Like brother, like brother: Rubén Moreira's response to Coahuila debt scandal

Humberto Moreira's ingenuous response to the debt scandal of his tenure as governor was essentially to play the victim and try to change the topic, along the lines of: "let's rather talk about the debt we have to the dead in the war against crime."

Now his brother Rubén Moreira, soon-to-be governor of Coahuila himself, offered and equally inane response: The criticism is unwarranted because it is only "partial" (not comparing to other states), and, mind you, the scandal-ridden Estela de Luz bicentennial monument of the federal government also cost a lot - actually, 10 percent of the Coahuila debt, he informs. So there you have it!

Thankfully, today El Universal does indeed avoid "partial" criticism by duly comparing the debt of other states: Coahuila's debt is four times the national average. That's right, 4 times:

11,633 pesos vs. national average of 2819 pesos per inhabitant. No state is even close to Coahuila's figures.
Still "partial criticism"?

(Here is a great graphic of the most indebted states, according to Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI))

Preliminary results Mexico state elections: Nayarit, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Mexico State

Here are links to the PREP preliminary results (click on state names), updated around 2:30 AM Mexican time

Mexico State - Eruviel Ávila (PRI) ahead around 62 percent

Coahuila -  Rubén Moreira (PRI) has around 60 percent

Nayarit - Roberto Sandoval (PRI) ahead around 42 percent

Hidalgo state election (municipalities only) - results not ready from the state's electoral institute yet, but PRI seems to ahead in at least 42 muncipalities, or half of the 84 in play, including the state capital Pachuca.

A great day to be a priísta.

Coahuila opinion polls: Massive lead for PRI

The gubernatorial election in Coahuila (as in Nayarit and Mexico State) are almost five months away, so take these polls for what they're worth:

Of note, obviously, the enormous advantage of Rubén Moreira, the brother of Humberto, who just took a leave of absence to become the PRI's national party president-elect. Yet also, the very small support for PRD and the PT vis-a-vis PAN, which strongly suggests that should an alliance be made, it seems far more logical that it would be headed by a panista. Jesús González Schmall, who is promoted by AMLO, barely registers with less than a percentage point; PAN Senator Guillermo Anaya Llamas pulls at this point nearly 16 percent.

Step forward toward PAN-PRD alliance in Coahuila

PAN and the PRD are having direct conversations these days regarding a possible electoral alliance in Coahuila, the state where now-PRI president Humberto Moreira is seeking to install his brother Rubén Moreira as new governor.

The likely candidate is PAN's Guillermo Anaya Llamas, a national senator for the party. He's earlier had quite a fews spat with the ex-governor, such as when Humberto accused him in 2007 of having ties to the narcos, a charge often repeated but never substantiated with any actual evidence.

The chances of beating Rubén are slim, but they do exist. 

Days after Coahuila interim governor in place, Rubén Moreira declares his candidacy for governor

Mere days after his brother Humberto stepped down as governor of Coahuila, Rubén Moreira officially declared his intention to seek the PRI nomination to be governor of the state. There will be no campaigning for the candidacy;  Rubén is the PRI's only candidate.

The decision was hardly a shocker; Humberto has long groomed his brother for this position. Yet it is nonetheless, in form and content, a sad throwback to the nepotism of the not-too-distant (if at all distant) past, where direct family members are postulated so as to maintain political control of an entity. As much as political dynasties exist and are criticized in the United States and elsewhere, at least solid political counter forces and political institutions capable of checking them exist, for the most past, unlike in most states in Mexico.
So much for "effective suffrage, no reelection."

Coahuila: Chronicle of nepotism foretold. Jorge Torres López interim governor

As had long been speculated, Jorge Torres López, until recently head of the Coahuila government's ministry of social development, assumed as interim governor of the state, to serve the remained of Humberto Moreira Valdés' term, as the latter is going to the national PRI presidency. The state congress vote confirmed the appointment 24-6.


Yet Torres is merely a caretaker, given that it is Humberto's plan to make his brother, Rubén Moreira, the next elected governor of Coahuila. In an act of quite nauseating and pathetic sycophancy, Torres, in his first act as interim governor, unveiled an oil portrait of the governor-on-leave-of absence in the Government's palace. 


Don't expect any major political initiative, announcement, or project in Coahuila for Torres' term. 

One step forward for gay rights: Congress approves same-sex benefits

One strike against discrimination and for humankind moving forward: The Chamber of Deputies yesterday voted overwhelmingly to approve changes to the laws governing the Mexican state institutes for social security institute (IMSS) and for social services and security for state workers (ISSTE) that guarantees rights and benefits to same-sex unions and marriages. Both institutions had previously discriminated against spouses of such unions, which were denied such services even though their partners had paid their dues. They will now have the same rights as spouses/partners of straight couples.

The law was a result of an initiative promoted by PRD national deputy Enoé Uranga, and was backed by
PRI's Rubén Moreira, president of the chamber's human rights commission. The chamber voted 232-58 in favor, with 17 abstentions, and notably quite a few key panistas voted in favor of the initatives, such as former borough chief Gabriela Cuevas. Even the socially conservative PAN is changing, and is increasingly torn between the hardcore  social conservative and ultra-catholic right, and more liberal-minded and younger cadres.

The initiative will now head to the Senate, where PAN has a much higher representation as the Senate was elected in 2006. If enough PAN Senators choose to look forward and vote with PRI and the PRD, the imitative will become law as a presidential veto is extremely unlikely.

Broad condemnation of Onésimo Cepeda's attack on the state

While so far only the PRD, represented most visibly by Mexico City Chief of Government Marcelo Ebrard's lawsuit, has taken on the responsibility of defending the Mexican constitution and democracy itself from vicious attacks by a highly reactionary church, more legislators from PAN and PRI finally step in the ring to answer bishop Onésimo Cepeda's outright rejection of the secular state.

PRI national deputy Rubén Moreira, head of the Human Rights Commission in the lower house, accuses the bishop of undermining the secular through his actions and declarations. Senator María de los Ángeles Moreno, also of the PRI, found the need to remind the bishop of the supremacy of the Mexican state over the church, while Gustavo Madero, PAN Senator and possibly its next party president, reminds the bishop of the separation of church and state.
As if he ever forgot it.

Juventino Castro y Castro, former Supreme Court minister (judge) and now president of the Commission of Constitutional Affairs, calls on the government to "put [Cepeda] in his place". One shouldn't hold one's breath: Shamelessly, Interior Minister José Francisco Blake Mora still refuses to do his job and defend the constitution and the institutions of the Mexican state by not uttering one word of criticism against the church.

Moreira gets the final word on Cepeda:  "This little father is not going to heaven for being so vulgar"