Law or Order
 

Mexican Town Forgoes Law for Order


Kevin Sullivan

2003-09-08

ECATEPEC, Mexico -- Park where you like, speed if you want to, run a red light, don't bother renewing your driver's license and let that seat belt flap in the wind. Nobody's going to bust you as long as Mayor Eruviel Avila Villegas is in charge.

Avila's first official act when he took office last month was to abolish parking and traffic fines in this city of 2.5 million people just north of Mexico City. Avila, 34, a soft-spoken lawyer with curly hair, is nobody's anarchist. He's just looking for radical new ways to solve one of Mexico's most annoying problems: cops demanding bribes.


I like it.

Tijuana is trying to crack down on bribing as well, from what I heard on NPR yesterday. The US Consulate is encouraging people to fight back, and the city has now made it easier to do so: You can file the complaint online and don't have to go back to the city to fight it.

9% of the Gross Domestic Product.:eek: Carumba!