Summary of the main points in President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s daily press conference
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denounced the smear campaigns against his government, financed by business leaders who are trying to manipulate the population. He pointed out that the attack seeks to inflate his adversaries; however, he said that Mexicans no longer allow themselves to be deceived, so there is nothing to fear.
The President confirmed that on September 8 and 9 he will visit Colombia to discuss issues such as drug trafficking and the application of well-being programs as a strategy to deal with this phenomenon. He will then travel to Chile for the commemoration of the 1973 coup d’état against President Salvador Allende.
The Mexico City-Toluca Train project has received 97 billion pesos (US$5.8 billion) in federal government public investment for the construction of 58 km of electrified double track and 7 stations, in which 20 trains with a capacity for more than 700 passengers each will provide service. Sections 1 and 2 of the civil engineering project, which consist of 42 kilometers, are 100 percent complete, as is section 5, corresponding to workshops and depots. The train line will reduce travel time from the Observatorio metro stop in Mexico City to Zinacantepec, near Toluca in the State of Mexico from 143 minutes to 39 minutes, benefiting more than 80,000 users daily.
The head of the Ministry of Public Administration, Roberto Salcedo, reported that 13 of the 19 companies accused of corruption in providing clinical laboratory and blood bank services to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) have been sanctioned. These include 24 orders that the companies be barred from participating in bids and fines for almost two billion pesos (US$110 million).
The IMSS-Bienestar program has already incorporated 22 states into the plan to federalize medical services, thus guaranteeing quality and free medical care in 253 hospitals, 21 specialized medical units, and 4,146 clinics, where more than 5,700 medical specialists provide health care.
The President thanked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden for not implementing any measure sanctioning Mexico over the vaquita porpoise issue. He explained that work is being carried out for the animal’s preservation and reproduction.
