The life story of a (not so) secret writer
Profile
Twelve years of arduous political fight and three presidential campaigns had to pass for Andrés Manuel to be living between the walls where Benito Juarez led the most important republican transformation of the nation. His fight, however, has come to a realization after 20 years since his last electoral victory, 31 years since his first electoral defeat, and 50 years of faithful friendship with the paper and the pen. The now 63rd president of Mexico is an assiduous reader of history and a reluctant of technology. He has never owned a car nor a cellphone, but something that has accompanied him as a witness of his life are his 17 books.
The mostly unknown AMLO writer and the highly famous AMLO politician are incredibly close to each other. It is not clear which one is the consequence of the other. What is true is that they coexist, almost metaphorically, in the pages of 5 historical essays and 12 political analyses as a testimony of the well-known traits of someone that wants to be within “the most important leaders of the history of Mexico.”
Los primeros pasos: Tabasco 1810–1867 (1986)
A newbie inside the party, a teenager, was helping in the campaign of Carlos Peciller in Tabasco in 1970. At 17 years old, López Obrador might have known what he wanted to do in life, but stumbling upon the Partido Revolucionario Popular (PRI) in his late teens and helping in the candidature of a poet was somehow the origins of his two facets. After studying political sciences in Mexico City, he returned to his beloved Tabasco to be a delegate in the Indigenous National Institute and later, a coordinator inside the PRI. His first steps were accelerated and decisive. Belonging to a center right party cost him strong accusations of ‘wanting to spread socialist ideas in the communities’.
Tabasco, víctima de un fraude (1990)
His strong detraction to neoliberalism and his identity as a leader of the opposition were born in 1988 against the politics of the president Miguel De La Madrid. The young politician and some detractors then created Frente Nacional Democrático (FND) a coalition of leftist parties to compete in Tabasco state elections. Defeated, Obrador performed one of the acts that would repeatedly mark his career. Believed to be the victim of a fraud he did a tour throughout the state to alert the citizenship. The word ‘fraud’ would define his political fight against the establishment for 24 years. He alleged fraud in 1988, 1991, 1994 and 2006, supported by thousands of people and other political institutions.
Un proyecto alternativo de Nación. Hacia un cambio verdadero (2004)
A change in the millennium brought new airs to the streak of the politician. Every morning at 6:00, dozens of journalist would wait in a room with a stand in which López Obrador would perform his ‘mañaneras’. He was finally chief of the government of Mexico City, and his early press conferences attracted the attention of the people. This strategy was part of his alternative project for the nation. After several defeats, he managed to carry out one of the most successful administrations of the federal district. It may have been the prior beatings and his willingness to keep working, or the two plebiscitary consults he carried out to ratify his administration, but the people started to support him in every step of the way becoming the first opponent to Vicente Fox.
La mafia nos robó la Presidencia (2007) and La mafia que se adueñó de México… y el 2012 (2010)
His image as a humanitarian politician was already very consolidated when one morning, at 5 am, López Obrador was drinking his regular black coffee and talking to his wife before going to the ‘mañaneras’. It was the last time he saw her alive. The early but expected death of his wife to a disease may not be one of the most relevant points in his career, but it allegedly moved his supporters that would sing ‘Andrés, el pueblo está contigo’ and would admire the most human side of Lopez Obrador. The only pending subject he had left was the presidency of the Republic. His two opponents vanquish him in 2006 and 2012 with less than 1% difference in both elections. Instead of choosing to retire after two electoral campaigns with what he thought was a fraudulent system, he decided to compete a third time under his newly born party Morena (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional).
A New Hope for Mexico (2018)
As the absolute leader of the opposition during 12 years AMLO promised to compete for the last time in 2018. Maybe he had some sort of gut feeling, maybe he didn´t. Maybe it was the strong comparisons with important leaders like Chávez, the support of regional leaders, or maybe the critique of important figures like Mario Vargas Llosa. The fact is that the name of the leader known for his defeats was been said within the words of different important people around the world. A strong combination of factors got him an advantage of 21 percentage points over his strongest opponent. Almost like honoring that young politician in his 20’s in Tabasco, he received from indigenous representatives the presidential baton in an all-time high ceremony.
“I want to lead the forth transformation of the history of the country”. With this line the 63rd president of Mexico set the bar for his newly elected government. With the recent asylum to a controversial Latin American figure and almost one year into his administration, AMLO faces two different challenges. The politician will have to hold accountability for 365 days of political revolution, and the writer will have to write a new chapter in his compilation of personal landmarks.
(This profile was written when Andrés M. López Obrador hit one year in office.)
