The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, defended this Friday the closure of the state news agency, Notimex, after more than three years of union conflict that began during his government.
“An agreement is being reached because the truth We no longer need a news agency in governmentthat is, since the time of the bulletins and the official and unofficial press, that is no longer there”, said the president in his daily press conference.
López Obrador confirmed what was said on Thursday by Ricardo Monreal, president of the Senate’s Political Coordination Council (Jucopo), who announced an initiative to liquidate the news agency, born in 1968 on the occasion of the Olympics in Mexico.
The president has argued that his government has no need for the agency because it now reports daily in its morning press conferences, known as “Morning“.
“Since we joined there is a trade union conflict because it is not something we need as a government, we have ‘morning’, although (historian Enrique) Krauze, Denisse (Dresser, analyst) and others, many etc. do not they like it,” held.
The single union of workers Notimex (SutNotimex) recalled Thursday that it has been on strike for almost 1,150 days and pointed to the government of López Obrador for his “omission” in the case.
The president has now promised that there will be agreement, protection and liquidation for all workers.
“The important thing is that an agreement is reached, that there is reconciliation, that the workers are not affected, that is education,” he said.
The union dispute at the Mexican state agency began in February 2020 over the alleged unfair dismissal of at least 200 workers after the arrival of its new director, Sanjuana Martínez, close to López Obrador.
The latest clash between Notimex journalists and the government dates back to last August, when the agency’s 20 foreign correspondents asked for the intervention of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ( IACHR).
The president acknowledged that there was a “bias” due to Martínez’s role, but defended it and also announced that he could continue in his government.
“I have respect for her and I consider her a good journalist, but there are those who say no, but everyone is free and I always say what I think,” he said.
President framed the closure of Notimex within its policy of austerity.
We need to save on everything, the apparatus was very large, the Government was self-centered, the budget belonged to the Government, it was a clever plan because, if the budget remained with the Government itself, the Government became a facilitator of corruption, he concluded. EFE extension
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.