How AMLO has handled Mexico’s Covid-19 crisis

The first two parts of this series covered the rise of Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador and his record in government, before the arrival of the coronavirus. In the third and final part, we turn our attention to recent developments, analyzing how AMLO has tackled the Covid-19 pandemic at the head of Latin America’s second-largest economy.

As with all incumbent world leaders, AMLO’s performance during the pandemic will define his presidency, more so than his measures related to the War on Drugs, or his anti-corruption crusade. At the time of publication, Mexico has recorded 226,089 cases of Covid-19 and 27,769 deaths. Only Brazil has seen higher absolute mortality from the disease, while having 90 million more people and six times the number of confirmed cases.

But how do we gauge success or failure in the handling of a pandemic?

We know that the coronavirus is raging out of control in Brazil and the U.S. — largely thanks to political decisions made by their respective governments — and that states such as Vietnam and New Zealand have been able to more-or-less eliminate the pandemic for the time being. We also know that acting fast and implementing lockdowns does not necessarily mean the pandemic will not ravage the country, something especially true in nations defined by structural inequality.

Peru, as an example, has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Latin America — more than Mexico — despite having a population of 32 million people and implementing strict lockdown measures as early as March 16, before the United Kingdom and many other European countries.

We also know that the damage caused by a pandemic extends beyond its direct human costs; the economic and social damage Covid-19 may inflict on countless countries around the world are almost too horrific to conceive. It is worth reflecting on these questions when trying to come to terms with one nation’s particular response to the pandemic.

Since Covid-19 arrived in the Americas, AMLO has been frequently compared to far-right U.S. President Donald Trump and his denialist comrade-in-arms in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, for his alleged “skeptical” response to the pandemic. While it is both unfair and misleading to compare AMLO to Messrs. Trump and Bolsonaro, or Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, this does not mean that Mexico’s response has been laudable. There are two primary factors to evaluate in terms of AMLO’s handling...