AMLO’s “morning” reaches 1,000 editions

“La Mañanera”, the marathon press conference of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, completed 1,000 editions this Friday, becoming what some define as an unprecedented communication exercise and others as a political “propaganda” tool.

“Fortunately there are Las Mañaneras,” López Obrador said this Friday in his native Tabasco (southeast), highlighting the possibility they offer to combat the falsehoods that – according to him – are spread by his adversaries.

Since he began his six-year term in December 2018, Mexico’s first leftist president resumed a habit he adopted in 2000 when he governed the capital: answering questions from reporters in sessions that lasted up to three hours from Monday to Friday.

“It’s a titanic and tiring job for me (…), but only then can you be closer to the town,” Arturo Hurtado, 50, told AFP at his gorditas (stuffed corn tortilla) stall. Mexico City.

“I see it with good eyes, that he come out to give us the news of the day,” adds Hurtado, who religiously follows the program on a television since seven in the morning.

But López Obrador, 69, does not only give news. His answers, usually from the National Palace, include long historical digressions in which the thread is almost lost.

He also built a vademecum of words and expressions that he tirelessly repeats such as “fifi” (elitist), “conservative” and “those from above”, for his adversaries, or “the underworld of journalism” in the face of fierce criticism from some media.

“The Mañaneras have no parallel in modern history,” the writer and journalist Pedro Miguel told AFP, who believes that AMLO (initials of the president) conceived this space as a “communication channel” in the absence of a government media outlet.

changed the routine

The political scientist Luis Estrada, from the Spin consultancy and who does a detailed follow-up of “La Mañanera”, believes, however, that this exercise is more focused on “propaganda” than on information or accountability.

He assures that up to the 950 conference (of the thousand that he counts), López Obrador accumulated 86,917 “false, misleading or that cannot be verified” statements.

But Miguel, a pro-government militant, believes that he is “a counterweight to a mass media” identified with the opposition, “that participates in political harassment” of the president, whose popularity is around 60%.

In addition to setting the news agenda, “La Mañanera” changed the routine of many journalists. This is the case of Sara Pablo, an experienced reporter for Radio Formula, who had to give up taking her son to school.

“I’ve been to most of the conferences, 90-something percent,” Pablo told AFP.

“It is the president’s way of governing. From “La Mañanera” he sometimes gives instructions to officials, summons them,” he says.

There are few ministers who organize their own acts. Most report in “La Mañanera”, which has been attended by the presidents of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, and Bolivia, Luis Arce.

They are also invited, sometimes between sleepy gestures, businessmen, diplomats or representatives of international organizations.

“The complicated thing is leaving the family (…) and I no longer have energy for social life because I get sleepy very early,” confesses Pablo, who acknowledges that the conference allows reporters to be close to the president.

Tireless

Also participating in “La Mañanera” are communicators from alternative media, whose compliments to AMLO sometimes spark controversy, such as when a reporter compared his energy to that of a Kenyan athlete.

“There are flatterers who seek to ingratiate themselves with the president (…), but tremendously opposition (journalists) also arrive,” says Pedro Miguel.

López Obrador has maintained harsh exchanges with critical reporters and incorporated “The lies of the week”, a segment in which his government responds to accusations by the press and opponents.

In any case, the president is recognized for not having wavered in his long days, which include a security meeting prior to each conference, despite dealing with heart problems and hypertension.

“He has never sat down, only when he was vaccinated for covid-19. He has never had a drop of water (…), he will not stop,” says Estrada.

Like an entertainer, AMLO sometimes plays songs of his liking, either to celebrate an anniversary or respond to criticism, such as the corrido “Somos más americanos” by Los Tigres del Norte, with which he replied to anti-immigration expressions in the United States.

And after denouncing a campaign to force him to end “La Mañanera”, he recently raised the possibility of extending it to weekends.