Next administration will complete unfinished works of the six-year term: AMLO

Mexico City. The next federal administration will complete the works that cannot be finished during the current administration, said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

An example, he commented, is the train. The Insurgentwhich will connect Mexico City with Toluca, and whose route from Santa Fe to the Observatorio terminal will not be ready at the end of his term, in part, he accused, because the authorities of the Álvaro Obregón mayor’s office (of the PAN) “did not want it to move forward and they put obstacles in our way.”

In reviewing his administration, in response to a question during the morning press conference about his latest government report due on September 1, the president indicated that poverty and insecurity had been reduced, and that progress had been made in public works and in plans for justice for indigenous peoples.

In addition, he added, the peso has strengthened, fuel and electricity prices have fallen, oil production has increased and energy self-sufficiency is on the verge of being achieved.

Another project that will remain pending, he said, is the Chalco-Santa Martha trolleybus to improve transportation in the eastern part of the metropolitan area of ​​the Valley of Mexico.

“We had a construction company that failed. We have been struggling a lot with that, because the companies that were ruined during the entire neoliberal period were companies that acted based on influence and corruption.” In addition, they found a collector of about a kilometer and the project had to be modified.

“We may not finish by the end of September, but this year is ending, and that gives me peace of mind, because the president-elect (Claudia Sheinbaum) is a responsible woman, with convictions, accustomed to working like this, like this government works, and an honest woman. That makes me very calm, I could even say I’m leaving, because all the works will be finished, I don’t see any difficulty in the transition, in the handover, and we are also visiting the whole country together,” he said.

Regarding the achievements of his administration, he said that what makes him most proud is that poverty and inequality have been reduced.

“Our opponents can say what they want, but that was not achieved in the neoliberal period, on the contrary, there was more poverty and more inequality. Despite the pandemic, despite the crises, we managed to reduce poverty, we have lifted 5 million Mexicans out of poverty so far, but there will be more, because the cut was made in 2022, and in these two years much more has been invested and much more support has been given to the majority of the people. That gives me great satisfaction.”

In terms of security, he added, progress has been made in practically all crimes, including homicides, “which is what has cost us the most work,” and the only reported increase is in the incidence of extortion.

He stressed that if the “plundering” model that was undertaken from 1983 to 2018 with the neoliberal regimes had continued, things would be different today.

“We would be in the electricity industry paying more for electricity and generating 10, 15 percent, everything else would be in the hands of foreign companies; we would be paying much more for gasoline, diesel and gas.”

He recalled that when his government began, 80 percent of the gasoline the country needed was imported, and if it had continued like this, “we would be importing almost everything, because the six refineries they left us would have already closed and would have been turned into junk fuel.”

The trend in fuel prices, he said, would have been upward, there would have been more gas price hikes, and he recalled that under Felipe Calderón the cost of gasoline increased by 22 percent and under Enrique Peña by 44 percent. “While with us it went down by 5.8 percent. We no longer buy 80 percent of gasoline, we are about to start buying at most 15 percent.”

In a new date for the start of operations of the Dos Bocas refinery, the president said that it will be this Saturday when it will begin to process around 260 thousand barrels of oil per day.

Regarding the peso, he indicated that for the first time in 50 years our currency has strengthened and there has been no devaluation.

“So we are doing very well. People are very happy, which is the most important thing. Wherever we go, people recognize what has been done, and of course there is still much to be done. That is why the decision of the people of Mexico to continue the transformation process was wise, because what is coming is going to be better, much better.”