In Mexico, the presidential plane will go on sale in the lottery. This astonishing proposal was confirmed on Friday February 7 by the Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador "AMLO". "What to settle the fate of this pharaonic device", he congratulated himself, who made this Boeing 787 "Dreamliner", the emblem of his fight against the abuses of his predecessors. Without a buyer for the luxury jet, valued at 118 million euros, the president of the left opted for a controversial raffle.
"There will not be one, but a hundred winners", announced AMLO. Six million “cachito” tickets, the name of the Mexican national lottery, will go on sale at the end of February, for a unit value of 500 pesos (24 euros). The draw is scheduled for September 15, 2020. The deal is expected to yield 3 billion pesos (145 million euros). The jet sits on the "cachito" ticket, presented by AMLO, whose legend states that no one will win the aircraft: "100 awards of 20 million pesos ($ 1 million) each equivalent to the value of the presidential plane. " The rest of the funds raised will be used to maintain the aircraft by the Air Force until it is sold. Amounts advanced by the government, which then plans to use the proceeds from the sale to fund medical equipment for public hospitals.
Upon taking office, 1st December 2018, AMLO decided to dispose of the device. For him, it was a symbol of the austerity cure led by this center-left president who travels, like his ministers, on commercial flights. "No rich government in a poor country", AMLO repeats, while almost half of Mexicans (129 million) are destitute. Purchased $ 218 million by former Conservative President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) and then used by his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), the aircraft is equipped with a luxurious presidential room and a large room private bathroom, as well as a well-furnished living room. "Even Donald Trump doesn’t have such a luxurious device," repeats AMLO, which is struggling to find a buyer. The aircraft is kept on an airstrip in the United States, accumulating more than $ 1.5 million in maintenance costs.
Economic difficulties
His raffle, however, is far from unanimous among Mexicans. Internet users first wondered about the problems of parking and maintaining such a device for the possible winner. One of the humorous photos posted on the Internet shows the device parked in front of a taco restaurant. The hashtags #NoESBroma (C’estPasUneBlague) or #SiMeGanoElAvion (SiJeGagneLAvion) have become popular on social networks.
What compel AMLO to review its copy: "We do not want to award a single prize that would turn into a problem for the winner because of the greed he or she might arouse in his loved ones. " But critics are still flowing from many observers, who denounce a media blow, aimed at diverting the attention of the public while the security and economic policies of the president are struggling to bear fruit. Homicides (35,000 in 2019) break records. Growth contracted 0.1% last year.
Friday, AMLO called on the population to buy tickets en masse, also inviting big bosses to mobilize. In the process, the president stressed that if successful, the experiment could be successful. The rest of the government fleet, made up of 39 helicopters and 33 private jets (excluding the army and the police), is also for sale.
