Mexico: President Obrador in the street for a show of force

The nationalist leftist president, very popular after four years in power, arrived a little after 9 a.m. (2 p.m. GMT) in the middle of a crowd of several thousand people on the Paseo de la Reforma, in the city center.

"I come because I clearly want to support López Obrador," Ramon Suarez, a 33-year-old electrician, told AFP.

"He has done what no president has done for the poor, even if he has to improve a few points, such as insecurity. But that does not happen overnight," he added.

"I like the way of governing AMLO (the initials and the nickname of the president)," enthused Alma Perez, a 35-year-old educator from the state of Guerrero (south).

"I don't listen to the criticisms that are made of him. They have no reason to exist. For example, the violence did not start with him," she added, referring to the tens of thousands homicides that Mexico continues to record each year (33,308 in 2021).

"I invite all the people" to participate in this "historic" moment, said Saturday the 69-year-old head of state, who has 60% favorable opinions according to opinion polls.

At the end of the march, President López Obrador, in office since December 1, 2018, must take the floor to present the results of his four years in power in the Zocalo, the largest square in Mexico.

Two weeks ago, tens of thousands of people marched in Mexico City against his electoral reform project.

- "Show your muscles" -

Willingly divisive and a follower of political "polarization", the president had estimated that the demonstrators were in fact defending "racism, classism and corruption".

AMLO says its own rally is not a response to opposition, but a way to “celebrate progress in transforming Mexico.”

He wants to "show his muscles," said Fernando Dworak, an analyst at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), contacted by AFP.

“The opposition made a big mistake believing they could defeat the president on the streets,” he continued.

No participation estimate was yet available on Sunday morning.

Sunday's mobilization comes less than two years from the next presidential election in 2024 (the head of state in Mexico is elected for a single six-year term).

Two possible dolphins of the Mexican president walk with him, the mayor of Mexico City Claudia Sheinbaum and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard.

López Obrador "wants to continue mobilizing" to keep his party, Morena, in power, according to Fernando Dworak.

"He knows that to win an election it is necessary to have a well-oiled machine, which works all the time", adds a researcher from the Technological University of Monterrey, Gustavo López.

- Electoral reform project -

In addition to the popularity of AMLO, Morena (Movement for National Regeneration) is in a strong position against an opposition bloc which includes the PRI, the former party in power for 70 years, the PAN (right) and the PRD (left).

This alliance split recently, before reuniting against the government's electoral reform plan.

The reform claims to change the operating rules of the National Electoral Institute (INE) so that its members are elected, and no longer chosen by the parties.

It also plans to reduce the size of the INE, as well as the number of members of Parliament (the deputies would go from 500 to 300, and the senators from 128 to 96).

Its detractors accuse AMLO of wanting to end the "independence" of INE, which has overseen the organization of elections since its creation in 1990.

The president accuses INE of covering up alleged fraud in the 2006 and 2012 elections he lost.

The President needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the approval of this reform, because it is a constitutional reform.

The opposition also accuses the Mexican president of authoritarianism and wanting to "militarize" the country. AMLO has in fact entrusted the army with several major projects as well as public security tasks in a country that is unable to emerge from the violence of drug trafficking.