Mexico is witnessing an unprecedented public political clash between a former president and the country’s current leader. 

The dispute began after the magazine Letras Libres published an essay by former president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (1994-2000) titled “Mexico: From Democracy to Tyranny.” In the piece, Zedillo delivered a scathing critique of the policies of the governing party, Morena, which sparked a public debate between President Claudia Sheinbaum and Zedillo himself. 

Since the piece was published, Zedillo, who for years had refrained from publicly commenting on the nation’s political course, has published three more letters in response to Sheinbaum’s statements. 

What did Zedillo’s first essay say?

In his first essay, Zedillo gives a brief review of Mexico’s troubled transition to democracy and accuses the Morena party — founded by Sheinbaum’s predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador — of steering the country back to authoritarian rule.

“Having come to power thanks to the democracy that we Mexicans achieved after many struggles, López Obrador and his party have worked hard — and have made great progress —to destroy it,” Zedillo wrote.  

He singled out the judicial reform proposed by former president López Obrador last year and championed by Sheinbaum, which instituted the popular election of judicial officials, including judges, magistrates and ministers of Mexico’s Supreme Court (SCJN). 

“No truly democratic country elects its judges this way. That’s something dictators only invent to control the judiciary,” Zedillo stated, while adding that Morena is seeking to impose a “regime” to make “arbitrary and abusive” decisions according to its own political interests.

The disappearance of autonomous institutions like the National Institute of Transparency and Access to Information (INAI) and the militarization of public security are indicators of an “autocratic and tyrannical” government, Zedillo continued, before accusing Morena and Sheinbaum of having “assassinated” Mexico’s “young democracy.” 

What did Sheinbaum say back? 

Following these accusations, Sheinbaum fired back.  

“Now it turns out Zedillo is the champion of democracy,” she stated during her morning press conference on April 28. 

Sheinbaum questioned Zedillo’s role in the 1995 bank bailout known as Fobaproa, suggesting that he and those close to him benefited at the expense of millions of indebted and bankrupt Mexicans. 

“It was a scam to the nation,” she said. 

The Fobaproa is a contingency fund created in 1990 during the government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, and utilized by Zedillo in 1995 in response to one of Mexico’s most severe economic crises. Activating the Fobaproa resulted in the government acquiring bank debt for 552.3 billion pesos (US $28 billion).

Sheinbaum added that Zedillo’s sudden public opinion on the judicial reform shows a lack of credibility the likes of other opposition spokesmen such as Ricardo Anaya, Alito Moreno or Enrique Krauze (founder of Letras Libres). 

“They’re saying [the judicial reform] is ‘authoritarianism’ because the people are going to elect the judiciary,” Sheinbaum said during her April 28 press conference. “Imagine the contradiction. Isn’t a government run by the people a democracy?”

What happened next?

Following Sheinbaum’s statements, Zedillo published a second letter proposing the appointment of “an independent, international auditor without any potential conflict of interest” to “evaluate a series of projects initiated by the López Obrador government.” He recalled that during his government, an independent international auditor evaluated the bank bailout.   

In turn, Sheinbaum escalated the clash with accusations of links to organized crime between the former president and his wife. The president referred to a reported phone call between a woman, allegedly Nilda Patricia Velasco, Zedillo’s wife, and a member of the now-defunct Colima Cartel, calling for an investigation into potential cartel ties. 

Morena senators have since announced plans to create a special commission to review Zedillo’s financial dealings, particularly with regard to Fobaproa. According to the group, the federal Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) has reported irregularities in the audits of Fobaproa, as well as the discovery of secret accounts. 

Zedillo fired back with yet another letter, accusing Sheinbaum of ignoring his claims and resorting to personal attacks as a way to distract Mexicans from the serious threats to democracy of her government. In a Sunday interview for Ciberdiálogos with León Krauze, Zedillo doubled down, arguing that Morena’s so-called fourth transformation means “a transformation from democracy into tyranny.”

With reports from El País, El Economista, Reforma and El Universal