MEXICO CITY: Five days after historic floods that claimed at least 66 lives and impacted 100,000 homes, Mexico is still working to deliver aid to the hardest-hit communities and locate 75 individuals who remain missing. The pace of the response has drawn public criticism of the government’s crisis management.
The disaster represents a significant test for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who, after a year of high approval ratings, has faced unusual hostility and heckling from crowds during her visits to affected areas.
The catastrophe was triggered by torrential rains in the country’s central and eastern regions, which unleashed landslides, caused rivers to burst their banks, and led to the collapse of bridges. Entire streets were washed away by the floodwaters.
Antonio Ocaranza, a political analyst in Mexico City, noted that while President Sheinbaum’s visible presence on the ground is commendable, it masks a more significant operational issue. “There is a problem of competence in the initial reaction to the tragedy,” he said, pointing to delays in providing essential machinery to some locations.
Questions Over Scrapped Disaster Fund
The flooding has also intensified scrutiny over the government’s increasing reliance on the military to manage a wide range of civilian duties, which now includes distributing disaster relief, in addition to building infrastructure and running airports.
A key point of contention is the dissolution of the country’s Natural Disaster Fund (Fonden) by Sheinbaum’s predecessor and political mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who argued the fund was riddled with corruption. Sheinbaum has defended this move, stating on Tuesday that “defending Fonden is like defending corruption.”
However, the dismantling of Fonden has prompted questions about the source of funding for the large-scale recovery effort. President Sheinbaum has asserted that the federal government has 19 billion pesos ($1.03 billion) available for emergencies, with approximately 3 billion pesos already allocated. “There are sufficient resources to address the emergency,” she said.
