
Mexico

Mexico has been a mid-range performing multi-party democracy since 2000. It is the second most populous democracy and the second largest economy in Latin America. Although among the 15 largest global economies, poverty rates are high affecting nearly half of the population. Structural injustices prevail due to high inequality, low social mobility and informal labour markets that exclude the poor from basic legal protections and services. In the past five years, Mexico has seen advances in the GSoDI attribute of Impartial Administration. Security and human rights challenges in the country have intensified recently, contributing to its position among the bottom 25 per cent of countries in the world on Access to Justice and Personal Integrity and Security.
An ethnically diverse country, Mexico’s population consists predominantly of Mexican Mestizo, who have both Indigenous and European descent; Indigenous Amerindians are the second largest community; and the rest of its population are Mexicans of European descent (“whites”). The Afro-descendant population, recently recognized in specific laws, has a notorious cultural presence in the country with 1.2 per cent of the population. Economic reforms introduced in the 1980s and 1990s generated some growth and improved income distribution. However, the benefits of economic and social modernization have been unevenly shared across racial lines, and biases have been documented in the allocation of public resources, politics and the labour market. An urban-rural divide also characterizes the country, with more than 60 per cent of the poor population living in rural areas, most of whom are dependent upon subsistence agriculture.
A serious downturn in domestic security has been observed in recent years as drug-related violence expands at alarming rates and in new social, political and economic areas. Security strategies to counter organized crime have also contributed to exacerbate human rights violations and affected socio-economic development in the country. Although drug cartels have long been active in Mexico, major episodes of violence have intensified over the past two decades. Corruption has enabled organized criminal groups to operate and to seek protection in exchange for bribes. They now wield extensive influence, including in politics, and violently meddle in elections. The prevalence of poverty, corruption, growing violence, femicide and other forms of gender-based violence, and illicit networks’ increased presence in the country’s territory, local economies, and political system encompass Mexico’s chronic governance challenges.
Beginning in 1929, Mexico had 71 years of single-party government under the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Since then, Mexico’s institutions have facilitated democratic alternations of power through elections. However, fundamental divides and structural problems have eroded satisfaction with political representation, culminating in the election of populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in 2018. While an agenda aimed at improving the condition of marginalized Mexicans made AMLO popular, analysts, activists and opposition have expressed concern regarding actions and policy that target democratic institutions, and are viewed as efforts to erode checks on his authority. These include disparaging remarks against the media and opposition, and questioning the value and debilitating the budget of autonomous institutions including antitrust watchdog, open data portals, election oversight bodies, and regulatory agencies.
In the next five to ten years, the declining situation of human rights can negatively impact performance of GSoDI attribute of Fundamental Rights, particularly Personal Integrity and Security and Freedom of Expression. Enforced disappearances, and frequent murders of journalists and human rights activists have made Mexico the deadliest country for journalists outside a conflict zone. Legitimate and professional elections still prevail, an important critical voice exists in the media and academia, and civil society organizations oppose attempts at authoritarian regression, yet ineffective governance may continue to constrain Mexico’s ability to deliver the inclusive growth, state-building and policies required to address enduring challenges in the coming years.
Monthly Updates
December 2022
Mexico’s lower chamber of congress voted to reject President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s controversial constitutional electoral reform, which had been criticised for weakening the independence and capacity of the country's National Electoral Institute (INE). The President’s alternative so-called “Plan B” electoral reform, which seeks to amend six secondary electoral laws, was approved on 14 December. Opponents denounce it as an unconstitutional attempt by the president’s Morena party to consolidate power and claim it will weaken the country’s electoral infrastructure. Moreover, one of Mexico’s most prominent television and radio presenters, Ciro Gómez Leyva, was the victim of an assassination attempt as Mexico records its deadliest year for journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) identified Mexico as the most dangerous country for journalists for a fourth consecutive year, with at least 11 journalists murdered in 2022, nearly 20 per cent of the global total.
November 2022
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced in April his intention to reform Mexico’s electoral system through constitutional amendments. In November, the proposed reform was submitted to Congress, while civil society organized mass demonstrations in defence of the National Electoral Institute. Widespread criticism of the proposed reform reflects the concern about its potential impact on the independence of the country’s electoral authorities and risk to the integrity of elections and voter registry. The proposed reforms seek, among other aspects, to replace the way in which electoral authorities are currently appointed, allowing the president and his party to control most nominations, to significantly cut their budget, and to eliminate local electoral authorities. The President also announced a “plan B” reform to the electoral law if the constitutional plan fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required in Congress for constitutional amendments, which the ruling party does not possess.
October 2022
Multiple homicides of municipal government officials were reported across Mexico during October 2022. Numbers show political violence in Mexico is increasing, with 60 local government officials murdered since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in December 2018. The incidents highlight the flaws in the government’s public security strategy as well as the challenges to contain violence from organized crime and the impunity that has made local politicians vulnerable to such violence.
September 2022
A report by NGO group Global Witness released in September states that Mexico has become the deadliest place in the world for environmental and land defence activists, recording a total of 54 killings in 2021, the highest number of any countries.