Mexico City, Mexico – In honor of "World No Tobacco Day," celebrated on May 31st, Mexican civil organizations held a press conference on Tuesday and presented a report detailing tobacco companies’ alleged influence in Mexican politics.

"In 2011, far from aligning its polices with World Health Organization guidelines, the tobacco industry intensified its tactics and used its economic power to impede current legislation and stall progress in drafting and implementing tobacco policies in Mexico," said the InterAmerican Foundation for Tobacco Control (FIC.)

About 60,000 people in Mexico die from cigarette-related deaths a year, slightly more than a third of the amount of cigarette-related deaths in the United States.

There are currently 14 bills in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies which would affect tobacco sales and consumption, including bills that would force tobacco companies to raise the price of cigarettes, print larger graphic warnings on packages, and create smoke-free zones in urban areas. One of the bills has been sitting in the Chamber for well over a year.

Erick Antonio Ochoa, the director of the FIC in Mexico, said that various bills were "frozen" in their respective legislative houses, because politicians are aligned with tobacco producers and the economic clout tobacco companies carry.

In the report, civil organizations say that British American Tobacco launched a campaign last year to pressure legislatures not to pass laws that would affect tobacco sales, saying that they would cut investment in Mexico if anti-tobacco laws were passed.

In recent years, Mexican tobacco farmers have protested on the Mexico City’s streets, claiming that higher taxes on tobacco products would hurt jobs. According to an article published by the media company "iWatch News," protesters were given stipends and food vouchers from tobacco companies for participating in the protests – not an uncommon practice in Mexico.

In 2008, Mexico banned smoking in public places and raised taxes on tobacco products in 2010. The Mexican government currently spends $5.7 billion pesos annually to treat patients suffering illnesses or conditions caused by tobacco use.