Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador gave his 1000th "
Mañanera
" on Friday, December 23, a daily press conference that alternates between an unprecedented communication exercise and a political "
propaganda
" tool.
From the start of his term in December 2018, Mexico's first left-wing president, sometimes described as a left-wing populist, resumed a habit adopted in 2000 when he governed the capital: answering questions from journalists during meetings from Monday to Friday. endless press conferences that can last several hours.
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"Those Above"
But Andrés Lopez Obrador, 69, doesn't just answer questions.
He often engages in long historical digressions in which the thread of the story sometimes gets lost.
He uses expressions such as "
fifi
" (elitist), "
conservative
" and "
those from above
" to describe his opponents, or speaks of "
low-level journalism
" when he talks about media criticism.
"
La Mañanera is unprecedented in modern history
", judge with AFP the writer and journalist Pedro Miguel, according to whom AMLO (the initials of the president) conceived this space as a "
channel of communication
" in the lack of openly pro-government media.
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Political scientist Luis Estrada, of the consulting firm Spin, who scrupulously follows each press conference, considers that this exercise is more “
propaganda
” than information in liability.
He says he counted 86,917 “
false, misleading, or unverifiable
” statements in the president's first 950 conferences.
But Miguel, a pro-AMLO activist, believes that La Mañanera is "
a counterweight to a media horde
", according to him in the hands of the opposition, "
which participates in the political harassment
" of the president, whose popularity is around 60%.
Heated exchanges
Miguel Lopez Obrador had some heated exchanges with journalists and integrated into his conference, such a journalistic chronicle, "
The lies of the week
" where he responds to the criticisms published in the press or launched by the opposition.
Standing behind a desk each day, his stamina is praised as his health report reveals heart problems and high blood pressure.
"
It's a daunting and tiring task (...) but it's the only way to be closer to people
", judge Arturo Hurtado, 50, seller in Mexico of "
gorditas
", stuffed corn pancakes , which follows the television program religiously.
AMLO sometimes even goes so far as to push the song to celebrate an ephemeris or respond to criticism.
"
He never sat up, only when he was vaccinated against Covid-19
," Estrada noted.
"
He does not drink a single drop of water (...) he is tireless
".
After denouncing a campaign to force him to end '
La Mañanera
', AMLO recently raised the possibility of extending it over the weekend.