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MEXICO: Mexicans lined up to vote for a new president Sunday with the anti-establishment outsider who is tipped to win national reconciliation after a campaign in which dozens of candidates were assassinated by gangs of drug traffickers.
Polls before the elections showed a double-digit lead for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City who is expected to inject a dose of nationalism into the government and sharpen divisions with US President Donald Trump. he wins.
Lopez Obrador, 64, would be the first left-wing president for decades in Mexico, the number 2 economy in Latin America, when he eliminates the ruling Centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) [19659002] Finalist in 2006 and 2012 He has been touted as the only man able to clean up a political class whose credibility has been undermined by bribes, years of low economic growth and rising levels of crime. in arrow
. At the end of last year, at least 133 politicians were murdered from all major parties. The crimes are mainly attributed to gangs trying to influence the municipal elections.
"With all my heart, I want the elections to proceed without violence," said Lopez Obrador before voting in the south of Mexico after a campaign marked by mud. "After the elections, we will begin a period of national reconciliation," said Lopez Obrador, who is known by his initials AMLO, smiling and flashing a sign of victory at the polling station where he arrived 40 minutes before his opening.
Across the country, many people wait in the morning to vote in schools and community centers. It was time to give the left a chance, and traditional parties failed to stem corruption and bloodshed.
In addition to political killings, Mexico had its most violent year in 2017, with deadly killings. this year. The bloodshed is blamed on drug cartels that disperse and indulge in fuel theft and extortion. "It's our chance to change the country," said Meinardo Perez, 25, an engineer with Lopez Obrador. the candidate would have a hard time keeping all his promises
"But we have to start somewhere, we need to change things," he added.
Waves on political details and seeking to mobilize the support of economic nationalists, left-wing liberals and social conservatives, Lopez Obrador, promises to reduce inequality, improve wages and social spending and manage a tight budget.
The law prohibits the current president Enrique Pena Nieto from being re-elected. His popularity has been eroded when his name has been tainted by investigations of alleged conflicts of interest and embezzlement involving senior PRI officials
Lopez Obrador has spent 13 years tirelessly making campaign in Mexico. at a standstill for weeks with demonstrations to protest his 2006 electoral loss. His criticism of the government's economic program was tempered by business-friendly aids
He played with the idea of referenda to resolve controversial issues, such as the pursuit of the opening of the oil and gas industry by Pena Nieto. 19659002] Rivals Ricardo Anaya, a former leader of the center-right National Action Party (PAN) ruling a right-left alliance, and PRI candidate Jose Antonio Meade, a former finance minister, differ only in their nuance in their support reform. They represent the only two parties that ruled modern Mexico.
Their efforts to catch Lopez Obrador were hampered by attacks against each other, and some opinion polls put his lead by more than 20 percentage points. presidential election – https://tmsnrt.rs/2MVhfjA
TRUMP THREAT
The next president will inherit a mixed dispute with Trump on migration and trade, with negotiations to revise the agreement North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) unresolved,
Trump threatened to launch North America in a costly trade war against NAFTA, and his insistence that Mexico pay for his desired border wall has deeply angered many Mexicans
Lopez Obrador has moved to negotiate an agreement with Trump under which Mexico would work to curb illegal immigration in return for economic support.
If this proves impossible and Trump continues to provoke Mexico, few think that the rioter Lopez Obrador will remain silent
The weight he can exert on the national and international level will depend on its control of Congress, where no party has an absolute majority since 1997.
Polls suggest its national regeneration movement (MORENA), a party that officially exists only since 2014, could be close to the majority. Markets may react negatively if voters give him a helping hand in Congress
Many Mexicans also worry that Lopez Obrador may implement policies that deepen, rather than alleviate, the problems of government. country.
started, "said housewife Consuelo Guerrero, 36, voting in Mexico City." I am very worried about the victory of AMLO. "
(Report by Dave Graham, Noe Torres, Daina Beth Solomon, edited by Frank Jack Daniel and Jeffrey Benkoe)
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