Peña: Fighting poverty a priority

Thursday, 09 January 2014 00:10
BY MAURILIO SOTO
The News


President Enrique Peña Nieto said on Wednesday that fighting poverty among Mexico’s most marginalized people is a priority for his administration.

Peña Nieto’s comments were made in Coachoapa, Guerrero — the country’s poorest municipality, with a poverty rate of over 80 percent — where he met with indigenous leaders and promised to ensure that federal social programs will support those who most need it.

According to Peña Nieto, his administration will continue to implement the National Crusade Against Hunger it launched last year, which he said “will ensure the supply of food to those who unfortunately don’t have it guaranteed every day.”

The federal government’s anti-poverty measures “are not just directed at the 7 million Mexicans suffering hunger, but the 53 million Mexicans living in different conditions of poverty,” he added.

He went on to say that, to help rebuild the state after the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Manuel last year, the federal government will implement the New Guerrero Plan, with what he said was an unprecedented 30 billion peso ($2.3 billion) spending package to develop the state’s productive infrastructure and stimulate economic growth. 2014 will be a good year for Guerrero, he added.

Peña Nieto said that some advances have already been made, such as the construction of 500 community kitchens in La Costa Chica and the La Montaña regions of Guerrero, also among the poorest parts of the country.