Fox: Legalize it

Yet another call for legalization from former President Vicente Fox, in an opinion column in today's El Universal. Note that it comes ahead of a high-powered Cato institute conference, Nov. 15, entitled, Ending the War on Drugs, and the revelation of the "worst kept secret" in Latin America, namely that President Juan Manuel Santos is in favor of marijuana legalization.

Manuel Bartlett, now with... Morena!

Manuel Bartlett, former Puebla governor, is in many ways the epitomy of the old-style prinosaurio or PRI dinosaur. Many know him from the infamous fraud in 1988, when he doubled as both head of the interior secretariat and head of the federal electoral commission arranging the elections and producing the results, which were most likely drastically altered to favor Carlos Salinas.

I am working on a book and have been re-reading up on much recent political history, and found it interesting how Bartlett, who became Puebla governor 1993-1999, nearly derailed the crucial 1996 electoral reform in Mexico. When PAN won the Huejotzingo municipality in a state election in 1995, the state electoral commission, pushed by Bartlett, annulled the PAN's victory and handed it back to PRI. Due to this outrage, PAN left national negotiations over electoral reform, with the result that President Ernesto Zedillo himself had to intervene to push Bartlett to acknowledge PAN's victory.

Fast forward to the present. We now learn that this old PRI hack is now in negotiations to become a candidate for the senate in 2012.

Yet as whose candidate?

None other than that of AMLO's Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena).
In terms of political conversions and opportunism, this one is hard to beat.

Humberto Moreira's Coahuila treasurer arrested

Bad news for PRI president and former Coahuila governor Humberto Moreira: Javier Villareal Hernández. who was the treasurer of his government, was arrested yesterday, accused of, among other acts,  falsifying official state documents so as to obtain financial credit for the heavily indebted government led by Moreira.

Moreira has pathetically denounced this and related events as part of a "dirty war" against him, not giving any substantial answer or rebuttal to the charges. His situation as PRI president is becoming ever more untenable.

More details as well from El Universal

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas gets Mexico's highest medal, call for army to barracks

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas finally received the Medalla Belisario Domínguez, and used the occasion to call, in his speech, for  withdrawing the army in the fight against Mexico's drug cartels, and instead leave it to a civilian law enforcement body. Wise words.

Support for democracy sharply down in Mexico: The Economist/Latinobarómetro

Very worrisome figures from Mexico: In an Economist article, based on data from the Chilean Latinobarómetro, absolute support for democracy - "preferable to any other type of government" - is down to 40 percent, a whopping 9 percent drop from 2011. In fact, Only Honduras and Guatemala, with 43 and 36 percent respectively, score lower.

Here's the graphic, courtesy of The Economist:

From The Economist

Lula, in Mexico, scolds the PRD

Brazil's former president, the wildly popular Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is in Mexico for a range of meetings and conferences, and also to receive the newly instituted honor Amalia Solórzano de Cárdenas, named after the much-beloved wife of Lázaro Cárdenas. There, he used the occasion to scold the PRD, and deservedly so, for its almost complete lack of party unity, and specifically its inability to do its dirty laundry at home and not in public.

Wise words.

Michoacán governor election: PRI literally buying votes

From the "New PRI," which is looking every bit like the old PRI of Mexico's authoritarian past:

In Michoacán, PRI candidate for governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa is literally handing out money at campaign events. It is no joke: From 500 to 1500 pesos, or around 40-120 dollars, to a range of people at campaign rallies. Both the PRD and PAN have launched complaints with the state electoral council.

And the best - worst, that is - part? Vallejo has absolutely no shame in admitting it: 

"Don't confuse a humanitarian act with handouts. Politics is for serving the human being, with principles and values, but when you look at this as something perverse, it is degenerated."

So Vallejo is not himself engaging in anything "perverse" by buying votes, but merely engaging in a humanitarian act. I am glad he cleared that up.

Guns for laptops in Chiapas

Citizens of Chiapas had the opportunity the past days to hand in their weapons in return for laptops, and military and state authorities received a total of 871 firearms the past couple of days.

Part of a drive to reduce the number of weapons in the state, the guns were destroyed in a public ceremony attended by Governor Juan Sabines and a military commander.

What a wonderful idea.

Drunk on power... literally

Federal deputies from the PRD, PT, and PAN complained over their legislative colleagues from the PRI, apparently particularly those from Mexico State, for drinking alcohol and being drunk in the Chamber of Deputies. The legislative session was even suspended as a results.

My apologies, but hard to resist the cliche: Given the leading position of their political boss Enrique Peña Nieto in the polls, and their successful blocking of Calderón's Political Reform and the appointment of the the three unfulfilled IFE councilor positions, is the PRI drunk on power as well?

More on PRD internal election, in bullet form

* The heads of the PRD factions meet to lick their wounds and attempt a "reconciliation," with new elections scheduled for next weekend in the five states where they were not held this Sunday.

* But Dolores Padierna/René Bejarano of the IDN faction, which has caused so much trouble and discredit of the party, was not there.

* Earlier, IDN claimed it had intercepted a trailer or two of handouts, but offered no evidence, nor did it report the alleged incident to the authorities.

* And in a very open attack on Ebrard, IDN even demanded that Ebrard leave the PRD!

* Former party president Jesús Ortega blamed IDN for the turmoil this past weekend, arguing it is part of IDN's strategy to discredit the PRD and Ebrard in order to promote the candidacy of AMLO.

* Pro-AMLO groups also demand the cancellation of election in other states where it appears their opponents won.

* The Mexico City government, through Secretary of Government José Ángel Ávila, denied that it had anything to do with the elections.

* Marcelo Ebrard, from Kuwait: The 2012 candidacy will not be decided by "whomever screams the loudest," the perennial strategy of Padierna et al.

* PRD in Mexico City, its main bastion, continues in an absolute mess, directly a result of the fights between pro-anti Ebrard factions.

All, in other words, is normal in the PRD

PRI president call for alliance with Elba Esther Gordillo and SNTE

PRI's scandal-ridden national president Humberto Moreira Valdés called openly for an alliance with the discredited SNTE teachers union and its "president-for-life" Elba Esther Gordillo.

Gordillo and her PANAL party might contribute 2-3 percent to the PRI's 2012 candidate.
Enrique Peña Nieto, to be sure, is also in favor.
So much, of course, for the "new PRI."

On a different note, yet another PRI elite calling for Moreira to step down as PRI president: Former Governor Miguel Alemán Velasco of Veracruz (the son of the former president), and still quite a big shot in the party.

AMLO's faction in the PRD sabotages internal party election

As expected, things went very wrong in the PRD's internal election this weekend. The count was cancelled in five states - Mexico City,  Chiapas, Zacatecas, Oaxaca and Veracruz - all key states for the party.

Having cried fraud for more than two weeks ahead of the contest, the discredited Dolores Padierna and her internal party faction IDN as expected managed to sabotage the election, and blamed Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard for the disturbances. In several states, thugs loyal to the IDN resorted to violence against its party opponents, such as in Durango, where the infamous Cecilio Campos led groups armed with lead pipes that attacked their fellow party members.

If there ever was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, this is it: IDN and Padierna actively tried to
derail the process in order to make Marcelo Ebrard look bad. It his hard to understand this logic of "destroying your own party to save it" from a rational point of view, but from that of the IDN, who support the bid of Ebrard's rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador to become the presidential candidate of the left, it makes perfect sense to make the PRD, now led primarily by the social-democratic Nueva Izquierda faction close to Ebrard, look bad.

The party will likely make another attempt next weekend to hold elections in the remaining states.

PRD internal election tomorrow: Fearing the worst

The PRD had sought to postpone its internal elections - for its national congress, council, and state councils - until after the Michoacán elections, but following a complaint to Mexico's electoral tribunal by Carlos Sotelo, a PRD senator who seems intent on sabotaging his own party, the tribunal ordered the PRD to hold elections, to take place this Sunday.

Why I fear for the worst, a) The leader of the IDN faction, constantly involved in scandals, has persistently hurled accusations left and right, without offering not even the slightest of proof, that the elections will be fraudulent, including holding a "sit-in" encampment protest outside the PRD's buildings. Just what the party needs after for years trying to shed the bellicose, intransigent, aggressive image after the 2006 protests, which led it it having the highest disapproval/rejection rate of any party among Mexico's voters.

Why I hope for the best: At least the party's top executive leadership - its National Executive Committee- will not be elected. That should take away quite a bit from what its at stake. The party already has a president (of the social democratic left), and a secretary general (of the clientelist movement-inspired IDN), who continues its uneasy, schizophrenic cohabitación where the party is fundamentally divided over its future direction, including even whether to be a party at all, or a personalistic movement-party.

Why I fear for the worst b) Let's not forget that the PRD will also, likely in November, choose its 2012 presidential candidate. While this will be decided by a citizen poll, clearly having control of the party structure matters immensely.

Whatever one's ideology, the existence of a well-functioning and solid center-left party is of the absolute highest importance to the functioning of electoral democracy. Even those who wish the PRD the worst (and this assessment is often fueled by its constant internal wrangling and fights) should ask themselves the question: What if there was not a party like the PRD in Mexico to absorb and channel the demands for a leftwing agenda - how would these grievances be vented and expressed? It wouldn't be pretty.

A bit of gossip on a likely 2018 contender: Rafael Moreno Valle

From Templo Mayor, the political "gossip" column in the Reforma newspaper:

QUÉ QUISQUILLOSO resultó el poblano Rafael Moreno Valle. EN SU VISITA a Tehuacán dejó muy mala impresión entre los organizadores de la tradicional matanza de chivos. Y ES QUE el gobernador primero no quería bailar, pese a que es la tradición. Luego su equipo exigió que no le dieran fruta ni comida cruda y, además, les advirtió que no tenía pensado realizar el típico brindis a pico de botella. DIJERON que Moreno Valle sí probaría el famoso mole de caderas, que se prepara precisamente en esta fiesta, pero sólo sin jitomate. Y, PARA REMATAR, su gente preguntó si el chivo desprendía olores intensos, a lo que los matanceros contestaron que sí, que normalmente los chivos huelen... ¡a chivo! ENTONCES los colaboradores del mandatario solicitaron que le pusieran algo a los animales porque a Moreno Valle le disgusta el mal olor. Pues les hubiera dado una rociada de su perfume, caray.

This is simply priceless.

On a more serious note, here is a very critical Proceso article (open access) on Moreno Valle, pointing out his very strained relationship with the media - critical media, that is.

I am on of those who saw his election to Puebla governor a major qualitative leap forward, given the end of the PRI reign and specifically that of pederast/rapist-protector Mario Marín, a man I still dream of seeing thrown in prison if only Moreno Valle could summon the courage. Yet with antics like this, it is hard to have even the slightest amount of appreciation of the Puebla governor, who dreams of being PAN's 2018 candidate.

Manlio Fabio Beltrones: NO to privatization of PEMEX

In what can be regarded a pretty direct reply to Enrique Peña Nieto's recent call for opening up the national oil company PEMEX to private capital, here is Manlio Fabio Beltrones, still a contender for PRI's 2012 nomination: It should develop, yes, but "without even a drop of oil passing into private and even less, foreign
hands"

The somewhat antiquated nationalistic bluster aside  - nobody is suggesting selling off PEMEX, but rather opening up for private investments in areas where it has little capacity, such as deep-see non-horizontal drilling - it is notable that Beltrones chose to jump right on top of this one to distance himself from Peña Nieto. Will we really have a genuine fight over the 2012 PRI candidacy, or is Beltrones merely trying to extract a higher price for declining?

Governor candidate debate held in Michoacán - no knock outs

The three candidates to be governor of Michoacán held their first and only debate yesterday. I haven't gone through full footage yet (available here), but it appears that none of the candidates landed any knock-out blow.

The most pathetic moment appears to be PRI's Fausto Vallejo Figueroa's comments that he is already thinking about what to ask the next president for (in his judgment, Enrique Peña Nieto) for, in other words launching a "vote for me because I'll be on better terms with the national president" argument.
It hardly inspires too much confidence in his own plans, which very vague and banal: "recover the well being,"  "reconciliation," and so forth

Luisa María Calderón, the president's sister, proposed fusing the state attorney general with the secretariat of public security, to create a unified Secretary of Justice.

Silvano Aureoles Conejo, of the PRD, proposed a secretariat of citizen participation, and to strengthen the state Auditor's office.

AMLO offers truce with Mexican media

Quite notably, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) met for almost an hour with the Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Radio y Televisión (CIRT), or the Mexican chamber of the TV and radio industry.

AMLO emphasized that he was not looking for revenge, only equitable treatment for the 2012 contest, and that he would not withdraw concessions or expropriate any media.

AMLO has had hostile relations with CIRT for years, and for good reasons: The media conglomerates were behind much 'swift-boat'-style propaganda in 2006, and have rallied behind Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI. Yet given that AMLO until very recently directly signaled CIRT as part of the "power mafia," the peace pipe proposal does ring a tad hollow.

Useful CSIS overview of Enrique Peña Nieto

Here's one of the better-written (accurate) overviews from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of Mexican politics, focusing on  Enrique Peña Nieto, by Duncan Wood. Very much worth a read.

Peña Nieto opens up for PEMEX privatization

Some quite remarkable comments made by Enrique Peña Nieto to The Financial Times on the national oil company in Mexico, PEMEX. According to the likely PRI presidential candidate, PEMEX

"can achieve more, grow more and do more through alliances with the private sector... Different mechanisms could be explored to ensure an involvement for the private sector in its alliance with Pemex... Brazil is one example...I believe that it is possible to find mechanisms that guarantee, on one hand, the state’s ownership of the oil in Mexico but on the other, mechanisms to achieve and encourage a greater involvement of the private sector... we have to take much more audacious steps.”

I can't say that I disagree with the general gist of his comments: Even the national Cuban oil company has less restrictions on private involvement than PEMEX, and Petrobras is an example to follow.

Yet this is something that is extremely controversial even within PRI, and it is interesting that he has come out that relatively clearly on the issue of PEMEX.

Also, of course, one can soon expect an answer from AMLO along the "I told you so" lines.

Direct FT link here.

PAN to use closed primary to elect presidential candidate, legislators

PAN's national executive committee (CEN) decided yesterday that its 2012 presidential candidate will be elected in a closed primary - that is, only open to party members. This, despite front runners Josefina Vázquez Mota and Santiago Creel both supporting an open, general vote.

Also
* Candidates for Senate will be elected by members in 8 states, and chosen directly by the executive committee in 24
*Out of the 300 electoral districts, the CEN will decide 141, and set aside 57 for women. In 143, party members will decide, while in the last 16 (in Mexico State) they will be chosen in an open vote.

I find the latter point to be quite interesting, as it strongly hints at a PAN-PRD alliance for Mexico State's legislative list.

Other than that, this is classic PAN - letting the party organs do most of the choosing. And, it must be noted, given the infighting of other parties when it comes to candidate selection, while "less democratic," it also will save the party for a lot of trouble. Yet for particularly the presidential candidate, the party may end up with someone who is strong within the party, yet weak among the general population.

As for the PRD, I can see both sides using PAN's selection method as an argument:
a) "Look, PAN is only allowing members to vote, so we should as well (AMLO camp)
b) "Look, PAN is only allowing members to vote, so we should be different" (Ebrard camp)

Cardinal Norberto Rivera: Divine law over constitutional law

Cardinal Norberto Rivera comes out as a catholic mirror image of any pro-sharia muslim:

Sure, the church should obey the government, but only to the extent that the church agrees with it:

"when the authorities move beyond the legal framework, where it can not and must not govern, there is no obligation to be obedient, and if they oppose openly fundamental rights, then one must deny it obedience."

Surely, if a government breaks the law, there should be room for civil disobedience - here, I could not agree more. The problem with the the church's statement is of a far different character: It assumes the right and duty to decide for itself, based on bronze-age texts written in the Middle East, what "fundamental rights" are, and use these to deny other people rights - that of divorce, that of marriage, that of birth control, and so forth. These are truly frightening ideas, and sounds just like any pro-sharia advocate.

On a side note: It makes my stomach churn to see SME representatives attend Rivera's mass and mutually extolling each other's efforts. So much for "independent" unions - now allied with the must reactionary elements found in Mexico!

Michoacán: Another mayor candidate steps down after threats

Elizondo Maldonado Ambriz was the PRD's candidate to be mayor of Múgica, Michoacán, but stepped down after what appears to be threats from organized crime. Antonio Soto Sánchez, spokesperson for PRD's candidate for governor Silvano Aureoles Conejo, all but confirmed this.

He is not the first: In the past weeks, mayoral candidates have also stepped down in Tumbiscatío, Indaparapeo, Churumuco, and Arteaga, as they simply are not willing to face near certain death if they defy the criminal group in control of the area.

One is hard pressed to blame them.

Free Ipads! Just give us your data, Mexican Green party says

This is truly repugnant. The Mexican "Green Party" is offering Ipads, Ipods, and refridgerators  - or, the chance of winning one of these items - in return for sending you their personal information - full name, address, etc.

Senator Arturo Escobar insisted that such practices does not need the permission of the Interior Ministry, as it is technically not a lottery, because no tickets are handed out.

He also denied that the PVEM has been handing out any flyer announcing this dubious practice, despite El Universal having revealed this in its investigation. Escobar is a man whose lack of sincerity, integrity and credibility rivals that of Sarah Palin, so I'll trust El Universal on this one.

There are few things I would like more to see happen in Mexican politics than the revocation of PVEM's party registry. May this be one more nail in its coffin.

If we don't get a bishop, we change religion:

Interesting religious dynamics in San Luis Potosí: An entire people changes religion following miserable customer service from the catholic church.

The Pames / Xi'iuy are an indigenous people found in  San Luis Potosí, among the very few surviving in the state. They make up around 3 percent of its population. Following multiple complaints and petitions to the catholic church to send them a priest or bishop, which were all apparently ignored, the Pames decided to simply change their religion toward a denomination that was indeed willing to send a religious minister to their area: The Anglicans.

They lined up to get baptized, and celebrated their new religion as it should be, with a party and dances.

From La Jornada

Strongest accusation yet from Calderón of PRI collusion with narcos

It even reached the New York Times ("Mexican President: State Was Left to Drug Cartel"):
Calderón is suggesting that the PRI-run government of the state of Veracruz might have pacted with the narcos:

"I believe Veracruz was left in the hands of the Zetas, I don't know if it was involuntary, probably, I hope so"

Wow.

As one might expect, the PRI was not happy about these comment, though its response to what are truly explosive allegations was remarkably muted ("lamentable," "politicized," etc).

Is it just 2012 heating up, or does the government really have something on PRI and narco collusion?

Calderón meets again with Javier Sicilia

A second summit was held in Chapultepec castle yesterday where Felipe Calderón again met with Javier Sicilia, leader of Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, as well as other prominent social activists.

Since the last meeting three months ago, Sicilia appears to have ramped up his discourse:

.. an atmosphere of violence and horror is polluting words and speeches. There is a greater threat we are detecting and that citizens are condemning, that of authoritarianism and its most brutal face, fascism.

Honestly, fascism? I wonder if, in retrospect, Sicilia will see the irony of his own words: Hurling around such labels, which serve absolutely no constructive purpose rather than to provoke, polarize, and distort reality, are also polluting the dialogue he himself has been so central in promoting.

AMLO in Spain

Spain is the country with the second largest investments in Mexico, and AMLO just went there for his first-ever trip to promote his presidential candidacy. The main message appears indeed to have been directed toward business sectors:

We think that we should not continue privatizing what little remains. It has been excessive. But that does not mean that the the country's public economy will be nationalized. We can't have a state which stifles civil society initiatives, but nor are we in favor of diluting the state and that only a group with dark intentions, such as in our country, dominates.

So in sum, no nationalizations, though there are good and bad capitalists. Let's see if the Spanish investors are convinced. Not sure if they necessarily bought his characterization of both Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon as "traitors" to democracy.

On abortion, youth gives a tad of hope for the future - of sorts

According to an UNAM poll, while among adults, 55.5 percent agree that women who have an abortion should be punished, "only" 44 percent of youth (defined between 12 and 29 years).

61 percent of youth are against gay adoptions, vs. 69 percent of adults.

More info on the survey, which appears to have involved more than 50,000 respondents, here.

1-800-call-God, a la mexicana: Catolitel

This is a very bad idea. The Archdiocese of Mexico, through its venomous spokesperson Hugo Valdemar, announced the launch of Catolitel, or a call center where citizens can phone in to partake in the church's wisdom in matters religious and moral, but as well as practical matters in life.

Why bad? Because the Archdiocese of Mexico, given but not limited to its protection of pederasts and rapists, its incessant harassment of gays, and its ludicrous and damaging fight against any type of birth control, is truly the last institution in Mexico that should give anyone advice about any topic remotely connected to the living world.

Mexico 2012 poll for PAN's candidate: Big MO for Josefina Vázquez Mota

The poll comes from Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica, a polling company I must admit I do not fully trust to be devoid of political considerations, but here it is regardless: Josefina Vázquez Mota now has apparently majority support within the PAN to be her party's presidential nominee, and the momentum. Cordero is only growing very slowly, and Creel appears to have peaked:

From Milenio 

Ebrard proposes "coalition government"

Marcelo Ebrard yesterday said that Mexico needs a constitutional reform so that a coalition government is possible.

This is highly relevant, but begs the question(s): What exactly does he have in mind?
A parliamentary regime? A semi-presidential regime?
Ebrard suggests "to separate the head of state from chief of government," which sounds very much like a variation of one of these two regimes. Does it also refer to a coalition government of PRD-PAN?

He also speaks of the need for legislative majorities. Indeed, no governing party has had a majority in Congress since 1997. Does that mean a more formalized legislative alliance? A common program, common legislative slates?

Hopefully more is to come here, as this is potentially really significant stuff.

AMLO's Wilson Center appearance: A wasted opportunity

I watched AMLO's presentation at the Wilson Center in DC today, via Web cast, and can't say I'm too impressed. As expected, the speech was very general in character and contained nothing new - summaries can soon be found elsewhere. Two quick commentaries on what bothered me in particular.

1) One the one hand, AMLO at times clearly states what he is "going to do" - as president. One act will be to get rid of Elba Esther Gordillo as head of the teachers union, building refineries, etc. Great - and applause followed. But almost in the next breath, when confronted by an El Universal reporter who point out that this sounds like his official presentation of his campaign platform, AMLO is very quick to respond that, oh no, this is not a campaign act at all, he is merely presenting the program of MORENA, his civil association. He again demonstrates that the laws that bind other candidates simply do not apply do him.

2) The Q & A was also a completely wasted opportunity. The quality of the questions left much to be desired (and Peter Hakim took far too long to get to his point, which I and it seems AMLO as well lost) - and the last "question" was particularly embarrassing, as some academic, rather than using the important occasion to ask a concrete question, wasted the privilege by just expressing how she is honored to be with AMLO. But even those questions that did have some nutritional content and were quite concrete, had no effect on AMLO rather than eliciting long-winded, meandering banal generalities. "Will you pact with narcos?" "What the country needs is education, values, spiritual values, bla bla bla."

Given that AMLO was quite concrete earlier when he spelled out what he would do, it seems to me that it is not for fear of being accused of campaigning that he cannot give a straight reply to any concrete questions, but rather, when called out in front of an audience, he simply does not have any good answers.

Javier Sicilia, to his discredit, dismisses the next elections

Here is where we part: Poet, writer, and activist Javier Sicilia, head of the Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad, dismissed the upcoming national elections as an "ignominy," or a disgrace, as no parties are listening to the citizenry, and so on.

Say what you want about Mexico's parties - or those of any country - but what on earth do we have for alternatives to electoral democracy? Dismissing elections beforehand simply because you reject the existing party options - or that the parties are not immediately accepting your agenda - is irresponsible, pure and simple.

I accept that Sicilia has a right to dismiss all the parties and the upcoming national elections in Mexico.

I also have a right to dismiss that message.

Wife of murdered Guerrero federal deputy accuses mayor

Lucía Leyva Rojas, widow of the murdered PRI deputy  Moisés Villanueva de la Luz, all but accused mayor Willy Reyes Ramos of Tlapa de Comonfort of being behind the murder.

Granted there is no concrete evidence and everything is guilty until proven, but Reyes doesn't exactly inspire too much confidence or empathy: His response, rather than saying something along the lines of "I understand she is hurting and want to find the guilty, but it is not me," etc, has instead responded by asking the authorities to investigate the next-of-kin, meaning Villanueva's and his murdered driver's widow.

Not exactly a class act.

Mario Vargas Llosa reloaded: "detested and detestable PRI"

Mario Vargas Llosa's famous description of the PRI as a "perfect dictatorship" live on Televisa in 1990 - which led to the immediate end of his visit to Mexico and the great embarrassment of the authoritarian regime, has now been followed by a sequel, of sorts:

The Peruvian writer warned recently that Calderón's offensive against the narcos has failed, and that it may lead to the return of the "detested and detestable PRI."

The statement has, of course, not fallen well with the PRI. One measured response came from presidential hopeful (of sorts) Manlio Fabio Beltrones, who said Varga Llhosa doesn't know Mexico, and hadn't been too successful as a politician himself. Ouch. Senator Francisco Arroyo for his part dismissed the writer as an "old man of the Right."

PRI's Political Council (equivalent of party congress) is currently meeting, and doing everything possible to give the impression of unity - including the obligatory Beltrones-Peña Nieto handshake-hug.

The Council also notably decided that PRI´s 2012 presidential candidate will be decided in an open primary.

Who do you trust in Mexico? Family first, parties at bottom

Graphic from Milenio:

Milenio

Sad figures for many institutions, above all political parties, which are found at the bottom.

I found this part quite entertaining, though. (from the article on the study):

"The survey was also an exercise in associating political parties with songs, animals, and popular sayings. PRI was ranked as the loyal dog, the hardworking ant, fighting cock, and the sly fox, as well as the popular saying, "el que no tranza no avanza" (roughly, If you don't cheat, you won't get ahead), as well as the line from the song of El Rey, "with money and without money I always do what I want."

PAN was placed with the song  Contigo Aprendí, while PRD was referred to as a parrot "that talks without knowing what it says," and with the popular saying, “ni picha ni cacha ni deja batear” (or very roughly, neither helps nor gets out of the way)."

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas receives highest Mexican civil award

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas is, in the end, the 2011 recipient of the Belisario Domínguez medal.

Many in PAN were opposed, yet they disliked even more the second strong candidate, Supreme Court minister Olga Sánchez Cordero, but she became unpalatable to the social conservatives in PAN following her recent vote against the extremist state-level "life-from-conception" abortion legislation.

Felicitaciones, Ingeniero. 

Price of a federal deputy's head: 300,000 pesos. Murderers caught.

300,000 pesos, or about $22,000: This is apparently the price for murdering a Federal Deputy in Mexico.
It seems Mexican authorities have actually captured the killers of PRI deputy Moisés Villanueva de la Luz, who was recently found murdered in Guerrero. According to the state prosecutor, four men carried out murder of Villanueva and his assistant, yet the mastermind was apparently a town councilor of Tlapa de Comonfort, whose name is still withheld, as he is still on the loose.

Yet who ordered the councilor to arrange for the deputy's murder? .

The new PRI: (image)

From Milenio

PRI big shots gathered to express their support for embattled PRI president Humberto Moreira Valdés. As Milenio observed, "735 years of PRI are backing Moreira," referring to the collective age of this old-boy network - I mean, the "New PRI."

Vicente Fox, a "pathological clown" - and a quote of the day

Former president Vicente Fox has been rambling on in the media the past days, shooting off in all directions. He's criticized the Federal Electoral Institute, and (there's much right in his criticism) for its arguably excessive regulation of primary debates, but as IFE pointedly shot back, Fox should truly keep his mouth shut when it comes to anything related to IFE - after all, his blatant intervention in the 2006 election was much of the cause for the 2007-8 electoral reform in the first place.

Then, he has the guts to sling dirt on Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, three-time presidential candidate and founder of the PRD, arguing that giving the Senate's Belisario Domínguez order to him would degrade its value.

I'm a longtime critic of Cárdenas for many reasons, but let us put things in perspective: This is a man who constantly fought for democracy, always firm (or rigid) in his convictions, and whose ardent opposition to the PRI dictatorship opened up political space for clowns like Fox to become a governor of Guanajuato, and then president, in the first place. To hear Fox, someone who blatantly sought to debase Mexico's institutions through launching the amazingly idiotic impeachment process against Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2005, with the admitted purpose of barring him from the 2006 presidential election, almost defies belief, hadn't it been for the fact that we are now well accustomed to Fox' many utterly stupid comments, which seems to multiply by each passing year since he left the presidency.

I find PRD president Jesús Zambrano's characterization of Vicente Fox as a "pathological clown" quite accurate.

PRI's Senator Francisco Labastida, the opponent of Fox and Cárdenas in the 2000 presidential election, and one of the absolutely more reasonable PRI legislators, said in a response to Fox's verbal diarrhea:

"Again he lost the golden opportunity to shut the hell up."

Quote of the day.

Make no mistake: Manlio Fabio Beltrones IS going for PRI's nomination

Amidst throngs of rumors that Manlio Fabio Beltrones is not really serious about seeking the PRI's nomination, given the enormous advantage/advance enjoyed by Peña Nieto, and is really only using a possible candidacy to extract concessions from the former Mexico State governor, he has recently made it clear, such as to the usually very well-informed Bajo reserva column in El Universal that, come hell or high water, he is serious about trying to get PRI's nomination.

Wonderful news, on so many levels.

A reasonable Green Party initiative: To ban bull fighting in Mexico City

That the Mexican "Green Party" presents a reasonable proposal is a remarkably rare event, but that ought to be celebrated nonetheless: Together with the PRI, they suggest banning bullfighting in Mexico City.

I agree. I was raised on a farm and don't try to come between me an a bife the chorizo, but bull fighting, beyond history and traditions,  is cruelty to animals, no matter how you put it.

It's not the first time they've presented this initiative, and it might finally pass with PRD backing.
Good. Ban it. Look to Barcelona.

AMLO's wife and son

A bit of gossip photos this Monday morning: AMLO's second wife (he's a widower) Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller. They've been married since 2006. She's pictured here with AMLO's youngest (of four) sons.

From El Universal

AMLO relaunches MORENA, now a "civil organization"

It certainly was a display of force: More than 10,000 followers gathered in the National Auditorium to again promote AMLO's presidential campaign, and the launch of his Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena) as a "civic organization." AMLO had earlier noted he had no plans to turn it into a party or even a political association. He doesn't have to - he already has two parties in PT and Movimiento Ciudadano who have already all but declared that he will be their candidate no matter what.

AMLO keeps saying that he will not "cling" to the candidacy if he is not the "best positioned" candidate.
I simply do not believe him.

AMLO will be in the US the coming days, including holding a talk at the Wilson Center Tuesday Oct. 11.

PAN backtracks on extremist abortion legislation: No prison for women

Gustavo Madero, head of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), to his credit declared that PAN will promote reforms on the state level that will block women from being thrown in prison for having an abortion (or even a miscarriage, as has often happened).

It is about time the national PAN makes a move to counteract the shameless legislation passed the past 3-4 years in at least 18 states, by PAN and PRI legislators, that essentially makes any abortion - along with many birth control options - a crime.

Blake Mora: "Not a single casino more" rings pathetically hollow

Mexico's dour and virtually non-existent Interior Secretary José Francisco Blake Mora, came out loudly yesterday against casinos, declaring that "not one more" will be allowed.

It begs the question: Why did the PAN for the last ten years allow the establishment of these semi-criminal dens, which bring nothing but misery to the areas where they are established, and, it has again and again be proven, lead to more crime in the area?

These thoroughly immoral - in the true sense of the word - establishments should never have allowed in the first place.

I very strongly recommend Denise Dresser's recent anti-casino column in Proceso in this regard.

No reelection of legislators and mayors after committee member switches vote

More negative news this week, unfortunately: No reelection of mayors or legislators

Having passed in the Senate, there was actually a good chance that the Reforma polìtica of Calderón would finally pass, though it is now much-changed, not all for the better.

It looked like finally Mexico would have reelection, but in the Chamber´s Constitutional commission, one PRD legislator, having earlier voted in favor of a dictamen or opinion, broke with her party to abstain, with the result that the reform, opposed by PRI and the PVEM "Green" party (though not in the Senate, where Peña Nieto has far less sway), will likely not include reelection of legislators and local mayors- a big demand from many holds, including several key civil society organizations.

The PRD legislator, Dina Herrera Soto, from Michoacán, was removed from the Commission by her party, which strongly insinuates that Herrera changed her vote after pressure-enticement from the PRI.

Circumstantial evidence for the above accusation: When she later walked into the Chamber's main hall, she was greeted with applause by the PRI.

I wonder what her price was.