The Word That Haunts Mexico's President

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Strategy Page:

Austin Bay

July 26, 2016

 

The word "impunity" haunts President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico. It may well scar his historical legacy.

 

For angry and disenchanted Mexican citizens across the political spectrum, "impunity" means two things simultaneously. It signifies the deep and embedded injustice within their nation's governing institutions and society. When shouted by protestors, it expresses deep distrust of and disgust with political and economic leaders who cannot -- or worse, will not -- combat it.

 

How bad is the "impunity" Mexicans despise? In February, the Center for Impunity and Justice Studies published an "impunity index" that indicated only 4.46 percent of reported crimes in Mexico resulted in convictions. The report estimated that only 7 percent of crimes in Mexico are actually reported, which meant 99 percent of committed crimes were not punished. Why? Mexican citizens told investigators that it took a lot of time to report a crime -- which is a way of saying police and judicial branches were unresponsive to average citizens. Citizens also lacked faith in these authorities --another way of saying they lacked faith in institutional and organizational leadership. The study's statistics have been criticized, but the reasons given for citizens' reluctance to report crimes are beyond dispute.

 

When he ran for president in 2012, Pena claimed his leadership marked a sharp change in Institutional Revolutionary Party (known as PRI). For seven decades prior to 2000, PRI politicians and their cronies looted Mexico. Pena swore the "new PRI" he represented had reformed. He promised to reform government institutions and eliminate corruption.

 

It sounded good, until 2014, when the country learned that wealthy media and business moguls had helped Pena and his wife acquire luxury properties. An embarrassed Pena defended the acquisition as legal. It cost him personal credibility. He was now just another PRI politician on the take.

 

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[Valin]

Mexico: Fighting For The Right To Steal
July 27, 2016

Earlier this month the government resumed negotiations with the CNTE (education union). The negotiations are not working and this is not a surprise. CNTE is not really a union. Rather it is the armed wing of the SNTE (national teachers union). For decades the national union has been criticized because it had become corrupt and anti-education. Parents saw SNTE as an obstacle to their children’s education because too many teacher jobs were not for teachers but for whoever could afford to pay a bribe to get a no-show job. You were paid but you did not have to teach or do any work. That was a job worth fighting for. The state-supported schools had become useless and the CNTE would be called out to stage violent protests whenever local or national governments tried to change this. CNTE claims to have popular support but beyond the families of teachers the CNTE is hated and feared. Open criticism is often violently suppressed. CNTE and SNTE supported whichever political party would help them and was part of a larger corrupt system that most Mexicans want gone. The current reform effort by the federal prosecutors centers on former SNTE head, Elba Esther Gordillo Morales. In 2013 she was indicted on embezzlement and theft charges and arrested. Gordillo allegedly embezzled $160 million in union and education funds and was notorious for her luxurious lifestyle.

 

The government is now trying to clean up the union. To aid with that the government passed a law that gives the federal government control over education. Who had controlled education policy before that? The teachers union did so, with minimal government oversight. Based on the embezzlement scandal, there was also minimal financial oversight. Until the new law was passed, the SNTE determined who was hired and fired. The new law says hiring will be based on qualifications and merit. The teachers union has been one of the most powerful (and allegedly most corrupt) unions in Mexico. It has around 1.5 million members and most of them are not qualified to be teachers. Currently the union maintains roadblocks in Oaxaca state and threatens widespread protests throughout Mexico. The union continues to demand that the government repeal the 2013 laws that required routine evaluations of teacher efficiency. The union also want the government to free two union leaders currently under arrest.

 

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