Less than a third of Mexicans believe their country is on the right track, according to a survey by the newspaper El Financiero. In almost every important issue – crime, economy, corruption – government ratings fall. And yet, about 60 percent of Mexicans approve of López Obrador’s performance, according to opinion polls. On Sunday, the long-standing icon is expected to receive overwhelming support in a revocation vote. It’s something he calls himself. Lopez Obrador described the referendum as an exercise of “direct democracy” by a man of the people, as opposed to the corrupt, selfish leadership of the past. “Why not promote the participation of the people to decide whether the president should continue or resign?” he asked at a recent press conference. AMLO is Mexico’s most powerful president for decades. Some say he is very strong. Why not? Mexican opposition parties see the referendum as a $ 80 million propaganda exercise aimed at strengthening the president’s hand and distracting the public from government failures. These are not missing. The newspapers are full of stories of horrific massacres committed by organized crime groups. Mexico’s gross domestic product is growing at an anemic rate of 2 percent per year and the economy has not yet returned to production before the pandemic. The United States is concerned about López Obrador’s efforts to give the government a bigger role in electricity generation, a move that could affect billions of dollars in foreign investment. “The only thing that matters to this type of character is popularity, because it does not have many results,” said Luis Rubio, president of Mexico Evalua, a think tank. However, there is no doubt that López Obrador will win easily. This is partly due to the fact that the opposition has called for a boycott. But this is also due to the popularity of the president. The level is particularly striking at a time of political and economic turmoil in the hemisphere, where many leaders, from President Biden to the leaders of Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, have seen opinion polls rise. It was a milestone for democracy. Now Lopez Obrador wants to get rid of the Mexican Institute for Freedom of Information. Analysts cite several reasons for López Obrador’s continued support. One is the traditional Mexican respect for the incumbent president. Several recent Mexican leaders have maintained similar high scores over much of their six-year term. “We have a presidential culture,” said the political scientist Alejandro Moreno, head of polls for El Financiero. “Close the ranks around the leader.” But what many people do not understand, said author Jorge Zepeda Patterson, is that López Obrador’s victory in 2018 was a milestone in Mexico’s political system. Mexicans were discouraged by the failure of their young democracy to tackle the legacy of corruption left over from 71 years of one-party rule. Meanwhile, the export-led growth model, built around the North American Free Trade Agreement, has been very successful in some areas, but has left millions behind – in a country already suffering from rampant inequality. More than half of Mexican workers still work in the informal sector. López Obrador channeled frustration with politics as usual. “The opposition acts as if the dissatisfaction is something that Lopez Obrador produces with his demagogy, with the deception of the people, with his speech. “What they do not realize is the opposite,” said Zepeda Patterson. “López Obrador came to the presidency because of this dissatisfaction.” Even when people do not think their lives are improving, they ‘think,’ Well, at least he knows our names. At least he defends us. At least he questions the rich, who have left us in this position. ” ” Mexico’s Lopez Obrador sees his power limited to midterm elections López Obrador is a polarizing figure. He uses his daily press conferences to strike at political opponents, academics, civil society groups, journalists and other critics as agents of the wealthy elite. Despite all its militancy, however, it has not raised taxes or carried out large expropriations. He defended the continuation of NAFTA. There was a leader who spent free money, usually associated with left-wing populism. Raise the minimum wage, but carefully take care of the stability of the peso. Zeppa Patterson said the president’s incendiary narrative could be a strategy to maintain his popularity despite the meager results of his economic policies. “If he could not gain popular support by waging a real struggle against the elites – something he has not done – he could wage a verbal battle,” he said. The president’s party has launched an election campaign to persuade people to go to the polls. “You are not alone, AMLO” proclaim billboards that have been set up all over the country. Despite the effort, however, analysts believe the referendum is unlikely to garner the required minimum turnout of 40 per cent that would make its results binding. However, it is likely to have political consequences. Lopez Obrador is in a crusade against the National Electoral Institute, accusing him of being biased against him. The autonomous institute, which played a key role in the democratization of Mexico, has denied the allegations. But if attendance is low on Sunday, the president is expected to blame the service. The institute said the government did not provide enough funding to set up more constituencies. Lopez Obrador could also use the results of the vote to motivate lawmakers to pass some of the most sweeping legislation in his presidency. Next week, Congress is expected to vote on a constitutional amendment that would overturn a 2014 reform that opened up the electricity sector to foreign investment. López Obrador argued that access to electricity is a social right and that the government should oversee the sector. Critics say the measure would make Mexico increasingly dependent on domestically produced dirty fuels, while discouraging the flow of capital needed to grow the country’s manufacturing sector. Luis Carlos Ugalde, a political analyst, said whether Sunday’s vote was legally binding was out of the question. “What matters to López Obrador is mobilization and propaganda,” he wrote in a column for El Financiero. “And that will have happened.”
