March for Democracy: Protest against Mexican President López Obrador

Graphic by Angie Choi

With the June 2 elections approaching, thousands of protestors took to the streets across Mexico City and nearby cities on Feb. 18, 2024. Rallying for the “march for democracy”, the protests were aimed at countering what they saw as growing threats to Mexico’s democracy under the leadership of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The protests, which were bathed in pink—the symbolic color of Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE)—occurred in large cities, including Mexico City, where thousands filled the city's main square. The demonstrators held banners that read "The power of the people is greater than the people in power" and chanted slogans including "Get López out." The march was accompanied by several civil society organizations, including the National Civic Front, Yes for Mexico, Citizen Power, Civil Society Mexico, UNE Mexico, and United for Mexico.

Protests were also staged outside of Mexico, both in the United States and Spain, demonstrating the global nature of interest in the policies of López Obrador and the upcoming election. Indignation en masse at López Obrador's transformation of Mexico's electoral regime spurred the demonstrations. His administration cut the INE's budget, the independent body tasked with organizing elections, in the previous year. The budget cut weakens the electoral institutions, leaving the polls vulnerable to fraud and government manipulation according to critics. 

INE officials warned that such reforms will "end up poisoning democracy itself," and opposition lawmakers see the move as an effort by López Obrador to consolidate power. To subject campaign financing to deregulation and limit INE's functional abilities is, in their opinion, an act of democratic destabilization.

López Obrador has also been accused of battering the country's judiciary. López Obrador has consistently charged the judges with conspiring against his administration, which has raised concerns about judicial independence. His daily, one-hour press briefings have also been a podium on which to verbally abuse reporters, which has raised concerns about Mexican press freedom. 

The protests were simultaneous to the date López Obrador's personal closest friend and front-runner candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, got the nod from Morena's ruling party candidate. Sheinbaum, Mexico City's previous mayor, contested as López Obrador's natural heir and pledged to duplicate his policy programs.

Even as opposition frustration intensifies, Sheinbaum is still in the lead. More recent surveys have her at 64 percent, with her strongest opposition opponent Xóchitl Gálvez trailing at 3 percent. Entrepreneur and senator Gálvez is part of an opposition bloc and has positioned herself as a defender of democratic legacy and a counterweight to López Obrador's increasingly pervasive presence. However, López Obrador is well-liked by the majority of Mexicans. Those who perceive his presidency as a break with decades of corruption and economic inequality are particularly enamored with him. His backers credit him with the expansion of social programs, improved infrastructure, and for weakening the political class that had ruled Mexico for decades.

The protests have also brought to the fore Mexican society's underlying cleavages. While the opposition sees their cause as a fight for the preservation of democracy, López Obrador and his support base contend that the protests are being stage-managed by the same corrupt plutocracy that ruled Mexico for several decades under both Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and National Action Party (PAN) governments.

In his Friday morning news conference, López Obrador dismissed the protests, saying that the organizers tried to "defend corruption" rather than democracy. "They are making a call to protest against corruption," he stated. "They are calling for bringing back the corrupt, and they claim to be concerned about democracy." His words are symptomatic of the wider polarisation of Mexican politics, under which daily corruption and authoritarianism translate into one another on government and opposition benches.

As Mexico draws near to its June elections, the demonstrations guarantee that the battle for democracy—at least in the perception of the opposition—will not be resolved anytime soon. The demonstrations have galvanized the anti-López Obrador base, giving Gálvez and the rest of the opposition leadership a soapbox upon which to whip up the faithful. But will that power translate into winning the elections? With Sheinbaum so far ahead, all efforts to stir up the ruling party seem to be an uphill battle. But the protests can be a gauge of how well Mexico's opposition is and whether they will be able to make a serious challenge to Morena's hold on the country.

The broader question is: If López Obrador's reforms keep undermining independent institutions, what will Mexican democracy look like in the coming years? The response will likely depend on how citizens respond to the government agenda and the opposition agenda over the coming months. At least for the time being, Mexico's streets—and Mexican voices—are screaming one thing: The country's future as a democracy is a cause that transcends all others, and the outcome of the next election can set its course for many years to come.