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Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) said during a meeting with the country’s engineers Monday that he seeks to transform Mexico and “change the correlation of power; no one will threaten us with closing or militarizing the border or build a wall.”
Last week AMLO announced his government would review all security agreements with the United States and refocus foreign aid to economic and social development projects. He has also stressed Mexico’s foreign policy towards Venezuela will remain neutral moving away from the U.S. strategy to isolate the South American country.
AMLO made these remarks during the presentation of several infrastructure projects he will prioritize during his administration, including a train between Mexico City and Toluca, 52 unfinished hospitals, the modernization of the country’s oil refineries and the construction of new ones. Overall he plans to stop migration by creating jobs and investing in social and economic development.
Lopez Obrador also asked the group of engineers to review the viability of the three current options for the construction of Mexico City’s new airport. According to the president-elect, the invitation responds to an attempt to separate the economic and political power.
Campesino communities in the area have rejected the construction of the new airport for years. During the meeting, AMLO said the future of the project would be decided through a popular consultation.
He also reiterated he would not reverse any of the contracts in the energy sector granted to private business during the current administration in the context of the energy reform and promised to invest in Mexico’s oil company Pemex, so that the country benefits from the exploration and exploitation of national oil fields.
The announcement is a departure from his initial stance of reviewing all contracts in the energy sector.
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