Mexican president to move from home to office apartment

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador refuses to live in the luxurious official residence, and on Thursday he said he’s planning to downsize even further: He announced he is moving soon to an unused apartment at his offices downtown.

The notoriously parsimonious Lopez Obrador turned the old presidential residence compound into an arts centre and currently lives at his town house on the city’s south side.

His offices are in the centuries-old National Palace in downtown Mexico City, and he says it often takes him a long time to get home through the notorious traffic in the city of 9 million.

The president, who holds a 7:00 am news conference every weekday morning, already sleeps over at the office sometimes. But he won’t move his family until his youngest son finishes the school year.

Because it’s a historic site with famous murals, Lopez Obrador said he won’t alter anything. He pledged tourists will still have access to the building, which is located on the city’s main plaza.

And he promised nothing would happen to a tribe of cats that live in a garden in one of the building’s patios.

“They’re even saying that we are going to get rid of the cats,” Lopez Obrador said laughing. “No, no, no, nothing like that.”