One of the main slogan of Governor Enrique Peña's government of Edomex or Mexico State is Gobierno que cumple, or a government that accomplishes. Yet what exactly is Peña Nieto accomplishing? One may recall that the governor in 2005 loudly presented a list of 600 "goals" his government was to complete by the end of his term, goals whose process of accomplishment have been duly noted at regular intervals.
Yet as local PAN deputy Mónica Fragoso pointed out in her party's response to Peña Nieto's recent informe or constituionally mandated report to the Mexican State congress, the 503 goals the governor boasts of having achieved only make out a fraction of the total state budget - 9 billion 418 million pesos out of 53 billion 857 million, or only 2 percent of the total state budget the past five years. The question remains: What else is Peña Nieto spending money on?
(Jenaro Villamil reported last week in Proceso that Peña Nieto's government may also be spending far more money than the local congress has allowed and budgeted for).
Now, notably, the Mexican NGO Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad, a non-partisan organization dedicated to examining issues of economic competitiviness and transparency of Mexico's 32 entities (31 states and 1 Federal District), has issued a report entitled "The Black Box of Public Spending. (Direct link here). I have yet to study its findings in details, but with regards to Peña Nieto's spending, one factor immediately stands out: Mexico State is the second worst state in Mexico with regards to the lack of transparency in the management of its finances: It is only beat by a state led Peña Nieto's colleague and close ally within PRI, Ulises Ruis, of the state of Oaxaca.
Again: On what is Peña Nieto spending Mexico State's funds?
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