In his six years as president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed to be bringing genuine democracy to Mexico. Although his anti-poverty programs proved effective, his transformation of the political system diminished pluralism while building up the dominance of his Morena party, which he continues to lead since leaving office. He also gave the military an expanded role in domestic tasks such as internal security and infrastructure management, creating a new civil-military model of governance. Meanwhile, organized crime groups were left largely unchecked, effectively co-governing large swaths of the country.

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