Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Andrés Manuel López Obrador ([anˌdɾes maˈnwel ˈlopes oβɾaˈðoɾ] (listen); born 13 November 1953), commonly referred to by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician serving since 2018 as the 58th President of Mexico.

Born in Tepetitán, in the municipality of Macuspana, in south-eastern state of Tabasco, López Obrador graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1986 following a hiatus from his studies to participate in politics. He began his political career in 1976 as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Tabasco and eventually became the party's state leader. In 1989, he joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and was the party's 1994 candidate for Governor of Tabasco. He was the national leader of the PRD between 1996 and 1999. In 2000, he was elected Head of Government of Mexico City. He left the PRD in 2012 and in 2014 founded the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), which he led until 2017.

López Obrador was a candidate for the third time in the 2018 presidential election, representing Juntos Haremos Historia, a coalition of the left-wing Labor Party, right-wing Social Encounter Party, and MORENA. This time, he won in a landslide victory, taking 53 percent of the vote. His policy proposals include increases in financial aid for students and double the pension for the elderly, double the minimum wage, amnesty for non violent drug criminals, construction of 100 universities and universal access to public colleges, ending the war on drugs and the legalization of some drugs like marijuana, cancellation of the Mexico City New International Airport project surrounded with scandals and environmental irregularities, a referendum on past energy reforms implemented in 2013 that ended Pemex's 75 year state-own control of the oil company the profits of which represented 18% of the total budget revenues of the public sector, stimulus and subsidiaries of the country's agricultural sector, delay of the renegotiation of NAFTA until after the elections, the construction of more oil refineries, increased social spending, slashing politicians' exorbitant salaries and perks and the decentralization of the executive cabinet by moving some key government departments and agencies from the capital to the states.

Early life and education

López Obrador was born in Tepetitán, a small village in the municipality of Macuspana, in the southern state of Tabasco, on 13 November 1953. He is the first born son of Andrés López Ramón (son of Lorenzo López and Beatriz Ramón) and Manuela Obrador González, Tabasco and Veracruz-based merchants. His younger siblings include José Ramón, José Ramiro, Pedro Arturo, Pío Lorenzo, and twins, Candelaria Beatriz and Martín Jesús. His maternal grandfather José Obrador Revueltas was a Cantabrian who arrived as an exile to Mexico from Ampuero, Spain, while his maternal grandmother Úrsula González was the daughter of Asturians.

López Obrador attended the only elementary school in town, the Marcos E. Becerra school, named after the poet of the same name. In the afternoons he helped his parents at the La Posadita store. He started middle school in Macuspana but finished it in the state capital, Villahermosa, as in the mid-1960s the family moved, where they also opened a clothes and shoes store called Novedades Andrés. On 8 June 1969, when he was 15 years old, his brother José Ramón López Obrador was killed by a gunshot to the head. According to Jorge Zepeda Patterson's [es] Los Suspirantes 2018, José Ramón found a pistol, played with it, and it slipped out of his hands, firing a bullet into his head. The Tabasco newspapers Rumbo Nuevo, Diario de Tabasco, and Diario Presente presented a story where they were both playing around with the pistol and that Andrés Manuel shot it by accident. According to Zepeda Patterson, Andrés Manuel became "taciturn, much more thoughtful" following the incident. López Obrador went on to finish high school and, at age 19, went to Mexico City to study at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

He studied political science and public administration at the UNAM from 1973 to 1976. He returned to school to complete his education after having held several positions within the government of Tabasco and the administration of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In 1987, he received his degree in political science and public administration after the presentation of his thesis, Proceso de formación del estado nacional en México 1821-1867 (Formation Process of the National State in Mexico 1821-1867).

He lived in the Casa del Estudiante Tabasco during his college years, on Violeta street in the Guerrero neighborhood of Mexico City. The institution was financed by the administration of the governor of Tabasco, Mario Trujillo García by the efforts of the poet Carlos Pellicer, whom López Obrador began to discuss with. There was empathy between the two because the young man raised his concern for the Chontal Maya. After their meeting, the poet invited him to his campaign to obtain a seat in the Senate during the 1976 elections. His university professor, Enrique González Pedrero, was another figure that influenced López Obrador's political trajectory.

Family and personal life

After attending school from 1973 to 1976, he returned to his native Tabasco where he held various government positions as well as being a professor at the Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco. During his stint, he met Rocío Beltrán Medina, a sociology student, who suggested that he embrace the progressive wing within the PRI. They eventually married on 8 April 1978. They had three sons: José Ramón López Beltrán (born 1981), Andrés Manuel López Beltrán (born 1986), and Gonzalo Alfonso López Beltrán (born 1991). Beltrán Medina died on 12 January 2003 due to respiratory arrest caused by lupus, from which she had been suffering for several years.

On 16 October 2006 he married Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, who had worked in the Mexico City government during his tenure as Head of Government of Mexico City. Together they have one son, Jesús Ernesto López Gutiérrez (born 2008).

López Obrador has held a variety of nicknames throughout his life, including El Molido, El Americano (The American), La Piedra (The Rock), El Comandante (The Commander), and the most popular among them is El Peje, named after the common Tabasco fish, the pejelagarto.

A baseball fan, he has stated his favorite team is the St. Louis Cardinals.

Early political career

Member of the PRI

He joined the PRI in 1976 to support Carlos Pellicer's campaign for a Senate seat for Tabasco. A year later, he headed the Indigenous People's Institute of Tabasco. In 1984, he relocated to Mexico City to work at the National Consumers' Institute, a federal government agency.

Member of the PRD

López Obrador resigned his position with the government of Tabasco in 1988 to join the new dissenting left-wing of the PRI, then called the Democratic Current, led by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. This movement formed the National Democratic Front and later became the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

In 1994, he ran for the governorship of Tabasco, but lost to PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo in a highly controversial election in which Madrazo was questioned about his campaign spending. López Obrador gained national exposure as an advocate for the rights of indigenous people when in 1996 he appeared on national TV drenched in blood following confrontations with the police for blocking Pemex oil wells to defend the rights of local indigenous people impacted by pollution.

He was president of the PRD from 2 August 1996 to 10 April 1999.

Head of Government of the Federal District (2000–2005)

Election

On 2 July 2000, he was elected Head of Government of the Federal District—a position akin to that of city mayor for the national capital district—with 38.3% of the vote.

Political agenda

López Obrador (center) with President Vicente Fox (left) and México State governor Arturo Montiel (right) in June 2003

As mayor, López Obrador implemented various social programs that included extending financial assistance to help vulnerable groups in Mexico City, including single mothers, senior citizens, and the physically and mentally challenged. He also helped found the first new university in Mexico City in three decades, the Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México.

López Obrador hired former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani to craft a zero-tolerance policy that would help reduce escalating crime in Mexico City.

He directed the restoration and modernization of Mexico City's historic downtown, which has 16th- and 17th-century buildings and a large number of tourist attractions. He led a joint venture with Carlos Slim Helú, a native of downtown Mexico City, to expropriate, restore, rebuild, and gentrify large parts of the area, creating shopping and residential areas for middle- and upper-income residents.

López Obrador used fiscal policy to encourage private sector investment in housing. He granted construction firms large tax breaks and changed zoning regulations to make construction projects more financially attractive, leading to the construction of more condominiums and office buildings during his tenure than during any other period in Mexico City history. New high-density condos emerged in the upscale neighborhoods of Polanco and Lomas.

To improve traffic flow in the city's two main inner-city roads, Periférico and Viaducto, he added sections of second stories to their existing infrastructure. About 10% of the total length of those roads was renovated. An express bus service, the Metrobús, based on the Curitiba model, was built down Avenida Insurgentes, cutting through the city some 20 km from north to south.

Legal and political controversies

López Obrador's reputation was damaged by the lynching of federal law-enforcement officers doing an undercover investigation in Tláhuac, in November 2004. The Mexico City Police rescued one agent, but the city's chief of police, Marcelo Ebrard, and federal Secretary of Public Safety, Ramón Martín Huerta, were both accused of not organizing a timely rescue effort. López Obrador's secretary of government Alejandro Encinas then declared that the lynching was part of the traditions (usos y costumbres) of the people. After a thorough investigation, López Obrador gave Ebrard a vote of confidence, despite a request from President Vicente Fox Quesada for him to be relieved of duty. Later, using his constitutional powers, Fox fired Ebrard, while Martín Huerta, a member of Fox's cabinet, received a reprimand, and continued to hold the position of Secretary of Public Safety until his death in a helicopter accident. López Obrador later appointed Ebrard as Secretary of Social Development, and supported his candidacy in the PRD primaries to run for office in Mexico City.

Removal of immunity from prosecution

Elected government officials in Mexico have an official immunity called fuero that prevents criminal charges from being brought against them, which can be removed through a process called desafuero. In 2004 the Attorney General's Office asked Congress to strip López Obrador of his immunity under charges of a misdemeanor (ignoring a court order). Under federal law, any person with criminal charges during the electoral process would not be eligible to run in a presidential election. A legal process begun in 2004 would likely have continued until the presidential campaigns of 2006, and would therefore have ended López Obrador's ambitions of running for the presidency in 2006.

Obrador during a speech in October 2005

His political opponents came to his defense, arguing that he should be subject to the same judicial process as anyone else. Notable newspaper editorials throughout the world charged that the desafuero was politically motivated (including The New York Times and the Washington Post) and that it should be stopped, and that excluding López Obrador from the upcoming elections would delegitimize the eventual winner.

After Congress voted in favor of removing López Obrador's immunity, he asked for leave from his post for a few days. President Vicente Fox, wanting to avoid a political cataclysm, and knowing that the decision made by Congress was against the will of millions of people, appeared on national TV in April 2005, indicating that the issue would not be pursued any further. The controversy closed on a technicality, and López Obrador, despite the removal of immunity, was not prosecuted (and thus remained eligible to compete in the presidential election). A few weeks later, Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha resigned.

Prior presidential campaigns

First presidential run, 2006

In September 2005, López Obrador was nominated as the PRD's presidential pre-candidate for the 2006 general election after the "moral leader" of the party, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, declined to participate in the internal elections when polls showed López Obrador had 90% of the party's support.

Until March 2006 he was considered the presidential front runner by the majority of polls; however, polls in late April showed a decline in his numbers. An article published by La Crónica de Hoy in March 2006 reported that Mexican Bolivarian Circles and students, allegedly assisted by Venezuelan agents, distributed "Bolivarian propaganda in favor of Andrés Manuel López Obrador" throughout cities in Mexico, with the report stating that such Bolivarian Circles were given "economic support, logistics advice and ideological instruction" from the Hugo Chávez government.

López Obrador was criticized by some left-wing politicians and analysts for including in his close staff many former members of the PRI who actively fought against his party in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Arturo Núñez (one of the authors of Fobaproa contingency fund created to resolve liquidity problems of the banking system), Manuel Camacho Solís and Marcelo Ebrard. The guerrilla leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), Subcomandante Marcos, openly declared López Obrador to be a false left-wing candidate, arguing that he was a centrist candidate. The "moral leader" and founder of the PRD, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, did not participate in any campaign events, but stated that he would still vote for his party, the PRD.

López Obrador's proposals, including his 50 commitments, produced mixed opinions from analysts. The Washington Post ran a news article indicating that López Obrador used U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as inspiration for his 50 commitments.

On 19 May, Roberto Madrazo, the PRI's presidential candidate and considered by all polls to be in a distant third place, hinted at the possibility of an alliance with López Obrador to prevent Calderón from winning the election, after both the parties had criticized the government for what in their opinion is supposed illegal support by the federal government for the National Action Party (PAN) candidate's campaigning. The PRD said that both parties entered into an information sharing agreement regarding the issue. This, combined with calls from high ranking PRI member Manuel Bartlett (former interior secretary when the alleged 1988 presidential election fraud was committed) to vote for López Obrador, aroused media speculation that the PRI and the PRD would indeed ally.

On 28 May, after López Obrador had discounted any such alliance because the PRI and PRD political tendencies could not be reconciled, Roberto Madrazo indicated that his comments had been misunderstood and that he would not step down or endorse any another candidate.

Election results

On 6 July 2006, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announced the final vote count in the 2006 presidential election, resulting in a narrow margin of 0.56 percentage points (243,934 votes) of victory for his opponent, Felipe Calderón. López Obrador appealed against the results who claimed there were widespread irregularities in the vote and demanded that every single vote be recounted (A generalized recount is only legal in extreme circumstances according to Mexican Electoral Tribunal Jurisprudence S3ELJ14-2004.) On 8 July 2006, López Obrador called for nationwide protests to ask for a recount of all votes, stating that "the government would be responsible for any flare-up of anger after officials rejected his demand for a manual recount of Sunday's extremely close vote." However, on 5 September 2006, the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) ruled that the election was fair and that Calderón was the winner and would become president.

In contesting the election, López Obrador and his coalition made several primary arguments: (a) that President Fox, the CCE and other organizations had illegally interfered in the presidential campaign, which was strictly prohibited by electoral law, thereby providing grounds to annul the election; that (b) that the votes were fraudulently tallied on 2 July and afterwards; and that (c) there was widespread and significant evidence of electoral irregularities, ranging from stuffed ballot boxes and inconsistent tally reports, to improper and illegal handling of the ballot trail and voter intimidation.

The Court did find that President Fox, and the CCE, a business interest group, had interfered in the elections in the form of campaigning for a given candidate, which is against campaign laws. However, the TEPJF determined that it was not possible to accurately evaluate the influence this interference had on the election results, but estimated the impact of Fox's interference as insignificant to the results of the election. The Tribunal stated that, similarly, it could not gauge the impact of CCE's interference.

Consequently, the Court ruled that both interferences could not be considered as a sufficient judicial cause to annul the election. In reference to the allegations of fraud, the Court similarly found that there was insufficient evidence to annul the election.

López Obrador and his coalition had alleged irregularities in a large number of polling stations and demanded a national recount. Ultimately the electoral tribunal (TEPJF), in a unanimous vote, ordered a recount of only about 9% of the polling stations. The Supreme Court later ruled that the evidence presented did not demonstrate that sufficient fraud had occurred to change the outcome of the election.

In response to this result, in a move reminiscent of Francisco I. Madero declaring himself provisional President of Mexico after calling the 1910 elections against Porfirio Díaz fraudulent, López Obrador's followers proclaimed him the Presidente Legitimo (Legitimate President), inaugurated him in a ceremony in the Zócalo, and formed an alternative, parallel government.

Post-election protests

López Obrador announced his victory to his supporters on the night of the election, stating that according to exit polls he had won by 500,000 votes. He did not cite any polls at the time, later he referenced Covarrubias and IMO. Several days later, the Federal Electoral Institute published its final tally, which had him down by a margin of 0.58%, or approximately 243,000 votes. López Obrador then initiated legal challenges, claiming election irregularities in 54% of polling stations, and demanded publicly the votes to be recounted "vote by vote" in all polling stations. The case was discussed by the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) and finally dismissed.

While the case was discussed in the Electoral Tribunal, the IFE has called for the candidates to refrain from proclaiming themselves as winner, president-elect, or president until the final resolution was taken. Both candidates disobeyed this call. In an interview by U.S. Spanish-language TV network Univisión, López Obrador referred to himself as "President of Mexico".

López Obrador held several gatherings in downtown Mexico City with hundreds of thousands of people attending, pressuring for a "vote for vote" general recount. On 31 July, in an act of civil disobedience, he organized the blocking of 12 kilometers of one of the most important roads in the capital, Paseo de la Reforma, which houses several important hotels, corporate main offices and the Mexico City Stock Market. Business groups said the blockades cost Mexico City businesses located near the areas of conflict daily losses of 350,000,000 pesos (about US$35 million). In order to compensate, they asked the Government of Mexico City to exempt them from paying taxes that year.

On Saturday 5 August, the TEPJF met in a public session to decide the outcome of the complaints the PRD and its coalition partners filed. The seven magistrates voted unanimously to order the recount of 11,839 ballot boxes in 155 districts (9.2% of the total), despite López Obrador's public demand that all votes and ballot boxes be recounted. The TEPJF based its decision of a partial recount on its finding that, despite publicly demanding a vote-by-vote general recount, López Obrador's party filed legal challenges to 71,000 polling stations (54%). Therefore, by law, the TEPJF found it could order a recount of only those 71,000 polling stations in controversy. The TEPJF ruled that it could not order a recount of the votes not in controversy because "the certainty asked by the [López Obrador] Coalition is tied to the respect for the tallies certified by the citizens in the polling stations not in controversy." However, the TEPJF did certify that principles of certainty in elections were grounds for a recount in some of the stations in controversy, since there was evidence of possible irregularities.

López Obrador rejected the resolution as narrow and he and his followers thus intensified their civil resistance. For about two hours on 9 August, protesters took over the tollbooths on four federal highways. These roads link Mexico City to Cuernavaca, Querétaro, Toluca, and Pachuca. The protesters prevented personnel from charging tolls in some of these roads and allowed vehicles to pass freely. Also, hundreds of his supporters surrounded four of the main offices of foreign banks, including Citibank's Banamex, BBVA's Bancomer, and the Mexican subsidiary of HSBC, closing them for about four hours, claiming that the foreign banks "ransack the country" and "widen the barrier between rich and poor" and because, supposedly, these banks had participated in the politics of the country by supporting Calderón.

On 8 August, López Obrador sent a message to the press, regarding the blockades, where he explained to the people, "10 reasons" in which he stands to continue the "peaceful civil resistance".

López Obrador held a rally, which he called a "National Democratic Convention", on 16 September, Independence Day, when a military parade was also scheduled to be held. The "democratic convention" started after the military parade.

Claiming that all the country's institutions are linked and protect each other, López Obrador said that they "no longer work" and called for the creation of new ones. He was quoted saying "the big changes in Mexico have never been produced through conventional politics, but in the streets." Some understood this as a call for revolution.

López Obrador led a rally on the day of the state of the union speech, where sympathizers celebrated the President being prevented from delivering his speech inside the Congress chamber. They claimed that the President "had created a police state" in the area around the Congress building and interpreted it as a violation of the Constitution that made it impossible for Congress to be called into session, and thereby enabling Fox to address the chamber. He explicitly told his followers not to be lured into violent confrontations, declaring, "We aren't going to fall into any trap. We aren't going to be provoked." He also asked his followers to remain in the Zócalo, instead of marching to the legislative palace, the site of the state of the union speech, as had been planned.

According to a poll published on 1 December 2006 in El Universal, 42% believed that Calderón's victory was fraudulent, and 46% believed that it was not.

"Legitimate Presidency"

López Obrador being proclaimed "Legitimate President of Mexico" by his supporters in November 2006

On 20 November 2006, the date when the Mexican Revolution is commemorated, López Obrador's sympathizers proclaimed him the "Legitimate President" at a rally in the Zócalo in Mexico City, though no formal poll was taken. The action was planned in another rally, the "National Democratic Convention", in which supporters gave him the title. At the Convention, López Obrador called for the establishment of a parallel government and shadow cabinet. He also advocated the abolition or reform of several institutions, alleging they are spoiled and corrupt, and asked for changes to the constitution to ensure the institutions work "for the people", and provide welfare and assistance to the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

After his supporters proclaimed him as "Legitimate President of Mexico", López Obrador created a "Cabinet of Denunciation" to counter all moves done by President Felipe Calderón. It was expected that this "alternative cabinet" would be used as a pressure mechanism to the initiatives of the government. In his speech at the proclamation ceremony, López Obrador promised to "procure the happiness of the people", and announced 20 "actions of government", such as fostering a process for renewal for public institutions and defending the right to information and demanding openness of communication media.

Days later, López Obrador announced that he would earn a salary of $50,000 pesos (US$2,500) a month, provided by donations.

Reactions to the "legitimate presidency"

Reactions to the "legitimate presidency" varied widely. An opinion by El País said that López Obrador's "lack of consideration to democratic institutions and rule of law seriously endanger civil peace in Mexico". After speculation of whether or not López Obrador's self-proclamation was against the law, the PRI stated that this political action was not a crime. Liébano Sáenz, chief of staff of former President Ernesto Zedillo, stated that López Obrador "will become the conscience of the nation, which will do much good for Mexican democracy". José Raúl Vera López, the Roman Catholic bishop of Saltillo, Coahuila, declared that the so-called "legitimate presidency" was a result of the "profound discontent with how the country has been run", and that López Obrador had "very deep moral backing".

A poll conducted by Grupo Reforma indicated that 56% of Mexicans disapproved of López Obrador taking the title, while only 19% approved. Sixty-three percent of those polled also said that the former candidate had lost credibility. Other responses in the poll include 82% describing the political atmosphere in Mexico as "tense", and 45% of those polled blamed it on the PRD, with only 20% blaming it on the PAN, and 25% blaming both parties. The poll was a telephone survey of 850 adults on 18 November with 95% confidence interval of +/-3.4% margin of error.

In the first few months of his term, President Calderón's announced initiatives that mirrored those of López Obrador. These included price ceilings for tortillas, in the form of a "Tortilla Price Stabilization Pact", that protect local producers of corn, a Presidential Decree limiting the President's salary and that of cabinet ministers, and a proposal for a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would significantly lower salaries for all public servants and impose caps on their remuneration. These measures were interpreted by some as actions "seeking to fulfill a campaign promise to incorporate the agenda of election rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador into his government", and by others as actions designed to undercut the opposition government.

Influence in the 2008 PRD elections

In 2008, the PRD held elections to renew its leadership. López Obrador's candidate, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez was opposed by Jesús Ortega. Allegations of fraud by both factions halted recounts and raised doubts about the legitimacy of the election. Media figures commented that, while López Obrador had used phrases such as "fraud", "illegitimacy", "corruption", etc. in the 2006 presidential election, the same phrases were now used to describe the PRD's election, and many feared that, no matter what the outcome, there would be a "legitimate" and a "spurious" President inside the Party. According to exit polls conducted by Mitofsky and IMO, Encinas won by 5% and 8% points, respectively.

Occupation of Congress

Congress was also taken by legislators of the Broad Progressive Front (FAP), the PRD, Labor and Convergence parties, on 10 April 2008 because of their disagreement with the Government regarding energy policy discussions, claiming they violated the Constitution. López Obrador's followers took both chambers of Congress and had them chained so nobody could enter, thus avoiding the passage of secondary laws which modified the legal framework of the Mexican national oil company, Pemex. Chairs and tables were used as barricades. López Obrador requested a four-month long debate on energy policies and not a 50-day debate presented by the PAN, PRI, Green Party and New Alliance.

Second presidential run, 2012

López Obrador at Zócalo in 2012

López Obrador ran again as the PRD, Labor Party, and Citizens' Movement candidate under the coalition Movimiento Progresista in the 2012 presidential election.

Political proposals

Economic proposals

In November 2011, he announced some of his economic proposals:

• Job creation. A sustained 6% growth rate to generate the new 1.2 million jobs needed each year.
• Austerity. Reducing salaries (of government officials) and unnecessary spending, saving around US$30 billion a year.
• Progressive fiscal reforms. The people who make less money should pay a smaller percentage of taxes than those making more money.
• No new taxes and no increment of existing taxes. He plans to focus on ending fiscal privileges.
• Competition. End monopolies, any private citizen who wants to participate in media, television, telephony, should be able to.

Security policy

López Obrador had been a firm critic of Felipe Calderón's military approach, and promised a further application of the law, proposing to take care of the victims of the Mexican Drug War and an emphasis on the protection of human rights in the country. He proposed a single police command that would gradually assume the activities of the Mexican Navy and the Mexican Army, as well as a single intelligence agency to tackle the financial networks of criminal organizations. The new police force would promote "civic and moral values". He said that he was committed to increase the salaries and benefits given to law enforcement officials throughout Mexico. His security strategy was composed of ten proposals, but all of them had a major theme: organized crime cannot be tackled if the government is responsible for the "erosion of human rights".

He also stated that if elected, he would firmly reject any intelligence activity from the United States, including money and weapons in aid. This policy would put a stop to the operations in Mexico of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration, including the use of unmanned drones. But it could also discourage U.S. aid to Mexico (US$1.6 billion since 2008).

This proposal was intended to appeal to popular resentment over U.S. actions in "Operation Fast and Furious", in which U.S. ATF agents allegedly engaged in "gunwalking".

López Obrador promised to reactivate the economy and social growth so more people could have access to a "better life" without having to join the cartels and abandon the rule of law. He also pledged to improve the education system and create more jobs before the criminal groups have a chance to recruit them. He also spoke of putting an end to corruption, impunity, drug consumption and addiction, and to the great privileges of the elite few. The security Cabinet that he proposed was to work directly with the municipal and state forces in a unified command.

López Obrador summed up his security policy as "Abrazos, no balazos." (Hugs, not bullets). At the start of his campaign, he said that he would remove Army personnel from the streets, but then said in May 2012 that he would use the military until Mexico had a "trained, skilled and moralized police force".

Proposed cabinet

López Obrador announced a tentative cabinet. Among them were:

• Marcelo Ebrard as Secretary of the Interior.
• Rogelio Ramírez de la O as Secretary of the Treasury.
• Juan Ramón de la Fuente as Secretary of Education.
• Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo as Secretary of the Environment.
• Javier Jiménez Espriú as Secretary of Communications and Transportation.
• Fernando Turner as Secretary of Economic Development.
• Adolfo Hellmund López as Secretary of Energy.
• René Drucker Colín as Secretary of Science and Technology.
• Elena Poniatowska as Secretary of Culture.
• Héctor Vasconcelos as Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Election results

The election was won by Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI, with 38.2%, to 31.6% for López Obrador. López Obrador did not accept the preliminary results, as a majority of votes had yet to be counted.

Subsequently, he claimed vote buying and other irregularities, and demanded a full recount by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE).

The IFE found some irregularities, but confirmed the results on 6 July. López Obrador rejected this announcement, and on 12 July filed a complaint for invalidation of the election. He alleged vote-buying, spending in excess of election regulations, illegal fund raising, and vote fraud. But on 30 August, the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary rejected his complaint.

Peña Nieto vote buying controversy

At a news conference, López Obrador claimed that the election was "plagued with irregularities" and accused the PRI of buying votes. He also claimed that the PRI handed out gifts to lure voters into casting their vote for that party. Soriana is a Wal-Mart-style chain of megastores, operating 500 grocery stores around Mexico. On the day of the 2012 presidential elections, people who voted for the PRI would receive pre-paid gift cards. Nonetheless, the PRI and the store denied those accusations and threatened to sue López Obrador. Peña Nieto vowed to imprison anyone – including members of the PRI – if they are found guilty of electoral fraud. Despite Peña Nieto's statement, many videos by citizens about the Soriana cards surfaced on YouTube.

Creation of MORENA

López Obrador (right) holding his Voter ID upside down along with Martí Batres (center) after submitting the formal political registration of MORENA to the INE

Following the 2012 presidential election loss, López Obrador told a rally in Mexico City's main plaza Zócalo on 9 September 2012 that he would withdraw from the Democratic Revolution Party "on the best of terms". He added that he was working on founding a new party from the Movement for National Regeneration ("Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional" in Spanish), which he would later name MORENA. A couple of days after his departure from the PRD, federal deputy Ricardo Monreal stated it was a "divorce for convenience", and that López Obrador did the most responsible thing in order to avoid the polarization of the country. According to polls and surveys, most of the Mexican public had negative view on the establishment of MORENA as a political party. On 7 January 2014, Martí Batres, president of MORENA, presented the documentation to the INE to be acknowledged political party. In 2014, López Obrador revealed why he left the PRD, stating, "I left the PRD because the leaders of that party betrayed the people, they went with Peña Nieto and approved the Pact for Mexico, which is nothing more than a Pact against Mexico. I can not be in a party where tax increases were approved and it was approved that they will increase the price of gasoline every month. Gasoline in Mexico costs more than in the United States, the salary in Mexico is the lowest in the entire North American continent, and instead of asking for wage increases, the PRD rose to the podium to ask for the increase in the price of gasoline, it's an embarrassment." After Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas criticized him for forming his own political party, on 7 July 2014, López Obrador posted on social media that, "PRD leaders and most of its legislators voted for the fiscal reforms [raising taxes and gas prices] and with their collaboration they paved the way for privatization of the oil industry." On 10 July 2014, the INE approved MORENA to be an official political party to receive federal funds and to participate in the 2015 legislative elections.

Presidential campaign 2018

Third presidential run

López Obrador ran again in the 2018 presidential election, his third bid for the presidency. In the election he represented MORENA, the PT, and the socially conservative right-wing Social Encounter Party (PES) under the coalition Juntos Haremos Historia. Pre-election polls indicated he had a double-digit lead over candidates Ricardo Anaya, José Antonio Meade, and Jaime Rodríguez Calderón.

Juntos Haremos Historia

Background

On 24 June 2017, the PT agreed to fight the 2018 election in an electoral alliance with MORENA; however the coalition was not officially registered with the National Electoral Institute (INE), the country's electoral authority. For MORENA, the alliance was facilitated by the withdrawal of the PT's candidate Óscar González Yáñez, who resigned his candidacy and called for votes in favor of Delfina Gómez Álvarez, standard-bearer in the state elections of the State of Mexico in 2017.

In October 2017, at PT's National Congress, as party president Alberto Anaya was reelected to another 6-year term, PT formalized its coalition with MORENA.

At first, there was speculation about the possibility of a front grouping all the left-wing parties: MORENA, the PRD, PT and the MC. However, López Obrador rejected any kind of agreement due to political differences, especially after the elections in the State of Mexico, when the candidates of the PRD and MC continued with their campaigns refusing to support the MORENA candidate. At the end of November 2017, the leaders of MORENA and the PES announced that they were in talks to form a possible alliance: Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes, president of the PES, said "We don't negotiate with the PRI, we have two options, go alone or with MORENA."

Confirmation

Parties of the coalition Juntos Haremos Historia

On 13 December 2017, PES joined the coalition between MORENA and the PT, and it was formalized under the name Juntos Haremos Historia (Together We Will Make History). Following the signing of the agreement, López Obrador was appointed as a pre-candidate for the three political groups. It was a partial coalition that supported López Obrador as the presidential candidate and divided the legislative elections between the three: MORENA chose candidates in 150 federal electoral districts (out of 300) and 32 Senate rates, while the PT and the PES each nominated 75 candidates for the Chamber of Deputies and 16 for the Senate.

The alliance received criticism as it was a coalition between two left-wing parties (MORENA and the PT) with a formation related to the evangelical right (PES). In response, MORENA national president Yeidckol Polevnsky said that her party believes in inclusion and team work to "rescue Mexico" and that they will continue to defend human rights; in turn, Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes, national president of the PES, said that "the only possibility of real change in our country is the one headed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador" and that his party had decided to be "on the right side of history".

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that this would be his last attempt to become president, rejecting to become a permanent moral leader for the left Mexican wing.

International solidarity

In Paris, France, there is the "Official French Committee of MORENA", on which several occasions have presented their support to the candidate in small rallies in that European country. In February 2018, French deputy and former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of the La France Insoumise party, met with López Obrador, before the official start of the electoral campaign in Mexico, and described his possible victory in the following terms: "If they manage to thwart the plans against them and win the elections, it will be a great change for Mexico and all of Latin America."

Miguel Ángel Revilla, president of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria, Spain, mentioned López Obrador in an interview on the El Hormiguero program, where he spoke of the possibility of victory for the presidential candidate in 2018: "I think he's going to win because Mexico needs a change with a good person, because they are presenting him as a Chávez-type populist, type Fidel Castro, but of that nothing: he wants to end corruption and inequality within what he can do because that country does not deserve what it has until now, I want to send my support to this man, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, from here."

López Obrador has been referred to as the "ideological twin" of the UK's Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who has visited López Obrador and invited him over to the British Parliament.

Proposed cabinet

In December 2017, he presented his proposed cabinet:

• Olga Sánchez Cordero as Secretary of the Interior
• Héctor Vasconcelos as Secretary of Foreign Affairs
• Carlos Manuel Urzúa Macías as Secretary of Finance
• Maria Luisa Albores as Secretary of Social Development
• Josefa González Blanco Ortiz Mena as Secretary of Environment
• Rocío Nahle as Secretary of Energy
• Graciela Márquez Colín as Secretary of Economy
• Esteban Moctezuma Barragán as Secretary of Education
• Víctor Villalobos [es] as Secretary of Agriculture
• Javier Jiménez Espriú as Secretary of Communications
• Irma Eréndira Sandoval as Secretary of the Civil Service
• Jorge Alcocer Varela as Secretary of Health
• Luisa María Alcalde Luján as Secretary of Labor
• Román Meyer Falcón as Secretary of Agrarian Development and Urban Planning
• Miguel Torruco Marqués as Secretary of Tourism
• Alejandra Frausto Guerrero as Secretary of Culture

Replacements

It was announced on 5 July 2018 that Héctor Vasconcelos would be replaced at Foreign Affairs by Marcelo Ebrard, following Vasconcelos's election to the Senate.

Political positions

Salomón Jara Cruz (left) and López Obrador (center) in San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca, in March 2016

López Obrador has often been described as left-wing and populist. Other outlets have claimed that López Obrador toned down his rhetoric for the 2018 election. In his inauguration speech he came out strong against neoliberalism, calling it a "disaster" and a "calamity" for the country and promised a historic "transformation".

Domestic policy

He proposes the cancellation of the under-construction New Mexico City International Airport, the conversion of the president's official residence and office complex, Los Pinos, into a cultural center, as well as universal healthcare, free internet, pledging to sell the presidential aircraft, and has offered to hold referendums on various issues, among them include a performance evaluation halfway through his term during the 2021 legislative elections, (instead of his former proposal of every two years) that would cut his six-year term short if he loses the consultation. He proposes dispersing the cabinet throughout the country's states, with the objective of "promoting development throughout the national territory", while the Presidency and the Secretariats of National Defense, the Navy, the Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Finance and Public Credit remain in the capital.

Corruption

His chief pledge is to eradicate institutional corruption by enacting a series of constitutional laws and policies aimed at making corruption more difficult. One example of that is the two laws enacted that now makes corruption and voter fraud a criminal act without bail. Also, removing corrupt government officials with a due process. It is a combination of zero tolerance and personal honesty to sweep it out "from top to bottom like cleaning the stairs". He is asking international organizations to come to Mexico to help investigate cases of corruption and human rights abuses, and is also willing to allow the creation of a body, akin to the CICIG in Guatemala, to help local prosecutors build graft cases. He also proposes to amend an article in the constitution to make it possible to try presidents for corruption.

Energy

López Obrador has had mixed views on the denationalization of oil that was signed into law in 2013. He has called for a referendum over the 2013 energy reform (es) that ended Pemex's monopoly in the oil industry. Rocío Nahle, his top energy adviser, has called for a freeze on future deepwater drilling auctions and a review of contracts with international oil companies. In February 2018, his business adviser, Alfonso Romo, said, "[he] reviewed most of the oil tenders awarded to private drillers and found them to be beneficial for Mexico." He has also pledged ending oil exports in order to focus internally, as well as investing in refineries along with ending the importation of gasoline from the United States, saying the nation must recover energy self-sufficiency "as a principle of national security" and should make loss-making state refineries operable and assess biodiesel production. López Obrador has promised no more gasolinazos as well as no more hikes in electricity and gas prices. On 30 November 2018 López Obrador told press that the previous administration's oil reforms, which permitted auctioning oil field rights to private companies, would not continue under his administration.

Education

With his saying, "Becarios sí, sicarios, no" (Scholarships, yes; contract killings, no), López Obrador proposes guaranteed schooling and employment to all young people, through universal access to public colleges and intending to offer monthly scholarship money of 2,400 MXN to low-income university students. López Obrador is against the educational reform passed into law in 2013, saying he is against the use of teacher evaluations because it is used as a basis of firing them, saying, "It is an ideological problem of the right, of conservatism, deep down they do not want public education, basically they want education to be privatized, it is the mentality that prevails in these people, I ask them to be serene and if you really want to help improve education, do not polarize or disqualify [the teachers]." He also argues that, "Children go to school without eating and that is not addressed in the so-called education reform."

War on drugs

As the Mexican Drug War dragged on into its 12th year, he reiterated his 2012 presidential run strategy of "Abrazos, no balazos" (Hugs, not bullets), arguing that jobs and better wages, especially for younger people and the rural populace, are necessary to combat crime, not the use of more military force. He has proposed amnesty for some drug war criminals, for which he would seek the aid of international NGOs, Pope Francis, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Héctor Vasconcelos, a former diplomat, said a López Obrador government would gradually pull back the Army and Navy from the streets where they have been engaged. He is willing to establish a truth commission to bring closure to tens of thousands of people exposed to horrific murders and disappearances of their friends and family, such as the 2014 Ayotzinapa kidnapping. He declared that he would consider legalizing certain drugs as part of a broader strategy to fight poverty and crime.

Economic policy

Described by Lopez Obrador as an adherent to Mixed economy, at an event on June 3, 2018 he explained that "there will be a mixed economy; the State with public investment could not face the challenge of growth in Mexico, private investment is required and the social sector is also required." Based on his economic proposals; he wants the country to be "self-sufficient" and to "rescue the agriculture industry" that was affected due to the difficulty to compete with the American Agriculture industry after the North American Free Trade Agreement was stablished in 1992. He has also doubled compensations to both, pension to two million five hundred senior citizens, and the nation's minimum wage, which currently stands at 88.40 pesos per day. López Obrador has also created a special zone along Mexico's northern border with lower value-added taxes, lower rent taxes, and higher wages. His advisers also said that the same measures could also be directed at Mexico's southern border and elsewhere to contain migration. He has planned a host of infrastructure projects in partnership with the private sector, especially a rail link across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, to spark economic growth in Mexico's economically depressed south. At a major banking conference in March 2018, he made promises not to disrupt economic stability and respect the autonomy of the Bank of Mexico saying, "We will support banks and we won’t confiscate assets. There won’t be expropriations or nationalizations."

NAFTA

López Obrador has been a critic of NAFTA, arguing small Mexican corn farmers have been hurt, as well as proposing to defend avocado farmers from agricultural tariffs. He has asked Peña Nieto's administration to postpone the current renegotiation of the agreement, arguing both U.S. President Donald Trump and Peña Nieto do not have a strong, amicable relationship, tainted by a cancelled foreign trip. During the general assembly of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, he said he does not want the agreement cancelled, arguing it is benefits the three member nations. In June 2018, during a presidential debate, he argued that if there is a failure in the NAFTA renegotiation, the domestic economy must be strengthened, arguing, "[it] cannot be fatal for Mexicans, our country has a lot of natural resources, a lot of wealth." López Obrador has argued in favor of increasing workers' salaries "because wages in our country are very low, they are the lowest wages in the world and we need to strengthen the domestic market and this is to improve the income of workers; you can not be paying the workers of the maquilas 800 pesos a week."

Fiscal policy

Arguing he would be fiscally conservative he intends on raising social spending, without tax hikes nor accumulation of public debt, via proposed austerity measures on politician and bureaucrat salaries and privileges, including the president's salary and post-presidential pension.

Foreign policy

López Obrador with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2018

Following accusations by interest groups and the opposition who ran a dark campaign against Lopez Obrador during his campaign, where alleges influenced by Venezuela's government and that he was a mirror image of Donald Trump, López Obrador stated, "No to Chavismo, no to Trumpismo; yes to Juarismo, yes to Maderismo, yes to Cardenismo, yes to Mexicanismo." He has repeatedly stated that he wants to continue the bilateral relationship with the United States based on mutual respect and friendship, and not of "subordination", insisting that "Mexico will not be a piñata of any foreign government" Also said,"we no longer want Mexico to be seen as a country of conquest, the looting is over." During a presidential debate, López Obrador argued that "the best foreign policy is domestic policy," in that if the country has no corruption and crime, it will help develop trust for investment and truism because the image of Mexico would improved Mexico's perception on the international arena. He has campaigned on Mexico's former foreign policy of non-interventionism and the Principle of the self-determination of the peoples' nations that's stated in the Mexican constitution, article 89. During his presidential election victory speech, he stated, "We will be friends of all the world’s people and governments. The principles of non-intervention, self-determination and the peaceful settlement of disputes will be applied again."

Immigration

As President Donald Trump accused Mexican illegal immigrants of "bringing drugs [and] crime" during his presidential campaign, López Obrador has taken a stance against Trump's proposals for the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border as well as the deportation of undocumented immigrants in the United States. In 2017, he called on the current administration to "[present] a lawsuit at the United Nations against the U.S. government for violation of human rights and racial discrimination". He promised to convert the 50 Mexican consulates in the United States into "procurators" for the defense of migrants, suggested appointing Alicia Bárcena, current Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, as Mexico's permanent representative to the UN, and pledged to put pressure on the United States through organizations like the United Nations. He accused the establishment parties of the corruption that keeps migrants from receiving the support they need. Regarding migration to Mexico, he asserted his government would not "continue the dirty work" of the United States and detain Central American migrants at the country's southern border. Following his proposed idea of decentralizing the nation's cabinet away from Mexico City, he would move the National Institute of Migration to Tijuana, Baja California. He suggested that the NAFTA negotiations be used to put together a development plan for Central America as a means to address emigration in the region, including a proposed "alliance for progress" including Mexico, the United States, Canada and Central America to foster job creation, grow the economy and pacify the region. López Obrador said he wants to broker a deal with President Trump to stem illegal immigration through jobs and development rather than a border wall. López Obrador's pick for the proposed reestablishment of the Secretariat of Public Security, Alfonso Durazo, declared in July 2018 that there are plans in order to create a border police that would mainly patrol Mexico's southern border to halt illegal immigration, drugs, and weapons. In October 2018, López Obrador declared working visas for Central American immigrants, a couple of days later, following the arrival of Central American migrant caravans into Mexico en route to the United States, he asked for solidarity with the migrants.

Election results

Celebration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City's Zocalo after being declared winner in Mexico's federal elections of 1 July 2018

López Obrador won the election on 1 July 2018 with 53% of the popular vote–the first candidate to win an outright majority since 1988, and the first candidate not from the PRI or its predecessors to do so since the Mexican Revolution.

In terms of states won, López Obrador won in a landslide, carrying 31 out of 32 of the country's states.

Around 30 minutes after polls closed in the country's northwest, José Antonio Meade, speaking at a news conference from PRI headquarters, conceded defeat and wished Andrés Manuel López Obrador "every success". Ricardo Anaya also conceded defeat within an hour of the polls closing, and independent candidate Jaime Rodríguez Calderón recognized López Obrador's victory shortly afterward.

Presidency (2018–present)

López Obrador took office on 1 December 2018. He declared that he will take a 60% salary pay cut.

Prior to taking office, from 22 October to 25 October, he held a referendum on whether or not the New International Airport for Mexico City was to be scrapped, citing that the project was rife with graft and a waste of taxpayer money. About 70% of the results voted against the continuation of the project. López Obrador insists on expanding the Santa Lucía Air Force Base instead.

In December 2018, López Obrador ordered the creation of a truth commission to re-examine one of the country's most notorious unsolved crimes: the kidnapping and presumed murder of 43 trainee teachers who disappeared after they were attacked by cartel gunmen and corrupt police officers.

The minimum wage was increased by 16.21%.

Personal beliefs

López Obrador has publicly denied reports of him being a Protestant and, in a television interview, identified himself a Roman Catholic. Although in March 2018, he declared, "When I am asked what religion I adhere to, I say that I am a Christian, in the broadest sense of the word, because Christ is love and justice is love."

Newspapers have written about López Obrador characterizing business and political elites as belonging to "la mafia del poder" (the power mafia).

After the 2018 presidential election, media organizations including Forbes reported that López Obrador said the victory of his party, MORENA, was "La Cuarta Transformación" (The Fourth Transformation). The phrase is a reference to three major historical reforms, namely Mexican independence, the Reform War, and the Mexican Revolution.

Public image

During his time as Head of Government, López Obrador became one of the country's most recognizable politicians. He left office with an 84% approval rating, according to an opinion poll by Consulta Mitofsky. According to an article by Reforma newspaper, he kept 80% of the promises he made as a candidate. He was runner-up in the 2004 World Mayor Prize, losing out to Tirana mayor Edi Rama (who later went on to become Prime Minister of Albania).

Press

In 2006, the Mexican newspaper El País criticized López Obrador for what it characterized as "extreme" verbal insults toward Mexican government institutions and President Vicente Fox.

In 2018, Mexican publication Aristegui Noticias criticized Vicente Fox for what it characterized as "extreme" verbal insults on Twitter towards López Obrador crackdown on institutional corruption.[8]

Honors

National honors

• : Grand Master and Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (1° December 2018)

Publications

• Los Primeros Pasos, Tabasco, 1810-1867. Villahermosa, Tabasco: Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco. 1986. OCLC 21117234.
• Del esplendor a la sombra: la República restaurada, Tabasco 1867-1876. Villahermosa, Tabasco: Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco. 1988. OCLC 48297841.
• Tabasco, Víctima de un Fraude. Mexico City: Nuestro tiempo. 1990. OCLC 651573248.
• Entre la Historia y la Esperanza: corrupción y lucha democrática en Tabasco. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 1996. OCLC 906604879.
• Fobaproa, expediente abierto: reseña y archivo. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 1999. OCLC 654341802.
• Un proyecto alternativo de nación: hacia un cambio verdadero. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 2004. ISBN 9685956979.
• Contra el desafuero: mi defensa jurídica. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 2005. ISBN 9685957908.
• La mafia nos robó la Presidencia. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 2007. ISBN 9789707802155.
• La gran tentación: el petróleo de México. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 2008. ISBN 9789708105651.
• La mafia que se adueñó de México... y el 2012. Mexico City: Grijalbo Mondadori. 2010. ISBN 9786073100694.
• No decir adiós a la esperanza. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 2012. ISBN 9786073113434.
• Neoporfirismo hoy como ayer. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 2014. ISBN 9786073123129.
• El poder en el trópico. Mexico City: Planeta mexicana. 2015. ISBN 9786070728211.
• Catarino Erasmo Garza Rodríguez ¿Revolucionario o Bandido?. México: Planeta. 2016. ISBN 9786070733314.
• 2018 La salida. Decadencia y renacimiento de México. Mexico City: Planeta. 2017. ISBN 9786070738739.
• Oye, Trump. Planeta. 2017. ISBN 9786070742644.

Publications inspired by or about AMLO

• La máquina del tiempo del maestro López. 2018. ISBN 9781717968067.