Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

• 📜 Constitutional bill targets dual nationality: Sheinbaum announced that the government would send a bill to Congress on Thursday to bar dual nationals from running for president, governor or Mexico City mayor. Presidential legal adviser Luisa María Alcalde said the current wording of the Constitution has created a legal loophole, and under the proposal, Mexican-born dual citizens would have to renounce their second nationality before registering as candidates.

• 🗳️ Sheinbaum weighs in on Sinaloa succession: Asked about Morena selecting Senator Imelda Castro as its Sinaloa “state coordinator” — putting her on track to be the party’s 2027 gubernatorial candidate — Sheinbaum praised Castro as a longtime “transformation” movement member who “loves Sinaloa very much.”

• ⚓ ‘Very solid’ case against ex-admiral: On the fuel smuggling case against former Rear Admiral Fernando Farías Laguna — extradited from Argentina last week and now ordered to stand trial — Sheinbaum said the FGR has enough evidence to show he ran a network distributing fuel smuggled into Mexico mainly from the U.S.

Why today’s mañanera matters

The presentation of a new constitutional bill and President Sheinbaum’s comments on the ruling Morena party’s selection of a state coordinator in Sinaloa were among the most important developments at today’s mañanera.

Morena’s new coordinator in Sinaloa — a federal senator who is currently on leave — will almost certainly become the party’s candidate at the state’s gubernatorial election next June. That means Imelda Castro will vie to become Morena’s second popularly elected governor of Sinaloa after Rubén Rocha Moya, who went on leave earlier this year after U.S. prosecutors accused him of drug trafficking in league with the Sinaloa Cartel. Rocha returned to the governorship for around 48 hours last weekend before leaving the job once again.

Also of note at today’s mañanera were Sheinbaum’s comments about a fuel smuggling case involving a former high-ranking Navy official who is a nephew of former Navy Minister José Rafael Ojeda Durán.

Government proposes dual nationality ban for political leaders 

At the start of the press conference, Sheinbaum announced that her top legal adviser, Luisa María Alcalde, would present a constitutional bill that seeks to ban presidential and gubernatorial aspirants from running for office if they hold dual nationality. She said that the bill would be sent to Congress on Thursday.

Alcalde noted that the Mexican Constitution states that to occupy the position of president or governor (including mayor of Mexico City), it is necessary to be a Mexican citizen by birth. She also noted that the Constitution states that positions for which Mexican citizenship by birth is a prerequisite are reserved for people who meet that criterion and “do not acquire another nationality.”

Alcalde said that the wording of the Constitution has created a legal loophole that has led to “interpretative misunderstandings.”

She said that the government is now proposing that the Constitution explicitly state that Mexican citizens who “already have another nationality” be precluded from holding the position of president, governor or mayor of Mexico City.

Under the government’s proposal, a Mexican by birth who is also a citizen of another country must renounce their second citizenship before registering as a candidate, Alcalde said.

Sheinbaum said that the Mexican Constitution in its current form is not clear, and highlighted that there have been governors with dual citizenship, including former Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca, who was born in Texas.

She said that the objective of the government’s constitutional bill is to ensure that “the interest of the nation is above any other interest.”

Sheinbaum comments on Morena’s proposed gubernatorial candidate in Sinaloa 

A reporter noted that Morena has selected Imelda Castro — a federal senator who recently took leave from that position — as its “state coordinator for the defense of the transformation” in Sinaloa, putting her in pole position to become the party’s candidate in the 2027 gubernatorial election in the northern state.

The reporter noted that Castro is known for “not being close” to Rocha Moya.

Sheinbaum acknowledged that Morena selected the senator as its coordinator in Sinaloa as she won the party’s internal poll of voters.

Castro, she said, “is a woman who has been involved in the transformation movement [i.e. Morena] for many years and loves Sinaloa very much.”

As Morena’s likely gubernatorial candidate, Castro “must be an upright, honest person who loves the people, loves her state and has a project for the state of Sinaloa,” Sheinbaum said.

Sheinbaum: FGR has a ‘very solid’ case against navy official accused of fuel smuggling 

Asked what she expected in the fuel smuggling case involving former Rear Admiral Fernando Farías Laguna, Sheinbaum responded “justice.”

Farías, who is accused of leading a fuel smuggling/tax evasion scheme known in Mexico as huachicol fiscal, was extradited to Mexico last week from Argentina. His case is linked to the seizure of 10 million liters of diesel in Tampico, Tamaulipas, last year. The fuel arrived on a Singapore-flagged ship that — in an attempt to avoid the payment of IEPS excise tax — was said to be carrying lubricating oil additives rather than diesel.

On Thursday morning, Farías was ordered to stand trial on fuel smuggling charges. He is currently being held at the Altiplano federal prison in México state.

Sheinbaum said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office has a “very solid” case against Farías.

“There is enough information to know that this person had a network that enabled the distribution of fuel that came [into the country] as contraband, mainly from the United States,” she said.

Sheinbaum asserted last week that her government has “practically” put an end to huachicol fiscal. 

“It’s practically over thanks to the interventions that we’ve been carrying out in customs and the arrests that have been made,” she said Aug. 18.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)