Mexico’s President Rejects Foreign Meddling as She Nears Two Years in Power
MEXICO · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The country Mexico has about 130 million people and Latin America’s second-largest economy. It sells most of its exports to the United States, which gives Washington unusual leverage.
- —The background Claudia Sheinbaum took office on 1 October 2024 as Mexico’s first woman president. Her annual report went to Congress on 1 September, and she then took it on the road to every state.
- —Why now The tour ended days before her second anniversary, on the date Mexico completed its independence in 1821, and amid US pressure over drug cartels.
- —What happened On Sunday 27 September she closed the 32-stop tour in Mexico City’s main square, rejecting foreign “interference” and calling for unity between people and government.
- —The numbers She said about 850,000 people attended the assemblies. No official count for Sunday’s crowd had been published by Sunday evening.
- —What it means for you No new policy was announced. For investors, the tone matters as US–Mexico trade talks resume this week.
- —Still open A Senate vote on barring dual nationals from top offices, which she expects imminently, and how Washington reads the speech.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum marked nearly two years in office on Sunday with a message aimed partly abroad. “Mexicans do not want interference, nor interventionism, nor violation of our territory,” she told a packed Zócalo, Mexico City’s central square.
The speech closed a tour of all 32 states that began on 3 September. It announced no new policy, but it set the tone for the week ahead, when trade talks with Washington resume.
A tour instead of a single speech
Mexican presidents must send Congress a written report on the state of the country every September. Sheinbaum’s interior minister, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, delivered the second one on 1 September.
Sheinbaum then presented it in person at rallies in each state, starting in Cuernavaca, south of the capital. The government called the tour “Honesty and Results”.
“In 12 days we have covered 31 states, and today we close before the glorious people of Mexico City,” she said. She put attendance across the assemblies at about 850,000 people, her own figure.
On 24 September she had said the Mexico City event would be an assembly for the capital, not a national mobilisation. She also said she had no plans to change her cabinet.
What she said about sovereignty
Sheinbaum tied the day to history. 27 September is the anniversary of 1821, when Mexico’s war of independence from Spain ended.
Her central line was about who decides the country’s future. “No foreign power, no economic or political elite, has the right to dictate the present and the future of our homeland.”
That right, she said, belongs only to the people of Mexico.
She did not name the United States or President Donald Trump, according to the passages reported by Mexican media. The context is plain, however: Washington has pressed Mexico hard over drug trafficking and security.
She pointed to two constitutional changes. One adds a paragraph to article 40 rejecting foreign interference.
The other, in article 19, sets the harshest possible penalty for foreigners who act illegally against national sovereignty. She proposed it in 2025, after Washington designated Mexican cartels as terrorist organisations.
What she listed as achievements
Most of the speech defended reforms passed since 2024. “Today we have a new Constitution,” she said, one suited to what her movement calls the Fourth Transformation.
She listed constitutional pensions for older people and people with disabilities, a 40-hour working week and minimum-wage rises above inflation. She also cited a ban on nepotism and on immediate re-election to elected office from 2030.
Judges are now also chosen by popular vote, which she called a first in Mexico’s history. She added that Pemex, the state oil company, and CFE, the state power utility, are public companies again.
For the capital, she said federal welfare spending will reach 70.258 billion pesos (about US$4.0 billion) in 2026. That money goes to 3 million beneficiaries, a number equal to roughly one in three residents.
She said a further 60 billion pesos (about US$3.4 billion) had gone into public works in the capital. She named a new Santa Fe–Observatorio train, a rail link to Felipe Ángeles airport and new water works.
Why Washington is listening
Mexico and the United States are negotiating over US tariffs and the review of the free-trade pact they share with Canada. Negotiators meet again on 28 and 29 September.
Sheinbaum has spoken with Trump by phone this month and says a deal is advancing. On Sunday she kept the domestic line firm without closing any door.
For companies that build goods in Mexico for the US market, the pattern is familiar. The rhetoric at home is hard, while the talks abroad continue.
The dual-nationality reform
The one live legislative item was a reform she said she hoped the Senate would approve on Monday. It would require candidates for president, governor and head of Mexico City’s government to hold only Mexican nationality.
The measure has already passed Mexico’s lower house. It would not affect ordinary dual nationals, their residency or their voting rights.
Who was there, and who was not counted
Mexico City’s mayor, Clara Brugada, spoke first and called for three kinds of unity: popular, within the movement and national. Ariadna Montiel, who chairs Morena, the governing party, attended and said talks with its ally the Labour Party were continuing before the 2027 midterm elections.
The city government had published no official attendance figure by Sunday evening. A year ago, for a similar Zócalo event on 5 October 2025, the city reported more than 400,000 people.
Reforma’s news agency reported that supporters were brought in by bus from the capital’s 16 boroughs. Along the tour, some opposition governors were booed and there were protests.
What comes next
Sheinbaum said she will now return to inspection trips on public works around the country. The Senate’s vote on dual nationality and this week’s trade talks with the United States are the next concrete tests.
The speech does not signal a break with Washington, and it announced no new measure against the US. It was a domestic rally, and it restated positions she has held all year.
Nor is Sunday’s crowd a measure of national opinion, since the event was organised for supporters in the capital. Her wider record is set out in this profile of Claudia Sheinbaum.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Claudia Sheinbaum become Mexico’s president?
She took office on 1 October 2024 for a single six-year term ending in 2030. She is the first woman to hold the office.
What is the Zócalo?
The Zócalo, formally the Plaza de la Constitución, is Mexico City’s main square, facing the National Palace. It is the traditional stage for large political rallies and national celebrations.
Did the speech change anything for foreigners in Mexico?
No. It announced no new rule. The dual-nationality reform she mentioned applies only to candidates for president, governor and head of Mexico City’s government.
Was the speech aimed at the United States?
She did not name the United States in the reported passages. But her rejection of foreign interference came amid US pressure on Mexico over cartels and security, and days before trade talks resume.
Sources: La Razón, speech minute by minute, 27 September 2026, El Universal, Zócalo speech, 27 September 2026, El Universal, no cabinet changes, 24 September 2026, Excélsior, 27 September 2026, Infobae, crowd and tour route, 27 September 2026, Infobae, sovereignty passages, 27 September 2026, Agencia Reforma via AM, 27 September 2026, El Heraldo de México, live coverage, 27 September 2026. Peso conversions at the close of Friday 25 September 2026, 17.68 pesos per US dollar. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times