President Claudia Sheinbaum used her Monday morning news conference to tell the public to stop watching a major television network. Asked about a group that has been posting banners around Mexico City accusing government officials of ties to drug cartels, Sheinbaum pointed the finger at TV Azteca owner Ricardo Salinas Pliego and offered a blunt recommendation: change the channel.
“Don’t watch TV Azteca,” she said from the podium at the National Palace. “Salinas Pliego is going to be angry and is probably writing a post right now.”
The network fired back within hours.
What Triggered It
The comment came in response to a reporter’s question about a group called Mexicanos al Grito de Paz, a collective that has been plastering banners around Mexico City with images of government officials accused of links to drug trafficking. Sheinbaum said the group was not registered with the Interior Ministry and suggested that accounts tied to Salinas Pliego were behind the campaign, while acknowledging she had no direct proof.
“When they’re already showing these things on television or radio, things that are just three people going and putting up a sign, well, there must be some connection. I can’t confirm it, it’s a hypothesis,” she said.
She also announced plans to create a weekly segment at the mañanera to name and shame what she called the biggest liar of the week. She said she had proposed the idea to her legal adviser, Luisa María Alcalde, and that it would be called “El Mitómano de la Semana,” or “Liar of the Week.”
The Network Responds
TV Azteca issued a formal statement accusing Sheinbaum of carrying out what it called an obvious attempt at censorship and a direct attack on freedom of expression and the press. The network said the call to boycott its programming would be useless, pointing to millions of viewers who follow its news, entertainment, and sports coverage.
The statement accused the government of having high-level ties to organized crime and of protecting what it called corrupt networks connected to the sons of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The network also said it expected more pressure to come. “We know that more attacks are coming and that this is just the prelude to a stage of censorship and silencing against critical media like us,” it said, according to El Universal.
Grupo Salinas, the parent company, echoed the sentiment on X: “Media outlets don’t exist to obey power. They exist to serve and inform people with the truth.”
A Feud With Deep Roots
The clash has been building for some time. Salinas Pliego’s relationship with the ruling Morena movement soured after the government pursued his companies for years over a massive tax dispute. In January, Grupo Salinas agreed to pay MX$32 billion (about US$1.87 billion) to settle a decade-long case with Mexico’s tax authority. Despite the settlement, the public sparring between the two sides has only intensified.
Salinas Pliego previously filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging political persecution. Sheinbaum has dismissed those claims, saying the tax collection process is a routine legal matter. TV Azteca also faces a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the United States and has sought debt restructuring in Mexico.
Why It Matters
TV Azteca is not a small operation. It is one of the 2 major networks that dominate Mexican broadcast television, reaching tens of millions of viewers. A sitting president calling on citizens to stop watching it is the kind of statement that draws comparisons to authoritarian pressure tactics, regardless of intent. Press freedom organizations have long cited Mexico as one of the most difficult environments for journalism in the hemisphere, though the dangers they typically document involve violence against local reporters rather than confrontations between the presidency and a media mogul.
Neither side issued further public statements after the initial exchange on Monday.
At a Glance
- President Claudia Sheinbaum called on viewers to stop watching TV Azteca during her May 25 morning press conference
- The remark followed questions about Mexicanos al Grito de Paz, a group posting anti-government banners in Mexico City
- TV Azteca is owned by Ricardo Salinas Pliego through his conglomerate, Grupo Salinas
- The network accused Sheinbaum of censorship and vowed to continue critical coverage
- Grupo Salinas settled a major tax dispute with the Mexican government in January 2026, paying MX$32 billion (about US$1.87 billion)
- Sheinbaum also proposed a new weekly mañanera segment to highlight what she considers disinformation
Source: El Universal, Proceso, Expansión Política