Submission of First Governmental Report. Photo @Proceso
Toward the end of observing the first 9 months of the governance of President Enrique Peña Nieto, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, Secretary of Governance, submitted the First Governmental Report to the Congress. The report enumerates different challenges the PRI wishes to overcome to overcome during its administration, including the attainment of an inclusive and peaceful Mexico, the provision of quality education, promotion of prosperity, and to promote progress on the Pact for Mexico. According to the PRI senator Blanca Alacalá, “The report [says] that what has been achieved shows results, but at the same time it is necessary to accelerate the pace of change,” adding that the country needed its legislators to approve structural reforms without reference to party affiliation but rather for the good of the nation.
For their part, the opposition parties launched various criticisms against the presidency, noting its inefficiency, the economic crisis, and the lack of governance. Representative Ricardo Mejía Berdeja, vice-coordinator of the Citizens’ Movement in San Lázaro, noted that “the report from the first year of government will be yet another means of promoting the legitimization of several of the reforms contained within the Pact for Mexico which assure the generation of short-term structural changes; we know it will not be like this.”
To mark the submission of this First Report, several protest marches occurred simultaneously, including one organized by the National Coordination of Educational Workers (CNTE) against educational reforms. The protests all revolved around the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro in Mexico City. Protests resulted in confrontations between police and dissidents, leading to the arrests of 16 youths accused of carrying assault weapons, insubordination to authority, and resisting arrest. According to the “We Are Not All Here” Working Group, a collective which adheres to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle and a member of the Network against Repression and for Solidarity, “the use of force was excessive from the get-go; the police units launched gases and trapped protestors at several points and moments.”
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
Entrega Osorio Chong al Congreso el Primer Informe de Peña Nieto (Proceso, 1 de septiembre de 2013)
Se enfrentan anarquistas y granaderos durante marcha (Proceso, 1 de septiembre de 2013)
Hay 16 detenidos por manifestaciones: SSPDF (Animal Político, 2 de septiembre de 2013)
Pronunciamiento del GT No Estamos Todxs, por detenciones 1º de septiembre (Enlace Zapatista, 2 de septiembre de 2013)
Para más información de SIPAZ:
National: Polemical ascension of EPN (7 December 2012)
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