President López Obrador has offered his fellow citizens 10 pieces of advice to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and adapt to the “new reality” as restrictions on economic and everyday activities are lifted.
In a sermon-like video address posted to social media on Saturday, López Obrador presented a document he wrote entitled Decalogue to overcome the coronavirus and face the new reality.
“After long, painful and uncertain days because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I dare to respectfully suggest some attitudes that we can try out in order to go out safely to the street, carry out our usual activities and live without fear,” he said.
After praising citizens for “obeying” the coronavirus mitigation recommendations without “authoritarianism on our part,” the president said that it’s time for Mexicans to recover their freedom and “decide for ourselves, based on what we’ve learned, how to protect ourselves from infection.”
“In my view and understanding, we must take on the construction of the new normal with these actions and attitudes,” López Obrador said.
Firstly, Mexicans should stay informed about the development of the pandemic and the recommendations of health authorities, he said.
“It’s very important to listen to the … the [press] conferences of Dr. Hugo López-Gatell. Let’s continue to comply with the recommendations … to minimize the risk of infection,” López Obrador said.
Secondly, the president urged citizens to confront the pandemic with optimism, asserting that having “a good mood helps to confront adversities in a much better way.”
Thirdly, López Obrador said that Mexicans need to turn their backs on selfishness and individualism.
“Let’s be caring and humane. If we have more than what we need, let’s try to share it. Nothing produces more joy than the practice of fraternity. … We can lend a hand, let’s not let our hearts harden,” he said.
The president’s fourth piece of advice was not to succumb to materialism.
“Let’s move away from consumerism. Happiness doesn’t reside in the accumulation of material goods nor is it obtained from luxuries, extravagances or frivolities. We can only be happy by being good,” López Obrador said.
Fifthly, the president urged citizens to remember that the best “medicine” against Covid-19 is prevention.
In addition to following the recommendations of health authorities, Mexicans should take care of their health and thus lessen the risk of developing complications from the coronavirus, López Obrador said.
He said that citizens should try to lose weight – obesity is one of the most common existing health conditions among those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Mexico – and “live calmly without anxiety.”
The president then turned his attention to people’s right to enjoy the country’s natural resources.
“Six: let’s defend the right to enjoy the sky, the sun, the pure air, the flora and fauna and all nature,” López Obrador said before flashing a brief grin at the camera recording him in a hallway of the National Palace.
His seventh piece of advice was to follow a healthy diet full of fresh and nutritional food. The president particularly extolled the virtues of corn, describing it as a “blessed plant” and recalling the old Mexican adage: sin maíz no hay país, or without corn there is no country.
Beans, vegetables, seasonal fruit and fish – “particularly tuna because it’s low cost” – should also be on Mexicans’ dining tables, López Obrador said, adding that people should eat meat from animals that have been raised in backyards or pastures and have not been fattened up with hormones.
“Consuming what was produced in the backyard used to be a [common] practice,” López Obrador said before adding that people changed their habits and stopped raising animals at home.
“We can produce organic food or purchase organic food,” he said before urging people to avoid junk food, drink a lot of water and seek treatment for any addictions they might have.
The president’s eighth tip was for people to exercise according to their age and physical condition. “Get up: don’t sit for so long, walk, run, stretch,” he said.
López Obrador also urged people to eliminate racist, classist, sexist and any other discriminatory attitudes they might have.
“Let’s reinforce our cultural values, our languages, our customs, our traditions, community social organization and let’s keep taking care of our senior citizens,” he said.
“The coronavirus reminded us that it’s better to take care of old people at our homes than to have them in nursing homes … because nothing substitutes the love [of the family],” López Obrador said. “The Mexican family is the best social security institution in the country.”
His 10th and final piece of advice was for people to seek meaning in their lives.
“Whether you have a religion or not, whether you’re a believer or not, seek a path of spirituality, an ideal, a utopia, a dream, a purpose in life, something that strengthens you on the inside, something that strengthens your self-esteem and keeps you active, enthusiastic, happy, fighting, working and loving your loved ones, your neighbor, nature and the motherland.”
Mexico News Daily
