Mexico’s new leader AMLO shuns opulent Los Pinos presidential residence, opens doors to public
- In inaugural address, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed to end the rule of a ‘rapacious’ elite and pledged to bring about a radical rebirth of Mexico
- President will live at his modest home on the city’s south side
Mexico’s new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, celebrated taking office with a festive gathering of supporters in the capital’s main square in front of the centuries-old National Place where he will install his offices.
The 65-year-old leftist leader who is widely known by his initials, AMLO, uses a compact car, shuns military bodyguards and refuses to live at the luxurious, heavily guarded presidential residence. He will live instead at his modest home on the city’s south side.
One of Lopez Obrador’s first official acts was to throw open the gates of the secretive, sprawling presidential residence known as Los Pinos, located in a corner of Mexico City’s largest park.
Closed to the public since the first parts were built in the 1930s, the compound will now be used for public events.
Gabriela Barrientos, a retired secretary, and Jesus Basilio, a market vendor, were among the first of hundreds to line up at the gate to enter what Basilio called “the house of the people, an emblematic place we will be able to enter for the first time”.
Yaneth Fierro, a housewife from Acapulco, expressed disappointment at the many completely emptied rooms.
