What's Exciting About Where Mexico Is Headed?
President AMLO is changing Mexico while challenging US imperialism
AMLO Is Trying to Free Mexico and Latin America From the US’s Imperial Grip
by Medea Benjamin
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is wildly popular among Mexicans at home and abroad. It’s not just because of his domestic policies: AMLO is also playing a key role in challenging US dominance in Latin America.
When Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador traveled to Washington, DC, on July 12, his most exciting encounter for Mexicans in both the United States and Mexico was not his meeting with President Joe Biden but his impromptu encounter with well-wishers outside his hotel room at the Lombardy. Some of them had driven from places like Chicago and New York City just to get a glimpse of their president.
The video of the encounter, which must have been a nightmare for the Secret Service protecting him, went viral. It showed the president (known by his initials AMLO) sticking his head out the window, blowing kisses, catching a bouquet of flowers thrown to him, and being serenaded by mariachis singing the song “Amigo” (“You are my soul brother, a friend that in every way and day is always with me”).
AMLO showered them with praise, thanking them for their sacrifice of coming to the United States and working hard in order to send money back to their families in Mexico. “You are heroes and heroines,” he said, with a huge grin. “Our economy is rising because of what you send to your relatives. You are exceptional migrants. I love you very much.” He shared with them his plans to meet with President Biden and push for immigration reforms so that they could come and go legally. The adoring crowd below shouted back, “We love you, president, we are with you.”
AMLO has plenty of detractors. Critics from the Right condemn his populist economic policies, such as the nationalization of lithium. They say he has centralized power and does not tolerate dissent. On the Left, critics say he is complicit with repressive US immigration policies, has reneged on his promises to defend indigenous rights, and hasn’t done enough to stop the horrific wave of femicides and attacks on journalists.
But his fans see him as a man of the people who rode to power on December 1, 2018, with an overwhelming mandate to break with the corrupt parties that had ruled Mexico for almost a century. One of his first acts was to cut his own salary by half and slash the wages of most other top officials. He put the extravagant presidential plane up for sale, preferring to travel in economy class on commercial flights. He opened up the former presidential residence to the public, allowing millions of Mexicans and tourists to enjoy the palatial home and gardens.
Another reason for the president’s popularity is the extraordinary effort he puts into communicating with the public — perhaps more than any other leader in the world.
From the day he took office, he has been holding marathon press conferences from Monday to Friday, starting at 7 AM and lasting for two or three hours. Called “La Mañanera,” the conferences are broadcast live on public television and streamed on a dedicated YouTube channel, as well as directly on the president’s official website. The president’s office estimates that an astounding ten million people watch the program.
Unlike scripted press events in the United States, these are free-flowing discussions where the president talks in a folksy style about everything from COVID-19, infrastructure projects, and the migrant crisis to Mexico’s best foods and the cheapest places to buy gasoline. He speaks in a slow, conversational tone, breaking down political jargon into digestible concepts and taking unscripted questions from the press.
Claiming that the mainstream media often misinform the public or ignore key issues, AMLO ironically uses these press conferences to bypass the media and take his message directly to the people. His open style represents a fundamental break with the past, where presidents went for years without taking an unvetted question from a reporter.
But AMLO is more than just a popular Mexican president; he has become a leading progressive figure in the Americas. He has garnered support and gratitude for bold actions he has taken in solidarity with beleaguered leftist leaders and nations.
After the Organization of American States (OAS) sparked a coup against Evo Morales in 2019, AMLO sent a plane to whisk Morales out of the country and offer him asylum in Mexico. Morales credits AMLO with saving his life.
He has also offered asylum to jailed whistleblower Julian Assange and recently suggested that the Statue of Liberty should be dismantled and returned to France if Assange is extradited and imprisoned in the United States.
He has railed against the US sanctions on Cuba, calling them “ depraved” and a key reason that Cubans are migrating. He said that the people of Cuba deserve a “ dignity award “ for resisting US interference for over sixty years and that the entire country should be declared a World Heritage site.
But AMLO’s position as a regional leader was really boosted by his refusal to attend President Biden’s June 2022 Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles because of the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This had a snowball effect, prompting other heads of state to skip the gathering and turning Biden’s summit into a flop.
The Summit of the Americas is closely associated with the OAS, another institution AMLO has criticized, especially for its role in the Bolivian coup. AMLO has called for replacing the OAS with a truly autonomous body — “a lackey to no one.” That substitute would be the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
But AMLO insists that the two-hundred-year US domination of Latin America has been exhausted and must come to an end.
These ideas resonate across Latin America, especially with the new left tide sweeping the continent — the election of PresidentGustavo Petro in Colombia being the latest and most spectacular, given the country’s close alliance with the United States.
If Lula wins in Brazil in the upcoming elections, the continent will be ripe for a new regional architecture and setting its own terms for its relations with the US. The continent will also be grasping for new models of development that don’t rely on extractivism and corporate profits but improving the quality of life and the environment. Millions across the hemisphere will look to their new leaders, as well as AMLO and CELAC, to help navigate that process.
And now, for a deeper dive into AMLO’s trip to the US and his role as a strongly liked Latin American leader in regional and global politics, please watch our webinar with Marco Castillo.
Marco is the Executive Director of Global Exchange and coordinator for Nuestra Red.
How does AMLO differ from the previous leaders of Mexico? What happened to the presidential plane? What trap is AMLO in? And why should the people of the US support Mexico?
In this interview, CODEPINK’s Teri Mattson talks to Marco Castillo about all of this and more.