MEXICO: Hurricane puts López Obrador on back foot
Thank you for reading LatinNews' chosen article from the Latin American Weekly Report, produced since 1967 - 02 November 2023
Mexico is continuing to reel from the impact of a category five hurricane which made landfall near the resort city of Acapulco on the Pacific coast of Guerrero state on 25 October. The administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has come under much criticism for not issuing proper warnings prior to the storm, which has devastated Acapulco, leaving scores killed or missing and wiping out key infrastructure. The post-disaster response has also been deemed insufficient and unorganised in what is fast becoming a significant blot on López Obrador’s government only seven months out from presidential elections.
President López Obrador issued a warning about Hurricane Otis at 6pm on 24 October, just hours before it hit Acapulco shortly after midnight. The political opposition has criticised this failure to give residents more notice. Xóchitl Gálvez, the 2024 presidential candidate for the opposition Frente Amplio por México (FAM) coalition, told the press that the government should have evacuated Acapulco, although stating that it was not the time for divisions. Gálvez has spearheaded an initiative to register volunteers to help Guerrero, an effort criticised by the ruling left-wing Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) as being electorally motivated.
However, the intensity of the hurricane did take many experts and forecasters by surprise. It intensified from a tropical storm into a category five hurricane - the most severe category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale - in just 12 hours. This made Otis the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall on Mexico’s Pacific, with sustained wind speeds of 270km/h, surpassing Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Experts from Mexico’s national university (Unam) have warned of the possibility of more hurricanes like Otis in the coming months and years, in part due to high ocean temperatures driven by the El Ni?o climate phenomenon.
In the aftermath of the hurricane, López Obrador’s government was slow to release information on fatalities and missing people, indicating a lack of efficiency in gathering data on the damage caused. The latest (31 October) statement from the government of Guerrero state, led by Governor Evelyn Salgado (Morena), put the death toll at 46 with a further 58 missing. This contrasts with a statement from the federal government on 29 October which said 48 had been killed and six were missing.
There have also been reports of a lack of basic supplies reaching Acapulco. Residents speaking to local and international media have repeatedly noted the scarcity of resources while videos on social media have shown looting taking place as food and water supplies run low. In a press conference on 30 October, López Obrador defended his government’s response, highlighting clear-up efforts, enforced security presence, distribution of supplies, and restoration of electricity on the part of federal government agencies.
López Obrador has repeatedly spoken of getting Acapulco “back on its feet”, promising to do so before Christmas. In a decree issued by the federal finance ministry (SHCP) on 30 October, the government pledged to restore and normalise economic activity “in the shortest possible time”. The decree mostly consists of tax exemptions for those living in affected areas and tax relief on donations towards response efforts. Representatives from the economy ministry (SE) and SHCP have also travelled to Acapulco to meet local business leaders, many of whom work in the tourism industry, with the aim of establishing an action plan for getting commercial sectors back up and running.?
In typical fashion, López Obrador has attacked those critical of his government’s response efforts, accusing them of having ulterior motives. In a video released on 28 October, he said there had been much “disinformation” and “politicking” in relation to the hurricane. He claimed that the opposition did not care about “people’s pain” but just wanted to harm the government and seize power next year. He even claimed that the opposition wanted there to be a lot of fatalities so it could blame his government.
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A new destination for judicial funds?
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and supreme court (SCJN) president Norma Pi?a may have reached a rare consensus. On 31 October, Pi?a issued a statement in which she appeared to support a proposal made by the president earlier that day for funds from 13 trusts administered by the federal judicial power (PJF) to be used to help those impacted by Hurricane Otis in Guerrero state.
The trusts in question have been the cause of considerable antagonism between the executive and judicial branches in recent weeks. The lower chamber of congress and the senate, in which the ruling left-wing Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) and its allies have a majority, recently voted to eliminate 13 of 14 PJF trusts and transfer the resources, equating to some M$15bn (US$836m), to the federal treasury.
López Obrador argues that the trusts, which are in addition to the PJF’s annual budget, are unnecessary and wasteful. Judicial workers have gone on strike, stating their labour rights are at risk, while the political opposition has accused the government of trying to undermine the judiciary.
Therefore, when López Obrador proposed using the M$15bn from the trusts to help those in Acapulco, it seemed designed as a further jab at the excesses of the judiciary – not least given that he made the proposal alongside calls for those at the top of the judiciary to reduce their “burdensome salaries”. However, Pi?a was quick to respond, stating that the proposal was “a real alternative that will allow us to act as a State, in defence of the population”. She stated that she had been looking at ways to restructure the trusts and the PJF budget in order to protect workers’ rights and use public resources for social needs “as is evidently necessary in this case”. Pi?a stated she was waiting for further instructions on how to make the proposal viable.
Indeed, the feasibility of the proposal is up in the air – not least given it came on the same day as a federal judge ordered a provisional suspension of the decree eliminating the trusts. The ruling suspends the transfer of the funds to the federal treasury and orders they continue to be used for their original purpose until a resolution is reached. A hearing to determine whether to make the suspension definitive will take place on 9 November.
Public opinion
The public appears divided over the government’s response to the hurricane. In a poll published by national daily El Financiero on 30 October, 51% of respondents rated the government’s prevention measures as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, compared with 28% that gave a favourable rating, while 37% believed the government had acted ‘badly’ or ‘very badly’ following the hurricane, with 39% saying the disaster had been handled ‘very well’ or ‘well’.
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