Lopez Obrador’s public absence and lack of official information have generated all kinds of doubts and rumors among Mexicans.
MEXICO CITY (Times Media Mexico) – President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has shared only one photo of himself since testing positive for the coronavirus, and his aides say that Mexico’s leader is “in good spirits, with mild symptoms from the illness and still working”.
However, the country is used to waking up to Lopez Obrador as he holds marathon press conferences every morning, and his public absence is prompting calls regarding the president, who touts the transparency of his administration, to share more about his own health.
On Sunday, the president announced via Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19, had mild symptoms, and was undergoing treatment. Since then, he has been out of public view, with the exception of a photo that circulated on his Twitter account on Monday showing him sitting stiffly behind a desk in a jacket and tie.
And nothing improved when Health Undersecretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell said later Monday that “not only now, but throughout the president’s recovery period, we are not going to reveal any clinical data because this is a matter of his privacy.” Reactions ranged from critics of Lopez Obrador who questioned whether he was really sick to supporters who expressed genuine concern.
Lopez Gatell has since said Lopez Obrador had a low fever and headache. On Thursday, Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero said the president was fine and in “full recovery.”
Political consultant Jesus Silva Herzog Marquez, has openly said that the president’s health is in the public interest, and more information should be shared. Especially after López Obrador said that “he no longer belonged to himself since he belonged to the people”.
The rumors
Multiple rumors are circulating on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. One version indicates that López Obrador was intubated due to respiratory problems. Another rumor says that the president is not infected with covid-19 but suffered an embolism that has him semi-paralyzed.
In surveys conducted by various media, it can be seen that a large number of Internet and social network users do not believe in the president’s illness. They consider that it is a stunt to recover some of the popularity lost due to the pandemic’s awful management that has resulted in more than 150 thousand deaths and one million contagions.
Lopez Obrador falls within the “high risk population”. He is 67 years old, suffers from hypertension, has a heart attack, is overweight, and is constantly eating unhealthyfoods. It is also a known fact that Lopez also has severe spinal problems, to the extent that he was treated by a medical staff headed by a neurosurgeon named Felix Dolorit, from the Larkin Community Hospital located in Miami’s South Beach.
One thing is real. The government’s secrecy and AMLO’s collaborators have aggravated this situation by not disclosing the president’s health.
