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.

The INE continues playing the part of partidocracy protector. NOT ITS ROLE. The INE sabotaged the presidente's Consultas Públicas. NOT ITS ROLE. The INE refused to reduce the salary of its director after a mandate by the voters and a call by the presidente to do so. NOT ITS ROLE. The INE prohibits political free speech. NOT ITS ROLE.

Carlos Loret de Mola writes articles for U.S. newspapers and now lives in the USA because he got caught STAGING an arrest of a French citizen in Mexico for kidnapping (who was later exonerated) with corrupt police and Televisa, and his reputation was ruined. I can see his same comments in some of yours, thus my references to him.

AMLO has made the lives better for millions of Mexicans, though if you aren't poor you may not have noticed. He's tackled some historical wrongs that no one else has. You complain about public security then claim there is no strategy to combat it even though there is and it's working. Since I've lived in Guerrero during and after La Guerra Sucia, I've seen the change among the people who before would never have trusted the military but for over 20 years have been calling for the military to do what it's now doing, especially because in Zihuatanejo only the Marina has ever truly provided security for us. One thing we never called for was what Felipe Calderón did as presidente when he committed to fight the USA's proxy "war on drugs" here while having narcos working at the highest levels of his government, meaning that they played favorites, took sides, and only went afer the opposition. He's the main one to blame for the out-of-control violence that continues along with Peña Nieto who not only STOPPED the autodefensas from cleaning up Michoacán, but who arrested and imprisoned them and their leaders on phony charges, obviously taking the side of the narcos.

Sorry to see you not trust the wisdom of the great majority of Mexicans. No one expected AMLO to be perfect. But his flaws are minor compared to those who were alternatives in the last presidential election. For the first time in a long time Mexico has a president who loves Mexico more than he loves money.

Perhaps you didn't notice that AMLO welcomed making public the leaked hack of the military. At no point did he try to minimize it or cover it up. His comment was something to the effect "we have nothing to hide".

All crime is local. Without a serious professional local force, the problem only worsens. Yet as almost everyone except the political ass-kissers in Zihuatanejo have commented, the local government spends more on pouring concrete and on propaganda for its public image than on public security. Under a previous municipal administration I even sat in on one of the sham commissions set up by a terrible former mayor and witnessed for myself the total absence of seriousness regarding local public security. Si digo que el burro es pardo es porque tengo los pelos en la mano.

Un saludo y un abrazo, mi muy estimado amigo.