The election of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, in July 2018 was supposed to result in a radical transformation for Mexico. But since taking office in December 2018, AMLO has struggled to deliver on his campaign promises. After having to play catchup during his first two years in office to Donald Trump’s quixotic threats linking trade and immigration, he has more recently had to reboot relations with the U.S. under President Joe Biden.
On Sunday, huge crowds of demonstrators streamed into Mexico City’s main square, marking a startlingly strong rebuke to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The protesters convincingly argue that AMLO’s controversial changes to Mexico’s independent National Electoral Institute, or INE, would undermine the country’s young democracy.
Latin America’s broad support for last week’s U.N. resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and a withdrawal of Russian forces was a clear stand in favor of Ukraine’s sovereignty. But if the U.N. vote was cause for celebration, it was also a rare condemnation on regional leaders’ part of Russia’s actions.