Question Brief – 11/21/25

Nov. 21, 2025

Question: How should Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo respond to rising anti-government protests?

Thought Process: A few weeks ago, Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo was killed after echoing calls for combatting the cartels, sparking major protests against the government and President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration. Since coming into office, Sheinbaum has held significant popularity, and these protests challenge the stability of her initiatives.

1. Communication & information
   1. Disinformation campaigns take root in populist movements like the one Sheinbaum’s against, and right wing actors are leveraging the protests to drive distrust and peddle disinformation to their followers. 
   2. Sheinbaum must acknowledge the issues that constituents have at the core of the movement – the lack of attention to growing violent crime – calls for further action against cartels and violent crime organizations like the one that killed Manzo.
   3. Sheinbaum’s acknowledgement and refocusing on a targeted strategy to address the issues that her constituents are concerned about.
2. Targeted Action
   1. The assassination of Mayor Manzo highlights the inability of local governments to operate safely, feeding the belief that the state is losing control.  This makes it easy for criminal groups to intimidate or eliminate officials who resist them, fueling public outrage.
   2. Sheinbaum must deploy targeted, intelligence-driven operations focused on the groups responsible for the recent wave of political assassinations to reinforce security in areas where criminal organizations and cartels are active.
   3. Announcing arrests, revealing dismantled networks, and providing timelines for security reinforcement signals competence and gives protesters proof that the administration is actively fighting back. This narrows the political space for right-wing actors using the protests to claim the government has lost control.

3. Strengthen Anti-Corruption & Oversight

1.  A key reason Mexicans distrust security policy is the perception that local police forces, prosecutors, and even some regional governments are penetrated by cartel money. Without addressing corruption, no security plan will last.
2. Sheinbaum needs to empower federal oversight bodies, strengthen internal affairs units, and expand protection for whistleblowers. With recent scandals exposing bribery and infiltration inside municipal governments, stronger anti-corruption enforcement reassures citizens that the federal government isn’t turning a blind eye.
3. Showing progress in cleaning up compromised institutions — even if slow — demonstrates long-term commitment and makes the government appear proactive instead of reactive.