Bloomberg Businessweek Asia Edition - 05 August 2019

P O L I T I C S

5

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Edited by

Jillian Goodman

notmigratebecausetheywantto;theydoit because

ofneed.I havea dreamthatI wanttoturnintoa

reality.Thedaywillcomeduringmyadministration

inwhichMexicanswillnotbegoingforworktothe

UnitedStatesanymore,becauseMexicanswillhave

workandtheywillbehappywherethey’reborn.

WhenyouwereinterviewedbyBloombergin2017,

youaccusedDonaldTrumpof“havinga campaign

ofhatredagainstMexicanimmigrants.”Doyoustill

believethat?

I thinkthat,aswesayinformally,hehastoned

it down.PresidentTrumpis moremoderatenow,

andwearegratefulforthat.Inspiteofthefactthat—

andI saythiswithduerespect—theUnitedStatesis

nowgoingthroughanelectoralprocess.A president

takesofficeintheUnitedStates,worksfortwoyears,

andthen,afterthattime,hestartsthinkingabout

beingreelected.Thatis whatis happeningnow.In

Mexico,wehavea six-yearperiodwithnoreelec-

tion.Thisworkswellforus.Youarehavingelections

inNovember2020,nextyear,andthecampaigning

hasalreadystarted.Thishasa lottodowith—sorry

tosaythis—themigrationpolicyandother...

Justtopushyouonelasttime:Yourheroesarepeo-

plelikeLázaroCárdenas,AbrahamLincoln,Benito

Juárez.Thesewereallmenofprinciplewhostoodup

tobullies.Doyouthinkthatyouarestandingupto

DonaldTrump?

Thereareparallels,yousee.WhenAbraham

LincolnwaspresidentintheUnitedStates,in

Mexico,BenitoJuárezwasthepresident,thebest

presidentinthehistoryofthiscountry.Andthere

wasa goodrelationship.AndPresidentFranklin

DelanoRoosevelt,thetitanoffreedoms,really

hada verygoodunderstandingwithPresident

Cárdenas,inspiteofthefactthat,becauseof

circumstances, President Cárdenas had to nation-

alize oil. Now, even though President Trump is

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,

known as AMLO, hasn’t stopped to rest since tak-

ingofficeeightmonthsago.Aftermeetingwithhis

securityteamtoassessthelatestcrimestatistics,he

speaksmostweekdaysat 7 a.m. from the presiden-

tial palace in Mexico City, making announcements

and taking questions from the press. On weekends

he flies coach to visit places such as Zongolica,

Veracruz, and Tapachula, Chiapas, to meet with

localsandsellhissocialpolicies,whichinclude

directcashtransferstoelderlyandyoungpeople.

OnJuly29 he sat down with Bloomberg Editor-

in-Chief John Micklethwait for his first interview as

president with an international news outlet. Their

conversation began with a discussion of the U.S.,

which López Obrador continues to view as an ally.

We share a 3,180-kilometer border with the

United States. If we were a European country or a

South American country, perhaps, we could try to

have a different type of relationship with the United

States. However, we’re neighbors, and this neigh-

borlinessmakesit mandatoryforustounderstand

eachother.

Micklethwait:OnFriday,July26, as you know,

Guatemala entered a “safe third country” agreement.

Now, when people from countries like Honduras

or El Salvador seek asylum, they have to apply in

Guatemala first rather than going to America. Would

you ever let Mexico agree to the same?

We wouldn’t. We are enforcing a program to

reduce the number of migrants; it provides pro-

tection to those coming into Mexico. Migrants have

been murdered, and that’s something we do not

want. We mobilized the National Guard—we already

had that plan, since before the threat of tariffs.

Results have been good, although, I must insist, the

best way is to look into the causes of this: People do

BloombergBusinessweek August 5, 2019

Mexico’s President

Addresses the U.S.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador defends his record

on migrants, growth, and Trump

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRETT GUNDLOCK FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK