Although commentators across Mexico’s political spectrum offered their sincere desires that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recover fully from his bout of Covid-19, the irony of his diagnosis has not been lost on the nation.
Lopez Obrador announced his condition on the evening of Sunday. January 23, on Twitter: “I regret to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19. The symptoms are mild but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move forward.”
In June of last year, during one of his regular morning press conferences, the president extracted some religious amulets from his wallet. “I carry these to protect me from the virus,” he told astonished reporters present.
At the same time, Lopez Obrador was largely dismissing the major form of proven protection practiced throughout the world – face masks. He has only used them while traveling on scheduled flights – which he does to save money – to events across the country. At many of these gatherings, he has flouted local regulations, even as hospital wards filled up with coronavirus patients and the death toll soared.
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