Safeguarding National Interests: Dual Citizens Barred from Top Public Office

PRESIDENT Claudia Sheinbaum has announced an initiative to amend the constitution so that candidates for president, governor, or head of government of Mexico City hold only Mexican citizenship.

“The aim is to ensure that every Mexican citizen who wishes to become president of the Republic, governor, or head of government holds only Mexican citizenship and no other nationality,” Sheinbaum said at a press conference on Thursday (27/8).

The current constitutional wording does not clearly determine whether candidates with dual citizenship must renounce their second nationality before registering as candidates, Sheinbaum said.

The proposed amendment should remove this uncertainty, she added. Sheinbaum said that after renouncing a second citizenship, the candidate would only need to retain Mexican citizenship.

Previously, Sheinbaum linked the need for such a reform to the dual citizenship issue involving former Tamaulipas governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, who was born in the US state of Texas to Mexican parents.