López Obrador says goodbye and thanks leaders of Latin American countries for their solidarity

As President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador held meetings with several Latin American leaders, including Xiomara Castro of Honduras.

A few hours before his government ends, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said goodbye this Monday to several leaders of Latin American countries with whom he held a meeting at the National Palace and whom he thanked for their support and solidarity during his Administration, which began on December 1, 2018.

“I met with the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro ; the Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceño ; and the Presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro ; Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ; Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez ; Chile, Gabriel Boric Font ; and Guatemala, César Bernardo Arévalo de León ,” López Obrador said in a message on social media.

“I said goodbye to them, thanking them for their support and solidarity with Mexico, its people and its government. Hugs from sisters and brothers to all ,” he added, while posting a photo with the leaders of the aforementioned countries.

Legacy

Between 2022 and 2023, the president visited Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Cuba, Colombia and Chile, always promoting the integration of America. In addition, he proposed pursuing Simón Bolívar’s dream of integrating America, including with Canada and the United States.

This was practically López Obrador’s last act as president, since shortly before 6:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT on Tuesday) he left the National Palace, which was his residence during his government, to head to his home in the south of the city, from where he will leave tomorrow, October 1, heading to the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, to hand over power and the presidential sash to the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum .

Farewell to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Monday that he was “very happy” to leave the presidency of Mexico, which he leaves with 70% popularity, and highlighted the achievements of his government as well as the satisfaction of handing over the baton to his ally Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday.

AMLO’s actions

As part of his last actions as head of state, he signed into law two constitutional reforms proposed by himself and approved by the federal and state congresses, which are widely dominated by the ruling Morena party and its allies.

The bill recognizes the rights of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and places the National Guard, the main security force, under the command of the Ministry of Defense. These bills will be published on Tuesday to come into effect.

The first was unanimously approved, but the second faced criticism from the opposition, human rights organizations and the United Nations, which denounced the reform as a militarization of security in Mexico.

“Becoming part of the Ministry of Defense will give the National Guard strength, permanence, discipline and honest management; above all, it will not be linked to organized crime,” he argued.

The wave of violence in Mexico has already claimed more than 450,000 lives and left some 100,000 people missing since the government launched a controversial military offensive to combat drug cartels in late 2006.

According to official statistics, during the leftist presidency, there were almost 200,000 such homicides, more than the figures for the two previous governments.