Two years after completing his six-year term as president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador returned to the spotlight on Wednesday with an 80-minute video message to promote his new book, a political history of Mexico called “Pueblo” (People).

AMLO’s message, filmed at his home in Palenque, Chiapas, and posted to YouTube and Facebook, was reminiscent of the many lengthy, meandering addresses he delivered at his morning press conferences while president between 2018 and 2024.

🟢 AMLO reaparece y presenta su nuevo libro “Pueblo”

El expresidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador (@lopezobrador_) reapareció públicamente este miércoles mediante un videomensaje desde Palenque, Chiapas, para anunciar la publicación de su nuevo libro, “Pueblo”.

López Obrador… pic.twitter.com/uDKvjoL454

— Rosa Lilia Torres- Noticias (@rosaliliatorrs) October 1, 2026

Beyond his new book — a follow-up to his 2025 book  “Grandeza” (Greatness) — López Obrador touched on a range of topics, including his own health and happiness, the state of social media today, and the performance of Claudia Sheinbaum as president.

Here is a broad overview of AMLO’s message.

AMLO reports he’s happy and doing well 

At the start of his message, López Obrador — who has had a range of health issues over the years — said that he has been doing well.

“Thanks to the Creator, to science, to luck, thanks to life, I’m content, I’m happy, here at La Chingada,” he said, referring to his property in Palenque whose name can be translated as “Hell.”

(AMLO, 72, used to joke that he would “go to La Chingada” once he finished his presidency.)

López Obrador said that he, and “many millions” of other Mexicans, are “very happy” with what has been “achieved: a transformation, the fourth transformation of public life in Mexico.”

AMLO founded the ruling Morena party and the broader “fourth transformation” (4T) political movement now led by Sheinbaum.

While he now lives in Palenque and has largely withdrawn from public life, López Obrador said that he occasionally goes to Mexico City to see his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, and his sons.

“They come here as well,” he added.

AMLO didn’t make any mention of the scrutiny his son Andrés Manuel López Beltrán is facing over allegations he has ties to organized crime and fuel smuggling. López Beltrán, who revealed last month that his U.S. visa had been revoked, is a former secretary of organization for Morena and is now aiming to be elected as a federal deputy at elections next June. He denies any wrongdoing.

Trump administration strips AMLO’s son of his US visa

Social media platforms are no longer ‘free,’ AMLO says

López Obrador acknowledged that he used to refer to social media — of which he was formerly an avid user — as “blessed.”

“When Twitter and Facebook first emerged, I used to say, ‘Blessed social media’ because we were surrounded by the mainstream media: radio, newspapers, and television,” he said.

AMLO said that Televisa and TV Azteca, as well as “almost all” the newspapers and “almost all” the radio stations, carried out “campaigns” against him and his political allies.

“Then social media emerged, and we finally had a way to communicate. The information blockade was broken. But what happened? How long did social media remain free? Ten years. Now all [the social media sites] are taken over, controlled,” said López Obrador, who in early 2021 criticized social media companies for blocking the accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump after a violent mob of his supporters broke into the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

Earlier in his message, AMLO railed against political “publicists” and their use of social media.

“Now there are a lot [of publicists] and they’re very modern now. They manage the platforms, social media, the internet and bot farms — computers to spread lies,” he said.

Is AMLO still in charge behind the scenes?

Early in his message, López Obrador said that he is “retired from politics after nearly 50 years of fighting intensely for justice, freedom, democracy and to transform our country.”

AMLO — who many Mexicans believe continues to wield power behind the scenes — said he decided to abruptly cut off his involvement in politics because he didn’t want to be a “cacique, caudillo, supreme leader or power behind the throne.”

“We shouldn’t be too attached to power or money. Money isn’t happiness, nor is power. Happiness is being at peace with oneself, being at peace with our conscience, and being at peace with others,” he said.

Referring to the end of his six-year term, AMLO said that “the time came” for him to end his life in politics.

“In the two years … since I left the presidency, I’ve spent my time writing here,” he said.

“It wasn’t easy — [I went through] years of intense struggles,” said López Obrador, who unsuccessfully contested the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections before winning a landslide victory in 2018.

Sheinbaum said last month that, “This idea that, behind the president, López Obrador is governing is a very sexist idea.”

“… It has to do with an idea that women can’t govern,” she said.

AMLO describes Sheinbaum as ‘the best president in the world’

Near the end of his message, López Obrador noted that he had dedicated his new book to Sheinbaum, who served as his environment minister when he was mayor of Mexico City between 2000 and 2005.

“I dedicate it to Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, our president and great pride, example of hard work, honesty, rectitude and loyalty to the people,” he said, reading from a page at the start of “Pueblo.”

AMLO said he was “very happy” that the person to whom he handed over the “baton of command” has turned out to be “extraordinary, the best president in the world, including men and women.”

“I’m not one to flatter … [but] the president is exceptional,” he said.

At her Thursday morning press conference, Sheinbaum said she appreciated AMLO’s words.

Mexican history, with a twist

Of course, López Obrador also spoke about “Pueblo,” one of 21 books he has written.

He said that the book has 10 chapters and covers “more than 200 years of political history” in Mexico, starting with Mexico’s independence from Spain and concluding with the ongoing “fourth transformation,” of which Sheinbaum is said to be building a “second story.”

AMLO noted that the book is published by Planeta, which he described as a “very good publisher.”

In addition to Mexico’s independence and the 4T, Lopez Obrador said that Pueblo includes chapters on “the U.S. invasion” — i.e. the 1846-48 Mexican-American War —  the “Porfiriato” (the lengthy rule of Porfirio Díaz) and the Mexican Revolution, among other periods of Mexican history.

With a smile on his face, AMLO said that chapter 9 is called “The neoporfirismo prianista,” focusing on the period between 1982 and 2018 when four Institutional Revolutionary Party presidents (Miguel de la Madrid, Carlos Salinas, Ernesto Zedillo and Enrique Peña Nieto) and two National Action Party presidents (Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón) governed Mexico.

López Obrador is an outspoken critic of governance in Mexico in the so-called “neoliberal” period between 1982 and 2018, saying in his video message that it was a time of “oligarchy” with a “facade of democracy” and the “handing over the assets of the nation” to private interests.