Hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday marched in Mexico’s capital in a show of support for Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who before assuming the presidency had led some of the nation’s biggest protests.
The “people’s march” marked four years in office for the leftist leader and was a response to a large opposition march two weeks ago to protest Lopez Obrador’s proposal to reform the country’s electoral authority.
The president led Sunday’s march through central Mexico City, which was accompanied by mariachi music, singing and a festive atmosphere. Many participants had been bused in from provinces across Mexico in trips organized by the ruling Morena party, unions and social groups.
Photo: Reuters
“Effective suffrage, effective democracy and no to re-election,” he said in a speech after the march in which he repeated his slogans of favoring the poor and fighting the oligarchy.
The opposition insisted that many participants were forced to join the march, but Lopez Obrador said he had not put “a penny” of the federal budget into the march. Demonstrators questioned said they had come voluntarily.
However, in many cases the transportation was provided by local governments or politicians who wanted to be well thought of inside the ruling party.
Gaby Contreras, a former Morena mayor, brought a group from Teoloyucan, north of the capital, and was the only one of her group authorized to speak.
“We are here to support the president,” he said.
Pedro Sanchez, a bricklayer who came with his wife from the Tehuantepec isthmus in southern Mexico, said his municipality organized everything. Hundreds of buses that had brought participants lined nearby streets.
“I come from Sonora by plane and I paid for my ticket,” lawyer and Lopez Obrador supporter America Verdugo said.
Nelly Munoz, an administrator from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said: “It’s called ‘organization’ and believe it or not, it’s what we’ve been doing since 2006.”
That date was a reference to the year Lopez Obrador came within 0.56 percent of the vote of winning the presidency and denounced his loss as fraudulent. Many supported him, launching a protest movement.
Lopez Obrador was elected to the presidency 12 years later and his Morena party won four of six races for governor in last year’s midterm elections, giving the ruling party control of 22 of Mexico’s 32 states, an important advantage heading into the 2024 presidential elections.
However, the government has been criticized for its increased use of the military, laws whose constitutionality has been questioned in the courts, and its support for controversial mega-projects. Some people who support the president are now are his critics.
Clara Jusidman, founder of INCIDE Social, a non-governmental organization specialized in democracy, development and human rights, said that what is important is not the number of participants in the march, but “why they participated.”
She said many Mexicans feel compeled to participate because they receive money transfers from the government, which is its main way of supporting those in need. Others want to be in the good graces of the party ahead of the 2024 local, state and presidential elections. The leading contenders to replace Lopez Obrador as Morena’s presidential candidate in 2024 appeared in the march.
However, there was no shortage of fans of Mexico’s president, who maintains a high approval rating.
Alberto Cervantes, who traveled from Los Angeles to join the march, had the president’s face and “AMLO 4T” tattooed on his arm. AMLO is the popular acronym for Lopez Obrador’s name, and 4T refers to the “4th Transformation,” which Lopez Obrador says he is carrying out in Mexico.
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