Governor Aristoteles Sandoval says Jalisco needs to look further afield than the United States to rid this state of its economic “dependency” on its northern neighbor.
Speaking on state television Wednesday, in a 12-minute message to coincide with the delivery of his fourth annual informe (state-of-the-state report), Sandoval said the United States is an important market but “not the only one.” Although Germany and Israel both invested more in Jalisco in 2016, he noted, 86 percent of this state’s exports go to the United States.
The governor’s brief television appearance was a sign of the new austere times. Gone are the days when a state governor would turn the day of his annual informe into a vulgar exercise in self-aggrandizement. Schools would close and politicians and dignitaries gather in their finest garb for an ostentatious session of Congress, often held in Guadalajara’s majestic Degollado Theater. Prior to the event, union workers – many bussed from the provinces – would provide a flag-waving guard of honor for the governor as he strutted through the city’s packed Plaza de la Liberation to the ceremony.
On Wednesday, February 1, Jalisco Government Secretary Roberto López Lara simply hand-delivered Sandoval’s written report to Congress for their perusal.
The report, of course, is available to read online, and the government’s public relations department has been busy circulating its most positive points on various interactive social media platforms.
What hasn’t changed much over the years is the self-congratulatory tone of the informe, although Sandoval did inject a modicum of auto-criticism into this year’s report.
While stressing the advances in Jalisco’s economy over the past 12 months, the governor acknowledged that more work is needed to strengthen public security and its governing institutions, and admitted the modernization of Guadalajara’s antiquated transport system is taking longer than anticipated.
It’s the economy where Sandoval believes he has achieved most. On each day of 2106, he boasted, a record 180 jobs were created and 369 people in the state were “rescued” from poverty.
“A total of 262,745 people who before this administration took office did not have a job are now in work,” he said.
The governor also hailed Jalisco’s leadership in the production of many products, including eggs, poultry, milk and berries. He noted that tourism is up under his watch and that ten times more people are employed in the sector than under the previous two state administrations.
On the political front, Sandoval gave himself a pat on the back for eliminating immunity from prosecution for politicians, and promoting legislation to widen citizen participation in government.
On February 9 and 10, secretaries from state agencies will face public scrutiny over their performances in the past 12 months in a series of open forums, known as the Glosa Ciudadana.