Mexico’s new ‘common man’ president hits the ground running
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s newly inaugurated president hit the ground running Monday with his pledge to govern as a common man and end decades of secrecy, heavy security and luxury enjoyed by past presidents.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sported slightly ruffled hair at his first early morning news conference as president, which started at 7 a.m.
“Isn’t that a change, that I am here, informing you?” Lopez Obrador asked reporters. While past presidents have very seldom held news conferences, Lopez Obrador promised to do so on a near-daily basis, much as he did when he was mayor of Mexico City from 20002005. Lopez Obrador took his first flight as president Sunday, boarding a commercial airliner with the rest of the passengers. He has promised to sell the presidential jet as an austerity measure.
The new president arrived at Mexico City’s National Palace in the same white Volkswagen Jetta compact car he used before taking office Saturday. Lopez Obrador refused the military bodyguards used by past presidents and travels with a small staff of aides who provide security. He usually travels economy class.
“I feel safe, protected and supported by the Mexican people,” Lopez Obrador said.
He also claimed that the number of murders had declined Saturday and Sunday, his first two days in office.
In the first 10 months of 2018, homicides in Mexico have run at an average of over 80 per day.
But Lopez Obrador said the average over the weekend was about 50, according to initial reports. He cautioned that those totals are preliminary and still under review. Nor did he offer any explanation about why homicides would have fallen.
Lopez Obrador took the formal oath of office Saturday and then participated in a ceremony performed by indigenous leaders who gave him a symbolic staff of power and traditional healers who blew incense smoke over him and brushed him with bundles of herbs to ritually purify him.