Andrés Manuel López Obrador

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Andrés Manuel López Obrador (born 13 November 1953) is a Mexican politician, affiliated with the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). He held the position of Head of Government of the Federal District (roughly, Mayor of Mexico City) from 2000 to 2005, before resigning in July 2005 to contend the 2006 presidential election, representing the Alliance for the Good of All, a PRD-led coalition that also includes the Convergence for Democracy Party and the Labour Party.

On 6 July 2006 the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announced the final vote count in the 2006 presidential election, resulting in a narrow margin of 0.58 percentage points of victory for his opponent, Felipe Calderón. López Obrador appealed against the results and mobilized large protests against the election. However, on 5 September 2006, the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) discarded most proofs presented by the PRD and other members of public university (mostly the UNAM) considering them as "notably improcedent" ("notoriamente improcedente") and, without giving more arguments, ruled that the election was fair and that Felipe Calderón is President-Elect of Mexico. The court also declared that incumbent President Vicente Fox and the CCE, a business interest group, may have interfered in the elections. The TEPFJ determined that the impact of said interference cannot be measured in the results of the election. Therefore, this was not considered as a probable judicial cause to annul the election, and the court decided to rule that the election was valid and fair. .

López Obrador is frequently referred to by his initials AMLO and as el Peje, which has two meanings: 1) it is an abbreviation of pejelagarto, a species of fish from the Lepisosteidae family found in his home state of Tabasco, and 2) it means a smart person.

Background

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) was born in the municipality of Macuspana, in the southern state of Tabasco, in 1953. He graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1987 with a major in political and social sciences. He joined the PRI in 1976 to actively collaborate in Carlos Pellicer's campaign for the governorship of Tabasco. A year later, he headed the Instituto Indigenista (Indigenous People's Institute) of his state. In 1984, he relocated to Mexico City to work at the Instituto Nacional del Consumidor (National Consumers' Institute), a Government agency.

López Obrador was president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in his home state. He resigned his post working for the government of this state in 1988 to join the new dissenting wing of the PRI, then called the Democratic Current, led by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. This movement later became the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

In 1994, López Obrador ran for the governorship of his home state, but lost to the PRI's Roberto Madrazo in a highly controversial election.

López Obrador gained national exposure as an advocate for the rights of indigenous people when in 1996 he appeared on national TV drenched in blood following confrontations with police force for blocking Pemex oil wells to defend the rights of local indigenous people impacted by pollution.

López Obrador was president of the PRD from 2 August 1996 to 10 April 1999.

Head of Government of the Federal District

On 2 July 2000 he was elected Head of Government of the Federal District—a position akin to that of a city mayor, but that oversees the whole Federal District—after having won with 38.3% of votes. His candidacy was contested by political opponents who claimed he was not a resident of the capital city, but they negotiated not to make an issue of it.

Public image

During his time as Head of Government, López Obrador became one of the most recognizable politicians in Mexico, as his policies appealed to lower income citizens. López Obrador left the Federal District government with an 84% approval rating according to Consulta Mitofsky, a leading pollster; according to an article by Reforma, López Obrador kept 80% of the promises he made as a candidate. Other publications such as The Economist describe his record as Mexico City Mayor as "patchy". His reputation was tarnished when several high-profile officials in his staff and members of his party were filmed receiving large sums of cash. Videos appeared on national TV, the whole issue has been dubbed by the media as the "videoscandals". Another video appeared later where Carlos Ahumada stated that the first videos (where he and other PRI and PAN members also took part) were just part of a complot against López Obrador presidential campaign. López Obrador was never directly linked to the scandals.

López Obrador was severely questioned for not accepting the new transparency policy (IFAI) that requires all public finance to be disclosed to the general public during his administration of the Federal District. López Obrador claims that his administration had proper disclosure policies. In this matter, the IFAI hasn't brought any of the fruits it should have, since most politicians and institutions have refused to give internal information, so López Obrador hasn't been an exception.

Political agenda

As mayor, López Obrador focused on maintaining a clean public image promoting real-estate construction, and expanding the city's transportation system.

He implemented various social programs that included extending cash checks to help vulnerable groups: single mothers, senior citizens and the physically and mentally challenged. Opposing parties have consistently criticized these actions, but some have recently implemented similar programs themselves. He also founded the first new university in Mexico City in three decades, the UACM.

López Obrador hired Rudolph Giuliani to craft a zero-tolerance policy that would help reduce the escalating crime in Mexico City. No public funds were used to pay Giuliani's consulting firm but the private sector paid for this.

He directed the restoration and modernization of Mexico City's historic downtown, which has 16th-17th century buildings and a large number of tourist attractions, yet had been badly maintained, overcrowded, and crime-ridden in the last few decades. He led a joint venture with Carlos Slim, a native of the downtown Mexico City, to expropriate, restore, rebuild and gentrify large parts of the area, creating attractive shopping and residential areas for middle and upper income residents.

López Obrador used fiscal policy to encourage private sector investment in housing. He granted construction firms large tax breaks and changed zoning regulations to make construction projects more financially attractive. This led to the construction of more condominiums and office building during his tenure, than during any other period in Mexico City history. New high density condos have emerged in the upscale neighborhoods of Polanco and Lomas.

To improve traffic in the city's two main inner city roads, Periférico and Viaducto, he added sections of second stories to their existing infrastructure. The effect of this in aiding the traffic problem in Mexico City is yet to be seen. An express bus service, the Metrobús, based on the successful Curitiba model, was built down Avenida Insurgentes, cutting through the city some 20 km from north to south.

Legal and political controversies

Main articles: desafuero and videoscandals

He saw his law enforcement record stained by the lynching of federal law enforcement officers doing an undercover investigation in Tláhuac, in November 2004. The Police of Mexico City were able to rescue one agent. However, the city's chief of police, Marcelo Ebrard, and the Federal Secretary of Public Safety, Ramón Martín Huerta, were both accused of not organizing a timely rescue effort. López Obrador was then severely criticized when his Secretary of Government, Alejandro Encinas, declared that the lynching was part of the traditions ("usos y costumbres") of the people.. After a thorough investigation, López Obrador gave Ebrard a vote of confidence, despite a request from President Fox for López Obrador to relieve him of his duties. Later, using his constitutional powers, Fox fired Ebrard, while Ramon Martin Huerta, a member of Fox' cabinet, received a reprimand, and continued to hold the Secretary of Public Safety until his death in an helicopter accident. López Obrador later appointed Ebrard as Secretary of Social Development, and supported his candidacy in the PRD primaries to run for the government of Mexico City.

The opposition claims that the aging metro system was neglected (see Mexico City Metro). Funds assigned to its maintenance were diverted to the construction of the new upper levels of major routes in the city. In lieu of the planned subway line along Avenida Insurgentes, López Obrador's government deployed a lower cost solution, the Metrobús, with lower capacity than an underground line would have had. The Metrobus has also been criticized because it uses up a dedicated lane an underground would not have used. However, due to the narrowing of lanes and central area the available lanes for automobiles remain the same. Small buses called colectivos aren't allowed to transit there anymore, so that some traffic problems could be solved.

Desafuero

Main article: Desafuero

Banner supporting López Obrador in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

All elected government officials in Mexico, from mayors to the President, and all legislators, local and federal, have an official immunity called fuero that prevents criminal charges to be presented against them. If a person protected by fuero commits a crime, there has to be a process to remove the immunity so the person can be presented with such charges.

In 2001 a landowner sued the government of Mexico City for having expropriated a strip of land. The expropriation took place before López Obrador was elected Head of Government of the Federal District. The strip of land had been expropriated to fulfill a contract in which the government of Mexico City had to give access to a high level hospital in an upscale part of town. López Obrador had to decide whether to comply with the court order regarding the potential lawsuit over the strip of land or fulfilling the contract with the hospital. His administration chose the latter.

The matter was kept quiet until in 2004 the Attorney General's Office asked Congress to strip López Obrador of his immunity under charges of a misdemeanor (ignoring a court order). Under federal law, any person with criminal charges during the electoral process would not be eligible to contest in a presidential election. Because of the general slowness of the judicial system, it was very likely that a process started in 2004 would continue until the presidential campaigns of 2006, and so the process of bringing López Obrador to court would have ended his ambitions of running for the presidency in 2006.

López Obrador used the moment to advance his popularity, and even put himself in a position where he was about to set foot on jail, only to be bailed out by political opponents who claimed López Obrador should follow the same judicial process as anyone else. One of the largest public marches ever seen was organized in support of López Obrador against the desafuero.

Some analysts agree that the desafuero process was politically motivated by the high approval ratings shown by López Obrador. Likewise, some newspaper editorial boards throughout the world charged that the desafuero was politically motivated, and that it should be stopped, and that excluding Obrador from the upcoming elections would delegitimize the eventual winner. Still, some analysts believed that López Obrador should have faced the force of the law, and thus becoming the first and only public official in Mexican history to be prosecuted (after a long tradition of impunity in government which still continues).

After congress voted in favor of removing López Obrador from immunity, López Obrador resigned his post for a few days. President Vicente Fox, wanting to avoid a political cataclysm, and knowing that the decision made by the congress was against the will of millions of people , appeared on national TV in April 2005, indicating that the issue would not be pursued any longer. The whole deal ended up closed on a technicality, and López Obrador, though without immunity, was not prosecuted (and thus remained eligible to compete in the presidential election). A few weeks later, Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha resigned.

Presidential campaign

In September 2005, López Obrador was nominated as presidential pre-candidate for the PRD for the 2006 general election after the "moral leader" of the party, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, declined to participate in the internal elections when polls showed López Obrador had 90% party support.

Until March 2006 he was considered the presidential front runner by the majority of polls, however polls in late April show a steady decline in López Obrador's numbers. Many polls at the time showed López Obrador to have fallen to second place. In others he continued at his top position. López Obrador discredited the first polls, indicating foul play coming from Los Pinos.

López Obrador has been severely criticized by left wing politicians and analysts for including in his close staff many former members of the PRI who actively fought against his party in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Arturo Nunez(one of the FOBAPROA's author),Manuel Camacho Solís and Marcelo Ebrard. Also the guerrilla leader of the EZLN, Subcommander Marcos, openly declared López Obrador to be a false left-wing candidate, arguing that he is a centrist candidate. The "moral leader" and founder of the PRD, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, has not participated in any campaign events but has stated that he would still vote for his party, the PRD.

López Obrador's proposals, including his 50 commitments, have produced mixed opinions from analysts. The Washington Post ran a news article indicating that López Obrador used Franklin D. Roosevelt as inspiration for his 50 commitments..

On 19 May, Roberto Madrazo, presidential candidate for the PRI, considered by all polls to be in a distant third place, hinted at the possibility of an alliance with López Obrador to prevent Felipe Calderón from winning the election, after both the parties have criticized the government for what, in their opinion, is supposed illegal support by the federal government for the PAN candidate's campaigning. The PRD has said that both parties have entered into an information sharing agreement regarding the issue. This, combined with calls from high ranking PRI member Manuel Bartlett (former interior secretary when 1988 fraud was commited) to vote for López Obrador, aroused media speculation that the PRI and the PRD would indeed ally.

On 28 May, after AMLO had discounted any such alliance because the PRI and PRD political tendencies cannot be conciliated, Roberto Madrazo indicated that his comments were misunderstood, and that he will not step down nor will he endorse another candidate. On 6 July 2006, Felipe Calderón was announced as the winner of the presidential election by a narrow margin of 243,934 votes, though the claim is disputed by López Obrador, who claims there were widespread irregularities in the vote and wants every single vote recounted (A generalized recount is only legal in extreme circumstances according to Mexican Electoral Tribunal Jurisprudence S3ELJ14-2004). On 8 July 2006, López Obrador called for nationwide protests, stating that "the government would be responsible for any flare-up of anger after officials rejected his demand for a manual recount of Sunday's extremely close vote."

López Obrador's 50 commitments can be found here .

Post-Election Protests

See also: Mexican general election 2006 controversies

López Obrador announced his victory to his supporters on the night of the election day stating that according to exit polls he had won by 500,000 votes. He did not cite the polls in that speech, but they include Covarrubias and another from IMO. Several days later, the Federal Electoral Institute published its final tally, which had him down by a margin of 0.58%, or approximately 243,000 votes. López Obrador has since initiated legal challenges, claiming election irregularities in 54% of polling stations, and demanded publicly the votes to be recounted "vote by vote" in all polling stations. The case was discussed by the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF).

While the case was discussed in the Electoral Tribunal, the IFE has called for the candidates to refrain from proclaiming themselves as winner, president-elect, or president. Both candidates have disobeyed this call. In an interview by U.S. Spanish-language TV network Univisión, López Obrador referred to himself as "President of Mexico". Likewise, both President Fox and Felipe Calderón have referred to Felipe Calderon as the new president of Mexico.

López Obrador has held several gatherings in downtown Mexico City with hundreds of thousands of people attending, pressuring for a "vote for vote" general recount. On 31 July, in an act of civil disobedience, he organized the blocking 12 kilometers of one of the most important roads in the capital, Paseo de la Reforma, which houses several important hotels, corporate main offices and the Mexico City Stock Market. Business groups have claimed the blockades are costing Mexico City businesses located near the areas of conflict are daily losses of "350,000,000 Mexican pesos" (about US$35 million). . In order to compensate, they have asked the Government of Mexico City to exempt them from paying taxes this year.

On Saturday 5 August, the TEPJF met in public session to decide the outcome of the complaints the PRD and its coalition partners' filed alleging irregularities in the tallies in a portion of the polling stations. The seven magistrates voted unanimously to order the recount of 11,839 ballot boxes in 155 districts (9.2% of the total), despite López Obrador's public demand that all votes and ballot boxes be recounted. The TEPJF based its decision of a partial recount on its finding that that, despite publicly demanding a vote-by-vote general recount, López Obrador's party filed legal challenges to 71,000 polling stations (54%). Therefore, by law, the TEPJF found it could order a recount of only those 71,000 polling stations in controversy. The TEPJF ruled that it could not order a recount of the votes not in controversy because "the certainty asked by the Coalition is tied to the respect for the tallies certified by the citizens in the polling stations not in controversy". However, the TEPJF did certify that principles of certainty in elections were grounds for a recount in some of the stations in controversy, since there was evidence of possible irregularities. Nevertheless, the TEPJF discarded most of the proofs presented by the PRD and other independent groups (mostly from public universities) considering them to be "notably improcedent" and without giving more arguments.

López Obrador rejected the resolution as narrow and he and his followers thus intensified the so-called "civil resistance". For about two hours on 9 August, protesters took over the tollbooths on four federal highways. These roads link Mexico City to Cuernavaca, Querétaro, Toluca, and Pachuca. The protesters blocked personnel from charging tolls and allowed vehicles to pass freely. Also, hundreds of López Obrador supporters surrounded four of the main offices of foreign banks, including Citibank's Banamex, BBVA's Bancomer, and the Mexican subsidiary of HSBC, closing them for about four hours, claiming that the foreign banks "ransack the country" and "widen the barrier between rich and poor" and because these banks had participated in the politics of the country supporting the PAN candidate Felipe Calderon.

On 8 August López Obrador sent a message to the press, regarding the blockades, where he explained to the people, "10 reasons" in which he stands to continue the "peaceful civil resistance": 10 razones para resistencia civil.

López Obrador will hold a rally, which he is calling a "democratic convention", on September 16, Independence Day, when a military parade is also held. The "democratic convention" should start after the military parade to avoid injuries.

Since Mexican institutions are linked and protect each other, López Obrador has said that the country's institutions "no longer work" and has called for the creation of new ones. . He was quoted saying "the big changes in Mexico have never been produced through conventional politics, but in the streets". Some have understood this as a call for revolution.

On 1 September, during what was supposed to be President Fox's final State of the Nation address, 126 PRD deputies and senators disrupted proceedings in Congress, preventing the president from delivering his speech. They claimed that the President "had created a police state" in the area around the Congress building and interpreted it as a violation of the Constitution that made it impossible for Congress to be called into session.. The Congress was in session when those allegations were made. The "police state" allegations were in response to heightened Federal Police security around Congress, instituted after the PRD attempted to set up a protest camp in front of the complex.

Some commentators have accused the PRD of hypocrisy, arguing against blocking Congress but defending López Obrador's blocking of Mexico City's main streets. Nevertheless, people are allowed to demonstrate freely (stated in the constitution) but the government is not officially allowed to block streets because of political reasons

Fox entered the lobby of Congress but did not proceed into the Chamber; he then handed over a written copy of his State of the Union, as required by the constitution. Over an hour later, he gave a speech on TV from his official residence.

López Obrador led a rally on the day of the state of the union speech, where sympathizers celebrated the President being prevented from delivering his speech inside congress. He explicitly told his followers not to be lured into violent confrontations, declaring, ""We aren't going to fall into any trap. We aren't going to be provoked.". He also asked his followers to remain in the Zócalo, instead of marching to the legislative palace, the site of the state of the union speech, as had been planned.

The PRD has also stated that what happened on 1 September was only "a taste" of what will come on 1 December, the day when the next president will be sworn in. . Added to this, the PRD-led government of the Federal District has said that they will not be responsible for the President's security during the celebration of Independence Day.

Notes

External links

"Official site of Andrés Manuel López Obrador". Retrieved 2006-07-11. Site in English, It differs greatly from versions in Spanish
Shlaes, Amity (2006). "Blame Mexico, Too, for U.S. Immigration Trouble". Bloomberg.com. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
"Elections Fraud México". blogspot. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
"The front-runner under pressure, With his opinion-poll lead wobbling, Andrés Manuel López Obrador has yet to define precisely what sort of change he stands for". The Economist. 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Thompson, Ginger (2006). "Leftist Screens Videos He Says Prove Fraud in Mexico Vote". New York Times. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
"Mexico mayor back on track". BBC News. 2005. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Poniatowska, Elena (2005). "Democracy Now!". Description of Obrador's magnetism. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Template:Es icon "Official Site". lopezobrador.org. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
Template:Es icon "Official Campaign site". amlo.org. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
Template:Es icon "Unofficial campaign site". Lopez-obrador.com.mx. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
Template:Es icon "El sendero del Peje (Collection of articles, photos and videos around politics in Mexico)". La Jornada, El Universal, Reforma... {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
"Collection of articles from Council on Hemispheric Affairs concerning Mexican politics". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Template:Es icon "Zapatista leader blasts López Obrador". El Universal. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
Template:Es icon "Redes Ciudadanas Baja California". amlo.org. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
Template:Es icon 2006 Counter Campaign website
Template:Es icon "Los mineros, los muertos, los políticos". www.jornada.unam.mx. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help) Editorial on La Jornada on AMLO and his party, the PRD

Preceded byRosario Robles Berlanga	Head of Government of the Federal District 2000—2005	Succeeded byAlejandro Encinas Rodríguez
Preceded byPorfirio Muñoz Ledo	President of the Party of the Democratic Revolution 1996—1999	Succeeded byPablo Gómez Álvarez
Preceded byCuauhtémoc Cárdenas	Party of the Democratic Revolution Presidential candidate 2006 (lost)	Succeeded byMost recent

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