Wednesday, June 27, 2018

If - we're probably talking about when - Lopez Obrador wins, it's going to be pass-the-popcorn time

The most leftist presidential candidate in decades is likely to get elected in Mexico on July 1. Former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made it pretty clear he's none too fond of the free market.

But on the personality level, he bears more than a passing resemblance to the Very Stable Genius. He love big rallies in big stadiums. As the linked Reuters story says, he has a strong will and a sharp tongue. Observers and particularly apologists seek to reassure the Mexican public that he has "matured" and isn't going to make rash moves.

And consider the timing. We're in a period of peak controversy about illegal immigration. Lopez Obrador calls it a human right:

“And soon, very soon — after the victory of our movement — we will defend all the migrants in the American continent and all the migrants in the world,” Obrador said, adding that immigrants “must leave their towns and find a life in the United States.”
He then declared migration “a human right we will defend,” eluniversal.com reports.
 If even right-leaning Mexican presidents find Trump antagonizing, what will the coming Clash of the Monumental Egos look like?

Especially since there's no telling how Trump regards any leader of any nation-state on any given day.

UPDATE: John Daniel Davidson at The Federalist writes about the recent spike in cartel-driven violence in Mexico and its role in the current spike in illegal immigration to the US. In the coverage I've seen about Lopez Obrador, I haven't seen anything about a solid and comprehensive plan for dealing with this head-on.

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