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Jillian Goodmannot migrate because they want to; they do it because
of need. I have a dream that I want to turn into a
reality. The day will come during my administration
in which Mexicans will not be going for work to the
United States anymore, because Mexicans will have
work and they will be happy where they’re born.
When you were interviewed by Bloomberg in 2017,
you accused Donald Trump of “having a campaign
of hatred against Mexican immigrants.” Do you still
believe that?
I think that, as we say informally, he has toned
it down. President Trump is more moderate now,
and we are grateful for that. In spite of the fact that—
and I say this with due respect—the United States is
now going through an electoral process. A president
takes office in the United States, works for two years,
and then, after that time, he starts thinking about
being reelected. That is what is happening now. In
Mexico, we have a six-year period with no reelec-
tion. This works well for us. You are having elections
in November 2020, next year, and the campaigning
has already started. This has a lot to do with—sorry
to say this—the migration policy and other ...
Just to push you one last time: Your heroes are peo-
ple like Lázaro Cárdenas, Abraham Lincoln, Benito
Juárez. These were all men of principle who stood up
to bullies. Do you think that you are standing up to
Donald Trump?
There are parallels, you see. When Abraham
Lincoln was president in the United States, in
Mexico, Benito Juárez was the president, the best
president in the history of this country. And there
was a good relationship. And President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, the titan of freedoms, really
had a very good understanding with President
Cárdenas, in spite of the fact that, because of
circumstances, President Cárdenas had to nation-
alize oil. Now, even though President Trump isMexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,
known as AMLO, hasn’t stopped to rest since tak-
ing office eight months ago. After meeting with his
security team to assess the latest crime statistics, he
speaks most weekdays at 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
locals and sell his social policies, which include
direct cash transfers to elderly and young people.
On July 29 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-
borliness makes it mandatory for us to understand
each other.
Micklethwait: On Friday, July 26, 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 doBloomberg Businessweek August 5, 2019Mexico’s President
Addresses the U.S.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador defends his record
on migrants, growth, and TrumpPHOTOGRAPH BY BRETT GUNDLOCK FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK