NOGALES, Sonora 鈥 At a rally Friday night, Mexico鈥檚 President-elect Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador promised to cut taxes and double the minimum wage in the border region to make it more competitive.
That is part of a wider plan to improve conditions in Mexico enough so people don鈥檛 have the need to migrate, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 part of a strategy, not an isolated plan,鈥 to create a curtain across the country that retains Mexicans in Mexico, L贸pez Obrador said. 鈥淪o that the Mexican can work and be happy where he was born, where his family is, where his culture is.鈥
He told a cheering crowd of about 2,000 people congregated in a plaza near the international line that he would halve the national 16 percent value-added tax and have price parity between Mexican and U.S. border communities when it comes to the cost of gas, diesel and electricity.
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The left-wing leader, who won the presidential election in July by landslide, came to Nogales for the first time as president-elect as part of a tour through the country to thank his supporters. He visited San Luis Rio Colorado earlier Friday and was scheduled to meet with Sonora鈥檚 governor, Claudia Pavlovich, in Hermosillo before a visit to the port city of Guaymas and to Ciudad Obreg贸n. He said he will visit Nogales every six months.
Wearing a long-sleeve guayabera and gray pants, L贸pez Obrador was greeted at Nogales鈥 Plaza Miguel Hidalgo by a long line of supporters who wanted to snap a selfie and shake hands with the populist politician. 鈥淧residente! Presidente!鈥 and 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to be with Obrador,鈥 they cheered.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to get right to the point,鈥 he began, and spent the first half of his speech talking about new government austerity measures and social programs that will take place as soon as he is sworn in on Dec. 1 as Mexico鈥檚 58th president.
The country needs a transformation, and he鈥檚 not going to let people down, he said.
鈥淭here can鈥檛 be a rich country with a poor people,鈥 he said. He said he鈥檚 started by slashing his own salary by 40 percent, and no public official can earn more than the president.
L贸pez Obrador, who also ran on a platform against corruption, said there鈥檚 going to be a law that makes corruption a serious crime without the option of bail.
His core message during the nearly 40-minute speech, though, was about creating opportunities for residents, including scholarships for students, paid apprenticeship programs, monthly stipends for the elderly and children with disabilities, and free health care that prioritizes the poor.
鈥淪tudents yes, hit men no,鈥 he chanted.
At the same time, he said, he鈥檚 keeping his promise to neither raise taxes nor create new ones. Everything, he said, will be paid for with the austerity measures he鈥檚 proposing and by getting rid of what he calls luxuries within the government. These luxuries include his presidential plane that is so fancy that, 鈥渨ith all due respect,鈥 not even President Trump has a better one, he said 鈥 his first Trump mention of the night.
Even though he talked about immigration, L贸pez Obrador refrained from mentioning the border wall that was central to Trump鈥檚 campaign and that Mexico was supposed to pay for.
Instead, the president-elect thanked Trump for being respectful toward Mexico. 鈥淲e will respect him,鈥 L贸pez Obrador said, 鈥渨e only ask for respect in return.鈥
He also commended ongoing trade negotiations as another positive sign of the relations between both countries and said that the only way to address the issue of immigration is by cooperation, not by force.
The best way to accomplish reduced migration is by improving conditions in Mexico to reduce the need to migrate, 鈥渟o that those who want to leave do so because they want to,鈥 he said, 鈥渘ot because they have to.鈥
Residents Virginia Celedonio Cruz and Ernestina S谩nchez arrived at the plaza almost three hours early to get a spot as close to the president-elect as possible.
Cruz said Lopez Obrador鈥檚 support for the elderly and students, as well as his vision to decrease migration from Mexico, resonated with her.
She was an unauthorized migrant in California for nearly 30 years before she was deported in 2015. She now lives in Nogales to be closer to her family, she said.
When asked if she would have stayed if the opportunities L贸pez Obrador spoke about existed when she left, she didn鈥檛 hesitate: 鈥淥f course,鈥 she said, 鈥渨hy would we leave?鈥
S谩nchez, 72, said she felt her heart was going to fly out of her chest after she saw the president-elect, whom she said called her 鈥減recious.鈥
Both women voted for him and said he has their full support. They trust that change is coming. 鈥淚 believe in the change he will bring 100, 200 percent,鈥 S谩nchez said.
