Given AMLO's propensity for exaggeration, these figures should be taken with a pinch of salt, but given his 5-year head start - AMLO already in 2006 started the work of setting up the structure for the 2012 election - they appear accurate: His MORENA movement claims to have 34,000 electoral committees in the country, with a total of 170,000 political operators. In addition, AMLO has the support of the IDN faction of PRD, which overlaps with the "Movement for Hope" (MNE) of the discredited René Bejarano-Dolores Padierna couple.
AMLO's movement/electoral structure in turn builds on the Redes Ciudadanas, or "Citizen Networks" that operated in parallel to the three parties of his 2006 coalition.
Showing posts with label Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza (MNE). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza (MNE). Show all posts
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Display of strength for Ebrard, as the "movement" mobilizes for AMLO
The unofficial launch of Marcelo Ebrard's campaign took place yesterday, as the Demócratas de Izquierda, or the Democrats of the Left, arranged an event attended by more than 2,500 people that included the governors of Sinaloa and Guerrero, as well as as a range of backers and politicians, many from outside the PRD.
Ebrard proclaimed in very general terms the contours of his national plan, but was at pains to explain it was not a campaign launch- which of course it was. Notably, he also appeared to call for some variant of parliamentarism - or "to separate the chief of state from chief of government" - which to me is an absolutely marvelous idea, as long as it does not end in a semi-presidential regime.
What a perfect illustration of the two paths for the left to follow: On the one hand, Ebrard and the coalition of social-democratic party factions in the Demócratas - and on the other, the highly discredited René Bejarano and his clientelistic "movement," who after holding meetings all over Mexico went to Tabasco the same day to back AMLO's electoral project.
Bejarano claims to have more than two million people in his National Movement of Hope, which he offers in order to back AMLO's candidacy (though at the same time confirming that many of them are also members of AMLO's own movement MORENA).
His wife, Dolores Padierna, is head of the IDN party faction of the PRD - involved in virtually every one of PRD's scandals the past decade - which backs AMLO. She is, to add, the secretary general of the PRD, while party president Jesús Zambrano is the president of the party - and attended Ebrard's event.
The two paths for the Mexican left have never appeared more clear.
Ebrard proclaimed in very general terms the contours of his national plan, but was at pains to explain it was not a campaign launch- which of course it was. Notably, he also appeared to call for some variant of parliamentarism - or "to separate the chief of state from chief of government" - which to me is an absolutely marvelous idea, as long as it does not end in a semi-presidential regime.
What a perfect illustration of the two paths for the left to follow: On the one hand, Ebrard and the coalition of social-democratic party factions in the Demócratas - and on the other, the highly discredited René Bejarano and his clientelistic "movement," who after holding meetings all over Mexico went to Tabasco the same day to back AMLO's electoral project.
Bejarano claims to have more than two million people in his National Movement of Hope, which he offers in order to back AMLO's candidacy (though at the same time confirming that many of them are also members of AMLO's own movement MORENA).
His wife, Dolores Padierna, is head of the IDN party faction of the PRD - involved in virtually every one of PRD's scandals the past decade - which backs AMLO. She is, to add, the secretary general of the PRD, while party president Jesús Zambrano is the president of the party - and attended Ebrard's event.
The two paths for the Mexican left have never appeared more clear.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
René Bejarano shows his movement's muscles.
Bejarano's back for sure - indeed, I am not entirely sure one can even argue he was really "gone."
While René Bejarano received a heavy blow following the video scandals of 2004, where a tape of Bejarano was shown on national TV where AMLO's personal secretary stuffed bags full of cash in illegal contributions, he simply relegated nominal control over his faction in the PRD, known now as Izquierda Democrática Nacional (IDN), to his wife Dolores Padierna, one of PRD's most controversial politicians (even AMLO vetoed her cnadidacy for a senator seat in 2006), who like her husband has been embroiled in a long list of scandals the past two decades or so.
Regardless, Bejarano kept somewhat quiet and keeping a relatively low profile, until the formation of a "new" "social movement, " Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza (MNE) or the national movement of hope.
This weekend, MNE held a rally at the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City, even drawing in high-profile AMLO loyalists such as national deputies of the PT, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo and Gerardo Fernández Noroña, and senator Ricardo Monreal. The latter two are currently fighting over AMLO's blessing for a Mexico City mayoral candidacy.
Note, though, that also high-profile backers of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard shared the platform with the disgraced Bejarano, such as José Ángel Ávila, secretary of government, and Alejandra Barrales, head of the city legislature. Both of them as well want to be Mexico City mayor, and as such are seeking to woo Bejarano and his MNE, a clientelist, top-down "social movement" simulacrum. So, to be sure, do AMLO and Ebrard: Both seek the 2012 presidency, and Bejarano will sell his support to the highest bidder.
While René Bejarano received a heavy blow following the video scandals of 2004, where a tape of Bejarano was shown on national TV where AMLO's personal secretary stuffed bags full of cash in illegal contributions, he simply relegated nominal control over his faction in the PRD, known now as Izquierda Democrática Nacional (IDN), to his wife Dolores Padierna, one of PRD's most controversial politicians (even AMLO vetoed her cnadidacy for a senator seat in 2006), who like her husband has been embroiled in a long list of scandals the past two decades or so.
Regardless, Bejarano kept somewhat quiet and keeping a relatively low profile, until the formation of a "new" "social movement, " Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza (MNE) or the national movement of hope.
This weekend, MNE held a rally at the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City, even drawing in high-profile AMLO loyalists such as national deputies of the PT, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo and Gerardo Fernández Noroña, and senator Ricardo Monreal. The latter two are currently fighting over AMLO's blessing for a Mexico City mayoral candidacy.
Note, though, that also high-profile backers of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard shared the platform with the disgraced Bejarano, such as José Ángel Ávila, secretary of government, and Alejandra Barrales, head of the city legislature. Both of them as well want to be Mexico City mayor, and as such are seeking to woo Bejarano and his MNE, a clientelist, top-down "social movement" simulacrum. So, to be sure, do AMLO and Ebrard: Both seek the 2012 presidency, and Bejarano will sell his support to the highest bidder.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Why the Mexican left may lose Mexico City in 2012
A couple of weeks ago, a presentation was held in Mexico for a new party called "Partido de la Ciudad" in Mexico City, which ostensibly seek to present a new "leftwing" alternative to PRD. The party is founded by ex-PRD members René Arce - still a senator for the party - and Víctor Hugo Círigo, who until 2009 headed the Mexico City legislature. The party is not yet officially registered and not much exists beyond its name, but at is "premiere," if one may, in a meeting held Nov. 14, the party attracted ex Partido Socialdemócrata (PSD members such as Alberto Begné, Robles Maloof and Adrián Lajous, but also in front row, notably panistas such as the nefarious PAN Senator Federico Döring, as well as Minerva Hernández, now a senator for PAN after she unceremoniously dumped the party that had here elected, PRD, and former national PRD deputy Ruth Zavalea, who is now campaigning for the PRI in Guerrero.
PSD, for one, is now extinct as a national party, but some groupings exist on the state level. However, its former national leader, Jorge Carlos Díaz, just announced that the new Partido de la Ciudady would be formed only in the Federal District, and will have a "progressive" profile, above all in favor of legalization of "all drugs."
The idea that Mexico City needs another socially liberal "progressive" party to further this agenda in Mexico City is quite suspect. The party will obviously sap votes from the PRD, and may at best, should it be registered, get a few seats in the Mexico City legislature, but at worst, should it present its own candidate for Mexico City mayor, provoke a split in the left that may allow a PAN or even PRI candidate for winning the 2012 elections. The PRD in Mexico City is, with the exception of the more socially conservatives backing AMLO's faction, a highly liberal party, socially speaking, having successfully pushed gay and women rights, including gay marriage and abortion rights. Many also favor decriminalization or even legalization. What are the true motives behind this new party?
Also, yesterday it was reported that Izquierda Democrática Nacional (IDN), the heavily clientelist and "social-movement"-based faction of the PRD led by René Bejarano (he of the 2004 dollar-stuffing fame), announced it will launch its own candidate for Mexico City mayor 2012.
Current mayor Ebrard will need the backing of the clientelist structures in IDN to have his successor elected, as well as to back his 2012 bid, and this may all simply be some posturing part of the bargaining process - it will not come for free - yet could also possibly bye a step toward creating its own party based on IDN and Bejarano's own Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza (MNE)
(Bejarano, notably, was expelled from the PRD and when I asked his wife Dolores Padierna a while back if he was involved in any PRD activities, she brushed it off. Padierna is nominally the head of IDN, but it is obvious that Bejarano pulls the threads. Of note, the IDN is pushing for Dolores Padierna to be a senatorial candidate for the PRD(!) - she is such a controversial, and unfit, choice that even AMLO in 2006 vetoed this.)
While the two groupings - the "Partido de la Ciudad" by the Cïrigo/Arce brothers, and the IDN/MNE by the Bejaranos - may have different motivations, they may well succeed in tearing the PRD and the left apart in Mexico City, and hand it to the opposition. It seems pertinent to ask: Is this also their goal?
PSD, for one, is now extinct as a national party, but some groupings exist on the state level. However, its former national leader, Jorge Carlos Díaz, just announced that the new Partido de la Ciudady would be formed only in the Federal District, and will have a "progressive" profile, above all in favor of legalization of "all drugs."
The idea that Mexico City needs another socially liberal "progressive" party to further this agenda in Mexico City is quite suspect. The party will obviously sap votes from the PRD, and may at best, should it be registered, get a few seats in the Mexico City legislature, but at worst, should it present its own candidate for Mexico City mayor, provoke a split in the left that may allow a PAN or even PRI candidate for winning the 2012 elections. The PRD in Mexico City is, with the exception of the more socially conservatives backing AMLO's faction, a highly liberal party, socially speaking, having successfully pushed gay and women rights, including gay marriage and abortion rights. Many also favor decriminalization or even legalization. What are the true motives behind this new party?
Also, yesterday it was reported that Izquierda Democrática Nacional (IDN), the heavily clientelist and "social-movement"-based faction of the PRD led by René Bejarano (he of the 2004 dollar-stuffing fame), announced it will launch its own candidate for Mexico City mayor 2012.
Current mayor Ebrard will need the backing of the clientelist structures in IDN to have his successor elected, as well as to back his 2012 bid, and this may all simply be some posturing part of the bargaining process - it will not come for free - yet could also possibly bye a step toward creating its own party based on IDN and Bejarano's own Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza (MNE)
(Bejarano, notably, was expelled from the PRD and when I asked his wife Dolores Padierna a while back if he was involved in any PRD activities, she brushed it off. Padierna is nominally the head of IDN, but it is obvious that Bejarano pulls the threads. Of note, the IDN is pushing for Dolores Padierna to be a senatorial candidate for the PRD(!) - she is such a controversial, and unfit, choice that even AMLO in 2006 vetoed this.)
While the two groupings - the "Partido de la Ciudad" by the Cïrigo/Arce brothers, and the IDN/MNE by the Bejaranos - may have different motivations, they may well succeed in tearing the PRD and the left apart in Mexico City, and hand it to the opposition. It seems pertinent to ask: Is this also their goal?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Rene Bejarano mobilizes movement supporters yet bides his time
René Bejarano is biding his time. This weekend, in a show of strenght, AMLO's one-time political operator filled a stadium of followers of his Movimiento Nacional por la Esperanza, or "National Movement of Hope," a relatively new movement-based outfit with which he is currently identitied.
Bejarano harangued against"petty" and "arrogant" politicians, in a marked anti-party discourse so typical of the kind of "social movements" represented by Bejarano, even though the party current IDN, founded by Bejarano yet nominally led by his wife Dolores Padierna, remains one of the largest within the PRD.
Within the PRD, the IDN, while appearing as one of the most "radical" of PRD's factions unequivocally loyal to AMLO, remains nonetheless and inherently opportunisit personal tool of Bejarano-Padiern that might well switch to back AMLO's successor as Chief of Government of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard.
Notably, Bejarano has been observed several times recently meeting with Ebrard, who is seeking the support of Bejarano's clientelist networks for his 2012 presidential candidacy. Whether Bejarano will go for AMLO or Ebrard will in the end be a question of who will be the highest bidder.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)