López Obrador Touts the Achievements of His First Year in Office

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took the opportunity of his end-of-year greeting to once again vindicate the achievements of his government, highlighting progress in the economy and social welfare programs, while recognizing that insecurity and violence are still " unresolved problems" to be tackled by his administration.

"It was not a bad year 2019, we are moving forward," said the president, who taped the greeting from the main square of the Palenque archaeological zone in Chiapas. "I am beginning the transformation of public life in our country, I can assure you that corruption is over, especially at the top, we are cleaning up corruption like the stairs are cleaned, from top to bottom".

He added: "There is no impunity, the economy remained stable, the peso was strengthened, there is no inflation, minimum wages were raised like they were not done in forty years, and there is well-being in our people, above all there is development, not just economic growth".

The president later emphasized the increase in social assistance promoted by his administration and reminded the audience that "many Mexicans, millions of Mexicans, are receiving support and benefits".

López Obrador said, however, that he had to recognize that his government still has "pending problems, such as insecurity and violence," but he said he was confident that the country will become more peaceful because "corruption is no longer allowed and the causes of violence are being addressed".

In the same vein, the president said that his government "is separating crime from authority so that what happened in previous governments does not happen".

"There came a time when [drug lord "Chapo"] Guzmán Loera had the same power, the same influence that the president had at that time, because there was a conspiracy and that prevented those who committed the crimes from being punished," he said and added that it would not happen again.

"We want to moralize Mexico's public life and we are doing it. We are purifying public life so that people can have moral authority and can have political authority. And we are going to achieve this, with the Fourth Transformation of Mexico's public life," he concluded.