FCPAméricas Blog
Corruption in Mexico 2019: An Interview with Dr. Jose Ivan Rodriguez Sanchez
2.11.2019
By Bill Dahl, an investigative journalist who has published this series regarding public health and environmental hazards in Jalisco, Mexico. The interview was conducted as part of his research.
In December 2018, Mexico elected a new President: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (aka AMLO). Lopez-Obrador has stated routinely he intends to eradicate corruption in Mexico. According to AMLO, the fiscal resources recovered from reductions in corruption in Mexico will serve to fund central aspects of his aggressive agenda to clean up Mexico’s environment and fund an array of other social programs.
The following interview with Dr. Jose Ivan Rodriguez-Sanchez, a postdoctoral research fellow in international trade for the Baker Institute Mexico Center, delves into the plausibility of the new Mexican President’s public pronouncements as they relate to corruption in Mexico.
In your publication, Measuring Mexico’s Corruption, you provide compelling statistics about the prominence of corruption in Mexico. In your opinion, can it be reasonably stated that corruption is now systemic/systematized in Mexico? If not, why not?
There are different opinions on whether corruption is systemic in Mexico or not. In general, it seems that in Mexico corruption is a way to do business with the government. Corruption is in all levels of the Mexican government and hence, it seems that corruption is systemic. I think this is almost the case since corruption is not in all public officials and not all institutions are corrupt. However, if policymakers want to reduce corruption, it is necessary to face it with a systemic approach. Also, it is important to maintain the Rule of Law in Mexico, to have autonomous institutions, and free press to deter the problem of corruption. One key element in this systemic approach is civil society. Society must continue to pressure the Mexican government to punish corrupt acts and implement the National Anti-Corruption System. … So, we have to face corruption as if it were systemic, otherwise, corruption will infect the entire system and, in the end, it will be sure to be systemic.
You write that corruption in Mexico has increased. Why such an increase? What factors led to increasing corruption in such a short period of time in Mexico? Is measurement simply becoming better?
The problem of corruption in Mexico has increased rapidly in recent years due to major cases of corrupt acts such as Odebrecht, PEMEX, La Estafa Maestra, and diversion of public funds by former governors (e.g. Javier Duarte, Andres Granier, Roberto Borge). All these cases of corruption in the public and private sectors have affected the perception of corruption of Mexicans in the last years and hence, the indices that are based on it. A key factor that has increased this perception is impunity. During the presidency of Peña Nieto, all these cases went unpunished. The problem of corruption in Mexico has increased due to the high level of impunity.
To reduce corruption, we need to understand it better, and to achieve this reduction we must define corruption, and measure it more accurately. All these indices of perception of corruption have helped academia to understand and come up with better methodologies to measure corruption. Hence, these methodologies have improved in recent years, but still, we must continue working on better methodologies for the perception of corruption and the actual level of corruption particularly in developing and poor countries.
The National Anti-Corruption System (Sistema Nacional Anticorrupción, SNA)laid the foundation for a tougher and more comprehensive approach to combating corruption. Yet, this 2016 legislation has yet to be fully enacted in Mexico. Do you believe AMLO’s administration will implement this comprehensive legal framework, revitalize the confidence of the Mexican people to participate safely, and support the essential enforcement activities that must accompany it?
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said in his first speech to the Congress that he is going to end corruption and impunity that prevent Mexico’s rebirth. Indeed, the abatement of corruption in all levels of government is one of the objectives of his agenda. He pointed out that corruption can be dissuasive if he is honest and all other government workers emulate him. Unfortunately, he did not provide a specific plan to end corruption. Also, he sends confusing signals. He said that he will not punish corrupt acts that happened in the past, but for many years he accused people involved in corrupt acts of affecting Mexico. He has to obey the law and trust in the institutions that are in charge of overseeing the proper use of public funds and punish corrupt acts. The implementation of the SNA can provide AMLO with a high level of trust from Mexicans since they promoted the development of this system. If he achieves to implement it with an autonomous prosecutor, the impact against corruption would be even greater. However, one problem is that the SNA needs public funds and up to now, AMLO has allocated fewer resources to key institutions that oversee the use and transparency of public resources. Hence, the implementation of the SNA could last longer, but if AMLO wants to end corruption, he should implement it as soon as possible.
What are your next research endeavors regarding the subject of Corruption in Mexico?
In my next research, I will analyze the relationship between corruption and democracy in Mexico. It is expected that higher democracy leads to a lower perception of corruption controlling with other economic and socio-demographic variables. Other major research on my agenda is the estimation of the real cost of corruption in Mexico in the public sector. To achieve this, I must establish my definition of corruption and the corrupt acts involved in this definition and then the methodology to obtain it. This is important since AMLO has proposed that the end of corruption will provide his government with approximately 500,000 billion pesos (25 billion dollars). This latter figure is not based on a formal study; hence, it is a major duty to obtain the correct value of the cost of corruption in Mexico.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author in his or her individual capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone else, including the entities with which the author is affiliated, the author’s employers, other contributors, FCPAméricas, or its advertisers. The information in the FCPAméricas blog is intended for public discussion and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice to its readers and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It does not seek to describe or convey the quality of legal services. FCPAméricas encourages readers to seek qualified legal counsel regarding anti-corruption laws or any other legal issue. FCPAméricas gives permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author and to FCPAméricas LLC.
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