AMLO Protests Lose Steam

MEXICO - In Brief 30 Oct 2013 by Esteban Manteca

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The former presidential candidate of the Left and the PRD, Andrés Manuel López Obrador has found in the opposition to the Energy Reform a new political opportunity, but it is losing steam rapidly as a source of popularity and public relevance. With a strategy based on public meetings, and radio advertisements against the reform, not only is he trying to strengthen his image as one of the major leaders in the Left (in clear conflict with the PRD), but also trying to boost his own political party, Morena, which is having difficulties in consolidating an electoral base in order to have an official recognition from the Federal Electoral Institute.The strategy is not working well. He has held four different meetings in his “Campaign Against the Energy Reform”, reform he has dubbed “the biggest theft in Mexico’s history”. However, the public attendance to those meetings has been notably weaker than the ones he use to hold when he was running for President, now reaching its nadir. Last Sunday, according to non-public assessments by the Mexican government, he was only able to gather 30 thousand followers at the Zocalo, compared with the 120,000 he brought together during his last presidential campaign.Comments by important leftist journalists and op-ed writers, as well as comments on social networks, have shown a clear dissatisfaction of his followers with his leader. AMLO has not been able to provide his supporters with a new strategy that can gather new people behind him. He continues with his discourse against corruption, and promoting a “Republican Austerity”, a lackluster strategy that seems rotten and futile for his followers.Recent polls indicate that a majority of Mexi...