The infrastructure works that AMLO will leave for Mexico's next president

The administration of Mexico’s outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) will leave some infrastructure projects for the next government to finish.

That administration will be led by Claudia Sheinbaum, who won a landslide victory in Sunday’s general elections. Also from the ruling Morena party, AMLO’s handpicked successor will become the country’s first female president and start her six-year term on October 1.

During his Monday morning press conference, AMLO said most of the government’s projects, including the Maya train and nearly 20 hospitals, would be finished before he leaves office. 

“What could be left unfinished? Some works that are related to customs refurbishment, some like the Nogales railway to keep the train from passing through the city as it has done for over a century, the railway will be left at an advanced stage,” AMLO said, “I hope we can finish it but if not, it will have to be finished by the next administration. It will not take a lot of time.”

He added that his government will have enough time to inaugurate the new customs office in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state. 

A hallmark of the AMLO administration has been favoring publicly funded projects over PPPs and concessions. 

“We bet on public investment, not concessions or handing public services to private entities because that is what was done before, a highway was built but one had to pay, and the budget was used for other things, to benefit a minority,” he said.  

Sheinbaum has pledged to continue with AMLO’s policy in the infrastructure sector, as well as his austerity focus.  

At the time of publication, with close to 87% of the votes counted Sheinbaum had obtained around 59% versus around 28% for her closest rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, who represented a broad opposition coalition.