13 December 2024

Mexico has proceeded with plans to abolish several regulatory bodies, including telecoms watchdog the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT).

The country’s ruling majority approved the general text of the constitutional amendment to abolish seven autonomous watchdogs. They include antitrust watchdog Cofece, telecoms regulator IFT, energy regulator CRE, hydrocarbon regulator CNH and public information and data protection office INAI.

These reforms to bodies that help to ensure government transparency could, Reuters has reported, worsen tension with the US and hit credit ratings. Mexico’s lower house of Congress has duly proposed adjustments to these reforms to ensure compliance with the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The argument for change has been that streamlined governance could save some US$5 billion annually and reduce corruption – however, it could strip funding from important projects, reduce transparency and oversight and concentrate power with the executive.