Mexico’s National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Data Protection. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

On Monday, June 10, Mexico’s National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Data Protection (INAI) – alongside 25 other national transparency organizations – sent an open letter to Mexican President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum requesting an urgent meeting to discuss Mexico’s right to transparency.

The letter comes after Sheinbaum’s National Regeneration Movement (Morena) won a congressional supermajority during Sunday, June 2’s elections, allowing the party to pass through constitutional reforms that could alter the nation’s right to transparency without any resistance, as well as eliminate its autonomous institutions. 

The INAI-backed document emphasized the need for transparency in Mexico to ensure democracy for its citizens, subsequently holding the government accountable to its citizens and committed to improving the lives of Mexicans nationwide.

“In this sense, we request a hearing with the objective of talking about the advances and challenges of transparency, access to information and the protection of personal data in our country and that this be the beginning of an honest and productive dialogue that allows us to continue moving towards a Mexico where the full exercise of fundamental rights is a tangible and permanent reality,” read the letter.

The document concluded by congratulating Sheinbaum on her win, saying that “We want to take this opportunity to recognize you and highlight the importance of the values ​​that you have constantly defended throughout your entire career, such as respect for human rights, accountability, government transparency and honesty.”