e s M a n u e l L o p e z

And r
O b r a d o r

IF WE ACCEPT THE RULE OF THOSE

WHO THINK THEY ARE THE BOSSES
AND LORDS OF MEXICO, NOTHING
WILL CHANGE FOR THE PEOPLE ON
THE BOTTOM.

https://www.khojdeal.com/
Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador
The left-wing politician and former
Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López
Obrador has promised no less than to
carry out a "radical transformation" in
his country and "eradicate corruption".

Mr López Obrador, who is popularly

known as "Amlo", an acronym using the
full initials of his name, has won the
presidency at the third attempt - and
must now put his promises into action.

The white-haired 64-year-old political

veteran led the polls and drew huge
crowds during the campaign with his
rousing populist speeches.

The presidential race was dominated by

concerns over corruption and drugs-
related violence.

Message of renewal
The president-elect ran under a three-
party coalition led by the leftist National
Regeneration Movement party (Morena)
he founded in 2014.

Opponents of Mr López Obrador say his

leftist sympathies risk turning Mexico
"into Venezuela".

They warn that he shares the

authoritarian approach and drive to
expropriate of the late Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez and that he will
wreck Mexico's economy in the same
way that of Venezuela has been.
Mr López Obrador rejects comparisons
with Venezuela's leaders, saying he will
not carry out expropriations or seek re-
election after this term in office.

He has however promised to review

contracts which were awarded by
Mexico's state oil company Pemex to
private companies during the
administration of outgoing President
Enrique Pena Nieto, saying he will check
them for corruption.

His message of renewal resonated with

an electorate weary of corruption,
soaring crime and economic hardship.
Mr López Obrador promised to deliver
economic growth, jobs and social
development programmes.

"We will carry out a peaceful

transformation, ordered, but profound
and even radical, because the word
radical comes from root, and what we
will do... is, in essence, to root out the
corrupt regime," he said at one
campaign rally.

Opposing the 'power

mafia'
Casting himself as an anti-establishment
candidate, Mr López Obrador has
directed his biggest criticism at what he
says is a "power mafia" that has ruled
Mexico for decades.

His plans include increasing scholarships

for young Mexicans and expanding
social welfare programmes for the
elderly.
Following a bruising war of words with
prominent business leaders, whom he
accused of acting "like they owned Mexico",
Mr López Obrador has extended an olive
branch, offering "good relations" with the
private sector.

Bringing peace in the

drugs war
The left-wing candidate has promised to
"achieve peace and end the war" in
Mexico at a time when the murder rate
has broken all records as drug cartels feud
and fragment.

While he has said that he will not continue

the military-led "war on drugs" strategy
waged by current President Enrique Peña
Nieto and his predecessor, Felipe
Calderón, Mr López Obrador has been
vague about his own planned security
policy.

He drew criticism, and even ridicule, when

he floated the idea of granting an
"amnesty" to criminals.

Standing up to Trump
Faced with hostility towards Mexico by US
President Donald Trump, Mr López Obrador
has maintained an attitude of proud
defiance.

He said that he would not allow Mexico to be

Mr Trump's "whipping boy", but added that
he wants "friendship" and "mutual respect"
with the US and that he would seek to avoid
any trade war.
However, he has blasted Mr Trump's anti-
immigrant policies as "irresponsible" and
"racist".

Life in politics
Born to a family of shopkeepers on 13
November 1953 in the rural community of
Tepetitán, in Mexico's southern Tabasco
state, Mr López Obrador began his
political career working for the governing
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In 1986, disillusioned by the PRI, he joined

a breakaway movement, the Corriente
Demorática (Democratic Current), which
later became the leftist Party of the
Democratic Revolution (PRD). In 2000, he
was elected mayor of Mexico City for the
PRD.

Mr López Obrador's administration in the

capital gained recognition for measures
such as the launching of welfare
programmes for the elderly and for
joining efforts with telecom tycoon Carlos
Slim to restore Mexico City's downtown.

In 2006, he made his first run for the

presidency, narrowly losing to Mr
Calderón in an election considered
Mexico's most controversial in modern
history because of the razor-thin
difference in votes - only 0.56% - between
the two.

Mr López Obrador led mass protests

against the results and denounced an
"electoral fraud". His supporters erected
encampments and blocked traffic in
Mexico City for months.
He tried again in the 2012 election, and
was defeated by PRI candidate Mr Peña
Nieto. This time, he won.