Emir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia
The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, September 13, 2024, p. 13
A few days before handing over the presidential sash, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is looking forward to retiring from public life. I have days left
he said during his conference at the National Palace.
On October 1, the president will hand over the baton to Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and has announced that after fulfilling this requirement, he will go to Palenque, where he will work on research into the cultures of pre-Hispanic Mexico.
His last tour of the country as head of the Executive will be from Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29. The first day he will be with the Yaqui people in Sonora, on Saturday he will visit Sinaloa and Nayarit, and his final stop on the 29th will be in Chetumal, Quintana Roo. On Monday, September 30, he will lead his last morning press conference.
I am already enjoying the fact that I am going to retire, just like when workers, teachers, any worker, is already counting the days.
He explained that as president he has maintained a routine of getting up very early
every day, among other activities that come with being a president, which is why, he said, he will have to start getting used to new habits.
He said he has already designed a routine to begin adapting to his retirement from political life, which will include reading, work, exercise, walks around his country house and watching baseball, the sport of his passion.
“It has been proven that when some people retire, they let themselves go, they get depressed and they can’t keep up. There are many who don’t want to retire, I know this, that’s why (…) because they are used to activity, to work; it’s something that requires psychological preparation and at the same time having activities, not letting yourself go.”
The president said that in addition to his research and writing work, he will also spend part of his time in Palenque touring his country house.
He will see his 30 ceibas grow, a sacred tree of the Mayans and today the national tree of Guatemala. For the ancient Mayan culture, he defined, the ceiba meant the fertility of the soil and the support of the sky.
On his property he also has specimens of royal palm – Cuba’s national tree – guayacán, maculí and franboyán; in addition, macaws and other birds fly overhead, and from time to time he can see families of howler monkeys.
He reiterated that he will not talk about politics. Not anymore, just wish that everything goes well because Mexico and its people always deserve a better destiny.
.
