Summary – Morning Presidential Press Conference – Friday, September 8, 2023

The latest Morning Consult opinion poll places President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in second place in the list of the world’s best evaluated presidents, with a 68% approval rating.

After handing over the “Ceremonial Baton of Command” to Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the president reiterated that it is now up to her to lead and provide continuity to the transformation movement. In relation to the political stance of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard, who wanted to be Morena’s presidential candidate, The President insisted that he is free to make his decisions, but that the party’s doors are open to him. “Democracy is plurality and the right to dissent must always be guaranteed,” he said.

The head of the Executive Branch explained that, from his position in the federal government, he will always defend the transformation movement, because this means defending the majority of the Mexican people. “I cannot conceive that the government would be at the service of a greedy minority,” he said.

President López Obrador announced that next week Mexico will recover category 1 status in the international aviation safety assessment granted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. “This is good news; we thank the Secretary of Transportation and President Biden. All the requirements were met and it is also a sign of a very good relationship,” the President said.

As of today, President López Obrador begins his first working tour of Colombia and Chile. In Colombia, he will participate in the Latin American and Caribbean Conference on Drugs and, in Chile, he will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état and the death of former President Salvador Allende.

In relation to the working meeting he will have with U.S. President of the United States, Joe Biden, in San Francisco, California, in November, the President said that the main objectives will be actions to strengthen the economic integration of North America and attention to migration, based on investment in the programs to aid the peoples of Central America.