Essay on MEXICO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2018

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Politics

Document 1

Andres Manuel is a vibrant Mexican politician and a force to reckon with in the political arena. The sixty-four-year-old former Mexico City Governor brought a cognizant development and a positive change during his time in office that gave him an upper hand during his campaigns. His landslide win came as a surprise to the political bigwigs who never anticipated that a party which never featured in the previous general elections could emerge victoriously. The concession of his two political rivals before the final tally was clear proof that López Obrador was a political mogul geared towards winning after being in the national politics for more than two decades. This paper will critically analyze AMLO's strategic plans to win this year's general elections, his support compared to the previous elections, the obstacles he overcame to win the presidency and the uniqueness of his manifesto in comparison to other years.

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This was a good decision to use comedy as a weapon against his detractors other than attacking them directly like his previous campaigns. It was also a show of maturity. Those allegations were later dismissed by social communications director who is also the Mexico presidency spokesman who declared that there was no evidence proving Russians interference with the elections. During his campaign this year, Mr Andres Manuel used the ‘fight for corruption' as his cornerstone. He assured his supporters a zero-corruption tolerance. He changed his 2012 campaign slogan which pledged to help renovate United Mexico States into a "republic of love" built upon strong values of justice and honesty as well as focused on job creation and the well-being for every Mexican Citizen to "For the good of all, the poor come first" or "peace and love".

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He heightened some of his 2012 campaign proposals that included battling corruption and wasteful government spending; Job creation and educational opportunities which would reduce the youth's involvement in crimes due to economic challenges as well as government involvement and including the private sector together with social groups in development plans. He presented himself as an agent of change. (Thornton,2018) He also signed a coalition deal with other national parties. Unlike the previous elections whereby Mr Lopez run with his only party "Party of the Democratic Revolution (PDR) / Partido de la Revolución Democrática", he changed his tactics by merging with other parties forming the coalition "Together We Make History / Juntos Haremos Historia*" which comprises of Workers Party, the Movement of National Regeneration, and the Citizens' Movement Party.

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To see his landslide victory, Mr Andrés Manuel must have attained many votes from the majority of the states as the electoral laws require. Differently from the 2012 general elections whereby Mr. Lopez's PRD found strong support in just a few states such as Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacan, Mexico City district where his party secured governorship, among other states like, Puebla, Oaxaca and Quintana which were his strongholds, this year's election saw his current party MORENA gather an increased support thanks to the Coalition pact deal. From a report compiled by CRS Report for Congress on 2012 general elections, Mr López Obrador seems to have taken advantage of votes from the YoSoy132 student protest movement; he also got backing from voters who never approved the then PAN Administration led by Felipe Calderón.

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However, clear data shows that Peña Nieto had a good performance all over the country, as he managed to secure a win in 21 of 32 Mexico states, while López Obrador's support and his counterpart Vázquez Mota was only strenuous in certain regions. As it was in the 2006 and 2012 federal elections, the Mexico 2018 federal elections had numerous accusations as well as attack advertisements which were directed to the MONERA candidate Mr. Andres Manuel. The PRI and PAN candidates used campaigns promoting widespread fear so as to convince voters not to vote for López Obrador with claims that his victory would see Mexico turn to "another Venezuela". The PRI president in a speech told the people supporting MONERA to relocate to Venezuela if they liked it.

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January this year, Felipe Calderon, the former Mexico president shared a video via social media featuring a Venezuelan citizen living in Mexico warning Mexicans from voting for López Obrador as she claimed Obrador would put Mexico into a ruining path like Chavismo did to Venezuela. He is surrounded by wackos and he has old ideas," Castañeda added. AMLO assuaged those fears naming a cabinet team of experts who are highly educated and made a "no nationalization and no expropriations promise to business leaders in case he won. He also denied claims of his plan to drag into the past the second largest Latin America economy. (Messiah,2018) Promises. Twenty-three years ago, AMLO who was then a local politician attempted a radical decision.

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In addition, he promised to pursue a peace plan with the United Nations representatives, religious organizations and human rights in a bid to help reduce the rate of bloodshed in Mexico which has been high during Peña Nieto's time in office caused by the scramble for kingship in drug deals. He hinted on legalizing some narcotics. (Brocchetto,2018) He promised not to be anti- American. In a speech to his supporters, President-elect Mr Obrador told supporters that he had plans to make a new relationship with the United States which would be deep-rooted under respect for one another, as well as defending the countrymen who live in the US. Also, he said that in his government migration would not be for necessity but for choice as he assured them to strengthen the internal market and improve consumer product so that Mexicans would happily live and work where they were born as well as enjoying the presence of their customs and cultures.

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