Sunday was a historic day in Mexico, with a landslide election victory for Claudia Sheinbaum, the primary girl and first Jewish particular person to develop into the nation’s president.
However as a lot because it was about Ms. Sheinbaum, a adorned local weather scientist and the mayor of Mexico Metropolis from 2018 to 2023, it was additionally about probably the most highly effective man within the nation who will quickly head towards the exit.
The electoral triumph of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s handpicked successor marks the start of the top of a defining determine in Mexico.
He emerged from an space of the nation the place few nationwide politicians have hailed and have become president on his third attempt. He fully reshaped Mexican politics and constructed a complete political occasion round his outsize character.
Critics additionally say he granted the army an excessive amount of energy and pushed measures that will chip away at democratic establishments, just like the Supreme Court docket.
But, as the top of his six-year tenure approaches, Mr. López Obrador stays extensively well-liked.
After almost 5 many years in public life, Mr. López Obrador, 70, has mentioned he’ll retire “fully” following his ultimate day in workplace on Sept. 30, although some observers imagine he’ll discover a technique to proceed to exert affect behind the scenes.
He has mentioned he needs to spend his days at his household’s ranch within the southern state of Chiapas.
For a lot of within the neighboring state of Tabasco, a bastion of help for Mr. López Obrador, and the small city of Tepetitán, the place he was born, Sunday was bittersweet.
Miguel Angel Solis Burelo, 72, mentioned he was thrilled to see Ms. Sheinbaum win as a result of she was “nicely ready” to hold on Mr. López Obrador’s agenda. He additionally mentioned it was “an amazing pleasure” to see a lady assume the presidency.
However Mr. Solis, who drove a motorboat down a river from the ranch the place he works to vote in Tepetitán, admitted he additionally felt “a bit unhappy” to see Mr. López Obrador nearing the top of his presidency. Mexico’s presidents are restricted to 1 six-year time period by the Structure.
Kenia Sandoval Salvador, 47, a stay-at-home mom, mentioned she watched video highlights on social media of Mr. López Obrador’s profession earlier than she went to the polls on Sunday in Macuspana, a city additionally in Tabasco the place the president was raised.
“I already really feel the nostalgia,’’ she mentioned.
Born in 1953, Mr. López Obrador attended the one elementary college in Tepetitán and helped at his dad and mom’ retailer. He began center college about 40 minutes away in Macuspana. He completed it and highschool in Villahermosa, the state’s capital the place his household moved. He went to varsity in Mexico Metropolis, the place he later served as mayor.
Sunday’s election was seen by many as a referendum on Mr. López Obrador’s management, and Ms. Sheinbaum’s decisive victory was interpreted as a vote of confidence within the president, his insurance policies and the Morena occasion.
Antenor Paz Acosta, 75, who works on a ranch in Tepetitán and mentioned he had performed baseball with the president rising up, made clear he had the present chief in thoughts, whilst he voted for Ms. Sheinbaum.
“I’m at all times supporting what Andrés Manuel has finished,” Mr. Paz mentioned. “The place he goes, she does, too.”
Throughout Mr. López Obrador’s tenure, the financial system grew, thousands and thousands of Mexicans have been lifted out of poverty, the minimal wage doubled, pensions have been expanded and staff’ advantages improved.
However his presidency has additionally fueled concern. He has been criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” technique towards legal cartels that has resulted in additional violence. His detractors additionally say he hobbled the nation’s well being system and prioritized fossil fuels.
Mr. López Obrador, who is understood by his initials AMLO, might be remembered by many for his morning information conferences, or mañaneras, throughout which he spent hours almost on a regular basis for the previous 5 years sharing his emotions, celebrating his victories, attacking his critics and lashing out at journalists. He might come throughout as each fiery and folksy.
“López Obrador ruled via the mañaneras,” mentioned Blanca Gómez, a Mexican journalist who wrote an unauthorized biography of Mr. López Obrador in 2005. “He realized that individuals paid consideration when he spoke. Individuals imagine him. There are people who find themselves going to overlook his mañaneras. And many individuals might be pleased to not hear him anymore.”
Although Lázaro Vidal Martínez, 62, a farmer in Tepetitán, was often working within the mornings, he mentioned he would often pay attention. “I preferred that he confirmed his face every day as a result of different presidents by no means did that,” he mentioned.
Mr. Solis, the ranch employee who arrived by motorboat to vote, mentioned what he preferred most about Mr. López Obrador’s presidency was his social welfare packages that helped “us who didn’t obtain assist or who weren’t taken under consideration.”
He mentioned his pension, for these 65 and over, has jumped fivefold through the years to roughly $170 each month.
Nonetheless, Mr. López Obrador ought to have been more durable on legal teams, Mr. Solis added, although he was typically happy with the nation’s route.
“We wish the motion to proceed,” he mentioned, earlier than hopping into his boat to go dwelling.
Throughout marketing campaign visits to Tabasco, Ms. Sheinbaum promised to protect Mr. López Obrador’s legacy, which drew cheers from the crowds.
In Tepetitán, a city of 1,500 individuals, what was as soon as his grandparents’ dwelling opened final yr because the Obrador Home Neighborhood Museum and options his bust exterior. In Macuspana, a bigger city with 31,000 residents, the lone reminder is a mural exterior the general public library.
Not far-off in a restaurant within the city’s predominant sq. sat Márvel Hernández Gutú, 79, a Tepetitán native, lawyer and former state official who has identified Mr. López Obrador since their time collectively in a earlier political occasion. He wished Mr. López Obrador had finished extra to develop Mexico when it comes to enterprise and infrastructure, particularly in Tabasco, one of many poorest states within the nation.
“So far as his legacy,” Mr. Hernández mentioned, “we will’t say he left us nice issues as a result of he had the chance to take action and he didn’t.”
No matter their views, many mentioned they didn’t imagine Mr. López Obrador would all of the sudden disappear after many years of public life and together with his protégée in cost.
“His legacy issues quite a bit to him,” mentioned Ms. Gómez, the journalist.
In a small method, it can proceed on in Tepetitán.
Throughout Mr. López Obrador’s profitable presidential marketing campaign six years in the past, Mr. Vidal, who mentioned his dad and mom knew Mr. López Obrador’s dad and mom, allowed a neighborhood artist to color a mural on the aspect of his home that sits on the entrance to the city. Anybody coming into or leaving the neighborhood would see it.
It has been repainted 3 times, with new thrives added on every event. Surrounding Mr. López Obrador’s face are wildlife discovered all through Tabasco: howler monkeys, parrots and the alligator gar fish, a neighborhood delicacy and a nickname for Mr. López Obrador in Spanish.
The mural’s artist died final yr, Mr. Vidal mentioned, and he hopes that one other artist can assist protect the reminder of the city’s most well-known son.
“That mural will keep,” he mentioned.
