Editorial: As AMLO’s term ends, he should focus on transition, not disruption

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has one week left as president of Mexico. Traditionally, outgoing heads of state spend their final weeks tidying up loose ends and working with their successors to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Not Lopez Obrador. AMLO, as he is known, has been shaking things up in recent weeks, both within his own country and in his relations with other countries, including ours.

He’s certainly not doing new President Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office on October 1, any favors. Although she belongs to AMLO’s Morena party and has pledged to continue his policies, she could be handcuffed by his recent actions. And she, not he, will have to deal with the consequences and mend the fences he’s so eager to burn as he prepares to step down.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, right, and President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum attend a memorial event honoring the victims of the 1985 and 2017 earthquakes, in the Zocalo in Mexico City, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Fernando Llano/AP Photo)

Late last month, Lopez Obrador announced a “pause” in diplomatic ties between Mexico and the United States and Canada, his country’s two largest trading partners, after officials there expressed concern about his plan to reform Mexico’s judicial system and make it more subordinate to the presidency.

The president took issue with the changes announced by U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar, saying that the changes, which include election rather than appointment of top judicial positions, “could jeopardize the historic trade relationship we have built, which depends on investor confidence in Mexico’s legal framework.” Salazar said drug cartels could take advantage of inexperienced or malleable judges and threaten Mexico’s entire system of government.

In addition, Lopez Obrador has blamed the United States for recent drug cartel-related violence in the state of Sinaloa, after U.S. authorities arrested two high-profile cartel members. The arrests appear to have led to a power struggle between the two gang leaders. AMLO’s recent increased activity and belligerence have forced Sheinbaum, his protégé, to insist that he will not continue to run the country with her as a figurehead.

Lopez Obrador is certainly not doing her any favors; he is undermining her position and public trust by forcing her to defend actions for which she, not he, must bear the consequences.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, left, waves to the crowd, accompanied by First Lady Beatriz Gutierrez, during the annual independence cry from the balcony of the National Palace on the occasion of Independence Day celebrations on the Zocalo in Mexico City, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Felix Marquez/AP Photo)

Perhaps these belated moves are an attempt to bid farewell to what he sees as a high point as his term draws to a close, a term that has been widely criticized for curtailing freedoms, poor economic performance and a failure to tackle cartel violence.

This is no time for tantrums. The outgoing president should work with Sheinbaum to transition to her administration, which she has said will have some differences in policies and approaches to issues affecting the country. He should help her build relationships with key officials, particularly in the United States and Canada, rather than further alienating them just before he comes to her rescue and leaves her to fix the diplomatic damage. Lopez Obrador’s administration will be remembered for its return to the old restrictive, socialist policies that have hampered Mexico’s development for most of the past century. His latest actions will likely only cement his position as one of his country’s more mediocre presidents.

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