Latin America
Related: About this forumMexican presidential frontrunner spells tension for U.S.-Mexico ties
Andres Martinez 1 hour ago
Mexico elects its next president on July 1, and if present polls hold, the populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador the former leftist mayor of Mexico City and twice-defeated presidential candidate known as AMLO will prevail.
Why it matters: AMLOs is a decidedly "Mexico First" agenda. AMLO, if he is elected, and Trump would be natural antagonists, but enablers as well, as each would fit the others vision of the bilateral relationship.
More:
https://www.axios.com/mexican-presidential-favorite-spells-tension-for-usmexico-ties-bafa3e7f-c3c3-4c82-b575-cd23c64958c2.html
Judi Lynn
(160,415 posts)MAY 16, 2018 / 12:34 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Andres Martinez.
8 MIN READ
Its crunch time for Mexico, where the course of the next two months will determine whether the country turns its back on a generation-long project of opening its economy to the world and its political system to the winds of democratic change. The decision ultimately rests with Mexican voters and, to some extent, with U.S. President Donald Trump.
On July 1, Mexicans will elect a new president. Much like American voters in 2016, they are eager to drain the swamp. And Mexico indeed may end up electing a rather swampy candidate who promises to do so.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the populist former mayor of Mexico City and twice-defeated presidential candidate, has a comfortable lead in the polls. The prospect of his victory has rattled financial markets, as well as those in Mexico concerned about democratic niceties and the rule of law.
Though many people both inside and outside Mexico passionately argue about whether or not AMLO, as he is known, is the Mexican incarnation of Venezuelas Hugo Chávez, the debate seems a bit off-point. AMLO might well be no Chávez, and still be a dreadful prospect. AMLO would almost certainly represent a return to the countrys more authoritarian, statist past. With an inward- and backward-looking view of the world, his slogan may not be Make Mexico Great Again, but it might as well be Make Mexico Mexico Again.
More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-martinez-mexico-commentary/commentary-mexico-first-frontrunner-uses-trump-playbook-in-crunch-election-idUKKCN1IH260?rpc=401&