Haven’t seen a lot of news here in the US on this, but Mexico is holding a on July 1st and the candidate who has a big lead is Andre’s Manual Lopez Obrador (AMLO), of the left wing MORENA party. AMLO’s populist base is mostly rural, with familiar populist messages, looking to continue the worldwide shift towards ‘change’ in government.
As per Wikipedia:
Anaya promised to investigate and do everything to make sure President Peña Nieto is sent to jail for his aforementioned multiple presidential scandals, with López Obrador agreeing and suggesting to up the ante by also investigating every living former president.
On 26 January, López Obrador accused the International Monetary Fund of being accomplices of corruption in Mexican politics and claimed that its policies are in part responsible for poverty, unemployment, and violence in the country. López Obrador promised that if he wins the presidency, Mexico will follow “its own agenda.” López Obrador called for a change in security strategy and offered the controversial proposal of giving amnesty for drug dealers as a way to combat the drug cartels.
Speaking out against national powers and world institutions seems to be working, as AMLO currently has over a ten point lead in the polls. Mexico’s billionaire class also looks to be concerned about this. Forbes had an interesting overview of this, including this quote:
A number of major firms, including mining giant Grupo Mexico, which is owned by the billionaire Larrea family, luxury store chain Palacio de Hierro, which is owned by the billionaire Bailleres family, and supermarket chain Grupo Comercial Chedraui, which is owned by another one of Mexico’s wealthiest families, have reportedly required employees to attend presentations or read materials designed to warn them of the implications of an AMLO victory.
Mexico is the 15th Largest economy in the world, so a switch to a populist government would have to have worldwide implications. So naturally there are allegations of election tampering by both the United States and Russia. So keep an eye on this election – if AMLO wins, my guess is this may be the next big thing the world is talks about.