In 2025, the enabling environment for civil society in Mexico has continued to weaken, shaped by institutional reforms, restrictive legislation, and heightened risks for activists and organisations. Civic freedoms remain under pressure: the CIVICUS Monitor rated Mexico’s civic space as repressive (2.6 in 2024, likely lower for 2025), with persistent violence against journalists, human rights defenders, environmental activists, and searching mothers—two of whom were murdered this year. In July, Congress approved reforms expanding surveillance powers and creating the “Central Intelligence Platform” connected to the “National Information System” and “ Central Identity Platform”, enabling real-time monitoring without safeguards. The dissolution of the National Institute for Transparency (INAI) and Coneval has further restricted access to information, while tax reforms increased administrative burdens for authorised CSOs.
Despite these deteriorations, opportunities for resilience persist. Local initiatives such as Quintana Roo Participa expanded mechanisms for consultation and participatory budgeting, while alliances like Sumar para Transformar demonstrated the potential of collaborative philanthropy to strengthen child and youth care organisations. Civil society continues to innovate through grassroots organising, community resistance, and youth-led civic education efforts like Juventud Actúa MX, highlighting areas of democratic renewal.
The most concerning trend is the consolidation of a centralised governance model that concentrates power in the Executive and ruling party, restricts dialogue with civil society, and promotes stigmatising narratives. These developments undermine trust, limit participation, and threaten fundamental rights.
Key Recommendations include:
- Strengthening documentation and visibility of the impacts of restrictive frameworks on CSOs;
- Promoting flexible and collaborative philanthropy models that ensure financial sustainability;
- Reinforcing digital security and legal capacities, particularly for grassroots and rural organisations; and
- Advancing civic education and democratic pedagogy to counteract disinformation and exclusionary narratives.
