The emergence of Latin American firebrands who champion the
cause of the impoverished and rail against the evils of
neoliberalism and Yankee imperialism-Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Evo
Morales in ...Bolivia, Néstor Kirchner in Argentina, Andrés Manuel
López Obrador in Mexico-has changed the landscape of the Americas
in dramatic ways. This is the first biography to appear in English
about one of these charismatic figures, who is known in his country
by his adopted nickname of "Little Ray of Hope."
The book follows López Obrador's life from his early years in
the flyspecked state of Tabasco, his university studies, and the
years that he lived among the impoverished Chontal Indians. Even as
he showed an increasingly messianic élan to uplift the downtrodden,
he confronted the muscular Institutional Revolutionary Party in
running twice for governor of his home state and helping found the
leftist-nationalist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). As the
PRD's national president, he escalated his political and
ideological warfare against his former president, Carlos Salinas,
and other "conspirators" determined to link Mexico to the global
economy at the expense of the poor. His strident advocacy of the
"have-nots" lifted López Obrador to the mayorship of Mexico City,
which he rechristened the "City of Hope." Its ubiquitous crime,
traffic, pollution, and housing problems have made the capital a
tomb for most politicians. Not for López Obrador. Through splashy
public works, monthly stipends to senior citizens, huge marches,
and a dawn-to-dusk work schedule, he converted the position into a
trampoline to the presidency. Although he lost the official count
by an eyelash, the hard-charging Tabascan cried fraud, took the
oath as the nation's "legitimate president," and barnstormed the
country, excoriating the "fascist" policies of President Felipe
Calderón and preparing to redeem the destitute in the 2012
presidential contest.
Grayson views López Obrador as quite different from populists
like Chávez, Morales, and Kirchner and argues that he is a "secular
messiah, who lives humbly, honors prophets, gathers apostles,
declares himself indestructible, relishes playing the role of
victim, and preaches a doctrine of salvation by returning to the
values of the 1917 Constitution- fairness for workers, Indians'
rights, fervent nationalism, and anti-imperialism."
Although differences between the Mexican and U.S. political systems have narrowed of late, a huge gulf continues to separate the two systems. At the heart of this disparity lies the phenomenon of ...corporatism, a social concept that is virtually absent in U.S. political discourse and traditions. This article considers the intellectual origins of corporatism, why it meshes so well with Ibero-Hispanic society, and how Mexico City's former mayor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, fashioned his own brand of corporatism to confront the administration of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, who defeated him in the July 2006 presidential race.
Mexico's crime-ridden southern frontier has become a veritable third U.S. border, as a constant flow of Central Americans and others cross into Mexico, often en route to the United States. As the ...number of unlawful migrants surges, their characteristics are changing: recent apprehensions include nationals of Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Asian nations, and foreigners linked to terrorism are using Mexico as a thoroughfare to the United States. Mexico's immigration department is hindered by a number of factors in stanching this flow, and Mexican officials have only begun to publicly recognize the severity of the problem. Washington, too, must wake up to the security threat posed by Mexico's soft underbelly.
The election of Vicente Fox Quesada to Mexico's presidency in Jul 2000 opened a new chapter in his country's foreign affairs. Fox has drawn on the "democratic dividend" he earned when elected to ...pursue an extraordinarily visible international role. Ultimately his international elan may impede accomplishing the internal changes that swept him to victory.
