Emir Olivares and Arturo Sanchez
Newspaper La Jornada
Friday, May 20, 2022, p. 7
After the threat that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made last week to the energy company Vitol that it had to deliver the information on the Pemex officials to whom it gave bribes, or else it could not continue operating in Mexico, the company provided the data to federal authorities.
This was reported yesterday in his morning conference by the federal president himself: I have good news for you, they already gave the names
.
The president took advantage of a question about probable acts of corruption at UNAM to address the case of Vitol -of Dutch capital-, to which on the 10th he demanded to hand over the data of the directors of the state production company who received money in exchange to give you contracts.
“Transparency is a golden rule of democracy. Here we deal with a fraud in Pemex, from Vitol, it was easy for them, because they fixed it in the United States –in a trial– and they reached an agreement (in that country). Then they came with us to tell us ‘we are going to repair the damage, we are going to pay them’. Yes, we accept it (answered the government), but who were the ones who extorted, those who received the Moches? ‘No, it’s just that we can’t say it’ (the company would have said at the time). Oh, then no,” López Obrador warned.
However, he noted, the company has changed its position and provided the information. However, the Executive did not want to disclose the names of those involved. He only mentioned: one was active until 2019, they were from the international area of Pemex. It’s going to proceed
. However, he limited, the repair of the damage is missing, “although he said he did not know how much the figure would amount to.
On the other hand, he again attacked UNAM, which it spread to the right
and there is a “golden bureaucracy. I have made some proposals here, and they have been misunderstood, because I am very interested in the fact that this very important institution, historical in our country, continues to be so, that power preserves and influentialism are not maintained; not co-opt to researchers, to teachers, not to punish those who do not agree with anti-neoliberal positions, because it got to the point where most teachers applauded the corrupt regime, and I am talking about the social sciences.”
He added that with the budget “people were rewarded, special institutes were created for them; a kind of golden bureaucracy, and subject teachers earning very little. That does not mean that we are against the UNAM, but that we have to review that. How is it possible that people questioned for mismanagement come out in an instance and go to UNAM as a prize? Or the possibility of corruption or taking so long without face-to-face classes ”, after the pandemic.
On another topic, he said that his government is preparing a salary increase for soldiers, sailors, police, health personnel and bureaucrats.
