INE Suffers Budget Cut/New Head of UIF

Security in Colima. Minister of National Defense Luis Cresencio said that Colima ranks first in intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants nationwide. The occurrence of intentional homicides is decreasing but other high-impact crimes, such as robbery, are increasing, said Cresencio. Colima Gov. Indira Vizcaino said that insecurity is a problem that was not addressed efficiently during previous governments and it was aggravated by the pandemic. He added that the government seeks to better address these challenges. “Although we registered some improvement, it is insufficient because in practically all crimes, we are above the national average. In domestic violence and robbery, we are in first place at the national level. This situation is painful and we have to change it,” said Vizcaíno.

In intentional homicides, the state ranked 19th in September, with 1,617 homicides, while the national average is 2,571. Authorities said Colima and Manzanillo are the municipalities with the highest crime incidence. In the 34 months since Vizcaíno took office, there has been a 9 percent decrease in intentional homicides. However, authorities have said that is not enough, so more robust security programs will be implemented.

New investment for Manzanilllo. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that as part of his anti-smuggling initiative, he will allocate a budget of MX$2 billion (US$98 million) to improve the port of Manzanillo. López Obrador explained that the resources will come from a MX$90 billion (US$4.4 billion) trust, which will be used for the renovation of ports and customs in the country. “We are going to invest in infrastructure to improve everything related to the port in Manzanillo. We are also going to carry out a comprehensive program to solve road problems and other difficulties faced by the population. This investment is important since the port is the one that moves the most goods in the country."

According to the Manzanillo Port Administration, more than 2.5 million containers have been mobilized from January to September, for which it is expected to break the record of 3.2 million containers in 2018. However, the Council of Industrial Chambers of Jalisco said that the port has a saturation crisis, which is affecting logistics and times and, as a consequence, is generating economic losses.

Minister of Interior: The revocation of mandate is not in danger. Minister of the Interior Adán Augusto López said that even though there has been a budget cut, INE has enough funds to carry out the mandate revocation consultation in 2022. “There was a reduction of MX$5 billion (US$24 million) in the INE budget. However, the exercise of the consultation is not at risk and according to the Chamber, the Electoral Institute has funds to invest in the revocation of the mandate.”

 INE President Counselor Lorenzo Córdova said that the budget cut will affect the consultation to revoke the mandate because there is not enough money. Councilor Ciro Murayama explained that INE's public spending for 2022 is the same as in 2019, so the Chamber did not consider the costs of the consultation. Moreover, INE reported that the revocation could be modified from March 27, 2022 to April 10, 2022, since the collection of rubrics in printed formats will be accepted.

 AMLO: We do not tolerate extravagances. López Obrador said that the former Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) is respectable. However, his government will not tolerate extravagances. “(Santiago) Nieto is a very good lawyer, we have a lot of respect for him. However, we cannot tolerate any act that goes against republican austerity. It is Juarez: he has to learn to live only with what is necessary, without luxuries, because people are fed up with it. "

Last week, Nieto married electoral councilor Carla Humphrey in Guatemala, which generated a great deal of controversy for being too expensive. Due to the criticism, Nieto announced that he was resigning. The new head of the UIF is Pablo Gómez, who was the leader of the student movement in 1968 and has been a member of the Legislative Branch.