AMLO says presidential plane sale will help fund migration plan

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador

said on Wednesday the sale of the former presidential jet from the last government would help fund efforts to curb migration under a deal struck last week with Washington.

The agreement reached on Friday averted escalating import tariffs of 5% on Mexican goods, which U.S. President Donald Trump had vowed to impose unless Mexico did more to contain migration via Central America to the United States.

In return, Mexico has agreed to toughen up its migration controls, including deploying its National Guard security force to its southern border with Guatemala.

“About how much this plan is going to cost, let me say, we have the budget,” López Obrador said at his regular daily news conference. “It would come out of what we’re going to receive from the sale of the luxurious presidential plane.”

López Obrador said the price tag of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner used by his predecessor Enrique Peña Nieto would start at USD$150 million , citing a United Nations evaluation, though he later clarified that the was unsure if the price tag would start at USD$130 or $150 million. The plane has been on sale for several months.

However, security analyst Alejandro Hope pointed out in a column published in EL UNIVERSAL on Monday that the cost of deploying the National Guard along the Mexican border with Guatemala would cost around MXN$3.6 billion ( USD$187 million , as per the current exchange rate).

As soon as he took office in December , the leftist announced plans to sell the plane, whose spacious interior includes a bedroom and is emblazoned with official government seals on the walls and flat-screen monitors.

The jet was acquired in late 2012 for USD$218 million . It is on sale along with 60 government planes and 70 helicopters.

López Obrador has shunned the often luxurious trappings of Mexico’s wealthy elites, choosing to fly coach.

He has also rolled out a string of welfare programs for the poor and the elderly, cut salaries for top civil servants and says he is saving public money by eliminating corruption.

The President's Office informed that there were 13 potential buyers interested in the presidential jet.

Peña Nieto and his entourage drank 746 bottles on board the presidential plane

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