Can Mexico’s President-elect Deliver on his No. 1 Campaign Pledge: Ending Corruption?

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The campaign platform of Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel López Obrador included vows to end corruption in the Mexican government and drive out the political mafia running the country. As López Obrador’s Dec. 1 inauguration nears, his anti-corruption strategy continues to take shape. On Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy Center for U.S-Mexican Studies will host a conference, discussing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for López Obrador’s administration.

“Corruption in Mexico is pervasive to a point that annoys and depresses Mexicans,” said Rafael Fernández de Castro, director of the Center of U.S.-Mexican Studies. “López Obrador’s recent win with support from more than half of the electorate, along with his party’s new congressional majority, gives him the mandate to deliver on his campaign promise, but he could trigger a major upheaval as he strives to tackle misconduct that has infested the country.”

The López Obrador's No. 1 Campaign Pledge: Ending Corruption conference brings together top experts on Mexican public policy, many of whom are heavily involved in the country’s anti-corruption efforts, such as Alejandro Ríos Rippa, the Corporate Ethics and Litigation Director at the natural gas company, IEnova. He was a lawyer in the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington D.C., and was formerly adviser to Mexico's Attorney General. Additional speakers include Yeidckol Polevnsky Gurwitz, president of National Regeneration Movement (or Morena), López Obrador’s political party, which already has a congressional majority. Polevnsky Gurwitz previously served as a senator from the State of Mexico from 2006 to 2012.

“UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy is pleased to bring together thought-leaders from the public and private sector for a substantive discussion with the aim of shaping public policy that enhance the lives of citizens on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border,” said the school’s dean, Peter F. Cowhey. “Since our school’s founding 30 years ago, we have continued to build on our pioneering research on the Americas, Asia and beyond.  The efforts of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies are a prime example of our ability to impact timely public policy at home and abroad.”

This is the first conference on the battles that López Obrador will face fighting corruption, violence and poverty, while managing U.S.-Mexico relations, throughout his six-year term. See a detailed agenda and full list of speakers for the Oct. 19 event below:

• 10:30 a.m. – Opening Remarks
  • Alejandro Ríos Rippa, President, Anticorruption Committee, COPARMEX 
  • Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director, Center for U.S.- Mexican Studies
• 10:45 a.m. – Morena’s Efforts to Fight Corruption
  • Yeidckl Polevnsky Gurwitz, President, Morena
• 11:10 a.m. – Conversation with Yeidckol Polevnsky Gurwitz
  • Alejandro Ríos Rippa, President, Anticorruption Committee, COPARMEX 
• 12:45 p.m. – AMLO’s Roadmap to End Corruption
  • Max Kaiser, Director de Anticorrupción, Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO)
  • Daniel Lizárraga, Jefe de Información, Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI)
• 1:45 p.m. – Identifying Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
  • Alfonso Hernández Valdez, Professor, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO)
  • Francisco Garfias, Assistant Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
• 2:45 p.m. – Closing Remarks
  • Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director, Center for U.S.- Mexican Studies

The López Obrador's No. 1 Campaign Pledge: Ending Corruption conference is sponsored by the generous support of Sempra Energy. For more information on the conference, or to register, click here.

For more information about the Center of U.S.-Mexican Studies, click here and for more information on the School of Global Policy and Strategy and its 30th Anniversary, click here.