National Regeneration Movement

The National Regeneration Movement, also known by its acronym MORENA, is a Cardenist and social-democratic political party in Mexico. MORENA describes itself as a democratic left-wing party which supports ethnic, religious, cultural and sexual diversity, respect for human rights and environmental care. It describes itself as an opponent to the neoliberal economic policies that Mexico has adopted since the 1980s. MORENA states that a new economic model is necessary because the neoliberal model failed in Mexico because it became a synonym with corruption, and the party supports "developm…  ent through private and social business, promoting market competition, but exercising State responsibility in the strategic activities which the Constitution states", and proposes "a model that strengthens the inner market, fair wages; a model that promotes syndical freedom and democracy, where the State doesn’t intervene in the inner affairs of the trade organizations".[citation needed] The party sets to stop the privatization of Pemex and the granting of lands to foreign mining companies who "devastate the lands, pay no taxes and harm the environment".[citation needed] MORENA also declares to be in favor of better treatment of the Indigenous peoples and to carry out the 1996 San Andrés Accords, which were signed by the EZLN and representatives of the Mexican government, but later rejected by then-President Ernesto Zedillo.[citation needed] The party states to be against the monopolization of the mass media, especially television, by Televisa and TV Azteca, which together own 90% of the Mexican television. Contrary to other parties of the left, MORENA has not sought to reduce inequality by increasing taxes on the wealthy. Instead, the party has focused on reducing the pay gap between lower-level employees and the extravagant high-level government workers salaries, such as politicians and judges (who make around 10–12 times more as of 2018) through willing austerity measures. They announced support for a plan by López Obrador to cut salaries of the higher-ranking public officials (including the President), lay off up to 70 percent of non-unionized federal workers, and reduce unnecessary spending by cracking down on corruption. As Article 94 of the Mexican Constitution prohibits reducing the salary of judges at any time during their appointment in order to maintain judicial independence, judges on the Supreme Court voluntarily took a 25% pay cut starting in 2019. Several judicial cases regarding the constitutionality of the plan were pending as of the beginning of 2019.