Monday, March 8, 2004

 

Mexican corruption scandals go on and on

 

By Carlos Luken

 

Nobody smiles in the Mexican version of “Candid Camera.”

 

In what is seemingly a pattern, Mexican audiences are being repeatedly roused with illustrations of politicians engaged in corrupt activities and caught on videotape. In a progression of recent events, scandals have damaged the well-worn image of political parties in Mexico.

 

The dramatic tape of Mexican Green Party (PVEM) president, Senator Jorge Emilio Gonzalez, negotiating a US$2 million bribe is still in the news. As well, the National Action Party (PAN) has been sullied following the February allegations of influence peddling in favor of first lady Marta Fox and her “Vamos Mexico” foundation, a charity that many see as a tool to fuel her presidential aspirations.

 

Until recently the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) managed to stay above the scandals, that in turn has allowed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the PRD mayor of Mexico City, to maintain his early lead in the polls for the presidency in 2006. But alas, Lopez Obrador and his administration are now being blasted as videotapes have mysteriously been released to the national media that candidly show Mexico City officials participating in scandalous acts.

 

Gustavo Ponce, Lopez Obrador’s finance chief, was filmed at the high-stakes gambling tables of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Furthermore, it has been disclosed that he made 37 similar trips last year and hotel bills have surfaced that reveal lavish tips and US$2,200 mini-bar room charges. The revelations have prompted a probe by the Attorney General of Mexico City, as more than US$3 million in city funds may be missing.

 

Lopez Obrador denied any knowledge of Ponce’s wrongdoing and quickly separated Ponce from his post, pending the outcome of the investigation. Ponce subsequently disappeared, warrants were issued and an Interpol search for the fugitive began immediately.

 

Next national television aired videotapes of yet another high-ranking Mexico City official accepting a payoff. Rene Bejarano, Lopez Obrador’s personal secretary until he was elected to the Mexico City legislature last year on the PRD ticket was caught live stuffing stacks of bills, totaling US$320,000, into his pockets and briefcase. When confronted, Bejarano replied that he had accepted the money from Carlos Ahumada, a newspaper owner and city contractor, as a cash donation for the candidacy of Leticia Robles, a city borough leader. Robles, the supposed recipient of the campaign contribution, flatly denied any awareness or involvement in illegal campaign financing, and she has threatened to sue.

 

Mexico City security director Marcelo Ebrard next denounced the scandals as opposition attempts to discredit the mayor’s candidacy. And Ebrard absolutely shocked all concerned when he suggested, that if the smear campaign failed, Lopez Obrador could suffer the same fate of Luis Donaldo Colosio. The obvious reference was to the 1994 assassination, in Tijuana, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s presidential candidate.

 

By the end of the first week of March the popularity of Lopez Obrador had gone into a slump, with polls indicating that support for his presidential bid has dropped to 38 percent.

 

The aforementioned acts have served to add to public outrage as they come on the heels of PRI and PAN campaign finance scandals last year. A huge fine was levied against the PRI for misdeeds after it was disclosed that the party had misappropriated funds from Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly, most of which were channeled into their candidate’s presidential campaign in 2000. There is also a ruling against the PAN, for 2000 campaign spending violations in connection with the “Amigos de Fox” political action committee.

 

While wide-ranging, the various scandals that are systematically discrediting all representations of authority and government have disturbing common denominators. Corruption is still prevalent and impunity is rampant, regardless of party affiliation, and while Mexico has apparently managed to alternate beneficiaries there have been too few changes in political ethics.

 

Other interrelated issues are the media and changes in journalistic ethics.

 

As the Mexican media lacked objectivity for well over half a century, journalists are now trying to gain credibility and respectability in today’s democratic system. But as they attempt to scoop and outperform each other, many have swung from once obligatory censorship to an all out ruthlessness in so-called investigative reporting, gathering of “news” and dissemination of their work.

 

Moreover, the news stories and broadcasts of many reporters are too often distorted into biased opinion pieces or tainted with editorializing. This is a risky business when one recognizes that the audiences they reach, especially via television and radio, include large numbers within the lesser-educated segments of society.

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Carlos Luken (a www.mexidata.info columnist), a Mexicali, Baja California, based businessman, is the principal in I.L.C. Corporate Real Estate, a project development firm, and I.L.C. Corporate Services, a consulting practice that provides business management, consultancy and lobbying services to global corporations and government agencies. He can be reached via e-mail at ilc@computec.com.mx.