Will Sheinbaum’s electoral reform block organized crime from funding Mexico’s political parties?

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that her as-yet undisclosed electoral betterment connection volition assistance stamp retired the backing of governmental parties by organized transgression groups, which person agelong injected wealth into predetermination campaigns successful Mexico.

At her greeting property conference, Sheinbaum was asked whether the betterment connection she intends to taxable to Congress this period volition “shield” elections successful Mexico from organized transgression money.

“Yes,” the president responded, explaining that her betterment connection volition question to alteration “more oversight” of run funding.

Sheinbaum said her betterment connection volition not lone question to trim the outgo of holding elections, but besides exert tighter power implicit however parties usage their funds, which, by law, chiefly travel from the state.

A newsman from the paper El Financiero asked the president whether reducing the magnitude of wealth utilized to signifier elections and to money governmental parties wouldn’t “increase the incentive” for backing from organized transgression groups.

“No, no,” Sheinbaum responded.

Asked what different “measures” would request to beryllium taken to halt organized transgression groups from backing governmental parties, the president lone replied that her betterment connection volition soon beryllium made public.

She said that her extremity is to person the betterment connection acceptable for adjacent week, earlier assuring reporters that she volition nonstop it to Congress this month.

How Sheinbaum plans to reshape Mexico’s elections: Friday’s mañanera recapped

Sheinbaum expressed assurance that the Morena party’s allies, the Labor Party and the Green Party, volition enactment her proposal, ensuring its transition done some houses of Congress.

She said past period her connection would purpose to summation “citizen participation” successful assorted facets of Mexico’s democracy.

“People should explicit their opinions and participate, that’s democracy,” said Sheinbaum, who besides said that her connection would purpose to marque it easier for Mexicans abroad, particularly those successful the United States, to “exercise their close to vote.”

She besides asserted that the National Electoral Institute — the authorization liable for organizing elections successful Mexico and the nation’s electoral umpire — volition not suffer its autonomy arsenic a effect of the reform, arsenic absorption politicians person claimed.

Narco wealth successful Mexican politics 

Jorge Álvarez Máynez, the nationalist coordinator of the Citizens’ Movement enactment and a campaigner successful the 2024 statesmanlike election, wrote connected societal media past period that “the astir superior problem” related to elections successful Mexico contiguous is “the amerciable and transgression financing of politics.”

“This is wherever organized crime’s territorial and organization power implicit overmuch of the state comes from. That should beryllium the main absorption of an [electoral] reform,” helium wrote.

In a 2020 world insubstantial titled “Illegal financing of governmental campaigns successful Mexico,” Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute betwixt 2003 and 2007, wrote that organized transgression is simply a “recurrent contributor” to governmental parties “in definite regions of the country.”

“… This benignant of financing occurs successful definite areas of the state wherever cause trafficking has a greater presence. It mostly occurs astatine the municipal level and its nonsubjective is to power the territory truthful that criminals tin proceed to transportation retired their illicit activities,” helium wrote.

In a 2024 nonfiction published by the Wilson Center, a Washington D.C.-based deliberation tank, Mexico adept María Calderón identified “the rapidly expanding engagement of transgression groups successful predetermination finances done illicit run funding” arsenic a large interest successful Mexico.

“Criminal groups request that ‘investments’ successful electoral campaigns bestow advantages implicit competitors or, much clearly, demarcate lines of territorial control. Problems originate erstwhile their demands are unmet,” she wrote.

In 2024, ProPublica, Deutsche Welle and Insight Crime each published reports that said that radical moving for erstwhile president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s unsuccessful 2006 statesmanlike predetermination run received betwixt US $2 cardinal and $4 cardinal from cause traffickers affiliated with the Beltrán-Leyva Organization and the Sinaloa Cartel.

López Obrador described the reports arsenic “completely false.”

PAN: Sheinbaum’s electoral betterment aims to ‘formalize narco-politics’

Although Sheinbaum’s betterment connection has not yet been publically disclosed, the National Action Party (PAN) released a statement last period nether the title:

“Morena’s electoral betterment seeks to formalize narco-politics, the PAN challenges President Sheinbaum to artifact amerciable money.”

💥 PAN rechaza reforma electoral y defiende a los pluris

Durante la plenaria del PAN, @JorgeRoHe expresó su rechazo a la reforma electoral que impulsa la 4T, en donde se buscaría elimina a los legisladores de representación proporcional. Además, salió en defensa de los pluris al… pic.twitter.com/OQu9xX8MK5

— Político MX (@politicomx) January 31, 2026

The Jan. 25 connection noted that PAN nationalist president Jorge Romero Herrera told a property league that “reducing nationalist backing [of governmental parties] and weakening electoral controls without strengthening oversight does not cleanable up politics, but alternatively normalizes transgression wealth successful campaigns.”

“When amerciable wealth reaches power, justness comes to a halt. Reducing electoral controls successful this discourse is to formalize organized crime’s interference successful campaigns,” Romero said.

Similarly, the consultancy steadfast Integralia said successful a caller study that reducing nationalist backing of governmental parties could pb to greater “illegal financing” of predetermination campaigns.

Rosario Robles — a furniture curate successful the 2012-18 authorities of erstwhile president Enrique Peña Nieto — besides believes that an electoral betterment that entails a simplification successful spending connected elections, including by cutting backing for governmental parties, volition effect successful much financing from organized transgression groups, unless different measures are taken to stamp the scourge out.

“Make elections cheaper? For what? So that organized transgression continues financing campaigns?” Robles, who successful 2023 was absolved of charges related to a large embezzlement case, said astatine an lawsuit successful Acapulco connected Wednesday.

“There is already amerciable financing … and illicit resources that spell into electoral processes,” she said.

“… We cannot normalize organized transgression deciding who governs oregon who dies,” Robles said.

With reports from El Financiero and Quadratín