Corruption concerns in Mexico hit high under Sheinbaum

Alex Vasquez, Bloomberg News on May 28, 2026

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Mexicans’ concern about corruption is at the highest level of Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidency, as U.S. accusations against a governor add to scandals hitting high-ranking figures and institutions.

Some 62% ranked corruption as the biggest problem facing the country in May, up 3 points from a month prior and 16 from February, according to LatAm Pulse, a survey conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News and published Thursday.

Still, Mexicans don’t appear to be blaming Sheinbaum herself: After falling to the lowest level of her term last month, her approval rating rose 2 points to 53% in May. Disapproval fell roughly 5 points to 38%.

Mexico has been rocked by a series of scandals in recent months, including a fuel smuggling scheme that has led to multiple arrests and implicated high-ranking Navy officers, customs agents and businessmen. In late April, U.S. prosecutors accused Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa state, of conspiring with drug cartels.

Rocha Moya, who denies wrongdoing, is a member of Sheinbaum’s Morena party, and accusations against him have put her in a difficult position as she seeks to convince President Donald Trump that Mexico is combating the drug trade.

More than half of respondents believe the governor has ties to organized crime, compared to roughly 7% who don’t, the poll found.

Mexicans remain more likely to consider Morena committed to the fight against corruption than any other party. But 54% also say it has its own problems, more than for any other except the PRI, which governed Mexico for most of the seven decades prior to Morena’s rise in 2018.

Security and the US

The allegations against Rocha Moya have also ramped up pressure on Sheinbaum to deal with organized crime and public security, although the number of Mexicans who rank it as a major concern has fallen in recent months, according to AtlasIntel.

Earlier this month, the president disputed a report that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency helped assassinate cartel members in Mexican territory with an explosive hidden in a car. The CIA has also denied the report, which intensified questions about US involvement in law enforcement operations on Mexican soil.

A majority of Mexicans believe U.S. agents, including from the CIA, are operating in Mexican territory and participating in operations against cartels, the poll found.

Roughly 69% say they should only help Mexico with intelligence, while about 60% say the U.S. military should do the same.

They are more evenly split on direct involvement: 47% say U.S. agents should help with security operations against 48% who say no. About 42% say the U.S. military should assist in security, compared to 49% who oppose the idea.

About 46% say Sheinbaum is doing a good job navigating U.S. relations on security matters, while roughly 32% say she’s doing poorly.

AtlasIntel surveyed 3,276 people in Mexico on May 21-25. The poll has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.