AMLO to down size National Electoral Institute [INE]

Here is my point and concern about INE/IFE. It has been a successful organization since the 90's and played an important role in ending the monopoly of the PRI in Mexican politics and created a true, if still young, democracy in Mexico. As well as running what are widely considered to be free and fair elections, including the ones that elected this current president, it is in charge of giving free voting ID's to all Mexican and maintaining that system. It provides funding to all political parties so that they do not have to depend on private funding to get their message to voters. That system is not perfect and it definitely is being abused by some. Those who abuse it should be being prosecuted via the justice system. Instead this president and his party have repeatedly cut the budget of INE by not insignificant amounts per year for the last 3 years for an organization that represents about .2% of the national budget. A small price to pay in my book for free and fair elections.

Meanwhile the budget of the military has increased over the term of this president, particularly when considering the addition of the National guard, but crime has continued to increase NATIONWIDE. You say that the National Guard has been a success but I ask you in what manner has it been successful? The vast majority of its personnel who staff it were moved from the military and continue to draw their salary from the military. Security overall has declined nationally while the budgets for the organizations that were tasked with improving that situation has increased with no measurable improvement. When a problem is nationwide it is hard for me to accept that the root of the problem is purely a local one. It is indicative of a national strategy that is failing.

So you state your justification for reducing the budget of INE is because some people abuse it and get rich off of it. Are you claiming that there are not similar people within the military? Have you read some of the information exposed by the recent hack of the military? How some in the military use software like Pegasus to spy on its own citizens? How they use their power to circumvent oversight by the civilian government? Unfortunately the Mexican military has a long history of corruption and even turning against innocent citizens. That doesn't mean that I think the military is all bad but it does mean that I am skeptical that they are going to somehow be able to fix corruption on their own especially in areas of our society that they are not designed to address.

I am not sure what your point is of repeatedly bringing up that my viewpoints seem to be parroting opposition figures or media. It is hard for me not to take those comments as indicating that you perceive me to be incapable of forming my own conclusions. I have never listened to Carlos de Loret nor heard of him prior to your mention of him here. While you seem to take your talking points directly from AMLO's mañaneras I respect you enough to know that you have come to your own conclusions.

With regards to the popularity of AMLO and its relation to democracy I find your logic flawed. While I accept AMLO as the rightfully elected president of Mexico and support his right to exercise his vision for the country within the bounds of the constitution and law, it does not mean that I agree with those policies or will vote with him. The popularity of position does not make it right or wrong. There are many examples of dictators who entered their office via their popularity who I think we can all agree ended up being bad for their country(i.e. Pol Pot, Hitler, Ferdinand Marcos, etc.) Slavery, homophobia, misogyny and many other ideas have all had their turns of being the popular ideology but that didn't make them correct.

I respect you amigo and support much of what you do in our community and appreciate the help that you provide via this website. I just respectfully think that your support of this president and many of his positions is wrong. I am sure you think the same of my position.