All about AMLO

There is a superb article on the post-electoral situation in Mexico over at the Washington Post. Things are playing out pretty much as I thought they might as far as Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (aka AMLO, which seems to be turning into a new Spanish word for "pain in the ass") is concerned.

If the PRD candidate had simply implemented this legal strategy, his behavior would not have unforgivably sullied the process or undermined Mexico's fragile democracy. But as might have been predicted, Lopez Obrador wasn't satisfied with legal action. Just as he's always done, he had to go for broke -- resorting to "ad terrorem" methods.

...

Most troubling of all is that Lopez Obrador has called for demonstrations all over the country "in support of democracy" -- the same democracy whose institutions he has impugned. Even though he insists that the marches will be "peaceful" and "won't get out of hand," he knows very well that in the atmosphere he has created, violent actions might be initiated by either side. It isn't hard to gauge his intentions. He's made them very plain, and since he's a man of his word, he must be believed: "I'll go as far as the people want me to go."

Apparently, however, "the people" are not the 27,034,972 Mexicans of all classes who didn't vote for him; they're not even the 14,756,350 citizens who supported him at the polls. "The people," or "the nation," will be those sectors of the population that Lopez Obrador is able to get out into the country's streets and plazas in coming days and weeks -- those who see him as he sees himself, as the Mexican messiah. And who will interpret the wishes of this "people," a repository of natural and divine law rather than of the petty laws written by men? The charismatic leader who incarnates Truth, Reason, History and Virtue, the leader who will save Mexico from oppression, inequality, injustice and poverty, who will "purify national life": Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Oops. He forgot the bit about AMLO possibly having used government funds as Mayor of Mexico City to pay for weapons purchases for Marxist guerrillas.

So we know what AMLO has done. At best, this will simply backfire. At worst, Mexico has a major problem on its hands. Stay tuned.

-- CAV