The president addressed the issue at his morning press conference at the National Palace on Tuesday, when a journalist provided the names and surnames of the business people who actually are behind the demonstrations by alleged indigenous people against the project.

Lopez Obrador reminded the audience that the main mission of his Government is to end corruption, eliminate looting and, for this reason, there are alleged environmentalists, human rights defenders and other groups who omitted during neoliberalism the violation of everything they are now allegedly defending.

In the case of the Mayan Train, the president said that it is clear that people support the project for the benefit of the southeast, one of the most abandoned areas in the country.

He recalled that during the 36-year neoliberal period, northern Mexico grew 4.0 percent, the center 2.0 percent and the south-southeast zero percent, because during that time they dedicated themselves to extracting all their wealth from the south-southeast, especially the oil that was part of the national budget, which took 40 cents from each peso of crude oil from Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas.

Lopez Obrador charged that the construction of the Mayan Train is opposed by very strong lobby groups, with a lot of money, who even hire “mercenaries” from certain press outlets to create a ruckus and make people believe that the Mayan Train has opponents among the indigenous people, although they know that everyone supports it.

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