Mexico - January 2026

On 3 December Mexico’s senate approved the appointment of Ernestina Godoy as the new federal attorney general (AG). Godoy was named less than a week after her predecessor, Alejandro Gertz Manero (2019-2025), resigned from the role, despite having three years left in his term. President Claudia Sheinbaum has signalled that the arrival of a new AG will usher in greater cooperation between the federal attorney general’s office (FGR) and state attorney general’s offices. It is also likely to spark closer collaboration between the FGR and the government, given Godoy’s previous work with Sheinbaum and the federal public security minister, Omar García Harfuch. Despite this, many challenges await Godoy including getting a handle on sky-high impunity levels, tackling violent crime, budgetary and personnel restraints, and likely accusations of a lack of autonomy from government.

Gertz presented his resignation on 27 November, and it was approved by the senate the same day. Despite the AG only being permitted to leave before the end of their term due to “serious cause”, such as severe legal or constitutional violations, or physical incapacity, Gertz announced he was resigning to take up an ambassadorial post. This has sparked speculation over the real reason for his departure, with some suggesting President Sheinbaum was dissatisfied with his work in relation to some key cases and had a new direction in mind for the FGR.

Godoy, a close ally of Sheinbaum, was the clear frontrunner to replace Gertz from the beginning, having taken over as interim AG following his departure. The senate drew up a list of 10 candidates to send to Sheinbaum, who selected a final shortlist of three for the senate to vote on. Given the dominance of the ruling left-wing Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) in the senate, it was always likely that Godoy, as the president’s favourite, would emerge triumphant, despite the FGR supposedly being independent from government.

Prior to taking over as AG, Godoy had been serving as Sheinbaum’s legal counsel. Before that, she was the AG in Mexico City (CDMX), serving while Sheinbaum was mayor of the city (2018-2023) and when Harfuch was the city’s public security minister. Her proximity with Harfuch was evident as soon as she took over as interim AG, as she appointed César Oliveros Aparicio, a long-time collaborator of Harfuch, as head of the special prosecutor’s office for organised crime (Femdo), and Héctor Elizalde, who had been serving as one of his deputy security ministers, as head of the criminal investigations agency (AIC).

Sheinbaum has not held back in praising Godoy, saying prior to her selection by the senate that she was “an extraordinary woman, principled, honest, with many convictions”, and noting she had demonstrated her results while AG of CDMX. She has also made her intentions clear for the future of the FGR, stating that more coordination was needed between the FGR and state attorney general’s offices, as well as between the FGR and federal security cabinet. However, she denied that this represented a threat to the FGR’s autonomy. “Autonomy does not mean that there is no coordination,” she said on 4 December. “Autonomy means that the executive branch does not influence the decisions of the FGR.”

However, the political opposition is not convinced. While the leftist opposition Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) voted in favour of her appointment, it said it did so as the decision was “made in advance” and it wanted to “try to ensure that the decision has positive consequences for the institution in question”. Most senators from the centrist opposition Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and right-wing opposition Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) voted against Godoy’s appointment, with PAN Senator Ricardo Anaya calling the vote a “sham” and the PRI’s leader, Alejandro Moreno, saying Gertz’s removal was a “coup”.

The suspicion is that attorney general’s offices may be used as instruments of political control by pursuing political adversaries while ensuring impunity for those affiliated with the ruling party. Godoy took office pledging that no-one would be unjustly accused for political reasons, but stating there would be no impunity. One of her first actions as AG was to order the arrest of the former governor of Chihuahua state, César Duarte (PRI, 2010-2016), on charges of money laundering. Duarte also faces state-level corruption charges. The arrest marked Godoy’s first major feat as AG and indicates that she intends to crack down on allegedly corrupt politicians. It remains to be seen whether the FGR will pursue politicians linked to Morena with the same vigour.

Godoy also faces challenges regarding the legacy left to her by Gertz. He failed to make real progress in the infamous Ayotzinapa disappearance case, with the lead prosecutor for the case, Omar Gómez Trejo, resigning amid reported disagreements with the AG. Gertz also failed to secure convictions in high-profile corruption cases, including two major cases implicating Emilio Lozoya, the former CEO of state-run oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), and another involving Segalmex, the flagship food security body of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024).

Another difficulty that Godoy inherits is a lack of resources. The FGR requested a budget of M$21.06bn (US$1.17bn) for 2026, but was authorised M$20.24bn, some M$819m less, and just above the M$20.13bn granted the previous year. According to Gabriel Regino, a Mexican criminal lawyer consulted by local news magazine Expansión Política, the lack of agents in the federal ministerial police (PFM), a police force that falls under the FGR and is exclusively tasked with fighting corruption and organised crime, is another major challenge. In an article published on 8 December, Regino stated that there needed to be a push to train more personnel and increase the size of the PFM.

In many ways, Godoy’s appointment signals an attempt to leave behind the legacy left by Gertz. He was appointed by López Obrador in 2019 to head up the newly formed FGR, Fiscalía General de la República, which replaced the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR). The FGR was conceived as an autonomous body subjected to greater oversight than the PGR, which was controlled by the executive. Gertz had held political positions for various parties over the years. However, he served as López Obrador’s security adviser during his 2018 presidential campaign, meaning his appointment raised some eyebrows as to the true autonomy of the new institution.

Given Gertz was appointed by López Obrador and was widely viewed as a close ally of the former president, his departure and replacement with officials aligned with Sheinbaum’s own government signal how Sheinbaum is putting her own stamp on the presidency and diverging from her predecessor and mentor in some significant ways. This has been particularly evident in terms of security strategy with Sheinbaum placing a greater emphasis on investigation and intelligence work and taking a more head-on approach than López Obrador. At the helm of all this is Harfuch, who looks to gain even greater power with the realigned FGR.

Indeed, Godoy was clear about her intentions to work more closely with the government’s federal security cabinet in her first appearance before the national public security council (CNSP) on 11 December. She named it as the first of six priority areas in a short-term action plan, with the others being strengthening state attorney general’s offices, a new model of investigation and intelligence, internal restructuring, modernisation of the criminal investigation agency (AIC), and a focus on high-impact crimes. She said that this, together with a longer-term strategic plan, would pave the way for the “transformation” of the FGR.

AG candidates

The senate’s list of AG candidates comprised Luz María Zarza Delgado, a former candidate for the supreme court (SCJN); Maribel Bojorges Beltrán, a former candidate for judge in Mexico City (CDMX); Sandra Luz González Mogollón, a lawyer from Veracruz state; and Mirna Lucía Grande Hernández, a former official in the CDMX security ministry. It also included five men including well-known lawyer and activist Luis Manuel Pérez de Acha; former Morena deputy Hamlet García Almaguer; and the former security minister of Coyuca de Benítez municipality, Guerrero state, David Borja Padilla. The final shortlist chosen by Sheinbaum featured three women, with Zarza and Bojorges appearing alongside Godoy.

Gertz

Gertz’s tenure as AG was marked by accusations of abuse of power. These primarily related to his attempts to prosecute his sister-in-law, Laura Morán, and her daughter, Alejandra Cuevas, who he held responsible for the death of his brother in 2015. In 2022, the supreme court ruled that his attempts to prosecute the pair were unconstitutional. Gertz was also allegedly behind the dismissal of Mexico City prosecutors who had refused to take up the case. He was also the subject of allegations of influence peddling in relation to the same case and to the Lozoya case, as well as accusations of unexplained wealth.