A final act in the theater of austerity
The Senate stage witnessed this afternoon a declaration that many believed impossible. With the solemnity that the moment required, Senator Laura Itzel Castillo, president of the Board of Directors, announced the inevitable: the reform against ‘golden pensions’ is constitutional.
The vote was already called. Twenty state congresses had given the necessary yes to modify article 27 of the Constitution. The legislative machinery, promoted from the National Palace, completed its movement.
“With this reform promoted by President Claudia Sheinbaum, the excesses of public servants are put to an end,” declared Castillo from the rostrum.
The official narrative is clear: austerity and ‘humanism’ are strengthened. But behind the speech there are concrete numbers that will change lives… or rather, expectations.
The new limit: when the golden dream turns silver
The rule is simple and brutally effective. From now on, no public servant – not from CFE, Pemex, Nafin or any organization – will be able to retire with more than half of the president’s salary.
Do the math. That translates into a maximum limit of about 67 thousand pesos per month. A figure that for the average Mexican remains a distant dream, but that for certain high-ranking officials means a drastic cut to their retirement plans.
The states that endorsed this change are a geographical and ideological mix: from Baja California to Yucatán, passing through Mexico City. The list is long and significant.
- Baja California
- Baja California Sur
- Campeche
- Chiapas
- Colima
- Warrior
- Hidalgo
- Michoacán
- Nayarit
- Oaxaca
- Puebla
- Quintana Roo
- Sinaloa
- Sound
- Tabasco
- Tlaxcala
- Veracruz
- Yucatan
- Zacatecas
- Mexico City
The stated goal? Put a stop to excessive benefits and promote equity in the pension system. The political message? More forceful: the era of discretionary privileges is over.
My father, who worked his entire life in a government office without ever approaching those amounts, would have told me that this was basic justice. My teenage daughters, living in a country where getting a decent first job is an odyssey, will ask why this didn’t happen sooner.
Political theater has its final acts. Today, before twenty state witnesses and with a constitutional declaration, the curtain fell on one of the most opaque benefits of public service. The real consequences – the protections, the transitions, the fiscal impact – are the next act. But the script is already written.
