Photo: Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Deputy Reyna Celeste Ascencio, a member of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party, presented an initiative to the federal Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, Feb. 22, aimed at preventing civil organizations from receiving funding from abroad.

The proposed reform would prevent international donations from being used to lobby against state-sponsored projects or initiatives, such as the president’s controversial electricity reform, Tren Maya tourist train and the Dos Bocas oil refinery.

“In the event that a civil organization receive donations directly or indirectly from a foreign government or private corporations, they may not carry out lobbying or undertake strategic litigation actions,” Ascencio’s initiative states.

The proposal would likewise require that civil associations inform federal tax office and the Secretariat the Interior as to the amount of these donations, specifying their origin and what percentage that sum constitutes of their total income.

The initiative came in response to claims by Morena that civil organizations such as Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) have sought to legally obstruct the construction of the Santa Lucía airport and the Tren Maya, among other state-sponsored projects.

Because Morena holds a firm majority in Mexico’s Congress, the bill is likely to pass.