“None of, ‘They chose me for six years and I can do whatever I want,’” López Obrador said. “If one who governs is not up to the task and obeying the people, revoke their mandate and out!”

Many view a referendum, authorized by a 2019 constitutional reform spearheaded by the president, as proof of his honest character when compared with decades of presidents accused of corruption.

“AMLO is the first president that dares to put himself to the test before the people,” said Debanhi Andrea Garcia, 22, who drove 14 hours from the state of Nuevo León with her boyfriend [to hear AMLO speak]. “Because he’s like that, we support him.”

“He does conceive his power as being a function of people reiterating their support actively,” said Francisco González, a professor of Latin American politics at Johns Hopkins University. López Obrador is in constant dialogue with his electorate, holding press conferences every morning that last hours.

María de los Angeles Resendiz, a grandmother of 10 from the state of México, will support López Obrador without hesitation. She called López Obrador a “simple” man who has won her confidence with his anti-corruption platform. She eagerly described how his government has set money aside for youth job training and expanded welfare payments to the elderly.

“He’s given us back our dignity,” she said. “I am proud to say that I am Mexican and that he is my president.”

Photo: Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images