Presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Reforms

On 1 December 2018, the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection was created, with its responsibilities previously covered by the National Security Commission, an entity under the Secretariat of the Interior.

On 20 December 2018, due to the 2014 political-electoral reform, the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) was dissolved, and the autonomous Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) was established outside the cabinet.^[37]

On 1 December 2018, the Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL) was renamed the Secretariat of Welfare and the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Food was renamed the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development. On 20 October 2021, the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) was renamed the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT). The name changes did not affect the positions' responsibilities.

Cabinet changes

Throughout his term, López Obrador's cabinet experienced significant turnover. In the first four years of his administration, there were fifteen cabinet changes.^[38]

Pursuit of other public offices

• María Luisa Albores, the Secretary of Welfare, transitioned in 2020 to become to the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.^[39]
• Alfonso Durazo, the Secretary of Security, resigned in 2020 to run for the governorship of Sonora.^[40]
• Olga Sánchez Cordero. the Secretary of the Interior, resigned in 2021 to return to her Senate seat, which she had left to become part of the cabinet.^[41]
• Adán Augusto López and Marcelo Ebrard, the Secretaries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, respectively, resigned in 2023 to compete for the presidential nomination of the Morena-PT-PVEM coalition.^[42][43]
• Rocío Nahle, the Secretary of Energy, resigned in 2023 to run for the governorship of Veracruz.^[44]

Loss in confidence in López Obrador

• Carlos Manuel Urzúa Macías, the Secretary of Finance, resigned in 2019 over disagreements with the president, citing concerns over economic policies and the appointment of unqualified individuals to key positions.^[45]
• Javier Jiménez Espriú, the Secretary of Infrastructure, resigned in 2020 as he disagreed with López Obrador's decision to entrust the operation of Mexico's ports and customs to the Navy.^[46]

Economic policy

López Obrador's economic policies, characterized by a commitment to fiscal conservatism and social equity,^[49] focused on maintaining low public debt through spending cuts while increasing social spending. His policies aimed to reduce reliance on imports, strengthen state-run companies like Pemex and the CFE, and stimulate growth and employment through large-scale infrastructure projects. While the country maintained macroeconomic stability, his administration faced criticism for sluggish economic growth and poor investments in other sectors.^[50]

Upon taking office, López Obrador faced significant internal and external challenges, contributing to zero economic growth during his first year in office.^[51][52] These challenges included the excessive growth of public debt under the previous administration, conflicts with economic actors, the China–United States trade war, and Donald Trump's tariff policies. Some setbacks were self-inflicted, such as the cancellation of the Mexico City Texcoco Airport and reduced spending due to his austerity measures, which brought down construction investment.^[52] However, macroeconomic indicators remained stable, and the year also saw the ratification of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.^[53][54]

In 2020, the Mexican economy was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent stock market collapse, with GDP plummeting by 17% in the second quarter before rebounding 12.1% in the third quarter. The annual GDP forecast improved from -9.8% to -8.9%. López Obrador's commitment to austerity, even amidst the crisis, helped maintain a low budget deficit and public debt,^[55] earning him a reputation as a fiscal hawk.^[49][56] Throughout the post-pandemic period, the country's GDP grew by 4.1% in 2021 and 3.1% in 2022. The country also saw a rise in inflation, which peaked in mid-2022.^[57] Due to low debt, the Mexico had access to international bond markets,^[55] which, when combined with remittances, foreign investment, international reserves, and a strengthening peso—dubbed the "super peso"—boosted economic performance. Nearshoring, driven by the China–United States trade war, further bolstered economic performance. By 2023, the country had recovered from the pandemic, ranking as the 12th largest global economy with GDP growth of 3.2%, and by May 2024, it had the lowest unemployment rate in the OECD.^[58]

López Obrador's policies included significant investment in the southern regions of Mexico, which he characterized as a strategy for economic revitalization. Key projects included the Tren Maya, Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and the Dos Bocas Refinery. Near the end of his term, these investments had significantly stimulated regional economies,^[59] with Oaxaca and Quintana Roo emerging as some of the fastest-growing states in Mexico in terms of economic growth in 2023.^[60][61]

Military and security

Shortly after his inauguration, he dissolved the Estado Mayor Presidencial (Presidential Guard), an institution charged with protecting and safeguarding the President of Mexico and the First Lady of Mexico. In December 2018, López Obrador ordered the creation of a truth commission to re-examine one of the country's most notorious unsolved crimes: the kidnapping and presumed murder of 43 trainee teachers who disappeared after they were attacked by cartel gunmen and corrupt police officers.^[80] On 1 March 2019, López Obrador said that he would open up the General National Archives to show how intelligence agencies, particularly the CISEN, targeted activists and opposition groups during the Dirty War.^[81] During the presidency of López Obrador, the traditional Revolution Day civil-military-athletic parade on 20 November was reinstated that same year (2019) after five years.

Before becoming president, López Obrador campaigned on a promise to take the military off the streets of Mexico. In keeping with this promise, he released a plan to create a Mexican National Guard under control of the military and the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection (which was itself established by López Obrador) and would be in charge of "preventing and combating crime".^[82] It was the merger of elite parts of the Federal police, Military police, Navy, Chief of Staff's Guard and other top Mexican Security agencies^[83] Obrador stated that the creation of a new National Guard would be critical to solving Mexico's ongoing security crisis.^[84] On 28 February, the Congress of the Union voted to approve a 60,000-member agency, which was officially established on 30 June 2019.^[85] By early 2020, López Obrador restored the Naval Infantry Corps' role in fighting drug cartels,^[86] and he relied on the military for tasks such as law enforcement and construction.^[87]

Ovidio Guzmán López, a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel and son of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was briefly arrested in Culiacán by members of the National Guard in October 2019, setting off an operation which resulted in several deaths and Guzmán's release by authorities.^[88][89][90] Hours later, Ovidio Guzmán was freed,^[91] and President Obrador supported the decision in order to "prevent more bloodshed" as well as "a massacre".^{[92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102]}

Infrastructure

During his first year in office, the National Reconstruction Program (Spanish: Programa Nacional de Reconstrucción) was launched to support communities affected by the 2017 earthquakes. It allocated funds through various government agencies for the rehabilitation of housing, schools, health centers, small and medium-sized businesses, historical and cultural heritage sites, local infrastructure, and household goods, as well as for the expansion of risk studies and planning in areas that had not yet been assessed. By 2023, the program had reached 98.86% completion across 3,332 projects.^[103] Construction also began on community roads and highways in Oaxaca. At the end of 2019, a National Infrastructure Plan with public-private investment was presented, including 147 projects, especially in the fields of communications and transportation.^{[104][105][106]}

However, the infrastructure issues that attracted the most attention during his first year were the cancellation of the Texcoco Airport, the start of construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport at Santa Lucía Air Force Base, and the public consultation on the Tren Maya.^[107]

The strategy of the SEDATU for infrastructure development in urban and rural areas centered on the recovery of public spaces under a framework of social functionality, that is, projects intended to improve the social welfare of the communities involved. Its works prioritized basic infrastructure such as water, electricity, drainage, paving, public facilities, housing, and job creation. A total of 38 billion pesos was invested in urban improvement projects in 153 municipalities across 27 states, where 151 sports complexes, 293 parks, boardwalks, artistic and cultural spaces, 44 markets, 162 schools, 22 health centers, and 216 streets and potable water networks were built, benefiting 9.5 million people. One of the distinguishing features of these projects was the direct participation of community members, including the use of artisanal construction techniques; the performance of the secretariat under Román Meyer Falcón received recognition for some of its works.^{[108][109][110]}

Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

Main article: Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

This corridor is intended to rival the commercial traffic currently concentrated in the Panama Canal. It is also intended to enable trade connections among Asia, the United States, and Europe, thereby turning Mexico into a global logistics platform. It is expected to boost trade with Asian countries, especially China. The project is also intended to attract companies to invest in the ten industrial parks planned for the region through which the corridor passes, with the aim of developing nearby communities.^{[111][112][113][114]}

On 22 December 2023, the first stage of the Isthmus Train was inaugurated, serving as the cornerstone of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec project.^[115]

Communications and transportation

The López Obrador administration implemented a program for the repair, expansion, and construction of new highways, bridges, and rural roads, especially in marginalized or hard-to-reach areas of the country. A total of 40,516 kilometers of highways were rehabilitated, especially toll-free roads, and 522 kilometers of new highways were built. In addition, 2,441 kilometers of artisanal rural roads were built in Oaxaca and Guerrero, along with other federally funded projects in eleven other states. Twenty-one vehicular bridges were also constructed in mountainous or rainy areas across seven states.^{[116][117][118]}

Since the beginning of his so-called Alternative Project for the Nation (Spanish: Proyecto Alternativo de Nación), López Obrador had proposed the return of passenger rail service, a mode of transportation and communication present in the country since the Porfiriato and largely abandoned following privatization under the government of Ernesto Zedillo. The government plan called for the use and expansion of existing rail lines in order to establish eleven routes: the Pacific Train, extending 4,700 kilometers from Chiapas to Baja California; El Chepe, 673 kilometers from Sinaloa to Chihuahua; the Western Train, 2,250 kilometers from Guerrero to Chihuahua; the Eastern Train, 2,000 kilometers from Guerrero to Coahuila and Nuevo León; the Transversal Train, 1,200 kilometers from Sinaloa to Tamaulipas; the Gulf Train, 1,650 kilometers from Tabasco to Tamaulipas; the Bajío Train, 1,500 kilometers from Veracruz to Jalisco, covering western Mexico; the Central Train, 1,300 kilometers from Veracruz to Jalisco, covering central Mexico; the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway, 300 kilometers; the Oaxaca Train, 750 kilometers; and, as the opening stage of the project, the Tren Maya, covering 1,800 kilometers. The plan, projected through 2050, began under this administration with works to adapt or modernize existing rail lines, especially in suburban areas.^[119]

As part of efforts to guarantee free internet access, a pledge included in López Obrador's electoral platform, the Federal Electricity Commission created a division tasked with building the fiber-optic infrastructure required to support the plan. A total of 10,979 antennas were installed to provide network access to schools, parks, health centers, and other public sites.^[120]

On 26 December 2023, the first commercial flight of the renewed state-owned airline Mexicana de Aviación took place, specifically between the AIFA and the Tulum International Airport. The airline, which had been privatized in the 1990s and ceased operations in 2010, was reacquired by the federal government on 6 January 2023.^[121][122]

Felipe Ángeles International Airport

Main articles: 2018 Mexican airport referendum and Felipe Ángeles International Airport

Before the new administration took office, from 22 to 25 October 2018, a public consultation was held on whether the New Mexico City International Airport—then under construction—should be canceled. The stated reasons were that the project was allegedly marred by corruption, illicit investment, and wasteful spending of taxpayers' money. Around 70% of participants voted against continuing the project. As he had during the campaign, López Obrador instead insisted on developing Santa Lucía Air Force Base.^[123]

On 3 January 2019, Secretary of Communications and Transportation Javier Jiménez Espriú announced the definitive suspension of the airport works, thereby formalizing the official cancellation of the NAICM and clearing the way for the construction of Santa Lucía International Airport, which would be managed by the Secretariat of National Defense.^[124]

The airport was intended to relieve congestion at Mexico City International Airport. According to supporters of the project, its strategic geographic location would also allow it to connect Europe, Asia, and Africa with the Americas. It includes biometric security systems and protections against sabotage, terrorism, and natural phenomena such as hurricanes, floods, and even volcanic eruptions. With more than 273,000 square meters of construction, AIFA was projected to be able to serve 2.4 million users with 60 daily operations.^{[125][126][127][128]}

Tren Maya

Main article: Tren Maya

The project is intended to strengthen land-use planning in the region and expand the tourism industry. It is expected to generate economic activity and increase connectivity in the Yucatán Peninsula by allowing cargo and passengers to be moved efficiently. It is also intended to facilitate connections with national airports, transport workers and goods throughout the Riviera Maya, and link the state's micro-regions with the six cities that would have train stations.^{[129][130][131][132]}

As part of the infrastructure associated with the Tren Maya, construction of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport in Tulum, Quintana Roo, began in June 2022, and it was inaugurated on 1 December 2023. It is the largest airport on the Yucatán Peninsula, with a projected capacity of 5.5 million passengers.^[133]

On 15 December 2023, with the opening of the Campeche–Cancún section, and on 31 December of the same year, with the inauguration of the Cancún–Palenque section, the first two stages of the Tren Maya were completed. Together with the 1,200 kilometers of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway and the 1,554 kilometers of the Tren Maya, the López Obrador administration was projected to leave behind 2,754 kilometers of passenger rail lines, restoring a mode of transport that had been discontinued during the government of Ernesto Zedillo.^[134][135]

Human development public policies

Environment

Among the ecological initiatives was the work of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), which is responsible for conserving and managing Mexico's natural heritage. CONANP expanded the country's protected areas, strengthened social participation, and promoted sustainable development projects within protected regions. Among its actions were the establishment of three new protected natural areas: Jaguar Park in Tulum, Quintana Roo; Nopoló National Park in Loreto, Baja California Sur; and the Sierra San Miguelito biosphere reserve in San Luis Potosí. The number of such declarations increased over the course of the six-year term, reaching a total of 43 new protected natural areas by early 2024, the highest figure in the country's history.^[174]

The government also promoted renewable energy and energy transition through the installation of solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectric plants in various regions of the country. These initiatives were presented as efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, while also generating green jobs and savings for consumers.^{[175][176][177]}

Drug war

One of his campaign promises in relation to the Mexican drug war was a controversial "strategy for peace": a program to give amnesty to all Mexicans involved in the production and trafficking of drugs. It was proposed as a way to stop the drug trade and the turf violence that spread as a result as well as act as a deterrent to other people from following that path, particularly low-income young people and poor farmers. President López Obrador pointed out that contrary to his proposed plan, past approaches failed because they were based on a misunderstanding of the core problem, which according to him, is the country's social disparities that resulted from economic policies of past presidencies in the years prior that caused the drug problem in the first place which in turn have turned the country into a hotbed of the illegal drug trade globally. On 30 January 2019, López Obrador declared the end of the Mexican drug war, stating that he will now focus on reducing spending and will direct military/police/National Guard efforts on armed gasoline theft rings (locally known as huachicolero) that have been stealing more than 70 thousand barrels of oil, diesel and gasoline daily from the nation's gas pipelines.

In 2023, President López Obrador announced that he was open to a peace agreement with the cartels. The announcement came after an activist published an open letter calling the cartels to stop the practice of forced disappearance.^[178]

Lithium reserves

In April 2022, Congress passed a law, prohibiting private companies from obtaining licences for lithium extraction.^[179] In February 2023, the president signed a decree nationalising the lithium reserves of Mexico, declaring it the property of the nation.^[179] López Obrador noted the enormous importance of the natural resource for the rechargeable battery industry and plans to cooperate with Bolivia and Peru in the technological sphere, as well as to adopt the Bolivian model of lithium mining, wherein companies have to commit to establish a complete value creation chain.^[179]

Mining reform

In early May 2023, the Senate passed with 66 votes in favor and none in opposition, a new law regulating the mining sector.^[180] According to Senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia [es], the law is supposed to curtail privileges the sector enjoys, since the last law concerning mining regulation passed in 1992, which relaxed laws on the sector.^[180] The law reduces the period of validity of extraction permits from 50 to 30 years, obligates companies to consult with affected communities and present a restoration plan for the impacted environment and outright outlaws new permits in regions with a shortage of water.^[180]

Reform of the National Electoral Institute

In February 2023, a controversial law reforming the National Electoral Institute (INE) was passed by the Congress of the Union.^[181] The reform entails cuts to the funding and personnel of the INE, forcing the dismissal of about a third of its employees but saving the state about Mex$3.5bn.^[181][182]

Espionage on government employees

At the end of May 2023, the New York Times published a story on the espionage of the state secretary for human rights Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez via the Pegasus spy software, which the media outlet connected with ongoing investigations of Encinas on the conduct and actions of the armed forces.^[183] In a press conference, López Obrador denied any involvement on the part of the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), while stating he did not know who was responsible for the espionage.^[183] Encinas is a long time political ally of López Obrador, who already supported him two decades ago during his mayorship.^[183]

Official international visits

According to Article 88 of the Constitution of Mexico, the president may leave the country for up to seven days by informing the Senate or, where applicable, the Permanent Commission in advance of the reasons for the absence, as well as of the results of the measures carried out. For absences longer than seven days, permission from the Senate or the Permanent Commission is required.^[202]

The discourse of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in which he stated that an adequate exercise of domestic policy becomes a factor of international recognition, and therefore of foreign policy, was the main reason that kept him, in his first year in office, from undertaking any working tour or state visit abroad, including the usual international summits normally attended by his predecessors during the year: the Davos Forum in Switzerland, the annual summit of heads of state and government at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the 2019 G20 Osaka summit, and the meeting of heads of state of the Pacific Alliance; he had also already confirmed his absence from the 2019 APEC summit in Chile, which was cancelled days before it was to be held. To this were added his refusals to attend international events to which he had been invited, such as the commemoration of the centenary of the International Labour Organization in Switzerland and the inauguration of President of Argentina Alberto Fernández.^[203][204]

In 2020, President López Obrador made his first official trip abroad. On 8 July he visited Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, to meet with President Donald Trump, in celebration of the entry into force of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement; Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau had also been invited to the meeting, but did not attend because he was dealing with the pandemic in his country.^[205]

He returned to the northern neighbor twice in 2021, both in November, the first time to open the sessions of the United Nations Security Council, במסגרת the rotating presidency held by Mexico that month, and the second for a working meeting in Washington with President Biden. Particularly notable during his visit to the UN was his speech and proposal to establish a global welfare system promoted by the UN and financed through contributions from the most powerful economic groups, through which the most critical and urgent aspects of poverty in various regions of the planet would be addressed, as a measure to make social justice a determining incentive for global stability and security, in the context of armed conflicts and the global migration crisis.^[206]

In the case of the 2022 continental summit in Los Angeles, he did not attend in protest at the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Nor did he attend any of the inaugurations of Latin American presidents who invited him; on those occasions he was represented by his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller. Likewise, he was absent and represented by Ebrard at international events such as the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.^[207]

Finally, between 15 and 17 November 2023, he participated for the first time, in person and outside national territory, in a summit of heads of state and government, by attending the 2023 APEC summit in San Francisco, United States. There he held bilateral meetings with host president Joe Biden, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, and President of China Xi Jinping. The last of these stood out for being his first in-person meeting with Xi; they spoke about the similarities between their countries in different fields, their mutual gratitude for cooperation during the pandemic, the strengthening of trade ties, progress in cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, the achievements of the 2021 CELAC summit, in which the Chinese leader had participated virtually, and AMLO's invitation for Xi Jinping to visit Mexico.^{[208][209][210]}

Chronology

More information Date, Destination ...

Date	Destination	Main purpose
2020
8 July	Washington, D.C. ( United States)	Working meeting with President of the United States Donald Trump to celebrate the entry into force of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.[211]
2021
8–9 November	New York ( United States)	Participant in the session of the United Nations Security Council, in the context of Mexico's rotating monthly presidency of that body.[212]
18–19 November	Washington, D.C. ( United States)	Participant in the North American Leaders' Summit, meeting with U.S. president Joe Biden and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.[213]
2022
5 May	Guatemala City ( Guatemala)	Working meeting with President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei to discuss and advance priority issues on the bilateral agenda.[214]
6 May	San Salvador ( El Salvador)	Working meeting with President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele, in which they discussed political, economic, commercial, cooperation, and migration matters.[215]
6 May	Tegucigalpa ( Honduras)	Working meeting with President of Honduras Xiomara Castro in order to intensify the economic relationship between their countries.[216]
7 May	Belmopan ( Belize)	Working visit with Prime Minister of Belize Johnny Briceño to deepen bilateral relations.[217]
8 May	Havana ( Cuba)	Working visit with President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel to sign a cooperation agreement on health matters.[218]
12 July	Washington, D.C. ( United States)	Working meeting with President of the United States Joe Biden, in which they addressed migration, a mixed investment plan, suspension of tariffs, and energy matters.[219]
2023
8–9 September	Cali ( Colombia)	Working meeting with President of Colombia Gustavo Petro, in which they addressed Latin American integration through strengthening the CELAC and combating drug trafficking.[220]
10–11 September	Santiago ( Chile)	Working visit with President of Chile Gabriel Boric and participation in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état.[220]
16–17 November	San Francisco ( United States)	Participation in the APEC summit of heads of state and government.

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