Forbes says López Obrador is “a regression” for Mexico’s democracy

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MÈXICO CITY, April 20, 2021 (FORBES).- The vision that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has about Mexico “is worrying, undemocratic and authoritarian, ” said Forbes magazine in an analysis published this Monday 19th.

Nathaniel Parish Flannery, a political analyst focused on Latin America, asserted in the document titled “Is President López Obrador Destroying Mexico?”, that the one born in Tabasco is a regression of the progress of the country in the last fifty years.

López Obrador’s weaknesses and imperfections are often dismissed one by one by his supporters, but as a whole, his view of Mexico is worryingly undemocratic and authoritarian, a regression of the progress Mexico has made in consolidating democracy over the past fifty years. ”, he said.

He stressed that the Tabasco politician “obsessively” promotes his movement as the Fourth Transformation, “but his open hostility towards critics is only a worrying sign that, apart from his unique brand, López Obrador’s vision fits the bill pattern of authoritarian populism ”.

In recounting López Obrador’s decisions so far this six-year term, Flannery emphasized that authoritarian leaders demand obedience, which is why a “charismatic demagogue who embraces both populism and authoritarianism can quickly become a threat for democracy “.

The document details that the Mexican president follows an authoritarian playbook when he adopts a severe “with us or against us” speech that stifles debate “and marks all dissidents as not only incorrect but illegitimate and unworthy of participating in public discourse ”.

López Obrador does not tolerate criticism from feminists, environmentalists, human rights activists, or the media. After all, only a messiah can claim to have monopoly control of the truth, ”he said.

Flannery argued that almost three years into the government, the Mexican president continues to campaign instead of governing and that after the elections next June it will be seen if he becomes an autocrat.

“Perhaps once half of the June mandates pass in Mexico and López Obrador will be able to take stock of his relative power and make a decision on how he will handle his strategy during the second half of his six-year term,” he said.

In 2021, Mexico will begin to see if President López Obrador aspires to be Latin America’s next autocrat. Or is he just content to play one on television? ”He concluded.