By Deutsche Welle
Sep 23, 2024, 09:51 AM EDT
The ruling MORENA party has chosen one of the sons of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to occupy a senior leadership position during an internal congress to renew the top leadership of Mexico’s leftist movement.
Andres Manuel Lopez Beltranthe second of the president’s four children, known as Andywas appointed Secretary of Organization of MORENAto the applause of hundreds of activists at a convention center in the Mexican capital.
“I am very pleased to begin my (partisan) career here where I have always been, but it makes me very sad to do so at the same time as our top leader is retiring”said López Beltrán, referring to his father, who has said he will leave politics when his presidential term ends on September 30. Aged 38, a businessman with studies in political science, Andy He is the only son of López Obrador who had remained close to party activities, but never with a formal position.
The president himself had repeatedly denied that his children had any involvement in his government or that they were interested in politics. This situation changed on September 9 when he confirmed López Beltrán’s aspirations. “He is going to participate in MORENA, he wants to help consolidate MORENA, I am not going to influence anything,” said López Obrador, who will hand over power to his fellow party member Claudia Sheinbaum on October 1, 2024.
The Organization Secretariat is key for the partyaccording to analysts, since he is in charge of managing the membership registry, political strategy, defining candidates and communicating with state leaders. “We all know that he (López Obrador) will continue to be present in this party with his example, with his legacy. Our job at the head of this Secretariat will be to maintain that legacy,” said the president’s son.
MORENA also appointed Luisa María Alcalde as party presidentwho currently holds the position of Secretary of the Interior in López Obrador’s cabinet.
Barely a decade old, MORENA is emerging as Mexico’s new hegemonic party after the June 2 elections, where it not only won the presidency for the second consecutive time, but also 24 of the 32 Mexican states, boosted by López Obrador’s great popularity. Together with its allied parties, it also has “super majorities” in the Mexican bicameral Congress, which allow it to reform the Constitution without negotiating with the opposition.
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