Leftist ‘AMLO’ sweeps to Mexican presidency

Anti-establishment leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador swept to victory in Mexico’s presidential election on Monday, in a political sea change driven by voters’ anger over endemic corruption and brutal violence.

According to exit polls, the sharp-tongued, silver-haired politician known as “AMLO” won by a large margin over his two main rivals, who both conceded defeat shortly after the polls closed -- laying to rest concerns that a deeply divided country could face prolonged uncertainty over the winner. Thousands of ecstatic supporters flooded central Mexico City’s Zocalo square and Alameda park, celebrating to the sounds of mariachi music as Lopez Obrador slowly made his way there from his campaign headquarters in a motorcade, swarmed by huge crowds.

“The government was failing. We needed a real change,” said one elated supporter, Jose Gutierrez, 44.

Runner-up Ricardo Anaya of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and third-place candidate Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) both congratulated Lopez Obrador and wished him success. It is a major shift in Mexican politics: the PRI and PAN have governed for nearly a century, and Lopez Obrador will be the country’s first leftist president in recent history when he takes office on December 1.