Mario Vargas Llosa meets with new Mexico City mayor

Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa met yesterday with Miguel Mancera, where he pronounced that Mexico needs a "modern left."

Not only is Vargas Llosa hardly a man of the left himself - he's a classic liberal, in the Latin American sense of the word (nothing to do with the U.S. use of the term, and far more economically liberal than European liberals) - and lest we forget, just a few weeks ago, he snubbed Mexico's president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto when the latter was on a visit to Spain.

But to the incoming mayor of Mexico City, he did find the time.

Source:
Se necesita izquierda moderna: Vargas Llosa. El Universal, Nov. 26, 2012

Left may sweep entire Mexico City

In a remarkable turnaround, given its significant losses in 2009 and talks just months ago of losing it to the PRI, PRD looks set to absolutely sweep Mexico City. We're not only talking of the hyper-popular Miguel Mancera, who will be the city's next mayor and is simply destroying PRI's Beatriz Paredes and PAN's Isabel Miranda de Wallace in the polls.

No, PRD is also set to wrest from PAN two of its bastions, due chiefly to the absolute misrule of PAN's delegation chiefs there:

* In Cuajimalpa, PRD's Rosendo Rodríguez looks set to win, with double-digit leads

* In Miguel Hidalgo, PRD's Víctor Hugo Romo is far ahead of his rivals, given the disastrous administration of PAN's Demetrio Sodi

* While PAN is still ahead, even Benito Juárez is in play, truly a shocker in local politics.

The left has clearly shown it can govern.

While Enrique Peña Nieto will likely be Mexico's next president, he certainly will get no pull from PRI in Mexico City; indeed, Paredes' candidacy was meant to do so, yet her campaign posters are now being quietly removed in favor of those of Peña, as she is ironically pulling down his Mexico City vote instead.

And with a Peña Nieto presidency, it will be ever more important to maintain Mexico City as a strong counterweight.

Sources:

PAN toma ventaja en la Benito Juárez. El Universal, June 7, 2012.

PRD toma delantera en Cuajimalpa. El Universal, June 9, 2012. 

Urge a Cuajimalpa movilidad: Mancera. El Universal, June 11, 2012.

Ventaja de PRD en M. Hidalgo. El Universal, June 21, 2012.

Gay rights in Mexico: How far it has come

Call it blatant politicking if you may, but the picture below is in any regard quite a measure on how far (parts of) Mexico has come on gay rights. Contrast it with 1994, when then-PRI lackey in Veracruz, Miguel Angel Yunes, sent a squad of drag queens to "embarrass" the left's presidential candidate,  Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, to make him appear as backed by gay activists. It made the national news.

Here is Miguel Mancera, the PRD's candidate to be mayor in Mexico City, posing with activists from the LGTB community:

El Universal

Times have changed, and not all for the bad.

Source:  Mancera busca ampliar la lucha contra el sida. El Universal, May 18, 2012.

Watch live: Winner of poll to be left's Mexico City mayor candidate

Here's the live stream. Everything indicates it will be Miguel Mancera, after Alejandra Barrales cancelled her appearance and claimed "irregularities" in the poll to decide the left's candidate for Mexico city mayor 2012.

Ebrard, mano dura

Marcelo Ebrard is capable of showing quite a bit of resolve when needed: As we wait for the three polls that  will decide the left's candidate for mayor of Mexico City, Ebrard had forbidden any member of his government to make any declarations in favor or against any candidate, so as not to risk a fracture on the left.

It seems Tourism Minister Alejandro Rojas couldn't keep his mouth shut - he stupidly proclaimed that Miguel Mancera would be the candidate - and Ebrard promptly fired him.

Now that's what I call mano dura. Yet the damage may already be done: It may not be enough to keep Alejandra Barrales from expanding her protests, and possibly fracture the left.

Miguel Mancera: Background information

Here's an article from Milenio that gives some background information on Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa, who is very likely to become the left's 2012 mayoral candidate for Mexico City, and quite likely to win that election.

One fun fact: Why did he take a law degree (he excelled at school), when he was already a  medicine student?
A traffic accident where he got hurt and thoroughly screwed over - he was made to sign, half-conscious, a waiver where the rich kid whose Mustang ran into his VW Beatle was released from any responsibility.

Mario Delgado steps down from Mexico City mayor contest

Long regarded the dauphin of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, education secretary Mario Delgado nonetheless stepped down from the contest yesterday, having failed to gain much traction, and in doing so, clearing the path further for Miguel Mancera, the city's popular attorney general-procurator.

I am currently in Mexico City and can't help but note how electoral law is being quite shamelessly flouted by pretty much every one of the many candidates to be the left's mayor, in spirit at the very least. It is unfortunately quite understandable, as the left coalition will decide its candidate by a poll - which is to a large extent about name recognition for many at this stage. What better way to get your name known than plastering your posters all over the city, "giving" interviews that will get you on the front cover of news magazines, or holding well-publicized informes or speeches on the results of your (secretariat, legislative, etc) work.

Also, a lot of exhortations to denounce illegal behavior of all sorts to "www.tuprocu.mx" or "your attorney general." Sure, it's a great idea to bring the office and services of the city's attorney general closer to the people; it is also an excellent way to publicize what you do.

Count on Mancera snapping the nomination, and to likely be the mayor of Mexico City 2012-2018.

Update: Mancera stepped down from the government to pursue the candidacy.

Beatriz Paredes, PRI's candidate for Mexico City mayor in 2012

It's been long known that former PRI president Beatriz Paredes Rangel has had her eyes on her party's nomination to be the mayor of Mexico City, and yesterday she came out and officially declared her intentions.

Note that she ran as well in 2006 against Ebrard, when she came in third.

Ironically, given PAN's difficulties in finding a decent candidate, it seems that its 2012 candidate will be Demetrio Sodi, who also ran in 2006 and then came in second.

Ebrard, as the rumor mill has it, is going back and forth between Mario Delgado and Miguel Mancera - secretary of education and attorney general of Mexico City, respectively.