Sheinbaum Targets INE Contractors and Plans a China Trip for APEC

President Claudia Sheinbaum used her Nov. 5 morning press conference to accuse a network of companies of simulating competition for contracts with electoral bodies, and said she is preparing a decree to have most election materials printed by a state-owned company. She also said she will travel to China on Nov. 15 for the APEC summit, according to El Universal’s live coverage.

The accusations concern the INE (the National Electoral Institute, which runs Mexico’s elections) and its president, Guadalupe Taddei. Sheinbaum said the matter must be resolved to give certainty to the 2027 election.

What the Anticorruption Ministry presented

Raquel Buenrostro, head of the Anticorruption and Good Government Ministry, presented an open-source investigation into contracts that companies held with electoral bodies. She said the scheme worked mainly through six companies tied to the Hernández Casillas brothers, whom she described as the final beneficiaries.

According to Buenrostro, the brothers have operated for 27 years. She said they began working at the Interior Ministry (Secretaría de Gobernación) in 1983 under the protection of Juan Carlos Padilla, a former director general of the national population registry, and moved to the CISEN (the former civilian intelligence agency) in 1989. She said they created more companies from 2012 to 2014, and that from 2014 to 2023 several omissions appeared in contracting.

The ministry listed these methods:

• Front companies that pretend to compete in public tenders.
• Ties between suppliers and public servants.
• Contracts awarded to firms with no operating capacity, infrastructure or payroll employees.
• Vulnerable people used as nominal owners to hide the real beneficiary.
• Money laundering and the use of invoice-selling shell companies.

Sheinbaum said the network has operated for more than 20 years and linked the brothers’ beginnings to Padilla, who she said is now a member of the SOMOS party.

Who is responsible, according to Sheinbaum

Sheinbaum said Taddei should be investigated and sanctioned as far as the competent authorities determine, but argued the problem did not start with her. She said former INE president Lorenzo Córdova knew of the monopoly of companies at the institute and asked why he did nothing. She called the arrangement an “electoral mafia” built by previous leaders.

She said the Superior Audit Office (ASF) must determine the findings on periods before Taddei took office. The ASF will be responsible for disqualifying the Hernández Casillas companies, and the Anticorruption Ministry can adopt that disqualification within the federal government through agreements.

Asked whether Taddei and the brothers are in Mexico, Sheinbaum answered, “That is what we presume.” Omar Reyes Colmenares, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), said the list of people whose accounts are blocked is secret and names go only to financial institutions. He did not confirm a freeze on Taddei’s accounts, and said he could not say whether businessman Amílcar Olán’s accounts are blocked.

Why it matters for the 2027 election

Sheinbaum said she will present a decree to strengthen Talleres Gráficos, a state-owned company, so most electoral materials are produced there. She also called for transparency in the contracting of electoral stationery and ballots. The text of the decree and its timing were not given.

China trip

Sheinbaum said she leaves for China on Sunday, Nov. 15, to take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and returns Friday, Nov. 20. She said she would seek a meeting with US President Donald Trump if he attends.

The conference also drew political reactions. El Universal reported that opposition figure Alito Moreno filed a complaint against Taddei with the FGR (the federal attorney general’s office) for bribery and influence peddling, and that Ariadna Montiel called Taddei “indefensible.” The allegations come from the government and political actors, and the sources do not include a response from Taddei.

Source: El Universal