As Mexico Elects Claudia Sheinbaum, the Departing Chief Begins His Farewell

Sunday was a historic day in Mexico, with a landslide election victory for Claudia Sheinbaum, the primary lady and first Jewish particular person to develop into the nation’s president.

However as a lot because it was about Ms. Sheinbaum, a embellished local weather scientist and the mayor of Mexico Metropolis from 2018 to 2023, it was additionally about essentially the most highly effective man within the nation who will quickly head towards the exit.

The electoral triumph of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s handpicked successor marks the start of the top of a defining determine in Mexico.

He emerged from an space of the nation the place few nationwide politicians have hailed and have become president on his third strive. He fully reshaped Mexican politics and constructed a whole political social gathering round his outsize character.

Critics additionally say he granted the navy an excessive amount of energy and pushed measures that may chip away at democratic establishments, just like the Supreme Court docket.

But, as the top of his six-year tenure approaches, Mr. López Obrador stays broadly well-liked.

After almost 5 a long time in public life, Mr. López Obrador, 70, has stated he’ll retire “fully” following his last day in workplace on Sept. 30, although some observers imagine he’ll discover a strategy to proceed to exert affect behind the scenes.

He has stated he desires to spend his days at his household’s ranch within the southern state of Chiapas.

For a lot of within the neighboring state of Tabasco, a bastion of help for Mr. López Obrador, and the small city of Tepetitán, the place he was born, Sunday was bittersweet.

Miguel Angel Solis Burelo, 72, stated he was thrilled to see Ms. Sheinbaum win as a result of she was “properly ready” to hold on Mr. López Obrador’s agenda. He additionally stated it was “an awesome pleasure” to see a lady assume the presidency.

However Mr. Solis, who drove a motorboat down a river from the ranch the place he works to vote in Tepetitán, admitted he additionally felt “a bit unhappy” to see Mr. López Obrador nearing the top of his presidency. Mexico’s presidents are restricted to at least one six-year time period by the Structure.

Kenia Sandoval Salvador, 47, a stay-at-home mom, stated she watched video highlights on social media of Mr. López Obrador’s profession earlier than she went to the polls on Sunday in Macuspana, a city additionally in Tabasco the place the president was raised.

“I already really feel the nostalgia,’’ she stated.

Born in 1953, Mr. López Obrador attended the one elementary faculty in Tepetitán and helped at his dad and mom’ retailer. He began center faculty about 40 minutes away in Macuspana. He completed it and highschool in Villahermosa, the state’s capital the place his household moved. He went to varsity in Mexico Metropolis, the place he later served as mayor.

Sunday’s election was seen by many as a referendum on Mr. López Obrador’s management, and Ms. Sheinbaum’s decisive victory was interpreted as a vote of confidence within the president, his insurance policies and the Morena social gathering.

Antenor Paz Acosta, 75, who works on a ranch in Tepetitán and stated he had performed baseball with the president rising up, made clear he had the present chief in thoughts, whilst he voted for Ms. Sheinbaum.

“I’m all the time supporting what Andrés Manuel has accomplished,” Mr. Paz stated. “The place he goes, she does, too.”

Throughout Mr. López Obrador’s tenure, the economic system grew, tens of millions of Mexicans had been lifted out of poverty, the minimal wage doubled, pensions had been expanded and staff’ advantages improved.

However his presidency has additionally fueled concern. He has been criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” technique towards legal cartels that has resulted in extra violence. His detractors additionally say he hobbled the nation’s well being system and prioritized fossil fuels.

Mr. López Obrador, who is thought by his initials AMLO, can be remembered by many for his morning information conferences, or mañaneras, throughout which he spent hours almost on a regular basis for the previous 5 years sharing his emotions, celebrating his victories, attacking his critics and lashing out at journalists. He may come throughout as each fiery and folksy.

“López Obrador ruled by way of the mañaneras,” stated Blanca Gómez, a Mexican journalist who wrote an unauthorized biography of Mr. López Obrador in 2005. “He realized that folks paid consideration when he spoke. Folks imagine him. There are people who find themselves going to overlook his mañaneras. And many individuals can be completely satisfied to not hear him anymore.”

Although Lázaro Vidal Martínez, 62, a farmer in Tepetitán, was often working within the mornings, he stated he would sometimes hear. “I preferred that he confirmed his face day by day as a result of different presidents by no means did that,” he stated.

Mr. Solis, the ranch employee who arrived by motorboat to vote, stated what he preferred most about Mr. López Obrador’s presidency was his social welfare applications that helped “us who didn’t obtain assist or who weren’t taken into consideration.”

He stated his pension, for these 65 and over, has jumped fivefold through the years to roughly $170 each month.

Nonetheless, Mr. López Obrador ought to have been harder on legal teams, Mr. Solis added, although he was typically happy with the nation’s path.

“We would like the motion to proceed,” he stated, earlier than hopping into his boat to move dwelling.

Throughout marketing campaign visits to Tabasco, Ms. Sheinbaum promised to protect Mr. López Obrador’s legacy, which drew cheers from the crowds.

In Tepetitán, a city of 1,500 individuals, what was as soon as his grandparents’ dwelling opened final 12 months because the Obrador Home Neighborhood Museum and options his bust outdoors. In Macuspana, a bigger city with 31,000 residents, the lone reminder is a mural outdoors the general public library.

Not distant in a restaurant within the city’s primary sq. sat Márvel Hernández Gutú, 79, a Tepetitán native, lawyer and former state official who has recognized Mr. López Obrador since their time collectively in a earlier political social gathering. He wished Mr. López Obrador had accomplished extra to develop Mexico when it comes to enterprise and infrastructure, particularly in Tabasco, one of many poorest states within the nation.

“So far as his legacy,” Mr. Hernández stated, “we will’t say he left us nice issues as a result of he had the chance to take action and he didn’t.”

No matter their views, many stated they didn’t imagine Mr. López Obrador would immediately disappear after a long time of public life and along with his protégée in cost.

“His legacy issues lots to him,” stated Ms. Gómez, the journalist.

In a small manner, it’ll proceed on in Tepetitán.

Throughout Mr. López Obrador’s profitable presidential marketing campaign six years in the past, Mr. Vidal, who stated his dad and mom knew Mr. López Obrador’s dad and mom, allowed a neighborhood artist to color a mural on the aspect of his home that sits on the entrance to the city. Anybody coming into or leaving the group would see it.

It has been repainted thrice, with new prospers added on every event. Surrounding Mr. López Obrador’s face are wildlife discovered all through Tabasco: howler monkeys, parrots and the alligator gar fish, a neighborhood delicacy and a nickname for Mr. López Obrador in Spanish.

The mural’s artist died final 12 months, Mr. Vidal stated, and he hopes that one other artist may also help protect the reminder of the city’s most well-known son.

“That mural will keep,” he stated.