BY VÍCTOR MAYÉN
The News
The United Nations (UN) called on the Mexican Congress to strengthen the federal witnesses-collaborators program in order to fight corruption. Currently, corruption introduces 1.6 trillion dollars to the global financial system every year, a figure representing 2.7 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
Antonio Luigi Mazittelli, representative of the U.N. Office Against Drugs and Crime in Mexico, participated in the first National Anti-Corruption Forum, organized by legislators of the National Action Party (PAN) in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. There, Mazittelli said that the aim of combating the scourge represented by corruption is to recover the stolen money that has been taken to tax havens.
Corruption is a phenomenon that is increasingly serious in less developed countries and this undermines investment opportunities and economic growth, he added.
Mazittelli suggested to the legislators that to effectively combat corruption in Mexico, the program of witnesses and collaborators should be strengthened.
“Mexico should strengthen the existing regulatory framework regarding the protection of witnesses and collaborators of justice, that it, informants. This is an extremely important instrument which should be valued much in the fight against corruption and organized crime. Today, collaborators and witnesses are essential to carry out investigations that should prove conclusive against corruption,” said Mazittelli.