Paved access roads to Oaxaca’s 570 municipalities and frustrated conservatives were on the president’s agenda during a weekend tour of the state.
Speaking at the inauguration of a new road in the Mixteca region town of Santiago Nejapilla, President López Obrador vowed to leave all the state’s municipalities with good access roads by the time he leaves office in 2024.
He said 250 have already been completed.
In the president’s view, improved transportation links are only one benefit of the roadbuilding program. Another is that the investment remains in the community, because local citizens carry out the work.
He made a comparison between the Nejapilla project and the new distribution center of a major Mexican corporation in Mexico City. The latter, he said, is a fully automated plant that sits on four or five hectares, yet employs just 200 people.
But the roadbuilding project created more jobs, reflecting the importance of allocating resources to marginalized areas to generate employment, the president told local residents.
“We need to look for a better distribution of income and investments that create jobs and well-being for the people.”
On Sunday, López Obrador opened another new road, this one in the Sierra Sur town of San Mateo Río Hondo, which also provided an opportunity for an attack against his conservative adversaries.
They’re frustrated because of the support the people continue to give the government, he declared.
The latter, he said, are becoming aware of the transformation that is under way and the damage created by corruption.
“Because of that the adversaries, the conservatives, who wish to maintain the same system of corruption … are tearing their hair out wondering how it is that the people are supporting the transformation …”
Angélica Lara, de 70 años, regaló un guajolote y un mezcal a AMLO en agradecimiento por la construcción de un camino rural en Santa Ana, Oaxaca. El Presidente bajó de su camioneta para saludar -sin cubrebocas y sin sana distancia- a pobladores 📹: Pedro Villa y Caña pic.twitter.com/RELLWGbFzL
— El Universal (@El_Universal_Mx) December 13, 2020
They used to consider themselves the owners of Mexico, López Obrador said, and have now “bought or rented” the news media and are “constantly attacking the president.”
How is it, he asked, despite the campaign against his government and “the dirty war” they are carrying out against it, the latter continues to enjoy public support.
He attributed that support to the public’s awareness and understanding of what is in their best interest.
Meanwhile, there was little understanding of Covid-19 safety measures during a stop in Santa Ana, also in the southern Sierra. At one point the president got out of his vehicle to mingle with supporters, who presented him with a turkey and a bottle of mezcal.
