Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party, delivers a speech to supporters, in Mexico City, Mexico June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Ginnette Riquelme
Kate Linthicum, L.A. Times: He's been running for president in Mexico for more than a decade. He's floated amnesty for drug criminals. Could he win?
One of Mexico's most controversial and resilient political figures formalized his bid for the presidency Tuesday, vowing if elected to wean Mexico off U.S. agricultural imports, increase aid for students and the elderly and consider amnesty for drug war criminals.
The announcement by leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was a surprise to no one. AMLO, as he is known to his hordes of supporters and detractors, has been running for president for well over a decade.
The mayor of Mexico City from 2000 to 2005, he narrowly lost to Felipe Calderon in the 2006 presidential race. Six years later, Lopez Obrador was defeated by Enrique Peña Nieto, who leaves office next year. Mexican presidents serve a single six-year term.
This time around, Lopez Obrador is leading in the polls, with a recent one showing him 12 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival. With Peña Nieto's dismal approval ratings dragging down his ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and voters anxious about rising homicide rates, high-profile corruption scandals and tense relations with the United States, Lopez Obrador and his supporters think the moment is right for his populist message.
"Third time's the charm," he recently tweeted.
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WNU Editor: Like most politicians who push a populist message, Lopez Obrador's candidacy will resonate with a good part of the population who feel marginalized and/or left out. He is also facing a diverse field of unknowns .... while everyone knows him. Bottom line .... my Mexican friends tell me that this is his election to lose.
1 comment:
I think he will win, then we will have "last minute" shenanigans,the result of which I do not know. This I know from talking to many Mexicans on a every day basis, Mexico is on the very brink of a collapse/revolution. There are extremely powerful forces in Mexico lining up for confrontation and the "Government" is one of the weakest of the group.
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