AMLO

before the sage 'stache came to fruition, i was just an average tourist/scientist living in mexico city like any other guero. i arrived in DF approximately one week before the equipment i use (as part of a larger team, i should say) arrived. as one can imagine, getting scientific equipment through customs can be a bit of a challenge. it's an art form, really. regardless, i had some time to kill as i was not actually that busy at the early stages of my tenure here.

while walking around the zocalo (i.e. town square) in mexico city with some friends/colleagues, i noticed an advertisement for a political rally for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of mexico city and leading 2006 presidential candidate. with a keen interest in politics, and only a very basic knowledge of mexican politics, i figured that this would be a great opportunity for me.

the rally was held on sunday february 26 with a kickoff time of 11am. i arrived to a relatively packed zocalo, with a crowd that already numbered near 100,000. (a paltry number considering this is the same man who led a 1.2 million person march in april 2005 to protest against nervous incumbent federal politicians seeking to eliminate him from the 2006 election. take that farrakhan!). it was not a particularly hot day, but DF is pretty dry and we're at about 2200m elevation, so the sun is intense regardless of the temperature. fortunately, some clouds seemed to come into the area and save this guero from getting too much sun. the zocalo was split into a number of areas that were operating as holding pens for attendees, but not in a negative way. they were simply designed to improve the flow of traffic and aid in the case of an emergency, as far as i could tell. (side note: as a matter of reference, i was living in cambridge/boston during the 2004 Democratic National Convention and witnessed the startling and stifling design of the "protest zone" adjacent to the then FleetCenter. the set-up here in DF bore no resemblance to that.) there was a giant stage set up at one end of the zocalo, with a giant mexican flag (which is always there) flying in the center of the plaza. the stage was flanked by two large projection screens complete with a booming sound system so that everyone could see and hear the main attraction when he made his appearance.

most of the people selling something were relegated to the outskirts of the crowd, and only a handful of the braver saleswo/men made their way through the crowd. the guy selling helado made a big splash, as one would expect on a sunny afternoon. AMLO's supporters waved orange and yellow flags supporting their candidate and his party, the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD). "Por el bien de todos, primero los pobres" (For the good/welfare of all, the poor first). the crowd was jovial, and occasionally an "obrador" chant would break out, but nothing too sustained. most of the noise was generated by the event organizers, as a variety of songs and jingles filled the square and created a party-like atmosphere. the songs were a bit hokey- one was all about AMLO and had some of the cheesiest lyrics i've heard in some time. regardless, based on this experience, we definitely need more music at political rallies in the united states.

around 12:30pm, AMLO finally made his appearance and made his way through the crowd. (much to my dismay, and yours, he has elected not to grow a 'stache) . the section i was in was about 50-100m away from AMLO; however, based on the raucous crowd around me, you wouldn't have known it. all of the sudden, the aforementioned "obrador" chants were louder, sustained, and more passionate. the standard politician-meets-crowd took place: AMLO shook hands, signed some autographs, stopped and chatted with random people begging for a moment of his time.

after a good introduction from a local politician (cannot recall his name), AMLO took to the microphone and immediately made an impression: before even thanking his friend for warming up the crowd and a kind introduction, he called for a moment of silence for the 60+ mexican miners who had recently died in the north of mexico. a simple gesture, and thoughtful way to start.

with regard to the rest of his speech (of which i understood about 80%), it was not brilliant, but nonetheless skillful. he spent most of his time re-iterating the same themes even as he counted off a list of things he would do as president - he just kept counting! i think he made it to 50? i'm not a native spanish speaker and don't consider myself 100% fluent, but i am pretty sure that there were some redundancies in his laundry list. generally, that's a good thing though, as issues worth talking about require a certain hammering home. i was particularly impressed by how the crowd carried AMLO through the speech and cheered his every move. regardless of someone's politics (and i'm not convinced either way of AMLO, to be honest), it's still an amazing thing to see 150,000 people (final estimate) simultaneously stand behind a candidate in a legitimate democratic system.

enough about AMLO . . . and back to the 'stache. the picture above is of a gentleman standing near me throughout most of the rally. although this isn't the greatest picture as it is only his profile, notice the great slope from the top of his 'stache (near his left nostril) down to the side of his mouth. factoring in the near-straight line (slightly cut-off) from left to right across his nose, he's almost got a perfect trapezoid going there. very cool. not the fullest mustache you'll ever see, but great shape and a classic salt-and-peppering make it a keeper. based on AMLO's message, and the generally festive atmosphere at my first mexican political rally, i call this one the "hopeful 'stache".

** behind every good 'stache is a better man. **