Mexico Becomes The Next Big Prize In Global Conservative Politics
For decades, Mexico looked resistant to the kind of hard-edged, identity-driven politics that reshaped Europe and parts of the Americas.
That did not mean voters were satisfied. Violence, corruption and weak institutions have built up deep frustration. Now that anger is meeting a loud, transnational conservative network that sees Mexico as its next strategic target.
The attraction is obvious. Mexico is among the world’s 15 largest economies and Latin America’s second, after Brazil. It shares a 3,000-kilometer border with the United States.
Any political shift in Mexico reverberates in Washington, Central America and across the region. For U.S. conservatives around Donald Trump, for Spain’s Vox and for organizers linked to CPAC, the country is a natural front line.
Pieces of this network are already visible. CPAC held a high-profile Mexico edition in 2022 with Steve Bannon, Eduardo Bolsonaro, José Antonio Kast and Javier Milei on stage.
PAN senators invited Vox leader Santiago Abascal to the Senate and signed the “Carta de Madrid,” branding themselves part of a global pushback against what they call socialism and radical progressivism.
Argentine commentators Agustín Laje and Agustín Antonetti, Venezuelan influencer Eduardo Menoni, Spanish media figure Javier Negre and U.S. broadcaster Alex Jones now pump out constant anti-government content on X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Mexico’s Political Crossroads
The Mexican government responds with its own story. Officials speak of foreign interference, point to bot networks and claim that large sums were spent to amplify recent “Generación Z” protests. Some findings are backed by digital-forensics work; others remain political accusations.
What is certain is the domestic fuel: the murder of local politicians such as Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo, a controversial judicial reform, a long tax war with big business and growing concern over concentrated power and weaker checks and balances.
That mix opens space for figures who oppose the ruling Morena machine but stay outside the discredited party system.
The most important is billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owner of TV Azteca and Elektra, who fights the government daily and flirts with higher office while denying any formal ambition.
President Claudia Sheinbaum still enjoys strong personal ratings. Her party does not. For now, Mexico’s central struggle is not a takeover by any single movement, but a battle over who will turn public anger into a new political project.