Mexico is Transforming for the Good
On Saturday, December 6 an estimated 600 thousand persons packed the huge “Zocalo” plaza in Mexico City to celebrate the seventh anniversary of Mexico’s “Transformation.” President Claudia Sheinbaum, after one year in power, gave a powerful speech outlining the progress Mexico is making as well as specific goals, plans and promises for the remainder of her five years in office.
Despite Mexico being the U.S.’s largest trading partner and the world’s ninth most populous country, there is very little coverage of the big changes that have taken place in Mexico over the past seven years. The New York Times failed to even report the December 6 celebration.
How the Transformation Began
The transformation began with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as “AMLO.” Beginning as a popular leader in Tabasco state in southern Mexico, he went on to become the mayor of Mexico City, leaving office in 2006 with an 84% approval rating. He was a presidential candidate in 2006 and 2012 with many believing the elections were stolen from him. In 2011 he and others founded the Movement for National Regeneration, known as “MORENA.” In 2014 they registered Morena as a national party. During these years, AMLO traveled throughout Mexico, forging alliances, learning about the different situations, and building support. With a strong national presence and progressive unity, in 2018 AMLO won the presidency, and the Morena party won a majority of Congressional and Senate seats.
How did Morena take power after only being registered four years earlier? AMLO was clear about the changes he intended to make in Mexico. In speeches and the book “New Hope for Mexico”, he denounced the neo-liberal economic policies that had helped the rich and hurt the poor throughout Mexico. He described the theft of national resources, the destruction of campesino livelihoods, and the huge increase in income disparity. AMLO named some of the culprits and clearly stated what he planned to do. His theme was “For the good of all, but first the poor.”
The first three transformations of Mexico were independence from Spain (1810-20), liberal reform under Benito Juarez (1850s), and then Mexico’s revolution (1910-17). AMLO was explicit that he planned to lead the fourth transformation known as 4T. In many ways, he has succeeded. As stated in the forward to the new book Mexico in Transformation: from AMLO to Claudia, “Mexico’s Fourth Transformation is a revolutionary process of global importance, whose significance has not been generally appreciated.”
Under AMLO’s leadership, Mexico doubled the minimum wage, established pensions for all Mexican seniors, established college scholarships for millions of students, initiated an apprenticeship program where youth worked and learned at businesses with 60% of the participants leading into productive work. There were also huge successes in infrastructure development. The plan for a new Mexico City airport was rife with corruption, inefficiency, and environmental damage. Under AMLO, this was replaced with a new design at a different site: an existing military airport. Using military engineers with efficient design and construction, the new Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) was built and is now operational with widespread acclaim. There are currently 14,647 google reviews with an average rating of 4.6 out of maximum 5. Many reviewers comment on the beauty. The airport honors Felipe Angeles who was a military officer and revolutionary in the Mexican Revolution.
Within Mexico City, there have been widespread infrastructure improvements. They range from getting the hundreds of neighborhood park fountains working to building a very efficient gondola system that takes residents from subway terminals into the hilly areas of the city. One resident commented that it saved him one full hour of commuting time per day. The gondolas are especially impressive in that they require almost no neighborhood destruction.
These positive developments have been implemented by national and city leaders of the Morena party. In his book New Hope for Mexico, AMLO said that productive businesses and corporations are essential to Mexico’s economic success. He vowed NOT to substantially raise taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations. So where did the funds come from to power all these societal changes? Morena did not raise taxes; rather, they strictly enforce the existing tax structure. Walmart had to pay $359 million in back taxes.
AMLO began his term in office by setting an example. He slashed his own salary and sold the presidential jet. He flew economy on commercial airlines. He also set an example of communication, honesty, and hard work. Each day began with a 7 a.m. press conference (“mananera”) where AMLO outlined the priorities, what they would be doing that day, and clarified or rebutted false reports in the media. Anyone can see the daily “mananera” on X/Twitter as hundreds of thousands of Mexicans do every day. President Claudia Sheinbaum is continuing this practice starting at 7:30 each day. An English language summary of the daily mananeras is now published at MexicoSolidarity.com/mananera/.
From AMLO to Claudia
How did an ethnically Jewish woman come to be President of Mexico? She did it in a similar fashion to AMLO: hard work, integrity, and effective leadership. During AMLO’s presidency, Claudia Sheinbaum was the mayor of Mexico City.
The Mexican constitution specifies a six-year presidency without the possibility of re-election. The Morena party realized the importance of having the best leader to follow AMLO. They also understood it was essential to have the selection be competitive and not have the person anointed by AMLO. Thus, Morena planned the selection and transition carefully. The strongest candidate besides Claudia Sheinbaum was AMLO’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard. He is also a former mayor of Mexico City. Ultimately, Morena selected Sheinbaum to head the party in the 2024 election. Despite predictions that her gender and background would be detrimental, she and Morena candidates won the election by an even greater majority. Sheinbaum won 61% of the popular vote compared to 28% and 11% for the next competitors. Morena now has a supermajority in the Congress and Senate. Marcelo Ebrard is the Economics Minister.
Sheinbaum has been in power for one year, and her popularity is solid: depending on the poll, 70 to 78% approve of her performance and policies.
President Claudia Sheinbaum
At the December 6 rally, President Sheinbaum talked about how the transformation began. She said, “In 2018, the people made a wise and brave decision: to begin a new stage, that of Mexico’s rebirth, with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the helm…. We went from being a country governed by an oligarchy, where presidents and public institutions served a few who believed themselves to be the owners of Mexico, to a true democracy, where the government works for everyone, but especially for those who need it the most…. Today it is clearer than ever before that the corruption and privileges of neoliberalism deeply damaged our homeland and our people: 36 years of that economic and political model left a legacy of poverty, inequality, the handing over of our natural resources to private national and foreign interests, loss of sovereignty, violence, and corruption.”
She talked about the progress of the last seven years:
– the minimum wage went from 88 pesos per day in 2018 to 315 pesos starting January 1, 2026.
– over half a million jobs were created.
– unemployment is only 2.6%.
– the Bank of Mexico has reserves of $250 billion.
– without increasing taxes, tax collection increased this year by 501 billion pesos (about $25 Billion) by combating evasion and fighting corruption.
– between 2018 and 2024, 13.5 million Mexicans were lifted out of poverty.
– all adults over 65 receive a pension.
– 300,000 homes are being built for poor families, with 1.2 million homes planned.
There are huge advances in infrastructure:
– train networks throughout the country are being developed.
– the Maya Train is complete and has carried 1.3 million passengers.
– the National Water Law was approved, with seventeen strategic projects bringing water to different areas and modernizing irrigation.
Mexico City today is vibrant, clean and relatively safe. Drug cartels and related violence are still a problem in parts of the country but the cartels are declining as the Morena government deploys more intelligence operations, provides increased salaries and stability to police and prosecutes cartel members and complicit authorities. AMLO was very clear that he would not repeat the mistakes of the past where Mexican police tried to outgun the cartels. The result was a huge number of homicides including police and civilians without succeeding in destroying or deterring the cartels.
In her December 6 speech, Sheinbaum addressed the cartel issue. She said, “From 2018 to date, homicides have been reduced by 34% … Peace and security are the fruits of honesty and justice… In 2025, we added 37,500 places in high school and 124,000 in higher education. The best way to prevent a young person from being lured by crime is by providing access to education, sports, and culture.”
Similar to AMLO, President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks of humanism, morals, and ethics. She said, “Let us not forget that true transformation is not only economic and social; it is ethical and moral… We will always fight until the last days of our lives for Mexicans to be able to eat healthy food three times a day and to have access to education, healthcare, clothing, and housing. We do not believe in consumerism, nor in the power of money, nor in greed. And no, we do not kneel before the powerful.” She closed her speech by saying, “Please know that I will never betray you, and that every second of my life is dedicated to building a just, free, independent, and sovereign Mexico.”
While the positive changes in Mexico are largely unreported in the West, there is evidence the U.S. administration is aware and unhappy with Mexico’s transformation. Why else would President Trump appoint as Ambassador to Mexico a man who trained El Salvador’s military during the dirty wars of the 1980’s followed by a long career in the CIA? Conservative forces within and outside Mexico are trying to destabilize the country but Mexico’s transformation under Morena and President Sheinbaum continues.
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