Ricardo Anaya: The “machine man” who wants to be president
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In case of winning the presidential elections, Anaya promises to return security and peace to Mexico
Ricardo Anaya, 39, is the youngest presidential candidate in recent Mexican history. Currently, he ranks second in the polls with the "Mexico to the Front" coalition; which brings together the right-wing parties "National Action (PAN)" and the left "The Democratic Revolution (PRD)."
As his high school classmates describe him, Anaya was always a very disciplined student, smart, and very ambitious. He belonged to the wealthiest families in the country, has a law degree and has a master's degree in fiscal law and a PhD in Political and Social Sciences.
Leer en español: Ricardo Anaya: El “hombre máquina” que quiere ser presidente
Anaya entered politics at the age of 18 under the then mayor of Queretaro, the PAN Francisco Garrido. In 2002, the candidate joined the PAN and decided to run for a local deputy in Queretaro, where he was defeated by the PRI with only 25% of votes in his favor.
Now, the picture looks almost the same for the candidate. According to Univisión, this first of July, if the polls are confirmed, Anaya could lose to the pointer Andrés Manuel López Obrador with a similar or even lower percentage than the vote he had 18 years ago.
Among his most important proposals, according to the newspaper Excelsior, is to support the field and sugarcane growers, triple the support for the elderly, generate conditions to attract investment and generate conditions of equality between men and women, as well as timely health services and enough.
Read also: Mexico Elections 2018: What is the environmental policy of the presidential candidates?
In addition, a few days before the elections, the candidate closed his campaign in Tamaulipas, one of the states with the highest crime rates. There, he recalled his commitment to return peace to all of Mexico and especially to Tamaulipas: "I come to commit myself, with the governor of the state, and with each and every one of you: security, peace, tranquility will be our priority number one, and you will see what it is like to have a president of the Republic committed to the peace and tranquility of Tamaulipas", Anaya said in front of more than 15 thousand people.
His detractors criticize his cold and controlled nature. As the political scientist Denise Dresser wrote in Proceso magazine, "it gives the impression of being a cold frame, a dull heart, carrying an instruction manual to get the Presidency. The man machine. Anaya pushes a button and lights himself. Get up, walk, walk, give speeches and head events. (…) He was never vital, it was always mimetic. As Jesús Silva Herzog-Márquez pointed out, he would be a great promoter of I-Phones. However, as a candidate he never understood the context nor the country he aspired to govern"
In addition, his campaign has been contaminated by alleged corruption scandals involving real estate transactions that included money laundering by friends of his, or his participation in foundation work that ended in lucrative profits for him and his acquaintances.
Despite all this and leaving aside that in Mexico it is difficult to be a successful candidate at first, Anaya has made closures of mass campaigns and argues that on Sunday he will beat the leading candidate in the polls.
Latin American Post | Luisa Fernanda Báez
Translated from “Ricardo Anaya: El “hombre máquina” que quiere ser presidente”
