Mexico cuts budget for all, from athletes to archaeologists

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican Olympic Committee said Wednesday it will no longer be able to offer food, lodging and medical services at its main training complex, the latest casualty in a round of deep budget cuts by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Seldom has a leftist been so obsessively austerity-minded as Lopez Obrador. In his first seven months in office, he has cut government posts and salaries, and drastically reduced spending on perks and benefits.

He also has cut his own salary and plans to sell off the presidential jet, saying: “We cannot have a rich government with the people poor.”

Lopez Obrador describes his financial plan as “republican austerity.”

But his cuts have begun to seriously hit everyone from athletes to archaeologists, who worry they won’t have enough money to carry out essential tasks.

The Mexican Olympic Committee said it lacks the $4.7 million needed to run the Olympic sports centre in Mexico City with full services. The complex has track and pool facilities, as well as a gymnasium and velodrome. This year, government funding for sports is about 25% below 2018 levels.

Also this week, researchers and archaeologists at the National Institute of Anthropology and History said about 200 employees have been laid off since the start of the year, and more layoffs are feared.

“We have gone from republican austerity to Franciscan poverty,” said Joel Santos, head of the researchers’ union at the institute. Never well-paid, many experts are employed on temporary contracts.

Across the government, Lopez Obrador’s administration has eliminated many consultancy and management positions, and thousands more public servants have resigned.