Millions in Bribes Go Unpunished in Mexico as Election Nears

All of this will have to wait until a new government is sworn in. If Lopes Obrador wins as is now likely then things could change. As the article so plainly lays out, the PRI is not going to let the cat out of the bag. But the Mexican people already have a deep distrust for the PRI regardless of what happens here. Corruption is deeply ingrained in the Mexican political system and it won't be cleaned up in the short term. This will take generations.

Instead of doing the right thing, prosecuting former officials involved in Odebrecht scandal, Peña Nieto and his gang responded today to this editorial with a lawsuit against the only presidential candidate that has openly criticized them as a kleptocracy, Ricardo Anaya.

This is the model for our current GOP. Spineless, morally abject grifters.

Before the Trump regime invited the White House, and destroyed our good reputation, I thought Mexico was more corrupt. I now know that we have become that same sort of corrupt government under Trump and Sessions..along with the rest of the "good ol' boys".

Too many folks in Latin America invariably vote for those promising free stuff, household appliances during elections,empty promises of subsidized living later.This too is a form of corruption. All a leader can do is create conditions where people can prosper from their labor. Most legal immigrants come for economic opportunities were you keep most of what you earn. As we see in California many others come, because free stuff ran out at home and Democrat politicians here promise free stuff. That corruption is taking root.

One of the motivations of NAFTA was to extend more economic opportunities to developing Mexico . However Mexico 's out of control kleptocracy is concentrating those benefits in fewer hands and is a force in keeping Mexican wages down. In that sense, we are being played for suckers. Participation in a generous NAFTA should be conditioned upon better sharing of the benefits. Demanding that Mexico pay higher wages, not. That it make better progress towards the rule of law and fighting corruption, absolutely.

What a sorry, frightening government Mexico has had. There must be a dramatic change in this election. There must...

As long as the discontented in Mexico can come to the US nothing will change. The US should take Mexico and integrate it into the US. Right now the US taxpayer has the expenses but none of the resources. Why should a Mexican kid north of the border have so much in comparison to a Mexican kid south of the border? Is that fair?

This is business as usual going back to Salinas Gotari, Echevaria, Diaz Ordaz etc etc. Every president leaves office a billionaire. Look up Carlos Hank Rohn and you'll get an idea how slimy the partido viejo ( old party ) is. The new party is not much better. You can't do business without paying a bribe.

Having lived in a country were corruption is routine, payoffs are difficult to pursue, and for justice to triumph, because the loot plundered is shared widely, too many accomplices to deal with, hence, paralysis and impunity being far more common that jail and recovery of public's funds. Corrupt practices, however we denounce them, or how close we may be to folks involved, is a curse of major proportions. It makes one depressed and reluctant to participate in politics, as no trust in any institution is left intact. This is very unjust as the price is anomie, and a health and educational system leaving a lot to be desired. It also explains why Latin-American countries (and the rest too) cannot make much progress, witness Venezuela now, at the brink of despondency and people dying of hunger and treatable disease...in an oil-rich country.

What? Politics above corruption? Corruption is the political game!

It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, Mexico's incoming president will do about all of these scandals once he takes office on December 1. My hunch is that there will at long last be full-scale investigations that seek to nip this culture of corruption in the bud once and for all. Who knows, maybe Mexico will set the example for the U.S., where the president claims he has the power even to pardon himself for even the most unpardonable offenses.

A key factor in successfully combating corruption is a truly free press, better truly free media in general. One of the truly ugly aspects of how a ruling kleptocracy avoids interference in its dirty dealings in places like Russia and Mexico is that muckraking journalists, media outlets and activists are frequently either silenced with the threat of violence, or all-to-often just killed. The very low rate of successful persecution of the perpetrators of these murders suggests at minimum a tolerance for such crimes, but are likely the result of active collusion in such murders. One of the best things we can probably do is to support those brave and stubborn enough to keep bringing corruption to light - sunlight IS the best desinfectant!

This is the direction the US is headed toward, 3rd World Plunderocracy. Power makes money; money makes power. Everybody else pays and suffers proportionately.

Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States. Mexicans have only themselves to blame for their problems. They have allowed their political elites establish and exploit a culture of impunity, "mordidas", brutal violence, and rampant corruption. Mexican voters gave Peña Nieto the presidency in exchange for food, appliances, chickens and goats. And this time around the candidates from the same elites, that have victimized the country for so long, are shamefully presenting themselves as the saviors of the country. But in the background the likes of Slim, Salinas de Gortari and other billionaires (all of them with their money in US banks) will make sure nobody rocks the boat. Only well informed Mexican voters can change their miserable reality. Hopefully they won't trade their votes for groceries, chicken and goats.

Not prosecuting corrupt billionaires and not enforcing border integrity are two sides of the same coin. Latino politicians in the US are trying to increase their base by hook or crook. So are the Democrats. Example = California where illegal/legalized immigrants have through demographics swayed the electorate towards border crossers. Now if you are trying to survive as a politician you have to pander to the Latino base.

Many of the postings here make a natural but erroneous we-them distinction based on national boundaries, a distinction carefully reinforced by the political and financial elites who benefit from the error. Upper-class Mexicans fly to Houston for medical care, own condos in Aspen, and send their children to summer camps and universities in the United States. They have US bank accounts. Wealthy Americans own condos (not timeshares) at Mexican beach resorts, ranches and exclusive getaways in the countryside, and carry on joint business ventures with their Mexican counterparts. In short, for people of elite status the border barely exists except when it is convenient. NAFTA is an expression of that.....who sent American jobs to Mexico? Peasants displaced from their land by subsidized US corn exports? No, the chief officers and boards of directors of corporations in the US, abetted by political figures in Mexico who repress or corrupt unions. Who manages financial transfers among major cartels and international accounts.....American bankers. The whole "illegal aliens ignore our borders" pleat is calculated to focus our attention on the poor while our border is porous to drugs, money, and deals. We do need to decide who enters our country but the border narrative addresses political but not economic factors. The "wall" is to focus our attention in one place while 80 percent of the narcotics entering come through legal ports of entry in commercial shipments. It's a class deception.

Mexico is the country we will be if the Mueller investigation is interfered with or stopped. It is the country the US will be if Trump is found to have committed crimes and the Republicans refuse to punish him for them. Mexico is a good place for rich people who can bribe their way to impunity, but a lousy one for everyone else. The people who come here from Mexico are trying to escape that nightmare. There is no wonder that the billionaires represented by Donald Trump don't want them here supporting the rule of law. In the US the citizens must insure that people who are guilty are convicted and punished.

“the use of sophisticated spyware purchased” from Israel “to monitor journalists and human rights lawyers.” No surprise there. All of Mexico’s corruption is almost as bad a trump’s, alone. “That’s bigger than just the elections — it is about the survival of the party itself.” Is that PRI or GOP’ statement? One could easily replace all the names in this story with those in the Mueller investigation, exchanging the PRI obstruction with the GOP obstruction.

There is an age-old practice in Mexico's government, those on the way in do not prosecute those on the way out.

Mexico is hopeless. They just pardoned Duarte, the former governor of Vera Cruz, who stole the retirement checks of government workers -- for ALL who retired in Vera Cruz. Hopeless, hopeless, hopeless; They need a Castro!

They should adopt the US approach of outlawing bribery but allowing "lobbying" and "consulting". This will allow corporations to bribe politicians and other corporations with impunity.

It's the same story here, criminals in public office, the justice system and patrolling our streets that are never prosecuted. Not only must this end but a civil servant that violates the public trust should be dealt with extremely harshly. Instead of being a mere slap on the wrist the penalties should be draconian, that they are not is what encourages bad behaviour.

This is but the tip of the iceberg. In Mexico impunity is king. And there are no checks and balances against this but a few spaces in the international media. Mr. Ahmed, please don't falter in speaking truth to power in Mexico. Follow relentlessly this crooks to their mansions in London and New York, to their ranches in Punta Mita and Malinalco, to ill-gotten gains that keep Mexico in poverty and about to turn towards AMLO in a sweeping anti-establishment referendum-election. One day, maybe not soon, justice has to happen.

And...this is coming from the country that claims to have the "high moral ground" when dealing with the U.S.; as if their government was run by angels. What a joke!

The bribes are happening here too, I don't see the situation getting better. Trump is just another iteration of the mob, his narcos=big, supposedly legitimate, pharma.

Corruption is so endemic in Mexico that it’s simply a part of life. Shame on the Mexican government for not doing the right thing and bringing no charges. Interesting, they make fun of Trump yet the level of corruption in Mexico is rampant.

It sounds and looks bad, but I would submit they are doing nothing much different from their American counterparts. The only difference is that in Latin America it is behind the scenes (for the most part), while in the United States it is out in the open and codified into byzantine laws that are toothless and not being enforced by Congress. (republicans) You even have the President of the United States openly and un-apologetically enriching himself (and his family) by breaking the emoluments clause set in the Constitution, through his hotels and businesses that are accepting ''fees'' for access. Why would anyone else act any different then ?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Is it a surprise that Latin American citizens without the wealth to pay the bribes necessary to just get along in daily living flock to the United States? In truth they all are refugees fleeing corrupt oligarchs and their minions. All should be granted asylum and not separated from their children and thrown in jail.

There’s nothing new in this article, Mexico like most of our Southern Neighbors assume corruption is part of life and their corrupt system is the biggest reason we experience the immigration problem on our border. Mexico is a prime example of a country with enormous natural resources that handled properly would allow a decent living for all their citizens much like the oil rich Scandanavian countries do. This has never been the case though, Mexico like the other banana republics to our south have been run be a few families for centuries, they need to have their own revolution like we did three hundred years ago, for us to be complicit and act as an escape valve to delay change does no one any good other than the ruling class who continue to siphon off all the wealth. We are beginning to experience that in our own country as our own little oligarchs emerge, the recent tax bill ensuring the dynastic potential for this as huge fortunes pass from generation to generation tax free is a significant step, so it’s hard for us to do much without upsetting our own Apple cart, give us another fifty years and we will be just like Mexico, with the rich traveling in armored cars living in their high walled villas surrounded by security, the rest of us scrabbling for a living, as a matter of fact it won’t take fifty years we’re almost there now. Read the book The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver a glimpse at our future as we try to flee oligarchy and poverty in our country and no one wants us.

To see this article with the smiling, plump, spa treated photo of another corrupt millionaire-through-deceit Mexican elite placed next to another article showing the face of despair and hard struggle of today's honest-working Latino immigrant could not have been by accident. Thinking of the gulf and fate between these two should each have to face an earthly judge determining their right to work, thrive and have an existence is a no-brainer. Justice has been trumped.

Reminds me of another country with a corrupt leadership that is protected by its government...something to do with states and unity, can't quite remember it though.

Mexico's political structure has been ingrained with corruption for centuries - it's not about to change. Its criminal drug enterprise is still closely associated with many politicians and law enforcement; it is the largest supplier of illegal drugs to America. It freely allows migrants to travel through its territories, crossing illegally into the U.S. The article is not surprising at all, considering how corruption and crime continue to permeate the entire country.

Corruption spreads poverty and misery. Rule of law matters. Those who blur the line between legal and illegal are facilitating the spread of that corruption in the US.

The United States, not Mexico, is the world's most corrupt government as well as the world's leading importer of drugs and the country of drug addicts thanks to Big Pharma.

Donald Trump and his staff should watch and take notes. This is the level of corruption that they can presently only admire from a distance. But they're working on it.

You may remember that in 2012 Walmart was caught making bribes to Mexican officials. There was discussion whether the company could be charged for payments that were customary in Mexico. Five years later Walmart paid what was considered a moderate fine to the government. I do not believe that the Mexicans charged anyone. Bottom line, what was customary in 2012 appears to be customary today.

The New York Times is making too much out of nothing, 10-16 million dollars to do business in Mexico, is peanuts compared to what Manafort and Cohen got for influence peddling.

Peña Nieto and his gang are Mexicos enemy number one. They all should be in jail.

It will be interesting to see how the PRI, the CIA, and the NYT will manage to keep AMLO from claiming the presidency this time.

Many years ago I traveled to famed Copper Canyon on the eponymous rail train. Prior to departing for the train, I traveled through the slums of the town from which I departed and saw some of the worst poverty I have ever seen, exemplified by the tin shacks lining the route. The hiking guide in Copper Canyon wore flip flops and carried his lunch in a plastic bag, while we hikers were clad in the right hiking boots and shouldering our back packs. I vowed to send the guide a fanny pack and did so on my return home. I was told he probably wouldn't receive it, given the corruption of the mail system where pilfering of items was rampant. That is a small example of what has long been wrong in Mexico, a land where no one should be poor, given its vast environmental riches and resources. This article relates the endemic corruption that has tentacles throughout the land, not least of which are the drug cartels and the tragic disappearance of the college students. Corruption exists everywhere, not least in my own country. Shouldn't we double down on this and make justice for all a priority?