Mexico's new president
This is an analysis by the BBC's Marcos Martinez of the new Mexican president.Mexico's López Obrador pledges 'radical' change
Left-wing politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador… Mexico's new president… has promised to bring radical change to his violence-plagued nation by eradicating corruption and ending drugs wars.
"We're not planning to create a dictatorship, neither open nor disguised," Mr López Obrador said in his victory speech after winning the presidency on his third attempt on 1 July.
"The changes will be profound, but these will be carried out with strict respect for the established legal framework."
The 65-year-old, who is popularly known as AMLO after the initials of his full name, likes to cast the challenge facing him in historical terms.
He sees his task as engineering a "fourth transformation" in Mexico's history, following its 1810 independence, the 1854-1857 liberalising reforms implemented by then-President Benito Juárez, and the wars of the 1910-1920 Revolution that forged the modern Mexican nation…
With the country's soaring murder rate set to reach a new annual record of 29,000 in 2018, much attention has been focused on Mr López Obrador's plans to pacify the violence inflicted by Mexico's feared drug cartels, whose feuds claim daily victims.
During his campaign, the leftist politician sharply criticised the military-led strategies practised since 2006 by both of his predecessors, presidents Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto, in the so-called "war on drugs".
After initial promises to remove soldiers from the streets, Mr López Obrador announced on 14 November that he too would initially rely on the armed forces to fight crime…
"We analysed the problem, we only have 40,000 federal police officers," he said.
"On the other hand, we had the option of seeking the support, the backing of the armed forces. We had those two options, and in politics you always have to choose between inconvenient options, and we decided to rely on the armed forces."…
Mr López Obrador's economic policy statements have caused some unease among investors and markets.
His 29 October announcement cancelling a multi-billion dollar project to build a new Mexico City airport, following the decision of a "people's consultation" referendum rattled markets…
Jitters in the business community increased after Mr López Obrador's ruling National Regeneration Movement Party (Morena) and the allied Labour Party (PT) recently presented legislative initiatives in Congress that would eliminate certain bank fees and commissions and private retirement fund administrators.
While insisting that he would check existing oil contracts for "corruption", he has nevertheless also moved to reassure investors, for example saying on 28 November that his government would not carry out "expropriations"…
Despite early predictions of a bruising ideological clash with his right-wing northern neighbour, US President Donald Trump, Mr López Obrador has - since his election - mostly argued that Mr Trump has maintained an attitude of "respect" towards him and Mexicans in general.
"I have spoken on two occasions with Trump [since the presidential election] and he has sent a delegation [to Mexico] and there are ongoing negotiations, and I must recognise that he has given us respectful treatment…
Mr Trump has also said his administration would maintain a "very good relationship" with the López Obrador government.
Both leaders have avoided openly discussing controversial topics such as the Trump-proposed construction of a wall at the US-Mexico border, which the US leader had previously said Mexico would pay for in "one way or another".
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Labels: leadership, Mexico, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:20 AM
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