Throughout his five years in office, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has dramatically altered the country’s landscape, using his popularity to craft and maintain a narrative that often contradicts reality. Now, with his term coming to an end, the question is whether Mexico’s “post-truth politics” will end with it.
With less than a year left in his term, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, has struggled to make good on his campaign promises to deliver radical transformation. Meanwhile, after spending the first two years in office playing catchup to Donald Trump’s quixotic threats linking trade and immigration, AMLO appears to have put U.S. relations back on solid footing, without entirely resolving some of the tensions in the relationship.
As the strong favorite to win Mexico’s presidential election, Claudia Sheinbaum owes much of her support to the popularity of her mentor, populist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. But the echoes of AMLO in Sheinbaum’s campaign conceal significant differences that will shape the path forward for Mexico under its next president.
Though often seen as a region with marginal geopolitical leverage, Latin America is increasingly being targeted by Moscow’s influence campaigns. Those efforts are finding receptive audiences, due to a variety of factors. And countering Russian propaganda will not be easy, as doing so effectively requires a nuanced approach.