Stenographic version. 6th State of the Nation Report
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: My friends:
Today I will be delivering before you and before the people and the nation my final State of the Nation Report, and I do so more convinced than ever that the best of Mexico is its people, heir to civilizations that flourished long before the arrival of the European invaders.
Thanks to the roots of those pre-Hispanic cultures, of that deep Mexico, the Mexicans of today are, in their vast majority, honest and solidary-minded workers. The legacy of good principles that were transmitted from generation to generation and that have not disappeared despite oppression, classism, and racism, is what distinguishes us and defines us as a country of virtues and greatness. Mexico’s unique and splendid political history also stems from this root and trunk.
Let us not forget that the fathers of our homeland – Hidalgo and Morelos – not only fought for independence, but also for the abolition of slavery and against inequality.
Juarez established the secular state.
And between 1910 and 1917, our country was the protagonist of the first social revolution of the 20th century. Here, the Flores brothers fought for workers’ rights. Here, the revolutionary hero of the people, Francisco Villa, and the most authentic defender of the peasants, Emiliano Zapata, took up arms to demand freedom, land, and justice.
How many democrats -I say this with respect- in the world, how many sincere democrats have there been like Francisco I. Madero? How many presidents have professed as much love for the poor people as General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río? That is what we Mexicans are made of. We are heirs of a grandiose past and of an exceptional and fruitful history. This explains to a great extent why it did not take us long to reverse the decadence produced by neoliberal or neoporfirista policies, and how we were able, relatively rapidly, to lay the foundations to initiate a new stage that is already known and identified as the Fourth Transformation of Mexico’s public life.
Even though we do not disdain the ideas and work of the great thinkers and political leaders in the history of the world, we have always been inspired by those who have fought for humanist and patriotic causes in our country.
We learned what Hidalgo said more than 200 years ago, that the only god of the oligarchs was money.
We learned about the Sentiments of the Nation, the words of Morelos, who recommended raising the peon’s salary and educating the peasant’s son just like the son of the richest landowner, and proposed the creation of courts to protect the weak from the abuses committed by the powerful.
We learned by heart the wise words of Juarez – tell me if this isn’t true – that with the people, everything; without the people, nothing.
We follow the slogan of Ricardo Flores Magón, that only the people can save the people.
We do not forget when Zapata was offered a ranch, a large estate, and he answered that he had not entered the Revolution to become a landowner.
We heard that the straightforward Villa was of the opinion that the country should be governed by someone who really loved his people and his land, and who would share its wealth and progress.
How could we ignore the slogan of the Apostle of Democracy, Francisco I. Madero: effective suffrage, no reelection; or the declaration of Lázaro Cárdenas, according to which a government or individual who hands over natural resources to foreign companies betrays the homeland.
With this ideology we began our government almost six years ago. The first thing we did was to reform our Constitution as far as was possible and to promote laws to stop the anti-popular, subservient, and corrupt policies that had been imposed and legalized by the predominance of an oligarchic power with the appearance of democracy.
On February 5th of this year, we presented 20 constitutional reform proposals to Congress to restore to the Magna Carta the revolutionary and popular character it had in its original drafting in 1917. These proposals are clearly different from, and in contrast to, the reforms that were approved during the 36 years of the ill-fated neoliberal period, when no thought was given to benefiting the people but rather to adjusting the legal framework to facilitate the dispossession and handing over of the people’s and the nation’s assets to a rapacious minority.
Now, fortunately, we are living in an authentic democracy, building a new, illustrious, fraternal homeland.
And here I would like to begin by indicating what we have done together and from below. While during the presidential administrations of Calderón and Peña Nieto, every month 100,000 people became impoverished, in our government, on the contrary, every month 100,000 Mexicans were lifted out of poverty. From 2018 to 2022, according to the INEGI, 5.10 million people were lifted out of poverty, that is, 5.6 percent of the population, something that haD not occurred in more than 30 years.
Furthermore, a few months ago, the World Bank reported that from 2018 to 2023, poverty in Mexico declined from 34.3 million to 24.7 million people, that is, in five years 9.5 million Mexicans were lifted out of poverty.
In Calderón’s administration, according to official figures, a rich person earned on average 35 times more than a poor person; now the difference has decreased to 15 times.
The minimum wage has increased more than 100 percent in real terms, something that had not occurred in the past 40 years.
We have restored land and water to the native peoples, as we did with the Yaqui peoples, to whom we returned 45,000 hectares and built an aqueduct and an irrigation district.
All of the country’s senior citizens receive a bimonthly pension of 6,000 pesos (US$304).
More than 1.48 million people with disabilities are supported with 3,100 pesos (US$1.57) bimonthly.
Almost 10.88 million scholarships have been granted to preschool, elementary, and high school students.
All high school students in public schools receive scholarships.
Almost 1.33 million university students from poor families have received an educational scholarship. In 2024, the bimonthly amount of this scholarship has been 5,600 pesos (US$157).
Every year, 262,000 single mothers are supported so that their children do not drop out of school.
Some 85 billion pesos (US$4.30 billion) have been provided directly to parents’ associations for the maintenance of 174,000 public schools.
With the participation of teachers, 160 million scientific and humanist textbooks have been published.
The Fondo de Cultura Económica publishing house has published a total of 17,365,000 books.
The ’21 for the 21st’ collection was published to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Tenochtitlan and the Spanish invasion of our country.
During the current administration, we have increased teachers’ salaries by 48 percent and no federal basic education teacher earns less than 17,000 pesos (US$861) per month.
We have formalized the employment status of 960,000 teachers.
Two hundred and two ‘Benito Juarez Universities for Well-Being have been created in the poorest and most marginalized areas of the country, in which 56,464 students receive scholarships. 7,755 students have graduated from these universities, of whom 3,299 have already received their degrees.
On September 14, in Palenque, Chiapas, we will inaugurate the Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies Unit of the National Polytechnic Institute, with a capacity for 3,000 students.
The scholarship program for students from poor families has enabled us to considerably reduce school dropout rates at all educational levels. In the 2017-2018 school year, 0.5 percent of students dropped out of primary school, for the 1923-24 school year, only 0.3 percent; in secondary schools, the dropout rate went from 4.6 to 2.4. In the technical professional subsystem, the dropout rate decreased from 27.4 to 12.1, in high school from 14.5 to 8.5, and in higher education from 8.4 to 5.3 percent.
The Technological Bachelor’s Degree Program in Sports Education and Promotion has been created. Currently, 1,470 students are enrolled in seven campuses in the states of Campeche, Veracruz, Sonora, Mexico City, State of Mexico, and Tlaxcala. In addition to academic studies, which are very important, we also offer specialized courses in baseball, boxing, athletics, and physiotherapy.
The baseball stadiums in Hermosillo, Ciudad Obregón, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, and Cancún have been refurbished, the new baseball stadium in Tepic, Nayarit is about to be completed, and the one in Mérida, Yucatán is being expanded and improved.
Last year, Mexico took third place in medals in the Pan American Games. And recently, at the Olympics, we won five medals: three silver and two bronze. Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches, and family members.
Likewise, our Paralympic athletes are currently competing in Paris with great success. And on September 17, all the members of the two delegations will receive their financial incentives, as has been the case every year.
We have invested 132 billion pesos (US$6.68 billion) to finance the Youth Building the Future (Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro) program, in which almost 2.97 million boys and girls have worked as apprentices in workshops, stores, companies, and other productive activities. To put it in perspective, the amount invested in this program for young people exceeds everything that was allocated to youth during the five previous presidential administrations.
The Institute for Returning What Has Been Stolen to the People (Instituto para Devolver al Pueblo lo Robado) was created, which has helped poor and marginalized regions of the country.
Some 5,758 poor communities in eight states have benefited from the Tianguis del Bienestar Fair, which distributes shoes, clothes, raincoats, fabrics, household goods and other products that have been confiscated in the country’s customs stations.
Military engineers have built 2,750 branches of the Well-Being Bank (Banco del Bienestar). It is the financial institution with the most extensive coverage in the country. This authentically people’s bank, which reaches even the most remote communities and towns, is dispersing resources amounting to 750 billion pesos (US$38.01 billion) a year, benefitting 27 million Mexicans.
This administration saw the creation of the Tandas para el Bienestar rotating savings and credit association program, which aims to grant interest-free credit without bureaucracy to small entrepreneurs, artisans, shopkeepers, and other people who are part of the so-called informal economy.
In 2020, during the pandemic, which brought us so much pain, in eight months, 1.5 million unsecured credits were granted for a total of 36 billion pesos (US$1.82 billion). In total, from 2019 to 2024, 2.80 million loans have been granted with an investment of 46 billion pesos (US$2.33 billion).
The Financiera para el Bienestar development bank was created, which grants small loans and delivers remittances to relatives of migrants, charging fair commissions.
Two million farmers and 200,000 fishermen receive direct economic assistance.
Fertilizers are delivered free of charge to all small farmers in the country.
With the Sowing Life (Sembrando Vida) program, since the beginning of the current administration, 433,000 peasant farmers have been supported with permanent wages to cultivate their plots of land, allowing them to plant almost 1.16 million fruit and timber trees. This is the most important reforestation program in the world.
Guarantee prices are maintained in the purchase of basic foodstuffs. In 2018, the food production of the agricultural and fishing sector was 285 million tons, and in 2023 it increased to 299 million tons.
By the same token, the agro-industrial balance in this period rose slightly more than US$3.13 billion to almost US$6.91 billion; that is, we sold more than we bought.
Some 24,496 Diconsa stores and 12,331 Liconsa dairies are operating in poverty-stricken communities and neighborhoods, where food is sold at fair prices.
It is now a reality that in 23 states there is a universal and free health-care system for individuals without social security, known as IMSS-Bienestar. This public health-care system is already the most efficient in the world. I said it was going to be the best, that it was going to be like Denmark’s. No, it is not like Denmark’s; it is better than Denmark’s.
Look at what IMSS-Bienestar has: 11,935 medical units or health-care centers, 11,935, taking into account that there are slightly less than 2,500 municipalities and there are 11,935 health-care centers alone; 669 hospitals, 42,322 general practitioners, 126,762 nurses and 30,346 specialists. This is the health-care option for those who do not qualify for the formal-sector health system.
We have regularized the employment status of 176,808 health-care workers – 176,808 health-care workers! They were hired on a fee basis and were workers with very low salaries and benefits, and now most of the health sector workers have had their employment status regularized. We offered this and we are fulfilling it.
When we took office as President, the health-care sector had 129,482 general practitioners and specialists. We have now hired 48,736 additional personnel, including 5,000 doctors from the sister Republic of Cuba, for which we are very grateful.
Previously, the purchase of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment was a dirty business of influence peddlers and corrupt politicians; journalists were even involved. Today – I said journalists, no I meant mercenaries of information – today, with the same budget, free medicines are given to all Mexicans outside of the formal-sector system.
11,774 committees of The Clinic is Ours (La Clínica es Nuestra) program have been created, to which over 6.34 billion pesos (US$320 million) have been allocated for the maintenance of health-care centers.
The ISSSTE health system has been rescued from corruption. When we took office, even the stretchers were privatized or, as they said, subsidized, subrogated, all those words that were invented during the neoliberal period. Now the ISSSTE has once again become an institution with integrated public services.
We have rehabilitated 548 ISSSTE clinics and hospitals, and we have 10 new hospitals, six of them built by us and four acquired; also because this other way of doing illicit or illegitimate business under the protection of the government has been eliminated. The use, the management of the so-called public-private associations has been eliminated.
Currently, ISSSTE pharmacies fill 98.5 percent of medical prescriptions.
In 2018, the health-care sector had 96 hemodynamics rooms to treat heart attacks. Heart attacks, unfortunately, are the leading cause of death in our country, and there were states that did not have any hemodynamics rooms to treat such afflictions. Now there are 144 hemodynamics rooms, in all the states there is at least one, the number of these hemodynamics rooms has been increased by 50 percent.
We also increased the number of hemodialysis units. The second cause of mortality is diabetes. All this leads us to think that during the neoliberal period there was considerable consumption of junk food and that it is urgent, indispensable and necessary to have a very good nutritional orientation campaign. The number of hemodialysis units increased from 4,551 to 6,487. There were 60 linear accelerators for cancer treatment; now there are 76.
Today, most of the health-care centers, especially those in the most remote communities, now have doctors available seven days a week, not only from Monday to Friday, because people also get sick on Saturdays and Sundays.
We acquired 90,000 square meters of covered warehouses in Huehuetoca, State of Mexico, where a mega-pharmacy was established, from which pharmaceuticals are distributed throughout the country so that no one is left without medicines, even when they live in the most remote communities.
In the two presidential administrations prior to our own – and this explains why we have had sufficient budgetary resources to do so much -, in the two previous administrations fiscal write-offs were granted for various taxpayers, large taxpayers, for an accumulated amount of 413 billion pesos (US$20.93 billion). In our government, this privilege was abolished.
Previously, the taxpayers, the largest taxpayers, – just imagine it, a company, a famous, famous, famous bank, did not pay taxes – the largest, most influential, businessmen and bankers, did not pay taxes. Now almost all of them are paying. That is why, also, I would like to thank those who are fulfilling their responsibility.
Tax collection in 2018 totaled 3.1 trillion pesos (US$150 billion); this year it is estimated at 4.9 trillion pesos (US$240 billion), a 61.4 percent increase in nominal terms.
According to our calculations… And this is very important, we always maintained, for years, that Mexico’s main problem was corruption, that nothing had damaged our country more than the dishonesty of those in office and influence peddlers, and that corruption had to be fought not only for moral reasons, but also because, in doing so, many funds were going to be freed up to be able to finance Mexico’s development. This is what is becoming evident.
We have been able to do many things, to deliver what is due to the people, their social rights, because we have cut off corruption in the Executive Branch. According to our calculations, we have saved around two trillion pesos (US$100 billion) during this administration by not allowing corruption. The fight against huachicol (fuel theft-TN) alone has generated savings of 342 billion pesos (US$17.33 billion). That amount, 342 billion pesos (US$17.33 billion), is what it cost the nation to build the Dos Bocas refinery.
The annual budget increased from 5.3 trillion pesos (US$260 billion) in 2018 to 9.1 trillion pesos (US$460 billion) in 2024; it has grown 71.7 percent in nominal terms.
The growth of public debt has been lower than in the presidential administrations of Calderón and Peña Nieto. With the former, the debt increased 7.4 points of the gross domestic product; with the latter, eight. So far, with us, it has grown 4.9 points and it is estimated that it will close 2024 with a six-point increase.
When we took office, Mexico’s economy ranked 15th in the world; now it is in 12th place.
Mexico is considered one of the most attractive countries to invest and do business in. We have achieved record numbers in foreign investment. Last year it reached US$36 billion and in the first six months of 2024 alone, we have received US$31 billion in foreign investment.
Today we are the main trading partner of the United States, having displaced China and Canada during the current administration.
For the first time in more than 50 years, the peso has not been devalued. On the contrary, our currency is the second strongest in the world in relation to the dollar.
When we took office there were more than 20 million workers registered in the Social Security system; now there are almost 22.39 million, as of yesterday, which means 2.31 million more formal-sector jobs.
We are in second place, and I did not presume that I was going to be the president of employment, but look, we are in second place worldwide in terms of having the lowest unemployment rate.
In 2018 the average salary of workers enrolled in the Social Security system was 352 pesos (US$17.83) a day; today it is 587 pesos (US$29.74).
The Bank of Mexico’s trust fund is already operating to repair the damage caused by the Zedillo and Calderón reforms by reducing the amount of workers’ pensions to 30 percent of their salary. Now, all those who earn the average IMSS salary will get a pension equivalent to 100 percent of their wages upon retirement.
In the northern border area, the VAT rate is half, since we took office, and the income tax rate is also half.
In that region, gasoline and diesel cost, on average, four pesos per liter less than in the rest of the country, and the minimum wage has increased threefold in real terms. This also explains why the budget is sufficient to meet expenses, is distributed and reaches everyone.
There are no longer excessive salaries for federal-government public servants. I would like to clarify this: for the Executive Branch, there are no longer any multi-million peso pensions for former presidents. That is over. There are no more savings funds or retirement trusts for high-ranking federal officials either.
In the Executive Branch, private medical care for senior officials has been suspended. In another of the three branches of government, subsidized private medical care still continues, and even plastic surgery is performed at the expense of the public treasury.
In 2018, and this is an example that can be verified, the expenditures of the Office of the Presidency in 2018 were 3.60 billion pesos (US$180 million); in 2023, we spent only 600 million pesos (US$30.4 million), that is, one sixth of the previous amount.
The presidential airplane and other aircrafts allocated for officials were sold and the recovered funds were earmarked for the construction of two hospitals, one in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, and another in Tlapa, Guerrero.
The Presidential Secret Service has been eliminated, the 8,000 members who guarded the President. Who took care of me? This elite group became part of the Armed Forces again.
We eliminated 173 trust funds that were useless but had considerable administrative expenses. We saved 136 billion pesos (US$6.89 billion) with this decision.
Republican austerity became a reality based on the principle that there cannot be a rich government with a poor population, and I will give another example of many: since we came to power, not a single vehicle has been purchased for government officials; now it’s time to renew the vehicle fleet.
As with corruption, we have fought impunity. And we have done so with respect for the autonomy of the other branches of government… to the extreme, because it would have cost us nothing to continue with the centuries-old tradition that the other two branches were added as an appendix, because for a long time with the authoritarian policy, the most powerful of the branches was the Executive Branch. Or was that not the case? Well, we have acted in a respectful manner, we have not wanted to make underhanded deals in order to get everything approved.
On the contrary, we have denounced with facts the acts of corruption and influence peddling that prevail in the Judiciary. Because of this, we sent a bill to Congress for the people to elect judges, justices, and magistrates, with the purpose, so that they will impart justice for the benefit of all and are not be at the exclusive service of organized crime and white-collar crime, that they be at the service of the people.
Let’s see, let’s do a consultation right now, although tomorrow they will criticize us, but it’s a lot of fun, because they get so angry they even make themselves look ridiculous. I say this with all due respect, and it would be boring otherwise. Let’s see, what do you prefer, that the judges be chosen by the President and the senators or that they be elected by the people?
But we are going to make it as formal as possible because, if not, they are going to believe that it is a poll, those that Massive Caller used to do for self-deception, do you remember, the Massive Caller polls? So that they will not accuse us of that, and besides, we do not need to deceive ourselves. Let’s see, raise your hand those who think that it is better that the judges – and the justices – be elected by the President and the Senators. Raise your hands. I don’t see anyone.
Raise your hand those who think it is better for the people to elect judges and justices. Put your hands down.
Abstentions, raise your hand. No abstentions.
Well, this helps us understand what the people’s feelings are.
And also so that our neighbors, friends and neighbors of the United States internalize it, I say this with all due respect. And do not forget that democracy in America, in the United States, began by electing judges, don’t forget that, that in the United States that is how democracy began, by the people electing judges. And if they want a bibliography, they should look up Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, where they can find out how that great nation was founded on democracy.
The Islas Marías ceased to be a prison and became a cultural and tourist center: 130 houses have been arranged for a total of 390 visitors, two ferries were acquired that go to the Islas Marías from Mazatlán and San Blas, Nayarit.
Let’s see: have you had enough? For the record, I told you that it was going to be a long one, but we are already halfway there.
The Boca de Chila naval base was created to guarantee security on the coasts of Nayarit with the construction of barracks for 1,184 sailors, housing units, a hospital, a hotel, and a dock to visit the Pacific islands and the Gulf of California by ferry.
We have practiced what we preached. We have stated for several years that the best way to confront the migratory phenomenon is to address the root causes, supporting the countries with poorer populations in Central America and the Caribbean. The United States already did this on one occasion, with the Alliance for Progress, with President Kennedy. This is necessary now, to return with a plan to support countries with poor people, with migrants, because whoever abandons his family, his community, does not do so for pleasure, he does it out of necessity.
And to practice what you preach, while they decide and solve the problem… Because this is the best way to face, I repeat, the migratory phenomenon; it is not with walls or militarizing the borders that the migratory phenomenon is going to be resolved. While this occurs, while the causes are being addressed, we are helping with the Sowing Life and Youth Building the Future programs, and with other actions for our sister republics, our brother peoples of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Belize and Cuba, and we will continue to do so.
We fulfilled our commitment to not increase the cost of gasoline, diesel, gas and electricity in real terms. In some cases, those prices have even come down. We fulfilled that commitment.
Inflation is at an annual 5.16 percent, but we are maintaining the basic food basket of 24 items, in which the cost has been reduced from 1,339 pesos (US$57.72) to 800 pesos (US$40.54). I would like to thank the commercial chains for their support. I would like to applaud the commercial chains, which have helped us avoid high food prices. It also very much enables us – we must very much keep this in mind – to keep prices low for gasoline, diesel, gas, and electricity.
In 2023, remittances amounted to US$63.32 billion, 184 percent more than in 2018: this record figure benefits 12 million families in the country’s villages, municipalities, and states.
This year the support from our countrymen abroad to their relatives will reach US$65 billion. This is the main source of income for our country. Let’s applaud and thank our fellow countrymen and women who live and work abroad.
By the end of 2023, over 42.15 million international tourists entered the country, which represented an economic windfall of almost US$30.81 billion. Thus far this year, the growth is considerably higher and we are already in sixth place among the most visited countries in the world.
The fame of Mexico Tenochtitlan is so, so, so great that, as never before, people of all nationalities have decided to come and live in our country – and they are welcome – particularly many U.S. citizens who have decided to come to live and work in Mexico.
In 2023, banks posted record profits of 272 billion pesos (US$13.81 billion), 73 percent more than in 2018.
Likewise, the stock market index grew by 25 percent.
Despite the pandemic and the world crisis sparked by the war between Russia and Ukraine, and following the up to 8.5 percent fall in the economy in 2020, we got back on our feet and from 2021 to date we have grown an annual average 3.4 percent. During this administration, even with the pandemic, such a crisis had not seen, at least not in the last century of our history, the type of economic drop due to the pandemic that affected Mexico and the world. Even with that, we are going to end the six-year presidential administration with an average growth of one percent, something truly exceptional in an extremely difficult economic environment in the country and in the world.
In the first quarter of 2024, the labor informality rate stood at 54.3 percent of the population age 15 and over, which implies a 4.2 percent reduction compared to the beginning of the current presidential administration in 2018.
As of today, the Bank of Mexico’s international reserves total almost US$224.71 billion, 29 percent more than in 2018, a record high.
The stimulus decree for the southern border has already gone into effect. Especially Chetumal, Quintana Roo was declared free of import taxes, so that Chetumal could become Chetumal again. Those who are older and live in the southeast know this, that they can go and buy merchandise, imported products at low prices.
We are one week away from the inauguration of the Maya Train, the entire circuit. It will cover 1,554 kilometers, 690 of which will be electrified double track. It included the construction of 34 stations in five southeastern states, generated 660,508 jobs, as well as the acquisition of 42 trains, 219 cars. A total investment of 515 billion pesos (US$26.14 billion) was made, with funds from the public budget, not debt.
Very important conservation work projects have been implemented at 30 archeological sites of the great Maya culture. Diego Prieto helped us considerably, he’s probably around here, along with archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, ethnologists, from the INAH.
Six hotels are about to be finished in the Maya region, with 1,136 rooms. I would like to invite you to visit this region of the country when you can; it is one of the most beautiful in the world. There is no other region in the world with as much artistic and cultural richness as the ancient Maya nation. I recommend it because, in addition to culture and art, there is nature, beautiful beaches, and tropical rain forests, with animals, with the most varied native fauna preserved in our country and in the world.
The Jaguar Park in Tulum has been completed; ten archaeological museums have been rehabilitated and created, and La Plancha Park has been built in Mérida.
In the five states through which the Maya Train passes, complementary work projects have been carried out for the well-being of the population and 223,648 balché, guayacán, maculí, and árboles flor trees, among others, have been planted on the banks of the railway track.
196 roads with a length of 1,000 kilometers that were affected by the transportation of materials for the construction of the Maya Train, especially the ballast that was taken from Los Tuxtlas to the Peninsula. are being rehabilitated.
The freight and passenger railway from Coatzacoalcos to Salina Cruz was completed.
The ports of the Interoceanic Corridor have been rehabilitated, a 1,600-meter offshore breakwater was built in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, with an investment of 4.78 billion pesos (US$242.45 million).
In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Corridor, construction is about to begin on ten industrial parks to create jobs and produce goods, as well as to generate green hydrogen for the international shipping industry.
Before the end of our mandate, we will finish the track for the Palenque-Coatzacoalcos passenger train, and work on the railroad line from Ixtepec to Ciudad Hidalgo, on the border with Guatemala, will be underway.
We finished construction of the Guadalajara Light Rail.
The train from Tlajomulco to Guadalajara is under construction with the participation of the state government.
The train from the Felipe Ángeles Airport to Lechería is nearing completion, which will transport passengers from Felipe Ángeles to the Buenavista station, here in downtown Mexico City, in 45 minutes.
We finished, we inaugurated, the “El Insurgente” train line from Toluca to Santa Fe, and at the end of the year, it will reach the Observatorio station.
We are building an important railway bypass in Nogales, Sonora.
In total, 2,300 kilometers of railway lines for passenger trains will be built This signifies the re-launching of a new stage, following the privatization of the national railways during the neoliberal period during which passenger trains disappeared. It is a new stage. Here I would like take the opportunity to congratulate our President-elect, the next constitutional president.
The ports, the airports of Tuxtla, Chetumal, and Mexico City have been rehabilitated.
The new Felipe Ángeles International Airport was built. The Tulum International Airport, in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, which we call the Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, was completed in 15 months. This international airport is already receiving flights from various European countries and from US states. Here I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the military engineers.
The situation of almost 2.50 million vehicles of foreign origin has been regularized for the benefit of low-income families. With the small amount they pay for this paperwork procedure, over 6.24 billion pesos (US$316.78 million) have been collected, which have been given to municipal and state governments to improve city streets.
The Zapotillo dam in Jalisco was completed without flooding the communities in the area.
The Santa Maria Dam in Rosario, Sinaloa, the Pilares dam in Sonora, and El Chihuero in Michoacan were completed and the Libertad Dam in Nuevo Leon is about to be finished.
Irrigation districts were established in Santa María, Sinaloa; in El Chihuero and Picachos, also in Sinaloa; in the Yaqui villages and there is the Alejandro Gascón Mercado Irrigation District in Nayarit.
Note this fact: in contrast to what occurred in the six previous presidential administrations in 36 years that coincide with the neoliberal period, when only 22,000 hectares were incorporated into agricultural irrigation, in this current government belonging to all, 120,000 hectares of land will be irrigated.
We have built dams, reservoirs, pumping plants, storage tanks, water treatment plants, and aqueducts to bring 24,550 liters per second of clean water to Concordia and Mazatlán, Sinaloa; to Xpujil in Campeche; to the metropolitan area of Monterrey and Guadalajara; to nine municipalities of La Laguna in Durango and Coahuila; to Macuspana, Tabasco; to Mexico City and to other localities.
Lake Texcoco was declared a protected natural area, and this is something exceptional. I would also like to invite you to visit this area, which is the origin of our national coat-of-arms. This is where an airport was planned to be built and instead an ecological park was created with large spaces for education and sports.
The Mexican government is the majority shareholder of the Altán company, and the Federal Electricity Commission already has 12,600 antennas throughout the country and sufficient optical fiber to, together with all the carriers, offer Internet service to 120 million inhabitants of 119,259 communities. During this administration, Internet access has grown by 20 percent, from 75.5 percent to 95.6 percent of the population. This coverage includes 99,000 free Internet hot spots in 2,469 municipalities around the country.
A natural gas liquefaction plant was built in Altamira, Tamaulipas, in which the company New Fortress Energy and the Federal Electricity Commission participate in a partnership.
Contracts for the construction of gas pipelines that the government had awarded to private companies during the previous presidential administration were renegotiated. This has reduced electricity rates by 27 percent and resulted in savings of US$4.4 billion for the Federal Electricity Commission.
A photovoltaic power plant was built in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, which will soon be the largest in the Americas. It is named after Rafael Galván, a true labor leader.
Ten combined cycle power plants, two internal combustion power plants, and 16 hydroelectric plants are being modernized, and 13 plants have been purchased from Iberdrola.
When we took office, the Federal Electricity Commission generated only 38 percent of national consumption and they were planning to do away with it. If the people had not said enough is enough, it would now be producing at most 10 percent of the country’s electric power generation. That is no longer the case. The Federal Electricity Commission has now been rescued.
Electricity was brought to 341,822 homes in poverty-stricken communities, benefiting almost 1.37 million inhabitants.
Daylight saving time has been cancelled.
The workers of the Federal Electricity Commission have helped considerably in the rescue of this public company and it is clear that when there is damage caused by hurricanes and other catastrophes, they restore electric power in a few days. They are like all the workers in Mexico, the best in the world. And enough with inferiority complexes, because we are not going to have inferiority complexes nor will we allow them to continue making us feel self-conscious. Mexico is a cultural power in the world.
Before taking office, they increased the retirement age of electrical workers; we restored their labor rights.
We have had the support of oil workers to rescue this other company that belongs to the people and the nation. We gave 30,205 Pemex workers permanent positions and granted 90,329 promotions. During the current presidential administration, not a single Pemex worker has been fired.
When we took office, only slightly more than 1.64 million barrels of crude oil were being extracted daily. We quickly stopped this decline, which had continued for 15 consecutive years, and now we are producing almost 1.80 million barrels daily.
Our oil reserves have not decreased. They are equivalent to 7.5 billion barrels. We have oil for several more decades in our country.
We have reduced production costs and banished corruption from Pemex.
When we took office, this company’s debt was US$105 billion; now it is US$99 billion; that is, it has gone by US$6 billion.
The six refineries we inherited were in complete disrepair. They processed 511,000 barrels daily, and in these past six years, they have increased their capacity to 1.06 million barrels; that is, they went from occupying 38 percent to 65 percent of their installed capacity.
To achieve this goal, a constant investment of almost 71.89 billion pesos (US$3.65 billion) has been made during the current presidential administration in plant modernization and maintenance.
The Deer Park Refinery in Houston, Texas was purchased, which was paid for in just eight months and has so far generated additional profits of US$1.12 billion.
The magna refinery in Dos Bocas, Paraíso, Tabasco, was completed, with the capacity to process 340,000 barrels per day and produce 20 percent of the gasoline consumed in the country.
Two coking plants are under construction in Tula, Hidalgo, and Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.
With these work projects, before the end of our term in office, we will cease importing 90 percent of fuels and by the end of this year we will be nearly self-sufficient in gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
The construction of these work projects in the oil industry has resulted in the creation of more than 100,000 direct jobs and 150,000 indirect jobs.
We rescued the fertilizer plants in Pajaritos and Cosoleacaque in Veracruz; the plant in Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán and the phosphate rock mine in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
In a partnership between Pemex and the Carso and Mota-Engil companies, work has restarted on a maritime gas extraction platform and construction is about to begin on a very large fertilizer plant in Escolin. This is much needed, especially because the site where it will be built was abandoned during the neoliberal period. This fertilizer plant will be built in Poza Rica, Veracruz. It is also a tribute to former oil workers.
The Gas Well-Being (Gas Bienestar) program was created and I am very proud that the cost of a 20-kilo cylinder, which is the one consumed most by poor households in Mexico, does not exceed 400 pesos (US$20.30).
Some 52 rural roads with a combined length of 1,656 kilometers have been paved.
In Tabasco, the Quintín Arauz bridge was completed, as was also the case with El Ochenta in Nayarit, La Concordia in Chiapas. Also in that state, at the end of the year, the Rizo de Oro bridge will be finished, which will allow for connecting villages and communities bordering Guatemala to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, saving two hours of travel time.
We expanded the federal highways from Ozuluama to Tampico, in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas, the one from Ciudad Valles to Tamazunchale, in San Luis Potosí; the highway from La Pera, Tepoztlán – Cuautla, Morelos. We also finished construction on the highways from Las Vigas to Cuajinicuilapa, in Guerrero, and the Acayucan–La Ventosa interoceanic axis, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido highway was completed and the one from Mitla to Tehuantepec, in Oaxaca, is about to be finished. I laugh because look how happy I am, knock on wood, but imagine if the people of Mexico had not chosen Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to be President.
Let’s take an example that comes to mind now: we built our house with considerable effort, as many poor families have done, building their own home little by little. They already have two rooms, a bathroom, their plot of land, some land left over, and their first child is getting married, because we have that good custom of our children living with us, and hopefully it will continue like this, it’s not that they are already teenagers and ‘take off’, that doesn’t help, we have an institution, the main institution of social security is the family, which is very supportive and very fraternal. But we are missing something; we started to build the annex, the extension of the house for a son who is getting married, a daughter who is getting married, and construction proceeds. A room has already been built, and we already have the material, especially those that don’t last, we don’t have the cement, but we have cinderblock or rebar, but now someone has to leave or someone is no longer with us, because the creator or science or nature decided so. But we’re so happy that the one who is going to take their place is an exceptional woman who is going to give continuity to the transformation. That’s why I laugh, because I am absolutely sure that the things that will remain pending will be concluded due to how extraordinary the President-Elect of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, is.
Imagine what would have happened. No. Hypocritically, like they are, because that is the doctrine of conservatism: hypocrisy. Can I elaborate a little? Hypocritically, when they said in the election campaign that they were not going to eliminate the social programs, do you remember, right? They even signed their names in blood and everything. The election is over and they say that one of the mistakes they made is that from the beginning they did not specify, they did not explain that they did not agree with the social programs, which according to their philosophy – which is a collection of sophistry, of lies – it is better to teach people how to fish than to give them fish. They say that later. So, what would have happened? Well yes, they were going to change the social programs, they were going to take away the people’s rights to social justice, but the people are in a different league from them, the people are not stupid. They thought they were going to deceive them, that they were going to manipulate them, and it was a “they have to learn moment”, so that they learn to respect the people. If they don’t love the people, they will have to respect them, at least.
We expanded federal highways in several states around the country.
During the current presidential administration, 58.61 billion pesos (US$2.97 billion) were allocated for the maintenance and preservation of toll-free roads.
3,017 kilometers of beautiful artisanal roads were built by the hands of women and men from the communities, from the villages of Oaxaca. I would also like to invite you to go and see these roads. This program was extended with very good results to Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Guerrero, and Veracruz.
The highway maintenance agreement that was granted during the last presidential administration to private construction companies was revised and an annual savings of one billion pesos (US$50 million) has been achieved. This money is being used entirely for the construction of roads in the mountains of Guerrero, one of the poorest areas of Mexico.
More than 1,200 infrastructure projects and public spaces have been built in working-class and marginalized neighborhoods in 190 municipalities around the country.
The reconstruction program from the time of the 2017 and 2018 earthquakes involved rehabilitating and building 63,000 homes, 171 health-care centers, 5,472 schools, and 2,972 temples, as well as other sites of cultural and historical importance with an investment of 33.5 billion pesos (US$1.70 billion).
To date, we have provided support and loans to expand, improve, and build housing for 719,778 poor families, with a total investment of slightly under 33.35 billion pesos (US$1.69 billion).
Infonavit has granted 2.67 million new housing loans and has restructured 5.24 million credits for the benefit of workers. Fovissste, for its part, has benefited 261,000 families with an investment of 204 billion pesos (US$10.35 billion).
In previous administrations, only three urban development plans were implemented, which is why there is so much corruption in the management of land use. Now, 300 urban development plans have been drawn up, so that they do not build monstrosities like the one they constructed on the Veracruz boardwalk, which is the result of corruption. It is a building on the boardwalk that is a historic area of the Port of Veracruz. We must monitor this, so that there is no anarchy, no disorder in urban development, in order to continue preserving our country’s beauty.
Work on the new offices of the General Agrarian Archive on Avenida Juárez in downtown Mexico City is well underway. It is the second most important archive in the country and one of the most significant in Latin America.
The former official presidential residence of Los Pinos has been integrated into Chapultepec Park, which now, with the land donated by the Ministry of National Defense, extends to the old town of Santa Fe founded by ‘Tata’ Vasco, by Vasco de Quiroga. It is an area of 800 hectares. It is the largest public park in the world. I would also like to invite you to visit it, it is absolutely beautiful, it is also one of the most beautiful parks in the world. 10.50 billion pesos (US$533.13 million) were invested in its rehabilitation and new related projects.
Federal crimes have decreased by 24.8 percent. Homicides declined 18 percent; robberies fell by 29.5 percent; femicides decreased by 37.6 percent; vehicle theft is down 48.6 percent, and kidnappings dropped by 77 percent.
During the current presidential administration, an average of 1,200 arrests of suspected criminals have been registered daily.
11,295 hectares of marijuana and 66,738 hectares of poppy have been destroyed, as well as 2,570 laboratories for chemical substances produced for drug trafficking. The Armed Forces have seized 52,939 weapons that have been smuggled in, mainly from the United States.
We have promoted campaigns against drug use. This is very important, just like when we discussed junk food. Hence the need to remain united in our families, preserve our traditions, our customs, because how can it be explained that we do not have what our neighbors unfortunately are experiencing. Because of fentanyl consumption, sadly 100,000 young people lose their lives every year. We do not have that drug addiction problem and why we do not have it is because of our cultures, our traditions, our customs, because of the integration of families and we must continue to maintain this. And continue combatting consumption, because when consumption grows it is very difficult to confront violence. It is what we always say with great respect to our neighbors: address the causes, why is there so much consumption. Doesn’t it have to do with the lack of love, with the disintegration of families, with the abandonment of young people. And is the problem going to be resolved only by arresting drug lords? Is the problem going to be resolved by eliminating fentanyl? If there are consumers, they will invent another more dangerous, deadly substance because that is where the demand is.
We have to be very careful here, because do you know how many people lost their lives due to the consumption of chemical drugs in our country last year? Six hundred people, of 100,000 young people who lose their lives only as a result of the consumption of fentanyl. How do we respond to this? We have to launch media campaigns to orient young people and continue to maintain the integrity of our families.
We reviewed the contracts of eight privatized prisons. You know that during the neoliberal period everything was privatized, including prisons, garbage collection, water, not to mention banks, companies, Pemex, the Federal Electricity Commission, etc., etc.
Well, we did not act arbitrarily, we said: Look, this contract is unfair. Because, imagine, communication companies had privatized prisons; they had to be paid, whether the prisons were occupied or not, at the rate of 5,000 pesos per day (US$253) per inmate, it is like a hotel, not a grand tourism hotel, but like two or three stars. In addition, we had to provide food for the inmates and security. So, we told them: we are not going to take away your contracts, but we have to reduce items in these contracts.
Do you know how much we saved? 10.78 billion pesos (US$549 million) in just eight prisons.
Not allowing collusion between authorities and criminals enabled us to reduce crimes committed by public officials or politicians to a minimum. Knock on wood, we have not experienced this.
According to INEGI’s quarterly survey, the perception of public insecurity is at its best or least bad level of the last ten years, at 59.4 percent; 15.5 percent less than when our administration took office.
Unlike what occurred under the neoliberal governments, there is no repression of the people, no massacres, no torture or disappearances; violations of human rights are not tolerated, and there is no narco-state like the one that was established during the previous presidential administration.
The National Guard was created, with 135,471 well-trained, disciplined, and dedicated personnel to guarantee peace and public safety. The National Guard operates throughout the country in 594 posts and most of the barracks and housing units were built by military engineers.
We’re making progress in the investigation to find the young people from Ayotzinapa. This is a pending issue, but my term as president has not yet ended and we will continue to search for these young people.
The Security Cabinet meets from Monday to Friday, daily, from 6 to 7 in the morning, with the participation of the ministers of the Interior, Public Security, Foreign Relations, Defense, Navy, and Legal Counsel, National Guard, and Intelligence, with the purpose of jointly addressing, every day, with perseverance, with urgency, all matters aimed at achieving peace, tranquility, and governability in the country.
In the fight against organized crime, intelligence is used more than force and the fatality rates has been reduced. What is this fatality rate? To illustrate this important data, it is worth mentioning that in 2011, during Felipe Calderón’s term, there were 1,076 clashes between the Armed Forces and criminal groups; 1,412 people lost their lives in these confrontations, 1,127 were wounded and arrested; that is, there were 285 more dead than wounded and arrested. In contrast, last year, the clashes were reduced to 486 with a total of 271 dead and 442 wounded and arrested; that is, there was less use of force and more respect for life.
In May 2022, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Navy assumed control of 50 customs offices in the country. This has meant greater effectiveness in operations to combat smuggling and drug trafficking, and there has been a four percent increase in collected revenue in real terms.
Both border and maritime customs are being modernized and already have better facilities, new bridges, equipment, and control and surveillance cameras.
The National Customs Agency, an administrative and military complex located in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, will be inaugurated at the end of this year.
Using dredgers built in the Navy shipyards and others acquired or rented, a comprehensive dredging program was carried out in rivers, streams, and ports to improve maritime transport and prevent flooding.
With the support of municipal and state governments, the Navy has taken charge of keeping the beaches of the Caribbean Sea free of sargassum throughout Quintana Roo.
I would thank all members of the Armed Forces for their support and backing in ensuring peace, tranquility, and progress in the country. I am more than satisfied with the loyal, responsible, and honest performance of the ministers of Defense and the Navy, General Luis Cresencio Sandoval González and Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán.
The rush to grant mining concessions to national and foreign companies has been halted. No permits have been granted for open-pit mining. Nor has the planting or importing of genetically modified corn for human consumption been authorized.
Drilling of crude oil and gas wells using fracking has been banned.
A campaign was launched to recover the country’s archaeological pieces and historical documents that were illegally removed from the country and remained abroad. In total, we have recovered 14,047 archaeological, historical, ethnographic, and documentary items. I would like to thank my wife Beatriz Gutiérrez for helping us and also for participating in a group of writers and cultural promoters who implemented, nationwide, the National Reading Strategy and the refurbishing of historical archives, including the modernization of the National Archives.
We are proud to have found and transferred to Mexico, after 129 years, the remains of the revolutionary Catarino Erasmo Garza Rodríguez from Bocas del Toro, Panama to his native Matamoros, where we will deliver these remains and erect a monument, a sculpture. We also fulfilled the wish of General Felipe Ángeles that his wife, Clara Krause, be buried next to him.
Likewise, the remains of General José María Dionisio Melo y Ortiz, Colombia’s only indigenous president, who fought during the Reform Movement here in Mexico alongside General Ángel Albino Corzo and under the orders of President Benito Juárez, are being sought in La Trinitaria, Chiapas. For his efforts, Melo y Ortiz was assassinated in 1860 by a gang of conservatives operating in Mexico. He had been a secretary to Simón Bolívar.
We have not failed to commemorate a single important historical date, especially those linked to our Independence, the Reform movement, and the 1910 Revolution. The first year we dedicated the commemoration to Emiliano Zapata; in 2020 to Leona Vicario; in 2021 to the country’s Independence; in 2022 in honor of Ricardo Flores Magón; in 2023 to Francisco Villa, and this year to Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
In the next few days we are going to inaugurate the Museum of Muralism in the beautiful building of the Ministry of Public Education.
The renovation of the house where President Benito Juárez García lived in Veracruz and the cultural center where the historic Reform Laws were issued in 1860 have been completed.
In the old SCOP Center, affected by the 2017 earthquake, the murals by artists José Chávez Morado, Juan O’Gorman, Francisco Zúñiga, Guillermo Monroy, José Gordillo, José Best Berganzo, Arturo Estrada Hernández, Luis García Robledo, and Rosendo Soto, as well as the sculpture “Cuauhtémoc” by Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt, were carefully dismantled, and the project to once again exhibit them in a park that will be created on that same site, here in Mexico City, is about to begin.
Forty-four protected natural areas were declared, covering 3.1 million hectares, and it has been our government that has implemented the most resolutions of this kind in history. The second was the General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río administration, from 1934 to 1940, which has much more merit, given that it already had the perspective of protecting nature and the environment.
In 2023, the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve decree was modified, increasing its area to 728,908 hectares, making it the second most important rainforest reserve after the Amazon.
Conahcyt’s budget was increased. The number of postgraduate and research scholarships increased from 113,366 in 2018 to 139,084 to date. Conahcyt, together with a private company in the country, developed Patria, the Mexican vaccine against COVID. Conahcyt has carried out very important research, such as the studies that enabled us to have special ventilators to care for COVID-19 patients. In addition, it has developed research to develop biological herbicides that can be an option or alternative to glyphosate.
It is also very important to note here that lithium has been nationalized and technology is being developed to exploit it and use it in the manufacture of electromechanical equipment and energy storage and backup systems. All of this within the framework of what is known as the Sonora Plan.
To guarantee the right to information and to uphold freedom of expression and the right to reply, a press conference was established, the “mañanera”, a circular and open dialogue that we hold from Monday to Friday, usually from 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning. So far we have held 1,418 such press conferences.
Every weekend we have been supervising work projects and gathering information on the feelings of the population in communities, villages, and municipalities around the country. We have visited some states more than 50 times.
According to the INEGI, social trust in government increased by 132 percent between 2017 and 2023; and according to the OECD, in terms of social trust, we rank third among all countries that make up that organization for economic development.
We always maintained communication with the people, we never separated ourselves from the people. At the National Palace alone, the Citizen Attention Office received 536,297 people; many received a favorable response and all, at least, were listened to and treated with respect.
We are fulfilling the commitment we made to the families of the miners from Pasta de Conchos, Coahuila. Ramps and shafts of considerable depth have been built and we have already managed to reach the galleries where the bodies of the miners are believed to be located. We have even found and identified one of them and the search continues. Likewise, in the El Pinabete Mine we have recovered six bodies of the ten deceased miners and the search continues.
This government has been characterized by guaranteeing equality in every sense. In June 2023 the cabinet was comprised of ten women and ten men.
Public media coverage has been expanded. Currently, channels 22, 11, 14, and 21 maintain an audience of almost 7.43 million viewers daily.
The secular state has been asserted. We are respectful of all religions and non-believers. It is a source of pride to be able to report that we have strengthened moral, cultural, and spiritual values. We have undertaken an open campaign against classism, racism, and discrimination.
We have exalted the cultural greatness of Mexico. We will continue to defend family integration in all its forms, the family in its traditional and modern conception because it is an institution that unites us, is a symbol of fraternity, produces happiness, and protects us mutually. Let’s not forget that thanks to this, as I have already said, we have been able to stop the temptation of drug use that finds fertile ground when there is a lack of love and a feeling of frustration and abandonment among young people.
In this administration we have laid the foundations for the transformation that the country needed. It has become clear, among other things, that there is an urgent need to separate economic power from political power and for the government to represent everyone, rich and poor, country people and city people, believers and non-believers. We need, and we must not forget this, we need to continue with this policy of achieving an authentic democracy, not a simulation, not an oligarchy with a façade of democracy, true democracy, the power of the people.
We want kratos with demos. Democracy, we have said it several times, is made up of two parts: demos is people, kratos is power, democracy is the power of the people, what the oligarchs want is kratos without demos, they want power without the people. To hell with that!
We have upheld and proven the principle that, for the good of all, the poor come first.
Thirty million households out of the 35 million that exist in our country receive the benefits of at least one well-being program or a small portion of the public budget, and the rest, those who do not receive direct support, ultimately also benefit because the country experiences economic growth with increased consumption capacity and jobs, better salaries, and this reaches the middle classes and all the way up the social pyramid. Here I would like to repeat the Veracruz chocojarocha peasant farmer phrase that “when the corn grows well, there is enough even for the birds.”
It has been demonstrated that it is possible to govern for the benefit of all Mexicans without accepting recipes, models, or agendas imposed by international financial organizations or by hegemonic powers of any political or ideological persuasion.
Throughout the current presidential administration, although we were attacked and slandered by our adversaries to a degree that has rarely been seen in our history, we have never, ever persecuted, censored, or repressed anyone. It is a source of pride to have been able to demonstrate that transformation can be achieved with the support of the people, even if one is opposed by oligarchic powers and the media or manipulation that in other times imposed ways of thinking and acting in benefit of their interests.
As you know, I am about to finish my term in office and I want to confess, here, in the main square, in the main public square of Mexico, in this Zócalo where we have so often gathered during our fight for justice and democracy: I am going to retire with a clear and very content conscience.
First of all, nothing makes me happier than having achieved, with the support of many of you, of millions of Mexicans, a reduction in poverty and inequality in the country. I am also leaving with peace of mind because the person to whom I will hand the presidential sash by mandate of the people is an exceptional woman: experienced, honest and, above all, with good feelings and a good heart. In line with the founding principles of our transformation movement and as an authentic defender of equality, freedom, justice, democracy, and sovereignty we have Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
Furthermore, I retire with the pride and honor of having served a good, hard-working, intelligent, fraternal people, heir to the great virtues and values of the ancient Mexicans, heir to the dignity and patriotism of our selfless heroes and heroines, both known and anonymous heroes and heroines.
Much has been done by everyone and from below. There is no doubt that we advanced in the revolution of consciences and the foundations were laid to consolidate the new policy called Mexican Humanism, which in essence is to recognize and care for those at the bottom, who remained forgotten and humiliated. We made it clear that power only has meaning and becomes a virtue when it is placed at the service of others.
But even with all that has been achieved, we are still clearly experiencing the effects of backwardness due to the long and stormy period in which the government was in the hands of insensitive oligarchs who never cared about the well-being of the people and only dedicated themselves to plundering and preventing progress with justice for those of us who were born and live in this paradise called Mexico. For this reason, it is essential to continue fighting to strengthen what has been achieved and to continue building a new, generous, and eternal homeland.
Let’s remember that life is too short to waste it on things that are not worth it, and let us never, ever forget that happiness does not reside in money, in material possessions, in titles or fame, or in the quest for power for power’s sake. Happiness is being at peace with oneself, with one’s conscience, and with one’s fellow men and women.
And finally, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Long live the people!
Long live Mexico!
Long live Mexico!
Long live Mexico!
Translated by Pedro Gellert