Despite the problem of insecurity that exists in the State, do you consider that the balance of the first year of your Government is positive?
It is undoubtedly positive, although there is still a long way to go.
In comparison we have a very important reduction in intentional homicides, we are the fourth State in the entire Mexican Republic that has reduced intentional homicide the most. Additionally, the crime incidence, we have achieved that Jalisco is now below the national average and this is a great achievement.
The State had given us fifth place in intentional homicide, we are now in 17th place.
We cannot say, I repeat, that we are already in an ideal place, we still have a long way to go, but of course, of course there are great results and I want to make something very clear, the results that Jalisco has achieved, the magic word is called coordination.
Coordination with the Ministry of Defense, coordination with the National Guard, coordination with the Federal Public Security Secretariat and also coordination with the other municipalities of the state of Jalisco in the campaign.
Are you satisfied with what has been done so far on the issue of disappearances?
Everything that is human interests me, I am interested in attending to it personally.
Since I was Mayor of Guadalajara and Zapopan, I had an important approach with the groups and families of victims of disappearance and I have maintained it as Governor of the State, with monthly meetings, not sending representatives, but attending personally.
In the budget that we are exercising in this fiscal year 2025, we achieved very important increases in attention to victims, in having a greater number of personnel and resources for the Jalisciense Institute of Forensic Sciences, for the Search Commission, for support for families of victims of disappearance.
In the budget project that I am sending for next year, they have an increase of more than 170 percent in resources for disappearances.
The main tragedy that this country is experiencing is disappearance and in order to solve it we must first address the causes, be close to the people who are suffering from this tragedy, but above all we must invest resources.
If we do not invest resources first to pay a historical debt with all these families, but above all to eradicate disappearance in Jalisco in the future, which should be the main goal, we are not going to get anywhere.
Zapopan and Guadalajara are the municipalities with the most disappearances. Does it have to do with population dynamics?
I have proposed a large number of times and I feel truly sad that the causes of the phenomenon of disappearance are not addressed. I proposed it before the federal Government, before the federal Chamber of Deputies, to take measures that help us avoid this recruitment from other entities of the Republic, through places such as the bus stations that we have proposed to tighten the measures and standardize them to those that airports have. Sadly we have not received a response.
Today we must take with a sense of urgency all measures that allow us not only to reduce, but also eradicate the phenomenon of recruitment.
The States are doing our job, we are carrying out operations in the truck stations, delivering more resources to the Secretariat of Security, to the Jalisciense Institute, we are creating a new state intelligence system, which is all aimed at reducing the phenomenon of disappearance.
For years Jalisco was the first place (in disappearances), today we are already the second place, we cannot get too excited, but we can see that things are improving little by little, little by little, but we need the support of the Federation.
What else can be done to reverse the issue of the perception of insecurity?
First, have a calm State, without high-impact crimes. This helps a lot. Believe me, the new intelligence system will also help because it will be the most modern and the most effective in the entire country.
The first stage for the Soccer World Cup will be ready and will be completed at the beginning of 2027. This will also help a lot in terms of perception. The equipment helps a lot in perception.
But there is something fundamental that is what we are dedicating ourselves to now as well, which is crime prevention. We want to go to the causes of crime, we want to serve our youth, convince them not to go down the wrong path and this also has a lot to do with education and the educational model that we are creating in Jalisco.
The budget to address violence against women grows by more than 15 percent, but the Secretariat of Substantive Equality between Women and Men (SISEMH) is only left with an increase of 3.3 percent. What was the criterion for making this budget design?
I have always refused the growth of current spending, since I have been in public service I have been a serious critic of the increase in payrolls in the State. Anything that is current spending cannot grow beyond inflation.
What we do is invest in programs or invest in infrastructure and many times it is not reflected in the secretariats themselves because the programs are assigned to some other area. For example, we are going to increase the number of Pulses of Life that we deliver at the state level, we are going to increase it throughout the State, it is not in the Ministry of Equality, this is in the Ministry of Security.
The Purple Points that we are going to grow as well, we are going to make a very important announcement in a few more days about the Purple Points, are not in the Equality Secretariat, but we also have them in the Security Coordination, so many times that is why it is important to make a breakdown of the budgets and we have the obligation to explain them.
What grows the most for next year are resources for disappearances, security and protection of women. They are the three areas that grow the most for next year.
The protection of women is fundamental, we have to reduce, this is another of the crimes that I have very marked, in which we must reduce femicides. We not only have to reduce them, we have to eradicate them because one feminicide is a lot.
You propose lowering the budget by 12.3 percent to address the Santiago River. What can you comment on this?
A plan was made with the federal government regarding the attention that we must have together for the sanitation of the Santiago River, certain actions were determined that have to do with new or with renovation or expansion of treatment plants along the Santiago River itself.
The resources that we sent as a proposal to the Congress of the State of Jalisco are those agreed upon with the Federation, with Conagua the plan is being stipulated. They asked us for a certain amount of resources, investment and that is what we are sending to the Congress of the State of Jalisco.
Now, the reality is that the Santiago River will only achieve fundamental sanitation if the States that are within the basin have a real commitment, something that is not being seen today. Conagua must force all the entities that are in the basin that originates in the State of Mexico, but that passes through many States of the Republic, first to respect what they are taking water from the Santiago River, but, second, and most importantly, what they are sending to the Santiago River. I’ll just give an example, the large number of pig farms along the Santiago River.
We are the lowest part of the basin and no matter how much we do sanitation work downstream, if a commitment does not come from upstream, we will not be able to improve.
Are you satisfied with the response that the federal government has given to the demand to stop the Solís-León aqueduct?
Of course I disagree and I stand by it. We are going to fight against the construction of the aqueduct from the Solís dam to León, because this is going to seriously affect Chapala.
Chapala, of the last 20 years, 17 years has received derivations from the Solís dam, which when it reaches 70 percent of its capacity, floodgates open and this water reaches Chapala.
I am not convinced by the federal explanations and I remain opposed to the Solís-León dam aqueduct, because my responsibility is to take care of Chapala, which is the largest lake in Mexico and is in the State of Jalisco.
Conagua’s explanation has to do with the fact that less water will be extracted from the Solís dam due to the modernization of the irrigation district in Guanajuato, and what happens if the modernization does not go well? So, Chapala is going to be affected in a very important way.
Do you consider that there are good levels of political stability and how do you classify your relationship with the Legislative Branch?
I have no doubt that we are going to reach agreements with the Legislative Branch based on a respectful, direct dialogue.
I don’t like the grid, I don’t like it. I like results work. What we see is that we have built a successful Government with results, and that hurts many people.
After a year of government, in which there is generally a deterioration of the rulers themselves, our approval grew by practically four percentage points. We are reaching a historic approval, why? Because people see in us an efficient Government, a Government very different from those that Morena has built in any other entity of the Republic.
We here are a containment dam, of an efficient Government against Morena, because Morena are bad governments, look at the other States of the Republic, that is what hurts many people.
We are a humanist Government, we are a Government that is close to universities, to churches, to businessmen, and above all to organized society and that is why there are many political enemies who try to destroy us, because they see in us a threat of a national example of a good Government.