Sunday was a historic day in Mexico, as Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide election victory to become the country’s first female and first Jewish president.
But this is not only a story about Ms. Scheinbaum, an award-winning climate scientist and mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, but also about the impending exit of the most powerful man in the country.
The electoral victory for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s successor marks the beginning of the end for one of Mexico’s defining figures.
He comes from a part of the country that few politicians cheer and was elected president on his third try. He completely reshaped Mexican politics and built an entire party around his outsized personality.
Critics also say he has given the military too much power and introduced measures that weaken democratic institutions such as the Supreme Court.
Yet López Obrador remains popular as he nears the end of his six-year term.
After nearly 50 years in public life, 70-year-old López Obrador said he will “completely” retire after his final day in office on September 30, although some observers believe he will find a way to continue in office. Government exerts influence behind the scenes.
He has said he wants to spend time on his family’s ranch in the southern state of Chiapas.
For many in the neighboring state of Tabasco, a bastion of support for Mr. López Obrador, and in the small town of Tepetitan, his birthplace, Sunday was bittersweet.
Miguel Angel Solis Burelo, 72, said he was happy to see Ms. Sheinbaum win because she was “well prepared” to execute Mr. Lopez Mr. Obrador’s agenda. He also said it was “very nice” to see a woman as president.
But Solis drove a motorboat down the river from the ranch where he works to vote in Tepetitan. Bit sad”. The constitution stipulates that the Mexican president’s term is six years.
Kenia Sandoval Salvador, a 47-year-old housewife, said she watched Lopez Obrador on social media before going to vote in Macuspana on Sunday Highlights of López Obrador’s career.
“I’m feeling the nostalgia already,” she said.
Mr. López Obrador was born in 1953, attended Tepetitan’s only elementary school and helped in his parents’ store. He started secondary school in Macuspana, about 40 minutes away. He completed his studies and completed high school in Villahermosa (the state capital to which his family moved). He attended college in Mexico City and later served as mayor.
Sunday’s election was seen by many as a referendum on Mr López Obrador’s leadership, while Ms Scheinbaum’s decisive victory was interpreted as a vote of confidence in the president, his policies and Morena’s party ticket.
Antenor Paz Acosta, 75, who works on a ranch in Tepetitán, said he grew up playing baseball with the president, even though he voted for Hienbaugh Tom, but he made it clear that he had the current leader in mind.
“I have always supported what Andres Manuel is doing,” Mr. Paz said. “Where he goes, she goes too.”
During Mr. López Obrador’s tenure, the economy grew, millions of Mexicans were lifted out of poverty, the minimum wage was doubled, pensions were expanded, and worker benefits improved.
But his presidency has also raised concerns. He has been criticized for his “hugs not bullets” strategy against criminal cartels, which has led to more violence. His critics also say he has hobbled the nation’s health system and prioritized fossil fuels.
Mr. López Obrador, known by his initials AMLO, will be remembered by many for his morning press conferences, or “mananeras,” in which he spent several hours almost every day for the past five years. to share his feelings, celebrate his victories, attack his critics and lash out at journalists. He comes across as warm and approachable.
“López Obrador rules through Mananera,” said Blanca Gómez, a Mexican journalist who wrote an unauthorized account of López Obrador in 2005 Mr. Er’s biography. People believed him. Some will miss his Mananelas. Many would be happy to no longer hear his voice.
Lázaro Vidal Martínez, 62, a farmer in Tepetitán, said that although he usually works in the mornings, he occasionally listens. “I love that he shows up every day because no other president has ever done that,” he said.
Solis, a ranch worker who traveled by motorboat to vote, said what he liked most about López Obrador’s presidency was his social welfare program, which helped “those of us who didn’t get help or weren’t considered. people”.
He said his pension for those 65 and older has increased fivefold over the years to about $170 a month.
Solís added that López Obrador should nevertheless take a tougher stance against criminal groups, even though he was generally satisfied with the direction of the country.
“We want this movement to continue,” he said, before hopping on board and heading home.
During a campaign trip to Tabasco state, Sheinbaum drew cheers from the crowd when he pledged to preserve López Obrador’s legacy.
In Tepetitan, a town of 1,500 people, his grandparents’ former home opened last year as the Obrador House Community Museum, and a bust of him stands outside. In Macuspana, a larger town with 31,000 residents, the only reminder is a mural outside the public library.
Not far away, sitting in a cafe in the town’s main square, is 79-year-old Márvel Hernández Gutú, a Tepetitan, lawyer and former state official who has been Known López Obrador from his days in the previous party. He wants Mr. López Obrador to do more to develop Mexico in terms of business and infrastructure, especially in Tabasco, one of the country’s poorest states.
“In terms of his legacy,” Mr. Hernandez said, “we can’t say he left us something great because he had the opportunity to do that and he didn’t.”
Whatever their views, many said they did not believe Mr. López Obrador would suddenly disappear after decades in public life and being run by his protégés.
“His legacy was very important to him,” said journalist Ms. Gomez.
It will continue in a smaller way at Tepetitan.
Six years ago, during López Obrador’s successful presidential campaign, Vidal allowed a local artist to paint a mural on the side of his house at the entrance to the town. Pace Obrador’s parents. Anyone entering or leaving the community will see it.
It has been repainted three times, with new decorations added each time. Mr. López Obrador’s face is surrounded by flora and fauna found throughout Tabasco: howler monkeys, parrots and crocodile eels, a local delicacy that also serves as Mr. López Obrador’s Spanish nickname.
Mr. Vidal said the mural’s artist died last year and he hoped another artist could help preserve the memory of the town’s most famous son.
“That mural is here to stay,” he said.
