Former President Peña Nieto reappears; speaks about the canceled Texcoco Airport

Former President Enrique Peña Nieto reappeared in a documentary by the Espinosa Yglesias Study Center (CEEY) about the New Mexico International Airport (NAIM), which was promoted by his administration but canceled during Andrés Manuel López Obrador's term.

In the four-part CEEY documentary series, which features voices for and against the construction of the airport, the former president shares his views on the decision to cancel the airport.

In chapter two of the documentary "Texcoco. The President's Decision," titled "NAIM: An Airport for the 21st Century," they recalled when Peña Nieto, who headed the Executive Branch from 2012 to 2018, announced the initiative to build a new airport for the then Federal District (DF), now Mexico City (CDMX), in September 2014.

Speaking about the alleged corruption cited as one of the reasons for canceling the airport, Peña Nieto asserted that to date, "it has not been proven or proven."

"It's been said that it was pharaonic, that there was misappropriation of resources, but ultimately, it hasn't been proven, proven, or evidenced that the management didn't conform to best practices in terms of transparency and combating corruption," the former president asserts in the video.

In May 2017, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was not yet a presidential candidate, visited the NAIM construction site and described it as "pharaonic."

“It’s waste, influence peddling, corruption,” he said on the construction site, as shown in the documentary itself.

The material includes the voices of former officials and political and business figures involved in the construction of the NAIM, such as Aurelio Nuño, former head of the Presidential Office; Rosario Robles, Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development; and Javier Jiménez Espriú, former head of the Ministry of Communications and Communications during AMLO's administration, among others.

In another part of the documentary, Javier Jiménez Espriú, who served as Secretary of Communications and Transportation from 2018 to 2021, notes that after Andrés Manuel López Obrador's victory in the 2018 presidential elections, the president-elect asked Peña Nieto for a meeting to discuss the airport, which he agreed to.

Peña Nieto referred to the meeting, noting that during the transition, what is done is to offer conditions and hand over to the new government what is happening in all spheres of public administration.

"You have to understand that when you're in transition, you don't negotiate with the incoming government. With the incoming government, you do nothing more than offer them conditions for the transition and hand over, and continue to hand over, practically everything that's happening in all spheres of public administration, so they can resume and learn what's happening," he said.

According to the Espinosa Yglesias Study Center, the documentary series is part of an initiative "to analyze, from a plural and open perspective, presidential decisions that have represented a watershed in the history of Mexico. The cancellation of the New Mexico International Airport in Texcoco is undoubtedly one of these decisions."

CEEY notes that the series "is a behind-the-scenes look at the cancellation of the New Mexico International Airport (NAIM) and the construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport: the decisions, the arguments, the conflicts, and the consequences.

It is narrated by the voices of more than 50 specialists, social activists, academics, government officials, and analysts who were protagonists and witnesses of the failure of one of the most controversial infrastructure projects of the last 40 years.

Enrique Peña Nieto was president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018. He was a driving force behind the New Mexico International Airport (NAIM), and its cancellation during the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador generated much controversy due to the controversial nature of the decision.

Former President Peña Nieto reappears; speaks about the canceled Texcoco Airport