Mexicans uneasy over graft and crime

Tens of thousands of Mexicans are set to gather downtown Sunday in a choreographed tribute to President Claudia Sheinbaum, who closed out her initial year in office with approval ratings north of 70%.

- PATRICK J. MCDONNELL AND KATE LINTHICUM

NO ALLEGATIONS of corruption have touched President Claudia Sheinbaum, known for her austerity.

Apart from her personal popularity as Mexico's first woman president, polls show strong support among poor and working-class Mexicans for her continuation of social-aid programs launched by her predecessor and mentor, ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Sheinbaum, who took office last Oct. 1, has embraced and expanded López Obrador’s leftist social agenda, often repeating his mantra: “For the good of all, the poor first.”

But, amid the plaudits, there is also a disconnect: Polls and interviews show deep concerns about crime, the economy and, increasingly, the defining issue of corruption the elimination of which is a central plank of the president's Morena movement, founded by ex-president López Obrador.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) gave Sheinbaum's government a negative rating for its handling of corruption, the poorest mark to date for its anti-corruption efforts, according to a poll last month from the newspaper El Financiero.

While crime remains Mexicans' most pressing concern, many cite corruption as a core issue that could eventually erode trust in the administration of Sheinbaum, whose term lasts five more years.

San"We are seeing the same corruption as in past governments. It's very disappointing," said Lorena tibañez, 25, a medical student. "I want to give la presidenta the benefit of the doubt it's her first year.

But I don't have much hope." Almost daily headlines here highlight instances of alleged graft, nepotism and other questionable behavior within Sheinbaum's ruling circles. Some reports have focused on relatives or close associates of the retired López Obrador, whom Sheinbaum regularly extols as a visionary and exemplar of moral integrity.