Mexico shuts watchdog agencies, intensifying fears for its democracy


 ðŸ–Š️ President Claudia Sheinbaum says the agencies were unnecessary. Critics call their dissolution a power grab by the ruling party.

MEXICO CITY — Mexican lawmakers voted to abolish the freedom-of-information institute and six other watchdog agencies, deepening fears that President Claudia Sheinbaum is using her landslide electoral victory to eliminate checks and balances essential in a democracy.

The seven agencies were created in the wake of Mexico’s transition to democracy in 2000 and enshrined in the constitution. The country had previously been ruled for 71 years by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.


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