AMLO Quarterly Presidential Address

The Border Reports

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) presented his Quarterly Presidential Address this past Sunday, April 5.  Here are some highlights:

Frugality for the Mexican Nation

1. High public officials’ salaries will be lowered and bonuses eliminated for deputy directors of the President of Mexico.
2. Government publicity expenses will be reduced.
3. Travel expenses, operational expenses and supplier purchases will be lowered for public infrastructure works.
4. Intensify alienation of ill-acquired assets through common and “white-collar” crime by auctions or raffles.
5. There will be no dismissal of state service workers at any level.
6. Next week a public social investment program will be announced with an amount of 330 billion pesos.
7. AMLO thanked employers who have voluntarily obeyed instructions for the health emergency to stop non-essential economic and commercial activities while maintaining employment, wages and benefits for their workers.

Emergency program for employment and well-being

1. Four month advancement in pension payments to 8 million of elderly adults through banks and personal delivery of 42 thousand millions of pesos.
2. The same applied to pensions for impoverished children with disabilities, delivering 10 million, 500 thousand scholarships to students of both level of schools and universities Benito Juarez.
3. Provide 365 thousand credits to small family businesses of the “Tandas para el Bienestar” program and in the upcoming months they will add 450 thousand more with a total investment of 3,400 million pesos.
4. 230,000 sowers with permanent employment.
5. 740 thousand young adults are employed as interns and receive minimum salary.
6. Provision of financial support to 47,500 fishermen and guarantee of the price of corn, wheat, bean and milk in benefit of 107 thousand producers and support for 2.1 million coffee and sugar cane producers.
7. Assistance programs for schools for 4,000 million pesos.
8. 25 highways completed in the state of Oaxaca.
9. Construction in rural roads and maintenance and construction in highways for 28,000 million pesos.
10. Continuation of construction to railroads, dams and risk channels.
11. Relief programs for earthquakes.
12. Urban programs in 327 neighborhoods in 14 municipalities of the border and tourist centers.
13. Infonavit has provided 619 thousand credits and restructured 186,005 debs to 53 thousand workers that had paid 90% of their credits.
14. Advantages to 17,800 families in construction and reconstruction of households.
15. Internet program for everyone, he connected 22 thousand communities and this year it will be an additional 75 thousand locations.
16. Began construction of 2,700 branches of “Banco del Bienestar” bank to present cards.
17. From January to March of 2020 homicides reduced by 0.3%, kidnapping 25.8%, car theft 11.1%, general theft 6.6% in comparison with the same timeframe last year.
18. Eradication of torture, support for victims of violence and associate State-Crime.
19. One thousand million pesos to convert Chapultepec forest in the most important and artistic cultural space.
20. Completed construction of 72 health locations and hospitals. 
21. Created Insabi to warrant medical attention.
22. Employment for 80 thousand health workers that worked as temporary, with approval of 40 thousand million pesos more for the health sector.
23. 5 thousand millions to the Marines and Serena, will have 399 beds, equipment and specialized medical personnel as care providers for intensive therapy patients of Covid19.

Covid19

1. Three months ago they began to inform and provide preventive recommendations with the purpose of avoiding overcrowding hospitals and larger amounts of lives lost.
2. From the first moment they decided to leave the health strategy to the specialist medics and scientists.
3. After India, Mexico is the country with the least amount of infections of Coronavirus and the third with the least amount of deaths per number of residents.
4. Price of gasoline will not increase, gasoline is now sold at 30% less than in the pandemia.
5. Additional investment of 25,000 million pesos for water, sewer system, pavement and improvement of 50 thousand community zones  in 50 municipalities of the country, creating 228 thousand direct employment positions.
6. Program sowing life gave employment to 230 thousand sowers and will be expanded to 200 thousand farmers to provide immediate work.
7. From May, 190 thousand fishermen will receive direct benefits.
8. Recruit 31 thousand elements of the Army, Marine and National Guard.
9. A fund of 35 thousand million pesos will be created for Issste with credits of 20 thousand to 56 thousand pesos per credit to aid 670 thousand workers.