The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, began this Friday his “goodbye tour” through the north of the country together with the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum. The image of both in a public event for the first time together since the elections on June 2, which gave victory to the president’s successor, was full of symbolism. Both leaders visited the families of the miners of Pasta de Conchos, where the Government this week found human remains after the largest mining tragedy in Mexico, which left 65 miners underground in 2006. The discovery comes as a result of a search that did not The previous Administrations had wanted to take over since the accident 18 years ago. “I feel very strong emotions being with you,” Sheinbaum said in a brief speech, which promised to complete the rescue of the bodies in her government. “It was your perseverance for many years that made this possible,” added the president, loudly applauded throughout the event.
The event that started the tour was very emotional at times. Previous governments had avoided mounting such an operation to search for the remains, more than 100 meters deep, with the excuse that it was impossible to find the miners trapped in the collapse, despite international recommendations requiring it. The mother of one of the victims thanked the president this Friday, with a photograph in hand showing a younger López Obrador. The woman said that she was never going to forget that promise that the then presidential candidate made to her in 2012. “You without hesitation told me: yes, I will do the rescue. Even knowing that he had not yet become president. But I admire that great disposition,” the woman recalled.
“I feel very excited to be here with you, thank you for the invitation president,” Sheinbaum said when taking the microphone. “I feel your pain, which has been one of the greatest pains for 18 years, not only for you, but a pain that has marked our country.” The president-elect celebrated what the current Government had done and promised, in front of the miners’ families, to finish the rescue in her six-year term, if necessary. “If for some reason these works cannot be completed between now and the time I take office, I commit to you to continue them with the same will and determination that the president has had.” Until recently, the candidate arrived at the site after her team suffered an accident on the road, a few kilometers from the event, in San Juan de Sabinas, in which a woman died.
López Obrador highlighted that the beginning of his tour of the country is “in such an important and symbolic place.” The president, who has spent five and a half years in office touring Mexico, began this Friday what will be his farewell to the people. In their first stop, they will spend this weekend in the regions of Durango, Coahuila and Tamaulipas. In the first two, they are expected to visit the La Laguna area. There, in December, the president inaugurated the Agua Saludable project, a network of infrastructure works to supply drinking water to nine municipalities. Although construction is not at 100% capacity yet, political leaders are expected to visit the site to see how it operates these days.
The president invited Sheinbaum to join him on his trips after the Morena candidate swept the polls with 60% of the votes. Although she announced that she would not be on all of her trips, due to having a lot of work to do for the next Administration. According to López Obrador, on this trip they would participate in assemblies and share transfers to be able to talk about the “transition and the projects, what has been done, what is in process and what is needed.” Health, well-being, mining and customs are some of the topics that the next president will seek to discuss these days during her visit to these three States.
López Obrador is expected to present the recently launched La Clínica es Nuestra program on this tour, along with other federal government officials, such as the Secretary of Welfare, Ariadna Montiel. The two states he will visit initially, Durango and Coahuila, remain the last bastion of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the only tricolor governors left in the country. The presidential agenda does not yet confirm whether either of the two officials will accompany an event. Although the governor of Coahuila, Manolo Jiménez, ended up being booed at the presentation of the Justice Plan for Pasta de Conchos.
Shouting “president, president,” Sheinbaum appeared ready for what is to come. She made specific promises to the people, such as a hospital, and promised not to leave the miners’ families alone. Furthermore, she was encouraged to consider the possibility of understanding what happened and obtaining justice in the case of Pasta de Conchos, a mine that was operated by Grupo México, the largest mining company in the country, owned by Germán Larrea. “Justice has to begin by recognizing and addressing fair and legitimate demands, like the ones you have maintained all these years,” said the president-elect, “and progress in recovery will provide elements to clarify what happened.”
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