AMLO Gets His Chance After Decades as Fixture in Mexico Politics
- Presidential front-runner has been leader for left since 2000
- AMLO rails against graft, says his leadership can eliminate it
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Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s victory on Sunday gives Mexico a new face on the global stage. But for Mexicans, the 64-year-old presidential front-runner has been the most present and talked about politician of the past twenty years.
The leftist firebrand with a mop of silver hair has spent years raging against what he calls a corrupt power mafia represented by the nation’s two conservative parties -- the only ones to hold the presidency since the 1930s. While he gained a reputation for pragmatism as mayor of Mexico City from 2000 to 2005, his stances against the nation’s oil-industry opening and new airport for the capital have struck fear in business elites.