AMLO is taken the time and liberty to declare the names of desired members of his future cabinet:
Marcelo Ebrard, Interior secretary
Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Education secretary
Rogelio Ramírez de la O, Finance secretary.
Very, very solid names. Quite bold to declare them in this manner and not without risks, but might very well pull in some votes.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Cherán votes to ditch elections in favor of "usos y costumbre"
The village of Cherán in Michoacán, where its mainly Purépecha indigenous inhabitants have since March taken up arms against illegal loggers and organized crime, and in the process kicked out its PRI mayor, voted two days ago to ditch elections, in favor of the system of "usos y costumbres" used chiefly in indigenous areas in Oaxaca, and in a few areas in Sonora.
Usos y costumbres are a traditional and pre-hispanic - and mightily complicated - means of selecting leadership and solving conflicts. Yet they are not without their critics. There is often no semblance of a secret vote, and often women are left out of the equation, as office holders as well as voters.
Cherán is the only municipality to introduce them in Michoacán, after a roughly 4841-500 vote that was recognized by the state electoral institute. Yet as much as Cherán's anger with political parties unable to solve their problems is understandable, I don't really see the usos y costumbres as a panacea for anything.
I will be off to Paracho the coming days, the "world capital of guitars," to by me a nice Vihuela, and hope to stop by Cherán, unless the situation is too tense.
Usos y costumbres are a traditional and pre-hispanic - and mightily complicated - means of selecting leadership and solving conflicts. Yet they are not without their critics. There is often no semblance of a secret vote, and often women are left out of the equation, as office holders as well as voters.
Cherán is the only municipality to introduce them in Michoacán, after a roughly 4841-500 vote that was recognized by the state electoral institute. Yet as much as Cherán's anger with political parties unable to solve their problems is understandable, I don't really see the usos y costumbres as a panacea for anything.
I will be off to Paracho the coming days, the "world capital of guitars," to by me a nice Vihuela, and hope to stop by Cherán, unless the situation is too tense.
In this Cristiada-mass time... Grabman's Gorostieta and the Cristiada
Many of us are awaiting with dread the new movie "Cristiada," about the 1926-9 conflict, an armed uprising of catholics against a strongly anti-clerical Mexican state.
Dread, because it appears the this will be a very distorted and pro-cristero portrayal of reality - in other words, a very political movie, yet of the reactionary kind. The trailer for the movie strongly suggests so: To dramatic images of churchgoers being massacred, we are told that "When the government outlawed faith... the faithful became outlaws." Oh, dear. "Based on a true story," the trailer boldly claims. One might add, "Only the facts have been changed to protect the innocent."
For a quick, entertaining, enlightening, and, most importantly, even-handed read on the Cristiada and particularly Enrique Gorostieta Velarde, a general hired to be the leader of the rebellion, I recommend Richard Grabman's Gorostieta and the Cristiada: Mexico's Catholic Insurgency 1926-1929. It proves a quick and accessible overview and background to the event, and seeks to hone in on Gorostieta himself - a highly ambitions army officer that, irony of ironies, had long been considered an anti-clerical and possibly atheist. Keep that thought in mind as you watch the trailer. Yet what motivated him to join the rebellion, then? For one good and highly readable attempt at answering this question, which appears to have been the author's motivation, you can check out Grabman's book.
It is a very useful antidote to what appears to be a very, very flawed film, whenever it will be released.
(available now as an e-book here, or here, it costs less than a beer)
Dread, because it appears the this will be a very distorted and pro-cristero portrayal of reality - in other words, a very political movie, yet of the reactionary kind. The trailer for the movie strongly suggests so: To dramatic images of churchgoers being massacred, we are told that "When the government outlawed faith... the faithful became outlaws." Oh, dear. "Based on a true story," the trailer boldly claims. One might add, "Only the facts have been changed to protect the innocent."
For a quick, entertaining, enlightening, and, most importantly, even-handed read on the Cristiada and particularly Enrique Gorostieta Velarde, a general hired to be the leader of the rebellion, I recommend Richard Grabman's Gorostieta and the Cristiada: Mexico's Catholic Insurgency 1926-1929. It proves a quick and accessible overview and background to the event, and seeks to hone in on Gorostieta himself - a highly ambitions army officer that, irony of ironies, had long been considered an anti-clerical and possibly atheist. Keep that thought in mind as you watch the trailer. Yet what motivated him to join the rebellion, then? For one good and highly readable attempt at answering this question, which appears to have been the author's motivation, you can check out Grabman's book.
It is a very useful antidote to what appears to be a very, very flawed film, whenever it will be released.
(available now as an e-book here, or here, it costs less than a beer)
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