Mexico likely to elect woman as its next president
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico is almost certain to elect its first female president in June – both leading candidates are women – but it’s almost equally as certain that she would not have much room to act independently of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The populist president has continued proposing new, expensive projects in the closing months of his administration, before he leaves office on Sept. 30. He will also leave a lot of big-ticket projects unfinished.
That will probably leave his successor with her hands tied for much of her six-year term.
Even if opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez wins, a mountain of financial commitments will weigh on her.
The candidate of López Obrador’s party, former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, leads in polls.
A third male candidate from a small party has almost no chance of winning.
“The next administration will inherit a country with a financial hole that will limit the maneuvering room throughout the next term,” said Moody’s Analytics director Alfredo Coutiño.
“In order to deactivate the current fiscal vulnerability, the incoming administration will have to adjust fiscally (spending or taxes) in 2025,” he added.
López Obrador has said that before he steps down, he’ll expropriate US-owned Vulcan Materials, a move which could cost the Mexican government as much as $1.9 billion.
Then there is a yet-to-be-fleshed-out promise to bring passenger trains back to Mexico before he leaves office.
The money-losing ideas keep coming when López Obrador launched a state-owned airline at a time when most countries have decided to shut down or sell off their own.