NOGALES, Sonora 鈥
The accelerating campaign for Mexico鈥檚 presidency isn鈥檛 just about us north of the border.
That shouldn鈥檛 come as much of a surprise, but it became clearer Monday in a campaign speech by leading candidate Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador. He was within amplified shouting distance of the U.S. border at a plaza in Nogales, Sonora, and despite his reputation as a left-wing firebrand, he didn鈥檛 once say 鈥済ringo鈥 or 鈥測anqui鈥 or even decry the recent National Guard deployment to the U.S. side of the line.
In fact, his only mention of President Trump was really a mocking reference to the extravagances of Mexico鈥檚 political elite. He said as president, he would attempt to sell to Trump a luxurious plane the Mexican government bought.
The name of L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 party is Morena, which stands for Movimiento de Regeneracion Nacional, or National Regeneration Movement. And that was the core of his commentary 鈥 summoning Mexico鈥檚 most-heralded forefathers and proudest historic moments to help him overthrow the corrupted state of today.
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鈥淭here is no gang that robs so much 鈥 the ones who are presented as big criminals are suckling children compared to the corrupt politicians in our country,鈥 said the candidate, known as AMLO for his initials.
鈥淲e have to learn the lesson that the worst of the thieves is the corrupt politician, and we鈥檙e going to end this official banditry.鈥
There have only been three transformations in Mexico鈥檚 history, L贸pez Obrador said 鈥 independence from Spain, the liberal reform period of the mid-1800s and the Mexican Revolution of the early 1900s.
鈥淭he last transformation occurred 100 years ago,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e are coming very close to carrying out Mexico鈥檚 fourth transformation of public life.鈥
The event was thrilling to the approximately 2,000 people who filled Plaza Miguel Hidalgo, about a mile south of the border, and an adjacent pedestrian bridge.
Among those most enthusiastic at the front of the crowd was Jose David Fonseca, a native of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, who lives in 蜜柚直播 and works as an optical scientist at a local maker of solar telescopes.
Fonseca pumped his fist with a broad smile across his face and sang along to 鈥淢orena,鈥 the political party theme song that was played on an almost continual loop by guitarist Jesse Gerardo until AMLO arrived.
鈥淚 had to come to the United States to do this work, because in Mexico there isn鈥檛 any,鈥 said Fonseca, now a U.S. citizen.
Echoing L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 famous words, he said that since Mexico was born in 1810, it has been almost continuously governed by a mafia of the powerful.
L贸pez Obrador, 64, has run for president twice before, in 2006 and 2012, but this time his message seems to be penetrating 鈥 and may be destroying the existing political party structure. The former mayor of Mexico City ran before as a candidate of the left-wing PRD, or Party of the Democratic Revolution. Now, he is the reason for being of the Morena Party, which shares a coalition with the left-wing Labor Party and the conservative Social Encounter Party.
L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 old party, the PRD, has united with the right-wing PAN, or National Action Party 鈥 the party of former presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calder贸n 鈥 to support candidate Ricardo Anaya. And the traditional power that dominated Mexico for a century, the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, of current President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto, appears to have a weak candidate in Jose Antonio Meade.
For the first time, a couple of independent candidates will also be on the ballot 鈥 Margarita Zavala, the former first lady and wife of Calder贸n, and Jaime Rodriguez Calder贸n, the governor of Nuevo Leon. The latest polls suggest L贸pez Obrador is leading them all by 15 to 20 percentage points.
While his rhetoric points toward a transformed Mexico, L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 policies look backward toward a period of greater government involvement in Mexico鈥檚 economy, which diminished beginning with the presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1988-1994. AMLO proposed guaranteed prices for agricultural goods, more control over gasoline prices, a doubled minimum wage and guaranteed scholarships for students, among other government interventions.
He also proposed special consideration of Mexico鈥檚 border region, where businesses must compete with lower prices for some goods on the U.S. side.
In a 30-kilometer-wide border strip, he would halve the national 16 percent value-added tax and make prices of gas, diesel and electricity similar to those across the border, he said.
鈥淭here won鈥檛 be anymore privatizations,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to pass into history like Carlos Salinas, the father of modern inequality.鈥
To make it to the presidency, though, AMLO will have to survive the campaign.
He has rejected private security and has not requested government-provided security. There were no security checks outside the plaza where he spoke Thursday, and I stood within 15 feet of the candidate for the whole event wearing a fanny pack that could easily hold a pistol.
After the speech, crowds mobbed the SUV in which he departed.
There was no significant police or security presence as the vehicle struggled to move away.
It was a bit worrisome to witness that in the home state of Luis Donaldo Colosio, the Mexican presidential candidate who was assassinated in 1994 at a campaign rally in Tijuana.
But there is also a messianic quality about L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 campaign, as if nothing could stop it. Maybe that鈥檚 true.
