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Kurt Hackbarth is a writer, playwright, freelance journalist, and the cofounder of the independent media project “MexElects.” He is currently coauthoring a book on the 2018 Mexican election.
As the Mexican presidential campaign heats up, media outlets and think tanks are desperately trying to tie AMLO and his popular Morena party to drug traffickers. It’s a ludicrous smear that smacks of elite desperation.
Last Friday in Mexico City, Morena’s presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum launched her campaign. In the wake of AMLO’s popular presidential term, the left-wing party looks set to consolidate and build on its accomplishments.
Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, birthplace of the Zapatistas and once a safer part of the country, has seen a dramatic increase in violence. A scholar from Chiapas explains how cartel conflict and a glut of weapons are creating a perfect storm.
In Mexico, AMLO’s protégé, Claudia Sheinbaum, holds an overwhelming lead in the polls for the presidency, while Clara Brugada is aiming to become mayor of Mexico City. They will help determine whether the party has a future beyond AMLO.
Bolivia has severed diplomatic relations with Israel, and Colombia, Chile, and Honduras have all recalled their ambassadors. Latin America is leading the way in opposing Israel’s war on Gaza.
Recent Republican bluster about a possible US ground invasion in Mexico to go after drug cartels remains on the fringe. But as bipartisan support for the border wall shows, far-fetched ideas can quickly become plausible in the run-up to a presidential election.
Since coming to office in 2018, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made tackling inequality a key tenet of his Fourth Transformation. Millions have been lifted out of poverty, and the divide between rich and poor is shrinking.
In fealty to US foreign policy, Mexico has long refused to recognize Palestinian statehood. Last week, that finally changed, with AMLO’s government officially acknowledging Palestinian statehood and establishing a full embassy in Mexico City.
Mexican president AMLO and the Drug Enforcement Administration have been involved in a heated war of words following revelations of covert operations on Mexican soil. At the same time, an extensive web of corruption within the agency is being laid bare.
Last month, a federal US court found a former Mexican security chief guilty of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel. The trial showed how both the US government and its Mexican clients have been guilty of the criminal activity they’re supposedly trying to stop.
The international press is again bludgeoning Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, this time accusing him of attacking the country’s democratic institutions. It’s a baseless charge intended to undermine a government that refuses total obedience to US hegemony.
The Index on Censorship, a right-wing nonprofit led by a vicious Jeremy Corbyn opponent that receives funding from the US government, has named Mexican president AMLO its annual “Tyrant of the Year.” Come on.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador rose to power on the promise of massive redistribution. In the last year, he has nationalized lithium stores and lifted the minimum wage by 20%. But to secure these reforms he’ll need to transform the power structures of the Mexican state and media.
For a century, the official labor movement in Mexico has been a racket of company unions and protection contracts for bosses. Now that there’s a genuine push to grow independent unionism, President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador must get behind it.
Unlike most world leaders, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has boldly called for peace commission in Ukraine, foregrounding the need for open negotiations to end the war. At home, however, he has increased the power of the military.
No one was ever brought to justice for Mexico’s brutal “dirty war,” sparked by a police massacre of students in 1968. Now Andrés Manuel López Obrador has launched the first truth commission to address the government’s crimes.
In Mexico, water has been transformed from a public resource into a commodity to be sold for profit. It means that corporations can consume water in high quantities while people lack basic access to drinking water.
The US has attempted to exclude several countries from next month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The move has only backfired, prompting a boycott of the summit and renewed calls for an alternative union of Latin American and Caribbean countries.
A historic recall election took place in Mexico over the weekend, giving voters their first ever opportunity to remove an elected president from power. The outcome was a resounding victory for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who now has a renewed mandate for change.
In Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador faces an uphill battle in getting his energy reforms through Congress. American interests, vehemently opposed to the idea of a public energy sector in Mexico, stand in the way.