President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised $7.5 billion for youth job training and aid to the elderly Wednesday, keystone programs that could make Mexico’s business sector one of the biggest beneficiaries of his first year in office.
Lopez Obrador pledged the government would pay the salaries of apprentices employed by Mexican companies as part of a $5 billion package of scholarships and job training.
The once-fiery leftist met with Mexican businessmen on Wednesday in a surprisingly chummy encounter where he sealed the job-training deal in a handshake with business chamber leader Juan Pablo Castanon.
The programs for the elderly and youths will be the cornerstones of Lopez Obrador’s first year in office, which starts when he takes office Dec. 1.
“We will have to come up with this funding … even if we are left without a shirt on our backs,” Lopez Obrador vowed. The president-elect — whose victory must still be certified by electoral authorities and the courts — implied that most of his other campaign promises will be left to later years in office. Lopez Obrador was elected in a landslide Sunday.
Lopez Obrador pledged $2 billion to extend and increase old-age supplementary payments to the elderly so that every Mexican over 68 will receive at least the equivalent of $2.25 per day.
The elderly payments initially started in Mexico City when Lopez Obrador was mayor in the early 2000s, but he has now pledged to fund them at the same level as in the capital — currently about $60 per month — nationwide.
But the youth program appeared to be a big gift to the…
… Read More
—-
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News