On September 1, Andrés Manuel López Obrador gave a long speech to mark the end of his government. His extensive address was intended to make clear what he considers his legacy in Mexico and to look forward to constructing a progressive tradition in the country. Inevitably, this was interspersed with bitter criticism of the opposition and a defense of his controversial judicial reform, which allows judges to be voted on democratically instead of appointed. He also criticized the U.S. government, which he nevertheless considers a “good friend and neighbor,” and he repeatedly mentioned the family and its importance to Mexican culture and society, in phrasing with strong traditionalist and nationalist overtones. This was perhaps the final speech given by the strongman to his followers at the Zócalo, Mexico City’s massive central plaza. In 2006 he spoke as the leader of an opposition that denounced former Mexican president Felipe Calderón’s electoral fraud. Since 2018 he has led an administration that came to preserve political stability and restore the relationship between rulers and ruled. In this speech he made a lot of goodbyes, but it is open to speculation what place AMLO will occupy for his party.
AMLO ends his term with a more than 60 percent approval rating. This allowed Sheinbaum to win the presidency with more votes than he won six years ago. It also gave him the opportunity to hold his lavish and propagandistic farewell speech on September 1, something unprecedented in the last decades. It is also true, however, that other Latin American progressive governments ended their first terms with high approval ratings, and that the decline came later, as was the case in Argentina and Brazil. Perhaps because of that specter of decline, Obrador dedicated much of his speech to praising Sheinbaum’s character, seeking to pass on his popularity to her. At the same time, he intends to take advantage of her strength in order to implement and fast-track his reforms, such as in the judicial system. All this is causing a real national polarization, which includes student mobilizations both for and against the reforms, as well as strikes by workers, all encouraged and stoked by the right-wing opposition.
