Applauds V-Shaped Recovery / Proposes New Security Head

Economy in V-shaped recovery. President López Obrador said that Mexico’s economy is growing and that, as he predicted, the recovery is coming in the shape of a letter V, after the fall resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. “According to the data presented by INEGI last night, we are already growing. Our economy is recovering and our forecast of a fast recovery is being fulfilled. It is going to be in the shape of the letter V,” he noted after it was announced that Mexico's GDP grew 12 percent in 3Q20, compared to the previous quarter. The president also announced that more than 211,000 jobs have been recovered in October.

Proposes new security head to replace Durazo. President López Obrador proposed Rosa Icela Rodríguez to replace Alfonso Durazo as head of the Secretariat for Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC). “We still don’t know if she will accept, since she is just learning about this,” he said. Rodríguez is the former Secretary of Government in the Claudia Sheinbaum administration in Mexico City and a close aid to the president. López Obrador noted that Durazo attended his last meeting of the security cabinet today. He will seek the governorship of Sonora in the 2021 elections. “We recognized him for his work as coordinator of the security cabinet. He helped a lot. He’s an exemplary public servant,” he said.

Laments poor wages in Mexico. President López Obrador said that “it is a shame” that wages in Mexico are lower than in China, which is why he announced that by 2021 there will be another increase in the minimum wage. López Obrador highlighted statements by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who yesterday said that Mexico “is blessed to be close to the United States,” and it is a very attractive destination for investments among other things due to its low wages. “(Flink) also says that Mexico has a cheap labor force. I say that this is not something to boast about. We have to improve workers’ wages,” he said.

Reform of budget law came from Calderón. The reform of the law to distribute the federal budget to states was carried out by former President Felipe Calderón administration’s in 2007 and approved by those who are complaining now, President López Obrador said. “It was approved by parties that now are the opposition. Many of those who are asking for more money voted for that law,” he said and ruled out providing more funds as requested by the 10 governors of the Federalist Alliance.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish