President López Obrador received former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at the National Palace this week, hailing him as an honest man, a friend and “a hope for the people of the UK.”
The two politicians have been close since they met in 2016, prior to López Obrador’s victory in the presidential elections. Corbyn’s wife since 2013 is Mexican businesswoman and lawyer Laura Álvarez, who is also known in Mexico for having served on Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission.
“I will never forget that, when we were in opposition and he was leader of the Independent Labour Party in the English Parliament, he visited me in Tabasco and then we met in London,” President Lopez Obrador said in a tweet, alongside a photo of the two together.
Corbyn, a long-serving British politician known for his socialist views and support for causes such as nuclear disarmament, last formally visited Mexico in January 2022 with Álvarez, when they were invited to sit in on a daily mañanera, the colloquial name in Mexico for López Obrador’s daily press conference.
At that time, Corbyn responded to a question from a journalist by praising AMLO’s efforts to address inequality in Mexico and his practice of holding daily press conferences.
“It is very impressive and shows a degree of openness in government that is not found in many countries of the world,” Corbyn said.
The Mexican president has shown similar support for Corbyn in the past, even using the eve of his inauguration in December 2018 to openly champion Corbyn as the next prime minister of the UK.
“I want it with all my heart, with all my soul – to have a prime minister like Corbyn,” AMLO said then. “I won’t be the constitutional president until tomorrow, that’s why I dare to say these things. From tomorrow, I have to put a limit on myself but now, I say what I think.”
With reports from Infobae
