Sexual Harassment Complaints/Finishing the Mayan Train

Road huts. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that the illegal occupation of highway toll booths is at minimum levels. "This was a problem inherited from the previous administration; however, this situation has already been resolved," he said. "Very important savings have been achieved since the plan was launched to release these occupied booths. Some groups obtained income by maintaining these booths, but that no longer happens. We are talking about savings of billions of pesos," said López Obrador.

Congratulating UNAM. López Obrador congratulates the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for analyzing a return to in-person classes. He also compared UNAM with the Military College, which did not cancel classes. "Sometimes comparisons are not good but they do help to understand certain things. Even in the most difficult times of the pandemic, the Military College continued to teach classes, the campuses were not closed, they took care with a health protocol and classes were not interrupted. We are not talking about now but the entire time, and there were no major problems, the students were taken care of."

Mexico-Spain relations. The relationship between the Mexican government and that of Spain is on good terms, even though there has been discord, said López Obrador. "Of course, our adversaries would like there to be a lawsuit with the Spanish government, but no, relations are fine. There were discrepancies, and there still are, because they are a free and sovereign nation, and above all, because they did not agree to offer an apology (for its 16th-century conquest of Mexico) to start a new stage." He added that there is no reason for Spain not to accept Quirino Ordaz, former governor of Sinaloa, as the new ambassador to that country. Ordaz has been implicated in a number of corruption cases and Spain has refused to accept his appointment.

Changes at FONATUR. López Obrador said that changes at the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (FONATUR) were made so that the Mayan Train could be completed on time and enter into operations. "What we want is to advance and finish the work, to have time to operate the train because we can finish it before our government ends. What we want is to finish it in advance, to operate it, to leave it operating, not to deliver it 15 days before we finish, but to be able to operate it from the end of next year," he said.

Pedro Salmerón. López Obrador said that the alleged victims of sexual harassment by the historian Pedro Salmerón have to present their complaints before the corresponding authority. "I think we all have to file complaints with the competent authorities and not leave them in the court of public opinion. There are conditions to denounce whoever commits an abuse … we all have to help," he said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced 15 appointments for Mexican representations abroad this week, with Salmerón among them. His appointment sparked protests from students and former students of the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) who say that they were victims of sexual harassment during his time as a professor.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish