As most of you know, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, won a landslide victory on July 1st with over 53 percent of the vote. Now that the people of Mexico have spoken, is Mexico headed in the right direction?
Our culture bloggers Maria and Fernando Garibay did a great job of recapping the recent election in their blog, “Mexico Is Looking to the Future After the Election,” in case you missed it.
But what plans does AMLO have for moving Mexico to the right track for future growth and prosperity? In a speech he gave yesterday in Mexico City to a summit of engineers, as reported by El Economista, he outlined new initiatives to develop Mexico both socially and economically. Here is a list of his top 25 priorities:
1. Mexico City International Airport
2. Development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region
3. Construction of the Cancún to Palenque train
4. Pavement of rural roads
5. Connecting all of the country to the Internet
6. Earthquake reconstruction
7. Urban development for marginalized neighborhoods
8. Increasing pensions for the elderly
9. Offering pensions to disabled persons living in conditions of poverty
10. Planting 1 million hectares with timber-yielding and fruit trees
11. An apprenticeship scheme for young people
12. Scholarships for all high school students
13. Construction of 100 public universities
14. Support for the cultivation of crops such as corn, rice and beans to avoid the need to purchase from abroad.
15. Revitalization of fertilizer companies
16. Provision of a basic selection of food to those living in poverty
17. Credits for ranchers
18. Establishment of a duty-free zone in the northern border region
19. Development of the mining sector
20. Support for small and medium-sized businesses
21. Increasing production of petroleum and gas
22. Upgrading existing oil refineries
23. Construction of a new refinery at Dos Bocas in Tabasco
24. Development of alternative energy sources
25. Improving medical services and access to free medication
It’s an ambitious start to a new presidency, so it remains to be seen if AMLO can accomplish all of these tasks when he officially assumes his responsibilities on December 1st.
Our EIM readers seem to believe he is the right person for the job. In our Expat Monthly Poll in July, we asked our readers: Are you pleased with the result of Mexico’s presidential election? Of the 112 who responded, 79 percent answered yes and 21 percent said no, which is an optimistic endorsement of future positive changes for Mexico.
