The state congress in Baja California Sur failed to pass an extremely prohibitive anti-choice legislation of the "life from conception" type, though hardly thanks to any brave stands from progressive forces: While 11 deputies from PAN, the local PRN party, and Convergencia (the nominally left-wing party allied to AMLO) voted in favor, nine deputies - five from PRI, four from PRD - simply abstained, rather than having the guts to vote against the legislation
Stopped, for now.
Showing posts with label Baja California Sur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baja California Sur. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
PRD to boot out ex-governor from party
It's hard to find a state in Mexico with more political opportunism than Baja California Sur, at least by the standards of party switching - with the latest gubernatorial election a clear case in point.
Now, former Governor Narciso Agúndez Montaño, cousin of former PRD president Leonel Cota Montaño (who I have utterly lost track of in terms of what party he has jumped on to), will be kicked out from the PRD.
Agúndez Montaño, though nominally of the PRD, was widely regarded to have backed the winning PAN candidate (and PRD defector!) Marcos Covarrubias, yet the straw that broke the camel's back was his recent flirtations with the most cynical, opportunist, most devoid of any principles, party in Mexico, the Green Party (PVEM), which apparently is seeking to recruit Agúndez for some office in 2012. Good riddance.
Now, former Governor Narciso Agúndez Montaño, cousin of former PRD president Leonel Cota Montaño (who I have utterly lost track of in terms of what party he has jumped on to), will be kicked out from the PRD.
Agúndez Montaño, though nominally of the PRD, was widely regarded to have backed the winning PAN candidate (and PRD defector!) Marcos Covarrubias, yet the straw that broke the camel's back was his recent flirtations with the most cynical, opportunist, most devoid of any principles, party in Mexico, the Green Party (PVEM), which apparently is seeking to recruit Agúndez for some office in 2012. Good riddance.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Baja California Sur, final results
OK, technically not final - they have not been certified yet - but it seems very fair to assume that these will be the official electoral results of the Baja California Sur gubernatorial elections, given that the PRD will not impugn the results. From Milenio:
To his credit, PRD candidate Luis Armando Díaz has accepted his loss, though to his discredit, he foolishly declared victory on election night, against the will of PRD leader Jesús Ortega, but was pushed by, no shocker here, Dolores Padierna of the IDN current, who was one of the main responsible for the PRD's electoral structure in Baja California Sur. As expected, Padierna would come up with something nutty to explain away her paltry performance and to take a stab at the PRD leadership: PAN and PRD actually made a pact so that the PRD candidate would lose. This is, of course, nonsense.
In terms of the results, it is clear that as deputies are elected on a district basis, PAN-PRS (the local party it went in coalition with) will get 9 out of 21 deputies, PRI-PVEM 6, PRT-PT 4, and Nueva Alianza and Convergencia one each. A far more fragmented legislature than before, when PRD-PT had a majority of 12 together. Note, though, that many of the new PAN legislators were until recently perredistas.
Also of note: PRI made quite a comeback by also winning the capital La Paz and the Loreto district. PAN won Comondú, hometown of governor-to-be and former PRD member Marcos Covarrubias, while PRD hung on to the important tourist town of Los Cabos, where the outgoing governor's brother Antonio Agúndez will be the mayor. It must be of some consolation to the PRD that Leonel Cota, the former governor and national party leader who ditched the party, scraped in at barely 11.63 percent and fourth place. No lost love for a man who has gone through half a dozen party the last decade, only to in the end call for a vote for the PRI.
To his credit, PRD candidate Luis Armando Díaz has accepted his loss, though to his discredit, he foolishly declared victory on election night, against the will of PRD leader Jesús Ortega, but was pushed by, no shocker here, Dolores Padierna of the IDN current, who was one of the main responsible for the PRD's electoral structure in Baja California Sur. As expected, Padierna would come up with something nutty to explain away her paltry performance and to take a stab at the PRD leadership: PAN and PRD actually made a pact so that the PRD candidate would lose. This is, of course, nonsense.
In terms of the results, it is clear that as deputies are elected on a district basis, PAN-PRS (the local party it went in coalition with) will get 9 out of 21 deputies, PRI-PVEM 6, PRT-PT 4, and Nueva Alianza and Convergencia one each. A far more fragmented legislature than before, when PRD-PT had a majority of 12 together. Note, though, that many of the new PAN legislators were until recently perredistas.
Also of note: PRI made quite a comeback by also winning the capital La Paz and the Loreto district. PAN won Comondú, hometown of governor-to-be and former PRD member Marcos Covarrubias, while PRD hung on to the important tourist town of Los Cabos, where the outgoing governor's brother Antonio Agúndez will be the mayor. It must be of some consolation to the PRD that Leonel Cota, the former governor and national party leader who ditched the party, scraped in at barely 11.63 percent and fourth place. No lost love for a man who has gone through half a dozen party the last decade, only to in the end call for a vote for the PRI.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Marcos Covarrubias wins in Baja California Sur
With 97 percent of the PREP completed, Marcos Covarrubias has a 6.5-percent lead over the runner-up, PRI's Ricardo Barroso Agramont, and 40.22 of the vote total. Given that the PRD had run the state since 1999, the third place for its candidate Luis Armando Díaz is a tough defeat. Yet also from the PRI, which has now lost the first two state elections of 2011.
Both PAN and PRD have declared themselves the winner in Baja California Sur gubernatorial election
Both PAN and PRD have declared themselves the winner in Baja California Sur gubernatorial election.
Note that in this state election, exit polls were not allowed - so where they get their data from, only they must know. In the meantime, be sure to check out the PREP, which provides the preliminary results as they come in.
For the record: BCS is the least populated state in Mexico. It has been run by the PRD since 1999.
Note that in this state election, exit polls were not allowed - so where they get their data from, only they must know. In the meantime, be sure to check out the PREP, which provides the preliminary results as they come in.
For the record: BCS is the least populated state in Mexico. It has been run by the PRD since 1999.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Leonel Cota comes full circle: The die-hard AMLO loyalist goes back to PRI
Leonel Cota, the former priísta who became PRD governor of Baja California, then was handpicked by AMLO to be a pliant national PRD president, has now come full circle to back the PRI candidate for governor, if PRI, the Green Party, and PANAL back his bid for the sweet spot as mayor of Los Cabos.
(He'll need quite a push - current opinion polls have him down on 13 percent or so - the sudcalifornianos are not too excited about their former governor, it seems)
I wonder what AMLO's reaction to this will be.
(He'll need quite a push - current opinion polls have him down on 13 percent or so - the sudcalifornianos are not too excited about their former governor, it seems)
I wonder what AMLO's reaction to this will be.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Baja California Sur elections: Marcos Covarrubias, born-again panista
It is not illegal to change parties, and often there are quite legitimate reasons for it - e.g. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas departure from the PRI in the 1980s stemmed from the party's rightward shift. Other times, candidates themselves do change ideologically - they move to the political left or right, and sometimes do no longer "fit" with their old party. It happens. However, most times in Mexico the decision by a candidate to leave his or her party appears unfortunately motivated by purely opportunistic motivations, such as having lost a party primary for an elected position.
In Baja California Sur, the case of Marcos Covarrubias appears decidedly a case of the latter. While Covarrubias has every right to ditch his old party the PRD in favor of becoming the PAN's candidate for government, his new-found enthusiasm for PAN and president Calderón is reaching new levels: In a debate with the other main candidates for governor - Ricardo Barroso (PRI-PVEM), Luis Armando Díaz (PRD-PT), and Blanca Meza (of Nueva Alianza, the party that uses children as vote getters) - Covarrubias spent most of the alloted time extolling the virtues of federal programs and glorifying Calderón, who he argued has the highest approval rating in Baja California Sur. The audience responded by booing.
Yes, changing party is one thing - but really, how can one expect to be taken seriously - indeed, that one's new "convictions" truly are such - when one candidate can so easily jump across to an opposition party and assume, line, hook, and singer, all that it parties stand for, from almost literally one day to another?
In Baja California Sur, the case of Marcos Covarrubias appears decidedly a case of the latter. While Covarrubias has every right to ditch his old party the PRD in favor of becoming the PAN's candidate for government, his new-found enthusiasm for PAN and president Calderón is reaching new levels: In a debate with the other main candidates for governor - Ricardo Barroso (PRI-PVEM), Luis Armando Díaz (PRD-PT), and Blanca Meza (of Nueva Alianza, the party that uses children as vote getters) - Covarrubias spent most of the alloted time extolling the virtues of federal programs and glorifying Calderón, who he argued has the highest approval rating in Baja California Sur. The audience responded by booing.
Yes, changing party is one thing - but really, how can one expect to be taken seriously - indeed, that one's new "convictions" truly are such - when one candidate can so easily jump across to an opposition party and assume, line, hook, and singer, all that it parties stand for, from almost literally one day to another?
It certainly helps explain the huge distrust Mexicans exhibit toward their parties, and that so many feel that politicians have very little convictions beyond furthering their own personal ambitions.
People like Marcos Covarrubias - yes, he, too, bailed the PRD just when he failed to become its candidate a few weeks back - certainly contribute to these sentiments.
People like Marcos Covarrubias - yes, he, too, bailed the PRD just when he failed to become its candidate a few weeks back - certainly contribute to these sentiments.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Elba Ester Gordillo's SNTE-PANAL stoops to new low: Get them while they're young
It really is quite a scandal, and should have some serious repercussions: The party PANAL, an electoral outfit based in the SNTE teacher's union that came into being when Gordillo was kicked out of the PRI and brought her PRI-affiliated teacher groups with her, has seemingly engaged in a blatant breach of electoral law in Baja California Sur - as well as crossing any remaining moral boundary - by handing out, through its SNTE cadres, school material for children at the primary level that included logos of PANAL and in Kim Il-Sung-style exalted Gordillo's party - all with the benediction of teachers and the administration of the schools.
Baja Calfornia Sur is having elections in a few weeks time, and what better way to get to voters than to hand out election material to children - most likely financed by taxpayers - so that they can bring it home to mom and dad and tell them how great PANAL is? Well, there is another one: Include a little note that asks for their name, last name, street, house number, municipality, state, borough, area code, phone number, and email, or that of "one of their parents."
Even the most cursory glance at PANAL's actions makes it obvious that it violates not only electoral law, but also Mexico's legal code.
Jesús Ortega, national president of the PRD, argued PANAL should lose its national registry as party.
Manuel Espino, former PAN leader, condemned the use of primary schools for electoral proselytizing; current PAN leader Gustavo Madero echoed Ortega's call for PANAL to lose its official registry.
Let's not forget as well that the party is violating any right of the children to privacy and protection of personal data, even potentially putting their lives and those of their parents in danger
President of the federal electoral institute (IFE), Leonardo Valdés, said IFE would seek to corraborate the information before deciding what to do. Let's hope they act fast: The actions of PANAL, and SNTE, must have consequences, if the law is to appear to have any weight and value at all.
Could one also be allowed to hope, just for a moment, that the increasing calls for leader-for-life of SNTE, Elba Esther Gordillo to renounce her position might actually be heeded?
Baja Calfornia Sur is having elections in a few weeks time, and what better way to get to voters than to hand out election material to children - most likely financed by taxpayers - so that they can bring it home to mom and dad and tell them how great PANAL is? Well, there is another one: Include a little note that asks for their name, last name, street, house number, municipality, state, borough, area code, phone number, and email, or that of "one of their parents."
Even the most cursory glance at PANAL's actions makes it obvious that it violates not only electoral law, but also Mexico's legal code.
Jesús Ortega, national president of the PRD, argued PANAL should lose its national registry as party.
Manuel Espino, former PAN leader, condemned the use of primary schools for electoral proselytizing; current PAN leader Gustavo Madero echoed Ortega's call for PANAL to lose its official registry.
Let's not forget as well that the party is violating any right of the children to privacy and protection of personal data, even potentially putting their lives and those of their parents in danger
President of the federal electoral institute (IFE), Leonardo Valdés, said IFE would seek to corraborate the information before deciding what to do. Let's hope they act fast: The actions of PANAL, and SNTE, must have consequences, if the law is to appear to have any weight and value at all.
Could one also be allowed to hope, just for a moment, that the increasing calls for leader-for-life of SNTE, Elba Esther Gordillo to renounce her position might actually be heeded?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
PRD-PT warn against arrival of "shock troops" in Baja California Sur gubernatorial election
Members of the alliance Sudcalifornia para Todos - the parties PRD and PT - warned against the arrival of "shock groups" in Baja California Sur ahead of the state's Feb. 6 gubernatorial election.
While we only have the assertions of mayoral candidates Ricardo Gerardo Higuera and Antonio Agúndez Montaño that outside groups are coming to BCS to create havoc in the state, place, the recent violent events in Guerrero ahead of that state's election should certainly put one on alert that something similar might happen elsewhere.
While we only have the assertions of mayoral candidates Ricardo Gerardo Higuera and Antonio Agúndez Montaño that outside groups are coming to BCS to create havoc in the state, place, the recent violent events in Guerrero ahead of that state's election should certainly put one on alert that something similar might happen elsewhere.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
True face of AMLO's 'left' allies: Convergencia backs PRI in Baja California Sur.
Yet another example of the incessant opportunism of Convergencia, a party that like Partido del Trabajo has ever since 2006 posited itself as "ultra loyal" to AMLO and as a "real" left radical party.
Convergencia was always and will likely always remain, just like the PT, an amazingly opportunist party that will turn its cape to whatever electoral wind it can use to reap any material benefits and advantages for itself. Claim: It has absolutely no ideological or programmatic agenda, and it is not a left-wing party.
Case in point: Baja California Sur, where the Convergencia candidate for governor, Martín Inzunza, decided not to run as a candidate. While AMLO defenders would be quick to point out that AMLO has told his supporters not to vote at all in BCS, given his open opposition to the PRD candidate, Inzunza, however, declined in favor of the nominal arch enemy, the PRI. Don't expect a comment from AMLO on this hypocrisy any time soon.
Convergencia was always and will likely always remain, just like the PT, an amazingly opportunist party that will turn its cape to whatever electoral wind it can use to reap any material benefits and advantages for itself. Claim: It has absolutely no ideological or programmatic agenda, and it is not a left-wing party.
Case in point: Baja California Sur, where the Convergencia candidate for governor, Martín Inzunza, decided not to run as a candidate. While AMLO defenders would be quick to point out that AMLO has told his supporters not to vote at all in BCS, given his open opposition to the PRD candidate, Inzunza, however, declined in favor of the nominal arch enemy, the PRI. Don't expect a comment from AMLO on this hypocrisy any time soon.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Baja California Sur elections: Party splits, fragmentation, and plenty of opportunism
I've earlier done an attempt or two at summarizing the extremely complicated political situation in Baja California Sur, which is holding elections on Feb. 6 this year - barely a month away.
Here's an excellent and slightly updated article from La Jornada in this regard.
Here's an excellent and slightly updated article from La Jornada in this regard.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Baja California Sur: AMLO calls for Mexicans not to vote
In a press conference, AMLO made it clear he does not support the PRD´s gubernatorial candidate in the upcoming state elections Baja California Sur, Luis Armando Díaz, even though the PRD here has not gone in an alliance with the PAN. Notably, AMLO also called for the Sudcalifornianos not to vote at all.
This, again, in stark contrast to Marcelo Ebrard, who backs him.
This, again, in stark contrast to Marcelo Ebrard, who backs him.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A candidate with no shame: Leonel Cota registers as PANAL candidate
The former president of PRD and before that governor of Baja California Sur, Leonel Cota, must surely be one of the most opportunistic and desperate political candidates in that state's history. After his candidacy for the sweet spot as municipal president of the tourism (and high income) paradise Los Cabos, Cota huffed and puffed and loudly abandoned the PRD. (Quick note: He was even before that, until 1998 a prominent PRI member, until he lost the election to be its gubernatorial candidate).
Then, Cota sought the nomination of the PRI-allied Green Party (PVEM) - an archenemy of the PRD, to be sure, and even AMLO found this postulation regrettable. Cota then moved on to seek the nomination of Convergencia, which in BCS rejected a common candidate with PRD and PT. Yet apparently these negotiations went awry. And what did Cota do?
He now just registered as a candidate of PANAL! That's right, the teacher union-based PANAL, another arch-enemy of the PRD and particularly Andrés Manuel López Obrador. PANAL, headed by the notorious "Jimmy Hoffa in a skirt" Elba Esther Gordillo, whose mobilization of teachers on behalf of Calderón in 2006 was a big contributing factor to PAN's victory.
So let's see: Leonel Cota, first of PRI, then PRD, then PVEM, then Convergencia, then PANAL.
His recent moves has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest sinvergüenzas to have ever passed by the PRD.
Then, Cota sought the nomination of the PRI-allied Green Party (PVEM) - an archenemy of the PRD, to be sure, and even AMLO found this postulation regrettable. Cota then moved on to seek the nomination of Convergencia, which in BCS rejected a common candidate with PRD and PT. Yet apparently these negotiations went awry. And what did Cota do?
He now just registered as a candidate of PANAL! That's right, the teacher union-based PANAL, another arch-enemy of the PRD and particularly Andrés Manuel López Obrador. PANAL, headed by the notorious "Jimmy Hoffa in a skirt" Elba Esther Gordillo, whose mobilization of teachers on behalf of Calderón in 2006 was a big contributing factor to PAN's victory.
So let's see: Leonel Cota, first of PRI, then PRD, then PVEM, then Convergencia, then PANAL.
His recent moves has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest sinvergüenzas to have ever passed by the PRD.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Baja California Sur, continued: PAN's faustian bargain J
The state branch of Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) in Baja California Sur, backed by national PAN leader César Nava, likely thought it had made an absolute bargain when it took in and made Marcos Covarrubias its candidate for governor. Covarrubias was until recently with the PRD, yet dumped the party when he failed to become its nominee for the upcoming gubernatorial elections - an all-too-common story throughout Mexico. Covarrubias also brought scores of his supporters with him.
Yet the PAN loyalists are not amused. The party had already chosen the businessman José Germán Castro as its candidate, yet he was quickly set aside, with other PAN candidates, to make room for Covarrubias and some other high-profile candidates. Now a PAN rebellion in the state seems likely, adding on to the massive infighting within the PRD in Baja California Sur, which has held the state since 1999.
The likelihood that PRI will retake Baja California Sur is increasing day by day.
Yet the PAN loyalists are not amused. The party had already chosen the businessman José Germán Castro as its candidate, yet he was quickly set aside, with other PAN candidates, to make room for Covarrubias and some other high-profile candidates. Now a PAN rebellion in the state seems likely, adding on to the massive infighting within the PRD in Baja California Sur, which has held the state since 1999.
The likelihood that PRI will retake Baja California Sur is increasing day by day.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The tale of Baja California Sur: All hell is loose as politics come full circle with governor candidates
Baja California Sur will elect its new governor on Feb. 6 next year, and the processes of choosing candidates for the various parties has been extremely tumultuous and provoked a range of schisms within PRD, which governs the state. The intense internal battle within the left on a national scale has contributed directly to the party's turmoil in this state election. which for the PRD has as much with 2012 as it has to do with Baja California Sur.
The deadline to register electoral coalitions expired this weekend, and the final make-up of electoral coalitions and their candidates is notable: Sudcalifornia para Todos (PRD y PT), with Luis Armando Díaz as its candidate; Unidos por Baja California Sur (PRI-PVEM), with Ricardo Barroso Agramont, and Alianza es Contigo (PAN and Partido Renovación Sudcaliforniana [PRS, a local party), with Marcos Covarrubias Villaseñor.
Notably, Convergencia in the end did not join the PRD and PT but will presnet its own candidate. The lack of a common candidate among the three parties on the surface appear to make no sense; in other places, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has much influence over PT and Convergencia, has forbidden the parties to join with PRD if the PRD also want to include PAN, yet this was not the case in Baja California Sur. Yet as both national PRD President Jésus Ortega and Secretary General Hortensia Aragón complained, the election is really about who will control the left ahead of 2012. Again, AMLO will rather see the PRD lose than have it elect a candidate identified with his opponents within the party, yet here he didn't even have the excuse of a PAN alliance to provoke the break-up of the left.
Politics has really come full circle in Baja California Sur. A quick look at the PRD's internal turmoils is quite instructive here. The state went to the PRD after Leonel Cota Montaño, a prominent PRI politician, failed to clinch his party's nomination for governor and jumped on board with the PRD. After Cota stepped down to later become AMLO's hand-picked national head of the PRD, the PRD kept the state with the election of Narciso Agúndez Montaño as governor in 2011. Make a note of his second last name.
When it came to electing PRD's new candidate for governor as well as for key cities and municipal districts, all hell broke loose. Due to much infighting between the supporters of Agúndez Montaño's former interior secretary and favored successor, Armando Díaz, and Marcos Covarrubias, the PRD's National Political Commission, a sort of an overseeing council of elders that is of recent origin and includes representatives of all the major factions in PRD, decided to cancel plans to decide candidates by polls, and the PRD's state council was charged with designating candidates. When they not surprisingly failed to come to an agreement, the party branch leader
Adrián Chávez Ruiz asked the CPN to designate candidates, which drew loud protests from Covarrubias who threatened to leave the party. Notably, Leonel Cota Montaño, despite being governor 1999-2005, wanted to now become mayor of tourist paradise and money cow municipality of Los Cabos, yet when it became clear that he would not be designated candidate, the PRD's former national president loudly ditched the party
The PRD's CPN finally designated Luis Armando Díaz as candidate, and in a move that admittedly smacks of nepotism further placed Narciso Agúndez Montaño, brother of the governor, as candidate for Los Cabos, and former senator Ricardo Gerardo Higuera for La Paz.
Yet the story hardly ends there. Even though Ortega controls the party's national executive committee and not the CPN, Cota loudly accused Ortega of "treason" and criticized the state government for promoting Armando Díaz as its candidate, declaring the worst that could happen to the state would be a candidate of continuity with the style of Narciso Agúndez. Irony of ironies: It was exactly Cota Montaño, with AMLO's blessing, who imposed Agúndez Montaño, his cousin, as the left's gubernatorial candidate in 2004.
More: Cota Montaño left the PRD to join none other than the Green Party (PVEM), which is truly Mexico's most cynical and opportunistic party. As local PRD deputy Víctor Castro noted, the PVEM is not only rightwing, but also an ally of PRI, the supposed arch enemy. Even AMLO expressed his displeasure with Cota's choice of new partner.
Then, Cota announced that he would be candidate for mayor of La Paz rather on the party label of Convergencia - a party with very little presence in the state, but which would now see an influx of the supporters of Cota. As Milenio observed, this PRD rupture was fully sanctioned and supported by Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Cota's sister, to add, is currently mayor of La Paz.
And there is even more: Marcos Covarrubias, former mayor of Comondú. who had loudly attacked his own party for treason and inconsistency and what not when it cancelled the poll, resigned from the PRD to join... the PAN! The party announced last weekend that it had successfully recruited Covarrubias as its candidate. Many other key PRD members are reported to have left the party. PRI, for its part, with the PVEM declared its candidate to be Ricardo Barroso Agramont, the leader of the party's state branch
It is hard to decide who deserves the price for blatant opportunism in Baja California Sur, a place where politics appears to have come full circle. While the current governor may succeed in imposing his former interior secretary as the next governor, Armando Díaz has had to fend off accusations of ties to the narcos, propelled by hardcore anti-PRD commentators such as Ricardo Alemán, who openly accuses Díaz of being a narco. The PRD, in turn, responded that the party is convinced Díaz has no narco ties, and asked the federal attorney general, PGR, to make public whether he is under any kind of investigation.
As for the race, due to PAN's and AMLO's maneuvers, my bets are on the PRI, though it remains wide open, and as recent events serve to demonstrate, in la política sudcaliforniana, nothing is remotely certain.
The deadline to register electoral coalitions expired this weekend, and the final make-up of electoral coalitions and their candidates is notable: Sudcalifornia para Todos (PRD y PT), with Luis Armando Díaz as its candidate; Unidos por Baja California Sur (PRI-PVEM), with Ricardo Barroso Agramont, and Alianza es Contigo (PAN and Partido Renovación Sudcaliforniana [PRS, a local party), with Marcos Covarrubias Villaseñor.
Notably, Convergencia in the end did not join the PRD and PT but will presnet its own candidate. The lack of a common candidate among the three parties on the surface appear to make no sense; in other places, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has much influence over PT and Convergencia, has forbidden the parties to join with PRD if the PRD also want to include PAN, yet this was not the case in Baja California Sur. Yet as both national PRD President Jésus Ortega and Secretary General Hortensia Aragón complained, the election is really about who will control the left ahead of 2012. Again, AMLO will rather see the PRD lose than have it elect a candidate identified with his opponents within the party, yet here he didn't even have the excuse of a PAN alliance to provoke the break-up of the left.
Politics has really come full circle in Baja California Sur. A quick look at the PRD's internal turmoils is quite instructive here. The state went to the PRD after Leonel Cota Montaño, a prominent PRI politician, failed to clinch his party's nomination for governor and jumped on board with the PRD. After Cota stepped down to later become AMLO's hand-picked national head of the PRD, the PRD kept the state with the election of Narciso Agúndez Montaño as governor in 2011. Make a note of his second last name.
When it came to electing PRD's new candidate for governor as well as for key cities and municipal districts, all hell broke loose. Due to much infighting between the supporters of Agúndez Montaño's former interior secretary and favored successor, Armando Díaz, and Marcos Covarrubias, the PRD's National Political Commission, a sort of an overseeing council of elders that is of recent origin and includes representatives of all the major factions in PRD, decided to cancel plans to decide candidates by polls, and the PRD's state council was charged with designating candidates. When they not surprisingly failed to come to an agreement, the party branch leader
Adrián Chávez Ruiz asked the CPN to designate candidates, which drew loud protests from Covarrubias who threatened to leave the party. Notably, Leonel Cota Montaño, despite being governor 1999-2005, wanted to now become mayor of tourist paradise and money cow municipality of Los Cabos, yet when it became clear that he would not be designated candidate, the PRD's former national president loudly ditched the party
The PRD's CPN finally designated Luis Armando Díaz as candidate, and in a move that admittedly smacks of nepotism further placed Narciso Agúndez Montaño, brother of the governor, as candidate for Los Cabos, and former senator Ricardo Gerardo Higuera for La Paz.
Yet the story hardly ends there. Even though Ortega controls the party's national executive committee and not the CPN, Cota loudly accused Ortega of "treason" and criticized the state government for promoting Armando Díaz as its candidate, declaring the worst that could happen to the state would be a candidate of continuity with the style of Narciso Agúndez. Irony of ironies: It was exactly Cota Montaño, with AMLO's blessing, who imposed Agúndez Montaño, his cousin, as the left's gubernatorial candidate in 2004.
More: Cota Montaño left the PRD to join none other than the Green Party (PVEM), which is truly Mexico's most cynical and opportunistic party. As local PRD deputy Víctor Castro noted, the PVEM is not only rightwing, but also an ally of PRI, the supposed arch enemy. Even AMLO expressed his displeasure with Cota's choice of new partner.
Then, Cota announced that he would be candidate for mayor of La Paz rather on the party label of Convergencia - a party with very little presence in the state, but which would now see an influx of the supporters of Cota. As Milenio observed, this PRD rupture was fully sanctioned and supported by Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Cota's sister, to add, is currently mayor of La Paz.
And there is even more: Marcos Covarrubias, former mayor of Comondú. who had loudly attacked his own party for treason and inconsistency and what not when it cancelled the poll, resigned from the PRD to join... the PAN! The party announced last weekend that it had successfully recruited Covarrubias as its candidate. Many other key PRD members are reported to have left the party. PRI, for its part, with the PVEM declared its candidate to be Ricardo Barroso Agramont, the leader of the party's state branch
It is hard to decide who deserves the price for blatant opportunism in Baja California Sur, a place where politics appears to have come full circle. While the current governor may succeed in imposing his former interior secretary as the next governor, Armando Díaz has had to fend off accusations of ties to the narcos, propelled by hardcore anti-PRD commentators such as Ricardo Alemán, who openly accuses Díaz of being a narco. The PRD, in turn, responded that the party is convinced Díaz has no narco ties, and asked the federal attorney general, PGR, to make public whether he is under any kind of investigation.
As for the race, due to PAN's and AMLO's maneuvers, my bets are on the PRI, though it remains wide open, and as recent events serve to demonstrate, in la política sudcaliforniana, nothing is remotely certain.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Former party president Leonel Cota renounces PRD to join the Green Party
Leonel Cota's decision to abandon the party he as president to join the Mexican Green Party (PVEM), an extremely opportunistic electoral outfit devoid of any ideology or programmatic content, let alone care for the environment, is almost poetically logical. Cota, to recall, was a priísta until the late 1990s, but bailed PRI when the party failed to nominate him as its gubernatorial candidate for Baja California Sur. AMLO, then PRD president, encouraged Cota to join the PRD and run on its own label, which he successfully did. In 2005, with AMLO's presidential candidacy seemingly on tracks, he imposed Cota Montaño as PRD party president, a post he held until 2008. I have yet to meet any elite member of the PRD - either pro-AMLO or pro-Ortega, or anywhere in between, who had any good word to say about his leadership; he was universally regarded an absentee landlord, a caretaker president who took no initiatives on his own but followed any command of AMLO. He ended his presidency on a particular bad note, disgracing himself by directly interfering in the internal election to elect his successor, prematurely, and falsely, declaring Alejandro Encinas to be the winner.
Now, Leonel Cota sought to be the PRD candidate for mayor of Los Cabos, but the PRD's Comisión Política Nacional, which represents all major party groups in somewhat of a council of elders, cancelled what was to have been a statewide poll to elect its candidates, due to disturbances and irregularities in the process. Cota, of course, huffed and puffed and accused the PRD of merely cancelling an internal election he was sure to win. He had earlier threatened to leave the party unless it made him its candidate, his decision to join the PVEM, a long-time enemy of the PRD and close ally of the PRI, is still more than bit shocking, yet given his opportunistic trajectory, ultimately congruent with his maxim: Your own interest first, always.
Now, Leonel Cota sought to be the PRD candidate for mayor of Los Cabos, but the PRD's Comisión Política Nacional, which represents all major party groups in somewhat of a council of elders, cancelled what was to have been a statewide poll to elect its candidates, due to disturbances and irregularities in the process. Cota, of course, huffed and puffed and accused the PRD of merely cancelling an internal election he was sure to win. He had earlier threatened to leave the party unless it made him its candidate, his decision to join the PVEM, a long-time enemy of the PRD and close ally of the PRI, is still more than bit shocking, yet given his opportunistic trajectory, ultimately congruent with his maxim: Your own interest first, always.
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