On Wednesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he believes that in the near future, either the US government, or US banks will supply interest-free loans to his nation to construct four wind power farms in a an area in southern Mexico called the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

He went on to say he believes US climate envoy John Kerry will travel to the area in February to initiate the projects.

López Obrador also noted that he had been told US automaker Tesla was looking at building an auto-plant at an industrial park located 2 miles from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) by Mexico City.

Later the Presidential spokesman, Jesus Ramirez, said it was expected the plant would become an export hub for the electric automaker.

Ramirez said, “Tesla is looking at investing in that area to take advantage of AIFA.”

López Obrador hopes the wind farms will be part of a broader plan he is implementing, which involves constructing 10 industrial parks along a renovated rail corridor which connects the Gulf and Pacific coasts. He hopes the project will generate a large number of jobs in the less developed, and poorer, south of Mexico.

Residents in the area however have been offering considerable resistance to the prospect of the wind farms being constructed in their region.

The Mexican President has spent extensive capital to keep the long-struggling state-owned electric company, The Comisión Federal de Electricidad, afloat, and he noted the new wind farms will be run by the state-owned company.,

Although there has been a growing conflict between Mexico and the United States and Canada over the issue of Mexico’s use of the state owned firm for electric projects, compared with cleaner private sector energy production companies, Obrador has gone on to push legislation which confers advantages on the state-owned company.