Claudia Sheinbaum's Presidency: Summary and Analysis of Day 28
Sheinbaum's Security Cabinet and Attorney General joined today's mañanera, Pemex Q3 losses, and resignation of Supreme Court justices...this is day 28 of Sheinbaum's presidency.
Members of Sheinbaum’s security cabinet, plus the Attorney General, Alejandro Gertz, joined today’s mañanera to address the security situation in the country. García Harfuch spoke at length about the country’s security situation, proposing two actions - reforming Article 21 of the Constitution to grant the Secretariat of Security the capacity to assist the Attorney General’s Office with investigations and second, improving the law to improve cooperation regarding investigations and intelligence gathering among state prosecutors, local police, and the Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Gertz commented on the case of El Mayo stating that his arrest has been confirmed as a kidnapping, stating that it took place in Mexican territory and with the use of a plane utilizing cloned registration documents. He emphasized that the US government has an obligation to provide information as to what happened. Reporters also questioned members of the security cabinet about recent episodes of violence, particularly in Sinaloa, and specifically the case of the National Guardsmen who were caught on video planning to kill someone they had detained. Ricardo Trevilla, Head of the Mexican Secretariat of Defense (Sedena), emphasized that there will not be impunity, especially when it comes to human rights violations.
Marcela Figueroa, the executive secretary of the National Public Security System (SNSP), joined today’s mañanera with an update on the security situation in the country. She stated that crime rates have decreased in the first month of the Sheinbaum presidency, with a 25.3% decrease in the daily average of homicides. Guanajuato, Baja California, Mexico State, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Nuevo León account for 49.8% of the country’s homicides so far. Mexico’s Navy is the service branch with the lowest level of public confidence, hovering at 89.2%.
From September 2019 until September 2024, there has been:
8.2% decrease in intentional homicides
14.9% decrease in femicide
77.6% decrease in kidnapping for extortion, though rates of extortion did increase by 18.3
Pemex reported an $8.2 billion net loss in Q3 of 2024, with analysts attributing this loss to a weak exchange rate. Though the Mexican government has given Pemex $145 billion Mexican pesos (approximately $722 million USD) in Q3, revenue is down 8%. Sheinbaum has stated plans to pursue output of 1.8 million bpd, though sources close to the president have confirmed her willingness to boost production via partnerships with private oil companies.
Supreme Court Justice Juan Luis Gonzalez has issued a proposal to deem the popular election of judges, as well as the use of “faceless”1 judges, as unconstitutional. The proposal does, however, offer an alternative of appointing Supreme Court justices via popular vote. The proposal requires the support of 8 out of 11 of the court’s justices to be approved. In related news, Supreme Court Justices Alfredo Gutierrez and Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena have announced plans to from their roles at the end of August 2025. Ortiz Mena was the first justice to resign. He had made headlines in recent weeks with his comments about the popular election of the judicial branch which solicited laughs at a Harvard conference and provoked the ire of the president. 217 resignations have been announced thus far and more resignations are expected to come as current justices not seeking to participate in next year’s popular election must announce their resignations by Friday. According to Reuters, the president of the Mexican Senate said that 8 out of the 11 justices are expected to resign. President Sheinbaum commented on the retirement announcements, saying that it is a ploy for the justices to secure retirement funds. Of interest, Sheinbaum displayed a ballot from the state of Arizona, apparently utilized for the election of 45 judges…
Would allow judges to rule anonymously on cases deemed dangerous, specifically those that involve organized crime.