Mexico’s Vitals Amid Mandate Revocation Consultation

Yesterday, Mexican NGO Signos Vitales shared its first report “Stagnation and Regression: Mexico in the World” on the state of the country halfway into the current presidential mandate of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Signos Vitales gathers accurate and independent information regarding the key variables of Mexico’s economic, political and socio-cultural life to provide an accurate read on the state in which the country is found. The NGO’s goal is to serve as guidance, displaying the direction that Mexico is taking at a national and international level. Signos Vitales aims to be a “warning voice” in those critical spheres of the country, portraying the feasibility of Mexico’s social harmony, prosperity, respect for human rights, democracy and freedom.

High level analysts and academics are part of the organizations’ executive committee, among them Julio Frenk, Former Minister of Health and current President of the University of Miami, Duncan Wood, Vice President for Strategy and New Initiatives and Senior Advisor to the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, and Maria Amparo Casar, Executive President of the Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity group.

Signos Vitales is led by political experts Enrique Cárdenas, acting as President, and Carlos Lascurain as Executive Director. Both took part in the making of the report, alongside research experts Sylvia Schmelkes, Adela Navarro and Juan Carlos Belausteguigoitia.

During the presentation event of the report, experts shared the state of some of the aspects that compromise Mexico’s prosperity such as freedom of speech and violence against journalism, education and sustainability. The also shared that the report covers five pivotal topics of the country, which are governance, social issues, economics, environment, science and technology. “All these areas present precarious, if not zero, advances. In many cases, important setbacks can also be seen that undoubtedly raise red flags about the consequences that these problems will bring in the coming years.”

The report exposes that the Mexican economy fell 8.3 percent in 2020, conditioning 2021 to a 5 percent growth rate. “This means that the policies implemented to foster growth have been insufficient as the country dropped to the GDP level it had in 2016,” stated the report. Nonetheless, Mexico remains attractive for multinationals, according to Alejandro Valerio, Practice Leader, FrontierView. “Especially against a regional backdrop of ongoing economic recovery and political uncertainty in Latin America, firms should be on the lookout in 2022 for a few key trends to stay ahead of the curve and make sure to win in the still attractive Mexican market vis-à-vis other emerging markets,” Valerio said.

As part of its mission to share independent, accurate data, Signos Vitales is in the middle of launching a website of statistical data including 219 indicators of 10 areas in Mexico. Cárdenas explained that these indicators are meant to be public and shared by the government. However, one of these indicators has not been updated since 2020, 15 are outdated since 2019, 25 since 2018, nine since 2017 and three since 2016, “this is a loss of information and transparency for the population, which is exactly what Signos Vitales is avoiding by creating these transparent biannual reports,” he said.