WOMEN+POWER: Heads of State President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum, PM of Barbados Mia Mottley and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni

President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo

It would be logical for a profile about Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that centers on the highly fraught trade wars and border issues between Mexico and the United States. Sheinbaum has remained steadfast in her positions on both of these hot topics, staring down the White House and calling their bluffs.

But far beyond the trade and border issues, Sheinbaum is responsible for a country that's been in societal turmoil and economic freefall for decades. To address her homegrown issues, she is cracking down on government fraud and theft, set on returning to the Mexican people - and sstate - what is rightfully theirs. Sheinbaum said recently that her administration is working to reach an agreement with a former public official accused of transferring hundreds of millions of dollars in allegedly illicit funds from Mexico to investment accounts and other assets in Florida.

During her morning press conference, Sheinbaum said Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit, led by Pablo Gómez, is negotiating with Genaro García Luna, the country’s former secretary of public safety. She said the goal is for García Luna to return the money that he and his wife allegedly diverted from the Mexican government during former President Felipe Calderón’s administration, which ran from 2006 to 2012.

“There is an ongoing process to reach an agreement regarding the information and the return of the resources,” Sheinbaum said. “On Friday, I received a note from Pablo Gómez stating that they are in this process, and I ask Pablo to inform us about how it’s going.”

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, told leaders at the annual U.N. general debate last September that, over the last four years, the world has faced ‘poly-crises.’  “We continue to wrestle with the climate crisis as a human family, We grapple with the legacy of the pandemic,” she said, adding that “we are now regrettably confronted by multiple theaters of war and scenes of horror and famine flowing from that war, armed conflict, instead of pursuing the development of citizens of every country.”

Citing Ukraine and Gaza, as well as Sudan, Mottley said that the world could not “afford the distraction of war,” saying that, “if ever there was a time to pause and to reset, it is now collectively, collectively as an international community and individually, as leaders in each of our countries.”

She said it was incumbent on leaders to “deliver new opportunities and solutions to these crises which dampen economic growth, which restrict the ambitions of our people and numb our sense of the beauty and goodness that the world ought to be offering.” She added this reset is what “all of our citizens are demanding.”  Simply put she said that too many people “go to bed with their belly hungry.”

An inability to reset globally will foster “a crisis of confidence in the existing international order, which must become inclusive and responsive for all,” she said. This global reset should target our rules and institutions, aiming to end discrimination and processes that create first- and second-class citizens depending on your nation of origin, she continued.  

Recalling that 2024 was the final year of the UN Decade, Mottley said that while much had been achieved, Barbados and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) were joining the growing chorus for the immediate proclamation of a second Decade to address the matter of reparations for slavery and colonialism.  

As wars continue to rage around the world, the UN she said has an important role. “There are few areas where the world is more in need of the United Nations acting as the United Nations to secure the objectives of the Charter than in the area of peace and security,” she noted.

However, Mottley added that the UN, and especially the Security Council, needs reform, underlining that the current configuration of permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council “has no place in the 21st century.”

The Barbadian Prime Minister highlighted areas where she felt reason for optimism including the adoption by global leaders of the Pact for the Future, a landmark declaration that sets out the commitment by countries around the world to foster sustainable development, peace and stronger global governance.

Ultimately, she said, “Above all else, we need a global reset on peace. There needs to be global peace. It can’t be too difficult to work for peace.”

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni

The Italian Senate approved a controversial new bill aimed at cracking down on demonstrations and expanding legal protections for law enforcement.

The Security Decree, proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government, passed by a vote of 109 to 69 with one abstention, following its approval in the lower house last week.

The law introduces stricter penalties for protest-related offenses, including property damage and disruptive sit-ins, and grants broader powers to law enforcement. It allows intelligence agents to commit certain crimes for national security purposes without facing prosecution. It also introduces the crime of injuring a police officer while on duty and allocates up to €10,000 to cover legal fees for officers investigated over their conduct on the job.

“With the final approval of the Security Decree in the Senate, the Government takes a decisive step to strengthen the protection of citizens, the most vulnerable groups and our men and women in uniform,” Meloni said as she continues to flex her political muscle over Italy.

Other measures include longer sentences for inmates who riot or disobey orders in prisons and migrant detention centers, and new rules targeting pickpockets on public transport and especially those claiming pregnancy to avoid jail.

The decree, which Meloni has promoted under her promise of “a safer Italy,” has sparked demonstrations across Italy in recent months, with human rights bodies accusing the government of criminalizing dissent, limiting civil liberties and curtailing the right to protest.

The law will alarm — and provide ammunition to — Meloni’s opponents, who have highlighted links between her Brothers of Italy party and fascism. Suppressing dissent and increasing police powers are standard moves in the fascist playbook.

As European nations swing to the right in one after another, Meloni will have the political protection to double-down on her power grab, but will voters let that stand when elections come back around? That’s the true test of power – and the jury is still out on that.