Photo: Federalist Alliance

By KYLIE MADRY 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has long been disliked by members of the opposition parties, who formed the country’s ruling class until AMLO and his National Regeneration Movement (Morena) took power.

That distaste is turning into open revolt, as the president faces threats from the rightwing National Anti-AMLO Front (Frena), the newly formed Sí por México coalition and, now, 10 governors representing mostly northern Mexican states.

The governors, the self-proclaimed “Federalist Alliance,” all announced their intentions at separate press conferences Tuesday, Oct. 27: They want more money, or else.

Six of the 10 governors are members of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), which has held major influence in 21st century Mexican politics. Others include a member of the centralist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

Their demands for more cash come from several federal money pots – they want more money to flow to their states for the 2021 federal budget, and they want AMLO to keep the 109 fideicomisos, or public trusts, that Morena legislators voted to do away with earlier this month.

In the “closing of the ranks” ceremonies, as the Federalist Alliance dubbed its events, each governor repeated, “We’re ready to open dialogue and come to an agreement, but we’re also ready for a legal and political battle, if necessary.”

The governors heavily hinted at taking more drastic action, saying that if AMLO does not put more into their states’ coffers, “the consistency and rationale of (Mexico’s) federal pact will be put at risk.”

After the governors’ all-but declaration of war, AMLO rejected a meeting with the group of 10. “I’m not going to meet with them,” he said, “because there’s no reason to. The Treasury Secretary (Arturo Herrera Gutiérrez) is already attending to them, and I’m not going to let them use the presidential institution (like this).”

He went on to say, “I don’t know what they’re watching, what they’re feeling, what’s happening to them because they’ve gotten nervous,” due to the upcoming election season.

Governors from AMLO’s party shot back at their opposition counterparts, posting an open letter on their respective Twitter accounts Tuesday night. “We understand the electoral difficulty they are facing in their states because of the 2021 elections,” the letter said, “which has led them to take this desperate action to get attention. However, it’s not just irresponsible, but also unconstitutional to call for legal actions to break a federal pact established in the Constitution.”

…Oct. 29, 2020