No Recession / Gattel’s COVID-19 Strategy

Mexican economy. Andrés Manuel López Obrador denies that the Mexican economy is going through a recession. "We are not in a recession, because the country grew 5 percent (in 2021) but fell for two quarters. We were growing and the new variant came to us." He said that his government thinks beyond economics; the administration is focused on the well-being of citizens. Finally, he said that the national economy would continue to grow, with expectations to reach 5 percent growth for this year, as well as for 2023 and 2024.

COVID-19 strategy. "The strategy used by our government against COVID-19 was the right one and it saved many lives," said López Obrador. He also released Hugo López-Gatell, Deputy Minister of Health and all those who participated in the plan of action against COVID-19 in Mexico from all responsibility. "To all those who participated, we should give them public and global recognition," Lastly, he stated that "the peak" of the current wave of contagion has passed and that the country has entered a "declining phase."

Mandate revocation. The president said that the question validated by the Supreme Court that will be asked to the population during the Revocation of the Mandate consultation is very complicated. He sent for a translator to not make mistakes when issuing his vote. "I want to convey something to everyone: they made the question of the consultation too complicated. People do not know if it will be yes or no, so they do ask everyone to look for a good translator to avoid mistakes when going to vote. It should be yes or no, but until now I do not think they know," he said.

The question validated by the Supreme Court is the following: "Do you agree to Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of the United Mexican States, having his mandate revoked due to a loss of confidence or to him continuing in the Presidency of the Republic until his term ends?"

State company to exploit lithium. Given the recent conflicts over the exploitation of lithium in Mexico, the president announced the creation of a national company for the exploitation of this resource, which the government considers strategic and that should belong to the nation. "We are going to create a national company for lithium. We do not want to be a territory of conflict between powers, neither Russia, nor China, nor the United States," he said.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish