Mexicans revolt against Nanny Bloomberg tax on soda

Bloomberg pushes a soda tax in Mexico

“Bloomberg has the right to be crazy, but he doesn’t have the

right to come here and impose his craziness on us.”

MEXICO CITY — Leftist New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s name has been drawn into the debate over a proposed tax on soft drinks to fund weight-control efforts in Mexico, which now has higher obesity rates than the U.S.

President Enrique Pena Nieto’s proposal to raise $950 million from the 1-peso-per-liter soda tax has drawn the beverage industry’s wrath in the country with the world’s highest yearly soda consumption; the average Mexican consumes 43 gallons of soft drinks annually.

One peso is equal to about 8 U.S. cents.

The government wants to use tax income to install water drinking fountains in schools, most of which don’t have them, but soft drink bottlers, retailers and sugar growers have bought full-page ads and broadcast media spots opposing the measure.

Some ads target Bloomberg, who unsuccessfully backed a state tax on soft drinks in New York, then a ban on large sodas in New York City. Bloomberg’s charity has contributed to Mexican pro-tax groups.

“No al Impuesto Bloomberg” (“No to the Bloomberg Tax”) read the large type of several ads published in Mexico in recent days.

“Bloomberg … has the right to be crazy, but he doesn’t have the right to come here and impose his craziness on us,” said Cuauhtemoc Rivera, leader of Mexico’s National Association of Small Stores, a little-known business chamber that bought full-page ads in Mexico’s main newspapers for several days running.