Survey: Bribes still a way of life in Mexico

By Karen Mahabir
ASSOCIATED PRESS
7:28 p.m. May 10, 2006
MEXICO CITY – Bribing government officials for services from trash pickup to hearing court cases remains a way of life for Mexicans, according to a survey.
Survey respondents paid bribes 10 percent of time when they asked for public services last year, roughly the same as in 2001, the Mexican chapter of Transparency International said in a biannual report Tuesday.
The group conducted interviews at 15,123 homes across Mexico. It said the margin of error for the survey was about 1 percentage point.
According to the survey, Mexicans paid more bribes in 2005 to avoid having their cars impounded – paying 60 percent of the time, up from 57 percent in 2001. They also paid more often to work or sell goods on the street or sidewalks, paying 23 percent of the time, as opposed to 19 percent in 2001.

There is no problem in Mexico that cannot be solved with pictures of dead US presidents and statesmen! You can always tell when a holiday is approaching. The police are pulling over more motorist than usual. They need the extra income from the "merdida" or "the bite" as they call a bribe, to pay for the holiday trip or buy presents! -mm