President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Monday morning press conference was held seven years to the day after Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) was sworn in as Mexico’s president, marking the commencement of the “fourth transformation” political project.
Back in the National Palace in Mexico City after spending the weekend in the states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Morelos, Sheinbaum responded to a question about that anniversary, as well as one on the remarks AMLO made during a lengthy video message he posted to social media on Sunday.
Even before he took office on Dec. 1, 2018, López Obrador was using the term “fourth transformation” to describe the profound change he said he would bring to Mexico.
The “fourth transformation” (4T) political project is now led by Sheinbaum and supported by the Morena party, its allies in Congress, and millions of Mexicans across the country. The political project was named the “fourth transformation” as it follows three other transformations in Mexico, namely independence from Spain in the early 19th century, the enactment of a series of reform laws (La Reforma) in the 1850s and the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century.
‘We were very pleased to see him,’ Sheinbaum says after AMLO reappears on social media
Asked about AMLO’s reappearance on social media to promote his new book, Sheinbaum told reporters that she and her government colleagues were “very pleased to see him.”
“He looks very well, very happy, healthy, relaxed,” she said of her predecessor and political mentor, who recorded a 48-minute video at his ranch, “La Chingada,” in Palenque, Chiapas.
“We were very pleased to see his book as well,” Sheinbaum added.
AMLO returns to public eye to promote his new book ‘Grandeza’
“… The book is called Grandeza [Greatness] and it’s about the cultural grandeur of Mexico, which comes from the great civilizations that inhabited our territory, and of which we are inheritors,” she said.
Sheinbaum addresses AMLO’s remark that he would take to the streets for ‘three reasons’
AMLO’s reappearance on social media came six months after he spoke to reporters at a polling station in Palenque where he cast his vote in the June 2 judicial elections.
Apart from his June 2 remarks and his comments in the video released on Sunday, López Obrador has maintained a public silence since he handed over the presidential sash to Sheinbaum on Oct. 1, 2024. His social media accounts, collectively followed by more than 20 million people, had remained inactive for almost 14 months until Sunday.
In his book promotion video, AMLO called on Mexicans to support “la presidenta because it’s still buzzard season.”
“There are vultures and there are hawks,” he said, apparently referring to opposition politicians and others who are metaphorically circling Sheinbaum with an intent to inflict damage on her presidency.
“… I’m not going to tour the country to present the book because I’m going to remain retired. I would only go out to the street for three reasons,” López Obrador said.
AMLO said he would leave his ranch and take to the street:
- “If democracy was threatened, as they did before; They — the magnates, the oligarchs, the corrupt — did the big [electoral] frauds … so that the government was at their service.”
- To “defend” Sheinbaum “if there are coup attempts.”
- To “defend the sovereignty of Mexico” if its sovereignty is violated (by a unilateral U.S. military intervention against Mexican cartels, for example).
Asked about those remarks, Sheinbaum said that “fortunately, we are not in any of the three circumstances he set out.”
“And the people of Mexico are with the project. We see it every day, the polls show it if there is any doubt,” she added, referring to the “fourth transformation.”
AMLO’s call for support for Sheinbaum came at the end of a difficult month for the president.
Sheinbaum responde desde la mañanera a la reaparición de AMLO:
“No estamos en ninguna de las tres circunstancias que planteó” pic.twitter.com/bRGdDoI5oD
— Manuel Lopez San Martin (@MLopezSanMartin) December 1, 2025
On Nov. 15, citizens fed up with persistent insecurity protested against the government in cities across the country, while truckers and farmers expressed their discontent with the Sheinbaum administration by blocking highways in a majority of states last week.
7 years of the ‘fourth transformation’
Asked to “summarize” the seven years that have passed since the commencement of the “fourth transformation,” Sheinbaum focused on the “results” achieved by the previous federal government and her own administration.
She highlighted that:
- More than 13 million people were lifted out of poverty between 2018 and 2024.
- Inequality has declined.
- 32 million Mexican families receive “direct support” from the government in the form of welfare payments and social programs.
- Mexico’s unemployment rate is 2.6%.
- Foreign direct investment is at a record high.
- The minimum wage has increased 125% in real terms. (The minimum wage more than tripled in nominal terms between 2018 and 2025.)
- There are “more universities” and “more schools.”
- The “Health Routes” scheme was established “to guarantee” the distribution of free medications to public health facilities.
- Homicides have declined.
- Large public investments have been made (in new railroads, and other infrastructure projects, for example).
Sheinbaum asserted that “Mexico is better today than” it was before AMLO took office in late 2018.
“… We’re going well and we’re going to do better,” she said.
Asked what “more than 2,550 days of the fourth transformation” means for the Mexican people, Sheinbaum initially responded with a single word, repeated for emphasis.
“Hope, hope,” she said.
“Look, … [our] adversaries are full of hate, there is a lot of slander, lies and hate, that’s what characterizes them,” Sheinbaum said.
“So, in the face of hate, lies and slander, what is there on this side? Development, well-being and love, happiness, work, dedication, conviction and a lot of unity from the people. … That is something unique,” she said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
