Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Is Juan Sabines a dark-horse PAN-PRD candidate for 2012?

Yesterday, Felipe Calderón went to the pro-business Council of the Americas yesterday, where he received the Gold Insigne award, its highest distinction.

Who accompanied him? His wife, his secretary of tourism - and Juan Sabines.

Juan Sabines, the governor of Chiapas, continues to baffle me. He is greatly criticized by many social organizations on the left, and has a rocky relationship with the party that had him elected (PRD), though he continues to rake in on a range of international awards for poverty fighting and environmental protection.

(he broke with his party in 2006 to immediately recognize Calderón's July 2 electoral victory)

In particular his backing of the UN's flagship emissions reduction/forest preservation program has attracted lots of attention internationally. I confess I still am withholding judgment on Sabines' government, as I am simply not familiar enough with them, and have not yet fully heard the other side.

But I have noted that mainstream Mexican newspapers have the last months continuously printed the press releases of the Chiapas government as if they were "news" stories - in particular Milenio, but notably also La Jornada. Their decision I think can be ascribed to, well, at times failing judgment on part of some copy editors. But for his part, Sabines is making a tremendous effort, albeit low level, to spread the achievements, real or not, of the Chiapas state government.

Sabines' term as governor is set to expire in 2012. I wonder if he has any higher ambitions, and even more if he has any friends in high places.

Lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court against Ernesto Zedillo for Acteal massacre

Reported first by Milenio, here's an exerpt from CNN;
Survivors and heirs of Mexican Indian villagers who were killed in a massacre in 1997 have filed a lawsuit in the United States against former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, accusing him of crimes against humanity.The civil action, filed Friday in Connecticut, where Zedillo currently resides while he teaches at Yale University, accuses him of being responsible for the killings of 45 villagers and afterward conspiring to cover it up. He was Mexico's president from 1994 to 2000.

Enrique Peña Nieto's destape, fittingly, live on Televisa

Enrique Peña Nieto declared his intentions to become president of Mexico. It happened, quite fittingly, live on Televisa, the media conglomerate that has incessantly promoted his candidacy, and has received millions of dollars in publicity promotion of the now ex-governor of Mexico State.

Aguachile hacked for sure: Fernando Castro Trenti posts

Now it is no longer a coincidence:

A second old post I had about PRI senator Fernando Castro Trenti received a bunch of hits out of the blue, and when I checked the old post, the message was completely garbled.

This is exactly what happened to another post on Fernando Castro Trenti, which I wrote about here.

It seems to me that Fernando Castro Trenti's supporters are on a roll to expunge any criticism of the Senator in English. No other posts than these two have received this treatment.

Fernando Castro Trenti is rumored to aspire to the governorship of Baja California.

I therefore suggest that readers of this blog check out my two old posts to get a sense of what kind of a man the senator really is - and, who knows, read them before they disappear.
Your comments are most welcome.

Fernando Castro Trenti admits he was wrong, then jumps on another stupid claim

PRI and the Great Lie: Guillermo Sánchez Nava, near death, faked it!