At a rally held in the Mexico City Zocalo marking one year since his landslide election victory, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador boasted that he has complied with 78 of his 100 top promises since taking office last December.
In the presence of his cabinet, business leaders, state governors and family members, the president said he has set the basis for the “political transformation” of Mexico, in which the corrupt practices of a privileged conservative elite will soon be a thing of the past.
In the mold of many past presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), López Obrador presented a glowing account of his seven months in office, highlighting more jobs, positive economic growth, a stable currency and low inflation.
While admitting that levels of crime and violence in the country have not improved under his watch – June registered the highest number of homicides on record – López Obrador said he was confident that the numbers will get better as his security policies kick in.
The president used the occasion to slam opponents he said are using legal mechanisms to hold up the start of the construction of Mexico City’s Santa Lucia airport.
López Obrador, however, failed to address one of the main criticisms of his administration so far: cuts to health and education services made in the name of austerity. He claimed millions of dollars have been saved since he took office by reducing scores of unnecessary government expenses.
Another major omission, some analysts noted, was no mention of the continued drop in oil production, despite his promises to revive the fortunes of the state-owned Pemex company.
López Obrador promised that bidding for the construction of his pet Maya tourist train project will start in a few weeks.