Antonio Garza: Best PR Move for Mexico Is to Stop Violence and Corruption Antonio Garza - The Dallas Morning News
go to original May 25, 2016

Mexican police officers patrol Caleta beach in Acapulco amid a wave of violence attributed to warring drug gangs. (Enric MartÌ/AP)

After enduring months of hostile rhetoric in the U.S. primaries, Mexico has had enough. In a diplomatic and strategic shakeup, officials have announced a new strategy to polish the country’s image abroad. They shouldn't have a hard time finding material, given our broad and fruitful bilateral relationship. But if Mexico really wants to change its image, it needs to start at home.

Americans’ concerns regarding Mexico began long before the current primary season. The recent incidents of bilateral bullying inflame emotions, especially when tied to sensitive domestic issues such as undocumented immigration or border security. Yet Americans’ pervasive perception of Mexico as corrupt, violent or overridden by cartels also stems in large part from the country’s very real challenges.

This means that if Mexico is serious about improving its image abroad, the first step is recognizing that the problem isn’t just one of public relations but also of content.

There are many places to start, but the easiest and quickest move would be to embrace and strengthen the anti-corruption legislation that is currently languishing in congress. This legislative bundle is part two of last year’s sweeping anti-corruption reforms, which changed 14 constitutional articles and established the National Anti-Corruption System (to coordinate national, state and local efforts), among other welcome changes.

However, this first wave of reforms created the framework, and the secondary bills were supposed to put meat on the legislative bones. Now, with the end of the most recent congressional session and two weeks until the legislation’s self-imposed deadline, only five of the seven necessary bills have ever appeared on the floor.

Even more disappointing, the citizen-designed Ley 3de3, which demands that Mexican officials publicly report three things about themselves: wealth, conflicts of interest and tax records, has also disappeared. In its place is a government-proposed law that would require officials to make the same declarations, but have their full publication be merely optional.

These disappointing results stem from congressional jockeying, a void in political leadership and a dogged (and somewhat perplexing) focus on the economy at the expense of almost everything else. Even as Peña Nieto’s popularity rating has slid to a low 30 percent — presumably influenced by the ongoing concerns about the country’s rule of law and the recent uptick in violence — there has been little deviation in the administration’s strategy and messaging.

Read the rest at The Dallas Morning News

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