{"id":12667,"date":"2018-07-02T02:22:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T02:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=12667"},"modified":"2018-07-03T02:25:33","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T02:25:33","slug":"mexico-elects-a-leftist-president-who-welcomes-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/mexico-elects-a-leftist-president-who-welcomes-migrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico elects a leftist president who welcomes migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luis G\u00f3mez Romero<\/a>, University of Wollongong<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s next president will be Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador<\/a>, a former Mexico City mayor and outspoken critic of the political establishment both in Mexico and the United States<\/a>. The 64-year-old leftist, who had for months led a crowded presidential field<\/a>, beat three competitors on July 1 to triumph in his third presidential bid. <\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador won 53 percent of the vote, according to the latest official count<\/a>. His closest contender, Ricardo Anaya<\/a> \u2013 who formed an unusual right-left alliance late last year in a futile attempt to overtake L\u00f3pez Obrador \u2013 earned 25 percent of votes.<\/p>\n

Just 16 percent of voters chose the ruling party candidate, Jos\u00e9 Antonio Meade, of the Revolutionary Institutional Party.<\/p>\n

With 18,000 other public offices up for election<\/a>, from mayors to senators, this was Mexico\u2019s biggest and most expensive election<\/a> ever. <\/p>\n

It was also the most violent<\/a> in Mexico\u2019s modern history. At least 136 candidates and political operatives were killed on the campaign trail, apparently assassinated by organized crime groups seeking to maintain their grip on power.<\/p>\n

Many unknowns<\/h2>\n

In his victory speech, L\u00f3pez Obrador promised Mexicans, whose disgust at politics as usual<\/a> propelled this career outsider into the presidency, that he would \u201ctransform\u201d their country. He would govern \u201cfor the good of everyone,\u201d he said, \u201cstarting with the poor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four presidential candidates argued over many issues<\/a>, including how to tackle Mexico\u2019s record-high violence<\/a> and systemic inequality<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Many of L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s lofty campaign commitments, which include giving amnesty to drug kingpins<\/a> and rooting out political corruption<\/a>, remain short on specific details. <\/p>\n

It is unclear, for example, how his government will pay for all the social programs he has promised, or what its stance on social issues like abortion will be considering that his Morena party aligned with the right-wing Social Encounter party<\/a> to build its electoral coalition.<\/p>\n

Mexico and immigration<\/h2>\n

One thing was clear by the end of the campaign, which coincided with a new Trump administration policy of criminally prosecuting all migrants<\/a> who cross the U.S.-Mexico border: Mexico would no longer help enforce the immigration laws<\/a> of its neighbor to the north.<\/p>\n

President-elect L\u00f3pez Obrador has called<\/a> the U.S. policy of separating migrant families \u201carrogant, racist and inhuman.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s repeated claims<\/a> that Mexico does \u201cnothing\u201d to stop Central American migrants from reaching the United States<\/a>, Mexico has been a proactive partner in U.S. immigration enforcement<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Outgoing President Pe\u00f1a Nieto, who was constitutionally prohibited<\/a> from seeking re-election, accepted US$90 million in American funding<\/a> to launch the Southern Border Program in 2014, aimed at deterring migration across Mexico\u2019s border with Guatemala and apprehending<\/a> migrants who journey through the country.<\/p>\n

Mexican deportations of Central Americans traveling to the U.S. \u2013 primarily Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans \u2013 soon doubled, from 78,733<\/a> in 2013 to 176,726<\/a> in 2015. During the same period, U.S. border agents detained half as many Central American migrants<\/a> at the border.<\/p>\n

The changing face of migration<\/h2>\n

Migration patterns in the region have changed radically in recent decades. <\/p>\n

The number of Mexicans apprehended crossing illegally into the U.S. has plummeted<\/a>, from more than 1.6 million in 2000 to 130,000 last year. More Mexicans are now leaving the U.S. than arriving<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Central Americans, driven by pervasive violence and poverty<\/a>, currently make up the bulk of people<\/a> who cross the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2017, U.S. Border Patrol agents there arrested 303,916 migrants. Just over half of them \u2013 162,891<\/a> people \u2013 were from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.<\/p>\n

Mexico has thus become a major transit<\/a> country for migrants. <\/p>\n

It is also, increasingly, their final destination<\/a>. Mexico saw 12,700 asylum requests from Central American refugees<\/a> in 2017, up from 8,800 in 2016 and 3,400 in 2015<\/a>. Only the U.S. received more Central American asylum-seekers, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. <\/p>\n

Nobody\u2019s pi\u00f1ata<\/h2>\n

An early critic of President Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s policy of arresting and deporting Central Americans, L\u00f3pez Obrador accused<\/a> the Mexican government of committing human rights violations against migrants.<\/p>\n

As president, L\u00f3pez Obrador will still \u201cpay special attention\u201d<\/a> to Mexico\u2019s southern border, he says. But his government will no longer do the U.S.\u2018s immigration \u201cdirty work<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador wants Mexico to respect existing laws<\/a> that protect the human rights of migrants. The Mexican Constitution has guaranteed<\/a> that asylum-seekers can find refuge in its borders since 2016.<\/p>\n

The high cost of appeasing Trump<\/h2>\n

In his first interview<\/a> as president-elect, aired on July 2, L\u00f3pez Obrador thanked President Trump for a congratulatory tweet<\/a> posted on election night. <\/p>\n

He also said he \u201cwill not fight\u201d Trump. Mexico will respect the American government, L\u00f3pez Obrador said, because it expects respect from the U.S.<\/p>\n

Actually getting that respect may be tough, as his predecessor learned the hard way. In August 2016, President Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s advisers invited Trump, whose 2016 campaign was fueled by promises to build a \u201cbig, fat, beautiful\u201d border wall<\/a>, to come to Mexico.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Trump\u2019s August 2016 visit to Mexico was calamitous for outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto and his party.<\/span>
\n AP Photo\/Dario Lopez-Mills<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During Trump\u2019s visit, Pe\u00f1a Nieto emphasized his country\u2019s contribution to U.S. immigration enforcement. The border, Pe\u00f1a Nieto said to a subdued Trump<\/a>, represents a \u201cshared challenge\u201d and a \u201cgreat humanitarian crisis.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump later ridiculed his Mexican counterpart, insisting that the U.S. needed a border wall<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t know it yet,\u201d he told supporters at an Arizona rally<\/a>, \u201cbut they\u2019re going to pay for it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a Nieto never recovered from this diplomatic disaster. Almost 90 percent of Mexican citizens said they were offended<\/a> by Trump\u2019s visit and by their president\u2019s submissive<\/a> behavior. Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s approval rating plunged<\/a> to below 25 percent and stayed there. <\/p>\n

His Revolutionary Institutional Party, or PRI, paid the price in this election. Candidate Jos\u00e9 Antonio Meade finished in third place<\/a>, and the PRI lost<\/a> eight senate seats and eight governor\u2019s races. It may lose several more seats that are still being contested<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another Mexican revolution<\/h2>\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador benefited from Pe\u00f1a Nieto\u2019s mistakes.<\/p>\n

His young Morena party, which was founded in 2014, won a legislative majority<\/a> on July 1. Its candidate for mayor of Mexico City<\/a>, Claudia Sheinbaum, also won. She will be the first woman elected to lead the Mexican capital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s self-aggrandizement has some Mexican political onlookers worried<\/a>. He sold himself to voters as a revolutionary figure, saying his presidency will be the latest phase in Mexico\u2019s 200-year progressive political transformation<\/a>, which began with winning independence from Spain, in 1821, continued in the 1850s with the War of Reform, which consolidated republican liberalism in Mexico, and expanded during the 1910 Mexican Revolution.<\/p>\n

\"TheMexico is entering a new era, as is the U.S.-Mexico relationship. But no one \u2013 probably not even Mexico\u2019s future president \u2013 knows quite what that means.<\/p>\n

Luis G\u00f3mez Romero<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luis G\u00f3mez Romero, University of Wollongong Mexico\u2019s next president will be Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor and outspoken critic of the political establishment both in Mexico and the United States. The 64-year-old leftist, who had for months led a crowded presidential field, beat three competitors on July 1 to triumph in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":12658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[4731,2295,671,1336,1579,1586],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12668,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12667\/revisions\/12668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}