Mexico’s recently elected progressive president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, has assumed the monumental task of transforming the age-old mordida system of corruption. Some describe it simply as “the traditional and customary way of getting things done.” The president’s reforms include the noble goal of reducing the notoriously high rates of homicide, linked to the single most corrupt form of economic activity: drug trafficking.
According to the latest reports, the already alarming homicide rate has increased in 2019. The new president cannot be blamed for it since his policies to reduce violence have yet to be implemented. López Obrador expects to turn the trend around once his new national security forces are fully operational. “In addition to expressing confidence that the National Guard will be successful in reducing violence, the president has said that his government’s social programs and crusade against corruption will help pacify the country.”