More than four years after taking office in December 2018, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, has struggled to make good on his campaign promises to deliver radical transformation, including tackling corruption and reforming the country’s drug war. Instead, during his first two years in office, he often found himself playing catchup to former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose quixotic threats linking trade and immigration forced AMLO’s hand when it came to Mexico’s efforts to block immigrants from crossing into the United States. AMLO has had to reboot relations with the U.S. under President Joe Biden, whose more conventional approach to a full range of bilateral issues could prove to be more of a challenge than Trump’s dual fixation on migration and trade.
Trump did not entirely upend AMLO’s agenda. The Mexican leader took initial steps to rethink Mexico’s drug war, while also calling for the decriminalization of all drugs in Mexico. But from cracking down on migrants passing through Mexico on their way north to successfully renegotiating the updated NAFTA trade deal, AMLO’s presidency in many ways became inextricably linked to Trump, with whom he developed surprisingly amicable ties despite their many differences. That friendliness, combined with a series of moves that undermined security cooperation with the U.S. on drug enforcement, had many observers wondering whether AMLO would pay a political cost under the Biden administration. Instead, both leaders have adopted a pragmatic approach that has put relations back on a solid footing, without entirely resolving some of the tensions in the relationship.
AMLO remains broadly popular in Mexico. His pledges to reduce inequality are hailed, even as uncertainty surrounds some of his economic policy proposals. Though he has made efforts to reassure the private sector, he has also called for greater state intervention in the economy, deviating from the open market trajectory of his predecessors. His state-centric energy reforms, in particular, have undermined Mexico’s climate commitments with regard to renewables, while also damaging ties with Washington. And the growing role of the military in the effort to rein in drug-related violence, but also in a range of other activities unrelated to security, has caused concern. AMLO was also criticized for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic—or rather his lack of response. But so far his failure to deliver on promises of radical transformation has not put a significant dent in his approval ratings.
WPR has covered Mexico in detail and continues to examine key questions about future developments. Will AMLO’s embrace of the military undermine efforts to hold the armed forces accountable for past human rights abuses? Will his recently passed changes to Mexico’s independent election watchdog agency undermine the country’s democracy? And how will relations with the U.S. develop under the Biden administration? Below are some of the highlights of WPR’s coverage.
Our Most Recent Coverage
AMLO’s Electoral ‘Reform’ Has Mexico in the Streets
On Sunday, Feb. 26, 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.
Domestic Policies
With no real political opposition and a press that regularly caves to pressure, AMLO is in the driver’s seat when it comes to pushing forward with a range of policies that his supporters call progressive and his critics say could reverse the country’s economic gains. While his economic policies have dominated most discussions, he has already moved to fulfill a campaign promise to undo his predecessor’s education reform and more recently his energy reforms. He has also taken steps to address rampant corruption, with mixed results.
- Why Mexico’s state-run oil company, alone among the world’s major producers, has not benefited from the recent windfalls in global oil markets, in Mexico’s Pemex Could Be Another Casualty of AMLO’s Energy Nationalism
- Why AMLO’s first effort to defang the country’s independent election watchdog agency failed, in Mexico’s Democracy Just Dodged a Bullet on AMLO’s Electoral Reforms
- How AMLO’s energy reforms are damaging the environment, Mexican consumers and U.S.-Mexico ties, in Mexico Is Paying the Price for AMLO’s Failed Energy Policies
- What’s really driving AMLO’s efforts to overhaul Mexico’s domestic energy markets, in AMLO’s Energy Reforms Would Set Mexico Back 50 Years
Drug War and Violence
Mexico’s long-standing war on drugs, with the support of Washington, has neither slowed the flow of illicit substances into the U.S., nor reduced violence in Mexico. AMLO took office with plans to address the root causes of drug use and violence. But he has since embraced his predecessors’ reliance on the military to tackle drug-related crime and violence.
- What the leaks from last year’s hacktivist attack on Mexico’s military revealed, in Latin American Hackers Seek Accountability for State-Sponsored Violence
- Why a historic truth commission report does not guarantee accountability for the families of 43 missing students who disappeared in Ayotzinapa eight years ago, in Accountability for Mexico’s Ayotzinapa Massacre Won’t Come Easy
- Why AMLO’s about-face on Mexico’s militarized approach to the war on drugs is a step in the wrong direction, in AMLO Doubles Down on Mexico’s Failed Security Policy
- Why legalizing cannabis is the easiest part of establishing a safely regulated market, in Mexico’s Risky Experiment With Legalized Cannabis
U.S. Relations and Foreign Policy
Mexico’s relations with the United States under Trump figured prominently among AMLO’s challenges. But Biden’s more conventional approach to the full range of bilateral relations might end up being tougher to manage than Trump’s fixation on just two issues—migration and trade. More broadly, AMLO has also been criticized for what has appeared to be a lackadaisical approach to foreign policy.
- How AMLO’s desire to expand Mexico’s regional leadership risks hobbling an effective free trade platform, in AMLO’s Regional Leadership Ambitions Could Sink the Pacific Alliance
- How Mexico is using the U.S. courts to counter the influx of illegal weapons from across the border, in Mexico Turns to ‘Lawfare’ to Tackle Its U.S. Gun Problem
- How AMLO and Biden managed to repair the two countries’ working relationship, in AMLO and Biden Have Quietly Put U.S.-Mexico Relations Back on Track
- Why bilateral cooperation on security issues has deteriorated—and what it will take to improve it, in U.S.-Mexico Security Ties Are at Rock Bottom—and Likely to Stay There
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in July 2019 and is regularly updated.