Desafuero of Andrés Manuel López Obrador

The Desafuero of Andrés Manuel López Obrador was the removal of López Obrador's state immunity from prosecution, in his role as Mayor of Mexico City. The legal and political process took place during 2004 and 2005, and it was originated by a land owner who sued the government of the Federal District on the grounds of improper expropriation of a patch of land called El Encino. This case became a serious issue for López Obrador in 2005, when a vote by the Chamber of Deputies lifted his constitutional immunity against criminal charges. If officially charged, he would have lost all his civil rights, including the right to run for the presidency in 2006, unless he was either quickly acquitted of all charges or managed to serve his sentence before the electoral registration deadline.

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Andrés Manuel
López Obrador
  • Federal District Government
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  • 2021 (corruption trial)
  • 2022 (presidential recall)
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  • ¿Quién es el señor López?
  • Statue in Atlacomulco

The desafuero was supported by the then-ruling PAN, the federal government headed by then-President Vicente Fox, and the PRI; it was opposed by the PRD (the party in which López Obrador was affiliated) and left-wing politicians. The process lasted for more than a year and resulted in a polarization among Mexican society between those who supported the desafuero and those who opposed it.

After a massive rally in support of López Obrador took place in Mexico City on April 24, 2005, with an attendance exceeding one million people (at the time, the biggest political demonstration in recent Mexican history), and near unanimous condemnation from the foreign media towards the process, President Fox decided to stop the judicial process against López Obrador.

On April 27, 2005, Fox announced changes in his cabinet, a re-evaluation of the legal case against AMLO and legal changes so civil rights are only suspended once a citizen is found guilty. Fox and López Obrador met in the first week of May 2005, as part of the efforts to calm the political climate. The new Attorney General found a way to avoid prosecuting López Obrador, but it depended on the approval of the private company that first sued him.

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