AMLO criticizes INE spending for $300 million in medical insurance

Alonso Urrutia and Emir Olivares

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, November 8, 2022, p. 4

Hiring insurance for major medical expenses for directors of the National Electoral Institute (INE), for 300 million pesos, prompted a new criticism from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who disqualified the game and recalled that upon reaching the Presidency he ordered to cancel contracts for 6 billion pesos for that concept.

In his conference on Monday, the president questioned once again that the directors and senior officials of the agency receive higher salaries than the chief executive.

López Obrador claimed the right to free demonstration, alluding to the march in defense of the INE scheduled for next weekend and urged supporters of his movement to avoid provocations.

But let it be known that this is a march against us because of the policy that we are carrying out in favor of the peoplesaid the President. All those, even if they go to mass on Sundays, have no love for the people and are mostly racist, classist and very hypocritical. Let it be well known that they are not democrats either, they are the ones who have participated in the fraud.

He set out what he considered to be the real reasons for the disagreement: Well, how is (Vicente) Fox not going to call for the march against us, if he is upset because he is no longer given the 5 million pesos monthly pension and he no longer has all the protection he had from the Presidential General Staff. He can no longer recommend anyone. And Claudio X. González, imagine, his father, an economic adviser from Salinas. They helped the electoral fraud of 2006, people without moral authority, dishonest.

He assured that they have every right to demonstrate, but without masks, that everyone participate and try not to fall into any provocation, that they can reach the Zócalo without any problem. He narrowed down: These hypocrites even wanted to regulate the marches, prohibit them.

Why 20 thousand million pesos?

The president again defended his electoral reform proposal and highlighted some aspects: Why are 20 billion pesos going to be allocated each year for elections? It is the country that spends the most on the organization of elections, with so many needs. Why do the INE directors earn double and even triple what the President earns?

Similarly, he recalled proposals such as reducing the chambers of senators and deputies with the suppression of legislators; the open election of councilors and magistrates of the Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation and that instead of having 33 electoral bodies there is only one.

López Obrador reiterated his criticism of the decision of the majority of the deputies of Guanajuato, the entity where there is more violence, by voting against extending the presence of the armed forces in public security tasks.

He asked that the weekend homicide report be placed on the screen, according to which, of the 243 registered throughout the country, 28 correspond to that state; that is, 12 percent of the total.