Claudia Sheinbaum, representing the Movement of National Regeneration (Morena) party, won close to 60 percent of the plurality in the recent presidential election.  In addition, Morena will control both chambers of the Legislature and will be in a position to amend the constitution.  Initiatives favored by outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) included abolition of the Autonomous Election Agency and instituting elections for the judiciary including the Supreme Court.  The new Congress takes office in late August, allowing AMLO to effect changes that would effectively establish Morena as the ruler of a single-party state recalling the tenure of the PRI party through most of the 20^th Century.

The private sector is concerned that if a series of constitutional reforms are realized that the nation will be less friendly to business and that there will not be any effective curb on the presidency and government administration. 

As a protégé of AMLO, President-elect Sheinbaum is expected to follow Morena policy.  She may, however, diverge on energy that, to date, has favored corrupt and incompetent Pemex, the state oil monopoly.  As an environmental engineer, Sheinbaum campaigned on investing in clean energy including wind, solar and hydro in addition to mining lithium in Sonora state.

Challenges facing Sheinbaum will include crime and violence that have afflicted the population of 126 million with increasing intensity.  She intends to expand the National Guard to counteract the influence of cartels but also to improve the economic welfare of citizens.

The relationship of Mexico with the other two partners in the USMCA will require her direct involvement since numerous items of contention have emerged including the proposed ban on importation of GMO corn and the use of glyphosate.  Other issues will involve the relationship between Mexico and China. That nation is attempting to use our southern neighbor as a backdoor entry to the U.S. for locally assembled and manufactured goods, thereby avoiding punitive tariffs.

The results of the election have implications with Morena anti-business policy reflected in a devalued peso that weakened against the U.S. dollar. The exchange rate was 18.54 Mexican Pesos to the US$ on June 8^th.