Mexico’s army takes over yet another civilian role – filling potholes
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/02/2024 (661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president acknowledged Tuesday that the armed forces have taken over yet another civilian role: fixing the nation’s highways.
Filling potholes has now been added to a long list of projects ranging from planes, trains and policing that the armed forces now control.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said highway maintenance in southern Mexico had been transferred away from the government’s Transportation Department.
The department usually gave private companies contracts for road maintenance but López Obrador claimed those contracts were too expensive and riddled with corruption.
“There are very few serious construction companies, because they were all rotten with corruption,” the president said.
López Obrador has given the armed forces the leading role in law enforcement, including the quasi-military National Guard, and entrusted them with far more duties than his predecessors.
Late last year, López Obrador put the army in charge of the government’s new state-owned airline. He also said the army would run a passenger train service, in addition to building everything from bank offices to airports.
López Obrador claims the military is more honest and efficient.
Unlike many militaries in Latin America, Mexico’s armed forces have for almost a century kept out of politics and avoided taking a leading, public role.
Critics say López Obrador’s measures threaten to break that tradition and militarize the country.
____
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america