Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is preparing to leave. The leftist leader delivered his last government address on Sunday, an assessment of the state of the nation, to thousands of supporters gathered in the Zócalo in Mexico City. López Obrador took advantage of the official ceremony to say goodbye and thank his supporters, exactly one month before handing over power to the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, sitting in the front row among governors and members of the Executive Cabinet. “I am about to finish my term, and I want to confess, here in the main public square of the country, in this Zócalo where we have so often gathered during our fight for justice and democracy, that I am going to retire with a clear conscience and very happy,” he shared. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,” he said to the audience, who responded with the characteristic chant of his political movement: “It is an honor to be with Obrador!” The president stressed that he is proud that inequality and poverty were reduced during his administration, and expressed his joy at the fact that the person who will succeed him in the government is precisely Sheinbaum. “I am also leaving with peace of mind because the person to whom I will hand over the presidential sash by mandate of the people is an exceptional woman, experienced, honest and above all with good feelings, a good heart, in line with the founding principles of our transformation movement, and a true defender of freedom, justice, democracy and sovereignty,” he said to the shouts and applause of the public.
López Obrador has encouraged the citizens gathered in the Zócalo to express their support for the president-elect. He himself shouted: “President, president!”, in front of a Sheinbaum who stood up from her seat and touched her heart in gratitude. The outgoing Executive has trusted that his successor – who is a member of the same party, Morena – will complete the subjects that he had left pending. “What happiness that the person who will be replacing one is an exceptional woman, who will give continuity to the transformation,” he said. “That is why I laugh, because the things that will remain pending I am absolutely sure that they will be completed, with how extraordinary the president-elect of Mexico is,” he said.
In addition to reviewing the achievements of his government in terms of security, economy and foreign policy, López Obrador has taken advantage of the opportunity to promote his controversial reform of the judiciary, which proposes that all judges be elected by direct vote at the polls, an initiative that has provoked harsh criticism at the national and international level. While the president was giving his report in the Zócalo, students from several universities marched to the Senate of the Republic against the amendment. The government’s discourse is that there is corruption in the judiciary and that electing judges by popular vote would guarantee their honesty and independence. “We have denounced the acts of corruption and influence peddling that predominate in the judiciary,” he said. “The purpose is for them to dispense justice for the benefit of all and not be at the exclusive service of organized crime and white-collar crime, but to be at the service of the people,” he added. The Obradorist bases began to shout: “Out with Piña, out with Piña!”, in reference to the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Norma Piña, who has been the target of the president’s criticism of judicial work for months.
Despite criticism from the opposition, which sees the reform as an attempt by the ruling party to control the judiciary, López Obrador has assured that his government has been respectful of the autonomy of the legislative and judicial branches “to the extreme.” “It would not have cost us anything to continue with the centuries-old tradition of adding the other two branches as an appendix, because for a long time in authoritarian politics the power of the branches was the Executive; we have acted in a respectful manner, we have not wanted to compromise so that everything is approved for us,” he has assured. The president has also made a criticism of the United States, after the ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, spoke out against such an amendment. “This helps to understand what the people’s feelings are, and also for our friends and neighbors in the United States to internalize it, I say this with all respect, and let them not forget that democracy in that country began with the people electing the judges,” he commented.
López Obrador has defended two of the hallmarks of his political discourse: the fight against corruption and the fight against poverty. He highlighted the strength of the peso against the dollar, the control of inflation, job creation and the collection of taxes from large taxpayers. The president has stated that although his government has laid the foundations for a new policy that gives priority to the poor, there are still pending issues, such as the resolution of the Ayotzinapa casewhich this year marks a decade. “Even with all that has been achieved, the backwardness we suffer from the long and stormy period in which the government was in the hands of insensitive oligarchs, who never cared about the well-being of the people and only dedicated themselves to plundering and preventing progress with justice, is still noticeable,” he said. The president has marked out for the representatives of his party and his supporters the path they must follow in political matters. “It is essential to continue fighting to strengthen what has been achieved and continue building a new, generous, eternal homeland,” he indicated.
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