Andrés Manuel López Obrador celebrates the 100 days of the presidency with a surprising style – 03/10/2019

The first 100 days of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as President of Mexico they mixed a compulsive abandonment of the post's engagements with a surprising variety of political initiatives and a series of false steps they did not decrease their high popularity rating.

López Obrador answered more questions from the press, took more commercial flights, posed for more selfies with fans and visited the real danger areas with very little or no security at that time, his predecessors added several decades. In addition, he surprised many maintain a cordial relationship with US President Donald Trump, helping to contain the caravans of Central American migrants up to the border while resisting Washington's efforts to overthrow Venezuela's left-wing government.

The popular and eternal candidate badumed the presidency on 1 December and, at the end of his first month in office, its acceptance rate exceeded 80%. AMLO, as everyone knows, took full advantage of this mandate to act quickly on many fronts, perhaps even too much.

"Every week at least announce one or two things," Ivonne Acuña Murillo, professor of political science at the Iberoamerican University of Mexico. "Sometimes the speed of the questions on the agenda is such that in the morning, a song is created and that in the afternoon, this song is replaced by another".

Before even taking possession, López Obrador organized a referendum on a $ 13 billion airport in the capital, whose work had already begun. He took the result of the consultation as a green light to cancel a project against which he had campaigned.

During his first month in office, López Obrador launched a military operation against the bands that steal gasoline in the country, dividing the safety of the most critical refineries and pipelines between the army and the navy. The offensive, planned in a hurry, caused a shortage of gas in the country but did not affect its popularity.

This month, he ignored the complaints of human rights defenders and succeeded in getting Congress and legislatures to adopt constitutional reforms. the creation of a heavily militarized National Guard which, according to him, will be the key to controlling violence in the country.

For AMLO, a normal day starts at 6 am with a security-focused government meeting, where he receives the daily report of crime. At 7 am, a booth at the historic National Palace represents a press conference open to the public. This usually lasts an hour and a half.

From there, you can organize a meeting on the initiative of the day and, around noon, take the plane. (in tourist clbad, hug and take selfies with other pbadengers) in a provincial town, where you will meet local leaders, going to eat at a modest local cafe, organize an outdoor gathering and give more hugs. Later, he takes another commercial flight to Mexico City (he says he's going to bed soon).

What part of the day do you like the most? Direct contact and jokes with those attending their events in provincial cities, which is essentially what he has been doing for 20 years in his three attempts to become president.

"He is a little messianic in the evangelical sense, he always preaches," said Federico Estévez, professor of political science at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. "It's Bernie Sanders who has the power."

"I'm not sure that it's a good governance model, but as a political model he is exceptionally good"he added.

It is easy to lose sight of how different AMLO's mandate is, unless the distant and imperial presidency has been lived on for decades, in which the current leader has rarely appeared beyond prepared speeches and From a caravan of luxury vehicles have been running at full speed in the president's personal hangar to fly in the presidential plane and get to extremely guarded events.

But There are no more caravans, no plane, no security, no official residence. You are more likely to see López Obrador buy a dollar coffee in a shop practice or eat beans at a roadside restaurant, rubbing elbows with foreign leaders

AMLO came to power in concert with a wave of popular discontent over corruption in the country and aroused an almost unquestionable devotion for his honest and humble style.

"The advantage of Andrés Manuel as governor is that he arrives with support that no president has ever had in Mexico," said Benjamín Arditi, professor of politics. political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

López Obrador already had clashes with NGOs, regulators, environmentalists, external experts and rating agencies. His campaign against crime and violence has yielded few results. He gets angry with those who ask for feasibility or environmental impact studies for their projects.

But hardly anyone notices it. "There is something as devotional as religious," said José Antonio Crespo, a political badyst at the Center for Economic Research and Education. "It only makes them believe what he says, no matter what the experts say, the qualifiers or the international organizations, it does not matter, that's what it's all about. He says.

At least two rating agencies have reduced their outlook on Mexico's debt to "negative" since AMLO's entry into office. Their decisions, such as the cancellation of the airport project, do not generate the least confidence, and it will cost, and is expensive, in terms of capital outflows or uninvested money, Crespo said.

For López Obrador, the Mexican foreign police is simply reduced to non-intervention and leaves it in the hands of his main diplomat, Marcelo Ebrard.

But some critics argue that Mexico complies with Trump's orders by accepting its program for Central American asylum seekers to wait for the settlement of their case on the Mexican side of the border and restrict the movement of migrant caravans.

"It's a US policy that is once again trying to subordinate Mexico's migration policy," said Oscar Misael Hernández, an immigration researcher at North Border College in Matamoros.

Others believe that the fact that American courts are soon suspending the program is a pragmatic calculation. At the same time, allowing it contributes to the relationship with Washington and indicates a commitment to invest $ 10,600 million in regional development, a package of measures to create jobs in Central America and southern Mexico to reduce the number of people forced to leave.

Given the growing signs of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country, containing immigration has a low political cost for AMLO and is offset by its initiative to grant work visas to migrants.

The most criticized shift of the new government was the decision of the President of reduce funds to non-governmental organizations They have worked in a variety of areas, ranging from the promotion of art and culture to the management of reception centers for victims of domestic violence, alleging that "intermediaries" were used to divert public funds. López Obrador wants to give the money directly to the people who need it, but according to experts, it will not work with complex social services such as cribs and shelters for battered women.

Mariana Baños, whose Fundación Origen offers support services to women (usually through alliances with other organizations and local governments), said many groups were forced to close because they were totally dependent on public funds.

Baños rejected accusations of corruption and urged the executive to reconsider its decision.

"You have to work together, hand in hand, do not divide, do not stigmatize," he added.

Despite the friction, there are also moments of relaxation in "El 4-T", a play on words with AMLO's description of his government the "fourth transformation" of Mexico.

López Obrador often makes fun of his own jokes. Publish videos in Facebook restaurants on the road with impromptu lessons on the benefits of coconut or other local fruits for health. And Mexicans adopt their usual popular expressions, such as "I'm fed up with the goose."

The morning lectures of Andrés Manuel López Obrador became, during his first 100 days in office, the main information tool of the government, but also a group of friendly outings of the president's tone or unexpected visits.

Here is a compilation of the most anecdotal moments of the press conferences.

-The spontaneous: Qualified by a press as "infiltrados", several Mexicans slipped into the morning lectures to talk to López Obrador. Among them, citizens who asked for financial help, activists and even a businesswoman who offered their services to promote Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

-The children reporters: On February 7, Fernando and Eitan, aged 12 to 14, members of the Radioaventureros school project, questioned the president about the flight of talent and the tragedy of disappearances in Mexico.

-The milestone of duration: If conferences normally last about an hour and a half, January 31st and February 21st will take place until two o'clock.

– "Like the plinth full": The President thus celebrated the good reception of the Internet morning lectures he said that he had up to 120,000 people connected as a result of his words.

-We must read the Constitution: Asked by a journalist about his views on the Venezuelan crisis, López Obrador encouraged a communicator to read the Constitution at the morning conference. Between the two, they broke down Article 89 (on the faculties of the president) in its fraction 10.

"Let's see, slowly, slowly, repeat," The reporter came to ask the leftist leader.

-Palacio Nacional and hotel: He confessed that he had already already slept at the National Palace and that he had not ruled out the move of his residence in the future. "But it must be a family agreement," said the leader of Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Brunette).

-The city is your intelligence agency: He announced that he would seek to make transparent the reserved files of the Federal Police and the Closed Center for Research and National Security (CISEN). "The Cisen is no longer there, but the president has information, the one I get people back", a point.

-Salaire journalists: When the relatively high wages perceived by the truck drivers, the press gathered was very surprised. "This is what we will also treat, what they pay you," said the president to reporters, with wages are generally low in Mexico.

Peña Nieto"This plan of twelve months ago, two months, it seems to me two years, not a year less. unleash the laughter of the present.

"We are about to come here in Oaxaca, We are one minute from the landing. Unless, like five, I would say"said the president of the time Enrique Peña Nieto in september 2017, when i visited an area affected by earthquakes. This anecdote provoked an avalanche of & # 39; same & # 39; make fun of the president.

-López Obrador, a visionary: The president was criticized for having implemented actions before their approval by the legislature. Opposing voices should not be so misguided because, in one of his lectures, he said about the Republican law on austerity: "Before his approval, we are already fulfilling."

AFP and EFE agencies.