Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador: The 60 Minutes Interview

immigration the border and the economy

have emerged as key issues in this

year's presidential election and may

determine who wins the white house but

the person who could tip the scales for

either candidate is another president

Mexico's president Andre Manuel Lopez

orador widely known by his initials amlo

charismatic and often combative amlo won

a landslide victory in 2018 on the

promise to root out corruption reduce

poverty and violent crime now 70 years

old and in the final stretch of his term

we met the president in Mexico City for

a candid conversation about his handling

of immigration trade the fentel crisis

and the cartels and he told us why he

thinks When Donald Trump says he's going

to shut down the Border or build a wall

he's

bluffing the story will continue in a

moment

president Trump is saying he wants to

build a wall again in on the campaign

but you don't think he'd actually do it

because no because he needs

Mexico because we understood each other

very well we signed an economic a

commercial agreement that has been

favorable for both peoples for both

Nations he knows it and President Biden

the same what about the people that'll

say oh but the Wall

Works it doesn't work and president

Lopez oor says he told that to then

president Trump during a phone call they

were supposed to be discussing the

pandemic it was an agreement not to

speak about the wall because we were not

going to agree and then you talked about

it that was the only

time and I told him I'm going to send

you Mr President some videos of tunnels

from Tijana up to San Diego that passed

right under US Customs he stayed quiet

and then he started laughing and told me

I can't win with you we met president

andrees Manuel Lopez oidor at Mexico's

national Palace earlier this month with

6 months left on his six-year term Lopez

opra door's power in Mexico and

influence in the United States has never

been greater the White House witnessed

it here last December when a record

250,000 migrants overwhelm the US

Southern border with Mexico President

Biden called you sent his secretary of

state what did they say to you and what

did they ask for from

you for us to try and contain the flow

of

migration a month later US Customs and

Border Patrol reported the number of

Migrant Crossings dropped by 50% so what

did you do between December and

January that changed that number so

dramatically we were more careful about

our Southern border we spoke with the

presidents of Central America with the

president of Venezuela and with the

president of Cuba we asked them for help

in curbing the flow of migrants however

that is a short-term solution not a

long-term one Mexico also increased

patrols at the border flying some

migrants to the southern part of Mexico

and deporting others but by February the

number of migrants Crossing into the US

began to rise again and the border

patrol expects a sharp increase in that

number this spring everybody thinks you

have the power in this moment to slow

down migration do you plan

to we do and want to continue doing it

but we do want for the root causes to be

attended to for them to be seriously

looked

at with the ear of the White House

president Lopez oidor proposed his fix

that the United States commit 20 billion

doar a year to poor countries in Latin

America and the Caribbean lift sanctions

on ven vuela end the Cuban embargo and

legalize millions of law-abiding

Mexicans living in the US if they don't

do the things that you've said need to

be done then what the flow of

migrants continue you your critics have

said what you're doing or what you're

asking for to help secure the border is

diplomatic black mail what do you say

I'm speaking frankly we have to say

things as they are

and I always say what I feel I always

say what I think if they don't do those

things will you continue to help to

secure the

Border yes

because our relationship is very

important it is

fundamental for much of the last six

years president Lopez orador has held a

televised 7: a.m. press conference 5

days a week during our visit he was

dissecting fake news

The Briefing lasted more than 2 hours is

it a Pulpit or is it a press

conference it is a circular dialogue

even though my opponents say that I'm on

a

Pulpit time is the only luxury amlo

seems comfortable spending when he took

office he sold the presidential Jet and

His predecessor's Fleet of bulletproof

cars in favor of his

Volkswagen he uses his daily briefings

to rail against the elite and enemies

real and perceived at times it can feel

like a political Tel

Noll at a briefing last month the

president stunned the audience when he

read the cell phone number of a New York

Times Reporter who was pursuing what he

viewed as a critical story of him it

looks like you were threatening that

reporter I didn't do it with the

intention of harming her she like

yourself our public figures and I am as

well but you know this is a dangerous

place for reporters and you know that

threats often come in texts and phones

when you put her phone number up behind

you you realize what you were doing no

no no no what did you think you were

doing it's a form of responding to a

Lial imagine what it means for this

reporter to write that the president of

Mexico has connections with drug

traffickers and without having any

proof that's a vile slander so then why

not just say it's not true because Lial

when it doesn't stain it smears Lopez

oor's bare knuckle brawls with the Press

are in sharp contrast to the softer

approach he's taken with drug

cartels he dissolved the federal police

and created a National Guard to take

over public security and he invested

Millions to create jobs for young people

to escape the grip of the cartels

according to the Mexican Government

homicides have dropped almost 20% since

he took office the president calls his

approach hugs not bullets how is that

working out for

Mexico very well there's still 30,000

homicides in Mexico and very few of

those are

prosecuted so there's an idea that

there's still lawlessness in Mexico is

that fair of course we prosecute them

there's no impunity in Mexico they all

get prosecuted it's a small percent more

than before according to Mexico Evalia

Mexican Think Tank about 5% of the

country's homicides are prosecuted and a

study last year reported cartels have

expanded their reach employing an

estimated

175,000 people to extort businesses and

traffic migrants and drugs into the US

can you reach the cartel and say knock

it off no no no no what you have to do

with the criminals is apply the law but

I'm not going to establish contact

communication with a Criminal president

of Mexico are you saying you don't have

to reach out to them or communicate with

them no no no no because you cannot

negotiate with criminals the head of the

DEA says cartels are mass-- producing

Fentanyl and the US state department has

said that most of it is coming out of

Mexico are they wrong see yes oh no or

rather they don't have all the

information because fentel is also

produced in the United States the state

department says most of it's coming from

Mexico fentel is produced in the United

States in Canada and in Mexico and the

chemical precursors come from

Asia you know why we don't have the drug

consumption that you have in the United

States because we have Customs

traditions and we don't have the problem

of the disintegration of the family

there is drug consumption in Mexico but

very little so why the violence then in

Mexico

because drug trafficking exists but not

the consumption Lopez oor says threats

by us lawmakers to shut down the border

to curb drug trafficking is little more

than saber rattling that's because last

year Mexico became America's top trading

partner they could say we are going to

close the border but we mutually need

each other what would happen to the US

if they closed the Border you would not

be able to buy inexpensive cars if the

border is closed that is you would have

to pay $ 10,000 $15,000 more for a

car in there are factories in Mexico and

there are factories in the United States

that are fundamental for all the

consumers in the United States and all

the consumers in

Mexico last year the Mexican economy

grew 3% and unemployment hit a record

low but critics say Mexico's economic

growth is because of the president

rather in spite of him Lopez oidor

directed billions to Signature Mega

projects like an oil refinery in his

home

state and a railroad through the Yucatan

jungle costing an estimated 28 billion

what about infrastructure aren't there

more dire concerns like you know clean

water roads reliable energy when you're

trying to attract business to

Mexico we're doing

both fix the roads and building this

train it will link all the ancient Mayan

cities and is going to allow Mexicans

and tourists to enjoy a paradise region

that is the southeast of

Mexico Lopez orador has spent

unapologetically on social programs

doubling the minimum wage increasing

pensions and scholarships his approval

rating has remained High upwards of 60%

for most of his presidency your critics

say

that you're popular because you give

people money what do you

say I would say they're partly

right our formula is simple it is not to

allow corruption not to make for an

ostentatious government for luxuries and

everything we

save we allocate to the people do you

think that you've been able to get rid

of the corruption in Mexico yes

completely yes basically because

corruption in Mexico started from the

top down but Transparency International

reports no improvement in the corruption

problems that have plagued Mexico for

decades huge crowds gathered last month

accusing the president of trying to

eliminate the country's Democratic

checks and balances in June Mexico will

have one of the largest elections in its

history in addition to the presidency

20,000 local positions are up for grabs

the cartels have funded and prayed on

local candidates last month two mayoral

hope Bulls were killed within hours of

each other raising fears of a bloody

election I can travel throughout the

entire country without a problem there

is no region that I cannot go and visit

the number of government officials and

candidates murdered Rose from 94 in 2018

to 355 last year you don't view that as

a threat to you obviously but do you

view it as a threat to democracy

no there are some specific

instances there is no State repression

but if a candidate's afraid to run

because they may be assassinated isn't

that a threat to

democracy generally they all participate

there are many candidates from all the

parties his handpicked successor Claudia

Shin bomb has a commanding lead in the

polls and could become Mexico's first

female president Lopez oor told us when

he leaves office he will retire from

politics and write books but what he

does next at the border or doesn't do

could shape the next chapter of the

United

States