Earlier this month, Senator Emilio Gamboa Patron from Mexico’s Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), said two anti-corruption proposals from President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto will be introduced to the national legislature in the next 15 days.
The first proposal would strengthen the power of the Federal Institute of Access to Information and Data Protection (IFAI). That agency currently oversees 440 units of the Federal Public Administration but has no jurisdiction in matters related to the Legislative and Judiciary Power, the Judicial Council and autonomous bodies.
The second proposal would create a National Anti-Corruption Commission. It would replace the current Public Function Secretary, and have exclusive jurisdiction in corruption cases involving federal officials. It would also have broad powers to investigate allegations like those leveled against Wal-Mart (or Walmex) earlier this year.
The proposals would help clean up the PRI’s corrupt image. The party was accused of irregularities and corruption during the presidential campaign. The initiative also responds to criticisms that Mexico’s federal system leaves huge gaps in enforcement.
Since Mexico’s democratic transition, anti-corruption efforts at the federal level haven’t been matched at the state and municipal level. And fragmented federal enforcement has created power vacuums that have been exploited by organized crime groups, including the violent drug gangs.
For more information, see El Universal and Milenio.
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Maria Dolores Hernandez J. is a researcher for the membership area of the FCPA Blog.
3 Comments
Enrique Peña Nieto is president-elect, not yet president. The president in office is Felipe Calderón.
While we wish Mexico's new President Enrique Pena Nieto all the best, I am afraid he is inheriting a problem that has become almost insurmountable. The Mexico I knew for the last decades has become too dangerous to travel. Friends there have fled with their families to the states for safety, taking their money with them. Unfortunately, when a corrupt system proposes to repair the system it benefits from, the results are generally assured.
Maria Delores Hernandez is absolutely correct that the state and local governments march to a different drum. Corruption flows from the bottom, up, in Mexico. I pray for a sign that the corruption is subsiding, all the while realizing that Ms. Hernandez' assessment is correct. When some governors go into office as paupers, coming out with hundreds of millions a few short years later, one realizes why it is so important to run for office in Mexico. Generational wealth is assured, as long as you play ball.
Siempre Mexico. So far from God, but so near to the US.
Bobby Vassallo
I stand corrected, Luis. Newly President-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto. I look forward to seeing you at the inauguration, as always.
Regards,
Bobby Vassallo
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