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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador left the country's national palace on Tuesday in the front passenger seat of a Volkswagen Jetta, swarmed by hundreds of jubilant supporters including one waving a live rooster.
There was a bodyguard in sight.
Since claiming victory on Sunday, the leftist politician has promised transformative change for Mexico. That does not work, but Lopez Obrador has yet to provide details.
Lopez Obrador's approach to security is one of the first signs of how he is breaking the mold of the typical Mexican presidency.
His deadliest year of his life in Mexico.
"You'll all be watching for me," he told a lively, 35-minute back-and-forth that sharply contrasted with Pena Nieto's brief, tightly controlled appearances.
Some audience members were skeptical.
"This is the institution of the presidency of the republic, this is not a one person," said journalist, asking Lopez Obrador if he would change his strategy.
"We're just reporters," another called out.
Since Sunday, Lopez Obrador's every move has been broadcast live, with journalists and supporters forming a slow-moving convoy around the 64-year-old, who has pledged to shed various trappings of power while presidential residence and plane, while earning half of Pena Nieto's salary.
At one point, Lopez's Obrador's Jetta, which is often played by Mexico City with the windows down, a member of the posse off his motorcycle while making a right turn. The man appeared unhurt.
Close-to-the-people campaigning the world of training Mexico City mayor for 13 years in the past, one of the most remote and dangerous pockets of Mexico.
Even in recent months, despite a surge of politician killings, Lopez Obrador has ventured into drug-cartel strongholds and has been visited by Pena Nieto, such as Chilapa and Reynosa.
Mexico is on track to register even more murders this year than in 2017, according to government data, and Lopez Obrador's vows to curb violence appealing to many voters frustrated with the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party's inability to stem the bloodshed.
But Lopez Obrador's new status may include some compromises, said Vicente Sanchez, a professor of public administration at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana.
"He should understand the risk, and that he's elected, he does not go to himself, but to the country," Sanchez said. "He is too much desperate to go down in history as an austere figure, close to the people."
Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Daniel Becerril; Editing by Leslie Adler
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