Publicado en Daily Mail.

By BRENDAN MCFADDEN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 03:59 EST, 2 December 2018 | UPDATED: 19:23 EST, 2 December 2018

Mexico's first leftist president in seven decades vows to see off 'rapacious' elite as he is sworn in at inauguration ceremony in front of tens of thousands

• Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony at Mexico City's Main Square
• Tens of thousands watched the new president receiving a spiritual cleansing by indigenous leaders
• He vowed to profoundly transform the economy of the country and to end corruption in the government
• He also pledged to see off 'rapacious' elite in a country struggling with corruption and chronic poverty

Mexico's first leftist president in seven decades was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony in which he vowed to see off 'rapacious' elite in a country struggling with corruption, chronic poverty and gang violence. 

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, 65, took the oath of office in the lower house of Congress in Mexico City, pledging to bring about a 'radical' rebirth of Mexico to overturn what he called a disastrous legacy of decades of 'neo-liberal' governments. 

Later, tens of thousands packed into the city's vast main square for celebrations to mark the new president's appointment in which he received a spiritual cleansing by indigenous leaders as jubilant fans jammed the Zocalo.

At Congress he said: 'The government will no longer be a committee at the service of a rapacious minority,' said the new president, who is often nicknamed AMLO. Nor would the government, he said, be a 'simple facilitator of pillaging, as it has been.' Lopez Obrador later addressed a massive crowd of supporters in the heart of the capital, promising to put Mexico's sizeable indigenous minority first in his drive to root out inequality.

Referencing one of his heroes, the 19th-century Mexican President Benito Juarez, who separated the church and the state, Lopez Obrador said his government would ensure a divide between economic and political power in the country.

Making 16 references to 'neo-liberal' policies in his speech, he vowed to abolish the 'regime' he said it had created.

He blamed the government of his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, for causing a plunge in oil output by opening the energy industry in Latin America's no. 2 economy to private investment.

Instead, he vowed to ramp up public investment to rescue state oil company Pemex, which is suffering from heavy debts.

At the end of the celebrations in the main square he gave a 90-minute speech to the thousands of jubilant fans jamming the Zocalo, vowing to help the poor in a nation where almost half the population lives in poverty. 

'We are going to govern for everyone, but we are going to give preference to the most impoverished and vulnerable,' Mr Lopez Obrador said.

'For the good of all, the poor come first.

'Be patient and have confidence in me.' 

More than 30 million Mexicans voted for Mr Lopez Obrador in a sweeping July 1 election victory that also gave his party a majority in congress. 

Despite the landslide of support for the new leader,  worries are mounting among critics who see an expanding authoritarian streak.

'The country is completely divided,' said Valeria Moy, director of the Mexico, Como Vamos? think tank.

Ms Moy said she had expected a more conciliatory tone from the president, who instead blamed many of Mexico's ills on decades of neoliberal policies that opened the country to greater trade and foreign investment.

While many are jubilant that Mexico has its first leftist president in decades, Ms Moy noted that others are concerned about the economic decisions that Mr Lopez Obrador will make, and of his use of referendums to validate his proposals.

Already, Mr Lopez Obrador has halted construction of a new 13 billion dollar airport for Mexico City after having that move backed in an unofficial referendum that saw just over 1% of voters participate.

The peso and Mexican stocks plunged in response.

After decades with a closed, state-dominated economy, Mexico's governments since 1986 had signed more free trade agreements than almost any other nation and privatised every corner of the economy except oil and electricity.

Mr Lopez Obrador says he wants to build more state-owned oil refineries and encouraging Mexicans to buy Mexican.

One of the most pressing issues he faces at the start of his presidency is the caravan of thousands of Central American migrants camped out at the US border, hoping to obtain asylum in the US.

In his first official act in office, he signed an agreement with counterparts in three Central American countries to create a development plan for the region.

The plan would include a fund to generate jobs as a way to lessen the poverty that drives people to leave El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Most on the minds for many in Mexico, though, is the rising tide of violence.

'I don't expect him to change everything in two months, or even in six years, but if the violence comes down then good things will happen,' said Amira Rozenbaum, who is optimistic for change.

The president pledged to personally oversee daily 6am security briefings and to work 16-hour days to confront the brutal violence in Mexico.

He also promised to restore the energy sector to prominence and bring up Mexico's oil production from its current 25-year lows.

Mr Lopez Obrador began his political career leading demonstrations against oil pollution in his native state of Tabasco, and he is the country's first president since the Mexican Revolution to rise to prominence as a protest leader.

Combined with a deep sense of nationalism and his own place in history, he envisions his administration creating a historic 'fourth transformation' of Mexico, following independence from Spain, the liberal reforms that broke the church's dominance in the 1850s and the 1910-1917 revolution. 

Maria Antonia Flores was one of those on the Zocalo to celebrate and said she had supported Mr Lopez Obrador for more than 20 years.

All around her, party loyalists donned burgundy vests and hats stamped with the logo of his Morena party.

'We love him because he's honest. He's hard-working. He has never let us down,' she said. 'He's not corruptible.'

Mr Lopez Obrador has pledged to end centuries of poverty and marginalisation for Mexico's more than 70 indigenous communities, and he became the first president to take part in a ceremonial inauguration by indigenous groups.

Traditional healers brushed him with bunches of herbs and blew incense smoke over him to purify him, and they invoked the spirits of their ancestors and the land to liberate him from any bad influences.

'What we want, what we desire is to purify public life in Mexico,' Mr Lopez Obrador said during the ceremony.

'I repeat my commitment: I will not lie, I will not steal or betray the people of Mexico.'

His vow to root out government graft resonates with many, including some who have disagreements with him on other matters.

Mexico's richest man, telecom magnate Carlos Slim, whose companies were major investors in the cancelled airport project, said there is common ground with Mr Lopez Obrador's promises to rein in wasteful spending and corruption.

'Everybody wants spending to be efficiently managed,' Mr Slim said.

As part of his inauguration day, Mr Andres Lopez Obrador and his wife Beatriz Gutierrez Mueller met Spain's King Felipe VI at the National Palace in Mexico City 

Mr Lopez Obrador breezed through a day of public appearances that included taking the oath of office and speaking to congress before attending the inauguration.