MEXICO CITY – Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador turned his final morning briefing Monday into a variety show featuring live music, breakfast and a raffle to gift his watch to a journalist.
“I dedicated myself to serve the people,” the 70-year-old leader said. “I leave very satisfied to have the affection of many Mexicans.”
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Outside the National Palace, hundreds of boisterous supporters of the folksy populist showered him with love while mariachis gave a brassy serenade.
Despite having historically high approval ratings and majorities in Congress, López Obrador never proposed changing the constitution to open the possibility of a second six-year term as other Latin American leaders have. He did, however, push through sweeping constitutional changes for the judiciary and the country’s National Guard in his final days.
Monday was his 1,438th morning briefing, a radical change he brought to the presidency after years of less accessible leaders. His briefings, known as “las mañaneras,” set the day’s agenda and gave journalists the opportunity to ask questions, though López Obrador addressed what he wanted — and ignored what he didn’t.
On Monday, he talked about his achievements — as he has for the past six years — noting that today someone earning the minimum wage can buy twice as many kilograms of tortillas and eggs as they could before because he raised that wage and beat back inflation.
After the briefing, some reporters — who became regular fixtures at the “mañaneras” and didn’t hide their support for López Obrador, gave interviews to other journalists. Some shouted that they wanted to give the president parting gifts or take a final selfie with him. The reporter who won the president’s watch leaped euphorically from his seat when his name was called.
After Tuesday’s inauguration, as he has promised many times, López Obrador will retire to his ranch in the southern state of Chiapas and leave public life.
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