Petroleum is at the center of his strategy, with the construction of a refinery in Tabasco, and has in essence banned private investment in the sector. There was low or flat economic growth in his first year of office. He implemented a minimum wage increase of 16.21% in 2019, before uplifting the wage increase to 20% the same year. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to cause lasting damage to the economy, with some critics arguing López Obrador has not effectively planned and responded to economic uncertainty, with the peso falling in the first months of the pandemic. López Obrador made good on his promise to cancel the building of a new airport (Texcoco Airport) to serve Mexico City, with $13.3 billion already spent. Instead, the Felipe Ángeles International Airport was reworked to replace it. The trade deal with the U.S. and Canada was ratified by all three nations and went into effect in July 2020. López Obrador traveled to the U.S. to sign the agreement, but Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of the third partner, Canada, did not attend, claiming the coronavirus as the reason. Trump and López Obrador signed the agreement at the White House. With the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances from Mexicans in the U.S. have fallen. In addition, with the U.S.-Mexico border increasingly difficult to cross, Mexicans in the U.S. are now aging and dying, often being buried in their home towns and villages. Response to the COVID-19 pandemic According to Los Angeles Times, the initial response by López Obrador's government was as late as March 2020, and was met with significant criticism. The president continued to hold rallies, be tactile with crowds, and downplay the threat of coronavirus to Mexicans' health and to the Mexican economy. When COVID-19 arrived in Mexico, the government took few steps to ramp up preparedness. The healthcare system is undergoing reforms to lessen the possibility of corruption and to shift from the existing insurance system to a universal one. In March 2020, López Obrador pledged to donate a quarter of his salary to help the country weather the pandemic. As of 25 January 2021, 1,763,219 people have contracted the virus and 149,614 have died. Crime and the drug war Rates of crime remain high in Mexico and conflict and violence of drug mafias has not been stemmed. The number of murders nationwide in 2019 was over 34,000. Although the rate of women's murders