Tale of Two Corruptos: Brazil and Mexico on Different Transparency Paths

TIME, 12/6/2012

There is an increasingly heated debate today about Latin America’s two titans: Does Brazil receive too many kudos, and does Mexico receive too much criticism? For all the ugly press Mexico’s murderous drug war gets, Brazil’s homicide rate is actually higher. Global media fawn over Brazil’s economic boom, but the World Bank finds Mexico a much easier place to do business; it earns more in manufacturing exports and is enrolling a higher number of engineering students.

But Transparency International offers another potential reminder of why Brazil has realized more development, and two times more average economic growth, than Mexico has so far in the so-called Century of the Americas. Bottom line: business and bureaucracy might be easier in Mexico, but in Brazil they’re actually cleaner.

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It is time to debate a joined civil mandate- Benitez [in Spanish]

Reforma, 9/16/12

Raúl Benítez Manaut, an academic at UNAM,  has called for a profound military reform in Mexico, and says that the president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto should start on it immediately.  He says that otherwise relations between the military and the civilian government will continue in the same opaque and uncoordinated manner, and continue the lack of transparency in military matters.

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The beginning of change [in Spanish]

Reforma, Enrique Peña Nieto, 7/16/12

Enrique Peña Nieto

In this op-ed, which was published in Reforma, Peña affirms that his party received an electoral mandate to govern Mexico, and says that he is sure that the TEPJF will rule in that manner.   He says that one of his first goals is to speak with civil society to get their input on his reforms for the nation so as to make Mexico a more democratic society, and sets out three initiatives which he wants to accomplish his first days in office.  These are: to promote the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission, to ensure transparency throughout all levels of government, and to create an autonomous association of citizens which can oversee media and publicity contacts made by the government so as to ensure that the people have access to the most transparent and free media possible.  He said that he and his transition team are also discussing economic which will be revealed to the Congress in time.  Finally he concludes by saying that he will respect the law, and will wait until his official confirmation as president-elect before announcing the rest of his transition team.

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Enrique Peña Nieto asks the citizens and the opposition to help him achieve four political agreements [in Spanish]

Animal Politico, 7/11/12

Enrique Peña Nieto

Peña Nieto asked the citizens and the opposition to help him achieve four political agreements.  Namely:  the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission, increased transparency and access to information, the creation of a group to monitor the government’s advertisements so as to ensure freedom of expression, and the formation of a group to start working on the transition stage so as to be prepared with more pacts (“compromisos”) for when they assume office in December.  Peña Nieto also named three members of his new team: Luis Videgaray, Peñas former campaign manager, will become his coordinator for public policy, Jesús Murillo Karam, will be in charge of judicial tasks, and Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong who will be in charge of coordination and political dialogue.Read More…

Two amazing moments [op-ed in Spanish]

Reforma, José Woldenberg, 6/21/2012

Woldenberg says that though the most important part of the elections is that they occur well and without issues, there are two key, yet mostly ignored, moments in the electoral process.  The first occurs the night before the election when the IFE drops off electoral packets in more than 140 million houses.  The second occurs on the day of the election when all the local vote counters collect the packets and count the votes, as observed by representatives of all the parties.  All of this is done to ensure that the votes will be counted in an open and transparent manner.

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Junco: Mexico can recover through accountability

Associated Press, 12/6/2010

The leader of Mexico’s largest newspaper chain says that truth and transparency must be assured in the Mexican press and legal system or the country will keep seeing social problems and a violent drug war.

Alejandro Junco (HOON-coh) de la Vega is chairman and chief executive of Mexico’s Grupo Reforma newspaper. He delivered the keynote address Monday at a summit on violence against journalists. The event is co-sponsored by the American Society of News Editors and Mexico’s IAPA.

Junco says Mexico is suffering from something worse than hunger — what he calls civic, moral and economic malnutrition.

During remarks at the University of Texas at El Paso, he said he’s optimistic that Mexico can recover from its problems, but only when drug cartels and corrupt government agencies can be held accountable.

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Security Agencies Deny Information: IFAI (in Spanish)

El Universal, 8/9/2010

The commissioner of the Federal Institute for Access to Information, María Marván Laborde, revealed that the institutions charged with providing security in our country (SSPF, PGR and Sedena) refuse to release statistics regarding the war on drug trafficking.

Participating in the Forum on Challenges and Advances in Access to Information, organized by Fundar, Articulo 19 and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Marván Laborde said that much of the information related to security and organized crime has been “closed” to the public with the justification that the information is confidential.

“I am convinced that in terms of public security, if there were a policy of transparency and access to information, we could bet that there would be more public trust in the measures and in struggle agianst drug trafficking that this administration has pursued,” she opined. 

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Federal Institute for Access to Information (IFAI) Denounces Attack (in Spanish)

Reforma, 5/26/2010

The IFAI accused the Federal Tribunal of Fiscal and Administrative Justice (TFJFA) of threatening transparency by opening the door so that federal agencies can issue orders blocking access to public information.

On Sunday Reforma published information stating that the 10th Metropolitan Regional Office of the TFJFA declared null several portions of an IFAI ruling that ordered the Attorney General (PGR) to give a citizen access to previous inquiries made against the ex-mayor of Mexico City, Rosario Robles.

Yesterday, the Tribunal authorized the Tax Administration Service (SAT) to also provisionally suspend the diffusion of the names of businesses and individuals that benefitted from the cancelation of government loans as unpayable.

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Groups Call for More Transparency in Procampo, Others (in Spanish)

El Universal, 11/12/09

Analysts, business organizations, and political parties demanded the elimination of social programs that have not worked,”and those that continue should be audited and their rolls purged.”

A specialist from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, José Luis de la Cruz, said that the request for resources for programs in question, such as ProÁrbol and Procampo, represent a lack of evaluation of results.

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Chihuahua City now a model for cleaning up Mexico’s police

Christian Science Monitor, 12/31/2008

There is nothing extraordinary inside the municipal jail in Chihuahua City: Half a dozen men kill time – some sleeping, others pacing – their languid motions caught on TV monitors outside their cells. But the cameras aren’t just to aid the guards. Across town, Chihuahua’s state human rights office is viewing the same scene on a TV screen that shows images from cameras set up throughout two city jails.

The three-month-old program, which allows human rights workers 24-hour access, is the newest effort toward transparency in Chihuahua’s police department. And in a country where the police rank among the least respected institutions, Chihuahua’s moves toward accountability are garnering its police a rare reputation for honesty and competency that experts hope can be implemented elsewhere.

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