Security & Strategic Review - February 2020

The measures designed to ensure the independence of Mexico’s recently reformed federal attorney general’s office (FGR) are not being met and there are signs that the head of the FGR is too close to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. These are the findings of a new report on the FGR, published on 15 January. Reinforcing the independence of the attorney general’s office (previously known as the PGR) was a key objective of the 2018 reform of the institution, which in its previous incarnation was often considered an appendage of sitting governments. The report’s findings raise concerns that rather than strengthening the attorney general’s office, the implementation of the reform will end up further weakening it.