This column by Viri Ríos appeared in the May 5, 2025 edition of Milenio.
Yesterday, President Claudia Sheinbaum sent a formal letter to Morena calling for an end to the accelerated rot within the party.
So far, the letter has been interpreted as a desperate cry, a public plea from the President to halt the decline of Morena, which she no longer controls.
But no, the letter is much more than that.
The letter marks a new facet in Sheinbaum’s leadership. One in which, for the first time, the President questions who rules Morena and responds by positioning herself as a leader of the party, and as the only voice, besides López Obrador, capable of dictating and reiterating principles.
The message is clear: Luisa María Alcalde, Andy López, and other leaders have failed, or have been unwilling, to put the party back on track. The President has grown tired of just watching.
Thus, in sharp contrast to the Sheinbaum of just a few months ago—the one who, in September 2024, announced the strict separation between the government and the party, and even her intention to no longer address party members—the current Sheinbaum no longer merely gives recommendations. On the contrary, she has established herself as the leader of leaders, offering opinions and thereby dictating how the party should operate down to such fine-grained aspects as the type of campaigns it can afford, who can and cannot be a candidate, how they should be elected, and even how members should behave in their private lives.
Cartoon: Gonzalo Rocha
The message included coded warnings for Senator Noroña, reminding him that he cannot travel in business class for political tourism. For Monreal, it was stated that he cannot take private planes or become the cacique (local political boss – ed) of Zacatecas. For Adán Augusto, it was stated that electoral laws must be respected and that no deals can be made with white-collar crime, or any other type of crime. Salgado Macedonio, Andrea Chávez, and many others were also indirectly alluded to.
Sheinbaum’s letter wasn’t just a slap in the face, it was a baptism as the party’s primary leader, a reflection that times have changed and that the President is now deciding to stop focusing solely on governing. Sheinbaum has decided to start doing more politics.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the entire letter is that Sheinbaum appears to have used it to redefine Morena in ways that allow the President to have greater involvement in the party.
In September, Sheinbaum had said that Morena should not resort to using government bureaucracy to further its goals. The statement, in a sense, was a call for the separation of party and government.
Now, in her letter, the call is different. The call is no longer to separate the party from the government, but to distance it from corporatist coalitions like the one formed in February with the CTM. The change in message is not minor.
The question is whether, in this new phase, one in which Sheinbaum seems intent on further influencing Morena, the president will succeed. Or whether we’ll see some of those mentioned jump ship. Personally, I think they’ll comply for now, but there will be no shortage of those who won’t comply tomorrow. At that point, sanctioning them will be key. There will be more than just letters.
Viri Ríos is a social scientist, author and writes the weekly No Es Normal column.