By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) used his Thursday, Nov. 26, morning press conference as a platform to present his newly printed “Ethical Guide for the Transformation of Mexico,” a 30-page handbook intended to serve as a moral lighthouse for young Mexicans and to encourage criminals to go straight.

The controversial new booklet will be distributed free-of-charge to 8 million heads of families so that they can use it “to teach their children and grandchildren to be moral,” the president said, as he called on his cabinet members one-by-one to read various chapters of the book, a process that lasted over two hours.

“From a humanistic perspective, criminals and those who are corrupt can redeem themselves through self-reflection, education and psychological therapy,” the book says in its introduction.

The book outlines 20 fundamental principles and values, a sort of 20 commandments by which to live, including respect for others, human life and individual freedoms.

In true Biblical manner, it goes on to preach to its readers to “love their neighbors” and to “be thankful” for one’s blessings.

It also advises to turn the other cheek rather than “to confront evil with evil.”

“Don’t lie, don’t rob, don’t betray,” it continues, adding that the exercise of authority and power are only legitimate “if they are used in service to others,” and that “there is no greater satisfaction than having work and enjoying it.”

“He who has the most riches is not he who has the most material goods, but he who is the most generous,” the handbook says.

AMLO’s book, which was written by a committee of his theological apostles, also recommends “complying with all commitments,” a point that might ring hollow in the ears of the many national and international corporations which have seen their previous contracts nullified under the AMLO administration.

The book ends with the declaration that “family is the main institution of social security in Mexico,” and a call to respect and protect the nation’s natural resources.

…Nov. 27, 2020