Calling it a “historic change” for his country, President Vicente Fox signed his country’s first FOI law. The new law guarantees citizen access to nearly all federal government information. It also establishes a Federal Institute for Access to Public Information. The agency will aid information-seekers, train citizens and public officials, and produce an annual report on government responsiveness.
Mexican officials visited Virginia, met with access activists and researched the state’s FOI Advisory Council as part of the study process that led to passage of the new law.
In the last decade, 26 countries have enacted open-government laws, among them Japan, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Ireland, South Africa and Thailand.
Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, wrote in the July/August issue of Foreign Policy that, ironically, after 9/11 “secrecy has made the most dramatic comeback in the country that purports to be the most democratic.”