"As we were both to attend the Political Science Congress at the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, I invited the deputy Gerardo Fernandez Norona to, instead of having two separate presentations, for the benefits of the student we would have a debate to contrast our positions. He could have refused and nothing more, but chose to insult: "I don't debate with pendejos," to which I replied, "but I do, and invite you to the debate."Noroña's response? Hurling a glass of red wine at Belaunzarán (he missed).
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Greatest joke of the day: Noroña, "dickheads," and Belaunzarán
It's hard to think of more polar opposites of people still nominally coinciding on the political left: Fernando Belaunzarán, one of PRD's most important intellectuals, and Gerardo Fernández Noroña, the rabble-rousing former PRD spokesperson-cum-national deputy for the PT. Here's a little incident that recently happened, according to Belaunzarán's blog:
IFE under fire: TEPJF orders IFE to reopen investigation of church
Last week, TEPJF, Mexico's highest electoral court, ordered the Fedral Electoral Institute (IFE), which arranges federal elections in Mexcio, to reopen the complaint that the PRD had launched against the church, which in the past months have drastically stepped up its political proselytizing, such as calling on voters not to vote for the PRD, a party it shamefully refer to as "fascist." To anyone with a casual knowledge of the Mexican Constitution, these were obvious and blatant breaches of constitutional as well as electoral law - and not to mention, which is a separate issue, the open hate speech from the church against gays and accusing the Supreme Court of being corrupt.
Yet IFE, to recall, timidly refused to take any stand on the issue or reprimand the church in any way. It washed its hands off the case by passing on the complaint to the Interior Ministry, which IFE knows fully well would mean that the case would be permanently shelved. Now, however, the electoral tribunal, the TEPJF, ruled that IFE engaged in an "insufficient investigation" of the matter, and ordered it to reopen the process.
This is excellent news. As Rafael Hernández, PRD's party representative notes, hopefully this will lead to the spelling out of clearer rules regarding what the church is allowed and not allowed to do: It is well overdue.
Yet IFE, to recall, timidly refused to take any stand on the issue or reprimand the church in any way. It washed its hands off the case by passing on the complaint to the Interior Ministry, which IFE knows fully well would mean that the case would be permanently shelved. Now, however, the electoral tribunal, the TEPJF, ruled that IFE engaged in an "insufficient investigation" of the matter, and ordered it to reopen the process.
This is excellent news. As Rafael Hernández, PRD's party representative notes, hopefully this will lead to the spelling out of clearer rules regarding what the church is allowed and not allowed to do: It is well overdue.
Amalia's story
A straightalker she is not: Far from it. Amalia Garcìa sat down in a full-lenght interview with El Universal to give her side of the story, yet it is pretty disappointing given how circumspect she is on many topics.
Her main line: What Governor Miguel Alonso is doing is regressing to the "dark eras" of the PRI, persecuting her politically. Among the specific points:
- The millions of pesos spent on popular artists was an investment, to drive tourism to the state and generate employment.
- The current governor, in any regard, was her secretary of tourism, and approved of it
- The comptroller and the government is using the media to judge her, without summoning anyone for questioning
- Debt contracted and left was only 600 million pesos, not 2 billion pesos
- The current governor is a monrealista, and as such it is also an attack by Ricardo Monreal.
Then, and rather astoundingly, Amalia García hints that she is being targeted in order to prevent her from running for mayor of Mexico City - as it were, also a goal expressed by her arch-enemy Monreal. That Amalia, given the recent battering, but also from the fact that she can´t even legally run - she is not a resident of the Federal District, having left Zacatecas merely weeks ago - already talks of a Mexico City run in the midst of what may or may not be a major corruption scandal, to me appears more than a bit presumptuous.
She does, in any event, certainly have a point when it comes to Ricardo Monreal, whose ghost hovers over the new Zacatecas government. As Bajo Reserva notes:
- The new comptroller, Guillermo Huizar, was head of the state branch of the Partido del Trabajo, which Monreal and his brothers joined after ditching the PRD
- The new attorney general Arturo Nahle was Monreal's Government Secretary
- His chief administrative officer Le Roy Barraga is Monreal's suplente in the Senate
Even Arturo Ramírez Bucio a federal deputy for PAN from Zacatecas, told the new PRI governor to "cut the umbilical cord," which may be taken almost literally: Governor Alonso was at one point even Monreal's personal secretary.
Her main line: What Governor Miguel Alonso is doing is regressing to the "dark eras" of the PRI, persecuting her politically. Among the specific points:
- The millions of pesos spent on popular artists was an investment, to drive tourism to the state and generate employment.
- The current governor, in any regard, was her secretary of tourism, and approved of it
- The comptroller and the government is using the media to judge her, without summoning anyone for questioning
- Debt contracted and left was only 600 million pesos, not 2 billion pesos
- The current governor is a monrealista, and as such it is also an attack by Ricardo Monreal.
Then, and rather astoundingly, Amalia García hints that she is being targeted in order to prevent her from running for mayor of Mexico City - as it were, also a goal expressed by her arch-enemy Monreal. That Amalia, given the recent battering, but also from the fact that she can´t even legally run - she is not a resident of the Federal District, having left Zacatecas merely weeks ago - already talks of a Mexico City run in the midst of what may or may not be a major corruption scandal, to me appears more than a bit presumptuous.
She does, in any event, certainly have a point when it comes to Ricardo Monreal, whose ghost hovers over the new Zacatecas government. As Bajo Reserva notes:
- The new comptroller, Guillermo Huizar, was head of the state branch of the Partido del Trabajo, which Monreal and his brothers joined after ditching the PRD
- The new attorney general Arturo Nahle was Monreal's Government Secretary
- His chief administrative officer Le Roy Barraga is Monreal's suplente in the Senate
Even Arturo Ramírez Bucio a federal deputy for PAN from Zacatecas, told the new PRI governor to "cut the umbilical cord," which may be taken almost literally: Governor Alonso was at one point even Monreal's personal secretary.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Mexican Supreme Court: "Ley Peña"/Peña Nieto's Law is constitutional
The Mexican Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the last-minute and unilaterals change to Mexico State's electoral codes, known popularly as "Ley Peña" or Peña Nieto's Law," are nonetheless constitutional. The Court didn't have much leeway; earlier, it had ruled that a similar law passed in Guanajuato was indeed legal.
Ley Peña may not breach the constitution, but it certainly does with regards to the spirit of the law: It was introduced, steamrolled by PRI and its allies with no consultation with the opposition, then passed in an amazing hurry in the required 2/3 of Mexico's municipalities. Every single aspect of the law blatantly favors the PRI, and PRD and its allies had also pointed out, in their complaints, massive irregularities in particularly the ratification part of the process, but their arguments were rejected.
The Supreme Court decision is disappointing: Mexico's young democracy, increasingly under attack on the state levels, received no protection from the country's highest constitutional authority.
Governor Enrique Peña Nieto, to be sure, gloated over the decision, arguing with no apparent shame that "it makes it clear that the reform was made by the social representation of the state of Mexico." Please.
Ley Peña may not breach the constitution, but it certainly does with regards to the spirit of the law: It was introduced, steamrolled by PRI and its allies with no consultation with the opposition, then passed in an amazing hurry in the required 2/3 of Mexico's municipalities. Every single aspect of the law blatantly favors the PRI, and PRD and its allies had also pointed out, in their complaints, massive irregularities in particularly the ratification part of the process, but their arguments were rejected.
The Supreme Court decision is disappointing: Mexico's young democracy, increasingly under attack on the state levels, received no protection from the country's highest constitutional authority.
Governor Enrique Peña Nieto, to be sure, gloated over the decision, arguing with no apparent shame that "it makes it clear that the reform was made by the social representation of the state of Mexico." Please.
Monday, November 29, 2010
It's on: COP16 in Cancún, Mexico
COP 16/CMP6, the 16th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, opens today in Cancún.
As Gancho articulately notes, Calderón has showed a concern for the environment that far surpasses any other rightwing politician north, and possibly also south, of the border, and deserves credit for it, although, as today's editorial in El Universal points out, quite a few of the government's supposed accomplishments in matters of the environment, such as its ProÁrbol tree planting program, and its promotion of energy-saving light bulbs, are are far from unqualified successes.
Still: COP 16 is on in Cancún; may Calderón use the occasion for all it is worth.
As Gancho articulately notes, Calderón has showed a concern for the environment that far surpasses any other rightwing politician north, and possibly also south, of the border, and deserves credit for it, although, as today's editorial in El Universal points out, quite a few of the government's supposed accomplishments in matters of the environment, such as its ProÁrbol tree planting program, and its promotion of energy-saving light bulbs, are are far from unqualified successes.
Still: COP 16 is on in Cancún; may Calderón use the occasion for all it is worth.
Quote of the day: Onésimo Cepeda, of superman strength
Onésimo Cepeda, the discredited bishop of Ecapec who supposedly suffered a cardiac arrest or heart attack or whatever recently, in front of 3000 members of his congregation yesterday, holding mass:
(this is nothing for a man of Cepeda's caliber - a few days ago he was partying at a restaurant)
(this is nothing for a man of Cepeda's caliber - a few days ago he was partying at a restaurant)
"Know that your bishop really was sick, that he had a heart attack, that God saved me from it and still will not let me fall into the hands of injustice from it and still do not fall into the hands of injustice, but I hope to fall into the hands of justice and that you will still have a bishop for some time.The fact that the bishop has to reiterate and insist, during mass, to his congregation that he really, really had a heart attack... makes further comment unnecessary.
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?
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