“More than 70% of the Mexican population is hopeful about the left-wing process”

Within the framework of the International Forum “Socio-environmental conflicts and human mobility. Challenges from policies and activism in Mexico City”, Elvira Concheiro BórquezThe head of the Federal Treasury in the current administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico, spoke with CLACSO.tv.

Referring to the current government of her country, the Mexican sociologist explained: “As a country, we were left without any government-run banks. So, the López Obrador administration has created a bank, which also has characteristics that I really like, with a strong social focus. Because the bank is the main distributor of resources for social programs, it has this focus and is also conceptually designed to reach the most vulnerable people, places a private bank would never reach.”

He also noted: “At a time when resources, after pandemics and major infrastructure projects, were so scarce that you had to make choices, López Obrador’s determination to say, ‘We’ll see what happens with the rest tomorrow, but today you’re paying pensions to senior citizens,’ with such resolve and concern—a concern that already included not spending too much time in the bank, not being exposed to the sun—this humanistic vocation intertwined with politics is so important, so moving. I think that’s why I see such gratitude from a significant portion of the population, because they feel it’s done with humanism, with genuine concern for humanity. It’s not just ‘it’s part of my program,’ like it was with the technocrats.”

“It’s a government that was close to the people, very close to them. Every weekend… because every day they were working here from 7 a.m., well, before, 6 a.m. But then, every weekend they were in some town, somewhere in the country. Not only did they not come back tired, but they came back recharged. That closeness with the people, that affection, that opportunity to feel how the people of Mexico were doing, is very important. I think that’s key in what we’re experiencing now,” Concheiro pointed out. Just a few weeks before the change of government, with the arrival of Claudia Sheinbaum, Elvira Concheiro Bórquez estimated that “more than 70% of the Mexican population is hopeful about the left-wing process.”

Interviewed by Gustavo Lema.