Mexico finally finds buyer for luxury presidential jet

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he has finally found a buyer for a luxury presidential jet that he once called an "insult" to the people -- the government of Tajikistan.

The Central Asian nation agreed to purchase the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for 1.66 billion pesos ($92 million), Lopez Obrador announced late Thursday after several years of trying to sell the plane.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist austerity crusader, had been vowing to get rid of the aircraft since his 2018 election campaign, saying "not even Donald Trump has a plane like that."

"I would have felt shame, I say it sincerely, to use this plane," Lopez Obrador said in a video announcing its sale, sitting next to the aircraft.

The proceeds will be used to build two hospitals in impoverished regions of southern Mexico, he said.

The jet, customized with an executive bedroom, private bath and seating for 80 people, was purchased for about $218 million during former president Felipe Calderon's 2006-2012 term in office.

The only one who used it was his successor Enrique Pena Nieto.

In September 2020, Lopez Obrador's government held a symbolic raffle aimed at raising funds roughly equivalent to the plane's value.

Last year he announced that the jet would be made available to rent for birthday and wedding parties.