Deputies will mediate before the Treasury so that Sedena raises pensions for widowhood

Enrique Mendez

Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday February 23, 2023, p. eleven

The National Defense Commission of the Chamber of Deputies agreed to mediate with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, a meeting so that the Social Security Institute for the Mexican Armed Forces (Issfam) presents a proposal to increase pensions for military widows , which for the troops are currently between 3,000 and 4,000 pesos, a ridiculous amount, below the poverty line.

During a work meeting, members of said commission pointed out that the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena), General Luis Cresencio Sandoval, had asked them since September 2021 to update widow’s pensions.

The president of the commission, Ricardo Villarreal (PAN), mentioned that in the previous legislature, that body in San Lázaro unanimously approved an opinion, but mysteriously it was never voted on in plenary. I have publicly said that they gave atole with their finger to the Secretary of National Defense.

During the session, Deputy Mario Carrillo Cubillas (Morena) indicated that, at last week’s meeting at Sedena, General Luis Cresencio Sandoval commented that the profits from the projects developed by the Army would allow the funding of widow’s pensions.

But, While these projects take flight and the fund is generated, it is necessary that all the deputies promote and guarantee that this reform can be carried out in this legislaturehe pointed.

In this regard, Ricardo Villarreal stated that, as long as income is received from the operation of projects such as the Felipe Ángeles International Airport and the Mayan Train, the trust could operate with Defense savings, but this would imply authorization that these resources not be return to the Treasury. An actuarial calculation foresees, he indicated, that, in the first years of the trust, 400 million pesos would be required.

Carrillo Cubillas added that the Army’s actuarial study has a financial run for five years, in which, through savings from Issfam and Sedena, a point can be reached at which it would have no budgetary impact. What would free opinion in economic matters, which blocks this.