Mexican air force in need of update, take II

As noted earlier, the Mexican air force is in bad need of an update, specifically of its fighter jets.

Now, the secretary of defense has requested the purchase of five (used) Hercules transport planes, while the Navy wants a similar number of planes and also helicopters, in order to move troops around more quickly.

What is really disturbing, given the increasing tasks of the armed forces, is the current abysmal level:
- Out of an original 12, only 2 - two - of SEDENA current Hercules are in a flying condition
- The Navy has a total of six Antonov transport planes, all in constant service, but not enough to cover demand.
- Out of the navy's 23 helicopters, only nine are operational; SEMAR is asking for six more helicopters.

Despite a combined price tag  of nearly a billion pesos these demands seem hardly excessive.
Graphic from El Universal:

Clara Brugada, after one year in power

Clara Brugada has now been one year in power as a jefa delegacional, or borough chief, of Iztapalapa. To recall: AMLO mounted the infamous Juanito charade in 2009, postulating a former  street vendor/bozer/stripper/rabble rouser/etc as a stand-in candidate for Brugada, who had lost the official PRD nomination. Things backfired when Juanito then decided he wanted to be a borough chief after all and refused to step down, as promised, in favor of Brugada, though he eventually complied.

However, one year after having assumed power as delegation chief, things are hardly looking better in Iztapalapa: According to PRD's Horacio Martínez, a Mexico City legislator, the borough is confronting the same problems of water shortage, flooding, and crime as before. To recall: These were the main three issues the Brugada/Juanito campaign had promised to immediately address.

In addition, the delegation is suffering from deep fissures or geological cracks, where thousands of families have been identified as in immediate need of relocation, and where many buildings have collapsed, including schools.

Brugada defended her administration, noting that only 10 schools (!) had collapsed on her watch.

Perhaps Iztapalapa would have been better off with Juanito after all.

El Jefe Diego is back in politics - in Baja California Sur

After weeks of confusing, crypitical, and contradictory statements regarding his captivity, Diego Fernández de Cevallos is now back to politicking: In Baja California Sur, ads were launched on the radio where Fernández calls upon voters to cast their lot with Marcos Covarrubias, the PRD federal deputy-turned-PAN-candidate. 

I wonder what the Misteriosos Desaparecedores will think about this.

Jesús Ortega responds to Leonel Cota, "grotesque and crude." Will AMLO?

PRD leader Jesús Ortega responded to the news that former party president and AMLO ultra-loyalist Leonel Cota has returned to backing the PRI:

"I can't really tell whether PRI will benefit or be harmed by the statement of Leonel Cota, mostly because of the inconsistencies in his militancy."

He's being too measured. Even the label "political prostitute" would hardly cover Cota's trajectory.

CSIS' second strange election analysis of Guerrero election

Here's a short analysis of this weekend's gubernatorial election in Guerrero by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), this time by Duncan Wood.

First, a minor point, but a point nonetheless:  Zeferino Torreblanca is absolutely not "the current PRI governor" of Guerrero; while he likely supported the PRI candidate, as he had run afoul of the party that postulated him, the PRD, he is not a priista.

Second, and what I most take issue with here, is the statement that:  "This second, informal alliance [with PAN], is what turned the tide in favor of the PRD candidate, Angel Aguirre Rivero, and lends credence to the idea that only the PAN and PRD working together have a realistic chance of defeating the PRI across large swathes of the country."

This is a bit rich: The PAN candidate was registering around 4-7 percent in the polls; Aguirre in the end won by more than 13 points. I don't think Parra's declination in favor of Aguirre, while it certainly helped, is what "turned the tide."

These may not be the biggest quarrels, yet as CSIS claims to present "Strategic analyses and bipartisan policy solutions," I think they should be held to quite high standards. I don't think CSIS would disagree.