“I'm leaving satisfied,” says Mexican President López Obrador

Photo: Fernando Llano Associated Press Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador waves to the crowd at the start of his final morning press conference, “La Mañanera,” at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024.

Agence France-Presse in Mexico City

Published at 11:59 a.m. Updated at 5:18 p.m.

• Americas

“I am leaving satisfied,” declared the charismatic Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado, on Monday during his 1,438th — and final — daily press conference, on the eve of handing over power to the first female president elected in the country’s history, Claudia Sheinbaum.

“I am leaving very happy, also because tomorrow I will hand over the presidential sash to an exceptional woman,” declared the leftist president during his last “mananera,” his five-times-a-week morning meeting with the country.

At midday on Tuesday, he will have lunch with several other leftist presidents from the region already in Mexico for the inauguration, including Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The latter pleaded Monday for a rapprochement of the two largest economies in Latin America, even though Mexico exports mainly to the United States and Brazil to China.

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The man who installed the left at the top of the state leaves power with a record popularity of almost 70%, after holding 1,438 daily press conferences, according to his spokesperson.

Music and portrait

Reduced inequalities, increased wages, stable exchange rates, improved tax revenues: in front of a hundred journalists, the nationalist left-wing president took stock of what he considers to be the economic successes of his mandate despite a sharp recession during the pandemic.

He noted in particular that Mexico now ranks 12th among world economies in terms of GDP, having overtaken Spain and South Korea. “To no longer have complexes,” he quipped, prompting some laughter from journalists.

Despite their intense historical, political, economic and cultural relations, Mexico and Spain are going through a crisis on the eve of Ms. Sheinbaum's inauguration.

Spain boycotted the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, deeming it “unacceptable” that Mexico had not invited King Felipe VI.

The government in place accuses her of not having responded to a letter from Mr. Lopez Obrador in 2019 asking her to recognize the “damage” caused by the Conquest of Mexico from the 16th century.

After After an hour of briefing, Mr. Lopez Obrador began to address security issues. Nearly 200,000 people have been murdered during his term. The outgoing leader reiterated that the trend in homicides was down 19% between 2018 and 2024.

Mr. Lopez Obrador signed into law two constitutional reforms at his last press conference: one allowing the National Guard to be controlled by the Ministry of Defense, the other recognizing the rights of indigenous people and Afro-descendants.

The Mexican president’s last press conference ended with a mini-concert by a traditional “jarocho” music group from the state of Veracruz, and the unveiling of a portrait in the galleries of the National Palace.

By drawing lots, the president offered his watch to one of the journalists present, a profession he has often attacked head-on for six years.

Her press conferences have mostly been an exercise in “propaganda,” according to communications specialist Luis Estrada. Most of the questions were asked by “friendly journalists,” notes American academic Pamela Starr.

The new president, who hails from the same left-wing party, is expected to hold her first press conference Wednesday morning.

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