| Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. | | |  | The big idea | | Mexico's AMLO to Blinken: Mind your own democracy |  President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador during the North American Leaders' Summit in the East Room at the White House on Nov. 18, 2021. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) | | | Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador delivered a very salty response Tuesday to very mild State Department criticisms of a new law critics worry will undermine his country's democracy. What the leader broadly known as AMLO said, effectively, was: Butt out. "With total respect, I say to Mr. [Antony] Blinken of the Department of State that there is currently more democracy in Mexico than in the United States," AMLO said, before accusing the top U.S. diplomat of "acting in an interventionist manner in our affairs." The Mexican leader did not criticize President Biden, who he said puts Mexico on an "equal footing" with America, but also accused the U.S. ambassador to Peru of abetting the removal of that country's left-wing former president, Pedro Castillo. López Obrador has been supportive of Castillo, whom legislators impeached and removed in December and ended up behind bars after illegally attempting to dissolve Peru's Congress. His vice president, Dina Boluarte, succeeded him. The United States has recognized her as legitimate. | | Mexican-American relations have always had major tensions — enough that U.S. students of Latin America learn one quip early in their careers, a line attributed to a 19th-century Mexican dictator: "Poor Mexico. So far from God, so close to the United States." | | This isn't a crisis in relations (yet), though there are worsening rifts about the northward flow of drugs such as fentanyl and southbound shipments of guns. Immigration is a perpetual irritant. But it's not the first time AMLO has scolded the United States — and Blinken personally. But it could be a crisis in Mexico's democracy. On Tuesday, my colleague Bryan Pietsch had a whimsical piece on AMLO tweeting a picture he claimed showed the recent sighting of a mythical elflike creature from Mayan lore called an "aluxe." (Bryan figured out the photo was at least two years old.) Never mind the elf, which looks more to The Daily 202 like a Star Wars Jawa perched in a tree. Why would the president of Mexico tweet this? Bryan put the question to Pablo Calderón Martínez, a professor of politics and international relations at Northeastern University London. "Among the possibilities, Calderón Martínez said, was that López Obrador wanted to distract from a recent controversy that is likely more serious than an elf sighting: Tens of thousands of Mexicans took to the streets Sunday to protest a law that threatens to weaken the country's national electoral institute, a pillar of Mexico's young democracy. A spokesman for López Obrador did not immediately respond to a request for comment," Bryan reported. "If you throw a dead cat on the table, everyone's going to be talking about the dead cat on the table, right?" Calderón Martínez said. "So that's what he does. He starts talking about the aluxe, the mystical elf in the forest." For more context, look at my colleague Mary Beth Sheridan's coverage of Sunday's protests against "a law that would weaken the national electoral institute, with many fearful the measure could hobble Mexico's young democracy." "The turnout underscored how much the electoral law has galvanized voters, after four years in which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador largely dominated political life. The veteran leftist's party holds a majority in Congress and has swept most governor's offices, outmaneuvering a divided opposition discredited by corruption scandals," she reported. "The uproar over the new law comes amid growing concern about backsliding in democracies that replaced dictatorships in many parts of Latin America after the Cold War," Mary Beth noted. | | Under Mexico's constitution, AMLO can only serve one six-year term. But his critics worry his plan to slash the size and funding of what is called the INE as part of a quest to cut overall spending is really a plan to ensure his party wins the presidency again in next year's elections. "Many Mexicans consider the 33-year-old INE to be one of the most important institutions in the country's transition from seven decades of one-party rule. It replaced a fraud-riddled electoral system with a tightly regulated regimen overseen by thousands of workers who issue voter IDs and control virtually all aspects of state and federal balloting," Mary Beth reported. She also noted AMLO's party is generally seen as the favorites in 2024, and diagnosed: "Some analysts think López Obrador's antipathy to the electoral body is rooted in his bitterness over his narrow loss in the 2006 presidential election." What touched off López Obrador's tirade? Very mild criticism from State Department spokesman Ned Price about the protests and AMLO's plans for the INE. "Today, in Mexico, we see a great debate on electoral reforms on the independence of electoral and judicial institutions that illustrates Mexico's vibrant democracy," Price said. "We believe that a well-resourced, independent electoral system and respect for judicial independence support healthy democracy." "We respect Mexico's sovereignty." | | |  | Politics-but-not | | | Click through to submit ideas for potential inclusion in our weekly roundup of stories you might not find in other political newsletters. Read more » | | | | | |  | What's happening now | | 'Havana syndrome' not caused by energy weapon or foreign adversary, intelligence review finds |  CIA Director William J. Burns speaks at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta on April 14. (Brynn Anderson/AP) | | | "The new intelligence assessment caps a years-long effort by the CIA and several other U.S. intelligence agencies to explain why career diplomats, intelligence officers and others serving in U.S. missions around the world experienced what they described as strange and painful acoustic sensations. The effects of this mysterious trauma shortened careers, racked up large medical bills and in some cases caused severe physical and emotional suffering," Shane Harris and John Hudson report. | Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices by 70 percent | | "Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is slashing prices of commonly prescribed insulin drugs by 70 percent while capping related out-of-pocket costs at $35 a month, a move that should help address long-standing concerns about the high cost of diabetes care," Aaron Gregg reports. | Finland gives early greenlight to NATO entry | | "Finland's parliament on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining NATO, ahead of ratifications from Hungary and Turkey, increasing the likelihood it will enter the alliance before Nordic neighbour Sweden. Lawmakers approved a legislation affirming that Finland accepts the terms of the NATO treaty by 184 votes against seven," AFP reports. | Biden aides weigh economic aid for East Palestine, Ohio, after derailment | | "White House aides are weighing if or how they can provide economic relief for East Palestine, Ohio, after the town was affected by a train derailment last month involving hazardous materials, although it remains unclear what form it could take, according to four people who were briefed on the matter," Jeff Stein reports. | | |  | Lunchtime reads from The Post | | Showdown before the raid: FBI agents and prosecutors argued over Trump |  A man stands outside an entrance to former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee/AP) | | | "Months of disputes between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents over how best to try to recover classified documents from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and residence led to a tense showdown near the end of July last year, according to four people familiar with the discussions," Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Perry Stein and Aaron C. Davis report. | - "Prosecutors argued that new evidence suggested Trump was knowingly concealing secret documents at his Palm Beach, Fla., home and urged the FBI to conduct a surprise raid at the property. But two senior FBI officials who would be in charge of leading the search resisted the plan as too combative and proposed instead to seek Trump's permission to search his property, according to the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive investigation."
| Millions could see cuts to food stamps as federal pandemic aid ends | | "For some households, the cuts are expected to reduce their monthly benefits by an average of $182, according to the Agriculture Department, which manages the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. That means federal aid may only provide families an average of $6 per person each day for food starting Wednesday, less than what many anti-hunger experts say is necessary for a healthy diet," Tony Romm and Laura Reiley report. | Dark money and special deals | How Leonard Leo and his friends benefited from his judicial activism |  Leonard Leo speaks at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2019. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) | | | "A POLITICO investigation based on dozens of financial, property and public records dating from 2000 to 2021 found that Leo's lifestyle took a lavish turn beginning in 2016, the year he was tapped as an unpaid adviser to incoming President Donald Trump on Supreme Court justices. It's the same period during which he erected a for-profit ecosystem around his longtime nonprofit empire that is shielded from taxes. Leo was executive vice president of The Federalist Society at the time," Politico's Heidi Przybyla reports. | Many undocumented immigrants are departing after decades in the U.S. | | "Mexicans, who represent the largest and most transformative migration to the United States in modern history, started a gradual return more than a decade ago, with improvements in the Mexican economy and shrinking job opportunities in the United States during the last recession," the New York Times's Miriam Jordan reports. | - "But departures have recently accelerated, beginning with crackdowns on immigrants under the Trump administration and continuing under President Biden as many older people decide they have realized their original goals for immigrating and can afford to trade the often-grueling work available to undocumented workers for a slower pace in their home country."
| | |  | The Biden agenda | | Biden ramps up attacks on GOP spending cuts |  President Biden makes his way on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday after arriving via Marine One. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) | | | "President Biden, in a potential preview of his campaign message, ramped up criticism of Republican health-care proposals Tuesday, saying they would threaten such broadly popular programs as the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid," Matt Viser reports. | Biden is betting on government aid to change corporate behavior | On student loan forgiveness, conservative justices skeptical of Biden plan | | "During more than three hours of argument about one of the president's most sweeping and expensive domestic initiatives, conservatives led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. questioned how what Roberts repeatedly called a 'half-trillion dollar' program could be implemented without more direct involvement from Congress, which controls the purse of federal spending," Robert Barnes, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Ann E. Marimow report. | | |  | Visualized | | | "In the second half of the 20th century, China finally began its own era of industrialization. The pace has been astonishing, far surpassing the speed of the west's industrial development. At this rate, it's not a matter of whether China will eventually emit more carbon dioxide than any other country in history, but when," Harry Stevens explains. | | |  | Hot on the left | | In a first, child care must be provided for microchip manufacturers to qualify for this federal grant |  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a news conference about child care relief on Capitol Hill on Feb. 7. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | | | "Last July, Congress passed bipartisan legislation allocating tens of billions of dollars in manufacturing incentives to grow the U.S. semiconductor industry, which is facing a labor shortage. The Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that applicants seeking more than $150 million of the federal funding must also provide 'affordable, accessible, reliable and high-quality child care' to their facilities and construction workers, part of a push to address the shortage by recruiting more women to a field dominated by men. It is the first time a federal grant program has required a child care proposal," the 19th's Mariel Padilla reports. | | |  | Hot on the right | | DeSantis is championing medical freedom. GOP state lawmakers like what they see. |  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 19. (David Becker for the Washington Post) | | | "[Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis' attention to the issue is having real-world impact — and not just in Florida. GOP lawmakers across the country, in some cases emboldened by DeSantis' ramped-up rhetoric, have introduced hundreds of bills this year under the medical freedom banner, including proposals to put lawmakers in charge of immunization requirements, ban the government from creating non-school-based vaccine mandates and allow citizens to challenge public health disaster declarations," Politico's Megan Messerly, Krista Mahr and Arek Sarkissian report. | | |  | Today in Washington | | | At 5:05 p.m., Biden will leave the White House on Marine One for Baltimore, where he will address the House Democratic retreat at 6 p.m. Biden will leave Baltimore at 7:55 p.m. and will arrive at the White House at 8:10 p.m. | | |  | In closing | | When will cherry blossoms hit peak bloom? We predict late March. |  Cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in March 2022. (Kevin Ambrose for The Washington Post) | | | "Early blooms are emerging across Washington because of a historically mild January and February. One might think the famed Yoshino cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin would soon follow — but an abrupt change in the weather pattern by the second week of March may well put their bloom cycle on hold," Jason Samenow reports. "Because of the prospect of a chilly March in the D.C. area — slowing the start of spring — we're anticipating peak bloom will take place between March 25 and 29. That's just a few days earlier than normal." | | Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow. | | |
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