Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivered his first official state-of-the-nation address on Sunday. During his 100-minute speech, he emphasized the positives, insisting he's delivering the 'transformation' he promised. But he also acknowledged there's much more work ahead.

Mexican law obligates the president to deliver a state-of-the-nation report on September 1 each year of his six-year term in office. On this day, the Congress begins its new session. Holding a large tome containing the full text of his report to Congress, Lopez Obrador jokingly promised not to read each page. 

Still, he detailed his administration's efforts to fight corruption. Popularly known by his initials, AMLO said Mexican politicians who commit acts of corruption are no longer immune from legal prosecution, not even standing presidents.

"In the executive branch, officials are prohibited from traveling in private planes and helicopters," Lopez Obrador said. "Before they used government helicopters even to go to play golf. All that is over."

The Mexican president recalled the tragic deaths of 137 people killed in a January explosion in Hidalgo state. It happened when scores of people tried to steal gasoline spewing from a ruptured underground pipeline. AMLO says the government has cut gasoline thefts by 94 percent, saving Mexico hundreds of millions of dollars.

The President admitted that the country’s economy is showing little growth, but there is no recession in Mexico and wealth is now being distributed more fairly.

Lopez Obrador congratulated Mexican migrants living in the United States, calling them heroes and saying this year, they sent back a record 16.8 billion U.S. dollars in remittances.

He says his administration has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

Curbing widespread criminal violence remains a top priority. Homicides are on track to set a new record this year, topping 20,000 through July.

"The country is going to be pacified and that is my commitment," he said.

A leading security analyst, Alejandro Hope said "in the security sector, a quick victory would mean the capture of an organized crime leader. There are incentives for this government to modify its security policy."

Lopez Obrador has said he prefers to fight poverty, which he said fuels crime.

He said more than 58,000 National Guard troops have been deployed across Mexico. They have jurisdiction to arrest and detain suspects. He says they are the greatest hope that this nation has for decreasing crime-related violence.