PRI deputies clamors for alliance with Gordillo's PANAL for 2012

The PRI's legislative bench in the Chamber of Deputies defended going in an alliance with PANAL, the personal party of  Elba Esther Gordillo of the SNTE teachers union, and claimed it was "belittling" the party to merely regard it as an appendage of Gordillo - which everyone knows, of course, that it is.

And even better: PRI federal deputy  David Penchyna argued that PANAL has "an ideology that is congruent with the PRI."

Indeed, as both have none, beyond their desire for power and the spoils thereof.

Mexican Air Force receives its first Eurocopters

The Fuerza Aérea Mexicana received the first two of an order of six Eurocopter EC 725 Super Cougars.
The French-made helicopters are intended first and foremost for use in case of natural disasters and for rescue and evacuation missions, though they can also be armed - and be used to fight the drug gangs.  

From La Jornada

It's all in the name: Enrique Peña Nieto presents his own PRI group

Outgoing Mexico State Governor Enrique Peña Nieto held a "working breakfast" with a large group of senators, federal deputies, former governors, and other PRI big shots, and handed them their accreditation as members of the new group entitled Expresión Política Nacional, the name of the PRI group that will bring him the presidential nomination, and, more likely than not, the Mexican presidency in 2012.

Its initials just happen to be his - EPN.

I find this more than a bit instructive: According to Baja Reserva,

Nothing escaped the team of the mexiquense: the audience had to leave their mobile phones outside the salon, so that they could not  receive or make any calls, but also to avoid any photograph, video or audio recording, so as to uploadto Twitter.  Attendees formed a bloc in support of the state governor for 2012. And in the end, a besamanos.

Wow. What the hell went on in there, an Eyes Wide Shut-like induction ceremony?
I am sure the 2012-2018 EPN government will just stand out for its openness and transparency and lack of paranoia. And for its lack of asskissing.

PRD and a 2012 alliance: Things have changed

The PRD leadership for the longest time have rejected the possibility of an alliance that includes PAN for 2012 - that is, fielding a common presidential candidate.

Now, former party president and leader of the Nueva Izquierda group, the largest in the PRD, Jesús Ortega, appears to open up for the possibility of an alliance with PAN. Earlier, PAN hinted ever so slightly at the same possibility - a scenario that immediately was dismissed by secretary general Dolores Padierna.

Now even party president Jesús Zambrano says "one cannot declare the issue to be dead."

One may well accuse Ortega et al of backtracking, given their earlier dismissal of a possible 2012 alliance. One may also say that after the steamroller PRI victory past weekend, where PRI pulled every trick to win, and which was far larger than expected - well, things have changed.

And speaking of things have changed:
Let's not forget that AMLO, when seeking to negotiate a common candidate with PAN ahead of the 2000 election, even said he would vote for Fox.

Gordillo scandal, part two: "I'll do if you do it"

What a week. There are many who consider Elba Esther Gordillo's stronghold on Mexico's public education sector as highly detrimental to the country's future. I wholeheartedly agree, but also want to point add that similarly, her personal party Nueva Alianza or (PANAL), is equally detrimental to Mexican democracy: It is a purely personalistic and opportunistic party that Gordillo sells -literally - to the highest bidder. It is staffed with "teachers" who receive a public salary on the tax payers' expense, yet who dedicate themselves to party work on PANAL's behalf. It is truly a perverse operation.

These past days have provided a wealth, a trove, of information on the inner dealings of PANAL and Gordillo. To recall: A couple of days ago, Miguel Ángel Yunes Linares, former director of the ISSSTE social security institute for state workers, and one of the people Gordillo was allowed to appoint as a pay-off for her support of the PAN in 2006, dropped an apparent bombshell when he claimed that Gordillo demanded 20 million pesos per month from him for PANAL, arguing that "ISSSTE is mine!" (more details here).

Gordillo responded that the accusations are "frivolous and slanderous."

These accusations should be investigated by the PGR attorney general's office, as several federal deputies have demanded. It should come as absolutely no surprise if they are true.

Yet quite a few factors do not exactly count in Yunes' - a failed candidate for Veracruz governor in 2010 - favor.

First, he only dropped the news after Gordillo had hinted at "malos manejos" or mismanagement at ISSSTE last week, suggesting that 2 billion pesos had disappeared from the institute. It hardly speaks to his credit that he did not only wait for Gordillo to strike first, but also waited four years for this alleged corruption to be known.

Second, what evidence exists? As PAN Senator José González Morfín has correctly demanded: Show us what you got.

Third, Gordillo has demanded an investigation of Yunes' period at ISSSTE. What has been Yunes' response? That he'll agree to an independent audit if at the same time there will be an investigation of Gordillo, knowing full well that such an investigation will likely never take place: She is simply too powerful now, more than two decades Carlos Salinas made her new SNTE head.

I truly hope an investigation will be launched of both Gordillo and Yunes, a former príista and ultra-loyal Gordillista-turned-panista, yet I am hardly hopeful, as everyone wants her PANAL party to back them in 2012, Calderón included.

PRD demands that PANAL loses its party registry it these accusations are true. A very fair demand, and I think also Mexican democracy would be far better off without PANAL.

Much more will come out of this scandal, that's the only thing I am pretty confident about.

Finally, what does Enrique Peña Nieto think about this issue? He prefers not to enter in these "word games" he says. That is peñanieto-speak for, "wait, let me talk with my handlers first"

The Gordillo scandal, part one: Calderón responds - and blames Fox!

The scandal has been brewing for a few days now, ever since Elba Esther Gordillo, leader of the SNTE teacher union, confirmed some days ago what most suspected, namely that a dirty PRI-style horsetrading took place in 2006 between Gordillo and PAN, where Gordillo used her personal party PANAL to back Calderón and very likely ensure his victory in a tight race, in exchange for political positions.

As a great Associated Press rundown puts it, quoting  José Antonio Crespo - the story is getting international attention - "Political analyst José Antonio Crespo said the allegations show that the old way of doing politics in Mexico hasn't changed even with ouster of the PRI."

Calderón kept silent of the issue, until now, when he claimed that no, he didn't really negotiate any thing, he merely respected an agreement made between Gordillo and outgoing president Vicente Fox.

Do you believe El Señor Presidente on this one?
Nor do I. And I can't wait to hear Fox's response to these allegations.

Cherán, Michoacán, finally getting mainstream attention

Cherán, Michoacán is a remarkable tale of a village, predominantly purepechá, that on its own rose up against illegal loggings and organized crime. The city's population have been maintaining barricades and road blocks for more than two months straight, claiming that neither the municipal, state, or federal authorities are helping them fight back an onslaught from organized crime, either the Zetas or La Familia.

Here is an article from yesterday's Washington Post, by Anne-Marie O’Connor and William Booth, entitled "In Mexico, forests fall prey to crime mafias."

It follows an earlier and far more extensive story from Upsidedownworld, by Kristin Bricker, which merits another link, and yet underscores the importance of alternative media to bring important stories out in the mainstream: Mexican Community Uses Barricades to Drive Out Organized Crime and Political Parties