President López Obrador highlighted the approval of constitutional changes to combat corrupcy and create the national guard as among his most significant achievements in his first speech to mark his first 100 days in office.
But he conceded that crime-fighting efforts have only succeeded in containing crime rather than reducing it.
Speaking at the National Palace in Mexico City, López Obrador said three constitutional reforms have so far been approved by Congress including one that allows for the prompt seizure of assets acquired through corruption and violence, and another that reclassifies corruption as a serious crime.
The latter reform also removes bail rights for people accused of corruption, fuel theft and electoral fraud, among other offenses.
“. . . It wasn’t accidental that for a long time, corruption wasn’t considered a serious crime,” López Obrador said.
“Do you know when the criminal code was reformed to remove the seriousness [classification] from all acts of corruption? January 10, 1994, in the middle of the neoliberal boom . . .” he added.
The third constitutional reform – to create the national guard – has been approved by Congress and a majority of state legislatures, López Obrador said, adding that its main goal is to “guarantee public security for all Mexicans.”
He didn’t mention that his original proposal for the security force to have a military rather than civilian command had to be changed.
López Obrador said that legislative processes are under way in Congress to remove the president’s constitutional right to immunity, to guarantee citizens’ right to have their say on government decisions through public consultations and to subject the president’s rule to a vote three years after taking office.
The Congress has also been asked to approve laws on austerity and the right to access health care, and to cancel the educational reform implemented by the past government, he said.
The president pledged that by the middle of this year, the government will have “the essential legal framework” it needs to carry out what he has dubbed the fourth transformation of public life in Mexico.