Mexico's PAN seeks right of reply in presidential press conferences, cites persecution

Mexico's National Action Party (PAN) is preparing to introduce a legislative initiative to formally guarantee the right of reply during President Claudia Sheinbaum's daily morning press conferences, known as "mañaneras." The party accuses the presidential briefings of being a tool for ideological propaganda and the persecution of political opponents.

PAN national president Jorge Romero Herrera asserted that the "mañaneras" should cease being a space for propaganda from which the opposition is targeted and those who do not support the ruling Morena party are slandered. He criticized the president for fabricating accusations against individuals, citing the case of former Baja California governor Ernesto Ruffo Appel, who was allegedly condemned in the press conference before his legal process concluded.

Romero Herrera also stated that the government is using the "false argument of protecting audiences" to control media content on radio and television, describing it as disguised censorship that undermines citizens' freedoms. He emphasized that the PAN's initiative seeks to regulate the right of reply within the "mañaneras" to allow for real-time responses to the president.

Under the principle of equity, the PAN argues that if the federal government demands the right of reply in private media, citizens and the opposition should have the same guarantee in the National Palace when false or tendentious information is disseminated. Romero Herrera denounced the "mañanera" as an unjust and disproportionate space where opposition figures are judged while ruling party members are defended. He concluded that public power should not use state resources to persecute those with differing views and that the PAN will fight in Congress to end these "monologues of disqualification."