AMLO Won. What Comes Next for Mexico?

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s next president, has promised to transform the nation. AMLO, as he’s known, pledged during his campaign to root out corruption, reduce violence, stop energy deals that aren’t good for the nation and spur growth in impoverished areas. If that sounds like an ambitious to-do list, it is. And he won’t be able to get started on it officially for five months, because Mexico has an unusually long presidential transition period -- about double the wait in the U.S. and Brazil.

He’ll take the oath of office Dec. 1; the new Congress is sworn in Sept. 1. Supporters of AMLO’S leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party may take majorities in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. While AMLO himself will have no official role until December, he will meet with the current president, Enrique Pena Nieto, on July 3, though it’s unclear how cooperative Pena Nieto and his administration will be since their Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, fared poorly in the election. Pena Nieto on election night promised an orderly and efficient transition.