8. Investment in the southeast
Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s eyes were on the southeast from the first day of his government, not only in the creation of social programs, but also in the works and for the first time, the government’s emblematic projects were focused on this region.
His strategy changed the map of Mexico’s building production. The figures from the Inegi National Survey of Construction Companies show transformations in the value of construction in states such as Oaxaca, Tabasco, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán between 2019 and 2024.
Quintana Roo exemplifies this paradigm shift. The production value of construction companies shows that what was allocated to the state’s transportation and urbanization sector went from representing 2.0% of the national total in 2019 to 35.2% in 2024.
This substantial increase is mainly due to the Mayan Train, a railway project with a budget of 515,000 million pesos and a generation of around 715,000 new jobs in the 16 municipalities with a train station by 2030 and 80,000 additional jobs with construction work. of the first five sections, according to UN-Habitat estimates in 2020.
In addition, the new Tulum Airport, in the same area, was developed with 3.2 billion pesos and generated 17,000 jobs.
In Tabasco, López Obrador’s home state, the oil and petrochemical sector has increased its participation from 17.8% in 2019 to 19.3% in 2024, according to the ENEC. This growth is linked to the construction of the Dos Bocas Refinery, a project with an investment of 311,000 million pesos.
Oaxaca has experienced growth in the electricity and telecommunications sector, going from 0.4% in 2019 to 4.8% in 2024. This increase is related to the development of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, another emblematic project of the administration that seeks to create a alternative trade route to the Panama Canal, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through southern Mexico.
9. Austerity, eliminate “superfluous” expenses
Before coming to government, López Obrador criticized the luxuries in public administration and promised to apply a “strict policy of republican austerity”, capping the salaries of public servants at his own salary, which in 2024 ended at 186,093 pesos.
On the afternoon of December 1 in the Zócalo of Mexico City, he gave a preview: “I don’t know if they will buy new vehicles for officials, only the officials responsible for security tasks will have escorts, there will only be three advisors per secretariat; “There will be no private medical care, nor exclusive savings accounts for high-level officials.”
Unlike other presidents, he did not turn to the Presidential General Staff to be in charge of his security. López Obrador opted for an Assistant team made up of 10 men and 10 women whose function was similar to that of the “Gazelles”, who protected him when he was head of Government of Mexico City.
The first year of his government, Congress approved the Federal Republican Austerity Law, which was proposed by the President of the Republic and had among its objectives to eliminate privileges from public servants and avoid the swelling of the bureaucratic apparatus. His own office had a huge reduction in expenses.
The government of President López Obrador applied austerity, starting with his personal security, flights, and communication spending. He avoided tours abroad and to travel within the Republic he opted for commercial airline flights, at least in the first half of his administration and for the second part, he resorted to using Army aircraft.
According to transparency data, from 2021 to date it has made 609 trips, of which four were outside the country (the United States and Central America were the destinations).
In social communication, President López Obrador also reduced spending considerably. To disseminate his achievements, the president resorted to his morning conference, from which he became his own spokesperson.
The six-year term that is ending presents challenges in most of the country’s crucial issues, but also with advances that will allow us to build on them. And these chiaroscuros make up the country that Claudia Sheinbaum will receive, who is hours away from becoming the first female president of Mexico.
With information from Dulce Soto, Patricia Tapia, Dainzú Patiño, José Ávila, Lidia Arista, Yared de la Rosa and Diana Zavala.
