“Con base en lo logrado buscaremos emprender una transformación pacífica y ordenada, sí, pero no por ello menos profunda que la Independencia, la Reforma y la Revolución; no hemos hecho todo este esfuerzo para meros cambios cosméticos, por encimita, y mucho menos para quedarnos con más de lo mismo" -Andrés Manuel López Obrador. June 28th, 2018
In his closing speech during the 2018 Mexican presidential election, when his victory was all but certain, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known by his initials as AMLO) promised that his government would embark on the “Fourth Transformation” of Mexico. The previous three arguably being the War of Independence from Spain (1810-1821), the conservative-liberal civil War of Reform (1857-1861), and the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).
Almost two years have passed since then, and the “Fourth Transformation” moniker has proved to be partially fitting but for the wrong reasons. As president, AMLO has shown less interest in governing the country than in transforming it. These are not one and the same thing. If the goal of governing is to respond to social demands, the goal of transforming is to find a place in history.
