Sunday was a historic day in Mexicowith a landslide electoral victory for Claudia Sheinbaumthe first woman and first Jewish person to become president of the country.
But as much as it was about Ms. Sheinbaum, a decorated climate scientist and mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, it was also about the most powerful man in the country who would soon be heading out.
The electoral triumph of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s hand-picked successor marks the beginning of the end of a defining figure in Mexico.
He came from a region of the country where few national politicians won acclaim and became president on his third attempt. He completely reshaped Mexican politics and built an entire political party around his outsized personality.
Critics also say he has given too much power to the military and imposed measures that would undermine democratic institutions, like the Supreme Court.
Yet as the end of his six-year term approaches, Mr. López Obrador remains very popular.
After nearly five decades in public life, Mr. López Obrador, 70, announced that he would retire “completely» after his last day in office, September 30, although some observers believe he will find a way to continue to exert his influence behind the scenes.
He said he wanted to spend his days on his family’s ranch in the southern state of Chiapas.
For many in the neighboring state of Tabasco, a bastion of support for Mr. López Obrador, and in the small town of Tepetitánwhere he was born, Sunday was bittersweet.
Miguel Angel Solis Burelo, 72, said he was delighted to see Ms. Sheinbaum win because she was “well prepared” to continue Mr. López Obrador’s agenda. He also said it was “a great joy” to see a woman assume the presidency.
But Mr. Solis, who drove a motorboat down a river from the ranch where he works to vote in Tepetitán, admitted that he also felt “a little sad” to see Mr. López Obrador nearing the end of his presidency. Mexican presidents are limited to a six-year term by the Constitution.
Kenia Sandoval Salvador, 47, a stay-at-home mother, said she had watched video clips on social media of Mr. López Obrador’s career before going to the polls on Sunday in Macuspana, a town also in Tabasco where the president was raised.
“I already feel nostalgia,” she said.
Born in 1953, Mr. López Obrador assisted the only primary school in Tepetitán and he helped in his parents’ store. He begin college about 40 minutes away in Macuspana. He completed his high school education in Villahermosa, the state capital where his family moved. He received his university education in Mexico City, where he later served as mayor.
Sunday’s election was seen by many as a referendum on Mr. López Obrador’s leadership, and Ms. Sheinbaum’s decisive victory was interpreted as a vote of confidence in the president, his policies and the Morena party.
Antenor Paz Acosta, 75, who works on a ranch in Tepetitán and said he played baseball with the president growing up, made it clear he had the current leader in mind, even though he voted for Ms. Sheinbaum.
“I still support what Andrés Manuel did,” Mr. Paz said. “Where he goes, so does she.”
During Mr. López Obrador’s term, the economy grew, millions of Mexicans were lifted out of poverty, the minimum wage doubled, pensions were expanded and workers’ benefits improved.
But his presidency has also fueled concern. He has been criticized for his “hugs, not bullets” strategy toward criminal cartels, which resulted in more violence. His critics also say he has hampered the country’s healthcare system and prioritized fossil fuels.
Mr. López Obrador, known by his initials AMLO, will be remembered by many for his morning press conferences, or mañaneras, in which he spent hours almost every day for the past five years sharing his feelings, to celebrate his victories, to attack his detractors. And attack journalists. It could appear both fiery and folksy.
“López Obrador governed through the mañaneras,” said Blanca Gómez, a Mexican journalist who wrote an unauthorized biography of Mr. López Obrador in 2005. “He realized that people paid attention when he spoke . People believe it. There are people who will miss his mañaneras. And many people will be happy not to hear it again. »
Although Lázaro Vidal Martínez, 62, a farmer in Tepetitán, usually worked in the morning, he said he listened from time to time. “I liked that he showed his face every day because other presidents never did it,” he said.
Mr. Solis, the ranch hand who arrived by motorboat to vote, said that what he liked most about Mr. López Obrador’s presidency was his social welfare programs that helped “us who have not received help or who have not been taken into account.
He said his pension, for those 65 and older, had quintupled over the years to about $170 a month.
Nevertheless, Mr. López Obrador should have been tougher on criminal groups, Mr. Solis added, even if he is generally satisfied with the direction the country is taking.
“We want the movement to continue,” he said before boarding his boat to return home.
During campaign visits to Tabasco, Ms. Sheinbaum promised to preserve the legacy of Mr. López Obrador, who drew cheers a crowd.
In Tepetitán, a town of 1,500, what was once his grandparents’ house opened last year as Obrador House Community Museum and presents his bust outside. In Macuspana, a larger town of 31,000, the only souvenir is a mural outside the public library.
Not far away, in a café in the town’s main square, was Márvel Hernández Gutú, 79, a native of Tepetitán, a lawyer and former state official who has known Mr. López Obrador since their relationship in a previous party policy. He would have liked Mr. López Obrador to do more to develop Mexico in terms of business and infrastructure, particularly in Tabasco, one of the country’s poorest states.
“As for his legacy,” Mr. Hernández said, “we cannot say that he left us great things because he had the opportunity to do so and he did not “.
Regardless of their views, many said they did not believe Mr. López Obrador would suddenly disappear after decades in public life and with his protégé in charge.
“His legacy means a lot to him,” said journalist Ms. Gómez.
To some extent this will continue in Tepetitán.
During Mr. López Obrador’s successful presidential campaign six years ago, Mr. Vidal, who claimed that his parents knew Mr. López Obrador’s parents, allowed a local artist to paint a mural on the side of his house located at the entrance to the city. Anyone entering or leaving the community would see it.
It has been repainted three times, with new flourishes added each time. Surrounding Mr. López Obrador’s face are the flora and fauna found throughout Tabasco: howler monkeys, parrots and alligator gar fish, a local specialty and a nickname for Mr. López Obrador in Spanish .
The mural’s artist died last year, Mr. Vidal said, and he hopes another artist can help preserve the memory of the city’s most famous son.
“This mural is going to stay,” he said.
