There seems to be no end to the cowardice, incompetence, and partiality of the PRI government of Michoacán. Nominally lead by Governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa but given his rapidly deteriorating health (rumors of his coming death are likely not exaggerated) in practice in the hands of secretary Jesús Reyna García, the government is doing the bare minimum to avoid violating the federal constitution while not touching a hair on the head of the Taliban-like cult psychopaths of Nueva Jerusalén, who attack formal schooling, modern music, radio, TV, and internet - and to boot predicted, falsely as it were, that the world would end in 2000.
Instead of arresting the thugs - they've raped children, pelted opponents with rocks, and trashed a school - the PRI government is relocating those who oppose them, that is, those who want their children to attend a secular government school.
Reyna García is truly a man of no shame, instead attacking their victims: Against the recommendation of the state's human rights commission, he is instead forging ahead with a plan to force those opposed to the cult to leave, including forcing the children to attend school elsewhere. When the parents objected that this would mean their children would cross a dangerous river current just to get to school - their previous one was burnt down right before the start of the school year - Reyna García called them "liars," suggesting it was just a little creek and that they had demanded themselves to be relocated. That is a complete, fabricated lie.
Given the state government's incapacity and clear lack of will to do anything - Reyna García notoriously designated the conflict as one between "power factions" - the children of parents opposed to the cult have now gone three weeks without school
What support from their elected officials!
Prevén clases el lunes en Nueva Jerusalén. El Universal, Sept. 6, 2012
Proponen reubicar en Nueva Jerusalén. El Universal, Sept. 5, 2012
Showing posts with label Fausto Vallejo Figueroa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fausto Vallejo Figueroa. Show all posts
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
World attention for christian cult psychopaths in Michoacán
The psychopathic and criminal thugs of Nueva Jerusalén, in Turicato municpality in Michoacán, are finally getting international attention:
A video from CNN here.
From the BBC, here.
The gutless PRI governor of the state, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, calls for dialogue with the violent cultists, who destroy schools and pelt children with rocks, and have in the past been involved in rape and abuse scandals of their own brainwashed flock. There seems to be little point in dialogue at this point, yet one likely reason why Vallejo is not moving to arrest the leaders, as he should, is that the town has faithfully, with irony intended, voted PRI since it gained control in the 1970s.
Source:
Mexico cult eyes 'evil' secular schools. CNN, Aug. 23, 2012
Mexico row as religious sect blocks schooling access. BBC World News, Aug. 23, 2012
A video from CNN here.
From the BBC, here.
The gutless PRI governor of the state, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, calls for dialogue with the violent cultists, who destroy schools and pelt children with rocks, and have in the past been involved in rape and abuse scandals of their own brainwashed flock. There seems to be little point in dialogue at this point, yet one likely reason why Vallejo is not moving to arrest the leaders, as he should, is that the town has faithfully, with irony intended, voted PRI since it gained control in the 1970s.
Source:
Mexico cult eyes 'evil' secular schools. CNN, Aug. 23, 2012
Mexico row as religious sect blocks schooling access. BBC World News, Aug. 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Religious whacks again attack education
Again the religious whacks in Nueva Jerusalén, Michoacán, are attacking the constitutionally guaranteed rights of Mexican children for an education, and again the PRI government of Fausto Vallejo Figueroa is doing nothing to stop them:
For two consecutive days, the pederast-rapist cult led by the "bishop" Martin de Tours has blcoked children in the indigenous community from going to school. Why? Because they don't believe in education, that's why. And as it usually goes with strongly religious individuals or cults, they are not merely content with following their own commandments , but will do everything they can to impose them on others - like it or not. Hence, with the start of the school year, they are now depriving children who are not member of the cult and whose parents want nothing to do with it, from learning.
Governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa has done nothing so far to arrest these psychopaths, and any action does not look very forthcoming, at least judging from the very cowardly and highly erroneous recent statement from the Secretary of Government Jesús Reyna García,(second in command after the governor): It is a "religious disagreement" that has "nothing to do with education. Of course it has everything to do with education. From 1973 to 2007 there was no school or even health clinic in the village, and the right to education - an an alternative viewpoint to the cultists - is central here.
What political cowardice - kowtowing to a community that also just happens to be ultra-priísta.
Source:
Se recrudece el conficto en la comunidad Nueva Jerusalén; impiden regreso a clases. La Jornada, Aug. 21
Nueva Jerusalén: otra vez impiden inicio de clases. El Universal, Aug. 22, 2012
For two consecutive days, the pederast-rapist cult led by the "bishop" Martin de Tours has blcoked children in the indigenous community from going to school. Why? Because they don't believe in education, that's why. And as it usually goes with strongly religious individuals or cults, they are not merely content with following their own commandments , but will do everything they can to impose them on others - like it or not. Hence, with the start of the school year, they are now depriving children who are not member of the cult and whose parents want nothing to do with it, from learning.
Governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa has done nothing so far to arrest these psychopaths, and any action does not look very forthcoming, at least judging from the very cowardly and highly erroneous recent statement from the Secretary of Government Jesús Reyna García,(second in command after the governor): It is a "religious disagreement" that has "nothing to do with education. Of course it has everything to do with education. From 1973 to 2007 there was no school or even health clinic in the village, and the right to education - an an alternative viewpoint to the cultists - is central here.
What political cowardice - kowtowing to a community that also just happens to be ultra-priísta.
Source:
Se recrudece el conficto en la comunidad Nueva Jerusalén; impiden regreso a clases. La Jornada, Aug. 21
Nueva Jerusalén: otra vez impiden inicio de clases. El Universal, Aug. 22, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Teacher March Madness
The past days, teachers have been causing complete mayhem in Mexico City, shutting down main thoroughfares and causing economic losses in the tens of millions - the thousands of police having to safeguard the process, the lost hours of productive for people not getting to work, the loss to business forced to shut along the protest routes, etc. In Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and other states, hundreds of thousands of school children were not able to go to class.
This time the protest is not organized by the national SNTE, but by a dissident teacher union, CNTE, founded in 1979. But sad to say, they resort to exactly the same practices so many are fed up with from SNTE.
What is it that they want?
1) They want a "plaza" or a teaching position, for life - for life. That is, they want to be appointed, and not ever have to bother about looking for another job. This is especially perturbing, as they also
2) Oppose any evaluation of their skills or lack thereof. They don't want any exam, review, skills test at all, to determine whether they are fit for teaching.
But they still want a job for life. They are also protesting that the national SNTE has negotiated, finally, with the federal government what appears to be at least the beginning of a very rudimentary evaluation of their fit for the teaching profession. SNTE has in general opposed this since its foundation in the 1940s.
Meanwhile, and related, Michoacán, bus companies halted all services, following the "commandeering" of dozens of buses - that is, teachers and teacher students simply stole several buses for their own use. After days of conflict, and following an ultimatum from Governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, teacher students finally released "22 passenger buses, four trucks of perishable goods and eight drivers who remained detained for six days," which led finally to the reopening of the Morelia main bus station.
In a related development, former secretary of health José Ángel Córdova Villalobos, just appointed, and surprisingly, secretary of education, insisted that the national tests, negotiated with SNTE, will proceed. Córdova for his part referred to embattled SNTE head Elba Esther Gordillo as "a great leader." Really?
His predecessor, Alonso Lujambio, presently fighting for his life in a battle with cancer, was, it must be said, completely subservient to SNTE, barely admonishing it for outrageous illegal acts such as distributing taxpayer-funded teaching materials that also called for a vote for its PANAL party and for children to hand over personal information as well as that of their parents. I hope Córdova will show some more backbone.
This time the protest is not organized by the national SNTE, but by a dissident teacher union, CNTE, founded in 1979. But sad to say, they resort to exactly the same practices so many are fed up with from SNTE.
What is it that they want?
1) They want a "plaza" or a teaching position, for life - for life. That is, they want to be appointed, and not ever have to bother about looking for another job. This is especially perturbing, as they also
2) Oppose any evaluation of their skills or lack thereof. They don't want any exam, review, skills test at all, to determine whether they are fit for teaching.
But they still want a job for life. They are also protesting that the national SNTE has negotiated, finally, with the federal government what appears to be at least the beginning of a very rudimentary evaluation of their fit for the teaching profession. SNTE has in general opposed this since its foundation in the 1940s.
Meanwhile, and related, Michoacán, bus companies halted all services, following the "commandeering" of dozens of buses - that is, teachers and teacher students simply stole several buses for their own use. After days of conflict, and following an ultimatum from Governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, teacher students finally released "22 passenger buses, four trucks of perishable goods and eight drivers who remained detained for six days," which led finally to the reopening of the Morelia main bus station.
In a related development, former secretary of health José Ángel Córdova Villalobos, just appointed, and surprisingly, secretary of education, insisted that the national tests, negotiated with SNTE, will proceed. Córdova for his part referred to embattled SNTE head Elba Esther Gordillo as "a great leader." Really?
His predecessor, Alonso Lujambio, presently fighting for his life in a battle with cancer, was, it must be said, completely subservient to SNTE, barely admonishing it for outrageous illegal acts such as distributing taxpayer-funded teaching materials that also called for a vote for its PANAL party and for children to hand over personal information as well as that of their parents. I hope Córdova will show some more backbone.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Michoacán governor election, more results and data
* According to the PREP (preliminary results based on quick count), PRI won the governorship with 35.39 percent of the votes
* PRI won 11 local deputies for congress, PRD 8, and PAN 5
* PRI won 46 out of 113 municipalities (with PVEM alliance in several), PRD and allies 30 (down from 41), and PAN 27 (up from 20)
* 54.2 percent of voters participated.
* Silvano Aureoles Conejo, the left's candidate, says Sunday's election in Michoacán should be annulled, given what he says was massive federal intervention in the election, threats against PRD militants, and PRI collusion with organized crime.
* Do does Cocoa, president Calderón's sister and PAN's candidate. She also demands a vote-by-vote recount, and the count of 879 ballot boxes that were not counted by the PREP. I looked at the PREP and made references to these here. I think, too, these should be counted again.
* The winner according to the PREP, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, denies any narco ties.
* Yet Manuel Camacho Solís, coordinator of the Diálogo para la Reconstrucción de México (DIA) left front of PRD, PT and MC, says the left should accept the results.
* The federal attorney general's office is investigating 42 concrete cases in relation to the election
* PRI won 11 local deputies for congress, PRD 8, and PAN 5
* PRI won 46 out of 113 municipalities (with PVEM alliance in several), PRD and allies 30 (down from 41), and PAN 27 (up from 20)
* 54.2 percent of voters participated.
* Silvano Aureoles Conejo, the left's candidate, says Sunday's election in Michoacán should be annulled, given what he says was massive federal intervention in the election, threats against PRD militants, and PRI collusion with organized crime.
* Do does Cocoa, president Calderón's sister and PAN's candidate. She also demands a vote-by-vote recount, and the count of 879 ballot boxes that were not counted by the PREP. I looked at the PREP and made references to these here. I think, too, these should be counted again.
* The winner according to the PREP, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, denies any narco ties.
* Yet Manuel Camacho Solís, coordinator of the Diálogo para la Reconstrucción de México (DIA) left front of PRD, PT and MC, says the left should accept the results.
* The federal attorney general's office is investigating 42 concrete cases in relation to the election
Monday, November 14, 2011
Michoacán: PREP closed with PRI ahead, but funky numbers
All three parties claimed to have won the Michoacán election, with the surprise winner Fausto Vallejo Figueroa on top in the PREP, or Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares. As its name implies, these are not the official results and have no legal value - they are based on a quick count of the actas or tally sheets, which it appears were scanned electronically just as they came in.
For the official count, the complete electoral packets must be sent in to the electoral districts of the state, and the numbers of the tally sheets checked. They may also be opened and actually recounted, if the data on the tally sheet indicate, well, that something just ain't right - that the numbers don't add up with votes cast and reported remaining ballots, etc.
What is interesting is the ballot boxes reported in the PREP - access, in Excel form, to all the boxes is given here. Of the 6075 boxes reported for governor, the more one skims down the page (they are ordered according to when first reported in to the PREP), there are many hundreds of instances of 1) Tally sheet ineligible, 2) Sum of votes superior to the number of people voting, 3) Numbers do not match up, 4) Envelope empty, and 5) Envelope not handed over.
See for yourself here. Skimming the sheet, at least 500 boxes were not counted as part of the PREP. Though we don't know the absolute size of this vote, in terms of percentage of ballot boxes, that is quite a bit (8 percent based on purely eyeball measure) - and if we assume the number of votes in each box is roughly on average with the ones that were counted, (2-300 it seems, again just skimming), we are talking 100,000-150,000 votes not counted.
They could, of course, follow a complete normal distribution, in that they are spread out evenly among the candidates, but I will certainly withhold judgment on who won in Michoacán Sunday until both the state electoral institute and electoral tribunal have ratified the election.
For the official count, the complete electoral packets must be sent in to the electoral districts of the state, and the numbers of the tally sheets checked. They may also be opened and actually recounted, if the data on the tally sheet indicate, well, that something just ain't right - that the numbers don't add up with votes cast and reported remaining ballots, etc.
What is interesting is the ballot boxes reported in the PREP - access, in Excel form, to all the boxes is given here. Of the 6075 boxes reported for governor, the more one skims down the page (they are ordered according to when first reported in to the PREP), there are many hundreds of instances of 1) Tally sheet ineligible, 2) Sum of votes superior to the number of people voting, 3) Numbers do not match up, 4) Envelope empty, and 5) Envelope not handed over.
See for yourself here. Skimming the sheet, at least 500 boxes were not counted as part of the PREP. Though we don't know the absolute size of this vote, in terms of percentage of ballot boxes, that is quite a bit (8 percent based on purely eyeball measure) - and if we assume the number of votes in each box is roughly on average with the ones that were counted, (2-300 it seems, again just skimming), we are talking 100,000-150,000 votes not counted.
They could, of course, follow a complete normal distribution, in that they are spread out evenly among the candidates, but I will certainly withhold judgment on who won in Michoacán Sunday until both the state electoral institute and electoral tribunal have ratified the election.
Michoacán governor election: PRI ahead with 89% of voted counted
According to the PREP, or a program for preliminary election results contracted by Michoacán's electoral authority, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa is leading in the count to be Michoacán's next governor with 35.38 percent.
Luisa María Calderón Hinojosa is in second place with 32.67.
If confirmed, this is quite an upset: All major polls had Calderón's sister Cocoa as the favorite. It will be a huge triumph for the PRI ahead of 2012.
PRI won in all four districts of the capital Morelia, where Vallejo was governor, and the two in Uruapan. It is also ahead in Hidalgo, Zitácuaro, Apatzingán, Zinapécuaro and Múgica - 9 districts.
PAN is ahead in La Piedad, Zamora, Jiquilpan, Jacona and Tacámbaro, while PRD won Lázaro Cárdenas, Puruándiro, Zacapu, Huetamo, Maravatío, Los Reyes, Pátzcuaro and Coalcomán.
What is moreover clear, as Milenio proclaims front page in its print edition, is that the PRD lost control of the state.
Luisa María Calderón Hinojosa is in second place with 32.67.
If confirmed, this is quite an upset: All major polls had Calderón's sister Cocoa as the favorite. It will be a huge triumph for the PRI ahead of 2012.
PRI won in all four districts of the capital Morelia, where Vallejo was governor, and the two in Uruapan. It is also ahead in Hidalgo, Zitácuaro, Apatzingán, Zinapécuaro and Múgica - 9 districts.
PAN is ahead in La Piedad, Zamora, Jiquilpan, Jacona and Tacámbaro, while PRD won Lázaro Cárdenas, Puruándiro, Zacapu, Huetamo, Maravatío, Los Reyes, Pátzcuaro and Coalcomán.
What is moreover clear, as Milenio proclaims front page in its print edition, is that the PRD lost control of the state.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
PRI: When a picture says more than a thousand words
From www.cazadorgrafico.com.mx, via La Jornada: PRI candidate for governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, literally giving money to supporters in Zicuirán, Michoacán:
 |
| From La Jornada |
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Michoacán governor election: PRI literally buying votes
From the "New PRI," which is looking every bit like the old PRI of Mexico's authoritarian past:
"Don't confuse a humanitarian act with handouts. Politics is for serving the human being, with principles and values, but when you look at this as something perverse, it is degenerated."
In Michoacán, PRI candidate for governor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa is literally handing out money at campaign events. It is no joke: From 500 to 1500 pesos, or around 40-120 dollars, to a range of people at campaign rallies. Both the PRD and PAN have launched complaints with the state electoral council.
And the best - worst, that is - part? Vallejo has absolutely no shame in admitting it:
"Don't confuse a humanitarian act with handouts. Politics is for serving the human being, with principles and values, but when you look at this as something perverse, it is degenerated."
So Vallejo is not himself engaging in anything "perverse" by buying votes, but merely engaging in a humanitarian act. I am glad he cleared that up.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Governor candidate debate held in Michoacán - no knock outs
The three candidates to be governor of Michoacán held their first and only debate yesterday. I haven't gone through full footage yet (available here), but it appears that none of the candidates landed any knock-out blow.
The most pathetic moment appears to be PRI's Fausto Vallejo Figueroa's comments that he is already thinking about what to ask the next president for (in his judgment, Enrique Peña Nieto) for, in other words launching a "vote for me because I'll be on better terms with the national president" argument.
It hardly inspires too much confidence in his own plans, which very vague and banal: "recover the well being," "reconciliation," and so forth
Luisa María Calderón, the president's sister, proposed fusing the state attorney general with the secretariat of public security, to create a unified Secretary of Justice.
Silvano Aureoles Conejo, of the PRD, proposed a secretariat of citizen participation, and to strengthen the state Auditor's office.
The most pathetic moment appears to be PRI's Fausto Vallejo Figueroa's comments that he is already thinking about what to ask the next president for (in his judgment, Enrique Peña Nieto) for, in other words launching a "vote for me because I'll be on better terms with the national president" argument.
It hardly inspires too much confidence in his own plans, which very vague and banal: "recover the well being," "reconciliation," and so forth
Luisa María Calderón, the president's sister, proposed fusing the state attorney general with the secretariat of public security, to create a unified Secretary of Justice.
Silvano Aureoles Conejo, of the PRD, proposed a secretariat of citizen participation, and to strengthen the state Auditor's office.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Michoacán gubernatorial election: It's on, officially.
This will be a most unique election: As Milenio notes, and I concur, there has probably never been a gubernatorial election that is divided so completely in three - for PAN, PRI, and PRD.
In Michoacán, everything seems at this point as a possibility.
The candidates started yesterday the official campaign, with three strong candidates: President Felipe Calderón's sister Luisa María Calderón Hinojosa; PRD Senator Silvano Aureoles Conejo, and four-time mayor of Morelia, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa.
From yesterday on, the state government (PRD) is not allowed to publicize any public works or propaganda, nor are state officials allowed to participate in any campaigns. One can only hope that the federal government, over which the state electoral institute has no jurisdiction, will do the same: I am not too optimistic, given all the "visits" of key cabinet officials as well as the president himself to Michoacán the past weeks.
Election Day is Nov. 13.
In Michoacán, everything seems at this point as a possibility.
The candidates started yesterday the official campaign, with three strong candidates: President Felipe Calderón's sister Luisa María Calderón Hinojosa; PRD Senator Silvano Aureoles Conejo, and four-time mayor of Morelia, Fausto Vallejo Figueroa.
From yesterday on, the state government (PRD) is not allowed to publicize any public works or propaganda, nor are state officials allowed to participate in any campaigns. One can only hope that the federal government, over which the state electoral institute has no jurisdiction, will do the same: I am not too optimistic, given all the "visits" of key cabinet officials as well as the president himself to Michoacán the past weeks.
Election Day is Nov. 13.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Genovevo Figueroa seeks mayorship of Morelia. And La Tuta and Godoy?
Genovevo Figueroa Zamudio was governor of Michoacán for PRI, switched parties, and was until recently secretary of tourism in beautiful Morelia; he just announced he will seek the mayorship of the city in the upcoming November elections, for the PRD. Morelia is now run by the PRI; its mayor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa also stepped down a while ago to run on as PRI's candidate for governor.
He is hardly an uncontroversial figure: As governor of Michoacán, 1988-1992, he was accused of repressing perredistas in the past.
National PRD leader Jesús Zambrano expressed worry for the upcoming election, given the level of violence in the state. Zambrano said that current Governor Leonel Gody was not informed of the recent massive surge of federal police sent to the state, ostensibly to catch the mafia leader Servando Gómez, "La Tuta." Zambrano earlier demanded the withdrawal of federal forces before the election.
I suspected the real goal was to catch Godoy's half-brother Julio César Godoy Toscano, but according to SIEDO, the case is already closed. This appears quite unbelievable given that he went underground just half a year ago when he lost his immunity as federal legislator, after tapes surfaced of him chatting friendly with said La Tuta.
He is hardly an uncontroversial figure: As governor of Michoacán, 1988-1992, he was accused of repressing perredistas in the past.
National PRD leader Jesús Zambrano expressed worry for the upcoming election, given the level of violence in the state. Zambrano said that current Governor Leonel Gody was not informed of the recent massive surge of federal police sent to the state, ostensibly to catch the mafia leader Servando Gómez, "La Tuta." Zambrano earlier demanded the withdrawal of federal forces before the election.
I suspected the real goal was to catch Godoy's half-brother Julio César Godoy Toscano, but according to SIEDO, the case is already closed. This appears quite unbelievable given that he went underground just half a year ago when he lost his immunity as federal legislator, after tapes surfaced of him chatting friendly with said La Tuta.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Fausto Vallejo Figueroa PRI's candidate for Michoacán governor
Hardly a surprise: Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, three-time mayor of capital Morelia, on Friday became PRI's "unity candidate" for the governorship of Michoacàn, after the other pre-candidates declined in his favor.
Morelia has long been a PRI stronghold in the PRD-led state; Vallejo won the mayorship with almost 47% of the votes in 2007.
Morelia has long been a PRI stronghold in the PRD-led state; Vallejo won the mayorship with almost 47% of the votes in 2007.
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