told AP. "He wants to take the [electoral institute] from us so that eventually it's like Venezuela, Cuba, but we're not going to let him."
Another protestor, Jorge González, told AP the country may only be "a step away" from an authoritarian regime.
López Obrador, however, dismissed the protests on Monday as "racist" and "classist," and urged his supporters to hold a counter-protest.
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a former helicopter engine repair workshop in Washington, D.C. and high-rise living in San Francisco
-
Critics’ choice: The year’s top 10 moviesFeature ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘It Was Just an Accident’ stand out
-
The small Caribbean island courting crypto billionsUnder the Radar Crypto mogul Olivier Janssens plans to create a libertarian utopia on Nevis
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
