Since Mayor Luis Alberto Villarreal's election, in October 2003, it was evident that the city's new administration hit the ground running. Under the leadership of the then 28-year-old mayor the agenda of this administration has been ambitious and has changed the face of our town for the better.

Take an example: Moments after the mayor was sworn in, city work crews were already jack-hammering away that once-torturous tope on Salida a Celaya. That initial action offered sanmiguelenses a preview of the "can-do" spirit that is the hallmark of the Villarreal era.

I sat with his honor for a mayoral swan song in the plush confines of the Sierra Nevada Hotel. Mayor Villarreal left office March 9, but his departure from city hall won't be an exit from politics. Luis Alberto is prepping himself for another political campaign-to run for the national Senate during the upcoming election on July 2. 

Villarreal appeared fresh despite conducting a number of other interviews prior to mine. I was afraid he might be talked out, but I discovered otherwise. He still possesses that same fire in his belly I remember during the first interview he provided me shortly after he took office as mayor of San Miguel.
Villarreal sipped a diet Coke, seemingly relaxed, dressed in a tan corduroy sport coat and blue button-down shirt.

Regardless of the rigors of office, at 31 his face still appears seamless and boyish. Mature beyond his years and well polished, the mayor put me at ease, stating he thought our interview at the Sierra Nevada might have fewer interruptions than it would have in the hectic atmosphere at city hall.

San Miguel's mayor won't be serving out his full term. By constitutional law he must forfeit his post at least 90 days prior to the July election. He'll hand over the reins to Juan Antonio Jaramillo, a current member of his administration who manages SAPASMA, the city water agency. Villarreal insists he's leaving his administration and town in capable hands. 
He explained that when he first took over city hall he compared San Miguel to a neglected little boy, a street urchin, dirty, undernourished, with sores and not showing much in the way of promise. Keeping with that analogy, he now views that once-errant child as clean, fit and full-bellied with a bright future.

The mayor rattled off a litany of accomplishments. "We've invested 50 million dollars into the city. A modern city hospital is being constructed behind the courthouse. A free public high school is also coming, and all upcoming projects are already funded. Sewage pipes have been installed throughout the county, eliminating free-running black water in 95 percent of the urban areas and 25 percent of the rural areas. We pick up 100 tons of trash daily. In order to eliminate seeping landfills we're erecting a state-of-the-art recycling center carbon-copied from San Francisco, California, that will be fully operational come August. The new facility will handle 48 percent of the trash.

"All sanmiguelenses, including those who reside in rural areas, have, at most, a 45-minute walk to medical clinics, a formula meeting standards set by the World Bank." Villarreal said a goal has been to guarantee the next generation clean water and air.

The Salida a Celaya has been widened, the Jardín has been spruced up and improvements have been made to the Angela Peralta Theater, the Parroquia and Juárez Park. City streets and rural roads have been made more passable. Readable street signs have been posted. Villarreal has infused a sense of pride in his city workers, providing spiffier uniforms for police, traffic staff and street cleaners. He appointed liaisons to the foreign community, giving non-Mexicans access and a voice within city hall, and appointed police officers fluent in English to help eliminate red tape when crimes are reported.
At first when I asked him which one specific accomplishment he was most proud of, Luis Alberto could not bring to mind a particular project that stood out. But after a moment of reflection, he spoke about his initiation of Casa Diferente, a project that builds homes for the homeless; 160 houses are already occupied and another 180 are on the horizon.
 
The mayor spoke in hushed tones about the first home he handed over to a lady in her 70s who had slept mostly outdoors her entire life. "I asked her if having a roof over her head was a dream come true." He paraphrased her emotional response: "She told me having her own home was never a dream." Villarreal's voice became lower. "She said all her life she thought that having a home wasn't for the likes of her but was something for other people different from herself, and maybe she wasn't put on this earth to have a home for her and her family. That was a defining moment for me. I then understood what governing is all about." During another visit to that same colonia, the mayor sought out the old woman and asked how it was going. The lady said sometimes when the moon is full she stands outside her house, steps back and admires the home that is hers.

The mayor senses that both people and God have blessed him, saying he first delved into politics when he was 19 with a desire to serve and be part of Mexico's future. He served a term as a federal congressman, representing the State of Guanajuato in Mexico City, and acquired the know-how that has prepared him for a future in politics. He forged strong alliances in the national and state capitals, which provided him needed resources and savvy to learn just how things work inside government.

With the integrity of Honest Abe Lincoln, the mayor avowed he entered office with clean hands and will leave with them the same way. He emphatically stated that he eliminated any talk or thoughts about a practice known as the "10 percent kickback" to elected officials from subcontractors who work for the city, and that he weeded out people on the payroll who weren't working. He proudly said his administration includes members of different political party affiliations. "I did not choose administrators because they are members of my party but have sought out the best-qualified talent I could recruit." 
If he is elected to the Senate, Luis Alberto and his family will maintain their residence in San Miguel, proud that his family have been sanmiguelenses for 12 generations. Once in the Senate he hopes to serve on the Foreign Relations Committee. "Mexico cannot be isolated from the rest of the world," voiced the mayor. "Building a wall between neighbors will never be protection against terrorists, but forming solid relationships between good neighbors will."

"Mexico needs labor, tax, justice and energy reform. It's time, and up to my generation to provide it," said Villarreal, emphasizing his desire for just change. 

He touched on various subjects close to his heart with regard to change: "Every citizen should abide and be protected by the law, and that includes the privileged and the poor equally. Union membership should not be used as a tool to achieve votes for one political party, but the purpose should be to seek fairness, safety and decent wages in the workplace. People who own companies shouldn't be unfairly taken advantage of by unnecessary regulation. 

"The present energy policies need immediate reform. Why should a nation with such abundant natural resources be held captive by a few? We are an oil-rich nation yet we ship most of what we use domestically to the United States for refining, and 90 percent of the gasoline used in this country is refined in the US. Surely we could build our own refineries and save millions. Why is it essential for ordinary taxpayers to hire an accountant? I have nothing against accountants, my father is one, but taxpayers should be given a choice. The present system requires taxpayers not only to pay their taxes but to pay an accountant as well. The federal government keeps too much of the taxpayers' contributions, and only a pittance is returned to local municipalities to help provide much-needed goods and services."

Using a football analogy, Villarreal spoke about the mindset of his fellow citizens. "It's like winning a World Cup match. We Mexicans know that if it comes down to the penalty phase, in a tie-breaking shootout, we sense our strikers lose confidence. Mexicans then assume they will be on the losing side. On the political front we need to have faith in our leaders and be bolstered by confidence and talent to score winning goals, leaving no doubt about our resolve. I believe our new generation possesses that faith, is hungry for it-and I for one want to be part of that team, a united team that wins for the people and wins for us while providing our nation and countrymen with a win-win situation."
Luis Alberto Villarreal doesn't believe he has made enemies over his tenure and believes that he's been even-handed in his dealings with all. He admits he's human, and when he has recognized mistakes he hasn't been troubled by changing the course and immediately correcting possible errors.
He's aware of his legacy and states that providing his children with riches and an upscale education can't compare to maintaining personal dignity, and that absolute honesty is the most vital asset he can hand down to his family and those who have put faith in him.

The outgoing mayor wishes to profusely thank all those who have supported him and his endeavors. Humbly, he remarks, "In areas where some might feel I've failed, I'm sorry." He has given it his all and will continue to do so in his quest to be a public servant of the people. 

In closing, he had this to say: "I'll be 37 in six years. I want to be the first native sanmiguelense to become governor of the State of Guanajuato. That's my long-range goal."
Something tells me there's a strong likelihood Luis Alberto Villarreal will be. Buena suerte, Luis Alberto. Adios for now; odds are we'll be hearing much more from you in the near future.

Lou Christine is a local writer and long-time contributor to Atención.

AMLO: A populist man of the people?
By John Barham (Mar 10, 2006)


During the 1980s and 1990s, Latin America increasingly saw governments dominated by politicians voicing free-market sentiments and hedging their economic bets on the tenets of free trade and globalism. Unfortunately, their faith has gone unfulfilled, and economic gains in the area have fallen far below those of other regions of the world.

In reaction, political figures of a leftist stripe have surfaced and have assumed leading roles in promoting a new Latin American populism. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva of Brazil are names that are becoming more and more familiar to observers of regional political developments.

In Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known in the Mexican press as "AMLO" and the odds-on favorite to win the presidency on July 2, appears poised to shift his country's political orientation to the left. With this possibility becoming more and more likely, policymakers in Washington must be debating whether AMLO's populism will mirror the moderation of Lula de Silva or the aggressively unyielding stance of Hugo Chavez.

Unlike some recent high-profile political figures in Mexico, the 53-year-old AMLO hails from a humble background. The son of a shopkeeper in the small Tabasco town of Tepititan, AMLO studied political science and urban planning at UNAM and proudly points to the fact that he is not a technocrat educated in an Ivy League university.

Originally a stalwart of the PRI's left-wing, AMLO was a key staffer for the governor of Tabasco, and for a time he headed the Indigenous Peoples Institute in Tabasco. In 1984, during the presidency of Miguel de la Madrid, he received an appointment to the National Consumers Institute in Mexico City.
By 1989, AMLO, following the lead of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, left the PRI for the PRD and served as that fledgling party's president until 1994, when he lost a race for the governorship of Tabasco to Roberto Madrazo, the PRI candidate for the presidency in 2006.

In 2000, AMLO won the position of head of government, or mayor, in Mexico City, which would propel him to national and international prominence. After serving for five years, AMLO left his post in 2005 to prepare for his 2006 campaign for the presidency.

Despite an obscure legal case having to do with the expropriation of private land for the construction of a right-of-way to a hospital and his subsequent loss of immunity from prosecution, AMLO has been widely popular in Mexico City and has drawn support throughout Mexico. Early in 2005, the office of the attorney general in Mexico City ruled that since AMLO had borne the title of head of government, and not mayor, he could not be prosecuted.

As head of government in Mexico City, AMLO undertook an agenda notable for programs assisting the poor, reducing corruption in the police force, restoring much of the historic central city, revamping high-use traffic routes and providing additional benefits for the elderly, single mothers and the disabled. He also drastically slashed expenses by eliminating department heads and cutting perks such as cell phones and secretaries. By way of municipal bonds, AMLO created a new free university and several secondary schools.

In terms of his personal style, AMLO was known to regularly start his work day at 6:30am. He has one or two rack-purchased suits and often arrived at municipal functions driving his own Nissan Tsuru. This has endeared him to a public not used to politicians with ascetic lifestyles.

Speculation now abounds as to how AMLO would perform as president. While his backers insist that he would be accountable in terms of the national budget, his detractors often compare him to Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and maintain that he would be dictatorial and financially irresponsible.
Lately, AMLO's rhetoric has sounded as though he is moving farther to the left. In recent speeches, he has railed against the globalism that has marked the Fox administration and has been extremely critical of proposals to further privatize the Mexican economy.

As for NAFTA, AMLO has voiced dissatisfaction with provisions that would threaten small farmers with imports of farm products from conglomerates north of the border. Furthermore, he has insisted that the present administration, with its free-market orientation, has been unable to deal with problems stemming from the loss of jobs to the Pacific Rim nations and the lack of overall growth in the Mexican economy.

In his book, An Alternative Project for the Nation, AMLO points out that he intends to be a progressive president who will be fiscally responsible. He has publicly stated that if elected president he would call for a referendum at the midpoint of his presidency and would resign if Mexicans voice dissatisfaction with his administration.

Whatever the outcome of the July 2 election, it is clear that AMLO has brought a new dimension to the Mexican political arena. It remains to be seen, however, if this dimension will be sufficient to convince the electorate that AMLO should bring his brand of populism to the National Palace in Mexico City.

John Barham, who has been visiting San Miguel de Allende for more than 18 years, has served as an associate professor of history, dean and provost in the State University of New York, the University of Texas at Brownsville, Jacksonville State University & King Saud University (Saudi Arabia).