President Claudia Sheinbaum's reform was prompted by information suggesting the existence of 'golden pensions'. The Ministry of Anti-Corruption later clarified that the initially reported amounts were inaccurate and did not reach the one million pesos that had been publicly claimed. In total, adjustments were made to six records. Workers from Pemex, who had reported receiving over a million pesos, were actually paid 201,961 pesos. Sheinbaum has excluded the Armed Forces from the pension cap. It's evident that several of the cases presented exceeded the current salary of President Claudia Sheinbaum and that of most Mexican workers by up to 20 times; however, they claimed that the authorities' imprudence could have put them at risk by publicly stating they received a million monthly. It is recalled that the now-effective changes do not apply to retired officials from other institutions like the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Armed Forces were also excluded. What will happen to the 'savings' from the 'golden pensions'? At the February 18 conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that the elimination of privileges would save 5 billion pesos. She mentioned these resources would be allocated to strengthen the 'Bienestar' (Well-being) programs. It is still unclear when a larger budget for social support will be noticeable and if any of this money could be destined for producers, who protested last week over the alleged lack of funds for the countryside. The reform to eliminate the 'golden pensions' of former officials from state-owned enterprises was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), making it effective. With the constitutional changes, it is prohibited that retired officials receive a monthly amount exceeding 134,000 pesos, half of the salary that President Claudia Sheinbaum will receive in 2026. During a morning press conference, the Ministry of Anti-Corruption and Good Government, headed by Raquel Buenrostro, presented cases of individuals who allegedly received up to one million pesos monthly in pensions.
