The federal government’s Expenditure Budget for 2024 increases by 131% the public resources that the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) will receive, adding a total purse that exceeds 259,433 million pesos, while only 96,989 million will be allocated to the health sector. of pesos, a significant decrease of 53% compared to what was approved for 2023.
The spending proposal of the federal Executive Branch for next year thus reinforces the militarization of the country, while disdains the numerous needs that the Mexican population has in terms of health.
In fact, what is intended to be granted to Sedena is only surpassed by the social support provided by the Ministry of Welfare, dependency to which in 2024 will be granted 543,933 million pesos, an increase of 31% compared to what was received this year.
It also highlights what will be allocated to the emblematic works of the current administration, which are also managed by military personnel, and which will have 147,000 million pesos in the next year.
This figure contrasts with the 1,168 million pesos requested by the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI), and is also much higher than the 19,333 million pesos that is expected to be allocated to the Attorney General’s Office. the Republic (FGR).
Expensive and militarized works
In detail, the Budget Project delivered last week in the Chamber of Deputies foresees provide the Mayan Train with 120,000 million pesos, an amount that is 19% less than what was delivered in 2023, but that, formally, is not entirely justifiable, since it is assumed that this means of communication will begin operating in December of this year.
Ergo, if the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has assured that this work will be completed within three months, no more resources should be required for 2024, except those that are subsidies and salaries, since in the short term the Mayan Train will not be self-sufficient nor will it generate profits.
So far, from 2020 to date, The federal government has allocated 359,714 million pesos to the Mayan Train, so – when adding the 120,000 million for 2024 – this work will end up costing 479,714 million pesos, far from the 156,000 million pesos planned in the original project. That is, the cost of the Mayan Train has risen 207%.
Likewise, in addition to the 120,000 million pesos, the federal government plans to grant another 5,937 million pesos for the operational functioning of the military company that will operate the Mayan Train.
Likewise, an initiative to reform the Federal Law of Rights was included in the budget package, which proposes allocate 100% of the resources generated by tourist visas paid by foreigners entering the country to the Mayan Train. Currently, it is the National Migration Institute (INM) that receives these resources.
In government jargon, the cost of a tourist visa is called Right of visitors without permission for paid activities, which amounts to 687 pesos per person, which in the end could add up to more than 20,000 million pesos, considering that in 2022 38.3 million foreigners entered the country, although not all are required to pay these fees.
Another work that was equally expensive, and that in 2024 will still not generate sufficient resources for its own operation, is the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), inaugurated by President López Obrador on March 21, 2022.
In the 2024 budget, it is planned to deliver the emblematic airfield of the current administration a subsidy of 1,500 million pesos, of which 464 million must be allocated to the salaries of its workers.
Same or less money
The human rights protection activities carried out in the Ministry of the Interior, which are in charge of the undersecretary Alejandro Encinas, They will receive only 2 million 199,652 pesos, the same budget as in 2023.
For its part, while this year Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) received a budget of 678,406 million pesos, in the proposal for 2024 that amount is reduced to 456,021 million pesos, which means that the parastatal will receive 222,385 million pesos less, a decrease of 32%.
What will be allocated to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources was also reduced by 7%, if in 2023 that agency received 75,627 million pesos, for next year it will only be 70,245 million pesos.
The same occurs with the Secretariat of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development whose budget will be 15% lower than this year. The agency will only receive 12,880 million pesos in 2024, compared to 15,264 million pesos in 2023.
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Surya Palacios Journalist and lawyer, specialist in legal and human rights analysis. She has been a reporter, radio host and editor.