Corruption is now seen as “gross” thanks to the efforts of the federal government, President López Obrador stated on Sunday.
Speaking at an event in the southern Mexico City borough of Milpa Alta, López Obrador said that people who participate in corrupt practices are now “frowned upon” and “stigmatized.”
Corruption is “gross, it’s shit,” he said. “There’s a new school of thought and that’s due to our movement. Before, the issue of corruption wasn’t even dealt with in the academic world, in the universities, least of all in the parliament; in political discourse, the word wasn’t even mentioned.”
The president, who has made combating corruption the raison d’etre of his administration, said that the fight against the scourge began at the top echelons of government but “will reach all levels.”
His remarks came five months after he declared that there is “zero corruption” in the government as a result of his dedication to “sweeping away” what developed during the six-year terms of the previous five federal administrations.
Previous governments spent more than 100 billion pesos on travel for high-ranking officials but no improvements were made to the lives of ordinary people, López Obrador told a gathering of mainly indigenous residents of Milpa Alta.
“I inform you – [and] this really rankles the conservatives [government critics] – that we’re going to [hold a] raffle [for] the presidential plane and [the money] raised will be used to buy equipment for health centers and hospitals,” he said.
López Obrador accused past governments of leaving the public health system in ruins, charging that corruption was a factor that contributed to its current poor state.
“Even the money for medicines was stolen and not just by corrupt politicians — some doctors did as well. It’s a disgrace that such a humanistic profession has been used to corrupt the health system. Fortunately, the majority of doctors have a different idea, they’re honest people. We’re going to lift up the country’s health system!” he said.
Apart from his musings on corruption, the president also announced that the federal government will establish an indigenous languages university in Milpa Alta.
López Obrador said that his administration and Mexico City authorities will collaborate with the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples to create the new university, which will offer Náhuatl and Mayan language classes.
“We’re going to create this university because we need to strengthen traditions, customs, languages, social organization … [and] identity,” he said before urging the nation’s indigenous peoples not to abandon their cultures.
“To say that [preserving culture] was backwardness and that you had to become civilized was absurd, nonsense. That’s a conservative, racist and discriminatory idea.”
Source: Infobae (sp)
