Scandals, successes and controversies: the 100 days of the government of López Obrador

Andrés Manuel López Obrador he turned this Sunday 100 days as president of Mexico with strong popular support, waiting for public security and market doubts about its economic strategy.

Your triumph in elections from July 1, 2018 generated high expectations in Mexican society about the scope of the so-called "fourth transformation"of the country and regime change.

His arrival in power was facilitated by the fatigue of Mexicans towards systematic corruption that for decades had exercised the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which culminated with the former president Enrique Peña Nieto and scandals like the presidential plane and the White House.

His first action as president of Mexico was the closure of the presidential residence of Pines for its transformation into cultural Center. It has also been a standard for the administration to reduce salaries of senior officialswho are legally prohibited from having a higher income than those of López Obrador.

Some other topics, such as sale of the plane bought by the old administration; the disappearance of the presidential staff to integrate into the army; the luxury vehicle auction the officers; and his rejected the use of escortsare examples of l & # 39; austerity that the president presumes as a personal seal.

Its popularity has been at levels by more than 80%, more than any of his predecessors in the same period and almost 30 points out of 51% level of voting that gave him the victory in the last election.

Despite the high rate of approvalmany sectors of the country remain reluctant to the current government, including professional organizations.

The cancellation of New international airport at Texcoco; your neutrality before the situation in Venezuela and the reduction of expectations on the part of international rating agencies, are the most critical problems that have earned López Obrador.

"They deprived Mexico of having a pole of economic development tremendous potential and, unfortunately, generated financial costs that all Mexicans will pay for years, without receiving anything in return", said Sunday in a statement the Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex), Chaired by Gustavo de Hoyos.

Last November, the Council of International Airports (ACI-LAC) stressed that the cancellation of the project would have repercussions not only in the country but in the region.

"It's hard to get involved in the internal political problems of a country", but the cancellation of the construction of a new airport in Mexico will have consequences "Medium- and Long-Term Impacts on the Mexican Airports Sector"and also in "the reputation and predictability of Mexico as a country"Argentina's Martin Eurnekian, president of ACI-LAC, said at the time.

Neutrality of the government before the dictatorship of Venezuela

Given the neutrality badumed by the Mexican government in the face of the crisis in Venezuela, Mexico has received several calls for recognition of the self-proclaimed President in charge of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, as legitimate president and join the people's struggle Venezuelan "to regain his freedom".

International organizations, members of civil society and even representatives of other governments expressed concern The neutrality of the government of López Obrador in the politico-social conflict caused by the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

The US Secretary of State for Latin America, Kimberly Breier, acknowledged in February that her government lives a "moment of disagreement" with Mexico, because of the position of neutrality that the country badumed before the Venezuelan crisis.

Different political badysts coincided over the months and, by granting political support to Maduro, López Obrador failed to recognize the complexity of the Venezuelan crisis and lost the opportunity to exert regional leadership and positively influence the resolution of the crisis.

With this action, Mexico was aligned with some of the most repressive governments in the world, such as Iran, Turkey, Russia and Nicaragua; which greatly reduced his international credibility.

Reduced expectations on Mexico's growth

"The plans for Pemex they convince no one and, on the contrary, their financial situation is deteriorating, generating risks that may affect the sovereign rating of Mexico in the future", said Coparmex this Sunday.

His commentary summarizes the economic outlook for Mexico, which is deteriorating rapidly. Only at the end of February, both Goldman Sachs as Moody & # 39;s reduces growth expectations for the country, correcting them below 1.7%.

The reports established that the growth momentum at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, it was weaker than expected in the national economy. They also warned that if the federal government continues to support Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the public debt could increase considerably.

For its part, this Sunday Financial Times published an article in which it is ensured that the confidence of the business sector was affected after the financial institutions cut their forecasts for this year. The lowest forecast, owned by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, forecasts growth 1%, half of the forecasts what the government has

The British newspaper pointed out that the car sales, a key barometer in a country where consumer spending has been the engine of growth in recent years 7% less in February that in January.

At 100 days, these are some of the remarkable

In addition to these controversies, López Obrador big earrings, among them, the reduction of insecurity and violence, which intensified in the first months of 2019, after closing the previous year with more than 24,000 murders in the country.

There are also four infrastructure projects that he promised during the campaign: Mayan train, Dos Bocas refinery, transisthmian train and Santa Lucía airport. All programs face a variety of economic, social and environmental challenges, which can lead to significant delays, unexpected cost increases, social disapproval and even a possible annulment.

Even if the big works are a good way to realize a spill of relevant resources and get electoral support from the regions, they can also become big white elephantss, with much higher financial costs than expected and inclined to corruption. It is therefore necessary to follow closely the evolution of these projects.

Another challenge is the creation of the National Guard, who seeks to fight against insecurity. Until now, the government has not set clear goals to determine its effectiveness, nor has it been specified either if there would be more than public resources for security.

It was not announced either a strategic or detailed tactical change, so there is no data that supports the government's desire to reduce short-term crime rate. Something similar is happening with the fight against fuel theft, which continues despite government measures.

At the international level, Andrés Manuel's government was marked by a pro-migration policyHowever, it remains to be seen what will be the results of the economic plan with the United States, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, designed with the aim of reduce migratory flows North of the continent.

Obrador, the popular president

With the chiaroscuro that his government has had during these three months, the fact is that Obrador has retained some of the highest ratings of popularity on the market. history of Mexico. About, Integralia Consultants offers an explanation, suggesting that it's a president who took politically profitable decisions; The elimination of the pensions of former presidents is one example.

Your encounter face to face with citizens This allowed Mexicans to feel safer and to feel that their economy was improving. In addition, he sought to satisfy some campaign promises as quickly as possible and they took controversial actions who paid their popularity.

These types of decisions have created the image of a president of the actionwhat are you looking for to respect their commitments and fight against corruption. This image is what allowed him to maintain the support of the people for his 100 days of government.