Thursday, October 31 is the 31st day of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s presidency and the last day of her first month in office Mexico’s first female president.
Like her predecessor and political mentor Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his six-year term in office, the 62-year-old former mayor of Mexico City facing the media every weekday morning at the National Palace in the historic center of Mexico City.
Claudia Sheinbaum made history on October 1 when she took office as Mexico’s first female president. Sheinbaum, a protege of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has maintained his tradition of daily news conferences. (Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum’s morning press conference, or mañaneraThursday was her 22nd as president. Here’s a quick recap of some key parts of this morning’s press conference, a return of sorts to an earlier Mexico News Daily series in which we documented the former president’s press conferences.
A new medicine purchasing model
Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Clark García outlined the government’s new model for purchasing medicines for Mexico’s public health system.Read MND’s report here).
Sheinbaum said the government will spend about 130 billion pesos ($6.5 billion) annually on medicines and medical supplies.
There will be “transparency” and “no corruption” in the drug purchasing process, Sheinbaum promised.
Sheinbaum defends ‘constitutional supremacy’ reforms
López Obrador’s legacy consists of several constitutional amendments that he pushed through Congress, leaving a few for Sheinbaum to shepherd through. They have sparked fierce opposition, with critics saying López Obrador and Sheinbaum are eroding Mexico’s democracy. (Cuartoscuro)
The president expressed her support for the “constitutional supremacy” reform approved last week by the Senate and on Wednesday by the Chamber of Deputies (Read MND’s report here) and has already been ratified by enough states to become law.
The constitutional reform will prevent legal challenges to constitutional amendments approved by Congress and ratified by a majority of state legislatures.
“The opposition has been talking about this issue of constitutional supremacy as if it were something new or something bad,” Sheinbaum said at her press conference on Thursday.
“All of us who study, even if we have not studied law, know that the Constitution is the maximum law,” she said.
Reforming “constitutional supremacy,” Sheinbaum argued, simply reinforces the fact that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
‘We are going to support Cuba for humanitarian reasons’
Sheinbaum was asked Mexico’s decision to send 400,000 barrels of oil to Cubathat one recently suffered a national blackout.
“We are going to support Cuba for humanitarian reasons. And besides, Mexico has never been in favor of the blockade,” she said, referring to the United States embargo against the Caribbean island nation ruled by the Communist Party of Cuba for about six decades.
“To give perspective,” Sheinbaum said, 400,000 barrels of oil “is not even one day’s production,” as “Mexico produces 1.6 to 1.8 million barrels per day.”
“… Even if there is criticism, we will support Cuba for humanitarian reasons,” she said.
Sheinbaum proudly announced Thursday that Mexico’s third-quarter growth of 1.5% annualized exceeded all expectations. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Economic growth in the third quarter
“It exceeded all expectations,” Sheinbaum said of the Mexican economy’s 1.5% annual growth in the third quarter of 2024.Read MND’s report here).
“…They said GDP wouldn’t grow in that quarter. Well, it did grow, by 1.5%,” she said.
Sheinbaum will attend the G20 summit in Brazil
The president told reporters on Thursday morning that she will attend the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, which takes place from November 18 to 19.
It will be Sheinbaum’s first foreign trip as president.
López Obrador did not attend any G20 meetings during his presidency was largely absent from the world stage during his six-year termalthough he did go to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit last year in San Francisco.
By Mexico News Daily Chief of Staff Writer Peter Davis ((email protected))
* This is MND’s first ‘Sheinbaum mañanera letter’, but more in this series soon. (The president will not hold a morning news conference Friday due to the annual Day of the Dead holiday.)