Jeremy Corbyn has been welcomed to Mexico as a guest of honour of the new populist Left-wing president, with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador inviting him to his ranch to spend “Inauguration Eve” together, praising him as “my eternal friend”.

Mr Corbyn flew from London to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, where Mr Lopez Obrador, a veteran activist and Leftist agitator, has a sprawling tropical ranch.

On Saturday he was in Mexico City, scheduled to sit down with Bolivia's firebrand leader, Evo Morales, and with Mr Lopez Obrador himself.

On Friday, the day before the inauguration, Mr Corbyn and Mr Lopez Obrador – joined by legendary Cuban musician Silvio Rodriguez, a sort of Latino Bob Dylan, and by the president of the Spanish region of Cantabria – held an impromptu press conference in the lush grounds of the ranch.

“Jeremy Corbyn is now with us,” Mr Lopez Obrador tweeted.