Arturo Sarukhan, board member of the Inter-American Dialogue and former Mexican ambassador to the United States: “As probably the most effective retail politician in Mexico’s modern history, López Obrador’s personal popularity continues to Teflon-coat him from the lackluster (at best) public policies he’s implemented. But during his now almost five years in office, he has sought to weaken Mexico’s institutions, eviscerate the agency and bandwidth of the state and remove its checks and balances so that they cannot constrain him. Paradoxically, that also means he cannot rely on that same state to generate growth, mitigate the economic and social post-pandemic costs, resolve social conflicts, tackle public insecurity, take advantage of Mexico’s global geostrategic assets or even facilitate a smooth transition for his desired successor. His ‘hugs, not bullets’ paradigm has claimed more lives than Felipe Calderón’s ‘war on drugs,’ in the process…”