Andrés Manuel López Obrador always used the strength of the Mexican peso as a shield; he wrapped himself in its apparent immunity. When questioned about the poor performance of the Mexican economy, he would deflect the conversation and brag about the good performance of the national currency; it was his recurrent ace up his sleeve. So, until yesterday.
The peso resisted epically but succumbed to the onslaughts of the international markets, specifically the Persians, who are disrupting the markets by launching an oil price war against their former ally, Russia. That and the coronavirus.
Lopez Obrador, like a pathetic King Leonidas, is confined to a cheap patriotism. He chose to turn his back on the world, a stance that will now take its toll; his particular Thermopylae had to fall sooner or later, so announced the logic of history and strategy; only he was clinging to the miracle of his naivety.
According to “El Financiero,” the Mexican currency sank by up to 8.9 percent against the dollar on Monday, in line with other currencies of emerging countries. According to the Bloomberg agency, the price of the U.S. currency was at 21 pesos at 22:00 on the electronic markets, a level not recorded since January 2017.
This implied an increase of 4.6 percent compared to Friday, equivalent to 92 cents more. However, in the early hours of the day, the dollar reached a high of 21,906 pesos, representing a rise of 1.8 pesos, equivalent to depreciation for the peso of 8.9 percent.
López Obrador was caught in the financial storm like the “Santa Julia Tiger”… with his pants down; the weight of his pride, as he has shown, will prevent him from coming out of his self-absorption.
Pablo Cicero Alonzo
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