The Associated Press Mocks AMLO for wanting to help hospitals

By Marc Ray

AP CLAIM: Gone are the hopes. [AMLO’s sale of the presidential airplane] it would raise a lot of money for anti-poverty programs. Associated Press.

VERIFICATION: That is a false claim. The proceeds from the sale of the Presidential airplane would not go to fund social programs such as senior pensions, children’s disability benefits, and scholarships, or as the AP called it, “anti-poverty programs.” Social programs funding were part of the 2020 budget approved by congress in 2019 and with a budget increase of 4.83% Therefore, the future sale of the plane has no correlations to social programs funding. As of August, 2020 the airplane hasn’t been sold, yet social programs were funded without a problem. The proceeds of the Mexican presidential airplane will go to purchase medical equipment. The false statement was also repeated by several news outlets including the Washington Post

The Guardian published a piece by the Associated Press, mocking President AMLO for putting the luxurious presidential airplan for sale. The plane wss purchased without congressional approval in 2012 by former president Calderon as a gift to incoming president Peña Nieto. The proceeds of the airplane will go to help equipped new hospitals with medical equipment.

The luxurious Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenge airplane with a market value $230 million dollars, was purchased by former president Calderon without congressional approval in a usual government spending spree, some mired in corruption scandals.

The core objective for selling the plain?

AMLO says he is showcasing the airplane in an attempt to vilify corruption as he tackles the endemic corruption that overtook the government for decades. Aside from the presidential airplane, other unnecessary luxury jets and helicopters will be sold as well.

The goal is to put an end to luxurious government spending and government embezzlement, in a country were 70% of its population is poor and 50% is at extreme poverty level.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger was redesigned as a penthouse in the sky with tax payers money. The plane was purchased by the former president of Mexico Calderon whose national security secretary, Garcia Luna, was recently arrested by the FBI for money lundry and colluding with drug cartels.

The Associated Press article calls the theft of millions of dollars spent on luxurious jet trips by former government officials “perks.” In addition, it makes unfounded claims stating that selling the helicopters, used by former government officials to fly them to play golf, could hurt Mexico’s security.

Some of the aircraft defended by the Associated Press, were used by officials who are now in prison or currently under investigation by the FBI for money laundering, racketing, embezzlement, and colluding with organized crime aka cartels.

The plane and jet planes were an unnecessary additional purchase used often for personal and recreational purpuses, hence the government decided to put it up for sale.

“Many of the planes to auctioned off in later rounds belonged to the attorney general’s office, raising the question of whether the sales could threaten key governmental tasks.” wrote the Associated Press article in The Guardian with unknown author name.

The most insulting part of the article comes when the “unknown author” says, the president has a “distaste for “high living” a derogative remark, borderline personal, and unprofessional reporting. This is false, the president doesn’t have “distaste for high living.” President Lopez Obrador has a distaste for corruption and corrupt officials who steal money from the government and then give themselves a “high living.”

With only one click away, anyone can quickly learn, through s Twitter account, that the President does not have a distaste for “high living.” As he is seen below having a fancy setting at the annual governors’ dinner at the National Palace.

Comida con la gobernadora, la jefa de Gobierno, gobernadores y gabinete.

Reafirmamos nuestro compromiso de seguir trabajando juntos, con democracia y respeto a la pluralidad, por el bien del pueblo y de nuestra gran nación. pic.twitter.com/MEmzO57D6n

— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) January 14, 2020

It’s a foregone conclusion at this point that Americans and European writers, and power influencers, have either no clue what is going on in Mexico or their articles are ill-intended.

Wonder if the Associated Press and The Guardian are aware of the fact that 70% of the population in Mexico is under extreme poverty, and that the minimum wage in Mexico is the lowest in the world, even lower than China. Mexico’s minimum wages is at $4.50 dollars per day (yes you heard right, per day, not per hour).

And how did Mexico arrived at this extreme corruption breaking point? It got here because of 36 years of neoliberal economic model imposed by Washington and international banks, an economic measure that was championed and celebrated by the same publications that now criticize the president’s actions to end the looting and the corruption in the government.

Yes, trying to sell an airplane that not even the American president has, and neither the Canadian prime minister wanted because he said” its to ostentatious” is a huge endeavor. The sell if the luxurious plane could look like an embarrassing move to developed nations, but Mexico was left broke by the former regime, and the center-democrat president, Lopez Obrador, is putting people over ego. He is not a narcissistic President who would care if mentioning the sale of the plane on one of his morning press conference looks good or bad– a conference that millions of viewers around the world.

“Despite his distaste for high living, it is precisely as a business perk that the president hopes to sell off the presidential jet. López Obrador proudly showed off a brochure he had drawn up in a somewhat desperate-sounding sales pitch for the craft.” says the AP article in the Guardian.

The Associated press mocks and makes fun of President for announcing the sale of the plain at his Tuesday’s press conference, calling it “desperate.”

By taking a closer look, a knowable person who understands geo politics and Mexican political and socio-economic situation, is perfectly clear that there is nothing odd with AMLO’s government based in austerity. Let’s not forget when Trump’s Cabinet members racked up millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded travel — who became under scrutiny for it.

And let’s not forget either Secretary Scott Pruitt’s Ritz-Carlton moisturizing lotion scandal, among many of over the top “perks” he obtained with tax peyer money, and who later was forced to resign. Or what about Secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, who used a government airplane to go shopping in Europe with his girlfriend (now wife) and friends.

Likewise, former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who spent tax payer money on his luxurious Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplane trips costing millions on over-priced internet services, toilet papers, lotion, and gel. You really can make this up, it is like taking this out of the same neoliberal corruption playbook; or the movie the Wolf of Wall Street

In 2018, the country voted for a change: to remove the corrupt two-party system that ruled Mexico for 70 years and left its citizens in complete misery, a 250K death toll on its war on drugs, and the biggest looting in Mexico’s history.

“The looting in the last 36 years of the neoliberal economic model was larger than the 300 years of the Spanish colonialism.” said AMLO.

During the neoliberal economic era in Mexico, that began in the 1980s and ended in 2019, not only government officials looted the country’s wealth, but also it was done in tandem by handful of national and international elites, mostly United States, Canada, and European multinationals and financial banks.

Lastly, the Associated Press article claims that if AMLO fails to sell the airplane, he cannot fund social programs such as pensions, scholarships, and disability benefits. That is false, these programs are already funded and approved by congress on the 2020 budget with an increase of 4.83%

Maybe, next time, if the Associated press, or The Guardian wants to mock an honest and decent democratic president with 40 years defending human rights, the editors should look at themselves in the mirror first and think where their money and “perks” are coming from.

At our publication MexusNews, we’re constantly fact-checking publications.
We give the Associated Press 4 Pinocchios for lack of fact cheking, unfounded arguments, lack of unbias reportering of information and news, compounding the one lie in in their article. In addition, we give one donkey to The Guardian for repeating it.

Additional:

AP CLAIM: Mexico: Amlo sought to sell presidential jet, but nobody wanted it

THE VERIFICATION. The airplane was in California getting upgraded and inspected by U.N. supervised experts in order to obtain the certifications necessary to sell the airplane. Their assertion that no one wanted the airplane therefore is false, since it cannot be sold without first having the certification.