Mexico no longer has a free press, according to Freedom House

Freedom House's Freedom of the Press Report 2011, available here and released this morning, notably lists Mexico as "Partly Free" due to the deteriorating conditions for its journalists.

While the narcos will of course share the blunt of the blame for this, sadly they're not the only actor threatening journalists:

Yesterday, during the May 1 celebration, members of the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME) again attacked journalists, beating up at least five for trying to take photographs of what appeared to be a collapsing stage.

Nayarit ironies

After increasing reports that the PAN-PRD alliance in Nayarit is coming to an end, for the time being, a time-out: The parties agreed to a new poll to determine the coalition's candidate.

It is worth nothing the irony here: PAN reportedly backed out when it failed to have PRD legislator Martha Elena García made its official candidate, in favor of also PRD legislator Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo: PAN clearly wants to go with the wife of the former governor (also with a PAN past) rather than Acosta Naranjo, a man who has never been a member of PRI or PAN, but is a founding member of the PRD with a long trajectory on the left before that.

But guess who AMLO's incondicionales want to be the candidate? Martha Elena García, the one favored by PAN, who in the end might be the party's candidate! The IDN faction, among others, who is led by the Bejarano/Padierna couple, were strong backers of García, and adamantly opposes Acosta. So much for their anti-PAN rhetoric. Martha Elena García, despite elected as a PRD legislator, is to boo not even a member of the PRD.

AMLO, to clarify, came out to throw plague on both houses, instead backing a PT-Convergencia candidate, Nayar Mayorquín, who has absolutely no chance of being elected - again showing that he could care less if the PRI will come out on top, as long as his opponents within the party don't come out on top.

Here's a useful interview with Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo.

The effects of Ley Peña: The left can't make its platform public

One tangible effect of the highly regressive electoral legislation steamrolled through the Mexico State legislature and nicknamed Ley Peña or (Governor Enrique) Peña Nieto's law:

Given that the legislation, among other things, cut drastically short the time allowed for campaigning, the PRD-PT-Convergencia coalition behind the candidacy of Alejandro Encinas, which Friday presented its campaign platform to the Mexico State electoral institute, desisted from making the platform public, out of fear of breaking the new legislation.

Encinas:

"These reforms are unfavorable not only to debate, political discussion, and the exercise of citizen rights, but also inhibit discussion and hence political participation. The intent of these reforms is to prevent the exercise of democratic participation of citizens with political parties."

Hard to disagree here.

Minor electoral reform passed in Senate

The Mexican Senate passed very watered-out, yet still notable legislation regulating Mexican elections: While the current electoral code, elevated to constitutional rank a few years back, prohibits the intervention of public officials in electoral processes (remember Fox in 2006?), there was no actual penalty for doing so - as witnessed when Calderón was deemed to have done so in 2009. The new legislation institutes economic sanctions - fines worth from ten thousand to a hundred thousand days of minimum salary.
(IFE certainly backs the reform, which would have to be passed before July in the Chamber for it to function for 2012)

Yet given that the Chamber just took a far-from-well-deserved summer break, the reform will very likely remain in the freezer for the time being.

Political Reform Dead on Arrival - or barely on life support

While it was not exactly a shocker that the Chamber of Deputies would end the current legislative session without even touching the Political Reform  recently approved in the Senate, it was all the more disappointing. This essentially ensures that even if passed at a later date - the chamber will have its four-month summer break - it will be too late for it to be implemented in time for the 2012 election.

PAN points the finger, and rightly so it appears, at Enrique Peña Nieto, whom it accuses of having blocked the reform, and demands a new extraordinary session now that the current official session is over. It's hard to believe that coming to pass.

It is a sad episode that reflects more broadly on what has been a remarkably unproductive legislative session, or indeed legislature in general. Milenio revealed recently that Calderón has achieved an even lower approval rate of his legislative initiatives than Fox - 66 percent vs. 75 percent. From Dec. 2000-April 2005, 105/139 of Fox' proposals were approved; from Dec. 2006-today, 72 out of 109. A direct comparison is admittedly tricky as it says nothing of the actual content or magnitude of the legislation passed, but it is nonetheless an interesting statistic - especially if we keep in mind that Calderón at first enjoyed PAN majorities in both houses.

Senate approves Political Reform: Surprising yet truly significant changes

The Mexican senate yesterday voted to approve what is commonly known simply as La Reforma Política, or a long-pending political reform. It is immensely significant, as includes the following sections:

* Independent or non-party "citizen" candidacies for the 2012 federal election

* Allows for relection of federal and state legislators

* Establishes the mechanism of a popular referendum

* Mechanism for replacing the national president should he die/be incapacitated etc
* Ratification by the senate of regulatory organs
* Gives president more veto powers over budget legislation

Of course, this does not mean the reform has passed; it will now move on to the Chamber of Deputies, and then for ratification of a majority of Mexico's state governments. It is hard to keep one's hope up too high here.

But these are truly profound changes, should they be implemented.

Deep cover-up in Guerrero: Murdered Armando Chavarría's file disappears

A new and drastic turn in the investigation of murdered PRD politician Armando Chavarría, who was head of Guerrero's state congress, and likely would have been governor now had unknown assassins not executed him in his car, right in front of his house.

Now, Alberto López Rosas, who is head of the Guerrero prosecutor's office, informed that the expediente or file that contained the details of the investigation into Chavarría's murder, has simply disappeared. 

It should be recalled that less than a month ago,  now ex-governor Zeferino Torreblanca claimed the case to be "99 percent solved." 

What is Torreblanca, who clearly seems to be the ultimate responsible for the disappearance of the papers, hiding?