Exploring the Ties between Food and Beverage Giants and Mexico’s Presidential Candidates

05/14/2024

Translated from Spanish

At least 12 members of the campaign teams of those seeking our votes to become the next president of Mexico have or had links with companies from the health sector or the food, sweetened beverage, alcohol, and/or tobacco industries, which could represent potential conflicts of interest when providing advice to the candidates or, in the future, if offered a governmental position related to these sectors. For this article, Empower Journalism, in collaboration with Pie de Página, investigated a total of 73 individuals in order to identify any links between those who advise or have advised the candidates for the Mexican presidency and the public health sector so as to make these links visible and help voters make more informed decisions in the run-up to the June 2 election.

By Elizabeth Rosales and Alejandro Ruiz // Empower Journalism and Pie de Página

The food, sweetened beverage, alcohol, and tobacco industries have become one of the biggest impediments to the approval and implementation of public health policies in Mexico. That is why, in the context of the upcoming Mexican elections, it becomes relevant to know what are the interests that could affect the decision making of those who seek our vote and/or their relationships that could represent a conflict of interest.

According to the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities in Mexico,¹ a conflict of interest is a situation in which a person’s judgment is unduly influenced by his or her private interests.²

For this article, which is a collaboration between Pie de Página and Empower Journalism, we investigated a total of 73 profiles of the members of the campaign and pre-campaign teams of the Mexican presidential candidates. Specifically, we researched employment backgrounds, stock ownership in companies, and public statements related to public health for the elaboration of each profile.

As a result, we identified 12 cases of people who have or had links with health-related industries.

On Claudia Sheinbaum’s team, the candidate of the coalition “Sigamos Haciendo Historia,” formed by Morena, the Labor Party (PT), and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), the notable cases include Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez and David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, who participated as coordinator and member of the dialogue for transformation teams, respectively. Both have extensive careers in the public sector and have also maintained ties with the private sector. For example, they both chaired the Health and Beer Research Council, established by the beer industry to promote research into the nutritional properties of beer.

Another case is that of her economic advisor, Altagracia Gómez Sierra, president of the board of directors of Grupo Minsa, one of the companies that, together with Maseca, controls 20 percent of the tortilla market in Mexico, both of which use transgenic corn.

In the case of Xóchitl Gálvez’s team, candidate of the coalition “Fuerza y corazón por México,” formed by the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), we identified profiles such as that of her general campaign coordinator, Santiago Creel, who has acknowledged his business dealings with Alsea, S.A.B., a Mexican multinational company that operates franchise restaurants such as Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, and Burger King.

There is also the case of Josefina Vázquez Mota, her campaign leadership coordinator, who signed agreements with companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsico while she was head of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) to allow them to advertise their products in public schools in exchange for donations for sports programs.

Finally, in the case of Jorge Máynez, candidate of the Citizen Movement party (MC), a notable influence was that of Salomón Chertorivski, candidate to head the Government of Mexico City. During his term as head of the Health Secretariat (2011-12), he opposed measures to limit the junk food industry and instead promoted the idea of corporate self-regulation.

Corporate capture of the State

Conflicts of interest do not always materialize in a case of interference in the public sector, but they often go hand in hand, according to Adriana Rocha, project director at the consulting firm Polithink and a specialist in political advocacy on health issues. “These are situations that often cannot be eliminated, but they can be managed correctly,” she said.

And it is the management of these conflicts of interest, which are not always transparent, that most concerns civil society organizations working on public health issues.

On April 17, for example, a group of civil society organizations, including Greenpeace Mexico, Salud Justa MX, El Poder del Consumidor, and Red de Acción Sobre Alcohol (RASA), held a press conference where they called on candidates seeking public office in the 2024 electoral cycle to “put public interests before corporate interests” and to “protect health and the environment” through regulations recommended by international organizations.

For Rocha, having a conflict of interest implies that you, as a representative of an industry, should not support decision making related to the regulation of that same industry. For her, one of the most frequent traps in the industry is to disguise or pass off interference as “expertise.”

Although Mexico has regulations aimed at restricting this type of involvement, such as the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities, the reality is that they are not always enforced, according to Christian Torres, coordinator of Conflicts of Interest and Industry Interference at El Poder del Consumidor.

“In Mexico we have a very strong regulatory framework. What has been found to have failed here is the implementation of these frameworks to regulate corporate capture,” he said at the press conference, where civil society organizations addressed those running for elected office.

The corporate capture of the State refers to various tactics employed by companies to safeguard their interests. These tactics include lobbying, such as the influence demonstrated over constitutional reforms, like in the case of Enrique Peña Nieto’s energy reform.³ Another tactic involves hiring former public officials to access privileged information and gain influence in government, a phenomenon known as the revolving door.

Although the Mexican Congress recognizes the figure of lobbyists, and there is even a registry of accredited lobbyists,⁴ in practice their role in decision making is not fully transparent.

Another example are the products and practices of commercial entities that affect public health, which are referred to as commercial determinants of health, according to The Lancet, an international medical journal.⁵ These practices are increasingly under discussion due to their detrimental impacts on consumer health worldwide.

Impacts of corporate interference on health in Mexico

In 2022, Mexico ranked fifth in obesity worldwide, according to the World Atlas of Obesity,⁶ and second among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.⁷

That same year, the 2022 National Health and Continuous Nutrition Survey (Ensanut, in Spanish)⁸ reported that people with obesity have a higher prevalence of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and depression.

Cardiovascular diseases along with diabetes mellitus were precisely the two leading causes of death in Mexico in 2023, according to the Registered Death Statistics of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).⁹

Among the causes of obesity, in addition to diet, the Ensanut includes educational backwardness and poverty. In other words, obesity is a structural problem and policies to eradicate it should also be structural, according to specialists, although they are subjected to corporate interference.

For Abelardo Ávila, a researcher at the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition (INCMNSZ), industry interference in decision making on public health issues is one of the main reasons for Mexico’s high rates of health problems.

“The problem is that it is precisely corporations that have been the central agents in the generation of the main epidemiological problem in terms of public health that we are suffering in the country,” said the researcher, referring to obesity.

For Avila, the fact that in the last 30 years Mexico went from being a country with malnutrition problems to one with high obesity rates is an example of this.

“It was not common for people to transition from malnutrition to obesity; it was a new phenomenon. Typically, it takes several generations to eradicate malnutrition and many more to transition to obesity. This occurred not only because preventive measures were lacking, but also due to the capture of mechanisms responsible for health, public policies, and regulation. This interference prevented appropriate measures from being implemented,” he added, referring to the interference of the food and sweetened beverage industries.

In Mexico, the sale of junk food has been and continues to be big business. According to the Pan American Health Organization,¹⁰ each person in this country buys 212 kilograms of ultra-processed products annually, making Mexico the country with the highest sales and distribution of these products in Latin America.

Currently, in addition to multinationals such as Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Danone, and Nestlé, Mexico has developed a national ultra-processed food industry led by companies — many of them also multinationals — such as Grupo Bimbo, Grupo Industrial Lala, Gruma, Grupo Herdez, and Grupo Minsa.

All of these companies were fierce opponents of the modification of the Official Mexican Standard 051 in 2020,¹¹ which expanded the general labeling specifications for food and non-alcoholic beverages. This included both commercial and health information, requiring companies to affix seals on their products informing consumers about the amount of fats, sugars, and sodium in their products.

They also opposed the approval of the General Food Law, which has been stuck in the Congress of the Union since 2014.¹²

In an interview by Pie de Página in March of this year,¹³ Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, currently an advisor to the Federal Government on health matters, explained that this type of resistance responds to the companies’ purpose of enriching themselves.

But companies do not resist alone, they rely on representatives of the public sector by using the tactics of corporate capture of the State.

“Unconstitutional,” the law that limited the public sector

Between 2019 and 2022, the Federal Law of Republican Austerity, in Article 24, stipulated that, in order to occupy any public office, interested persons were required to legally separate themselves from assets and economic interests linked to the matter at hand or that directly affected the exercise of their public duties. It also stated that senior public officials, upon leaving office, could not occupy positions in companies they had supervised or regulated while in public office for the following 10 years.¹⁴ However, these restrictions were eliminated by an order of the Mexican Supreme Court (SCJN) in 2022, which considered them unconstitutional.¹⁵

“The rule establishes an unnecessarily long term […] and it addresses a universe of subjects that is disproportionately broad,” said then chief justice Arturo Zaldívar, who resigned from the Court in 2023 to join Claudia Sheinbaum’s team and is currently facing a call for impeachment for alleged violations of the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities since, according to accusations by opposition senators,¹⁶ Zaldívar exerted pressure so that other justices of the SCJN would rule in accordance with the interests of the Federal Government.

For Juan Rivera Dommarco, academic and representative of the Global Alliance for Healthy Eating by Children and Adolescents (ALSANNA), what happened with this law was to be expected.

“I am not surprised that it has been reversed, because many public officials who have a lot of power have benefited and continue to benefit from this […], but there has to be regulation, you can’t just rely on personal ethics,” he said in an interview for this article.

In his experience, there are usually no sanctions against public sector representatives who work in favor of corporate interests, nor have they even faced a political cost, because citizens do not consider the impact of revolving door cases, those in which a professional who worked in the public sector moves to the private sector, and vice versa.

“Collectively speaking, I do not discern a clear awareness of the facts that constitute conflicts of interest, because we have had politicians, even presidents of the Republic, who have been officials of companies that damage people’s health, but that is not something that the majority disdains. I think that there is a lack of information and awareness,” added Rivera Dommarco.

In the opinion of Ornela Garelli, Greenpeace Mexico’s Oceans Without Plastics campaigner, it is critical that citizens bear in mind that, during election cycles, they have the opportunity to withdraw their support from those who have not represented the public interest.

“Now that it is election season, it is important that, as citizens, we remember who is who, who are the people running for elected office, to at least make what they have been doing in recent years cost them politically,” said Garelli at the press conference this last April, where civil society representatives also discussed corporate interference.

In this sense, knowing the background of the people who are asking for votes today, as well as their campaign teams, can be useful so as to exercise an informed vote, especially regarding the public health sector.

Candidates and conflict of interest risks

The following personal profiles are intended to help voters learn about the links to the public health sector of those who have accompanied and advised candidates for the Mexican presidency during their campaigns as well as their possible conflicts of interest:

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM PARDO

Candidacy: Presidency of Mexico

Party or coalition:“Sigamos haciendo historia,” comprised of Morena, the Labor Party (PT), and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM)

General health proposals:Her public health campaign commitments have as their axis the continuity and consolidation of the changes initiated by the administration of current president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-24). This includes IMSS-Bienestar, which provides services to those without social security, and the strengthening of Laboratorios de Biológicos y Reactivos de México, S.A. de C.V. (BIRMEX), a State-owned company, to ensure the supply of medicine.

Rhetorically, Sheinbaum has highlighted the implementation of front-of-pack labeling as an achievement of the current federal administration. This labeling went into effect in 2020, consisting of the use of five seals that show when a product contains excess calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and/or sodium. In this regard, the candidate has said that she seeks to expand the work already done on nutritional health, for example by reviewing the current regulation of the content of sugars and sweeteners in beverages, promoting access to drinking water in schools and workplaces, and prioritizing breastfeeding through informational campaigns.¹⁷

Links to health-related industries:No companies were identified from the food, sweetened beverage, alcohol, or tobacco industries where Sheinbaum has or has had a shareholder role or has held a management position. However, conflict of interest risks were identified for members of her campaign team.

Campaign team members with health-related ties

Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez

Position: Coordinator of the dialogue for transformation team

Health sector experience:He was the secretary of Health during the presidency of Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000).¹⁸ During his time at the head of SSalud, substantial changes were implemented in the public health system in response to World Bank recommendations and ideas developed by the Fundación Mexicana para la Salud, A.C. (Funsalud), an association comprised of Mexican businessmen with health-related ties, which was previously investigated by Empower Journalism for the article “Corporate elites co-opt public health in Mexico.” These changes included the decentralization of health services for the population that did not have coverage and the reform of the pension system (IMSS Law of 1995), which led to the privatization of the retirement system and the creation of pension fund administrators (Afores).

Possible conflicts of interest:Between 2014-18, de la Fuente held positions in private institutions with ties to public health and key companies in the health and food sectors. For example, between 2014-18, he was chairman of the board of the Aspen Institute de México (IAM).¹⁹ During his time as head of the IAM, de la Fuente participated in the creation of the Mexican Observatory of Noncommunicable Diseases (OMENT), which the IAM joined as a collaborator to provide technical and financial support.²⁰ During this period, de la Fuente chaired the Mexican Health and Beer Research Council, created by the Chamber of Beer and Malt (Cerveceros de México) to promote research into the nutritional properties of beer and the health benefits of moderate consumption. Between 2014-18, he was also a proprietary member of the board of directors of the Médica Sur hospital company.²¹

David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz

Position: Former member of the dialogue for transformation team

Health sector experience: He has held different positions within the health system, the highest being as general director of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán (INCMNSZ) from 2012-22.²² From his role at INCMSZ, Kershenobich defended public-private collaboration in public health institutions. For instance, in 2017, he presented the paper “Optimizing the public-private relationship in the area of medicine” before the ISSSTE Scientific and Medical Advisory Council, as part of the discussion that would lead to the Institute’s outsourcing of services. Under his direction, Fausto Costa, president of Nestlé, joined the INCMNSZ board of trustees.²³

Possible conflicts of interest: From 1997 to 2003, he was a member of the Fundación de Investigaciones Sociales, A.C. (FISAC),²⁴ an organization focused on alcoholic beverage consumption, then chaired by Isaac Chertorivski, who was previously president of Bacardi. In 2018, Kershenobich assumed the presidency of the Mexican Health and Beer Research Council following the departure of Juan Ramón de la Fuente.²⁵

Tatiana Clouthier

Position: Coordinator of spokespersons

Experience in the health sector: In 2019, when she was a congresswoman, she intervened in favor of the industry in the debate about food labeling²⁶ by proposing a transitory article that suggested the participation of the National Council for the Promotion of Investment, Employment, and Economic Growth, led by the businessman and former head of the Office of the Presidency of the Republic, Alfonso Romo, in the formulation of the standard. During her tenure as head of the Secretariat of Economy, she worked on NOM-187 regarding corn products in Mexico, which was criticized for favoring the corn industry, led by Gruma, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:GRUMA) and Grupo Minsa, S.A. de C.V. (BMV:MINSA).²⁷

Altagracia Gómez Sierra

Position: She was part of Claudia Sheinbaum’s dialogue for transformation team. Although not a part of the campaign team as such, Gómez Sierra has been her advisor on economic matters.²⁸

Possible conflicts of interest: She is president of the board of directors of Grupo Minsa,²⁹ over which her family has shareholding control. She chairs Promotora Empresarial de Occidente, S.A. de C.V. (PEO), the holding company of Minsa, Almacenadora Mercader, S.A., focused on storage and logistics, and Dina Camiones, S.A. de C.V., manufacturer of buses and cargo vehicles, among others. Additionally, it was found that, in April of this year,³⁰ she participated as Sheinbaum’s economic advisor in the monthly session of the Food and Beverage Commission’s Confederation of Industrial Chambers of the United Mexican States (CONCAMIN), which is a space for private sector dialogue that is in turn organized by an entity with accredited lobbyists before the Chamber of Deputies.³¹

Leonel Efráin Cota Montaño

Position: Campaign coordinator in Jalisco

Experience in health sector: Cota Montaño assumed the direction of Seguridad Alimentaria Mexicana (Segalmex) in 2022,³² but resigned in order to take over Sheinbaum’s campaign coordination in Jalisco. He was governor of Baja California Sur (1999-2005) and, in 2019, he joined López Obrador’s government as executive secretary of the National Public Security System (2019-22).

Possible conflicts of interest: According to his declaration of assets, he used to be an agribusinessman between 1995-2018. However, he states that he still owns land of over one million square kilometers,³³ of which it is unknown if they are dedicated to agricultural production. Cota Montaño did not include in his declaration of assets, however, that in 2016 he became a partner of the company Planta Procesadora Santiago de las Coras, S.P.R. de R.L., dedicated to agriculture and livestock.³⁴

Adán Augusto López Hernández

Position: Political coordinator of Sheinbaum’s campaign

Possible conflicts of interest: Adán Augusto López owns 53% of the shares of Organización Delit, S.A. de C.V., dedicated to the production of milk and its derivatives, as well as other fresh and processed foods.³⁵ During his governorship in Tabasco, he promoted dairy production in the state.³⁶ He also promoted an agreement between the Government of Tabasco and the company Seguridad Alimentaria Mexicana (Segalmex) for the construction of a dried-milk plant in the municipality of Cárdenas and three collection centers in Balancán, Macuspana, and Huimianguillo.³⁷

XÓCHITL GÁLVEZ RUIZ

Candidacy: Presidency of Mexico

Party or coalition: “Fuerza y corazón por México,” formed by the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)

General health proposals: Her public health commitments revolve around the provision of free universal services, for example through the implementation of a smart card called “My Health,” which would allow people to receive attention at the clinic of their choice, public or private, at government expense, which means allocating public resources to the private sector.

She also proposes the creation of a program for the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the reconstruction of the pharmaceutical distribution system.

In her work plan, Gálvez makes no mention of specific measures to address diseases such as obesity and diabetes;³⁸ however, just in March, she stated that she would declare war on diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases through measures such as the distribution of glucometers and test strips, guaranteeing the supply of insulin, as well as the presence of nutritionists in supermarkets and corner stores.³⁹ To date, the candidate has made no mention of the possibility of increasing restrictions on the food industry to prevent these diseases.

One noteworthy mention is that Gálvez has expressed her intention to appoint Julio Frenk as the secretary of Health if she wins the election.⁴⁰

Frenk was head of the Health Secretariat in the Government of Vicente Fox (2000-06), during which he introduced the public health insurance known as Seguro Popular. This initiative was based on his study “Economy and Health,” which was financed by Funsalud,⁴¹ a think thank of specialists and researchers who design public health policies and recommendations. Funsalud is financed, among others, by Pfizer Laboratories, the pharmaceutical company Roche, and businessmen such as Claudio X. Gonzalez.

Currently, Frenk is a member of Funsalud and, like him, at least four other former secretaries of Health have been linked to this association. Two of them were even executive presidents: Guillermo Soberón Acevedo, who was secretary of Health during the presidency of Miguel de la Madrid, and Mercedes Juan López, secretary of Health during the presidency of Peña Nieto.

Other members of its board of directors include Carlos Slim, who until 2013 was, through Grupo Carso, the largest Mexican shareholder in the tobacco industry, with 80.9% of the shares of Citagam, a company that manufactured Philip Morris products, in which Carso had 40.9% ownership.

This is noteworthy because, in 2002, Frenk led an agreement with tobacco companies for them to contribute one peso to Seguro Popular for every pack of cigarettes they sold.⁴² The agreement, although it did not succeed, was criticized by independent public health organizations. They alleged that it actually only limited restrictions on advertising and warning messages about smoking. In 2007, Frenk became the executive president of the Carso Health Institute (2007-08).

Links to health-related industries: In April of this year, the media outlet Polemón⁴³ published an article where it revealed that Gálvez was a representative and administrator of the Danone Communities Mutual Fund in Mexico, between January 2017 and November 2022, information that the candidate did not declare as a conflict of interest. No other companies were identified in the food, sweetened beverage, alcohol, or tobacco industries in which Gálvez has or has had a shareholder role or a management position.

Campaign team members with health-related ties

Santiago Creel Miranda

Position: General campaign coordinator

Possible conflicts of interest: According to his declaration of assets,⁴⁴ between 2018-25, Creel was a partner of Suma de Capacidades, S.C. (2013-23); board member of steel company Gerdau Corsa, S.A.PI. de C.V. (2019-23); and partner of the firm Creel, García y Asociados, S.C. (2020-23). He left all these positions in 2023 presumably to run as an internal party candidate for the Mexican presidency.

In his declaration, Creel acknowledges that he received income from Servicios Inmobiliarios Alsea, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of Alsea, S.A.B. de C.V., in charge of the group’s real estate activities. Creel’s firm, of which he declares to be a partner since 2020, advised the process in 2021 of increasing the stake of Alsea, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:ALSEA) in Europe, and, in 2015, received more than 572 million MXN for providing legal advice on a debt issuance by that same company. Alsea is a multinational operator of franchise restaurants such as Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, and Starbucks.

Another case is his involvement in the Go Gaba vs Coca-Cola⁴⁵ case while he was president of the Chamber of Deputies. In 2018, Go Gaba sued the soft drink company for fraud and theft of industrial property. The case was taken up by the International Human Rights Front, an affiliate of the United Nations (UN), which requested Creel to refer the case to the General Directorate of Legal Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies. However, he did not do so, thus preventing it from being investigated in Congress. The investigation is currently stuck and Coca-Cola has not been sanctioned.

The case is relevant because, during the presidency of Vicente Fox, Creel was the secretary of Government. Previously, Fox had been director of the Coca-Cola Company in Mexico.

Moreover, while Creel was secretary of Government, he promoted the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), particularly with Mexican peasants. According to Proceso magazine, in 2003 Creel announced “an agreement” with peasant organizations to include corn and beans in NAFTA, which the peasants denied.⁴⁶

Enrique de la Madrid Cordero

Position: Campaign coordinator

Experience in the health sector: Between 1998 and 2006, he was executive president of the Mexican Consumer Products Industry Council (ConMéxico), which includes companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Bimbo, Maseca, Danone, Herdez, and La Costeña. In recent years, de la Madrid has defended the food industry with the argument that the fight against obesity must start with education and not restrictions, for example regarding taxes on junk food and the ban on the sale of processed products in schools.⁴⁷ He also has clear positions on public health, which include decentralizing public health services.

In 2011, when de la Madrid returned to his executive position at ConMéxico, after being director of Financiera Rural during the presidency of Felipe Calderón, the Council promoted a crusade against childhood obesity that, according to him, was not about “looking for easy culprits, but rather assuming that there is a problem. Trying to influence the knowledge of what is nutritious and to promote physical activity.”

This crusade was the preamble for the design of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Overweight, Obesity, and Diabetes during Peña Nieto presidency, when de la Madrid was the secretary of Tourism.

The strategy, deficient and generic, also proposed cooperation with non-governmental organizations, civil society, and the business sector, such as ConMéxico and others, who were given the task of developing campaigns and didactic materials to promote healthier habits.

Josefina Vázquez Mota

Position: Campaign leadership coordinator

Experience in the health sector: During her time as head of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), Vázquez Mota opposed the ban on the sale of processed products in schools and signed several agreements with companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsico.⁴⁸ These agreements were part of the Alliance for Educational Quality, an educational reform during Calderón’s presidency that, among other things, allowed ultra-processed food and beverage companies to advertise in public schools in exchange for material donations and support for sports programs.

Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez

Position: Territorial coordinator of the campaign

Potential conflicts of interest: He was governor of Coahuila from 2011-15, after his brother, Humberto Moreira, held the office in 2008-11. In 2010, Rubén Moreira partnered with Armando Luna Canales as a shareholder of Distribuidora de la Salud, S.A. de C.V.,⁴⁹ a company focused on the production and commercialization of medicinal products. His business partner, Luna Canales, is also a shareholder of Indica & Sativa, S.A. de C.V.,⁵⁰ a company aimed at producing cannabis-derived products, which was registered in Saltillo in 2018 and began operations in 2020.

Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba

Position: Coordinator of the Gálvez campaign’s public health project and her main spokesperson on the subject

Experience in the health sector: One of his main banners is the criticism of the current Federal Government’s drug distribution strategy.⁵¹ While he was deputy for the PAN in the 2021-24 and 2018-21 legislatures, Ramírez Barba voted in favor of front-of-pack labeling,⁵² although in his opinion the solution is not to sanction the industry but to carry out more government prevention campaigns.

This type of contradictory action is not new for Ramírez Barba. For example, in January 2010, when he was president of the Health Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, Barba froze initiatives that regulated and limited the advertising of junk food for children broadcast on public television.

In fact, in that legislative discussion,⁵³ the PAN representatives on the Health Commission argued that obesity was not the fault of the companies, but rather of “mothers, for the food they provide their children on a daily basis.”

In 2022, Ramirez Barba reappeared in legislative discussions when he spoke out against a ban on vaping, arguing that it is a less harmful option than smoking.⁵⁴

His argument was followed by marketing companies, one of them Sanborns, owned by Grupo Carso, which won an injunction to continue selling heated tobacco products and other brands of cigarettes or roll-your-own tobacco.

JORGE ÁLVAREZ MÁYNEZ

Candidacy: Presidency of Mexico

Party or coalition: Citizen Movement (MC)

General health proposals: His promises are based on a universal access health system that includes “the regulated participation of the private sector as an alternative service provider,” according to the Citizen Movement Electoral Platform and Government Program 2024-2030.⁵⁵

Álvarez Máynez, as a presidential candidate, has defended vaping — electronic cigarettes—, saying they should not be banned but regulated.⁵⁶ Of relevance, in 2018 he organized the forum “Harm reduction and smoking in Mexico,”⁵⁷ which was attended, along with scientists and members of civil society, by industry representatives (Philip Morris Mexico, VaporMex, and ProVapeo Mexico AC), and publicly questioned since the participation of industry members in legislative spaces violates the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Links to health-related industries: No companies were identified in the food, sweetened beverage, alcohol, or tobacco industries in which Álvarez Máynez has or has had a shareholder role or a management position. As congressman (2021-24), Álvarez Máynez promoted measures that would impact the food industry, such as the modification of “harmful” recipes in processed products, the installation of water dispensers for vulnerable populations, and the expansion of community kitchens in rural areas.⁵⁸

Campaign team members with health-related ties

Álvarez Máynez’s campaign team does not include figures from the health sector and no cases of possible conflicts of interest in health matters were detected. However, it is possible that the Citizen Movement party’s main reference on health issues is Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg, who is currently running for head of the Government of Mexico City and was previously secretary of Health in 2011-12 and MC’s deputy in 2021-24, among other positions.⁵⁹ Chertorivski was in charge of presenting Máynez’s health program at the 6^th Health Summit.⁶⁰

Salomón Chertorivski has been a strong supporter of industry in the face of public health regulation efforts. During his time as head of the Secretariat of Health, he opposed taking measures that would limit the junk food industry and instead promoted the idea that it could self-regulate.⁶¹

Chertorivski was also a significant actor in the campaign against obesity led by ConMéxico, as he was health secretary at that time, precisely when the self-proclaimed Crusade against Obesity promoted reducing portions instead of eliminating junk food from schools.

Chertorivski’s father, Isaac Chertorivski, was a founder of ConMéxico.

The Calderón presidency, according to the 2012 Registered Death Statistics,⁶² finished with around 500,000 deaths due to diabetes.

As a congressman, Chertorivski has spoken out against the ban on the use of electronic cigarettes promoted by the current federal administration, arguing that this would promote the growth of a black market and limit the development of indvidual personality.⁶³ This perspective was supported by the MC party in Congress, including Álvarez Máynez when he was already a presidential candidate.

ConMéxico, in addition to comprising the largest processed food industries in Mexico, is also home to tobacco companies, one of them being Phillip Morris, promoter of IQOS heated tobacco products. In 2022, 24.9 million people in the world were users of IQOS, the “alternative” developed by the tobacco company to replace tobacco consumption with combustion globally. That same year, the company’s profits exceeded 10 billion USD, an increase of nearly 100 percent from what it reported in 2019.

In addition, among his promises for Mexico City, Salomón Chertorivski has proposed the creation of a single trust fund, “auditable, under strict transparency rules, with public money, loans from national and international development banks, and contributions of all kinds, to finance the work of a special council for new water management in the Valley of Mexico.”

In the second debate between the candidates for head of Government, Chertorivski announced that, if he wins the election, he would ask for a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank for this trust fund.

The Inter-American Development Bank, through its various funds and programs,⁶⁴ conditions the participation of private companies such as FEMSA in the design of public policies so that governments can obtain financing. FEMSA is the Coca-Cola Company’s marketer in Mexico and is headquartered in Nuevo León, one of two states currently governed by the Citizen Movement party.

***

For this article, comments were requested from all three campaigns through their respective communications representatives. Additionally, a list containing the names of each person mentioned here, along with their attributed positions, was sent to confirm their participation and to specify whether they are still part of the teams.

Comment from Claudia Sheinbaum’s team:

The coordinator of the Dialogues for Transformation’s Food Sovereignty and Rural Development Project, Julio Berdegué, provided a general stance about the links between companies and the public sector and the risks of interference that exist in such relationships, explaining that Claudia Sheinbaum’s team advocates for dialogue with all stakeholders involved in the policy formulation process.

“However, there is a basic principle which is that decisions about public policy must always be free of conflicts of interest. This applies, of course, to policies in the area of food. The processes of discussion and decision making must be very transparent,” he commented.

Julio Berdegué has served as deputy director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean; he holds a master’s degree in agronomy from the University of California and a Ph.D. in Social Sciences.

Comment from Jorge Máynez’s team:

A spokesperson for the candidate from the Citizen Movement party emphasized that Máynez has publicly stated, before universities and other forums, that he seeks to increase the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) on ultra-processed foods and tobacco, considering them harmful to health, and has also called out the lobbying efforts of tobacco companies in Mexico.

Comment from Xóchitl Gálvez’s team:

As of the deadline for this article, Gálvez’s team did not provide a stance about the risks of interference from the industries mentioned in this article nor any additional comments on possible commitments in this regard.

1 “Ley General de Responsabilidades Administrativas,” Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión, 18 July 2016, www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LGRA.pdf.

2 “Conflicto de interés,” Consejo de la Judicatura Federal, undated, www.cjf.gob.mx/organosauxiliares/contraloria/resources/infografias/infografiaConflictoInteres_01092020.pdf.

3 “Exclusive: Hillary Clinton State Department Emails, Mexico Energy Reform and the Revolving Door,” DeSmog, 7 August 2015, www.desmog.com/2015/08/07/hillary-clinton-state-department-emails-mexico-energy-reform-revolving-door.

4 “Cabilderos,” Cámara de Diputados, undated, www.diputados.gob.mx/cabilderos/docs/cuadro-cabilderos2.pdf.

5 “Determinantes Comerciales de la Salud,” The Lancet, 23 March 2023, www.thelancet.com/pb-assets/Lancet/series/commercial-determinants-health/defining-conceptualising_spanish-1698064132923.pdf.

6 “México ocupa el 5º lugar de obesidad en el mundo,” Alianza por la Salud, 9 March 2022, alianzasalud.org.mx/2022/03/mexico-ocupa-el-5o-lugar-de-obesidad-en-el-mundo.

7 “Panorama de la Salud 2023,” OECD, 6 November 2023, www.oecd.org/health/health-at-a-glance/Panorama-de-la-Salud-2023-LAC-launch.pdf.

8 “Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición Continua 2022,” Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP), 2022, ensanut.insp.mx/encuestas/ensanutcontinua2022/index.php.

9 “Estadísticas de Defunciones Registradas (EDR) 2023,” INEGI, 2024, www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/saladeprensa/boletines/2024/EDR/EDR2023_ene-sept.pdf.

10 “México, cuarto lugar mundial en el consumo de alimentos ultra procesados,” Secretaría de Educación, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, 16 July 2021, sectei.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/mexico-cuarto-lugar-mundial-en-el-consumo-de-alimentos-ultra-procesados.

11 “MODIFICACIÓN a la Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM 051 SCFI SSA1 2010,” Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COFEPRIS), 21 May 2021, www.gob.mx/cofepris/acciones-y-programas/manual-de-la-modificacion-a-la-norma-oficial-mexicana-nom-051-scfi-ssa1-2010-272744.

12 “Ley de alimentación, congelada desde hace 12 años en el Congreso,” Municipios Puebla, 29 October 2023, municipiospuebla.mx/nota/2023-10-29/naci%C3%B3n/ley-de-alimentaci%C3%B3n-congelada-desde-hace-12-a%C3%B1os-en-el-congreso.

13 “El derecho a la alimentación sana es garantía del derecho a la vida,” Pie de Página, 14 March 2024, piedepagina.mx/el-derecho-a-la-alimentacion-sana-es-garantia-del-derecho-a-la-vida.

14 “Ley Federal de Austeridad Republicana,” Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión, 19 November 2019, www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LFAR.pdf.

15 “SENTENCIA dictada por el Tribunal Pleno de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación en la Acción de Inconstitucionalidad 139/2019,” Diario Oficial de la Federación, 2 September 2022, dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5663351&fecha=02/09/2022#gsc.tab=0.

16 “Senadores presentan solicitud de juicio político contra Arturo Zaldívar,” El Economista, 24 April 2024, www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/Senadores-presentan-solicitud-de-juicio-politico-contra-Arturo-Zaldivar-20240424-0084.html.

17 “100 pasos para la transformación,” Claudia Sheinbaum, 2024, claudiasheinbaumpardo.mx/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CSP100.pdf.

18 “Declaración Patrimonial de Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez. Conclusión,” Declaranet, 2 October 2023, share.mayfirst.org/s/eytwxHfqEH5Jmde.

19 “Currículum Vitae. Juan Ramón De la Fuente,” UNAM, 2015, www.stunam.org.mx/41consejouni/consejo%20universitario15/2015/1%20PLENO%202015/1%20sesionplenocu24mar15/7primeralecturadrhc/4%20CV/2.+Juan+Ramon+de+la+Fuente+Ramirez+CV.pdf.

20 “Acta de Colaboración OMENT,” UANL, 23 August 2015, share.mayfirst.org/s/a2LxB7jFZWqbodH; and, “Presentación OMENT, Mercedes Juan,” OMENT, 27 August 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHtrG9aMJkc. Minuto 3:13.

21 “Reporte anual 2018,” Médica Sur, inversionistas.medicasur.com.mx/site/uploads/es/documents/reporte_bmv/reporte_anual_2018.pdf.

22 “Currículum Viate de David Kershenobich,” Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, www.cndh.org.mx/sites/all/doc/Transparencia/19/DavidKershenobich.pdf.

23 “Patronato INCMNSZ,” INCMNSZ, undated, www.incmnsz.mx/opencms/Patronato/miembros.html.

24 “Currículum Viate de David Kershenobich,” Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, www.cndh.org.mx/sites/all/doc/Transparencia/19/DavidKershenobich.pdf.

25 “El Consejo de Investigación sobre Salud y Cerveza de México,” Forbes, 21 February 2017, www.forbes.com.mx/consejo-investigacion-salud-cerveza-mexico; y, Cerveceros de México, “¡Gracias Dr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente…!”, X, 16 November 2018, x.com/CervecerosdeMex/status/1063567648187805698.

26 “Etiquetado, obesidad y Tatiana Clouthier,” La Silla Rota, lasillarota.com/opinion/columnas/2019/7/2/etiquetado-obesidad-tatiana-clouthier-349087.html.

27 “NOM-187 is shaping up to favor Maseca and Minsa,” Empower Journalism, 29 September 2022, empowerllc.net/en/2022/09/29/nom-187-corn-minsa-gruma.

28 “Sorbo electoral: Altagracia Gómez, la empresaria detrás de Claudia Sheinbaum,” Bloomberg Línea, 6 March 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3nptdSpEGI.

29 “Reporte Anual 2022,” Grupo Minsa, 2023, www.minsa.com.mx/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2022-Reporte-Anual.pdf.

30 CONCAMIN post, X, 2 April 2024, x.com/CONCAMIN/status/1775241638022885478.

31 “Cabilderos,” Cámara de Diputados, undated, www.diputados.gob.mx/cabilderos/docs/cuadro-cabilderos2.pdf.

32 “Renuncia Leonel Cota a Segalmex; se une a equipo de Sheinbaum,” La Jornada, 26 March 2024, www.jornada.com.mx/noticia/2024/03/26/politica/renuncia-leonel-cota-a-segalmex-se-une-a-equipo-de-sheinbaum-5910.

33 “Declaración patrimonial de Leonel Efraín Cota Montaño (Modificación),” Declaranet, 30 May 2023, share.mayfirst.org/s/wJ4myKm2oSR8zJr.

34 “Planta Procesadora Santiago de las Coras, S.P.R. de R.L., FME: N-2017043661. Oficina Registral: Los Cabos. Forma Precodificada M4. Por instrumento 4501. Fecha 11/10/2016,” RPC-SIGER, 2016, share.mayfirst.org/s/jxPYjfjBmcBDX4Q.

35 “Organización Delit, S.A. de C.V., FME: 4893. Oficina Registral: Villahermosa. Forma Precodificada M2. Por escritura 5455. Fecha 27/08/2010,” RPC-SIGER, 2010, share.mayfirst.org/s/eik45FGbLENqTgK; and, “Organización Delit, S.A. de C.V., FME: 4893. Oficina Registral: Villahermosa. Forma Precodificada M4. Por escritura 14106. Fecha 07/12/1998,” RPC-SIGER, 1998, share.mayfirst.org/f/23075293.

36 “Afinará Adán Augusto proyecto de cuenca lechera con inversionistas,” Government of Tabasco, 26 March 2019, tabasco.gob.mx/noticias/afinara-adan-augusto-proyecto-de-cuenca-lechera-con-inversionistas.

37 “Apuesta gobierno de Adán Augusto a la producción del campo tabasqueño,” Government of Tabasco, 12 December 2019, tabasco.gob.mx/noticias/apuesta-gobierno-de-adan-augusto-la-produccion-del-campo-tabasqueno.

38 “Propuestas,” Xóchitl Gálvez, 2024, xochitlgalvez.com/propuestas.

39 “Xóchitl Gálvez se reúne con pacientes del IMSS; “En mi gobierno habrá guerra, pero contra la diabetes, dice,”El Universal, www.eluniversal.com.mx/elecciones/xochitl-galvez-se-reune-con-pacientes-del-imss-en-mi-gobierno-habra-guerra-pero-contra-la-diabetes-dice; and, “Xóchitl, Tú y la Diabetes,” 26 March 2024, El Universal, www.eleconomista.com.mx/opinion/Xochitl-Tu-y-la-Diabetes-20240326-0059.html.

40 “Xóchitl Gálvez revela que Julio Frenk sería su secretario de Salud si gana la presidencia,” Político MX, 8 March 2024, politico.mx/xochitl-galvez-revela-que-julio-frenk-seria-su-secretario-de-salud-si-gana-la-presidencia.

41 “Julio Frenk: Una Nueva Visión de la Salud y la Educación en la Mira y en el Interés de el Colegio Nacional,” in: Julio Frenk, Salud y Educación Superior: tiempo de transiciones, El Colegio Nacional, 2017, share.mayfirst.org/s/q3FgMkM8Zinb3Ai. Pgs. 64-5.

42 “Corporate elites co-opts public health in Mexico”, Empower Journalism, 21 March 2023, empowerllc.net/en/2023/03/21/slim-bailleres-fundsalud-eng.

43 “Xóchitl Gálvez, la candidata de la extractiva Danone,” Polemón, 31 March 2024, polemon.mx/xochitl-galvez-la-candidata-de-la-extractiva-danone-pdf.

44 “Declaración patrimonial Santiago Creel Miranda,” Cámara de Diputados, 2023, archivos.diputados.gob.mx/Transparencia/articulo70/XII/COIN/70-XII-COIN_2023_TR4_C_000038.pdf.

45 “¿Sientes miedo? Enfréntate a la Coca Cola,” Pie de Página, 4 May 2023, piedepagina.mx/sientes-miedo-enfrentate-a-la-coca-cola.

46 “Rechazan campesinos negociar acuerdos paralelos al TLCAN,” Proceso, 11 April 2003, www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2003/4/11/rechazan-campesinos-negociar-acuerdos-paralelos-al-tlcan-75149.html.

47 “Educar, no prohibir,” ADN40, 28 August 2020, www.adn40.mx/videoteca/opinion/desde-las-camaras/videos/2020-08-28-11-55/educar-no-prohibir; and, “De la desnutrición a la obesidad,” Expansión, 20 September 2011, expansion.mx/expansion/2011/09/14/de-la-desnutricin-a-la-obesidad.

48 “Cuestiona Didriksson a la SEP por fomentar comida chatarra,” La Jornada, 22 August 2008, www.jornada.com.mx/2008/08/22/index.php?section=capital&article=042n1cap.

49 “Distribuidora de la Salud, S.A. de C.V., FME: 29970. Oficina Registral: Saltillo. Forma Precodificada M4. Por escritura 24. Fecha 07/12/2010,” RPC-SIGER, 2010, share.mayfirst.org/s/ZWJHCc96LRozxgZ.

50 See articles of incorporation of Indica & Sativa, S.A. de C.V. in “Registro de la marca Medisativa.” Marcanet, 14 January 2020, acervomarcas.impi.gob.mx:8181/marcanet/UCMServlet?info=MnwyMDQ3OXwyMDIw; and, “El exdiputado Armando Luna Canales es socio del primer negocio de productos de cannabis en Coahuila,” Noticieros Grem, 15 June 2020, www.noticierosgrem.com.mx/el-exdiputado-armando-luna-canales-es-socio-del-primer-negocio-de-productos-de-cannabis-en-coahuila.

51 Éctor Jaime, X, twitter.com/ectorjaime?lang=en; “Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba,” El Economista, www.eleconomista.com.mx/autor/jaime.ramirez.

52 “Conmemoran tercer aniversario de la aprobación del Etiquetado Frontal, en San Lázaro,” Cámara de Diputados, 27 October 2022, comunicacionsocial.diputados.gob.mx/index.php/notilegis/conmemoran-tercer-aniversario-de-la-aprobacion-del-etiquetado-frontal-en-san-lazaro.

53 “Presionan panistas para frenar regulación de comida chatarra,” La Jornada, 27 January 2010, https://www.jornada.com.mx/2010/01/27/sociedad/036n1soc.

54 Post by Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba, X, 31 May 2022, twitter.com/ectorjaime/status/1531820782736793601/photo/1.

55 “Un buen gobierno para México. Plataforma electoral y programa de gobierno 2024-2030,” Movimiento Ciudadano, January 2024, movimientociudadano.mx/pdf/120124_MCN_BUEN%20GOBIERNO_DOC_DIGITAL.pdf. Pg. 57.

56 “Jorge Álvarez Máynez propone regular los vapeadores en México,” El Financiero, 6 March 2024, www.elfinanciero.com.mx/elecciones-mexico-2024/2024/03/06/alvarez-maynez-propone-regular-vapeadores-en-mexico-amlo-quiere-prohibirlo.

57 “El diputado ciudadano Jorge Álvarez Máynez organizó el foro, llamado “Reducción de daños y tabaquismo en México,” Movimiento Ciudadano, 22 March 2018, diputadosciudadanos.mx/boletines/el-diputado-ciudadano-jorge-alvarez-maynez-organizo-el-foro-llamado-reduccion-de-danos-y.

58 Post by Jorge Álvarez Máynez, X, 27 February 2024, twitter.com/AlvarezMaynez/status/1762561148216553770.

59 “Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg,” Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL), sil.gobernacion.gob.mx/Librerias/pp_PerfilLegislador.php?Referencia=9227948#Perfil.

60 “Enviados de los presidenciables participan en sexta Cumbre de Salud,” La Jornada, 15 March 2024, www.jornada.com.mx/2024/03/15/politica/013n4pol.

61 “Salomón, el desmemoriado,” PopLab, 11 June 2020, poplab.mx/v2/column/El-Poder-del-Consumidor/Salomon-el-desmemoriado.

62 “Defunciones generales 2012,” INEGI, 2012, datos.gob.mx/busca/dataset/estadistica-de-defunciones-registradas/resource/3fb94c41-ab96-4ea9-a428-4f854cd27111.

63 “La prohibición de vapeadores incentivará el mercado negro; es preciso regularlos: Salomón Chertorivski,” Cámara de Diputados, 22 June 2022, comunicacionsocial.diputados.gob.mx/index.php/notilegis/la-prohibicion-de-vapeadores-incentivara-el-mercado-negro-es-preciso-regularlos-salomon-chertorivski.

64 “What is the partnership?,” Latin American Water Funds Partnership, undated, www.fondosdeagua.org/en/what-is-the-partnership.

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