Addressing thousands of people gathered at the Monument to the Revolution, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo presented a report this Sunday in which, right from the start, she contrasted the “Fourth Transformation” project with the neoliberal governments of the past. She recalled that repression took place during the tenure of former President Vicente Fox, and she characterized Felipe Calderón’s administration as a “narco-government.”
“Let us not forget that during Vicente Fox’s six-year term, we witnessed the cruel repression of the residents of San Salvador Atenco, as well as the brutal repression of teachers in Oaxaca. As if that were not enough, Fox spearheaded the stripping of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s immunity from prosecution—and his crowning achievement: the electoral fraud of 2006, which propelled the illegitimate Felipe Calderón to the presidency. Calderón subsequently filled the country with death and bloodshed through his failed ‘war on drugs’—a conflict in which his administration’s alliance with a specific drug cartel was proven beyond any doubt. That was the narco-government,” she stated.
She underscored that during the 36 years of neoliberal rule, the people’s wealth was handed over to a privileged few; furthermore, she noted that “economic policy was dictated from abroad, and these administrations allowed the U.S. government to interfere in a significant portion of the decisions regarding Mexico’s public life.”
Sheinbaum cited the memoirs of Francisco Labastida, in which he confesses that Ernesto Zedillo “struck a deal in the United States regarding the PRI’s departure from power and the PAN’s subsequent rise to the presidency”—a deal made in exchange for a loan “intended to address a crisis that they themselves had instigated.” Regarding Calderón, she noted that “the war on drugs was planned from abroad, and U.S. agencies were given carte blanche.” As an example, she cited the “Fast and Furious” operation.
“The times have changed, and in Mexico, it is the people who govern,” she added. Noting that two years ago, millions of Mexicans cast their “hope, trust, and determination to continue advancing along the path of transformation”—a path initiated by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador—she highlighted that, for the first time, a woman has reached the presidency, marking a victory for the people of Mexico.
Two years after that triumph of the people, she appears today to continue “rendering accounts”—doing so “face-to-face with the people and in the public square.”
Concurrently, images were projected showing live feeds of thousands of people gathered in public squares across every state in the country—with the exception of Coahuila, where no such gatherings were held due to the ongoing electoral process.
In a summary of the key achievements of her 20-month administration, she stated that resources have been managed with integrity; that 409 daily morning press conferences have been held; that no luxury vehicles or extravagant items have been acquired for the government; and that “all public servants must act with probity,” for “there is no room for corruption.”
In contrast, she noted that in the past, government officials traveled aboard luxurious presidential aircraft and lived cloistered within Los Pinos, detached from the national reality.
“No matter how much our adversaries may yearn for the days of privilege, those days will not return,” the President declared.
