'Mexico Must Change': President Pena Nieto Announces Measures for Security and Justice CNNMexico
go to original November 28, 2014

Mexico's president promises to overhaul the nation's police forces. Paul Chapman reports (Reuters)

Two months after the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa normal school students, allegedly at the hands of the municipal police of Iguala and Cocula, Guerrero and criminals, a case that President Enrique Peña Nieto has said exhibits "barbarism" and "unacceptable" conditions in Mexico, the president announced Thursday a series of 14 measures regarding security, justice and economic development to prevent such crimes from being repeated.

"After Iguala, Mexico must change (...) I assume the responsibility to lead all necessary efforts to rid Mexico of crime, to fight corruption and impunity, in short, to build the full rule of law," he said.

Peña Nieto, a member of the party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI), announced these actions during a speech given in the National Palace, attended by cabinet members, governors and legislators. They include:

1. Law against criminal infiltration

Submit to Congress a proposed constitutional amendment giving it the power to issue a Law against the Infiltration of Organized Crime into Municipal Authorities.

2. Powers to fight crime

Submit to Congress a proposed constitutional amendment that clearly defines the responsibilities of each level of government in the fight against crime.

3. Single police command

Submit to Congress a proposed constitutional amendment to create a single police command for each of  the 32 federal entities [31 states and Federal District] of the country.

"(It is necessary) to go from over 1,800 weak municipal police departments, which can easily be corrupted by crime, to solid state security departments that are more reliable, more professional and more effective," said Peña Nieto.

This would require resources and a transition process, so the President proposed that the first states to adopt this scheme would be Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán and Tamaulipas. There would also be sanctions for mayors and governors who did not join the change.

4. Single emergency phone number, 911

Establish a single emergency number in the country. Peña Nieto proposed it be 911 and asked for the help of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).

5. Identity key

Promote the creation of a unique identity code that enables having a "reliable record" of the Mexican population. Doing this, according to Peña Nieto, does not require starting from zero, but using information that institutions like the National Electoral Institute (INE) already have.

6. Operation in Tierra Caliente

Perform a special operation in Tierra Caliente [Hot Country region of the Balsas River basin], in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán, to fight crime.

7. Everyday justice

Promote reforms in Congress to streamline the system of justice with which citizens grapple every day, for example, to seek a divorce or collect a debt. To do this, Peña Nieto requested support from the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) [a university], to organize forums that result in proposals.

8. Actions on human rights

Submit a reform initiative to empower Congress to issue general laws on torture and forced disappearance, further strengthening protocols to prevent officials from committing these crimes, create a national system of tracing missing persons and publish the regulations for the General Law of Victims.

9. Fighting corruption

Support creation of the National Anticorruption System being discussed in Congress. This system was proposed by the opposition National Action Party (PAN) and involves setting aside the anti-corruption commission that Peña Nieto, himself, proposed.

10. Transparency in government procurement

Order the Secretariat of Public Administration (SFP) to create a website with information about federal government suppliers and contractors.

11. Economic Development

Develop a reform to create three special economic zones in the south [poorest region, heavily indigenous]: one in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec [Oaxaca], one in Chiapas and one in Lázaro Cárdenas [major port], that covers Michoacán and Guerrero.

12. Employment and education

Promote programs of rural development, employment and scholarships in the southern states. To do this, for example, Peña Nieto said he will sign a decree to give a different tax treatment to agricultural producers in the region and give more resources to rural normal schools.

13. Minimum Wage

Work on a reform to uncouple the minimum wage from other fiscal matters such as fines, so that this opens a debate on the amount of wages. [MV Note: Currently, the minimum wage, about US$5 per day, is used as a unit to determine such things as fines. This is one source of opposition to increasing the wage, as it would automatically increase these other fees.]

14. Dialogue with society

Order the Secretariats of Goverment Relations (SEGOB) and Social Development (SEDESOL) to "expand" the spaces for dialogue with social organizations and encourage their participation.

See the original at Mexico Voices

Photo: Claudia Daut/Reuters

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx.

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