Elections swayed by foreign interference can now be annulled, and Sheinbaum likened those seeking outside backing to the conservatives who brought Maximilian.

This article by Fernanda Monroy originally appeared in the October 12, 2026 edition of Contralínea, an investigative Mexican news outlet.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo highlighted the amendments to Articles 40 and 19 of the Constitution of the United Mexican States as part of the defense of national sovereignty against foreign interference. She also referred to the provisions that allow elections to be annulled when it is proven that a foreign intervention influenced their results.

During the October 12 morning press conference, Claudia Sheinbaum maintained that the protection of national independence is not only the responsibility of the government, but also of the citizenry. To support this position, she recalled the reforms approved in 2025 and pointed to other measures adopted to prevent foreign interventions in the country’s political and security affairs.

Article 40 of the Constitution was amended to establish that Mexico will not accept interventions, meddling or acts from abroad that harm the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the nation. The provision expressly includes coups d’état, interference in elections and violations of national territory by land, water, sea or airspace.

The reform also establishes that the Mexican State will not consent to interventions in investigations and prosecutions without its express authorization and collaboration, in accordance with the applicable legal framework. The corresponding decree was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on April 1, 2025.

In the same package of amendments, Article 19 of the Constitution incorporated provisions applicable to Mexican nationals or foreigners involved in the manufacture, distribution, sale, transfer or illicit introduction of weapons into national territory. It also included foreigners who carry out unlawful activities linked to the second and third paragraphs of Article 40. For these cases, the text establishes the most severe penalty possible and the precautionary measure of mandatory pretrial detention.

The head of the federal Executive also mentioned the provisions that allow an election to be annulled when it is proven that there was foreign interference that influenced its results.

The measure was incorporated into Article 41 of the Constitution through a decree published on June 2, 2026. The reform added as grounds for electoral nullity the proof of acts of foreign intervention or interference that influence the results of the elections.

Referring to these measures, the president stated that the defense of sovereignty must be a permanent task. In her remarks, she questioned those who seek foreign backing in the absence of popular support and compared that stance to that of the conservative sectors of the 19th century that turned abroad to promote the arrival of Maximilian of Habsburg in Mexico. “What do all of us who believe in sovereignty and independence have to do? Defend it.”

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