Did Andrés Manuel López Obrador die? Rumors emerge after third COVID-19 diagnosis

Andrés Manuel López Obrador was diagnosed with COVID for a 3rd time.

Many fear for the Mexican president’s health.

He posted a health update on Twitter.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador suspended a tour of the Yucatán Peninsula on Sunday after acknowledging that he tested positive for COVID-19. This is the third time he has contracted the disease.

López Obrador wrote on his social media accounts that «it is not serious.» He made this statement after reports emerged in the local press that López Obrador felt weak on Sunday morning and had to cancel his tour, something his presidential spokesman denied.

«I had to suspend the tour»

AP PHOTO

The 69-year-old president, who has acknowledged having a history of heart problems, wrote that he will remain in isolation «for a few days» in Mexico City, according to The Associated Press.

«My heart is 100 and since I had to suspend the tour, I am in Mexico City and from afar I celebrate the 16th birthday of (his son) Jesús Ernesto,» he said.

Rumors that Andrés Manuel López Obrador died

PHOTOGetty Images

Concerns for the president’s health arose shortly after his message, due to his advanced age, and the secrecy with which his return was handled. Journalist Joaquín López-Dóriga even published an explanatory image about the false tweet of an account that was posing as his.

«I am sorry to inform you that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador died on the afternoon of Sunday, April 23, at the Military Hospital,» said part of the false message that the journalist debunked.

AMLO and his COVID-19 infections

PHOTOGetty Images

On Twitter, the hashtags #COVID and #FuerzaPresidente were trending. López Obrador fell ill with COVID-19 in early 2021 and recovered after receiving what he at the time said was an experimental treatment. In January 2022, he announced that he had contracted the disease for the second time during a spike in cases in the country.

The president refused to enact a mandatory mask requirement and refused to wear one even at the height of the pandemic unless absolutely necessary, such as on commercial flights

Who will replace the president at his press conferences?

PHOTOGetty Images

He refused to use Mexico’s presidential plane, which he recently announced had been sold to the Tajikistan government. Presidential spokesman Jesús Ramírez did not immediately respond to a question about whether the president would return to the capital aboard a commercial flight.

The president said that while he remains in isolation, Secretary of the Interior Adán Augusto López will take his place at the daily morning press conference. That could boost the faltering campaign of the Secretary of the Interior to obtain the presidential nomination for the Morena party of López Obrador for the 2024 elections, the AP noted.