WASHINGTON, DC.- The Financial Timesone of the most influential financial newspapers in the world, yesterday joined the growing chorus of criticism of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Mexican Congress for the approval of Plan B of the electoral reform, as legislators and news media from Mexico had done before. USA.
in his editorial Mexico’s hard-won democracy is in jeopardythe newspaper called on President Joe Biden to raise his voice “against López Obrador’s attack on the institutions.”
“It is time for Mexico’s allies and friends to speak up. The European Union (EU) must find its voice, but most important is the United States, Mexico’s neighbor and largest trading partner. The Biden administration has been commendably strong in denouncing growing authoritarianism in Central America, but curiously silent on the same phenomenon in his most important Latin American ally. This must change ”, he concluded.
Separately, in a joint bipartisan statement, the chairmen of the US Senate and House Foreign Relations committees, Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Michael McCaul of Texas, accused the Mexican legislature of endangering the future of his country’s democratic institutions, returning Mexico to its dark past of elections controlled by the president, not only turning back the clock on its democracy, but also on the relations between our countries.” .
“Despite his hope of being remembered as a democrat and defender of the most vulnerable in the country, López Obrador’s continued efforts to break the autonomy and independence of the INE will certainly cement his legacy as the opposite,” they concluded.
Before, The New York Times He had published that Plan B worries the government of President Joe Biden, since it represents a “blow” to the INE and undermines the independent institutions of Mexico.
The paper said the changes will cut the electoral management body’s staff, diminish its autonomy and limit its ability to disqualify candidates who break electoral laws.
“The United States embassy in Mexico has been sending reports to Washington assessing possible threats to democracy in the country, according to three US officials who were not authorized to speak publicly,” he said. The New York Times.