There are more ways to destroy a liberal democracy than just sending troops into the streets, storming radio stations, and arresting opponents, as Hitler discovered after the failure of his coup attempt — the so-called “Beer Hall Putsch” — in Munich in 1923.
The collapse of the German Weimar Republic in 1933, when Adolf Hitler — already a democratically elected chancellor — began to urge his supporters to take to the streets, demonize his critics and political opponents, to label the media as “enemies of the people,” subordinate the judiciary, science, and universities to politics, and to subsequently cancel elections, is a clear example of how a state and democracy can be destroyed from within.
In “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” Karl Marx began the text with the famous phrase (originally formulated by Hegel) that history repeats itself, “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
AMLO leaves a weakened and inefficient state
In Mexico, we have witnessed in these almost six years of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidential term a demolition of the state and its institutions. And no, before readers have a fit, I am not comparing López Obrador to Hitler or what is happening in Mexico in 2024 to Nazi totalitarianism in Germany in 1933.
But on Election Day, the majority of the Mexican electorate unequivocally chose to give six more years to this administration’s vision of the nation. And the problem is that this project is potentially fraught with limitations and own goals, as we head towards the transition on Oct 1. One of the main challenges we as a country — and especially President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum — will face is receiving a deeply weakened and dysfunctional state.
The urgent issue of our time for the liberal state that we should all advocate for has nothing to do with its ideological orientation, or the size and vocation of the government in power, themes around which the right and the left have been in constant ideological and political-electoral struggle for decades. The central issue, in my view, is its efficiency and effectiveness.
The COVID-19 pandemic made this clear: the essential difference in how various nations around the world fared was not whether some governments were right-wing and others left-wing, or between democratic and authoritarian regimes; the essential fault line was between effective and ineffective governments.
What is happening today with the institutions of the Mexican state is simply the logical conclusion of the obsession that has largely driven López Obrador. From the beginning of his administration in 2018, the most serious danger on the horizon was always going to be an imperial presidency, all-powerful and centralizing, and the elimination of checks and balances as well as autonomous institutions that a generation of Mexicans laboriously worked to establish over more than three decades to anchor and deepen our nascent democracy.
Government institutions and agencies, as well as their powers and responsibilities, and the few relatively depoliticized civil service bureaucracies, have been eviscerated and cannibalized or, in the worst case, demolished.
The president has fundamentally sought to weaken Mexico’s institutions so that they cannot constrain him, purging them of cadres he considers disloyal to him and the Fourth Transformation (4T) movement. But this also means that he cannot rely on these institutions to generate growth, mitigate the costs of the pandemic that have not dissipated, resolve social conflicts, tackle growing public insecurity, leverage Mexico’s geostrategic assets, or even secure what he most desires: to leave a legacy.
Mexico must be more plural and open to the world
And all this also contains a great paradox: for a president who from day one boasted that “the best foreign policy is domestic policy,” it is precisely the weakness of his public policies, exacerbating the internal weaknesses of the country, that have opened fronts of pressure and vulnerability abroad, particularly with respect to the United States. Just look at the numerous examples related to the inability to manage migration flows, curb fentanyl trafficking, or address issues of civil aviation, fishing, agricultural exports, or maritime preservation to grasp the impact this is having on the country and the state’s capacities.
Therefore, we Mexicans and our society must continue to push for a country that is fully democratic, plural, tolerant, liberal, balanced, just, secure, with a market economy, open to the world, with a strong, solid, effective state.
And for this reason, I want more Mexico in the world and more of the world in Mexico; a state that relies on its professional diplomatic cadres, a nation that stops navel-gazing and floating aimlessly in the international system, that finds its moral compass and geopolitical bearings in a highly fluid global environment; that leaves behind old foreign policy crutches and paradigms; that decides to contribute to global public goods; that returns to being a weight in the multilateral arena, particularly on issues such as disarmament and nuclear proliferation, which today loom as emerging threats; that has the vision to design an integrated migration policy paradigm; that rediscovers its vocation to preserve biodiversity and once again lead on global climate change issues; and that recognizes the enormous value of promoting the country abroad, whether by rebuilding agencies to attract investment, designing a true cultural and creative industries promotion strategy, or confronting the brutal degradation of the credibility and perception of the country abroad.
History shows over and over that populism and demagoguery — on the left and the right —are shortcuts that often end in disaster; they fracture and polarize societies and divide people into rival camps of intolerance. Instead of building the future, they always invoke the past, but nostalgia can neither be nor should be established as public policy.
Today in Mexico there are plenty of excuses, shouting and insults and a lack of rationality, debate and consensus. Listen, respect, tolerate, understand, converse, debate, reach consensus, build, negotiate, move forward. If someone finds those lost verbs somewhere, tell them that Mexico’s democracy is desperately looking for them.
At this turning point for the republic, I hope the president-elect recognizes this, and decides to act accordingly. We Mexicans urgently need it.
Arturo Sarukhan has had a distinguished education and career, serving as Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. (2007-2013), and in additional advisory roles in both Mexico and the U.S. Currently based in Washington, D.C., he writes about international issues for various media outlets and is a regular opinion columnist published on Mexico News Daily.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
Great to see someone paint a very clear picture of where Mexico can go with the right leadership
It’s an extremely abstract picture.
US, I agree. I could not find any detailed examples of evidence, only accusations. He appears to want to return the status of PRI, PAN and PRD which were really corrupt. They robbed from the working poor to line their pockets. If the had truly served he people of Mexico the Morena Party would not have happened.
Well said let Mexico rid itself of harmful Cartels fo the good of mankind
Extraordinary summary and easily understood by anyone of the current affairs. What a gift to have someone this well-versed contributing for the benefit of all of us. Thank you, thank you and keep doing what you’re doing, please🇨🇦🙏🇲🇽
Complete hog wash and right wing hysteria camouflaged by a U.S. intellect. Mexico is undergoing a complete transformation with its primary goal is to get rid of the deep corruption that has plagued Mexico and is entrenched in its numerous so called independent institution. The corrupt conservative politicians have historically used these institutions to maintain their control and use them them to fleece form the government coffers. In fact, AMLO’s government has gained great respect around the globe and strengthened its sovereignty. Claudia will continue to push forward with the proposals he put forward to change the constitution to benefit the Mexican people, not the rich and powerful that this opinion maker represents.
Please! I am not “right wing”; never have had party affiliation of any sorts in Mexico because I think all political parties there are broken. In fact, I have always been aligned with what in Europe would be social democracy, progressive and internationalist, which sadly is far removed from what MORENA and LO purport to be. And corruption? Really? Mexico has fallen in every single anti-corruption global and regional index this six-year term. “Strengthened its international sovereignty”?? C’mon. Like when the president kowtowed to Trump and bent the knee when he threatened punitive tariffs on Mexican exports if Mexico didn’t stop Central American transmigration? And Mexico’s international -and regional (how about those record three ambassadors expelled from LatAm countries in a single presidential term, an unheard of record) reputation and credibility are in tatters! Not much to say about your ad hominem attacks.
I totally agree with you.
Diego I completely agree with you. This American ex-Ambassador would like to return to a government that did not protect the sovereignty of Mexico, especially from US American manipulation. There is a reason why more than 60% of the voters have retained and expanded the role of the Morena Party.
“American ex ambassador”; madre mía. And like this government has with Trump imposing and outsourcing immigration control policies on Mexico?
Please! I am not “right wing”; never have had party affiliation of any sorts in Mexico because I think all political parties there are broken. In fact, I have always been aligned with what in Europe would be social democracy, progressive and internationalist, which sadly is far removed from what MORENA and LO purport to be. And corruption? Really? Mexico has fallen in every single anti-corruption global and regional index this six-year term. “Strengthened its international sovereignty”?? C’mon. Like when the president kowtowed to Trump and bent the knee when he threatened punitive tariffs on Mexican exports if Mexico didn’t stop Central American transmigration? And Mexico’s international -and regional (how about those record three ambassadors expelled from LatAm countries in a single presidential term, an unheard of record) reputation and credibility are in tatters! Not much to say about your ad hominem attacks.
Hi Arturo, this article was very interesting but felt like it missed key details explaining your opinion. The lack of details makes it seem like highly biased information, as the past 30 years Mexicans have experienced the previous governments and NEED change.
Your viewpoint felt very confusing simply because no previous party worked to the favor of the Mexican people. While I do see how international agencies have noted Mexico has been sliding further and further away from Democracy, it is interesting that somehow Mexico had a better democracy when we literally had government working hand in hand with cartels. Genaro Garcia Luna during 06′-12′ almost the entire time you were serving as Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. 07′-13′.
Your very own experience working with Mexico’s government was during a heated time where it was the closer to a dictatorship compared to now in my opinion. Mainly due to the proven fact Garcia Luna is in jail for working with cartels. I don’t think there is a “calibration” these international organizations have for governments working with cartels as that in my mind is literally the closest thing to dictatorship.
When people protested AMLO, he didn’t end up threatening anybody or like previous government and work with the cartels. Mexico has had a long history of bloody protests where people would get killed. But protests are actually going on without these kinds of government actions against the people. Please next time give facts and figures to justify your claims both foreign and local facts and figures to provide your points.
I understand the viewpoint in the article but I disagree. There are many aspects to how Mexico has traditionally governed that allow corruption to continue and everyone turns a blind eye. Let’s assume that the previous parties were not completely corrupt, why are we assuming that Morena’s objective is to gain power?
In their case they are displaying the difference between a government that is trying and a government that didn’t. 4T won’t ever be perfect but the objective is to wipe the slate clean with “oldschool” systems.
Think of it this way, “Mexico’s federal tax revenue reached record high in first 5 months of 2024” an MDN article.
This to me looks like they are focusing on what matters, and they need to change what allowed corruption to continue.
It’s interesting that this article ignored how PRD is pretty much non existent and the previously large two parties PRI and PAN are nowhere near as powerful as they once were. I don’t think anyone can argue their track record and it just felt odd that they all united as a last ditch attempt to get just about anyone elected. While Xóchitl Gálvez wasn’t honestly bad in my opinion it just felt weird to have them unite.
If we were to assume the previous parties were not corrupt then we need to assume Morena isn’t either.
With that being said let’s assume they are all corrupt, what type of corruption do you prefer? A government with a track record of working literally with cartels IE Genaro Garcia Luna or a government who is hitting new records on things we can agree are actually beneficial? This isn’t to say I agree 100% with AMLO, he is not a great guy but to consider him power hungry is the wrong view point. More like not the most qualified person to handle advanced government issues that involve long term planning or foreign affairs, though willing to have others figure out those details as long as it sounds like it helps the people. So his views can be highly flawed, but the results have been more positive than negative compared to any other recent president.
D S thank you for bringing some factual evidence to the discussion.
A clear vision of the realities of this Mexico. Let’s keep constructing and reinforcing, rather than destructing and antagonizing. Strong independent, plural institutions can only reinforce the public sphere. Going back to a centralized conception of government is not a move that will push Mexico forward and let it reach its incredible potential as a nation.
The author had me at “I am not comparing López Obrador to Hitler”. the rest is utter garbage.
Yes, the author is trying to stir up the fears of the Mexican minority public of elites, “Whitexicans”.
It felt more like a lazy narration style tbh. It didn’t feel as much like a dog whistle or anything like that I don’t think. More like a quick way to say hey, I think Mexican government can lead to a bad outcome lets point to the obvious as an eye opening start to the article.
I just wish instead the author gave facts from the past 30 years as to what was GOOD and how recent changes and potential changes in the coming months can undermine what was good. Compare that against what other parties have promised and what they actually did and then identify key trends on how each state has dealt with the efforts of each party in power. Then go in depth into the federal politics and judges. This way we know why the author feels that way instead of a insert Hitler here for clicks type of laziness.
Maybe some facts about the track records of all parties to avoid bias and have purely fact based objections to potential changes in government. But this was just a lazy way to say I don’t like Mexico’s possible future with no evidence only feelings… please provide these details next time. That would be a great read for sure.
To d s: Thank you so much for the time and effort you’ve put into your critical-thinking comments. I agree with your analysis.
Thanks for publishing these thoughts and I am glad to see the ensuing debate.
Another (on top of the previous comments) interesting aspect of this article is the western habit of looking at every society through the lens of the need for, or level of democracy. Not every nation and culture is ready for or needs a democratic governance.
I lived in South Africa during the 90s, which was the era of the “democratic” transformation – an agenda pushed by the USA and UN to do-stabilize the country in order gain control of the rich mineral resources. In a country where the literacy rate was hovering around 30% at the time with a predominantly rural society, democracy was really not rooted in the culture and was not functioning as it was intended. This is just one of many cases where the orchestrated lie of protecting and promoting democracy was actually a means of gaining control of resources for the mighty “profit”.
Now I live in rural Mexico, in an agricultural region. From the opinion of the local people and the benefits of the AMLO administration provided for these people it is clear to see why the MORENA party is so popular and supported by the majority of Mexican people. From my observation, AMLO served the best interest of the people, the disadvantaged, under privileged classes, which are the majority of Mexico.
Sir, you’re talking about democracy, but my question is: isn’t democracy an elusive illusion? In North America and the European Union governments promote and push the interest of the ruling elite, as opposed to represent the need of the people. This is the underlying reason of a shift of politics towards the right, towards political parties which promise to represent the interest of the population. The mighty protector of democracy (yes, you guessed right – the USA) has had a single party system for many decades and the wast majority of the 350 million residents are hoodwinked into believing that choosing between blue or red makes a difference and this choice is democracy.