AMLO says the Mayan Train will develop Southeast Mexico which was “abandoned during the neoliberal period”

During his morning press conference in Mérida, Yucatán, president Andrés Manuel López Obrador guaranteed the feasibility of the Maya Train project. He said: “The project has been accepted by the majority of the inhabitants of the southeast of the country, and it will improve the region’s economy”.

He ruled out any possibility of reversing the initiative, and reiterated the order he gave to the head of the National Tourism Development Fund (Fonatur), Rogelio Jiménez Pons, not to stop the project that will benefit thousands of people in the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán.

He reiterated that there is a financial ceiling of 150 billion pesos, so there will be a fast train, which will transport be passengers as well as cargo.

“It is logical that people agree with a project that will communicate to the southeast of Mexico, we’re talking about a fast passenger and freight train,” he said during the “mañanera” press conference.

I discard effects on the environment, since most of the route is built on the roads that date from the 1950s.

He underlined that until the early 1980s, passenger trains were still operating in Mexico, but “that service was suspended during the neoliberal period.”

The president also spoke of the case of the International Airport of Merida “Manuel Crescensio Rejón”, he said that there is a project that consists in building a new one, and then added:  “I clarify, it is only a project.”

He indicated that another proposal is to modernize and expand the existing air terminal, which “is already part of the city”. And then he said there is another plan, to use the facilities of the Military Base, where the meeting with the communicators was held this morning, to build the news airport there.

“In any case, the Yucatecans and the authorities will be consulted for any of these projects”, AMLO stated.

In other issues, López Obrador committed himself with the Yucatecans of the South of the State to complete the construction of a General Hospital in Ticul, a work that was never finished.

“This is a breach of the company, because previous governments did not comply with the contracts,” he said.

AMLO also addressed the case of the sale of the presidential plane, as well as 72 other aircrafts and helicopters that were used by senior officials for “their personal shopping and golf trips.”

He announced that he would hold a private meeting with the elected president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, in the city of Mérida, to discuss the problem of migration and reach an agreement because “we are neighbors and we are brother nations.”

Lopez Obrador declared that he already met with the presidents of Honduras and El Salvador, and only Guatemala was missing, but due to the electoral process in that Central American country, the meeting was postponed until today.

Finally, AMLO highlighted his commitment to support the development of Southeast Mexico, and that of Central America too.

The Yucatan Times Newsroom