Mexico’s ruling party, Morena, is building a political machine inside the United States, and Mexico’s consulates are helping.

Joshua Treviño and Ariana Guajardo sit down with Alejandrina Elms, TPPF’s new U.S.-Mexico relations analyst, to discuss her paper “Mexico’s Regime in the United States.” They cover Morena’s 2024–2027 strategy abroad and why Mexico runs 53 consulates across the U.S. They also explain the “Fourth Transformation” ideology that counts Mexican-Americans as part of the Mexican nation, and how the expat vote nearly doubled between 2018 and 2024.

They also discuss the 2025 Los Angeles consulate controversy and why Morena’s U.S. activity breaks Mexico’s own diplomatic neutrality laws. The episode ends with the paper’s recommendations: FARA enforcement, reciprocity, and zero tolerance for interference.

Read the paper at texaspolicy.com.

Narco gunfire at the U.S. Coast Guard, a U.S.-backed police academy that Sheinbaum opposes, and former presidents who won't leave the stage. So who is running Mexico?

Joshua Treviño and Ariana Guajardo of the Texas Public Policy Foundation start with the Noche Triste and then cover the September 26 shooting near Frontón Island. They also discuss the gap between strong operational cooperation and Morena's narco-affiliated political core, AMLO's refusal to step aside, and Morena's 2027 gubernatorial picks. Joshua's answer to the question is "the sum of their fears."

What does Emiliano Zapata have to do with Mexico's political crisis in 2026? More than you'd think.

Joshua Treviño opens with a reading from John Womack's landmark 1968 work Zapata and the Mexican Revolution — a portrait of a man who led a revolution simply because he refused to let his village's land be taken. From there, Joshua and Ariana unpack why Zapata remains a contested figure claimed by the left but deeply relevant to anyone who wants to understand why conservative politics has historically failed in Mexico, and what it would take to change that.

Then: the most turbulent ten days in recent Mexican political history. The US Department of Justice indicted Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and Senator Enrique Inzunza back in April, and this August everything came to a head. AMLO's son lost his American visa. Rocha Moya briefly attempted to reclaim the governorship and was swiftly isolated by the entire Morena party apparatus. Inzunza returned to the Senate, but as an independent. Joshua breaks down what actually happened, what the institution of the fuero has to do with it, and why none of this would have happened without American pressure.

Plus: a close look at Regeneración, Morena's party publication, and imagery that Joshua argues crosses a line no American political publication could get away with.

Topics covered:

- Emiliano Zapata, patriotism, and the political appeal Morena figured out
- The DOJ indictments of Rocha Moya and Inzunza
- AMLO's family under pressure from Washington
- The shell game Morena is playing and why it won't work
- Regeneración's propaganda and what it says about US-Mexico relations
- Where Mexico goes from here ahead of 2027 midterms