Mexico's President Obrador Pledges To Get Rid Of 'Wasteful Agencies'

Mexico's president took a pledge Monday to get rid of all regulatory agencies that oversee the government before he stepped down from his position on Sept. 30.

According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, these agencies were "useless" and expensive for the country.

Hence, he pledged to present a bill to Congress in order to remove the federal anti-monopoly commission and agencies that regulate telecommunications, energy market and have access to government information.

"There are a lot of wasteful agencies that do not serve any purpose," he said, AP News reported. "All of these supposedly autonomous agencies have to disappear."

The president went on to share that the anti-monopoly commission was trying to stop him from increasing the power of government-owned oil and energy companies, adding that the information agency had too much freedom.

Obrador did not mention if he already had the votes in Congress to confirm these changes will take place before he leaves the office. Changing or removing agencies enshrined in the Constitution required two-thirds of the votes.

Obrador is well-known for being against any kind of oversight. Previously, the president had called out environmentalists, accusing them of being backed by the United States.

"Pseudo-environmentalists come from Mexico City and other parts of the country, financed by the government of the United States, and they file these injunctions against us," he said in July. "It is an issue of national security for many reasons because a foreign government is interfering."

The Mexican president has discontinued funds for the electoral watchdog organization in order to limit its power to change any electoral rules in the country. Back in 2020, the president also shared his desire to get rid of external oversight agencies.

Aside from this, Obrador revealed his plans Monday to ban e-cigarettes and vapes in Mexico.

"It's proven they're bad for your health," he said, Reuters reported.

"I'm going to send a bill to ban vaping devices because I'm not going to be complicit in something that does very serious harm to young people, their entire respiratory system ends. And there are many interests involved, a lot of money," the president said, as per the official statement.

Mexico also passed a bill for a complete ban on smoking tobacco in public places from January onwards. The country has already banned e-cigarette imports.