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A Former President’s Son Poses a Test for Mexico’s Governing Party

Andrés Manuel López Beltrán has joined the list of figures who, critics say, may end up harming the left-wing movement his father founded, as well as the president who succeeded him.

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By Paulina VillegasEmiliano Rodríguez MegaJack Nicas and Steve Fisher

Reporting from Mexico City

Sept. 29, 2026Leer en español

President Claudia Sheinbaum is facing questions that could define her presidency and test her party’s legacy over accusations of corruption, luxury trips and cartel ties against high-profile figures in her party.

How far will she go to confront powerful figures within the leftist movement that brought her to power? And will a movement built on promises to end political privilege, corruption and influence peddling hold its own members to those same standards?

Publicly, Ms. Sheinbaum has made her position clear.

“Let the law be upheld, let law enforcement institutions do their work, let us not allow foreign interference in decisions that belong solely to Mexicans, and let us act with integrity, honesty and decency,” she said in August at a news conference. That, she said, will “distinguish us from the corruption and privilege of the past.”

Still, Ms. Sheinbaum faces what some see as a growing dilemma. It is embodied by Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, a well-known figure in her party and a son of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Mr. López Beltrán has not been charged with any crime but has been repeatedly accused of corruption.

He occupies an unusual place in Mexican politics: He is not simply the son of a former president but also someone many see as the heir to the man who transformed the country and its political landscape. His father founded the left-wing movement, Morena, now Mexicos’s ruling party, on the promise to dismantle privilege, root out corruption and break the cozy ties between political and business elites that he said had enriched a few at the expense of millions.

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