Mexico – Leftwing Obrador Bound To Win Presidency

Mexico goes to the polls tomorrow in an election that, if polls are to be believed, was decided months ago. Mr Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, is ahead by double digits versus any of his nearest rivals as his countrymen take a hard swing left.

The US southern neighbor has seen a dramatic increase in violence and corruption in the past two years whilst the murder rate has tripled. Last year was already the most violent year in Mexico’s history and this year is expected to rise above that easily. In that kind of situation, combined with a US President Trump who’s been, in their words, ‘demonizing’ them whenever he speaks about Mexicans, one would expect voters to choose right. But after unsuccessful Mexican rightwing governments in these past few years promised much but didn’t deliver, the mood looks set for a leftwing shift.

Ms Karla Vasquez explained her upcoming choice for Amlo: "Donald Trump is garbage. There is no other way to describe him. Of course, we want our leader to stand up to him because that is why he is our president, so he can defend us, from him or anyone else."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NAFTA critic Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador holds big lead on eve of Mexican election <a href="https://t.co/ZA3wwaVCp7">https://t.co/ZA3wwaVCp7</a> <a href="https://t.co/6zxYtIB7UF">pic.twitter.com/6zxYtIB7UF</a></p>&mdash; Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) <a href="https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1013022103254306816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2018</a></blockquote>

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In a country where 53 million live in poverty, it seems like the last possible option. Mr Viridiana Ríos, who leads a collective of young leftist Mexican thinkers, explained the situation best: “I think it is just that a lot of people haven’t noticed we have created a country where a lot of people have nothing to lose.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If the poll numbers bear out on Election Day, @López Obrador_ could win by a landslide, putting a leftist leader in charge of LA&#39;s second-largest country for the first time in decades. He is currently 20 to 30 percentage points ahead of his closest rival. <a href="https://t.co/orKA282SyU">https://t.co/orKA282SyU</a></p>&mdash; Dolia Estevez (@DoliaEstevez) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoliaEstevez/status/1012880922348347394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2018</a></blockquote>

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“It’s a humanitarian crisis. Voting Amlo is a gamble, and when you have nothing to lose you can gamble more riskily.”

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/27625-Mexico-Business-Warns-Against-Obrador-Presidency-Look-At-Venezuela-Argentina-Cuba

The level of trust in politicians has seen a dramatic fall under the current leadership of President Enrique Pena Nieto. It is therefore mostly the younger voters who want change and with half of those eligible to vote under the age of 39, many of them have decided online to choose for Amlo long ago.

Student Lisette Mariana Perez explained: "He represents the people. He's from the people. We don't see him like he is above us. We feel that he is with us."

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/27361-Mexico-Oil-Majors-Fear-Inevitable-L-pez-Obrador-Presidency

Critics of Mr Obrador, who include most of the business leaders, claim that his policies will run Mexico into the ground, much as Chavez did in Venezuela.

In any case, the presidential election is only the second most important thing on Mexicans’ minds this weekend. The upcoming world cup clash versus eternal rival Brazil far easily outweighs it.

Source:

http://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2018/06/30/5b35e3b7e5fdea6e678b4611.html