Mexico Country Focus Report

This document offers an analysis of the enabling environment for civil society in Mexico, built from four main sources: events reported through the Consortium’s Early Warning Mechanism platform; the quarterly diagnostics prepared by Cemefi in the Snapshots; various publications by organisations and media outlets; and the time contributed by experts, through their reflections in the panel meeting held on 30 April 2025, as well as their subsequent feedback on this report. These sources are complemented by events monitored during the first half of July 2025. Taken together, this effort seeks to provide a collective perspective on the current state of the enabling environment in Mexico.

While all the principles analysed in this document show varying degrees of erosion—including the weakening of fundamental civic freedoms, barriers to accessing resources, increased surveillance and censorship in digital spaces, and the government’s ongoing delegitimisation of civil society’s role—Principle 4, “An open and responsive state”, stands out for the most significant changes observed during the past semester. Within this component, patterns of institutional transformation, the concentration of functions, and the closing of participatory mechanisms within government have been identified, leading to the construction of a new institutional model that redefines the conditions of openness and collaboration between the state and civil society.

This analysis is situated within a national, regional, and international context that has triggered serious concerns. Bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have expressed alarm over the contraction of fundamental freedoms and institutional weakening in the country. These warnings underscore the importance of maintaining consistent and well-documented monitoring.

Far from being only a record of setbacks, this document seeks to establish a baseline to guide observation over the next six years. It represents an opportunity to collectively review the state of the enabling environment, identify critical areas, anticipate events that may strengthen or weaken it, and activate concrete responses to these developments.