Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday said that he will abandon the US secret service-style protection used by his predecessor in favor of a security detail of 20 unarmed men and women, including lawyers, doctors and engineers.
Since winning a landslide election victory on July 1, leftist Lopez Obrador has painted himself an everyman president, forgoing the traditional trappings of the presidency, but the absence of armed guards has raised fears in a country reeling from political, gang and drug-related violence.
There were more fatal attacks on politicians during the past election campaign than in any other in recent history, and an epidemic of gang violence made last year Mexico’s deadliest since modern records began.
Giving his first public comments one day after being officially named president-elect, Lopez Obrador said that 10 men and 10 women would be chosen to provide his security, but described them as facilitators.
He said they would not carry firearms and protection would be kept at a minimum.
“They are going to take care of me. These women and men, and all Mexicans are going to take care of me. And when I talk about all the Mexicans I’m talking about the soldiers, because the soldiers are the people,” Lopez Obrador said.
“All Mexicans are going to take care of me, but there will not be this special [government] body to guarantee the protection of the president of the republic,” he said.
He said he told incumbent President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is protected by 2,000 armed presidential guards composed of military personnel, police and civilians, that he would instead go with the much smaller security team.
Lopez Obrador has promised to run an austere, zero-deficit government, and his approach to security is a clear example of how he is breaking from the mold. The presidential guards are to be absorbed by the Mexican Secretariat of Defense once he takes office on Dec. 1.
He has promised to turn the Los Pinos presidential palace into a cultural center, have the presidential airplane sold and receive half the salary of Pena Nieto.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese