On 22 November, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a decree which declares infrastructure projects carried out by the federal government an issue of national security.
Analysis:
In practice, this decree means that López Obrador’s flagship – but controversial – ‘Fourth Transformation’ infrastructure projects such as the Tren Maya railway line in the Yucatán peninsula, the Felipe Ángeles international airport in the Estado de México, and the Dos Bocas oil refinery in Tabasco state are considered issues of national security, and can thus be pushed through with fewer obstacles and less oversight. With a number of these projects already under the contentious responsibility of the military, this latest move by López Obrador will fan concerns about failure to heed institutional processes and lack of transparency.
- The decree, published in last night’s issue of the official gazette, declares any infrastructure project carried out by the government in the areas of “communications, telecommunications, customs, border control, hydraulic, water, environment, tourism, health, railways, the rail transport sector in all its energy modalities, ports, airports” to be an issue of public interest and national security. The decree notes that such projects are important for economic growth and job creation, and part of the government’s objective of pursuing economic development and social wellbeing.
- The decree instructs federal public entities to provisionally issue the necessary permits and authorisations for such projects to go ahead. Although all of the decree’s implications are yet unclear, it seems like it will protect López Obrador’s flagship megaprojects from being slowed down or suspended by legal challenges.
- Political observers and critics of the president have slammed the decree, questioning its constitutionality. “In practice, with this the federal government conceals from public scrutiny any works or project it has, this is flagrantly unconstitutional, López Obrador’s contempt for legality is cynical”, Felipe Fernando Macías, a federal lawmaker for the opposition Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), denounced on Twitter.
Looking Ahead: With a former supreme court (SCJN) justice José Ramón Cossío having also declared the decree to be “evidently unconstitutional”, López Obrador’s latest move to protect his Fourth Transformation agenda could well be challenged in the courts.