President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) lacks one more week as President of Mexico.
On October 1st, he is scheduled to be replaced by Claudia Sheinbaum.
According to Milenio, by the time his term ends in one week, AMLO is likely to have passed 27 reforms to the Mexican Constitution. That’s if all goes according to plan, which it probably will.
Coincidentally, there have been 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution in the entire history of that document, which took effect in 1789.
And yet, AMLO does not even hold the record for Mexican presidents for constitutional reforms.
From Milenio (my translation): “President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will finish his six-year term with 27 constitutional reforms approved by the Congress of the Union (Mexican Congress), as a foundation for the ‘second story’ of the so-called Fourth Transformation.”
The “Fourth Transformation” is AMLO’s political agenda. It means the fourth transformation of Mexico after 1) Independence (1810-1821), 2) the Reform War (1858-1861) and the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917).
AMLO’s recent judicial reform is one of these reforms, which was pushed through the process rapidly. There are 26 others, including the pending National Guard jurisdiction change, likely to pass this week.
And yet, AMLO does not hold the presidential record for passing constitution reforms.
The MORENA party, now Mexico’s dominant party, was founded by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). Though AMLO stepped down as leader in 2017 to run for president, as Reuters puts it, “analysts maintain that the party has always been subordinate to the ruler.”
The current official chairman of MORENA is Mario Delgado, but he’s been designated as the next secretary of public education in the about-to-take-office administration of Claudia Sheinbaum.
On September 22nd, the MORENA party held its “congreso nacional extraordinario” and there was an election for new leadership.
The new party chairman, to take office on October 1st, is Luisa Maria Alcalde, currently Secretary of the Interior (Gobernación). She was chosen unanimously. In fact it was already known beforehand that the post was hers.
Likewise, Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran, “Andy”, son of AMLO, was named Secretary of Organization.
Luisa Maria Alcalde, Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran. Source: Cuartoscuro
The violence in Mexico’s Sinaloa state continues. (See previous articles here and here).
According to a Reuters report, “Some 53 people have been killed and 51 others are missing in Mexico’s western Sinaloa state since rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel began clashing on Sept 9, local authorities said on Friday [September 20], with gruesome violence showing no signs of abating.”
The Sinaloa cartel is the biggest criminal organization in the hemisphere. The current conflict pits two factions against each other, the faction led by the son of “El Mayo” Zambada (recently captured in the U.S.) vs. the Chapitos, sons of “El Chapo” Guzman.
Truck on Fire, Culiacan, Sinaloa, September 11th. Source: Ivan Medina
One weird result of the conflict was reported by Reuters: “Mexico’s Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) said it was providing resources to local authorities to feed a tigress tied to a tree. Senior Sinaloan narcos often keep tigers as pet animals. Profepa said in a statement that vets in Sinaloa had declined to assist due to security fears, and it had provided military officials with a ‘cage, a dart rifle and darts’. But the violence had prevented the military from rescuing it.”
The PRD, Partido de la Revolución Democrática (“Party of the Democratic Revolution”), once one of Mexico’s most powerful parties, has now lost its national registry.
The decline of the PRD is part of the massive change in Mexican politics of the past decade which has seen the rise of MORENA, now the dominant party of Mexico. The PRD, on the other hand, is nearly extinct at the national level.
The PRD used to be AMLO’s party.
Here is the symbol of the PRD, the Sol Azteca, the “Aztec Sun”:
It’s an impressive-looking log that grabs your attention. But the party is finished at the national level, mainly because its chief standard-bearer, AMLO jumped ship and started a new party. It’s likely many of the old PRD voters followed AMLO to MORENA. After all, they’re fishing in the same leftist waters and it’s unsurprising that many followers of AMLO would follow him to MORENA.
The PRD was founded in 1989 by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, formerly of the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) which was for most of the twentieth century the state party of Mexico. Cardenas had run as an independent against the PRI in 1988 but lost in what many believed to be a stolen election.
The first members included leftists from the PRI and smaller parties including The Mexican Socialist Party, Mexican Workers’ Party, Unified Socialist Party of Mexico and the Mexican Communist Party.
One of the founding members of the party who left the PRI was none other than Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). From 1996 to 1999, AMLO served as chairman of the party.
In 2006, AMLO was the presidential candidate of the PRD. It was a three-way race among the three biggest parties: the PRI, the PAN and the PRD. It was a close and disputed election. Calderon won with 36.69% of the vote, squeaking by AMLO with 36.09% of the vote.
Six years later, in 2012, AMLO ran again as the PRI standard-bearer, in another 3-way race. This time it was Pena Nieto of the PRI who won with 39.17% of the vote; with AMLO coming in second with 32.41% of the vote.
After the 2012 election, AMLO left the PRD and in 2014 his new MORENA party was registered.
In 2018, AMLO ran as the candidate of the MORENA party against the PAN and the PRI and won by a resounding 54.71% of the vote. As for his old PRD, it actually ran in alliance with the PAN party.
In the 2024 election on June 2nd, won by MORENA’s Claudia Sheinbaum, the PRD ran in coalition with the PAN and the PRI, but the PRD didn’t do well. It only received 2.43 percent in the elections for the Cámara de Diputados
The PRD didn’t even reach the 3% minimum to be a nationally-registered party and receive government funds.
In the Mexican Congress, there is only one PRD representative in the Cámara de Diputados. There is no PRD senator in the Senado because in August, the only two senators-elect from the party abandoned the PRD and switched to the MORENA party.
The address of the PRD headquarters was Benjamin Franklin No. 84, in the Escandon colonia (neighborhood) of Mexico City. Here’s a photo of the party’s headquarters, which began to be vacated on September 9th:
The PRD is still registered on the state level in 12 states and Mexico City, but it has lost its registration at the national level and has only one member in Congress.
It’s part of the recent political change in Mexico.
As late as 2018, the three biggest parties in Mexico were the PAN, the PRI and the PRD. Now the PAN and PRI are diminished and the PRD is almost gone at the national level.
Elements of the military and National Guard, comprising 2,200 troops, have been sent to Sinaloa. Two of the dead were military personnel.
President AMLO said their mission is to protect the population and stop clashes between the factions. As they say, “good luck with that”.
The regional army commander on the other hand said the situation won’t calm down unless the cartel factions stop fighting each other.
So why not send in many more troops with a mission to end the fighting? Well, according to President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum, “In the moment of confrontation, to enter with firepower would start a war…”
Excuse me, but isn’t there a war in Sinaloa already?
On September 15th, a few hours before his participation in the annual Grito Ceremony, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) signed the constitutional judicial reform. The signing was filmed and AMLO was accompanied by President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum. Here is a photo of the two after the signing:
The constitutional reform was published September 15th in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, the official gazette of the Mexican government, which makes it law. (Links here and here).
The reform amends the Constitution of Mexico. Unlike the U.S. Constitution, in which amendments are placed at the end, when the Mexican Constitution is amended, it is simply changed in the text. That means you have to make sure the version of the text you are referring to is updated. The Mexican Constitution has been in effect since 1917 and has been amended over 500 times. In contrast, the U.S. Constitution has been in effect since 1789 and only has 27 amendments (and the first ten of them, the Bill of Rights, were made at the same time). The Mexican Constitution is much easier to amend.
This judicial reform changes the Supreme Court, reducing the quantity of its justices from 11 to 9, and reducing each justice’s term from 15 to 12 years.
The biggest change in the reform is the election of judges. In the United States, judges at the state level are elected, and in Bolivia high-level judges are elected.
Now Mexico is the first country to elect all its judges at all levels. That’s about 7,000 judges.
The first elections under the new system are scheduled for June 1st, 2025, to elect about half of the country’s judges. The other half of the new judges are to be elected as part of the regular 2027 mid-term elections.
Mexico is about to become the first country in the world to elect all its judges. How is that going to work out?
In the next few years, the world has a chance to see exactly how it will work out.
Mexican Independence Day is September 16th, but really it starts on September 15th.
On the night of September 15th, a ceremony is held in the Zocalo Plaza in Mexico City, and in state capitols and city halls throughout the country.
The ceremony is called “El Grito”, the “shout” or “cry”, commemorating the Grito of Miguel Hidalgo in 1810 which publicly initiated a movement which eventually became a movement for the independence of Mexico.
In the ceremony in the Zocalo, the president comes out on to a balcony of the Palacio Nacional and rings a bell (similar to the Liberty Bell in the U.S.) and shouts a series of Vivas, “Viva” meaning “Long Live…” to commemorate Mexican historical figures.
Then he rings the bell a lot and waves the flag, and the national anthem is sung.
In the state capitols and cities, the ceremony is presided over by the governor or mayor.
The next day, on the 16th, there is a military parade.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, AMLO, is nearing the end of his presidential term, with just a couple of weeks to go.
Here is what AMLO shouted from the balcony in 2024: Viva la Independencia [Long Live Independence] [Followed by 6 figures from the Independence Struggle] Viva Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Viva Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez Viva Ignacio Allende Viva Leona Vicario Viva José María Morelos y Pavón Viva Vicente Guerrero Vivan las heroínas y los héroes anonymous [Long live the anonymous heroines and heroes ] Viva la libertad [Long Live Liberty] Viva la igualdad [Long Live Equality] Viva la justicia [Long Live Justice] Viva la democracia [Long Live Democracy] Viva nuestra soberanía [Long Live our Sovereignty] Viva la fraternidad universal [Long Live Universal Brotherhood] Mexicanas, mexicanos, que muera la corrupción [Female Mexicans and Male Mexicans, Let Corruption Die] Muera la avaricia [Let Avarice Die] Muera el racismo [Let Racism Die] Muera la discriminación [Let Discrimination Die] Que viva el amor [Long Live Love] Vivan los trabajadores mexicanos que son de los mejores del mundo [Long live the Mexican workers, who are some of the world’s best] Vivan nuestros hermanos migrantes [Long live our Migrant Brethren] Vivan los pueblos indígenas [Long Live the Indigenous Peoples] Viva la grandeza cultural de México [Long Live the Cultural Greatness of Mexico] Vivan todas y todos los mexicanos [Long Live All the Female and Male Mexicans] Viva la cuarta transformación [Long Live the Fourth Transformation (AMLO’s Political Agenda) ] Viva México [Long Live Mexico] Viva México [Long Live Mexico] Viva México. [ Long Live Mexico]
Here are some photos of the Grito ceremony:
Crowd at Zocalo Plaza. Source: MilenioAMLO and First Lady Before Going to Balcony. Source: MilenioAMLO receiving flag from soldiers in 19th-century uniforms. Source: MilenioAMLO and First Lady on the Balcony. Source: Government of MexicoAMLO and First Lady on Balcony. Source: MilenioFireworks Around Cathedral. Source: Milenio
There’s been anotherattempt to kill former U.S. President/Current Candidate Donald Trump, this time at his golf course in Florida, on September 15th, 2024.
Several hours later, at 3:18 p.m. Mexico City time (September 15th), Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) tweeted out a response to the attempt: “Even though not much is yet known about what occurred, we deplore the violence against the former president Donald Trump. The way is democracy and peace.”
This past July 25th, two leaders of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel were taken into U.S. custody in El Paso. They were Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo Guzman. Apparently, Guzman Lopez turned himself in but El Mayo was abducted with the collusion of Guzman Lopez.
Finally, the long-awaited war between the two factions has erupted in Sinaloa state, as two factions go after each other, hammer and tongs. (See the map below, Sinaloa state is in red):
Mexican Independence Day is an important civic holiday, so calling it off means something is really wrong.
Mexican news reports on Friday [September 13th] said the death toll was at least twice as large as the government was reporting. Local and international news outlets captured images of burning vehicles and roads being blocked.
“I want to tell you we have received reinforcements the president promised,” Rocha said in an online broadcast. “Four gunships and 100 special forces soldiers have arrived. That and our resources allow us to efficiently confront any violent flareups at any time […] (But) we have to admit these types of events could continue.”
The cause of the conflict is generally agreed upon.
Rocha attributed the violence to two rival groups. Mexican and international security experts identified them as gangs associated to the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera and forces loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Zambada was abducted in Mexico and flown to the United States in a charter airplane by one of El Chapo’s sons last July 25. Zambada on Thursday [September 12th] was flown out of confinement in El Paso, Texas, to New York City, where he was scheduled to appear in court Friday.
“There is a little bit of surprise that it took this long for when the precipitating event took place and the actual fighting broke out,” said Mike Ballard, director of intelligence for Virginia-based Global Guardian. “We’re at that six-week mark; it makes sense now they sort of planned, plotted, figured things out.”
What does Ballard foresee?
Ballard said the violence likely will escalate beyond the Sinaloa cartel stronghold into nearby states and border cities in northern Mexico where the transnational criminal organization American authorities have labeled as the main exporter of fentanyl into the U.S. has a strong presence. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you had violent flareups in other places that are ostensibly controlled by the Sinaloa cartel – whether by the Chapitos or El Mayo’s son,” Ballard said. “Anywhere in Baja California, Tijuana, Culiacan, Sonora; anywhere in Chihuahua, Juarez any of those border towns.”
The ongoing violence may or may not be in retaliation for Zambada’s abduction reportedly at the hands of Joaquin Guzman Lopez — who turned himself in to American authorities after stepping off the same aircraft that brought Zambada to the U.S. But it certainly has to do with who gets to keep the drug empire he allegedly built.
If El Mayo is a prinsoner in the U.S., who is running his faction in Mexico?
Ismael Zambada-Sicairos, aka “El Mayito Flaco” (Skinny Mayo) is a wanted fugitive in the United States and the son of El Mayo. Security experts believe he’s leading the fight against the remaining sons of El Chapo who are not in custody.
It makes sense, drug cartels like to keep it in the family.
So what does AMLO, the president of Mexico have to say about it?
Well, he was asked about it in his September 13th press conference.
Here’s how the Associated Press reported on something he said: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday [September 13th] asked the warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel to act “responsibly” so no one else gets killed, after a week of escalating violence nearly paralyzed the Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan.
REPORTER: (Inaudible) that one group [of the Sinaloa cartel] betrayed the other, so the risk of settling accounts also persists, doesn’t it?
AMLO: Yes, but they have to seek other ways that do not harm the innocent people.
REPORTER: Like what?
AMLO: Well, they shouldn’t confront each other, there should be no loss of lives, that it doesn’t affect others and doesn’t affect each other.
REPORTER: Should they sit down and negotiate?
AMLO: No, well, this is their business. Just don’t affect the population and that they also should take care of themselves and take care of their family. [That’s apparently the part AP translated as “act responsibly”.] We don’t want loss of lives.
REPORTER: Are you confident that they will heed your call?
AMLO: What?
REPORTER: Are you confident they will heed your call?
AMLO: Always, always. The president of Mexico is listened to.
REPORTER: Even by criminals?
AMLO: By everybody, if he has moral authority, I assure you.
There you go – strange comments by the President of Mexico.
Of course, this is the guy who promoted the “hugs not bullets” strategy of dealing with the cartels.
On September 11th, the Mexican Senate approved a judicial reform which would mandate the election of Mexican judges at all levels. As the Cámara de Diputados had already approved the reform, the next step was for the reform to be passed in 17 Mexican states.
Well, that has already occurred. It wasn’t hard because the ruling MORENA party has a majority in 27 of the 32 state legislatures. (That’s 32 counting Mexico City, not a state but the equivalent of a state).
On September 11th, the same day the reform was passed early in the Senate, it had been passed in the legislatures of 18 states and Mexico City. That was quick!
Therefore, the reform has passed the states.
The first state to approve it was Oaxaca. Here’s a photo of the Oaxaca legislature approving the reform in the early morning shortly after the federal Senate approved it:
The other states that approved it were Tabasco, Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Tamaulipas, Yucatan state, Campeche, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Guerrero, Colima, Nayarit, Zacatecas, Durango, Sinaloa, Baja California and Baja California Sur, all on September 11th.
So the reform already had 18 states approving, when only 17 were necessary.
The legislature of the state of Queretaro, however, rejected the reform. That couldn’t stop it, but the state is on record as having opposed it.
In his morning press conference of September 12th, President AMLO said that “The reform to the judiciary has already been approved” and that it “would be good” for the new law to be published on September 15th in the Mexican government’s official gazette.
And even though it wasn’t necessary, on September 12th the legislature of Mexico City approved the reform.
The passage of this reform shows how swiftly the Mexican Constitution can be amended. In contrast the U.S. Constitution is hard to amend and requires much more time to do so.
Now, Mexico is set to be the first country in the world to elect all its judges. The world now has an opportunity to see how well, or how badly, that works.
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