National Regeneration Movement Movimiento Regeneración Nacional | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Abbreviation | MORENA |
| President | Luisa María Alcalde Luján |
| Secretary-General | Carolina Rangel Gracida |
| Senate Leader | Adán Augusto López Hernández |
| Chamber Leader | Ricardo Monreal Ávila |
| Founder | Andrés Manuel López Obrador |
| Founded | 2 October 2011; 14 years ago (2011-10-02)[1] |
| Registered | 10 July 2014; 11 years ago (2014-07-10)[2] |
| Split from | Party of the Democratic Revolution |
| Headquarters | Santa Anita #50, Col. Viaducto Piedad C.P. 08200Iztacalco,Mexico City |
| Newspaper | Regeneración |
| Membership(2025) |  5,000,000[3] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left[25] toleft-wing[31] |
| National affiliation | Sigamos Haciendo Historia (since 2023)[nb 1] |
| Regional affiliation | São Paulo Forum[32] |
| Colours | Maroon |
| Slogan | La esperanza de México ('The hope of Mexico')[33] |
| Chamber of Deputies | 253 / 500 |
| Senate | 67 / 128 |
| Governorships | 23 / 32 |
| State legislatures | 495 / 1,123 |
| Mayors | 731 / 2,052 |
| Website | |
morena | |
| ||
|---|---|---|
Presidential campaigns | ||
Presidency Tenure and policies Establishments
Events
Referendums | ||
Family
| ||
 | ||
TheNational Regeneration Movement (Spanish:Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional), commonly referred to by itssyllabic abbreviationMorena ([moˈɾena]), is a left-wingpolitical party in Mexico.[34] Founded in 2011 byAndrés Manuel López Obrador as a civil association and registered as a political party in 2014, it emerged from López Obrador’s break with theParty of the Democratic Revolution.[35][36][37] Since its formation, Morena has grown rapidly to become the dominant political force in the country.[34][38]
Morena’s platform combines elements ofleft-wing populism,progressivism, andsocial democracy.[34][39] It opposesneoliberal economic policies and supports expanded social welfare programs, increased public investment in infrastructure, and state control over strategic industries such as energy, oil, and electricity.[34][39][40][41] Drawing substantial backing from working-class voters, rural communities, the urban poor, and regions historically underserved by federal investment, Morena positions itself as an alternative to the long-dominantInstitutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the conservativeNational Action Party (PAN).[41][42][43]
As of 2025, Morena holds the presidency, majorities in both theChamber of Deputies and theSenate, and most governorships, making it the largest political party in Mexico by representation.[44][45][46] It also holds significant influence over thefederal judiciary, with many elected judges having ties to the party.[47][48] As of 2023, it is also the largest political party in Mexico by number of members.[49] The party’s dominance has reshaped Mexico’s political landscape, ushering in what some analysts describe as a new era ofhegemony.[50][51][52]
Following the2006 presidential election, in which formerHead of Government of Mexico CityAndrés Manuel López Obradoralleged election fraud after narrowly losing toFelipe Calderón,[53][54] the left-wing parties that supported López Obrador's candidacy formed the legislative blocBroad Progressive Front during theLX Legislature to promote his political platform and counteract Calderón's administration. However, during the legislative session, many legislators from theParty of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the bloc's largest party, began to distance themselves from López Obrador, who was increasingly perceived as radical due to his election fraud claims.[55] In the 2008 PRD leadership election,Jesús Ortega, from the party's "Nueva Izquierda" (lit. 'New Left') faction, defeated López Obrador allyAlejandro Encinas Rodríguez for the party presidency.[56] "Nueva Izquierda" favored cooperation with other political forces, marking a shift away from López Obrador's confrontational strategy.[57][58]
In 2008, Calderón's administration introduced an energy reform that López Obrador and his followers argued was a step toward privatizing thestate-ownedpetroleum company,Pemex.[59][60] In response, he organized the "Movimiento Nacional en Defensa del Petróleo, el Patrimonio y la Economía Popular" (lit. 'National Movement in Defense of Oil, Heritage, and the Popular Economy'), which mobilized supporters in rallies and sit-ins to oppose the measures.[59][61] The reform was ultimately approved with support from theInstitutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), theNational Action Party (PAN), and factions of PRD legislators.[62] Due to this, in the2009 legislative elections, López Obrador only endorsed candidates from theLabor Party (PT),Convergence (CON), or his faction of the PRD.[58][62]
Following the 2009 legislative elections, internal shifts within the PT and CON led both parties to participate in 2010 electoral coalitions with the PRD and the PAN in several key gubernatorial contests aimed at curbing the PRI's resurgence,[63] a strategy that further distanced López Obrador and his supporters from the PRD's leadership.[64][65]
On 10 January 2011, López Obrador, drawing from his successful mobilization of activists during the "National Movement in Defense of Oil, Heritage, and the Popular Economy," announced the creation of a new social and political organization aimed at defending the vote ahead of the2012 general election, naming it the National Regeneration Movement (Morena).[66][67] Morena was officially founded as a civil association on 2 October 2011,[67][68] with the goal of creating "Voter Defense Committees" in 66,000electoral sections across Mexico to monitor for potential election fraud. According to López Obrador, the movement attracted nearly four million supporters within its first nine months.[69]
For the2012 general election, López Obrador was once again nominated by theParty of the Democratic Revolution (PRD),Labor Party (PT), andCitizens' Movement (MC) in a coalition called theProgressive Movement. On election day, López Obrador's surveillance plan was successful, with Morena achieving total coverage across all300 electoral districts. Despite these efforts, López Obrador once again finished in second place, losing to the PRI'sEnrique Peña Nieto.
After the election, growing disagreements between López Obrador and the PRD leadership over the future of Morena led to López Obrador's departure from the PRD on 9 September 2012.[70] The PRD leadership had considered forming a legislative bloc with the PAN, a move López Obrador criticized, later accusing the party of having "betrayed the people" by aligning with both the PAN and later withPeña Nieto's PRI.[71][72]
On 20 November 2012, Morena's first National Congress took place, where it formally started its transition from a civil association to a political party.[73] During the congress, attendees approved the statutes and action plan for the party, elected 300 councillors to form the Morena National Council, and selectedMartí Batres aspresident of the National Executive Committee.[74] While some PRD politicians, such asRicardo Monreal, supported López Obrador's decision, describing it as a "divorce of convenience" to avoid further polarization in the country,[75] others, likeCuauhtémoc Cárdenas, criticized him, claiming it further splintered the Mexican left.[76] A 2012 poll indicated that a majority of the public held a negative view of Morena's establishment as a political party.[77]
On 7 January 2014, Batres submitted documents to theNational Electoral Institute (INE) for registration as a political party.[78] The INE officially approved Morena on 10 July, allowing it to receive federal funds and participate in the2015 legislative election.[76][79] In its electoral debut, the party won 35 seats in theChamber of Deputies, becoming the fifth-largest parliamentary group. In the 2015 Federal District local elections, Morena managed to flip five boroughs from the PRD, marking its emergence as a political force in the Federal District.[80][81]
Over the following two years, Morena consolidated its organizational structure and positioned itself as an opposition to President Peña Nieto's administration, drawing on public dissatisfaction with the government and thePact for Mexico reform agenda.[82][83] In the 2017 State of Mexico gubernatorial election, the Labor Party candidate withdrew in favor of Morena's nominee, who was narrowly defeated by the PRI candidate by a margin of approximately 2.8 percentage points, the party's closest electoral defeat to that date.[84]
.jpg)
In the lead-up to the 2018 general election, López Obrador dismissed this possibility of a grand left-wing coalition, which would have encompassed Morena, theParty of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), theLabor Party (PT), andCitizens' Movement (MC), citing political differences and pointing to the PRD and MC's decisions to continue with their own campaigns rather than withdraw in favor of Morena's candidate during the 2017 State of Mexico gubernatorial election.[85] Instead, acoalition was formed with the PT and theright-wingChristian-conservativeSocial Encounter Party (PES).[86][87][88] López Obrador won the presidency with 53 percent of the vote, becoming the first candidate in modern Mexican democratic history to secure an outright majority.[89] Morena and its allies also gained majorities in both chambers of Congress, marking the beginning of what López Obrador termed the "Fourth Transformation" (4T) of public life in Mexico.[90][91]
The 4T program emphasized anti-corruption initiatives, expansion of social welfare including pensions for the elderly and youth employment programs, austerity for senior public officials, increased public spending on major infrastructure projects like theTren Maya,Dos Bocas refinery, and theFelipe Ángeles International Airport, energy nationalism with efforts to strengthen state-owned enterprises, and increased state involvement in strategic sectors such as energy.[92][93][94] However, the party was limited in entrenching more ambitious or structural elements of the 4T in the constitution, as it did not hold a supermajority in both chambers of Congress.[95]
Morena's coalition grew in 2020 with the inclusion of theEcologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), complementing its existing partnership with the PT.[96] Between 2021 and 2023, the coalition consolidated its influence at the state level, winning gubernatorial elections in fifteen states previously governed by opposition parties.[46][97] Despite these advances, it again fell short of a congressional supermajority in the2021 legislative elections.[95] The party grew rapidly in membership during this period, becoming the largest party in Mexico with over 2.3 million registered members by 2023.[98] The party's growth reflected multiple dynamics: popular electoral appeal to voters attracted by the 4T platform; organized membership drives and local committees; and the incorporation of politicians and officeholders from other parties, particularly from the PRD.[99][100]
_(cropped).jpg)
Claudia Sheinbaum, who campaigned on continuing the 4T and advancing López Obrador's proposed constitutional reforms, won the presidency in2024 with a larger share of the vote than López Obrador had received in 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the office in Mexico's history.[101] The election also gave Morena and its allies a supermajority in the Chamber of Deputies and left them three seats short of a supermajority in the Senate, which they later secured through party defections.[45][102] With its supermajority, Morena pursued reforms that included minimum wage increases above inflation, expanded healthcare access, constitutional protections for social programs, the elimination of autonomous agencies to centralize government functions, and reforms to thejudiciary and electoral systems.[103][104][105] During this period, Morena's broad control at the federal and state levels led several analysts and commentators to describe the party as approachinghegemonic status in the Mexican political system.[50][51][52]
The party's name also alludes to Mexico'sCatholic national patroness: theVirgin of Guadalupe, known asLa Morena.[106][107][108]
MORENA describes itself as a social democratic party that supportsethnic,religious,cultural, andsexual diversity, respect forhuman rights, and environmental care. It describes itself as an opponent of theneoliberal economic policies that Mexico began adopting in the 1980s. MORENA states that a new economic model is needed after the failures of neoliberalism in Mexico, which has resulted in increased corruption and inequality. The party supports "development through private and social business, promoting market competition, but exercising State responsibility in the strategic activities which the Constitution states" and proposes "a model that strengthens the inner market, fair wages; a model that promotes syndical freedom and democracy, where the State doesn't intervene in the inner affairs of the trade organizations".[109][110]
The party opposes the privatization ofPemex[111] and the granting of lands to foreign mining companies who "devastate the lands, pay no taxes, and harm the environment".[citation needed] MORENA also declares itself in favor of improving conditions for theIndigenous peoples of Mexico and implementing the 1996San Andrés Accords, which were signed by theEZLN and representatives of the government but remained unenforced by PresidentErnesto Zedillo.[112] The party says it is against the monopolization of the mass media, especially television, byTelevisa andTV Azteca, which in 2018 owned 90% of Mexican television.[113]
On social issues, the party's platform embraces aprogressive agenda in favor ofwomen's rights[114] and theLGBT community in Mexico,[115] supporting causes such assame-sex marriage and the decriminalization ofabortion at the national level.[116] Andrés Manuel López Obrador became the first Mexican president-elect to include theLGBT community in an election victory speech.[117] Almost a year later, on 17 May 2019, López Obrador officially decreed the "National Day against Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia" in Mexico.[118]
The party advocates an alternative security strategy to thewar on drugs, which was implemented in the country during the presidency ofFelipe Calderón (2006–2012) and which they oppose, arguing that it is a "failed" strategy that has only sown "insecurity and instability" among Mexicans. Among other things, they advocate thelegalization of drugs, such asmarijuana, considering that such a proposal would make it possible to find "mechanisms for peace and the reconstruction of the social fabric".[119]
Contrary to other parties of the left, MORENA has not sought to reduce inequality by increasing taxes on the wealthy. Instead, the party has focused on reducing the pay gap between lower-level employees and high-level government workers' salaries, such as politicians and judges, throughausterity measures. The party announced support for a plan by López Obrador to cut salaries of higher-ranking public officials (including the president), lay off up to 70 percent of non-unionized federal workers, and reduce spending by cracking down on corruption and tax fraud. AsArticle 94 of the Mexican Constitution prohibits reducing the salary of judges at any time during their appointment to maintain judicial independence, judges on the Supreme Court took a 25% pay cut starting in 2019.[120]
Initially, MORENA’s political strategy focused on anti-big business,[121] anti-bourgeoisie,[122] and anti-neoliberalism,[123] using socialist rhetoric to gain the support of the Mexicanlower middle class.[according to whom?] It was later[when?] downplayed to gain the support of business leaders.[124][failed verification]
Various outlets have described MORENA as abig tent party, "not in the strict sense a political party, but an alliance of diverse movements and political actors, whose main reference is its founder and presidential candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador". Due to López Obrador'spragmatism, some critics have claimed that MORENA is subject to López Obrador's decisions rather than having a more consistent ideology as a party.[125]
In September 2024, then-President Obrador, with a majority in Congress, adopted ajudicial reform that involved the direct election of justices, magistrates, and judges at the federal and state levels and reduced justices' tenure from 15 to 12 years. Obrador argued the reform would democratize the Mexican judiciary and reduce corruption in the system.[126][127]
The reform was highly controversial. Supporters argue, for example, that Mexico's judiciary is characterised by nepotism and favoring oligarchs;[128] the reforms shall make judges more accountable.[126] Critics like theWilson Center[129] and theWashington Office on Latin America[130] said the reform would increase political influences of the judiciary and erode checks and balances in Mexico's seemingly resurgent single-party political system. The reform resulted in protests and a nationwide strike by judicial sector personnel.[131]Human Rights Watch said a justice reform is necessary due to corruption and a lack of due process in Mexican justice. However, they criticised that the reform won't change the big problem of prosecutors' willingness and capacity to investigate.[132] U.S. and Canadian diplomats issued public criticisms of the reform.[133]
| Officeholder | Term | State |
|---|---|---|
| Martí Batres | 9 July 2014 – 20 November 2015 | Mexico City |
| Andrés Manuel López Obrador | 20 November 2015 – 12 December 2017 | Tabasco |
| Yeidckol Polevnsky | 12 December 2017 – 26 January 2020 | Mexico City |
| Alfonso Ramírez Cuéllar | 26 January 2020 – 5 November 2020 | Zacatecas |
| Mario Delgado Carrillo | 5 November 2020 – 30 September 2024 | Colima |
| Luisa María Alcalde Luján | 1 October 2024 – present | Mexico City |
Morena publishes and distributes the newspaperRegeneración ; its name is taken from the publication of the same name that was clandestinely run by theFlores Magón brothers, journalists critical of thePorfirian regime prior to theMexican Revolution. Morena defines its news organization as: "a tool of struggle, an agitator of ideas, an organizer of citizens, and a promoter of the revolution of consciences."[134][135]
| Election year | Candidate | Votes | % | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Andrés Manuel López Obrador | 30,113,483 | 53.20 |  Y Elected | Alliance:Juntos Haremos Historia |
| 2024 | Claudia Sheinbaum | 35,924,519 | 61.18 | Y Elected | Alliance:Sigamos Haciendo Historia |
Chamber of Deputies
| Election | Constituency | Party-list | Total[Note 1] | Electoral alliance | Presidency | Position | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||||
| 2015 | 3,304,736 | 8.76 | 14 | 3,345,712 | 8.81 | 21 | 35 / 500 | None | Enrique Peña Nieto | .svg){kind=logo} | Opposition |
| 2018 | 20,790,623 | 38.70 | 106 | 20,968,859 | 38.80 | 85 | 191 / 500 | Juntos Haremos Historia | Andrés Manuel López Obrador | | MORENA–PT–PES majority |
| 2021 | 16,629,905 | 35.27 | 122 | 16,756,189 | 35.30 | 76 | 198 / 500 | Juntos Hacemos Historia | MORENA–PT–PVEM majority | ||
| 2024 | 3,686,979 | 6.48 | 161 | 24,286,317 | 42.40 | 75 | 236 / 500 | Sigamos Haciendo Historia | Claudia Sheinbaum | | MORENA–PT–PVEM supermajority |
Senate elections
| Election | Constituency | Party-list | Total[Note 1] | Electoral alliance | Presidency | Position | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||||
| 2018 | 21,013,123 | 39.03 | 42 | 21,256,238 | 39.12 | 13 | 55 / 128 | Juntos Haremos Historia | Andrés Manuel López Obrador | | MORENA–PT–PES majority |
| 2024 | 7,526,453 | 13.19 | 46 | 24,484,943 | 42.48 | 14 | 60 / 128 | Sigamos Haciendo Historia | Claudia Sheinbaum | | MORENA–PT–PVEM majority |
Morena identifies anti-corruption as part of its ideological platform.
On 29 November 2024, the Senate—where Morena and its allies held a majority—approved a measure to eliminate seven independent regulatory and oversight agencies, transferring their functions to government ministries. Critics warned this could weaken transparency and checks on executive power.[136][137]
In 2022, Mexico granted asylum to family members of former Peruvian presidentPedro Castillo, including his wife Lilia Paredes, after corruption and rebellion charges in Peru.[138]
In November 2025, former Peruvian Prime MinisterBetssy Chávez sought asylum at the Mexican embassy in Lima after being accused of rebellion and corruption related to the 2022 political crisis in Peru. Her asylum request led to a diplomatic dispute, with Peru announcing the suspension of relations with Mexico following the decision to grant her protection.[139]
In 2024, Mexico ranked 140 of 180 countries on Transparency International’sCorruption Perceptions Index, with a score of 26 out of 100.[140]
En esta coalición se presentó una mezcla de la izquierda nacionalista (MORENA) con el maoísmo (PT) y el cristianismo (PES). Este último ocasionó un corrimiento hacia la derecha del lopezobradorismo.[This coalition was a mixture of the nationalist left (MORENA) with Maoism (PT) and Christianity (PES). The latter caused a shift to the right of Lopezobradorism.]
López Obrador said he hopes to visit the White House in July to talk to Biden about the "integration" of all American countries, with the goal of forming something similar to the European Union.
The Mexican president said that he would still visit the White House in July where he would look to discuss pan-American "integration." . . . "That's how they created the European Community and then that became the European Union. That's what we need to do in America," he said.
En el análisis de la muestra de espectaculares fotografías de los candidatos a diputados federales, se encontró que contendieron 10 partidos políticos, los cuales muestransu nombre, sus siglas y su posición ideológica. Estos fueron: Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) (Centro, Centro derecha); Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) (Derecha, Centro derecha); Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) (Centroizquierda); Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (MORENA)(Izquierda); Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM) (Derecha); Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) (Centroizquierda); Nueva Alianza (PANAL) (Centro, Centroderecha); Partido del Trabajo (PT) (Izquierda); Partido Encuentro Social (PES) (Derecha, Centroderecha); Partido Humanista (PH) (No tiene una posición definida)
[An] acronym that also alludes to the country's patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and means tan skinned
Lopez Obrador's own party name, MORENA, references the national patroness Our Lady of Guadalupe.
| National | |
|---|---|
| State | |
| Defunct | |
