I remember the first time that the newly elected President Sheinbaum had her first foreign trip.
It was late 2024, she had only been in office for a few weeks and accepted an invitation to attend the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Most of Mexico was surprised that she accepted, given that her predecessor, AMLO, rarely left the country during his six years as president. His embrace of austerity and aversion to foreign trips was so infamous that AMLO actually sold off the Mexican presidential airplane to Tajikistan after an embarrassing attempt to sell raffle tickets to give it away.
So how was Sheinbaum going to get from Mexico City to Rio on that 10-hour flight? Charter a private plane? Take a military plane? Nope, she actually flew commercial — in economy class!
The trip was well documented, with President Sheinbaum boarding at the airport along with everyone else, working on her laptop on the flight and chatting it up with flight attendants. People couldn’t believe it. An observant and humorous MND reader noted that she was in an exit aisle, which had extra leg room, and asked aloud who paid for that upgrade!
Most people chalked it up as a publicity stunt: the perfect opportunity for her Morena political party to show the country that they truly were “the party of the people.” No one imagined that she would actually do it again. But she did.
After accepting an invitation from the newly elected Mark Carney, she took another flight to Canada to attend a G7 meeting last year. That once again was impressive, but as it was not that long of a flight, it didn’t really make news. But just this week she did it again, this time on a flight to Spain.
The trip made headlines for several reasons. Tensions between Mexico and Spain have been high in recent years as AMLO demanded (and never got) an apology from Spain for the conquest of Mexico. Sheinbaum instead has focused on normalizing relations and has been courting Spanish investment and tourism into the country.
The trip also highlighted yet another issue on which Sheinbaum was not following the lead of AMLO (despite unfounded fears from many that she would be his puppet) and that Mexico, in fact, was once again engaging with the foreign community. And finally, the trip made headlines due to Sheinbaum once again flying commercial, in economy class.
The video put out by the president’s team is worth watching. Once again, she boards with everyone else, chats it up with flight attendants and works on the flight.
Upon arrival, she is greeted by Mexicans who are in Spain. They wave Mexican flags, chant “Presidenta! Presidenta!” as well as “Viva Mexico,” and there is a group playing music. Sheinbaum stops to hug the musicians and you can hear one of them telling her that she is from San Miguel de Allende. It was a pretty touching moment — even for the cynical.
And yet 30% of Mexicans still don’t approve of the job she is doing as president. I meet many of these people and try to understand what it is that she needs to do to win over their approval, and quite honestly, I don’t get very clear answers. It’s undeniable that she continues to make progress on poverty rates and the middle class, crime rates are declining by double digits and she has managed relations with President Trump incredibly skillfully.
She has made sound decisions regarding the cartels, cooperating with U.S. intelligence agencies and managing the U.S./China trade war. She has re-engaged the international community, launched Plan México in coordination with the business community and is attracting record amounts of Foreign Direct Investment. The peso has remained stable and strong, inflation is well under control and analysts have recently been making upward revisions on GDP growth rates.
Of course, her record is not perfect. Everyone would like to see the economy grow faster. Most would like to see significant and meaningful reform in the power and energy sectors. Both CFE and PEMEX are bloated, inefficient and act as a drag on economic growth. The judicial reform has not helped her case with the business community and she arguably has not cracked down on corruption quickly enough for many people.
But with all of that said, I ask those still not approving of the work President Sheinbaum is doing: What more do you expect?
For a country that has come to accept decades of corruption and nepotism, how can she not be seen as a breath of fresh air? How can we not be inspired by the fact that her children are not involved in politics (or real estate or construction) and instead quietly go about their own lives? For those who tell me that “corruption is worse than ever,” I offer two comments. First, as with any organization, change starts with the top; and second, she has only been in office for 19 months. It would be unreasonable to think that she could clean up systemic corruption, nationwide, in just a few months. It is difficult to deny that the tone she sets from the top is impressive.
Across the globe, we have become too accustomed to politicians whose actions do not align with their words. Politicians who say one thing and then, when it comes to themselves, do something completely different. That hypocrisy has made us all cynical about politics, politicians, and even the ability to bring about change. But I think President Sheinbaum continues to demonstrate, day in and day out, that her words and actions are aligned. In my opinion, she has earned the benefit of the doubt from anyone willing to honestly put themselves in her shoes.
To those of you still unconvinced by her leadership, I would ask you to think about what other world leader would you point to that is doing a better job leading their country? And for those of you who still don’t approve of her work, I challenge you to speak up, be clear and make heard what you think she needs to do better. If you keep an open mind, you never know, she might just surprise you!
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
