AMLO Defends Decree Casting Mexico Projects as National Security
- President said decree needed to accelerate major projects
- Critics allege it eliminates transparency and oversight
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador defended Tuesday his government’s decree to give its major infrastructure projects national security protections, arguing that it is needed to speed up permitting processes.
The directive, published Monday, orders authorities to issue provisional permits for a swath of government infrastructure projects five days after the request is received. If the permits aren’t decided in that period of time, they will be deemed “to be resolved positively,” the decree says, adding that the provisional permits will be valid for 12 months.