Showdown with Mexican billionaire Salinas tests Sheinbaum's power

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators try to pull down a barrier during a protest against insecurity and corruption in the country, outside the National Palace, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 15, 2025. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan/File Photo

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Ricardo Salinas Pliego, one of Mexico's wealthiest tycoons, commands an empire that stretches from banking to media, and casts himself as an anti-corruption crusader.

To Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, Salinas is something altogether different: a tax dodger and right-wing agitator whose companies owe the government some $4 billion.