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This is what Andrés Manuel López Obrador actually stands for

This is what Andrés Manuel López Obrador actually stands for

"Profound change" is coming, declared Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claiming victory in the Mexican presidential elections after his establishment rivals conceded a crushing defeat.

López Obrador - known by his initials 'AMLO' - has raced ahead of his opponents in the polls for months and is projected to win about 53 per cent of the vote, the biggest landslide in 30 years, giving him a strong mandate for his brand of socialist nationalism.

The 64-year-old will take power in December as an anti-establishment outsider under the banner of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), a party that has existed since only 2014.

He has been sold to voters as everything the main Mexican parties are not, the country's only cure to violence, corruption and a struggling economy - but what does he actually stand for?

1. Tackling inequality and alleviate poverty.

López Obrador - who is a friend of Jeremy Corbyn - promised that his party will work to tackle inequality in his victory speech to gathered supporters in Mexico City .

The former Mexico City mayor has also laid out plans to lower the salaries of top officials, boost the pay of workers at the bottom of the wage ladder, and drastically increase spending on social programmes.

2. Ending corruption and violence.

In the same speech, López Obrador promised to end the "evil" of corruption, an issue he made a central pillar to his campaign and which he said was the "result of a political regime in decay".

He also said corruption was in part to blame for the record levels violence erupting in the country, much of it related to drug cartels, and he would have daily meetings with his security cabinet.

But he does not seem to be in favour of a strong-man clampdown. Instead, he is expected to pursue a gentler approach to Mexico's bloody 'war on drugs', which claimed approximately 120,000 lives from 2006 to 2012.

The election followed a campaign marred by violence, with more than 130 candidates and political workers killed since campaigning began in December.

Picture:Picture: Manuel Velasquez / Stringer / Getty Images

3. Mexico first.

Eyes will be trained on Mexico-US relations, as López Obrador looks set to match US president Donald Trump's fiery nationalism with his own, promising to stand up to Trump, put Mexico first and promote populist policies.

Eric Olson, a Mexico and Latin America specialist from Washington's Woodrow Wilson Centre, told The Guardian he expected López Obrado to step back from the international scene.

AMLO is not an internationalist... we can expect him to play less of an active role in the region on Venezuela, on Nicaragua and other trouble spots.

López Obrador has been highly critical of Trump, particularly of his policy to separate migrant families - but his speech was more amicable, talking of renewing the hugely strained relations with the US.

He also added that migration should be a choice, not a necessity, and that Mexicans should be able to "work and be happy where they were born".

Trump has since posted a congratulatory tweet to the president-elect.

4. Reassuring the private sector.

Amid a sluggish Mexican economy, which has seen the peso fall sharply against the dollar, many are nervous that López Obrador's apparent nationalism and protectionism will doom Mexico to become 'another Venezuela'.

But López Obrado used his speech to qualm fears, saying there would be no nationalisation and that he would respect business.

HT CNN BBC

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