The popularity of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is one of the most notorious among the world's heads of state; however, the presence of his detractors has been present since before he protested as a national president and, to be noticed above his supporters, they have made all kinds of acts to excel.
López Obrador holds the record of being the most voted candidate in the history of Mexico, in the 2018 elections he won, according to the official count of the National Electoral Institute (INE), 30 million 113 thousand 483 votes, so his detractors started and continue with numerous smear campaigns that have gone through different stages.
Civil, business and political organizations have tried, since the so-called government of the fourth transformation (4Q) began, to try to attract more followers and have organized marches (both on foot and in vehicles) and sittings to exert pressure for the chief executive to restrict various policies, to give up the presidency and, more recently, for the end of its six-year term.
In 2019, a few days after the start of the administration of AMLO, an organization that presented itself as “civilian” but was full of politicians, it organized the first march against the president. This organization was named “Future 21″ and its most prominent members were José Narro (PRI), Beatriz Pagés (PRI), Gabriel Quadri (PAN), Angel Avila (PRD), Jesús Ortega (PRD), Jesús Zambrano (PRD), Fernando Belauzarán (PRD) and Miguel Ángel Mancera (PRD).
During its demonstration, organized and materialized in Mexico City, placards and posters were read against AMLO; however, criticism of the government could not be criticized, because since the presidency of López Obrador was just beginning, there was nothing to criticize other than the campaign proposals.
Taking into account the international context and, particularly the French one, where the Yellow Vests movement against Emmanuel Macron emerged, Alejandra Morán Ramírez, a detractor of AMLO, created the Yellow Vests Mexico movement, which, according to her, belonged to the global Yellow Vest movement and the vanguard in Mexico was against López Obrador.
However, a short time later, Yellow Vests (from France) broke away from the movement that emerged in Mexico and continued with its agenda in the European country. As far as the public eye is concerned, the movement lost strength
The political map of 2020 was characterized by the emergence of two anti-AMLO groups who also called themselves “citizens”; however, only one maintained that slogan. And it is that in the year that the COVID-19 pandemic began, the organizations National Front Anti AMLO (FRENAAA) and Sí por México were created. Both were materialized thanks to the intervention of the Mexican business community, but only FRENAAA has not expressed intentions of careerism to the national political power.
Gilberto Lozano, the current leading founding member of FRENAAA, has been characterized by condemning every political movement of the AMLO government: the delivery of resources to vulnerable groups, the cancellation of the airport in Texcoco, the security policy, the arrival of Evo Morales in Mexico and much more. Consequently, he organized numerous marches in various cities of the republic to condemn these events.
The mobilization that attracted the most attention was the one that was demonstrated in the national capital in September 2020, where thousands of Mexicans arrived at the capital's Zócalo plaza to demand AMLO's departure from the presidency; however, different images that went viral on social networks realized that the march did not have the power that he claimed to have.
This is because the tents that were installed in the first frame of the national capital were empty, which was noticed when people in a street situation chose to rob them to improve their living conditions. Likewise, videos showing how the wind carried them away and passers-by who went into the camp and erected the tents with one hand, evidenced the absence of people in the sit-in.
In addition, the criticism of Claudia Sheinbaum, the head of government of the CDMX, who asked the organizers of the demonstration to specify whether it was a “sit-in or performance”, thinned the ranks of the dissatisfied.
On its own, Yes for Mexico, organized by magnates Claudio X. González and Gustavo de Hoyos, formed a movement that capitalized on the members of Futuro 21 and created the Coalition Going for Mexico, which was made up of the PRI, PAN and PRD and contended in the 2021 elections against Morena and its allies ( PT and PVEM).
Finally, in 2022, it was this organization that orchestrated the most recent demonstration against López Obrador and, particularly in this case, asked citizens to “defend the INE” and not to participate in the Mandate Revocation process. Which seems doubly contradictory.
The first level of contradiction is that they urge to defend the INE and, at the same time, they invite not to participate in a consultative process that is the responsibility of the INE. The second level of contradiction was their slogan “you finish and leave”, which raises the deep desire that AMLO should end its presidential term in 2024, even though they condemn its political work and that there is a democratic tool to be able to withdraw power from AMLO.
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