MEXICO CITY > Mexico swore in leftist leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, Saturday before a crowd that included world leaders and a strong majority in both houses of Congress. López Obrador won a landslide victory in the July 1 presidential election and began his his six-year term promising to carry out a strong fight against corruption, insisting that the issue has been Mexico's worst nightmare.
'Nothing has harmed Mexico more that the dishonesty of the rulers,' he said. Dring his swearing-in, López Obrador reaffirmed his intentions to sell Mexico's official presidential plane and to not live in the presidential palace. He said he will receive 40% of his presidential salary. In an extraordinary move, López Obrador also announced his intention to promote a recall referendum during his administration, adding the promise that he 'will never seek reelection.'
Lopez Obrador will hold another ceremony later in the day on Mexico City's main square, where a leader of Mexico's indigenous communities will bestow a traditional symbol of authority - a ceremonial wooden staff. A grand celebration featuring traditional music will be held in the square. The handover of power began at midnight when new cabinet secretaries were sworn in for key security posts - a tradition meant to ensure there's always someone at the helm of the Army, Navy and Interior Department, the country's top domestic security agency.
Life in politics
Born to a family of shopkeepers on 13 November 1953 in the rural community of Tepetitán, in Mexico's southern Tabasco state, Mr López Obrador began his political career working for the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In 1986, disillusioned by the PRI, he joined a breakaway movement, the Corriente Demorática (Democratic Current), which later became the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). In 2000, he was elected mayor of Mexico City for the PRD.
In 2006, he made his first run for the presidency, narrowly losing to Mr Calderón in an election considered Mexico's most controversial in modern history because of the razor-thin difference in votes - only 0.56% - between the two. Mr López Obrador led mass protests against the results and denounced an 'electoral fraud'. His supporters erected encampments and blocked traffic in Mexico City for months. He tried again in the 2012 election, and was defeated by PRI candidate Mr Peña Nieto
