Incoming Government Reconsidering Completion of Mexico City Airport

Mexico’s current federal administration has been working on the construction of a new international airport in the country’s capital for years. It would replace the current one and reduce the flight saturation. But the newly elected government is threatening to cancel it, worrying business groups and civil organizations.

The new international airport at the outskirts of Mexico City is expected to be completed by 2020.

But president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his team is evaluating the project and he might even put it up for public consideration.

We want land and not planes, a group of farmers protesting outside López Obrador’s office said recently. One of them is Aida Juárez, who says only those with money have been authorized to speak, but not people like them. They are concerned on the impact to the environment and the rural communities by the airport.

But businessmen and investors, many of them from the U.S., have also raised their eyebrows, as billions of dollars are at risk if the project is cancelled.

This story is from the Fronteras Desk, a collaboration of Southwestern public radio stations, including NPR 89.1. Read more from the Fronteras Desk.