Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Profile Overview

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Spanish: [anˈdɾes maˈnwel ˈlopes oβɾaˈðoɾ] ; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024 and he also served as Head of Government of the Mexico City from 2000 to 2005.
Born in Tepetitán, in the municipality of Macuspana, in the south-eastern state of Tabasco, López Obrador earned a degree in political science from the National Autonomous University of Mexico following a hiatus from his studies to participate in politics. He began his political career in 1976 as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). His first public position was as director of the Indigenous Institute of Tabasco, where he promoted the addition of books in indigenous languages. In 1989, he joined the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), becoming the party's 1994 candidate for Governor of Tabasco and national leader between 1996 and 1999. In 2000, he was elected Head of Government of Mexico City. During his tenure, his crime, infrastructure, and social spending policies made him a popular figure on the Mexican left. In 2004, his state immunity from prosecution was removed after he refused to cease construction on land allegedly expropriated by his predecessor, Rosario Robles. This legal process lasted a year, ending with López Obrador maintaining his right to run for office.
López Obrador was nominated as the presidential candidate for the Coalition for the Good of All during the 2006 elections, where he was narrowly defeated by the National Action Party (PAN) candidate Felipe Calderón. While the Federal Electoral Tribunal noted some irregularities, it denied López Obrador's request for a general recount, which sparked protests nationwide. In 2011, he founded the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), a civil association. He was a candidate for the Progressive Movement coalition in the 2012 elections, won by the Commitment to Mexico coalition candidate Enrique Peña Nieto. In 2012, he left the PRD after protesting the party's signing of the Pact for Mexico and prior to helping Morena to become a political party. As part of the Juntos Haremos Historia coalition, López Obrador was elected president after a landslide victory in the 2018 general election.
Described as being center-left, progressive, a left-wing populist, social democratic, and an economic nationalist, López Obrador was a national politician for over three decades. During his presidency, he promoted public investment in sectors that had been liberalized under previous administrations and implemented several progressive social reforms. Supporters praised him for promoting institutional renewal after decades of high inequality and corruption and refocusing the country's neoliberal consensus towards improving the state of the working class. Conversely, López Obrador has been criticized for contributing to democratic backsliding, failing to adequately respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and attempting to appease drug cartels. He left office in September 2024, succeeded by his chosen successor Claudia Sheinbaum, and retired from both electoral politics and public life.