During the first month of his government, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spent a total of MXN$178,487 on 15 air travels to different states , announcing social programs and priority projects such as the award of scholarships for students, pensions for older adults, the Mayan Train , the Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco , and the Zona Libre tax relief program in northern Mexico.
Upon a request for information from the National Transparency Platform , the Directorate-General for Budget and Finance of Mexico’s federal government announced that, from 1 December 2018 to 7 January 2019, the country’s chief executive officer disbursed a total of MXN$143,572 in plane tickets, plus MXN$34,915 spent on travel expenses.
These numbers stand in contrast with Mexico’s previous government. During the administration of former president Enrique Peña Nieto , the PRI statesman spent more on his first flight as president than López Obrador spent during an entire month.
Six days after taking office in 2012, President Enrique Peña Nieto traveled to Monterrey, Nuevo León –some 700 kilometers away from Mexico City-, spending a total MXN$245,725 on a flight with members of the Presidential Guard (EMP) , using the former presidential plane TP-02, also known as “Presidente Juárez.”
During his first tour, Peña Nieto presented programs for innovative and sustainable development in the northern state of Nuevo León.
Six years later, the Office of the President of the Republic decided to break down travel expenses for each of President López Obrador’s travels on commercial airlines shortly after Mexico’s new administration decided to put the TP-01 “José María Morelos y Pavón” presidential plane on sale, fulfilling one of López Obrador’s most popular campaign promises.
The most expensive plane tickets purchased for one of López Obrador’s tours cost around MXN$20,000 . The tickets were bought on January 5 to travel from Ciudad Juárez to Tijuana with a connecting flight to Mexico City, whereas the cheapest flight cost MXN$1,383 , from Mexico City to Tuxtla Gutiérrez on December 16.
Ever since he took office, López Obrador broke with past practices in terms of transport: He immediately stopped using official aircrafts and dismissed the Presidential Guard (EMP) . He usually only travels with a team of five people.
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