Enrique Krauze Profiles Mexico's Lopez Obrador

Mexican historian Enrique Krauze has an intriguing profile of Mexico's left-of-center Presidential aspirant, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Krauze's piece is more of a cautionary tale than a laudatory tribute. Krauze seems to be worried that Lopez Obrador has a bit of the messianic authoritarian in him that bodes an ill-wind for Mexican democracy. Personally, I think that a bit of populist demagoguery in a political campaign (and even in post-election governing) is a rather normal characteristic of Latin American politics and society, even in the "most" democratic among them. I'm not so worried about the possibility of a Lopez Obrador victory as Krauze seems to be for two reasons: First, Lopez Obrador, for all his populist authoritarian inclinations, is a pragmatist. He would not be the Mayor of Mexico City if he weren't inclined to some patterns of pragmatic accommodation. Secondly, and more importantly in my eyes, he represents a breakaway, "democracy-oriented" movement from the entrenched authoritarianism of the PRI. By running as the PRD candidate, he cannot escape from the movement's appeal to liberal democracy. Krauze notes that even some PRDistas (prominent among them is Cuauhtehmoc Cardenas) are nervous about Lopez Obrador, but I think that if Lopez Obrador really breaks the trust of the PRD's platform of democratic reform with any effort to seek to perpetuate himself in power, he'll become as much of a lame duck as Fox is now. And, frankly, should he be elected, Lopez Obrador, in my estimation, is not likely to break that trust.