MEXICO CITY — It’s virtually unattainable to search out water to drink all through all the, spanking new airport. The unfinished entry roads nonetheless want indicators, compelling confused drivers to reverse down the freeway. The one transnational flight scheduled for the foreseeable future is from Venezuela.
With a lot fanfare and few logistical concerns, the Felipe Ángeles Worldwide Airport in Mexico Metropolis was unveiled on Monday, the primary of many large-scale infrastructure initiatives that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised to ship earlier than his six-year time period ends in 2024.
The airport’s opening might sound untimely, however it comes simply weeks earlier than a referendum on whether or not the president ought to step down properly prematurely of the tip of his necessary single time period. Mr. López Obrador appeared desirous to ship on not less than a type of promised initiatives earlier than the vote. “This belongs to the nation,” Mr. López Obrador stated on the inaugural ceremony, as supporters chanted “sure he may!”
The airport’s long-term success may considerably affect the prospects of the get together he began roughly a decade in the past, Morena. However for now, the airport, like most of the president’s big-ticket initiatives, could not provide as many financial or political advantages as he hopes.
The initiatives embody an enormous new oil refinery, which might be coming at a time when manufacturing is falling for the state-owned petroleum firm, and the Tren Maya, a prepare that may take vacationers from the seashores of Cancún deep into the Yucatán Peninsula.
“These infrastructure initiatives usually are not viable and will likely be sponsored by the federal government for years to come back,” stated Denise Dresser, a outstanding political scientist and columnist based mostly in Mexico Metropolis.
Some analysts are extra optimistic. Rogelio Rodríguez Garduño, a professor of aeronautical legislation on the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México who wrote Mexico’s present civil aviation legislation, says the brand new airport may finally develop into worthwhile if it focuses on turning into a hub for low-cost carriers.
Mr. López Obrador got here to energy in 2018, in a fire-and-brimstone marketing campaign targeted on the deep-seated corruption of previous governments. He claimed that his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto, had stolen his victory throughout the 2012 presidential election. Though the vote was shut, worldwide observers stated that Mr. Peña Nieto had gained pretty.
Identified for holding grudges, Mr. López Obrador stopped the development of an airport that Mr. Peña Nieto conceived — positioned nearer to Mexico Metropolis — though the federal government had already spent some $3 billion and accomplished about 30 p.c of that undertaking. It was meant to be a hub for the area, the Heathrow Airport of Latin America, with a complete price ticket of $13 billion. However Mr. López Obrador stated that Mr. Peña Nieto’s airport was “an enormous heist” that was being in-built “the worst location.” His various airport could be in the best place and value so much much less, a logo of the austerity he championed.
Though Mr. Lopez Obrador initially stated Felipe Ángeles would price about $3.7 billion, the federal government has not too long ago earmarked $2 billion for the undertaking. A lot stays to be carried out and spending may rise additional.
Whereas many analysts agree with Mr. López Obrador that corruption has been endemic in previous administrations — and have applauded his authorities for its lack of significant scandals — they consider that canceling the earlier airport undertaking was a mistake.
Felipe Ángeles was constructed on a army air base by the Mexican military and can function two runways for industrial use, in comparison with the 5 deliberate for in Mr. Peña Nieto’s authorities. The brand new airport will accommodate 20 million passengers yearly, in comparison with the 125 million that the scrapped airport had been designed to deal with, which might have made it the second largest on the planet.
As a substitute of constructing one airport for Mexico Metropolis to accommodate home and worldwide flights — as the unique undertaking had envisioned — Felipe Ángeles will work in tandem with the capital’s current airport, which is overburdened and growing old.
However past the plaque hanging above the terminal, there’s little proof that Felipe Ángeles will quickly be a world hub.
Felipe Ángeles is about 30 miles from Mexico Metropolis, the roads resulting in it are incomplete and the unfinished rail line linking the airport to the capital is not going to open till 2023. That may make it troublesome for passengers flying from elsewhere in Mexico to land at Felipe Ángeles after which take the lengthy journey to the present worldwide airport for a connecting flight overseas. It may take as much as three hours to achieve Felipe Ángeles from the capital, identified for its chockablock visitors.
The primary main infrastructure undertaking to be delivered, Felipe Ángeles was presupposed to showcase the aptitude and thriftiness of the federal government simply weeks earlier than a nationwide referendum on whether or not the president ought to full his six-year time period. The referendum, proposed by Mr. López Obrador, is anticipated to have a lightweight turnout, together with his supporters anticipated to indicate up and his detractors to remain house.
Critics say a number of the initiatives could grow to be white elephants — unviable pet initiatives. In the event that they fail, it can probably be after Mr. López Obrador inaugurates them, cuts the purple ribbon and steps down, his time period ending in 2024.
A candidate from Morena, the get together the president based, is predicted to clinch the following nationwide election. If the initiatives show unsuccessful it can probably be on the following authorities’s watch, analysts say, presumably leaving Mr. López Obrador freed from blame.
At Monday’s inauguration, 1000’s of Mr. López Obrador’s supporters arrived to cheer the president on. Conventional bands performed Mexican tunes, whereas a number of individuals searched vainly for a connection to make calls or ship textual content messages from the distant airport.
The president lambasted his critics and hailed the airport’s success. Mr. López Obrador nonetheless stays one of many world’s hottest leaders, with an approval ranking that has hovered above 60 p.c since he took workplace in 2018, although it has slipped not too long ago as Mexico has battled an financial slowdown.
Mr. López Obrador’s supporters hail him for being a down-to-earth chief, a uncommon president who listens to the typical Mexican and is anxious with the well-being of the underclass.
“You see it, you are feeling it, AMLO is current!” supporters chanted at Monday’s airport inauguration, utilizing a nickname for Mr. López Obrador.
Ana Sosa and Anatoly Kurmanaev contributed reporting from Mexico Metropolis.