Coronavirus Is Killing Lopez Obrador’s Big Plans for Mexico
His “Fourth Transformation” is a victim of his failure to take the pandemic seriously.
The peso looks even worse now.
Photographer: Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images
Covid-19 has come to Mexico. Factories are shut, planes grounded, beaches empty. Some 2,000 are now infected and dozens dead; cases have been doubling every few days. For weeks, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blithely ignored the lessons coming out of Italy, Spain and elsewhere. He held rallies, hugged supporters, kissed children and made fun of safety recommendations.
When the federal government did finally announce social distancing measures to begin on March 23, the president wasn’t the one who faced the nation. Instead he sent a Health Ministry undersecretary to urge citizens to stay home. Later the Foreign Minister, not the president, declared a national emergency.