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True to tradition since the beginning of his administration, the AMLO administration held its daily conference in which officials explained progress on various projects and received questions from the press.
Here is the full transcript of the conference that was broadcast live this day and published on the website of the Government of Mexico.
2022: Year of Ricardo Flores Magón, precursor of the Mexican Revolution
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Good morning.
Well, we're going to start this conference today, Wednesday. As we do every week, today we are going to listen to Ana Elizabeth García Vilchis, who is going to tell us about the lies, some lies because, otherwise, we would spend the whole day here. Who is who in the lies in the media and subsequently opened for questions and answers. There are three companions who were left pending, so there will be an opportunity to open up more. Since they are all men, it's Raúl, Carlos, Rodolfo, three women later.
ANA ELIZABETH GARCÍA VILCHIS: Mr. President, good morning; good morning, compañeras, comrades.
This is the Who's Who in the Lies of the Week of March 16. Today we bring four notes.
The first, El Universal, is missing the truth by spreading that the new airport came out more expensive than budgeted. According to the newspaper El Universal, President López Obrador announced that 75 billion pesos would be spent on the construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, but the newspaper does its accounts and adds up to 115 billion pesos the cost of AIFA, that is, 54 percent more than budgeted, which is not true.
In accordance with the budget exercised and yet to be exercised, the Ministry of National Defense reported that the total cost of the airport will reach 74,535 million pesos, below schedule. Sedenda reports that as of March 15, it has exercised 61,739 million pesos and has 9,773 million pesos in banks, 162,000 jobs were generated during the 880 days of construction.
This great work did not have any cost overruns or expenses; on the contrary, it is a modern airport built by military engineers in record time, at a low cost and with the most advanced technology and quality materials, which is great news. However, there are many who seek to tarnish the beginning of AIFA operations, they do not mind distorting reality or lying. Here on the screen we see how the money has been spent to build the 'Felipe Angeles' International Airport so that there is no doubt about it.
So far this fake news, let's go with the next one.
Once again the newspaper Reforma launches itself against the Mayan Train with misinformation. On March 10 and 11, the newspaper Reforma published misleading notes about the Maya Train project, with eight columns Reforma published 'Triple Land for the Train' and claims that Fonatur bought three 108-hectare plots of land in Quintana Roo from Banco Azteca for 1,500 million pesos, which were valued at 407 million pesos. This information is false.
The official institution in charge of making the appraisals is the Institute of Administration and Appraisal of National Assets, which on June 8, 2021 issued the following result that we see on screen, that the three plots cost 1,500 million pesos, here we see it clearly.
The purchase and sale operation carried out by Fonatur, Tren Maya, was carried out on the basis of the appraisals of the institution, of Indaabin and there is no particular appraisal in the deed as indicated in the note. The price set by the responsible authority is the same as Fonatur paid.
Next note, please. In order to criticize, he invents criminal complaints or that wasted money on face coverings, of how a columnist can become a source of disinformation. It is not new that columnists turn into facts what are transcended or outright inventions, it is part of the history of journalism, but it highlights a new phenomenon that is increasingly frequent: that media columnists become a source of disinformation by publishing rumors or political coups as if they were real information, deceiving the public.
This week we had two examples. The first, on March 13, Roberto Rock published in his El Universal column that, according to his sources, there are two investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office against the Secretary of the Interior, which is not true. According to the prosecution itself, there is no investigation folder against Adam Augusto López, but Rock gives it as fact and claims that Alejandro Gertz himself informed Palacio, but this information is false.
It began to spread through the networks; however, it is striking that one day later some such as Ricardo Raphael in his Millennium column gave the Rock version a good idea and, without verifying it, published that issue to give the idea of an alleged conflict within the government, something that certainly does not exist, but hey, that is how gossip is done.
The other example was found on March 15 in Salvador García Soto's column in El Universal entitled 'The SEP bought masks of 90 pesos each' and added an entry with jiribilla: 'There was money for expensive face coverings, but not for full-time schools'.
The man uses as a source a false invoice, with apocryphal signatures, with which an attempt was made to extort money from the SEP last year. The contract referred to by the journalist does not exist in the General Coordination of Aprende Mx, of the SEP and there was no assigned item.
At the SEP they could have clarified all this to columnist García Soto if, in view of journalistic rigor, he had sought out the aforementioned party to inform himself; but it is a matter of hitting, not reporting.
To confirm this, let's see El Universal's tweet to spread the column, a jewel: 'How is it then that in the SEP there was money to buy masks of the most expensive for 90 million pesos and there was no money to continue feeding and educating the poorest children in the country at extended hours? ' Let him not say that there is no freedom of speech in this country.
And by the way, the benefits of the Full-Time Schools program are not finished, only how to deliver the resources, will now be done without intermediaries.
The next one, please. Latinus pays to spread information against President López Obrador's government. A frequent way to spread fake news, disinformation or negative notes is by paying guidelines on social networks to have a greater reach, so do Latinus and its star Carlos Loret de Mola.
The information portal Los Reporteros mx published an investigation in which Latinus reveals that Latinus pays the social network Facebook to disseminate Loret's information. The investigation shows that Latinus has paid two million 757 thousand 91 pesos to publish content against President López Obrador. This is how they spend the money given to them by nine companies linked to the pharmaceutical sector and to families of politicians.
But here are some examples of scheduled notes: 'The tragedy of Line 12 knocks out the dolphins of AMLO'. For this note they paid about 125 thousand pesos to circulate it.
Another note says: 'López Obrador wants to be re-elected without any doubt, Vargas Llosa said in an interview with Loret de Mola'. To spread Vargas Llosa's interview on social networks, specifically on Facebook, they put in almost 45,000 pesos; or we can see these guidelines with electoral biases published last May.
Well, this is how Latinus and Loret are spent on them, but it would be better if Carlos Loret informed the public opinion how much he earns and who pays him and if he really has an income of three million pesos a month, or at least to tell us how he did to buy 13 apartments with his wife and sister-in-law worth 100 million pesos alone in the Mexico City, according to research published by the journal Contralínea. We also want to clarify that this 100 million pesos in 13 departments is the price of writing, so do your accounts.
Well, so far today's section.
That's how much, Mr. President. Thank you.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, it's 13 apartments, it's like real estate, right?
Well, let's go now. Raul Hernandez.
QUESTION: Lord, good morning.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Oh, wait for me, Raúl. Mexicans who were brought from Ukraine arrive, they arrived today. Many thanks to the Mexican air forces for their work, for their support and to all those who participated in these trips to bring Mexicans who were in Ukraine.
All right, now, let's go, Raul.
QUESTIONER: Yes, Mr. President, thank you.
Raúl Hernández, from El Barlovento, the integral concept of foreign trade.
First of all, the engineer Montes Velador, the sower of 45,000 timber trees on 41 hectares there in Tomatlán, Jalisco, sends him a thank you because thanks to the good offices of Leticia Ramírez and her team is already in talks with the financial company, they have already talked to the legal officer.
Barlovento also has an interview with them today, because I have doubts about the procedure for the producer and especially because I am insisting on an interview with director Valdemar Hernández Márquez, from the financial company, because I want to see what the procedure was like. Really, there was a disappointment. It is a very nice project that this gentleman has, very nice, very interesting.
And also know that the financial company has 21 thousand producers with a debt of 29 billion pesos. I'm interested in that, let's see what the director can tell me.
On the other hand, Mr. President, a conflict of interest in the Trust on Information and Training for Merchant Marine Personnel, Fidena, because the director of that organization, the high-altitude captain Miguel Ángel Osuna Rodríguez, owns an Institute of Nautical and Port Education, Ienpac, with seven schools in Ciudad del Carmen, in Paradise, Tabasco; in Tamaulipas, Tampico, Tamaulipas; Campeche, Veracruz, Playa del Carmen.
It is to declare that the training that people embark on is important because life goes for them. There are several institutions, not only those of Fidena, the nautical schools, the three, in Tampico, Mazatlán and Veracruz, and yet the management of that institute is rare. For starters, the head office of that institute is three blocks from Fidena's offices there on Calle de Cuernavaca 5, in the Condesa neighborhood.
And the provision of services is quite poor despite the fact that Captain Osuna himself has spread very interesting information from seminars, in short. The Ienpac website talks about photographs with pool installations and equipment very, very... too much because there is no such because that address Ienpac has already been on sale for a year, but it continues to give that information as a head office.
Besides, the activity of Captain Osuna also does not come in accordance with what the secretary, the admiral secretary, has promised regarding the improvement of the work of the three nautical schools, leaves much to be desired.
It is very difficult to understand this because the graduates of nautical schools have to take some subjects again and they are really unnecessary. There is a captain who refers to me: 'It is as if I were a doctor surgeon who does five or six daily operations with a scalpel and requires him at the age of four in order to revalidate his license to retake a course on that same subject. '
So, there is no congruence in that and there seems to be a conflict of interest. They don't answer the calls in the nautical schools that this man has and neither does he answer. I think it's a matter of interest.
The other point, sir, is pending at the Undersecretariat of Ports and Merchant Marine, as well as at the University of Merchant Marine and Ports, which the admiral secretary will announce to his brief in December 2020.
Admiral Ojeda said that the current general coordinator of Ports and Merchant Marina, the high-altitude captain Ana Laura López Bautista, would surely be in office. Some merchant seafarers consulted speak of the good handling of Captain López Bautista, since the lagging procedures of the merchant seamen are being dealt with more promptly, so that the seafarer can start the procedure even from the ship to reach the port master's office and complete the procedure and have the record.
We don't even talk about the university because I was mentioning Captain Osuna.
Something happens in the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine and we want to know if there is inclusive policy in the Semar, Mr President, and that is that the appointments of the 97 port captains in the country that is in charge of the Port and Maritime Affairs Unit, Unicap, Semar and so far there are irregularities, since according to article 129 of the Constitution, members of the Armed Forces cannot carry out work in the civilian area; however, there are nine port captaincies in charge of active Semar personnel and 34 graduated merchant seafarers are in charge of the captaincies and 12 of the Semar in retirement.
In the harbor captaincies there are 15 engineers, 13 graduates, 10 citizens and four headless captaincies. The captaincies with active staff of Semar are the port of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Lazaro Cardenas and Zirahuén, Michoacán, Guaymas and Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Dos Bocas, Tabasco, Altamira and Vicente Guerrero Dam, Tamaulipas and Yucalpetén, in Yucatan.
And to top it off, Mr. President, they have just suspended the port captain, tall captain Gabriel Carreón Pérez, in Veracruz, a merchant seaman who graduated from the Veracruz Nautical School precisely and it is said that a vice admiral will enter, it is not known if he is active or in retirement.
There are calls from Semar through the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine to occupy various positions, but several applicants complain that they are low-paid positions with low development possibilities, very different from the case that with the Semar staff, Semar staff do not lose their income, moreover they pay the activity as a harbor master.
Finally, Mr. President, the issue of Oceanography. On March 9, El Barlovento published the accusation made by former Oceanography workers against Captain Ildefonso Carrillo Mora, current general director of the Merchant Marine of the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine of Semar, as responsible for violating the bankruptcy law by allowing the dismantling of the Caballo Azteca ship to the detriment of former employees of Amado Yáñez's company when he was port captain in Isla del Carmen.
The affected former workers are asking that the ships, still abandoned on Isla del Carmen — there are like 26, sir, that are rotting, that are damaging the ecosystem — abandoned in Isla del Carmen, Campeche, not be dismantled and handed over to them as compensation. This has been requested through lawsuits in the context of bankruptcy.
To do this, they ask you the opportunity to interview in order to be able to explain in detail the payment to the resolution of this conflict. They have all the documents whose copies the Barlovento has already given to Don Jesús Ramírez, they are several documents that make it up, but you would have to have someone who could explain it.
Mr. President, that's all.
Well, I have one last question. In January 2020, you were asked to have access to the file of high altitude captain José Francisco Mendoza Sauceda, a very peculiar character, with many accusations in Puerto de Altata, of fishermen, more than 16,000 fishermen cheated by this man. Among other things, he sold them insurance, which he had a card printed, signed it and charged them five thousand pesos each and they had not realized until a fisherman had a problem, an accident and went to collect the insurance and then which one.
He is a person who has cheated, even signed up for Morena before you to compete, to fight the presidential candidacy and was present at many activities of you.
He says that he is protected from you and that he is reinforced and supported, even by a deputy from the PT, but, for example, in Altata, all the people there who are cheated want to put him in jail. They are asking for the opportunity to have access to that file that the Secretary of the Navy had promised since then and we haven't had the opportunity.
That's all, how much, Mr. President. I thank you very much.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Very well, Raúl. We're going to ask Admiral Ojeda to answer what you're proposing. He is an honest, honest people, the Admiral Secretary of the Navy, I have every confidence in him.
And the Secretariat of the Navy is being cleaned, as is the entire government being cleaned of corruption, because there were many acts of corruption in the Navy. Suffice it to remember about the girl Frida Sofía. Why am I going to get into Honduras talking about marinas? That is enough, how senior Marina officials of the last six years, precisely with Televisa and Loret de Mola, when the tremor, invented all this about the girl Frida Sofía.
That is no longer the case in the Secretariat of the Navy because the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Ojeda, is a righteous, honest man and that gives me great peace of mind.
About Oceanography, it is another story that I wish and was known to all Mexicans. It was a company that provided services or sold services to Pemex, but with great influence it obtained contracts. Since for a long time Ciudad del Carmen was a city with a great oil boom, when Cantarell, one of the largest oil fields in the world that ended it during the neoliberal period, was still at its peak, it is another story that should also be told; at that time there is the so-called change in the year 2000, when they deceived that things were going to change, the flag of change.
So, what happened in Ciudad del Carmen, in Campeche, in Pemex?
The contractors were no longer related to the party they were in, but were already protected from the new party, and this is how this company Oceanography gains strength, with ties even to the Treasury Secretary, Gil Díaz, and they begin to receive contracts, billions of dollars in contracts, both in Fox's six-year term and in Calderón's six-year term.
One fact, Mr. Yáñez gave away million-dollar watches, special series. As was the bicentennial thing, he had a special series made to hand over to politicians, officials and their friends. That's how it was before.
So, what you're mentioning, Raul, we're going to go over it. And I have a lot of confidence in him, I repeat.
QUESTIONER: Is it possible, then, that people, Oceanography workers, with documents could be advising, helping...?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, see what this is about, because always in these lawsuits... Oh, because then Oceanography people apply for credit with Banamex and that's when the problem began, because it is difficult for the ones from above to be robbed, always the top one steals from the bottom, but among those at the top it is difficult for them to be left.
So, they handed over false bills to get a credit or something like that, they give him the credit and they don't pay and then there is a complaint from Banamex, which has the same handles as Oceanography and he proved to have more because this man went to jail.
So, that's how it is, of those unfortunate stories of the neoliberal period.
QUESTIONER: Yes, the ship Caballo Azteca costs something like 60 million dollars, but after the dismantling and how they burned it and everything, there was not even 10, 12 million pesos left to the workers and it is based on the commercial tender, sir, the workers come first and none have had...
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, but everything was colluded, that is, it was a mafia, they dominated everything. That doesn't happen anymore, which is why, Raul, I tell you, the Secretary of the Navy, who is an honest man, is going to investigate.
By the way, when I had to decide who I was going to appoint as Secretary of the Navy, they didn't want him.
QUESTIONER: It will be for something.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: They relegated It was up to him, because of age and also because seniority had to be fulfilled, the civil career service that exists, promotions.
What happened in recent times?
A Secretary of the Navy appointed his private secretary as successor, breaking all the tradition of respect, seniority and promotion to the commanders and the one who was, with all due respect, wanted to put his senior officer. Then, the admirals who did not belong to these circles of power had no chance and that is why I chose Admiral Ojeda, because, among other things, I had written a book against corruption in the 1980s and since I did an analysis of all the admirals, one by one, I came to the conclusion that he should be the secretary and not I failed.
And the same with the Secretary of Defense. I remember that — and it is an anecdote — when we won, I was already president-elect, I had not appointed either the Secretary of the Navy or the Secretary of Defense, they were left pending, because the entire cabinet since the campaign had proposed the names, women and men who were going to accompany me and the Navy and Defense was pending.
So, they ask me what the procedure was going to be like and I talked about a short list to appoint the Secretary of Defense, although I remembered what Don Adolfo Ruiz Cortines said, that there were four lists. Then, when I met with the outgoing Secretary of Defense, General Cienfuegos, to tell him who he was going to be, he told me that: 'Oh, the short list of four'. No, General, I tell you, notice that there are lists of five and I have already proposed to General Sandoval.
So, it is very important who occupies the secretariats, because they have to be righteous, honest people, because it is pyramidal. If the president is corrupt, the secretaries are going to be corrupt, the undersecretaries are the directors; if the president is honest, the secretaries are honest, the undersecretaries are too. And we don't want thieves in government, we don't accept corruption.
Therefore, Raúl, with great certainty I tell you that the admiral will see the two issues you are dealing with, the possible conflict of interest you mentioned, whether there is a conflict of interest and the workers' issue.
QUESTIONER: What about the undersecretary of ports, sir?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Also, too. Marina is helping us a lot because they took over the ports, we have more control to prevent the entry of drugs, smuggling, order is being put in place. And now Marina is also in charge of customs. As the Ministry of Defense is in charge of 21 customs offices, all border customs offices and the results are already very good, since they have achieved savings or higher revenues of 50 billion pesos alone in the customs offices run by the Ministry of Defense. We will soon inform you of the changes that have been made regarding customs and ports.
QUESTIONER: Thank you very much, sir.
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Thank you Raul.
We go to Carlos Pozos.
QUESTION: President of Mexico, your server Carlos Pozos, reporter for Lord Molecula Oficial and columnist for the magazine Petróleo y Energía. Good morning to those who see us and those who listen to us.
Before starting with my two questions, I would like to provide a piece of information that you requested here in this circular communication exercise. You asked colleagues to find out if there were any reports made about Claudio X. González. Indeed, there is no report on Claudio X. González, I only managed to find, Mr. President, what was published on August 20, 2012, just eight years ago, about an anti-narcotics operation in Nicaragua. As still President Daniel Ortega, 18 Mexicans were arrested with $9.2 million and cocaine.
In the investigations and statements, a lady or Mrs. Raquel Alatorre Correa, leader of the group, came out and the one who was said to be an employee of Televisa, carried letters of accreditation supposedly signed by Amador Narcia, Vice President of Information at Televisa and today a columnist for El Universal.
During the investigations came out the name of the then corporate vice president — here is the surprise — of 'Mexicans for Corruption', Claudio X. González, who the person says is their boss, as well as the name Joaquín López-Dóriga Velandia. Strangely enough, President, the international scandal ceased to be news and died down.
This is the cover of Proceso and that's how it was published. And that's mainly for young people. If you want to look it up on social media, then you can find what happened there. That's the fact I found about Claudio X. González.
And now, my first question, President. After the catheterization you were subjected to, you told us that they have a political will. Many cataloged it as a smokescreen.
Today, five days after the inauguration of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, which is a historical event because not every day a country opens an airport, the question is: this airport is one of its four flagship infrastructure works of the six-year period and which is classified by its opponents as pharaonic works, the question is, President: Are the 'Felipe Angeles' International Airport, the Olmec refinery, the Mayan Train and the interoceanic corridor part of that political testament you spoke about? And what would be the legacy in the political will that you want to leave to Mexicans?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, the thing about the will, since I already had what I want written, it has nothing to do with material goods because I don't have material goods. I've said it on other occasions, I don't care about money, I have income for the basics and I'm happy. I have also clarified that not everyone you have is evil. They are conceptions that we have.
There are people who are even sickly craving money and there are those who don't care about money more than to cover their basic needs. I am one of them, I think that happiness, I have always said, does not necessarily have to do with money, with accumulating material goods, with titles, fame, but with being right with ourselves, with our conscience and with our neighbor.
And since I am a follower of Leo Tolstoy, I maintain that only by being good, only by being good can we be happy.
So money is often a perdition, so the will does not have that purpose, since what I had I gave to my children, the house of Palenque, the land; it belongs to the four children and I have no other property.
Now I'm going to scratch myself because, adversaries are not going to like it, but the book I wrote, that of Halfway, has sold a lot, it is the best-selling book on political-social issues in the country, more than 200,000 copies have been sold. Then, paying taxes, I'm going to get about three million pesos there, because they give me 12 percent of every book sold.
What they gave me in advance, I contributed, because they paid me the advance payment in kind and I delivered about 10 thousand books; but apart, sold, more than 200 thousand. So, let's see what we do with that money.
The other thing is political, explaining where I am inspired, you know, in Hidalgo, in Morelos, in Juárez, in Madero, in Villa, in Zapata, in General Lazaro Cárdenas and what I think of others and why we should fight in life. That's what it's about.
And when I was going to be operated on for catheterization, out of responsibility I did add a text, in case I died. In order to act responsibly and not lead to ungovernability in the country, I made a respectful recommendation, because the Constitution establishes a procedure for the substitute president; however, these are delicate moments and I wrote about how I saw the future, what public life could look like in the future.
QUESTIONER: Is it possible to know what the recommendation was?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, you cannot know that, that is what the notary has, you will ever know.
QUESTIONER: Well, president of all Mexicans, yesterday there were very good vaccination figures and because we are practically at the green light already in many of the states of the Mexican Republic. The governor of Nuevo León, Samuel García, has already installed the optional use of face coverings in open spaces, parks and squares. The head of government Claudia Sheinbaum, according to my sources, tells me that she will soon also announce that the mask must be forgotten for the time being.
I would like to ask you: what do you think of these decisions and what recommendation would you give to the country's governors?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, we have to see what the Secretary of Health, Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell, thinks. He is the one who has been attending to the whole problem of the pandemic. He's a specialist, an expert, he's got the experience. Let's wait for him to say.
However, there is also autonomy and state governments are the ones that can implement measures if they consider it to be in the public interest and, in this case, to the health of the people, to the health of the people. So, the governor of Nuevo León can make decisions and the head of government of Mexico City can do the same, even though it would be important to have the opinion of Hugo López-Gatell on this issue. In other countries they are suspending the use of masks for certain events, not everywhere, but it is a good topic that Hugo can give us his opinion on this matter.
QUESTIONER: Even right here, take off our face coverings so we can see our faces.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, let him also recommend it to us.
In my case, because I follow the indication given to me from the beginning, heal distance and take care of myself as far as it is possible to do it, humanly do it, because no way that if someone, even spontaneously and without bad faith, gives one's hand, even hugs one and no way to reject it, how.
I remember the novel of Revueltas, about how she goes with a doctor friend of his to a place, to a hospital for lepers, Mother Teresa also living with the sick. I mean, of course you have to protect yourself, but you don't have to give up human feelings.
So, let's ask Hugo.
And since you're talking about Nuevo León, I want to comment on the arrest of Jaime Rodriguez. It's a matter of the state of Nuevo León, the authorities of Nuevo León. I found out yesterday, when he had been arrested, because he is not linked to the federal government. Clear it up, right? , this.
The causes have to be well informed. What I always recommend is that the law should not be used for political revenge, crimes cannot be fabricated and at the same time there should be no impunity. So, we must inform what the reasons were, the causes, present the evidence, make everything transparent and, since they are important issues, all citizens must be well informed.
What I didn't like and I say that because I think it affects people's dignity, were the photos they took of him. Not that.
QUESTIONER: But they intend to. Precisely, by not blurring the governor's face, they can be used as an element to distort the case.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: It may be, but it is not a legal matter, it is a matter that has to do with honor and dignity and, as Don Quixote said, freedom and dignity can even be risked to life. What they did with the president of Honduras, that they put him in chains, those things should not be allowed.
So, I didn't like the photos and I hope that won't happen again.
INTERVENTION: Are you going to invite the governor here to report?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, because it is a matter of Nuevo León, it is the sovereignty of the state of Nuevo León, they are independent, they are autonomous and I respect their decisions.
QUESTIONER: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: I am also very sorry about yesterday's murder of the Zitácuaro journalist.
We are already conducting the investigation, they will be informed tomorrow, a full report on security in the country will be given and the journalists killed will be reported on a case-by-case basis. Two things ahead of you:
One, that they are not State crimes, we are never going to send anyone to be killed, it is no longer the time to 'kill them hot, 'first.
And, secondly, zero impunity and tomorrow we are going to go into depth on these issues.
When violence broke out, there was no system of protection for journalists with Calderón, so that the garments were not cut, there were no systems to protect journalists, they did not create it, nor was the murder of women during Calderón's time classified as femicide and impunity prevailed, there were no plans to search for the disappeared. Nothing like that. Nothing else to remember.
We are now applied to protecting citizens, protecting human rights defenders, protecting journalists. And I repeat, the State does not repress, nor does it kill nor is impunity allowed. So, tomorrow we will report and my embrace to the relatives, friends of this murdered journalist.
Rodolfo Montes.
QUESTION: Thank you, President. Good morning. Good morning, Mrs. Vilchis.
Armando Linares was called Michoacán's companion. And precisely the journalistic union in Michoacán asks all public servants to spare their condolences. There is indignation in the Michoacán guild, in the journalistic guild in Mexico, there is anger, there is impotence because of this wave of murders, not only in its six-year term, but from Calderón, Peña Nieto and to date.
On March 5, you knew since the beginning of the year, President, we met, there was a national meeting in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, about the assassination of Fredy López Arevalo on October 28. And since then to date, various statements began to spread, there were various statements that you had asked me, through Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, to organize this event to try to mitigate this situation, President. Was it so, President?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, and we never do, and we have nothing to hide. He who owes nothing, fears nothing.
QUESTIONER: The same thing about social networks also said that we were seditious, of coup-makers, of stateless persons and that we were approaching embassies of other nations in our country to fund this and that where did so much resource come from.
It was a self-managed event, there were 142 journalists at the Teatro 'Zebadúa'. In handwriting, a score of students of the degree in Journalism arrived and registered, and another master's degree were present there and we got a resolution.
And just before that, undersecretary Alejandro Encinas opened his offices to us, who, by the way, although he was not in person, followed this whole meeting from end to end. It lasted for several hours and he received us and we were very attentively on the 14th, on the 14th, the 14th, in his offices talking with him for two hours, to see how we could reverse this situation, this nightmare that the journalistic union is suffering from in our country.
And this leads us, President, to declare a kind of national emergency. We do not have to wait for the law of the mechanism to be amended by the end of the year. We no longer need a reactive mechanism, we need a very aggressive campaign of prevention.
And to tell all these public servants or those who have taken the lives of journalists that for us these people are the slop of this country, they are the scum of this country, president. And they are going to lack bullets because there are many of us, litters are coming, waves of new generations of journalists who are willing precisely to risk their own lives, as we are doing.
Many of us are already tired of this situation, we are exhausted from this violent scenario against us and precisely because we are fighting, as you fight corruption. That's why they killed Armando Linares, he aired it publicly and executed first one of his own and then he, president.
So, it is a national emergency that we would like you to share with us and that beyond these reports, as Undersecretary Alejandro Encinas considers it, a commission of journalists will follow up on this situation and see how we get out of this hurdle, President.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, we are seeing it, tomorrow we are going to report on this subject.
I insist, there are no elements in any of these murders to point out as responsible public officials, public servants, this is very important because, if not, those of the European Parliament, who defend the interests of corrupt companies, use these regrettable cases to beat our government, as journalists do mercenaries from Mexico and other parts of the world, this whole campaign that we are facing.
So, we do have to be very precise. If you know, if you have elements that there are public servants involved, action is taken immediately; but what we have for information is that they are crimes committed by criminal gangs, which, by the way, are gangs that emerged in the neoliberal period, when they decided to confront violence with violence and when corruption prevailed, which was silenced like mummies by journalists of the former regime, of the former regime.
So, okay with you. Alejandro Encinas will be there tomorrow, he is going to talk about what is being done and Ricardo Mejía will report on a case-by-case basis.
And also to tell them that, in this regrettable case of three journalists from that news portal, two had protection, because the deceased did not accept protection. Of course, that doesn't justify anything, but the whole truth has to be known.
And we have to be very punctual because there is a lot of buzzing that they are upset, but not because of this. I have already said it, that is, they use children with cancer to protect their interests and they are paid to continue robbing journalists for the purpose of attacking us. And Claudio X. González and all this mischief suddenly appear as champions of public education, also concerned about children, when the background is different.
What are they defending?
The fact that the high ones do not pay taxes, the big businessmen, that's what they advocate, that Kimberly Clark does not pay taxes, that does not pay Banamex tax.
I remember that, at a meeting in 2006, he stopped to ask me that, because at that time they had sold Banamex for 12 billion dollars and had not paid a penny in taxes and that is what they defend and then they cynically talk about fighting corruption.
Or this thing that Contralínea magazine got, that the one who accuses that my son rents a house in Houston has 12, 13 apartments, almost a real estate agency. Now who really pompom? Why don't you clarify?
How can they ask questions, can they defame and they will maintain privileges, can they not be questioned at all, do they have moral authority?
I saw a Twitter yesterday, the day before, by Claudio. Let's see if you get it. He is one of the richest in Mexico. His family, his dad, chairman of the Business Coordinating Council. Entrepreneurs always linked to the regime His father, advisor to Salinas de Gortari, applauder of all the privatization policy, of the whole policy of looting. And look what he says, that we shouldn't forget that my son lives in a house or lived in a house with a pool. Let's see, and where does he live? how much does he have? Let's see if they can find him.
I have a pool at home because I am going to bathe in the river, in the Nututún, that is the name of the Palenque river.
While they are looking for it, because it is interesting... That is, and it is a level of alienation that makes them hypocrites without them noticing it. How am I going to ask another person: Let's see, why do you have a house with a pool? If surely he must have a house with a pool or must have a residence, or his children have a lot of money and have always been linked to power, they have done juicy business under the protection of power, that is, what moral authority does he have?
But they don't realize that they lie and defame because they are so hypocritical, it's a way of thinking. Conservatism is synonymous with hypocrisy and corruption and unfortunately... Well, not unfortunately, because that is the human condition and there are no perfect societies, but there are many who think that way and even those who do not have the economic level of these fifis think the same because they are aspirationists, they despise humble people, they are racists, classists, discriminate.
Let's see if they get it. But, let's see, go ahead.
QUESTIONER: Yes, President. Just now you mentioned that justice in our country was used for political brawls and vengeance. Just when your six-year term began, you received a letter from a character that at the time caused a lot of media stir. He received, Succar Kuri, received a sentence of 13 years in prison, the first, he has been in prison for 19 years; later, he wins an amparo, gets 93 years in prison; he wins another amparo and now it is 112 years in prison for the crime of child pornography, which ultimately becomes statutory rape.
He has sent him his case, president, how justice is crooked precisely to keep him in prison. So, did you read that letter, President? Did you have it in your possession?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, I didn't read the letter and I didn't know that they sent me that letter, but I'm going to look for it, I'm going to see if it's in the office.
QUESTIONER: And another case, that of the technical secretary of the Senate, José Manuel del Río Virgen. Already a judge granted him an amparo, he should be free by now, but the authorities of Veracruz are still keeping him in prison. It is unreasonable, President, to be using justice precisely to act with intent, so that justice serves the highest bidder, president.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, it is a matter for the state and they will resolve and hopefully and it is in accordance with the law, that is what I can say.
As for Mr. Kuri, I don't have the information, but I'm going to look for it. And I don't wish anyone to be the victim of injustice.
Yesterday I was watching, too. I don't know why they stopped. Most of all, they suspended the office of the head of delegation, the mayor, Sandra Cuevas. Well, I heard it in a statement. Just to tell him that I have absolutely nothing to do with it and that, moreover, with all due respect, he is lying, because he says that I send journalists to disappear. Let's also see if you have it, because it happens.
Also the accusation against Chumel, because I don't have anything to do with it either. Well, let the authority investigate it and let them decide. We already know that Chumel can even be a good candidate for the conservative bloc, he is one of those that I need to put on the list, he is like the ideologue of the conservatives, because I don't think Krauze will help them much anymore or Aguilar Camín, but Chumel can, if he has a pull, he could be the candidate.
Do you have either?
JESÚS RAMÍREZ CUEVAS, GENERAL COORDINATOR OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION AND SPOKESPERSON FOR THE PRESIDENCY: Two o'clock.
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Let's see.
JESÚS RAMÍREZ CUEVAS: First the mayor.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Let's see, the mayor. Look at this.
(STARTS VIDEO)
SANDRA CUEVAS NIEVES, MAYOR OF CUAUHTÉMOC: Here are two ways that both the president of the Mexican Republic and Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo use; there are two ways to silence a person who is uncomfortable or uncomfortable:
One, disappearing them, taking their lives, as is the case with many journalists.
Or two, so...
(VIDEO ENDS)
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: How do you see
INTERVENTION: (INAUDIBLE)
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, but it won't prove anything.
But what I want to tell you is: you don't measure the lady. But it's not just her, that's why we can't keep quiet, because it's rot, conservatism.
And this other, look: 'First the poor or first the López Obrador. Don't let them distract us with lambregadas'. Because he didn't like that I gave an answer to the MEPs in Europe either, because they do — they call it a lobby, they dedicate time to political relations, also money.
Moreover, it is a league in the right-wing and ultra-right worlds, it is a world conservative bloc; so, they prepare these things. According to them, they are very strong blows, the statement of the MEPs which only shows is that they are very colonialistic, arrogant.
And the other thing is this matter of the rent of the house of José Ramón, of his wife. He was in first place in mentions in the world, trending topic is called and here nationally. Imagine how much money, because in France, in Saudi Arabia — because bots appear, as I saw an investigation — from all over the world condemning this, my son renting a house and, in addition, conflict of interest with an oil company that I don't know or have any idea.
Besides, it's common sense. If we give millionaire contracts to that company, is it so that they rent a house to my son? What, couldn't I tell him: no, give up the house? If we were corrupt. But not just the house, the whole subdivision in exchange for contracts. Or how did they do it, the ones who were there? Like this.
Then, he says: 'Let them not distract us with sheep, let them answer for this and so much more. '
No, but there's something...
JESÚS RAMÍREZ CUEVAS: It's about Loret's tweet. It's this one.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Oh, but yes, he does.
JESUS RAMIREZ CUEVAS: Yes, it's Loret.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: 'And to think that everything is because he still cannot justify that his son gives himself a millionaire life without working. '
No, but he's not talking about the pool house, well, the pool.
Where does Loret live? He doesn't live in a rented house, does he?
Where does Claudio and Claudio's father live and Claudio's whole family?
But it's a lot of hypocrisy and they think that with this media campaign against us they're going to overthrow us. They are wrong, because people are very aware in our country and are already fed up with this corrupt, manipulative leadership and of these media completely devoted to the mafias of economic and political power.
So, the topic is very good.
Same thing, why, if we're so bad, why don't you take the opportunity now on April 10? And I have to say this because the INE complicitly does not report, in violation of the Constitution, that on April 10, the people of Mexico, all Mexicans will be asked: Do you want the president to continue, or resign? And here, under word of honor, because of my convictions, my principles, my ideals, if people vote for me to resign, I leave, I don't wait, it doesn't make it not 40 percent of the register that participates.
So why don't they promote this better? It's legal, it's constitutional. Why the dirty war? Why the perverse attitude of not showing one's face and not — openly — facing the project we represent?
And I have to say it because we came here to assert democracy, facing fraud and electoral traps by authorities and vested interest groups and I have to say that not only must everyone participate, even those who vote against us, everyone, everyone, everyone, who freely, according to our conscience, with our judgment, let us decide peacefully, that we all participate on 10 April, all of us. And I do this because the INE are silent, in an attitude contrary to the Constitution and totally undemocratic.
And I also respectfully ask the members of the INE to meet and define where the boxes will be, because they are hiding them. Let it be known where the boxes are going to be and that there are enough ballots, nothing that the ballots have already been exhausted.
And that they are not going to brush me because of what I am saying, because I am obliged to do it, because I offered to comply with the Constitution and enforce it. So how can I be silent if I am seeing that they are acting against democracy.
So, they want a democracy in a way, that is democracy, when they can impose themselves to continue stealing, that is democracy. If they cannot be imposed and they cannot continue to steal there is no democracy, 'why do you participate, don't waste your time. '
QUESTIONER: Electoral racism in the INE.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Beware of raccoon.
QUESTIONER: Well, to finish, President, on Monday Román Meyer Falcón presented all the millionaire investment to create sports centers and massify physical exercise in our country. But what good is this, President, if the high-performance athletes who should have participated, for example, in Budapest, which is just around the corner, have already got off because Conade gave them no resources and those who managed to write themselves is because they got into debt got private resources?
And it is not personal against incumbent Ana Gabriela Guevara, but to date she has not yet pronounced why or under what arguments she continues to support Kiril Todorov as president of the Mexican Swimming Federation when he was already deposed by all international organizations, sports courts have said that there is no place for that leadership and Mexico runs the serious risk of being eliminated from many sports events nationwide.
Why has Ana Gabriela Guevara not yet spoken and has not made a valid argument in this regard, President?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: We are going to ask you to report, yes, we are going to ask you to report.
Now you reminded me of a friend's saying, 'it's not grid', he always said, but...
Well, Rodolfo.
Companion. There are three of you, you two.
QUESTION: Thank you, President. Good morning.
Nancy Rodríguez, Solid Gold and Migrant Drive.
President, a few days ago I presented you here the case of this real estate cartel in the State of Mexico. I told him that we had already entered into communication with the Government, since this cartel that dispossesses elderly people of their properties, led by the notary Raúl Name Neme, who colluded with judges and lawyers commit these crimes.
President, this was the case of Don Arturo Ochoa, who was evicted and beaten, along with his son Arturo Ochoa Escartín. Unfortunately, President, Mr. Arturo died, he died unfortunately from the beatings, an air pocket was made in his lungs. So, this case was very sensitive, President, because there was even a hashtag on Twitter called #'AllWeAreDonarturo.
And I wanted to ask you, President: what can be done in these cases?
First of all, he would beg a message to his son, who was also beaten, to his family and above all to follow up on this, because this real estate cartel against Mexicans there in the State of Mexico cannot go unpunished and especially the review of the actions of notaries, judges and lawyers, president.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, a hug to all the relatives of Don Arturo, to his son and offer them that we are going to report on this case.
QUESTIONER: His wife and son remain the beneficiary, but they are, now, with everything against it.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, but we are going to attend to it, the case, let's see it, I'm going to ask Leti here to help us see how we support.
QUESTIONER: Thank you, President.
Note that in Oaxaca, president, it is a state where there is the greatest number of customs and customs, communities of customs and customs. From Salinas, California, from the United States, we were contacted by an association headed by Mr. José Gonzales, he is from San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, where he denounces millionaire deviations, president, of 20 million pesos by corrupt authorities in those municipalities.
I wanted to ask you, President, if there would be the possibility that, in addition to addressing this specific issue in this municipality of San Martín Peras, in Oaxaca, what possibilities would there be for you to provide us with information about these autonomous municipalities, because yes, the truth is that they apparently receive federal, state and nothing has ever been known about these operations.
And above all, President, that if there is this denunciation there must surely be many more. Let's see if there's any chance of this.
Also, President, last weekend I was in Plant City, there in Orlando, Florida, we were in the pinch of the strawberry with migrant brothers, we did a transmission of approximately five hours from Rayando el Sol and follow the complaints about discrimination, President, but now in this case I bring them to you because part of the Americans.
Notice that they end their days, they go to Walmart to buy, as the construction workers do here, to buy their tortillas, their food and hide their food, the products to leave Walmart. I know this is very delicate, but it is a reality, to the extent that employers themselves have had to organize their own shops.
And also in the banks, President, unfortunately of the millions of Mexicans who work there in the United States, they are still paid by check and they have to go to the banks to stand in line and they take them out of the banks in the United States, President, I didn't know that, even if there is rain, snow, they wait outside because the banks say that intimidate their customers.
So, President, this would also be coupled with the so-called immigration reform and that the safeguarding of these rights of Mexican workers there should also be reviewed and promoted. There's a lot, a lot of topic.
President, you too, a few weeks ago, well, months ago, you told us that the Treasury Secretary was coming to inform us about the Welfare Bank, the expansion plan back in the United States. This draws a lot of attention to our migrant brothers because they know that they will have fewer commissions.
What could we... about it, President?
And, if I may, a few weeks ago, several demonstrators from Fovissste, beneficiaries of Fovissste, were here also a few weeks ago. Unfortunately they fall asleep with a debt and wake up with more debt, President. It was also left to review.
And finally, if you will allow me, there were also some Insabi workers who were dismissed, including stretcher bearers, cleaners, who were hired during the pandemic. And as you said that doctors and nurses were going to be given the place, because they have that doubt. I wanted to see if you can clarify this for us.
And, for now, that, President.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, basically in the last thing you propose, that you say that workers are not going to be fired and those who are no longer being hired are going to be rehired because we are strengthening the entire public health system.
INTERVENTION: Stretcher bearers.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, because it doesn't just require doctors and nurses and specialists, but also stretcher bearers and other workers in a hospital, that is, you need drivers for ambulances, you need maintenance managers for laundries, you need a lot of administrative staff, in short, to hospitals work well.
We are just working on that, it is a process, we are moving forward, yesterday it was explained how we are working in 13 states, the Federal District is already included and we are going to have as a model Nayarit, which I hope that in two or three months the entire public health system of Nayarit will be completely finished and so we are going with others. So, there are options, there are alternatives.
About Oaxaca, I want to tell you that this is very rare, because the authorities of the municipalities of customs and customs are the most honest. That is precisely why we give them their funds, because we are sure that they handle them honestly. With them we are doing all the concrete roads and they do very good works and they even have the money left over.
It is a unique traditional democratic municipal organization. I wish all the authorities were like those of the municipalities of customs in Oaxaca, there are 417 municipalities that are governed in this way and the highest authority is the assembly, it is a truly democratic government.
Most public servants do not charge, they serve, tequio prevails and since they are young they have to serve, they start as topiles, as policemen and they go up and it is a great pride for them to serve until they reach the council of tatamandons, of elders, that is their reward from them. It is something exceptional, extraordinary, part of the culture of the peoples of Oaxaca, who are the most cultured peoples in the world or the most cultured in the world.
I would like Oaxaca to be known, its peoples, its traditions, its customs, its languages, its forms of government, its democracy.
But I will take note and I will inform you about San Martín Peras, yes, what is happening, we are going to give you the whole report.
And I will also ask, well, with Leti, that Adelfo, who is the coordinator of Indigenous Peoples, of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, Adelfo Regino, talk to you and give you all the information about the support they are being given.
Now I'm going to be there, I'm going to be in Oaxaca for the weekend. I start in Minatitlán on March 18, due to oil expropriation, to commemorate another anniversary of the oil expropriation and I will end up in Oaxaca and I will go to the Sierra Norte, to the Sierra Juárez.
I'm going to Guelatao on Sunday. I will not be there on Monday, which is 21, because I was invited to participate, to be in the delivery of the airport 'Felipe Angeles', but I will be in Guelatao and I am going to meet with the authorities of Guelatao.
Then let me give you Leti and put you in touch with Adelfo, if that's all right.
The Fovissste thing, I also ask you a lot.
And what about the Welfare Bank, tell our colleagues, the migrant brothers, that we are working to consolidate the Welfare Bank. We cannot talk much about it now because there is a ban, but progress is being made, as we are going to report on the Welfare Bank on April 10.
Very good.
INTERLOCUTORA: (Inaudible)
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Oh, I always deal with this issue, I discussed it with President Trump, discussed it with President Biden.
And tell the villagers that it is very likely that I will come in June, I will go to Los Angeles.
INTERLOCUTORA: (Inaudible)
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Yes.
QUESTIONER: To meet with them as it was here in the...
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: There at the Dodger Stadium, but we will see depending on what the meeting is going to be like, the meeting with President Biden. It's a summit, I understand, about the Americas. Let's see how we are doing on time and if it suits. And if not, I still send them a message and that, as I did when I was in New York, I offered them that I was going to present to President Biden an approach to migration and I did it, I complied, to speed up the initiative that proposes to regularize 11 million migrants.
Now that President Biden spoke about the conflict in Ukraine, he mentioned that he is going to push this initiative forward and President Biden has our support for its adoption in Congress and hopefully and hopefully it will not continue to be delayed for this commitment to be fulfilled.
And we are going to applaud the legislators who vote for the regularization of our fellow migrants, who have gone to the United States to work honestly and who do not deserve to be discriminated against in any way.
So, we're going to be raising this.
And, also, those who discriminate and if they are legislators who seek to obtain votes when there are elections, if they do not respect Mexicans, they will not have support, because there are already many who learn about our approaches, positions, many who see the morning.
So if, for example, the initiative to regularize Mexican migrants is not supported, those who vote against it will not be supported, in a respectful way we are going to call for Mexican-Americans, who are many, not to vote for them, because enough of racism and discrimination and ill-treatment.
Very good. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you, President. Good day.
Dalila Escobar from A Tiempo.TV
First, ask him a question that has to do with certainty, what is happening mainly in Zacatecas, what has been known about the forced displacement of many families, of communities that are taking place from this municipality, who are... In many cases they were moving, for example, to the capital.
And so, for example, when many people were there, what I was saying is, well, they thought they arrived at a safe place, which is the capital Zacatecas and many found that they even had the subject of bodies in the Plaza de Armas.
Others even arrived here in Mexico City to ask you to intervene to prevent them from being removed from their ranches that they have had for many years, for many generations and that are now occupied by crime groups.
In fact, a federal deputy had mentioned that, if there was no effective intervention by the government, the population would even be called upon to take up arms. A lot of them, well, they're not even in these communities anymore.
Ask him what is going to happen to these people so that they can return to their homes in the short or if the recommendation is that they go out flat out in what they attend to this issue of security by these clashes of crime groups.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Tomorrow we are going to report on security and we are going to ask Rosa Icela to report.
And that deputy, what party is he from?
QUESTIONER: Morena. It is one that was, in fact, also elected there in Jerez.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, well, respectfully telling you that it doesn't help at all, that is, you can't face violence with violence. Moreover, that is a responsibility of the State and we are not going to breach our responsibility.
And that we can no longer act that way, with sloops that do not help at all, these are very serious matters. So, you can't do justice by your own hand, it's not the law of the talion, it's not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, no, I've already said it, we're going to be dumb or one-eyed.
QUESTIONER: Regardless of the report, President, the guarantee that families seek to have that security, that certainty that at some point they can return.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: All guarantees, all guarantees, is that this is our responsibility, that is, we have to protect people. The main human right is the right to life, so that is our obligation.
In addition, what I want is for you to explain, to inform, from the Ministry of Public Security, which is surely attending to the matter.
QUESTIONER: Also know if, well, tomorrow with the report there will be a situation or whether there will be a strengthening of security in neighboring states, for example, in the case of Coahuila, especially on the issue of routes that these crime groups may have and where they might be moving.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Yes, we are working on that, they will explain it tomorrow and how we are doing in terms of security.
QUESTIONER: Finally, President, on my second issue, the matter that has to do again with prosecutor Alejandro Gertz Manero. Then, a few days ago, but after the statement you gave about the situation that is being experienced with the case of those who were taking care of your brother, then ask him: he acknowledged, in some interviews he acknowledged that, in fact, these audios are real and in every sense what is being recognized is that in some way committing wrongdoing on the part of this matter to somehow seek to move these pieces in their favor so that two women, well, one of them is in prison and the other can also fill out an arrest warrant.
Ask you, President, you have spoken at various times that one of the main or main struggle your government has is against corruption. This would clearly be an act of corruption, besides confessed, yes, through these audios.
But, regardless of what is being analyzed in the Supreme Court, I would like to ask you, because in addition the prosecution has already initiated an investigation into the issue of leaks, but I want to ask you who is going to investigate the Attorney General of the Republic for these facts.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Look, I insist, this matter is being seen by the Supreme Court, as it is in the public domain and we have to wait for it to be resolved.
And it's not the time before, I get tired of saying it. The prosecution does not depend on the president, it is not like the time when the prosecutor was an employee of the president and did what the president ordered him, it is no longer the case; now the prosecution has autonomy and the judiciary that is dealing with the case also has autonomy.
QUESTIONER: The ministers are dealing with what they are dealing with, because it is the case that has to do with the matter and are granted a smooth and plain amparo to these two women, but they are not analyzing the case as far as they could, the crimes that may have been committed by the Attorney General of the Republic himself.
That is why I asked him whether in any case an investigation should be opened against the prosecutor himself precisely because of the fact that he received the project earlier.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, let those affected do so, let them file a complaint, but I cannot speak out.
This is a trial where there are two versions, to put it in a way:
In one case, it is alleged that the prosecutor's brother was killed or left in abandonment and that is why he died. This is an approach that calls for justice to be done or that those responsible be punished.
On the other hand, they say: 'No, it was not a murder, it was not left in abandonment, it is an invention of the prosecutor. '
Then there is a controversy. So, when things are like this, who should solve? Well, the judge.
QUESTIONER: But those two versions do not include the part where the prosecutor himself in the audio versions says that he talks to the ministers so that the balance is tilted on one side, that is a third issue.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Then the ministers themselves must open an investigation or those who feel affected by these calls and have an authority resolve. I don't have that faculty, I don't have that faculty. I can do it as a political, moral recommendation, that is what I do with all those who attack us, but I am not going to file a complaint, which for defamation, slander, no. I could do it, but it's not a legal matter, it's a political matter, so I understand it.
And I don't want anyone to feel persecuted, no. I hope they will not stop paying Loret the three million pesos a month, or that they increase him, so that he does not leave; or to Ciro, that they take good care of him; or to López-Dóriga, who said that —Joaquín— that how will he be, said yesterday, from afar, the airport 'Felipe Angeles' that I even have to go to sleep one night before.
By the way, I'm not going to sleep there anymore, no, no; because the hotel is finished, but it's not certified, it's a procedure and I don't want to look influential.
Besides, I'm going to sleep here because I'm going to show you that I'm going to do half an hour from here to the airport. Well, half an hour, 40 minutes, because, or 40 minutes, because I'm leaving at 4:00 in the morning. Not at 4:00 no, at 4:00 I'm going to get up, but I'm going to leave around 5:00, so I'll be there at 6. So, I'm going to sleep here.
So, there we're going to meet at 7:00, because there's going to be the conference and I'm going to be at the security meeting at six o'clock.
The hotel is finished and it is very good, what happens is that we need a certification and I said: No, no, no.
And since I also heard about... I didn't hear it, but I read Joaquín's comment, which made me laugh, that we shouldn't lose my sense of humor, that it's going to take me two hours to get there and that's why I'm going to sleep there the day before, well no, I'm going to sleep here and I'm going to do about half an hour, 40 minutes.
QUESTIONER: Since you touch on that subject, President, just ask you about...
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Do I send?
QUESTIONER: Since it touches on the subject of the airport, just now I had a doubt that, although you are not going to give a speech on the subject of the ban, would the event itself not be in violation of the ban? , because it is one of the greatest works that your government has, that is, it would be to speak as good government and what it has done. Wouldn't that be violatory?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, the governor of the State of Mexico, Alfredo del Mazo, is going to speak; Claudia Sheinbaum, head of government of the city, will speak; the engineer who was in charge of construction, General Vallejo, will speak; General Secretary Sandoval will speak. And I'm going to be there and I'm not going to cut any ribbons or anything, I'm just going to accompany, as many guests are going to go.
QUESTIONER: Who are the main guests going?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Oh, there are many guests, there are businessmen, well, those who are invited and who want to go too.
INTERVENTION: But some names.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, I don't know exactly, it's invited and I don't know who is going to arrive, but you are invited.
INTERVENTION: Is the quota not restricted?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: No, because it is very spacious, it is a great airport.
I even have my concerns because they are going to say: 'And where is austerity? ' It's gonna be that now, isn't it? Because it really is beautiful, it is one of the best airports in the world, it is a work of the first order of the Army engineers.
QUESTIONER: How many guests will there be, President, more or less?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: I don't know exactly, but they will be invited. You are of course invited, invited. Entrepreneurs are going to go, workers are going to go, citizens will go.
QUESTION: All Governors?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: The governors are invited.
QUESTIONER: Everyone?
PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Everyone.
Tomorrow you first, tomorrow. It's time for coffee with milk and bread.
QUESTIONER: Your agenda, President.
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR: Today I have several things
QUESTIONER: When do you meet with Cervantes, of the Business Coordinating Council, president?
PRESIDENT ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Oh, no, we don't, I think it's going to be next week, but he's invited. Of those who are mentioned as guests or those who are being invited to them is Francisco Cervantes, who is a very good person, besides being a good leader of the businessmen he is a very good person, a decent, respectful man. I've known him for a long time and I'm sure we're going to have very good relations with him.
Very good.
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