Tens of thousands protest Mexico’s electoral law changes

Tens of thousands of people filled Mexico City’s vast main plaza Sunday to protest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's electoral law changes they say threaten democracy and could mark a return to the past.

The plaza is normally thought to hold nearly 100,000 people, but many protesters who couldn't fit in the square spilled onto nearby streets.

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The marchers were clad mostly in white and pink — the color of the National Electoral Institute - and shouted slogans like "Don’t Touch my Vote!” Like a similar but somewhat larger march on Nov. 13, the marchers appeared somewhat more affluent than those at the average demonstration.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador attends a meeting. File photo

The electoral law changes drew attention from the US government.

Brian A. Nichols, the US assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs, wrote in his Twitter account that "Today, in Mexico, we see a great debate on electoral reforms that are testing the independence of electoral and judicial institutions.”

"The United States supports independent, well-resourced electoral institutions that strengthen democratic processes and the rule of law,” Nichols wrote.

López Obrador's proposals were passed last week. Once enacted, they would cut salaries, funding for local election offices and training for citizens who operate and oversee polling stations. They would also reduce sanctions for candidates who fail to report campaign spending.

Thousands of opposition protesters demonstrate against electoral reforms in Mexico City. AFP

But protester Enrique Bastien, a 64-year-old veterinarian, said that with the reforms López Obrador "wants to return to the past” when "the government controlled elections.”

"It was a life with no independence," said Bastien, recalling the 1970s and 80s when the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ruled Mexico with fraud and handouts.

Fernando Gutierrez, 55, a small businessman, said López Obrador wanted to lead Mexico to a socialist government. "That's obvious, from the aid going to Cuba,” Gutierrez said.

López Obrador has imported coronavirus vaccines, medical workers and stone railway ballast from Cuba, but has shown little taste for socialist policies at home.

Associated Press