Politics: AMLO increasing polarization
The political environment continues to deteriorate as the government’s coronavirus “strategy” has failed to stem the pandemic in Mexico, and its economic policies have been equally unsuccessful in mitigating the effects of a deepening recession. But one thing everyone can be certain of is that the president will respond to any criticism or sign of public discontent with the same formula as always: radicalizing his discourse and actions while further polarizing society. However, now he has some new political objectives in mind.
There has not been any face-to-face polling since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but given the extent of job losses and millions losing their sources of income even as the Covid-19 death toll soars, it would hardly be surprising if President López Obrador’s approval ratings and support for his Morena party are falling, as some phone polling suggests. And that is an eventuality that he must deal with on multiple fronts. If his political project is to survive he must avoid defeat in the 2021 midterms, which include the entire Chamber of Deputies, 15 state governorships and 30 state congresses.
He continues to employ many traditional approaches, such as resuming an intense schedule of public appearances to promote his pet infrastructure projects and social programs, while adopting an even more radical discourse aimed at polarizing society between those who support him and all the wellbeing he bestows upon them, and their enemies, the conservatives who are arrayed against him, and even turning to bogus conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, his allies in Congress are busy working to further undermine any potential resistance to 4T policies by neutralizing the autonomous bodies he has yet to bring under his control.
But there could be something even more worrying afoot as the past six years has seen a rise in the number of instances of violent protests, often involving groups identifying themselves under a variety of ideological labels while justifying the use of violence to bring about social and political change. They tend to be comprised largely of young people from marginalized communities and they generally mobilize in response to requests from social and political leaders who finance them but never show their faces.
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