It was March 25, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI was in Mexico for the first and only time to officiate a mass at the Bicentennial Park of Silao, Guanajuato. There, alongside thousands of faithful, former PAN president Vicente Fox and the current president of the country, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), had an awkward and fleeting encounter.
The event was attended by the most prominent figures in Mexican politics, who gathered to hear the message from the Supreme Pontiff: from then-president Felipe Calderón and his wife, first lady Margarita Zavala, to the former governor of the State of Mexico and presidential candidate at that time, the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto.
The visit of Benedict XVI to Mexico occurred at the same time as a heated electoral context; with federal elections just around the corner and four candidates vying for the position of head of the Executive: Josefina Vázquez Mota (PAN), Gabriel Quadri (PANAL), Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI), and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Progressive Movement).
That day, all of the political rivals of the current president of the Republic gathered in one place, called by the words of the leader of the Catholic Church. But beyond the event, a moment that drew attention was the almost forced greeting exchanged between López Obrador and Fox Quesada, prior to the mass.
This was the ‘cold’ greeting between AMLO and Fox
According to reports from that year, AMLO and Fox met in the A1 area of the VIP section of the park, where they were seated to witness the event.
As he was arriving at his seat, accompanied by his wife Martha Sahagún, Fox briefly crossed paths with López Obrador, who was with his partner, writer Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller. It was then that the PAN member took the initiative to greet him with a pat on the shoulder.
“I was sitting and suddenly felt someone extending their hand (…) when I turned to see who it was, I greeted him. I couldn’t leave his hand hanging, that’s all,” López Obrador told the press shortly after the encounter.
As president, during one of his ‘mañaneras’, AMLO revealed more details about what happened that day and admitted that the last thing he wanted was to meet Vicente Fox. However, fate had other plans for him.
“I didn’t want to go because I was sure I would run into Fox, and I didn’t want to see him. I was unfortunate in that case because all of a sudden I saw a shadow, turned around, and there he was,” the president recounted.
– “How are you, Andrés Manuel?” asked the Guanajuatense.
– ”What’s up?” responded the Tabasqueño.
In photographs of the moment, captured by CNN and Expansión, it can be seen that the PAN member shakes hands with the opposition candidate for several seconds and they exchange a few words.
Moreover, the newspaper Reforma described this encounter as a ‘political miracle’, as it achieved what seemed impossible: bringing together Vicente Fox and López Obrador in the same place, who share a history of political rivalry.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elfinanciero/6C2MBCNWE5DCDAFMOGESM56SO4.jpg "Flashback to Political Rivalry: AMLO and Fox’s Icy Encounter During Pope Benedict XVI’s Historic Visit to Mexico")