Thursday, March 28, 2024

Voters give a solid ‘yes’ to the Maya train and other proposals by AMLO’s government

Voters gave resounding support to the Maya train project on the Yucatán peninsula and nine other proposals in a public consultation held over the past two days.

The organizers of the consultation, an initiative of incoming president López Obrador, told a press conference this morning that 89.9% of participants voted in favor of building the railroad that will link cities in five states in Mexico’s southeast.

Just under 950,000 people – around 1.1% of the electoral roll – cast votes in the two-day consultation that sought opinion on 10 “priority programs” of the López Obrador-led government that will take office this Saturday.

A proposal to develop a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans received 90.9% support while the plan to build a new oil refinery on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Tabasco was backed by 91.6% of voters.

The seven other proposals on the ballot also all attracted more than 90% support.

They were to plant fruit and timber trees on one million hectares of land; double the pension of adults aged over 68; offer scholarships and work training to 2.6 million disadvantaged young people; grant scholarships to all public high school students; offer pensions to people with disabilities; guarantee medical care to all citizens; and provide free internet coverage in public places such as squares, medical centers and schools.

Jesús Ramírez, spokesman for the incoming government, said the consultation cost 2.4 million pesos (US $116,500) and was paid for by lawmakers from López Obrador’s Morena party.

The public vote was the second held by the incoming administration following a referendum on the new Mexico City International Airport in late October.

The president-elect subsequently announced that the partially built US $14-billion project would be cancelled.

But despite warnings that holding more public consultations would create further economic uncertainty and affect both domestic and foreign investment in Mexico, delegating decision-making to the people appears set to be a feature of the new government.

López Obrador said last week that he will also put the question of creating a national guard to yet another public consultation that is slated to take place in March.

Source: El Economista (sp) 

President López Obrador at a press conference with a model Mexicana airplane

Mexicana airline faces US $840M lawsuit from Texas company

0
The state-owned airline, which launched operations in December, is being sued for breach of contract in a U.S. federal court in New York.
The container ship the Dali crashing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore

AMLO confirms 1 Mexican rescued, 2 missing after Baltimore bridge collapse

0
Mexico's President López Obrador confirmed Wednesday morning that the Mexican nationals were working on the bridge when it collapsed Tuesday.
Firefighters in Veracruz

1,000 firefighters combat blazes in Veracruz as wildfires spike nationwide

0
The wildfires in the mountainous central region of the state started on Saturday and have yet to be fully controlled.