AMLO dolls and other presidential souvenirs were on full display yesterday Mexico City’s zócalo, where street vendors expected to make a killing off AMLOFest, the first-anniversary celebration of President López Obrador’s election win.
Despite authorities’ attempts to block their access to the zócalo and surrounding streets, vendors persisted, drawn by the prospect of selling mugs, t-shirts, umbrellas and stuffed figurines bearing the president’s likeness to the thousands of presidential fans expected to attend the event.
Many of the souvenirs bore the president’s most popular refrains, such as “Al pueblo de México le voy a cumplir” (“I will keep my promise to the Mexican people”), “Me canso ganso” (a popular colloquial phrase meaning “I am as good as my word” or literally “I’m tired goose”) and a common rhyming slogan among his followers, “Es un honor estar con Obrador” (“It’s an honor to stand with Obrador”).
Prices for the mementos ranged from 35 pesos for stuffed AMLO keychains, 70 pesos for presidential baseball caps, 80 pesos for t-shirts and up to 260 pesos for replicas of the president’s distinctive maroon vest.
Some 100,000 supporters turned up to hear the president deliver a 90-minute speech highlighting his achievements seven months after taking office.
The event also included performances by the Symphonic Band of Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, flautist Horacio Franco and double bassist Víctor Flores, and Margarita Vargas, also known as the Goddess of Cumbia.
Source: Milenio (sp)
