Mexican woman wins 22,000 dollars for useless red tape
AFP
MEXICO CITY (AFP) - A Mexican woman who needs to collect seven signatures every two weeks to obtain medicine for her sick son won a government competition Thursday for the most useless bureaucratic procedure.
Cecilia Velazquez received a check for 300,000 pesos (22,000 dollars) from President Felipe Calderon after winning the competition to identify the worst red tape in the notoriously bureaucratic country.
"The process takes at least four days each time, from delivering the prescription to administering the medicine," Velazquez said.
The competition, overseen by the public services ministry, gathered 20,000 entries from frustrated citizens.
"She's a working mother who has a sick son and I know, as a father, that we will give anything for the health and life of our children," Calderon said as he presented the prize.
------------------------------------
Image of the Presidential Palace at the Zocalo Square in Mexico City, by Alfredo Estrella.