Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
- 🏛️ Sheinbaum says INE corruption goes beyond Guadalupe Taddei: The president asserted that corruption in the awarding of electoral materials contracts occurred “during the entire period of Lorenzo Córdova,” Taddei’s predecessor as INE president, and “probably before as well.” Taddei resigned as National Electoral Institute president last week amid allegations of corruption.
- 🧹 “The INE has to be cleaned up”: Sheinbaum recalled the “el INE no se toca” (“don’t touch the INE”) protest slogan and suggested it was used “to hang on to this whole electoral mafia” that allegedly existed before Taddei became INE president. She said the institute must guarantee clean elections, transparency and republican austerity.
- 🕊️ Sheinbaum condemns murder of Cuernavaca city councilman: She called the killing of Morena councilman Gabriel Rivas Ríos, an environmental activist, “sad and infuriating,” saying there was “no doubt” it was ordered and carried out specifically against him. Rivas had criticized the Alto Verde residential project proposed for Cuernavaca, and Sheinbaum said she asked the Security Cabinet to support the Morelos Attorney General’s Office’s murder investigation. She said Rivas hadn’t requested federal protection.
- 🇪🇸 Sheinbaum explains absence from Ibero-American Summit: She said she skipped the Madrid gathering because she will travel to China for the APEC leaders’ summit later this month. Sheinbaum noted that Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco represented her in the Spanish capital. She will seek a call with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to discuss the summit’s outcomes.
Why today’s mañanera matters
Alleged corruption in the awarding of National Electoral Institute (INE) contracts to a small group of electoral materials suppliers was a central focus of President Sheinbaum’s Friday morning press conference.
Guadalupe Taddei resigned as president of the INE last week after it came to light that lucrative contracts were awarded to electoral materials companies linked to a businessman with whom she had a close personal relationship. Taddei and that businessman, José Alfredo Hernández Casillas, are reportedly among 25 people who have been added to the Finance Ministry’s Blocked Persons List and who will be investigated by the Federal Attorney General’s Office.
On Friday morning, Sheinbaum asserted that corruption in the INE also occurred when Lorenzo Córdova was president of the institute between 2014 and 2023.
Also of note at today’s mañanera were the president’s remarks about the murder of a Cuernavaca city councilman. Gabriel Rivas Ríos, a Morena party member, was killed on Wednesday in Cuernavaca, capital of the state of Morelos.
Sheinbaum: ‘The INE needs to be cleaned up’
Sheinbaum asserted that corruption in INE’s rewarding of electoral materials contracts predates the 2023-2026 tenure of Taddei as the institute’s president.
Corruption occurred “during the entire period of Lorenzo Córdova,” she said.
“And probably before as well,” Sheinbaum added. “The audit will have to determine that.”
Sheinbaum noted that Córdova and other INE officials participated in various protests against an electoral reform proposal during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She recalled that the slogan of the protests was “El INE no se toca,’ or “Don’t touch the INE.”
“The INE has to be cleaned up. Maybe they said ‘don’t touch the INE’ in order to hang on to this whole electoral mafia that was built with them,” she said.
“The National Electoral Institute is an institute that must guarantee the will of the people, that must guarantee clean elections,” Sheinbaum added.
“In its operation, it must guarantee … transparency and republican austerity,” she said.
Sheinbaum laments murder of Cuernavaca councilman
Asked about the murder of Rivas, Sheinbaum said she knew him and described him as an environmental activist.
She described his murder as “sad and infuriating” and conveyed her condolences to his family and colleagues.
Sheinbaum said that when she heard about the homicide, she requested that the federal Security Cabinet “dedicate time and effort” to supporting the Morelos Attorney General’s Office in its investigation into the crime.
“It was a direct homicide. Some people on a motorbike shot him directly,” she said.
“There is no doubt it was a homicide that was ordered and carried out specifically against him,” Sheinbaum said.
She noted that Rivas had recently been critical of a real estate development in Cuernavaca that could cause “environmental problems.” She was referring to the Alto Verde residential project, whose construction was proposed on a site called La Cazahuatera.
The land where La Cazahuatera is located is “considered one of the last remnants of lowland deciduous forest within the urban area” of Cuernavaca, the news outlet Infobae reported.
In addition to contributing to efforts to solve Rivas’ murder, Sheinbaum said her administration would also work with Morelos Governor Margarita González Saravia “to see what can be done with this [real estate] development that he was fighting against.”
After a reporter noted that many environmental activists have been murdered or attacked in Mexico, Sheinbaum said that a lot of them now have government protection.
“They’ve approached us [to ask for protection],” she said, adding that government protection helps to “avoid” attacks on activists.
Sheinbaum said that Rivas hadn’t requested protection from the federal government.
“That doesn’t mean that we don’t condemn the homicide,” she added.
Sheinbaum explains her absence at Ibero-American Summit in Spain
Sheinbaum told reporters that she decided not to go to this week’s Ibero-American Summit in Madrid as she will travel to China for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit later this month. She said visiting Spain as well as China would mean spending more time outside Mexico than she would like.
Sheinbaum said she advised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe VI of her decision not to travel to Madrid.
“I wrote a letter to them … because they were the ones that invited me,” she said.
Sheinbaum noted that Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco represented her at the Ibero-American Summit, a gathering of leaders and officials from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries.
She said she would seek a call with Sánchez to discuss the outcomes of the summit.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “the summit’s four agreements match Mexico’s priorities: care systems, academic mobility, disaster protection, and artificial intelligence that serves people.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
