Fight Backs Critics / MX$25 Billion Loans / Praises migrants

President fight backs against critics. President López Obrador said those who criticized the economic reactivation plan he disclosed yesterday want a return of corruption in Mexico, and that his position of “not applying any neoliberal policy of the past” still stands because he will always care for the poor. “This is why some people are asking where is the plan is to reactivate the economy. What they want is the starting flag to establish corruption again,” he said.

COVID-19 precipitated the fall of neoliberalism. President López Obrador said that the pandemic is proving that neoliberal policies don’t work anymore. “Coronavirus precipitated the collapse of the neoliberal model in the world. That doesn’t work anymore, it is another reality,” he said and insisted that the reactivation of the economy is coming soon.

One million loans worth MX$25 billion. Regarding his plan to reactivate the economy, President López Obrador highlighted that the support program for small businesses would be expanded. He said that 1 million loans would be granted in 2020, totaling MX$25 billion. “Of the one million loans, 500,000 will go to small companies in the formal sector, and the other half to the informal sector,” he said.

Cuba help is considered. If necessary, Cuba will be asked for specialists to help Mexico face the health contingency, President López Obrador said. He explained that if hospitals are full, and the Navy and DN-III plans are overwhelmed, then there is “an expansion of capabilities, where we could request the government of Cuba for support.” The president also praised the good relationship Mexico has with other nations like the US and China.

Asks migrants to keep supporting relatives. President López Obrador thanked the support of Mexican migrants in the US and asked them not to stop supporting their relatives in Mexico, despite the difficult time everyone is facing. He said that February set another record for remittances and that now, due to the depreciation of the peso, what they are sending is adding more money, which is strengthening national consumption.

New Marshall Plan is needed. President López Obrador criticized the UN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for not doing anything to prevent speculation in healthcare supplies needed to fight COVID-19, and said that a joint effort is required to ensure a global economic recovery. “A kind of Marshall Plan is required,” he said and explained that this topic, among others, were elaborated during the conversation he had with Larry Fink, president of the BlackRock fund, on Sunday.