Interview by Adrián Gerardo Rodríguez Sánchez

With his electoral victory of last year, Andrés Manuel López Obrador assumed the Mexican presidency and his political platform, MORENA, obtained an overwhelming majority in the federal legislative branch as well as important positions in several state and municipal governments. Thus began the so-called “Fourth Transformation.” Building on a series of historical transformations — National Independence, Liberal Reform, Revolution — AMLO’s fledgling national project seeks to move beyond those popular conquests that over the years have come to define the basic features of Mexican society as a sovereign nation.

AMLO’s government says that in order to achieve this transformation, it aims to renovate the mechanisms of political decision-making. In short, to reinvent the nation’s political institutions. This ambition is all more striking since it is taking place in one of the world’s most corrupt and violent countries, where few could have anticipated that the Mexican state would become a site of contention for the construction of a more just society.

Having been approved and formally recognized by the party within which it operates, MORENA’s Institute for Political Instruction (IFP) is a key piece in the much-vaunted transformation. In recognition of its vital importance, the Institute will receive 50 percent of party funds in order to carry out activities and organizational tasks.

At the helm of the project is Rafael Barajas, popularly known as “el Fisgón,” a renowned political cartoonist, scholar, founder of leftwing publications and the recipient of the National Prize for Journalism. Barajas, who currently serves as director of the Institute, has also been a longtime companion of AMLO.

Adrián Gerardo Rodríguez Sánchez spoke with “el Fisgón” during his visit to the state of Aguascalientes, where Barajas was busy organizing a series of training sessions in order to prepare MORENA candidates to compete for local popular elections. Their conversation centered around the Institute’s larger mission, and the national and international challenges that AMLO’s government will be facing in the years to come.