Mexican Hugo Chavez

[lerk]

What are some politicians in Mexico who are similar to Hugo Chavez? How can they be elected?

 

[David T]

To anticipate some likely replies: No, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was not another Chavez and neither is AMLO.

 

[markus meecham]

They have El Chavo already.

 

[Livius wannabe]

I put it out there: stronger institutions?

 

[lerk]

To anticipate some likely replies: No, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was not another Chavez and neither is AMLO.

At first I thought AMLO could be a Chavez-like figure but reading more about him I realized he most likely isn't.

 

[Yossarian]

The thing to remember with Chavez is that he was a relatively moderate social democratic figure when first elected - similar to Lula, AMLO, Correa, or any other pink tide leader. He was radicalized by the coup attempt early in his presidency when the opposition parties, military, and international community all united to push him out of power, and he was only saved by a mass movement of the Venezuelan people. Unsurprisingly after that experience he dialed back on the respectability politics and doubled down on confrontation with both his domestic and foreign opponents.

So the road to a Mexican Chavez is pretty visible: some reform AMLO tries to introduce goes too far for the Mexican establishment, there's a military coup with support from PRI, PAN, and Trump, but then Mexico rises up and puts a hardened AMLO back at the wheel.

 

[markus meecham]

The thing to remember with Chavez is that he was a relatively moderate social democratic figure when first elected similar to Lula, AMLO, Correa, or any other pink tide leader. He was radicalized by the coup attempt early in his presidency when the opposition parties, military, and international community all united to push him out of power, and he was only saved by a mass movement of the Venezuelan people. Unsurprisingly after that experience he dialed back on the respectability politics and doubled down on confrontation with both his domestic and foreign opponents.

So the road to a Mexican Chavez is pretty visible: some reform AMLO tries to introduce goes too far for the Mexican establishment, there's a military coup with support from PRI, PAN, and Trump, but then Mexico rises up and puts a hardened AMLO back at the wheel.

context? on my alternate history forum?
it's more likely than you think.

 

[History Learner]

The thing to remember with Chavez is that he was a relatively moderate social democratic figure when first elected - similar to Lula, AMLO, Correa, or any other pink tide leader. He was radicalized by the coup attempt early in his presidency when the opposition parties, military, and international community all united to push him out of power, and he was only saved by a mass movement of the Venezuelan people. Unsurprisingly after that experience he dialed back on the respectability politics and doubled down on confrontation with both his domestic and foreign opponents.

So the road to a Mexican Chavez is pretty visible: some reform AMLO tries to introduce goes too far for the Mexican establishment, there's a military coup with support from PRI, PAN, and Trump, but then Mexico rises up and puts a hardened AMLO back at the wheel.

I've often wondered whether an AMLO victory in 2006, given the ongoing drug war soon to be followed by the 2008 Recession, would engender this.

 

[David T]

Some people are missing an obvious point here: Chavez was a military officer who led an unsuccessful coup attempt (and was imprisoned for it) before he was elected. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and AMLO were politicians, not soldiers--indeed they started their careers in elected office as members of the PRI before they broke with it. It is not a matter of being less radical than Chavez on this issue or that--it is a matter of being a different sort of leader with a different attitude toward government..