Abstract
The second alternation in the Mexican presidency, this time from the right to the left, brought about new subjects and issues of contention, as a consequence of the promise of the new administration to radically alter the status quo inherited. This chapter delves into one of those contentious issues, the conflict between the will of the president to push its agenda of national development with minimal dissent and the right and determination of journalists to scrutinize it. We present anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the reaction of the government to the latter. The president harshly critiques media performance, protects members of his government that have slandered journalists, and depicts foreign agencies of freedom of the press and their domestic allies as puppet organizations of foreign countries that attempt to hinder his national development program. We interpret the stance of the president as a part of a Global South discourse about the attempt of multinational agencies of Western countries to meddle into internal issues of the peripheral nations, and the right of those to preserve their national sovereignty. This demonstrates the contradictions between the autonomy of the journalists and foreign advocates and a forceful nationalistic development agenda in Mexico and similar cases.
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Notes
- 1.
However, is important to consider that the latest reports show that journalists working for local and community media outlets are the main target of anti-press violence mostly as a result of their reporting on drug cartels (Gómez, 2020).
- 2.
Unlike some arguments, this chapter does not simply accept claim that the López Obrador administration is “autocratic” or “anti-democratic” and that its criticism of press organizations is merely a rear-guard effort to protect itself. Instead, we take seriously claims made by Gustavo Esteva (2019) and other progressive political commentators that at least on some level the López Obrador administration is attempting to forge a kind of national sovereignty that is less dependent on the U.S., multinational organizations, and transnational capital.
- 3.
As of writing the state news agency Notimex continues on strike.
- 4.
A reference to beloved Mexican TV character Cantinflas who used to babble and speak incoherently.
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Santillana, M., Davis, S. (2024). Freedom of the Press Under Andres Manuel López Obrador: The Struggle Between Journalistic Autonomy and National Sovereignty, 2018–Present. In: Echeverria, M., Gonzalez, R.A. (eds) Media and Politics in Post-Authoritarian Mexico. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36441-9_8
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