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AMLO sends a message for his second year in office amid the pandemic

2020-12-02T14:29:58.803Z


Despite the unstoppable increase in homicides and other factors that generate multiple criticisms, the Mexican president retains the approval of the majority, something that he highlighted in his second presidential report on Tuesday.


Andrés Manuel López Obrador served two years as president of Mexico on Tuesday, with the approval of his work by more than 60% of the population, despite the fact that he has not managed to stop the crisis of violence, that his response to the pandemic of coronavirus has left tens of thousands of deaths and the economy has collapsed.

The second AMLO government report, as the Mexican president is known, began with a minute of silence for the victims of COVID-19:

more than 100,000 men, women and children who have died

.

The Mexican president assured the 80 people who attended that the government's strategies to deal with the pandemic have been effective.

However, Mexico is the fourth country with the most deaths from the coronavirus and new cases are in full rebound.

AMLO: A pandemic, crisis, controversies and tragedies have marked his first two years of government

Dec. 1, 202002: 04

Faced with violence, more military

Upon coming to power in December 2018, López Obrador promised to combat the national rise in homicides by providing more opportunities for young people.

However, the killings have not stopped and this year there are expected to be more than 40,000, a black historical mark.

Although López Obrador criticized in the campaign the use of the Army by the two presidents who preceded him, Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), the main response of his Government to the crisis of violence has been the militarization of Public Security.

[The worst cases of police brutality in Mexico show that abuses are daily]

Upon his coming to power, AMLO created the National Guard, a body made up eminently of the military that formalizes the presence of soldiers in the streets of the country, something criticized by human rights organizations.

AMLO recognized in his speech the new preponderant role of the armed forces in Mexico

"They drain rivers, clean beaches, build canals, airports, branches of the welfare bank, administer customs, cultivate fields ... The armed forces are inaugurating a new stage in their service to Mexico," said López Obrador.

The Secretary of the Navy Rafael Ojeda;

Beatriz Gutiérrez Muller, wife of the president;

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and the Secretary of Defense Luis Crescencio Sandoval, during the military parade of Independence, on September 16, 2020.AP /

Many analysts have expressed concern about the multiplication of the tasks of the Mexican military in areas in which civilians have traditionally served.

These experts point out that the recent accusations in the United States for drug trafficking against retired General Salvador Cienfuegos, former Secretary of National Defense, are an example that the armed forces are not exempt from corruption.

The US later dropped the charges against Cienfuegos so that it could be investigated by Mexican authorities.

["It's an unprecedented event": what awaits General Cienfuegos in Mexico after avoiding drug trafficking charges in the US]

"The role of the Army is much more relevant now. New areas of life have been militarized," such as public security, customs or the construction of the new capital airport, said Gustavo López, professor of Political Science at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

The Mexican government has managed to reduce almost all crimes, something AMLO highlighted in his speech on Tuesday night.

But homicides continue to grow, in

a country where ten women are killed every day and which tops the world's list of murdered journalists.

[Violence in Mexico leaves thousands of unidentified bodies in morgues]

In his press conference, López Obrador affirmed something that is not true: "According to INEGI data, there were fewer homicides last year than in 2018."

In 2019 Mexico suffered a record year with 34,608 intentional homicides and 1,012 femicides

.

And despite this year's lockdown, 2020 is on track to set another record.

A historic downturn in the economy

If in 2019 the Mexican Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 0.3%, the coronavirus ended up pushing it in the second quarter of this year to a historical collapse of 18.7%.



"The balance is not positive given that there was already a decline in the economy and a decline in public and private investment before the pandemic," Rodolfo de la Torre, an economist at the Espinosa Yglesias Studies Center (CEEY), told EFE.

The WHO urges Mexico to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously in the face of the increase in deaths and infections

Dec. 1, 202001: 49


The reopening that began in June allowed a recovery of 12.1% in the third quarter, but

by the end of the year an average fall of 9% and 12 million new poor are expected

, according to analysts.



The businessmen have asked for more investment from the State to boost the economy, but López Obrador does not want to borrow the country or spend much more than with his star works: an airport, a refinery and the Mayan Train.



Its strategy is to keep intact the economic plan prior to the pandemic, based on the successful increase in the minimum wage and the delivery of scholarships and pensions.



Social programs, however, are supported by a severe government austerity plan, which included the controversial suppression of funds for science, disasters and human rights.

Closeness to Trump

AMLO praised the international relations of his government during his second presidential report.

[Mexico seeks the extradition from the United States of Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security]

Presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Donald Trump after their meeting at the White House.

He assured that Mexico "does not have problems with any government," but did not speak of his questioned relationship with the outgoing president of the United States, Donald Trump.

This Tuesday, the daughter of the president of the United States, Ivanka Trump, tweeted photos of the inauguration of López Obrador two years ago and celebrated the renegotiation of the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Mexico is one of the few countries that has not officially recognized the triumph of Democrat Joe Biden, something that could affect Mexico's position with its main trading partner when the new Administration assumes power in January 2021.

The repatriation of General Cienfuegos is considered the greatest diplomatic victory of the AMLO government.

Something that has also caused much controversy in Mexico and the United States due to concerns that the Mexican authorities are seeking to protect a high-ranking former member of the armed forces accused of drug trafficking.

[Why does it matter that Salvador Cienfuegos, the alleged "godfather" of Mexican drug traffickers, had not been investigated except by the United States]

The challenge of impunity



Although it is being investigated in Mexico, there is still no arrest warrant against Cienfuegos, who was released when he set foot on Mexican territory.



But the Government maintains that there will be no impunity in this case or in many others that have occurred in Mexico.



The investigation into the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa students six years ago, for example, advanced this year with the historic discovery of the remains of one of the young men far from the place where the Peña Nieto government said they had been murdered.



In the field of corruption, however, "there has not been a clear strategy," said Gustavo López.



The president assumed power by lashing out at the corruption of previous governments, but at the same time he

wants to submit to a popular consultation whether his predecessors should be investigated

.



Without waiting for the referendum, the Prosecutor's Office continued its course and closed an agreement with the former director of Pemex Emilio Lozoya to expose Peña Nieto and a dozen politicians in the Odebrecht plot.

At the conclusion of his government report, López Obrador highlighted the popularity that he still enjoys according to polls, despite the fact that the majority believe that he has not solved the problem of insecurity.

"Not everything is perfect, but 71% of the population supports us," he said.

With information from Efe.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2020-12-02

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