Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) clarified that all services hired for the Exchange of the Executive Federal Power (TPEF) on December 1, 2018 were acquired by means of public tenders during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto , since the transition team of Andrés Manuel López Obrador was unable to expand public resources or sign private contracts at that time.
The government body highlighted that the TPEF had been jointly organized by the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto and Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s transition team, abiding by international standards for events with chiefs of state and members of foreign governments.
In a letter addressed to EL UNIVERSAL and signed by Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Director General of the Chancellery , the SRE sought to clarify the expenditure incurred by the ministry for the Executive Power Exchange, following the publication of an article that claimed the ministry had spent MXN$41 million (USD$2.15 million) on the presidential inauguration.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the overall cost published by the newspaper encompassed all sorts of planning activities and pre-visits from foreign delegations, among others.
“Regarding acts of protocol conducted during the TPEF, we would like to inform that the meal President López Obrador offered to more than 500 guests corresponds to less than 7% of the overall costs.”
The government body added that the host country offered a series of courtesies for foreign delegations, leaders of international organizations, and assistants as part of the presidential inauguration.
“These courtesies are meant to cover all expenses necessary to guarantee the security of foreign visitors. This encompasses the provision of vehicles for heads of state and foreign government members, accommodations, and transport circuits at official venues.
“The overall expense covered a series of activities such as providing proper infrastructure for national and international media covering the events; dinners and meals at formal occasions; logistics support through diplomatic links; security and press equipment for the technical teams of foreign delegations; establishing an identification scheme, and many other activities.”
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