MEXICO CITY – As the U.S. looks back over one of the most divisive presidential elections in recent memory, Mexico’s own leadership battle is getting underway. As candidates for the top job come forward, Alasdair Baverstock writes on foxnews.com, the country’s main concern comes to the forefront: who can handle Donald Trump?
Enrique Peña Nieto will step aside on June 4, 2018. The most unpopular leader since records began, his replacements are already campaigning in the president’s heartlands, with man-of-the-people Andrés Manuel López Obrador leading the pack.
Known as AMLO, the firebrand populist has already been defeated in two presidential elections, yet, undeterred by ejection from his party and protesting fraud by political opponents at every turn, his anti-graft cause is building a head of steam as he tours marginalized Mexico.
“We will bring down the Mafia of Power that has destroyed this country,” he shouted to the crowd in Ecatepec, the most murderous town in Mexico, in a rally last week. “Our politicians have betrayed us, lying and stealing, and allowing the United States to punish the poorest for their mistakes.”
Being a career politician hasn’t stopped AMLO from tearing a few pages out of Donald Trump’s playbook. He has used his high-profile defeats to personify the thorn in the government’s side, a role which resounds with the growing number of Mexicans (and was effective with a great number of Americans) who feel betrayed by their politicians.
The candidate is highly active on social media, releasing YouTube videos and tweets that highlight national issues to his millions of followers and strengthen an outsider image that has been carefully constructed since his ejection from his own party.
To read complete article click here.
Source: foxnews.com