Mexico’s presidential front-runner misunderstands his role model
Lázaro Cárdenas was a proud institution-builder, not a populist
WHEN Latin America zigs, Mexico seems to zag. In the mid-2000s a political “pink tide” swept left-of-centre leaders into power across the region, while Mexico elected two conservative presidents. Now that tide has ebbed, as Brazil, Argentina, Peru and others have swung to the right. But Mexico may again prove an exception. The front-runner in its presidential contest in 2018 is Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a left-wing populist.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Learning from Lázaro”
From the November 4th 2017 edition
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