Corona and Democracy - Mexico

Information on COVID-19 measures and democracy

• In Mexico, there have been some limitations given the pandemic situation, such as the freedom of circulation and privacy, none of them have been publicly stated by the government, therefore resulting in a lack of transparency of information or accountability. There is a risk of the appropriation of the pandemic situation for abusing the democratic institutions, without any balance, so there is an important task at hand: guarding health rights without having to compromise political rights.
• Each of the states that are a part of México has their own policies to face the pandemic. The areas in which they have acted with autonomy are sanitary filters for travelling, specially in the US border states, social assistance, closing public spaces and focusing on the use of digital platforms for promoting health guidelines and social distancing. These guidelines are structured and implemented by the local governments with their own criteria, taking by account their own realities, creating some differences between national and local guidelines.
• Local governments, like Jalisco and Nuevo León, have proposed alternative plans for reactivating the economy and promoting a safe return to normal activities. Some of the differences can be found on a shorter timeline for returning to a “new normality”.
• Because of the pandemic, countries with problems on the development of democracy, like México, can be tempted to take an authoritarian route.
• The limitations to free assembly, circulation and to labor rights need to be transitory, because of the risk on democracy values and the implementation of authoritarian decision-making for the social life.

• https://argonmexico.com/en-la-pandemia-del-covid-19-democracia-no-puede-estar-en-cuarentena/

• The National Electoral Institute of México (INE by its Spanish acronym) has decided to suspend the local elections on Hidalgo and Coahuila states. A new date for the elections is going to be determined in attention to the guidelines given by the Health Secretary for resuming the regular activities for institutions and the general population.
• This is the first time that the INE has had to postpone an electoral process. In their first official video call since the beginning of the pandemic, the institution decided, by an unanimous vote of its members, to postpone the election.
• The reasoning behind this decision is to guide a successful process by having an election that adheres to principles of security, certainty and democratic stability, principles that aren’t guaranteed in this health crisis.
• These times require more effective parameters for citizen participation. The need for having open government and parliamentary policies, with real social participation is even more relevant in a context were the risk of manipulated information by governments, doubts about how the COVID-19 data is being used and the limitations on freedoms in the name of public health can be damaging to the state of public citizen participation in democratic countries.

• Given low expenditure in the health system, by OECD standards, there are no conditions to provide universal access to health for everyone affected by the pandemic.
• Some state governments are also disproportionately restricting rights, relying on measures of populism or criminal punitivism.

• Given that there have been some questioning of the information provided by the federal government on the state of COVID-19 in the country, the emergence of new channels of verified information like www.verificado.com.mx, www.article19.org and others have created a standard for verifying information that is much needed in these times.

• The concept of division of powers is one of the basics of democracy, and there is a risk for the increase of authoritarian policies and the limitation of a power in favor of another.
• The actions of the legislative branch should have a role in enforcing a communicating the federal government policies, but not at the cost of neglecting their role as a State power in demanding accountability and responsibility in the decision-making process.
• There have been some initiatives in the coordination of efforts by a special legislative framework for this extraordinary period, for the redistribution of resources and for the access to information. These efforts of having public information, coordinated between the branches of power haven’t had an answer from the executive branch.
• Some of the decisions in fiscal austerity, specially in the areas of remunerations for high officers have involved public servants that are being affected in their labor rights.

• The official numbers provided by the government regarding the amount of people who are infected or have died because of the COVID-19 pandemic have been questioned by doctors that are overwhelmed, asking the federal government to speak up about the true death toll of the virus.

• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/world/americas/mexico-coronavirus-count.html
• https://www.milenio.com/politica/coronavirus-mexico-plan-por-estado-para-la-nueva-normalidad
• https://www.elsoldemexico.com.mx/analisis/pulso-cdmx-covid-19-y-la-democracia-5064777.html