KEYPOINTS OF PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR’S MORNING PRESS CONFERENCE

Political Agenda

• Autonomous Agencies: The President reiterated that he will leave a list of pending reforms; he stated that due to the lack of time he has to concentrate on concluding works and welfare programs; but other reforms are needed, such as in the judiciary, since it is a bastion of corruption. He added that a reform is needed to eliminate all the agencies that were created in the era of corruption; he added that the monopolies are the ones that manage this autonomous body, or so-called preponderant agents. They are excessive positions of civil servants; they are life scholarships in different sectors. By cutting services such as the savings bank and private medical services for public servants, savings of 15,000 million pesos were achieved.

• Insults to authority: Upon being informed that in Veracruz there are 800 people for this alleged crime, despite the fact that a year ago the Court invalidated this crime, the Federal President stated that all crimes that have to do with insults to authority must be eliminated. Today or tomorrow an initiative to modify Article 33 of the Constitution will be sent; before, anyone who was considered a foreigner and questioned the government was deported, and this will be eliminated.

• Electoral Reform “Plan B”: The President of Mexico, Lopez Obrador, defended the electoral reform that seeks to have honest judges and advisors and reduce expenses. He rejected the idea that certain officials, like Edmundo Jacobo Molina, maintained privileges at the expense of the treasury and accused them of being part of the neoliberal regime. The Secretary of Government, Adan Augusto Lopez, explained that the reform consolidates the power to resolve appeals, eliminates privileges for INE staff, reduces the number of board members, and facilitates voting for Mexicans abroad. The President accused the INE of having a “golden bureaucracy” with three types of privileges and questioned the use of opaque trusts by the INE and the judiciary. He denied that the reform weakens citizen participation and suggested that the media, sometimes owned by oligarchs, can be a problem. The President stated that the Supreme Court will determine if any articles of the reform violate political-electoral rights.

• Genaro Garcia Luna Case: When asked if a specific investigation will be opened on former President Felipe Calderon, the President pointed out that the Attorney General’s Office is investigating Garcia Luna and his group, and that there is also a civil complaint in Florida for the assets that are presumed to be the result of corruption. However, he pointed out that the government is not going to file a complaint against former presidents, since

KEYPOINTS OF PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR’S MORNING PRESS CONFERENCE

• Electoral Reform: President Lopez Obrador stated that the Electoral Law does not affect INE’s operation and that the lack of approval of the constitutional reform means that 25 billion pesos will continue to be allocated to elections in Mexico. Furthermore, he expressed his satisfaction with the reforms that have been promoted during his administration, such as the elevation to constitutional rank of several public policies and the fight against corruption. Regarding the constitutional reform on water, the president pointed out that it is not necessary and that with the National Water Law and legal decrees the problem of water use in Mexico can be solved.

the people were asked if they should be prosecuted and there was no majority.

• Reform to the Judicial Power: The President stated that the independence of the Judicial Power must be respected and wait for a reform to be carried out in such power. He admitted that there is corruption in the three branches, but that in the Legislative there have already been changes and in the Executive, they are working on fighting corruption and applying austerity measures. However, in the Judicial Branch there have been no changes and allegedwhite-collarr criminals and organized crime are being given liberties. He pointed out that the reform of the Judicial Branch is the task of the next president, since his administration tried to reform the system without success. He also pointed out that there are two ways to achieve change: constitutional reform or that the majority of the ministers must be of integrity and true imparters of justice.

• Welfare Bank: The head of the agency, Victor Manuel Lamoyi, commented that they have an expansion plan of 2,700 branches, at the moment they have a coverage of 1,502 branches throughout the country in 1,207 localities and 997 municipalities in the 32 entities.

Infrastructure

• AIFA: In response to the question about the train that would go from Buenavista to AIFA, he commented that he receives a report every 15 days. Progress is being made and there is no longer a right-of-way problem. It will be a stretch that will take 45 minutes. The “Claudios” did not realize that the AIFA area was expanded, and 1,400 hectares were acquired in agreement with the towns; if the pseudo-environmentalists or the leaders had realized this, they would have obstructed those lands. In extension, the AIFA is larger than the AICDMX. Among other advantages, the AIFA helps to direct population growth towards the north, where there is land and water (the problem is being addressed, but the water supply in the east of the CDMX is