When Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) announced that he would run in Mexico’s presidential election in 2018, many in Mexico’s scientific and arts communities enthusiastically supported his campaign. After twelve years of incompetent and neoliberal rule — first by Felipe Calderón (2006–2012) of the right-wing Partido Acción Nacional (“National Action Party,” PAN), who set off one of the most violent periods in contemporary Mexican history with his ill-advised drug war, and then by Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–18) of the once-authoritarian Partido Revolucionario Institucional (“Institutional Revolutionary Party,” PRI), who reigned sloppily over six years of corruption and increasing inequality — hopes were high. In a country where the richest 10 percent own 65 percent of the wealth and over 50 percent live under the poverty line, AMLO’s third bid for president, and his newly formed MORENA party promised to deliver economic justice, end corruption, and rein in political and economic elites. Those working in the arts and sciences hoped that AMLO’s so-called cuarta transformación (“fourth transformation”) project would entail strengthening Mexico’s cultural and scientific spheres as an inherent part of creating a more equitable, educated, and progressive society.

This support soon turned to disappointment, however. After taking power on December 1, 2018, rather than supporting these sectors, AMLO began to scapegoat them instead, referring to them as part of the corrupt establishment he had criticized during his campaign. In his year and a half in office so far, budget cuts have disproportionately targeted the arts and sciences, and AMLO has also repeatedly slandered members of these communities, many of whom work for the government or government-funded programs.