Video: Denise Dresser and Gerardo Esquivel on #EleccionesMéxico

Speakers:

• Denise Dresser, Political analyst and columnist, Reforma and Proceso
• Gerardo Esquivel, Economist, academic, and economic advisor to presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador

“Who is the real López Obrador?” This was one of the questions Denise Dresser posited to his economic advisor, Gerardo Esquivel. Dresser repeatedly asked Esquivel whether Mexican presidential frontrunner Andrés Manuel López Obrador, better known as AMLO, would be the firebrand who is seen as threatening institutions or a moderate seeking to appease Mexico’s problems with corruption, violence, and poverty. Will he be able to engage the private sector? Will there be checks and balances? Esquivel answered these questions during a conversation in New York City three weeks before Election Day, responding that AMLO does respect institutions, that his comments are at times taken out of context, and that the campaign is meeting with members of the country’s business classes.

He also outlined programs a President AMLO would pursue in his first 100 days, including educational programs for ninis (youth who neither study nor work), doubling the size of the country’s pension system, and diminishing taxes in Mexico’s border region. Esquivel added that AMLO supports trilateral NAFTA talks rather than bilateral ones and a preference for no NAFTA over a bad deal.

• Get more on the election from our Mexico Guide.
• See the latest numbers in our poll tracker.