In the predominantly indigenous zona purépecha in Michoacán, hundreds of villagers attacked what they claim were illegal loggers, and even threatened to "rise up in arms" against local authorities. Many were wounded, including from gunshots.
Clandestine, illegal logging - talamontes - is a huge problem in Michoacán, as in other regions: According to the Federal Forestry Commision, more than 2,500 illegal workshops are scattered throughout the purépecha zone, which has lost a significant of forests to this illegal activity.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Unidos Podemos Más: The left's coalition behind Encinas officially registered
Unidos Podemos Más: I guess "Estado de México Nos Une" sounded a tad too awkward.
This is the official name of the now-official left coalition of PRD-Convergencia-PT, which just registered with Mexico State's electoral institute, behind the candidacy of Alejandro Encinas. The IEEE must approve or reject the registration within a week or so.
Unidos Podemos Más - we'll see.
This is the official name of the now-official left coalition of PRD-Convergencia-PT, which just registered with Mexico State's electoral institute, behind the candidacy of Alejandro Encinas. The IEEE must approve or reject the registration within a week or so.
Unidos Podemos Más - we'll see.
Conspiracy Theorists of the Right: Javier Lozano
Javier Lozano, secretary of work and social welfar and someone who has strongly expressed his interest in being PAN's presidential candidate in 2012, claimed that PRI and PRD agreed to bury PRI's and PAN's suggested labor reform, in return for ending a PAN-PRD alliance in Mexico State.
This is certainly one of the wilder climes I've heard for a while, and certainly from the political right.
I find Lozana in general to be a particularly unappealing candidate, and as much for his personal ways of being - discourses, behavior in public, arrogance, etc - as of his actual policies. Unless he come up with anything more concrete than this wild claim, to this I can add: Conspiracy theorist.
This is certainly one of the wilder climes I've heard for a while, and certainly from the political right.
I find Lozana in general to be a particularly unappealing candidate, and as much for his personal ways of being - discourses, behavior in public, arrogance, etc - as of his actual policies. Unless he come up with anything more concrete than this wild claim, to this I can add: Conspiracy theorist.
No "desafuero, part II" in Mexico State?
Eruviel Ávila, PRI's candidate to succeed Enrique Peña Nieto as governor of Mexico State, notably declared PRI would not seek to impugn Alejandro Encinas' residency requirement in Mexico State, thus inhibiting the latter's candidacy. This is the second time Ávila has sought to distance himself from the national PRI; a few days ago, notably, he spoke out against PRI's national leader Humberto Moreira when in his typical drunk-rabble-rouser-looking-for-a-barfight style argued PRI would aplastar, or crush/destroy/squash the opposition. Ávila was careful to point out he didn't regard political opposition as something to be "destroyed."
Yet what if Encinas start catching up on the PRI candidate? The party, despite claims to the contrary, has not renovated or discarded its authoritarian, corrupt modus operandi. Expect the party to quickly discard its promise in this eventuality.
Yet what if Encinas start catching up on the PRI candidate? The party, despite claims to the contrary, has not renovated or discarded its authoritarian, corrupt modus operandi. Expect the party to quickly discard its promise in this eventuality.
Rosario Marín calls on voters to abandon Obama - yet why?
La Jornada is running a story today on Rosario Marín, the first Latina Secretary of the Treasury in the United States, who was moreover born in Mexico City. Basically, the article repeats Marín's claims that Obama "duped" Latinos. Much to be said about this, indeed - Bush did far more in terms of legislative initiatives than Obama has ever done, and I'll be the first one to criticize his timidness on this subject.
Yet the article barely notes in passing that Marín served the Bush administration. Moreover, a minimum of research into her background would reveal a Republican perennially embroiled in ethics scandals, who staunchly defended Bush's 2000 candidacy. Of course she will call on Latinos not to vote for Obama - but in order to draw them to the Republican Party! I wish La Jornada could provide a bit more context to these kind of stories
Yet the article barely notes in passing that Marín served the Bush administration. Moreover, a minimum of research into her background would reveal a Republican perennially embroiled in ethics scandals, who staunchly defended Bush's 2000 candidacy. Of course she will call on Latinos not to vote for Obama - but in order to draw them to the Republican Party! I wish La Jornada could provide a bit more context to these kind of stories
A truly embarrassing spectacle: Calderón to attend John Paul II beatification
This is truly embarrassing. As is long known, the Vatican, desperate to shore up a crumbling client base, has resorted to its hitherto most blatant act of populism, namely putting deceased Pope John Paul II on literally a fast track toward sainthood. Though dead for only six years, he will be beatified the coming May 1, after, quote, "Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the judgment of Vatican medical experts and theologians that a French nun's neurological disorder had been miraculously cured after she prayed to the memory of John Paul in June 2005."
As always within the Catholic church, a permanent contradiction: It is not enough to have faith alone, but one is also in desperate need of some physical evidence of the divine being, which of course undermines the very concept of faith itself: You don't believe just to believe, but because you see physical evidence - in this case a nun "miraculously cured" by Alzheimer. I find it hard to believe that even Pope Benedict truly buys this rubbish.
Yet guess who is embarrassing himself and his nation by attending this ludicrous charade? Mexico's President Felipe Calderón is. Los Pinos felt still compelled to declare that his presence at this quack ceremony is "consistent with the principles of secularism of the Mexican State," which is highly dubious at best. But a larger point is: Should a democratically elected president and head of a nominally secular state - he will attend the ceremony as head of state and not as personal believer - lend credence to this spectacle by attending? Of course not.
This is Calderón's second visit to the Vatican: In 2007, he revealed to the Pope that it is "complicated to separate the office of the President of the Republic from own convictions and emotions."
What a sad confession.
As always within the Catholic church, a permanent contradiction: It is not enough to have faith alone, but one is also in desperate need of some physical evidence of the divine being, which of course undermines the very concept of faith itself: You don't believe just to believe, but because you see physical evidence - in this case a nun "miraculously cured" by Alzheimer. I find it hard to believe that even Pope Benedict truly buys this rubbish.
Yet guess who is embarrassing himself and his nation by attending this ludicrous charade? Mexico's President Felipe Calderón is. Los Pinos felt still compelled to declare that his presence at this quack ceremony is "consistent with the principles of secularism of the Mexican State," which is highly dubious at best. But a larger point is: Should a democratically elected president and head of a nominally secular state - he will attend the ceremony as head of state and not as personal believer - lend credence to this spectacle by attending? Of course not.
This is Calderón's second visit to the Vatican: In 2007, he revealed to the Pope that it is "complicated to separate the office of the President of the Republic from own convictions and emotions."
What a sad confession.
A union leader with a jet of her own: Elba Esther Gordillo of SNTE
Elba Esther Gordillo and SNTE, the largest Mexican teachers union and one of the largest unions worldwide, is the subject of a Reuters article. Nothing new, but the extraordinary story of Gordillo and SNTE is always worth revisiting.
Highlight:
Gordillo and SNTE remain one of the largest roadblock to Mexico's development.
Highlight:
"With mansions in Mexico City and California and a private jet, Gordillo presides over a system in which the union sells posts to aspiring teachers and skims off money from government funds destined for new computers and teachers' housing."
Gordillo and SNTE remain one of the largest roadblock to Mexico's development.
Who is the candidate in Mexico State - AMLO or Encinas?
AMLO, in a mass meeting held outside the Chamber of Deputies, announced that Alejandro Encinas, PRD-PT-Convergencia's candidate to be governor of Mexico State, will create a new publicly owned company that will re-hire all the workers of the union Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME) who lost their job then their old dysfynctional compay Luz y Fuerza was shut down/taken over by another state-owned company, CFE.
So now AMLO is making campaign promises on behalf of Alejandro Encinas. Exactly who is running for governor in Mexico State, the former or the latter?
So now AMLO is making campaign promises on behalf of Alejandro Encinas. Exactly who is running for governor in Mexico State, the former or the latter?
Bay of Pigs: Lázaro Cárdenas wanted to defend Cuba in 1961
Given that it is 50 years since the ill-fated, idiotic undertaking known as Bay of Pigs, the Cuban embassy in Mexico City in a celebration reminded the audience that Lázaro Cárdenas del Río himself, Mexico's progressive president 1934-1940, wanted to form a brigade of volunteers to help Cuba repel the CIA-organized invasion of batistanos, mercenaries, and general thugs, though the invasion attempt ended in failure less than three days later.
It certainly is an image worth pondering: El tata Cárdenas, himself a fighter in Mexico's revolution, fighting on a Cuban beach - presumably with a treinta-treinta.
It certainly is an image worth pondering: El tata Cárdenas, himself a fighter in Mexico's revolution, fighting on a Cuban beach - presumably with a treinta-treinta.
Ebrard strikes back against AMLO: Armando Ríos Piter new parliamentary leader
After receiving a heavy pummeling by AMLO, who forced Ebrard to drop his support for a PRD-PAN alliance in Mexico State, Ebrard struck back: Armando Ríos Piter will replace Alejandro Encinas as the head of PRD's parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies. Ilich Augusto Lozano will be the vice coordinator.
The former is very close to Ebrard; the latter is a member of the social-democratic Nueva Izquierda faction opposed to AMLO.
The former is very close to Ebrard; the latter is a member of the social-democratic Nueva Izquierda faction opposed to AMLO.
New World Bank indicators on Mexico 2006-2008: A sorry read
La Jornada reports on new indicators on Mexico, released by the World Bank. It's not happy reading.
* Poverty levels from 42.6 percent in 2006 to 47.4 in 2008
* Rural poverty from 54.7 to 60.8 of every 100 people
* From 35.6 to 39.8 percent urban poverty
The article also points out that spending on health and education stagnated, while that of military spending increased sharply: From 44.494 billion (2006) to 52.235 billion (2007) to 54.977 billion (2008) to 64.348 billion pesos in 2009. This remains, however, at a comparatively low level: 0.5 percent of gross domestic product. For comparison: U.S. defense spending for FY 2010: 4.7 percent of GDP.
* Poverty levels from 42.6 percent in 2006 to 47.4 in 2008
* Rural poverty from 54.7 to 60.8 of every 100 people
* From 35.6 to 39.8 percent urban poverty
The article also points out that spending on health and education stagnated, while that of military spending increased sharply: From 44.494 billion (2006) to 52.235 billion (2007) to 54.977 billion (2008) to 64.348 billion pesos in 2009. This remains, however, at a comparatively low level: 0.5 percent of gross domestic product. For comparison: U.S. defense spending for FY 2010: 4.7 percent of GDP.
NAFTA and U.S. dumping: A very insightful quick read
NAFTA, as is well known by now, has had "winners" and "losers" on both sides on the border.
Here is an exceptionally noteworthy article by Timothy Wise of Tufts University on the article of U.S. dumping of agricultural products in Mexico, originally published in NACLA Report of the Americas.
Some highlights:
* "Mexican farmers on average lost more than $1 billion per year during the nine-year period of 1997–2005, with more than half the losses suffered by the country’s embattled corn farmers"
* "Without exception, the United States exported {agricultural] products at prices below what it cost to produce them, one of the definitions of dumping under World Trade Organization rules."
* "The losses from U.S. dumping surpass the total value of Mexico’s annual tomato exports to the United States, widely touted as Mexico’s biggest NAFTA success story in agriculture."
I also highly recommend Wise's other excellent works, such as the co-written Rethinking Trade Policy for Development: Lessons From Mexico Under NAFTA, available directly as pdf here, as well as the new study Subsidizing Inequality: Mexican Corn Policy Since NAFTA, available here in English and here in Spanish.
Here is an exceptionally noteworthy article by Timothy Wise of Tufts University on the article of U.S. dumping of agricultural products in Mexico, originally published in NACLA Report of the Americas.
Some highlights:
* "Mexican farmers on average lost more than $1 billion per year during the nine-year period of 1997–2005, with more than half the losses suffered by the country’s embattled corn farmers"
* "Without exception, the United States exported {agricultural] products at prices below what it cost to produce them, one of the definitions of dumping under World Trade Organization rules."
* "The losses from U.S. dumping surpass the total value of Mexico’s annual tomato exports to the United States, widely touted as Mexico’s biggest NAFTA success story in agriculture."
I also highly recommend Wise's other excellent works, such as the co-written Rethinking Trade Policy for Development: Lessons From Mexico Under NAFTA, available directly as pdf here, as well as the new study Subsidizing Inequality: Mexican Corn Policy Since NAFTA, available here in English and here in Spanish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)