Sheinbaum is complicit with AMLO in the destruction of democracy: Zedillo

MEXICO CITY (apro).- For former President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo is an accomplice of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in what he considers the destruction of democracy in Mexico, asserting that both have replicated the worst of the PRI.

In an interview with the La Toja Forum and published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the former Mexican president affirmed that both Sheinbaum and López Obrador played a leading role in the dismantling of the country's democratic institutions, a fact that, he said, history will eventually punish them for.

“She has been complicit with López Obrador in the destruction of Mexican democracy (...) She enthusiastically contributed to López Obrador's constitutional reform to destroy the judiciary. It was practically during her administration that the National Police was handed over to the Army and several oversight bodies were abolished. And the electoral reform, which will destroy the conditions for balanced competition, is also taking place under her watch,” he declared.

Zedillo argued that Sheinbaum has eliminated the separation of powers and institutional checks and balances, in addition to dismantling the rule of law and oversight bodies, including those responsible for transparency.

"They have destroyed judicial independence: electing judges by popular vote is a farce typical of autocratic regimes, and it was also carried out through a fraudulent election. And to protect all of this, Sheinbaum has effectively eliminated the Supreme Court as a constitutional tribunal," he noted.

The former president added that his administration controls Congress and state legislatures, allowing constitutional amendments to be definitively approved without any court having the power to object to them.

"It's a case of authoritarianism unique in the world," he said.

Zedillo recalled that, even before coming to power, there were already signs of López Obrador and Sheinbaum Pardo's intentions, as he "often mocked the electoral and judicial institutions and disregarded their decisions."

"I thought the citizens would resolve this at the polls. However, in the final days of his term, he set about changing the constitutional foundations," he said.

"They have copied the worst of the PRI"

Although he acknowledged his PRI origins, Zedillo asserted that Morena has revisited the worst vices of the old PRI, without replicating the institutional achievements that, in his opinion, contributed to national development.

“Yes, the PRI was the one that created very important institutions for the country's development, a solid health system, and housing programs that have never been repeated. It established alternating terms. With the PRI's support, the governments successfully faced the difficult years of the Great Depression and began the process of industrialization and modernization in Mexico,” he commented.

The former president recalled that for decades, when military dictatorships were the norm in Latin America, Mexico was an exception, a nation that "welcomed dissident intellectuals from around the world."

"The PRI was the party of Agrarian Reform, although some aspects of its implementation may be criticized, and it created the Social Security system. It was the party of the governments that achieved decades of high economic growth with financial stability," he insisted.

However, Zedillo lamented that the current ruling party has imitated the PRI's darkest traits.

“The tragedy is that Morena, in its attempt to build a hegemonic party, has copied the worst of the PRI, and none of its best. Corruption guides its operations. Economic waste is even more serious. The destruction of the half-built international airport, or the Mayan Train, or the Dos Bocas refinery are pharaonic whims of López Obrador, carried out against all the studies that advised against them and under suspicion of immense corruption,” he said, who also promoted judicial reform during his administration.