PAN's candidates get destructive

It's getting nasty. Ernesto Cordero, who is at least to me the most unlikable PAN precandidate in recent memory, launched a full-frontal attack on his party comrade  Josefina Vázquez Mota, dismissing her role as leader of the PAN's parliamentary group. He also said she didn't know anything about "public policies." Vázquez Mota in return launched an equally harsh attack, claiming Cordero didn't do a good job at the secretariat of Social Development, and blaming him for the rise in poverty in Mexico. Ouch! What a back-fire type of attack, as it most implicitly is an attack on the Calderón government's policies.

Cordero even accused her of "lying."

Less than 7 months left, and nasty infighting increasing among PAN's candidate, at a time when both PAN and PRI has a clearly defined candidate - it is hard to think of a worse starting position ahead of 2012.

The Guardian on U.S. guns in Mexico

While there is nothing particularly new in the report, the Guardian's backgrounder take on U.S. guns being smuggled to Mexico is absolutely worth the read, as it is an excellent, succinct summary and a good update for many.

Greg Sánchez now wants to be a senator

Gregorio "Greg" Sánchez, remember him? He was gubernatorial candidate in Quintana Roo in 2010, but was arrested by federal authorities on accusations of links to organized crime and for illicit enrichment.
Last August he was released from prison, though charges have apparently still not been dropped.

He notably spent the time writing 125 hymns to the lord - why of course, Greg is also a preacher and a born-again christian.

And now.. he wants to be a senator from Quintana Roo, running on the label of the Workers Party, the PT, which apparently backs his bid, as does AMLO.

Indeed the lord does move in mysterious ways.

Two out of three ain't bad: Ebrard's approval rating

The approval rating of Mexico City mayor is, according to an El Universal poll, 66 percent. In fact, the mayor has never been more popular. What a pity AMLO bested him for the 2012 candidacy - this is truly a politician with broad appeal.

Peña Nieto and the bible

Enrique Peña Nieto's failure to even name three books that have "shaped him" has gotten a lot of attention, and rightly so. Jesús Ortega, leader of the social democratic faction Nueva Izquierda within the PRD, has a notable take on the book Peña Nieto did mention as having inspired him, the christian bible:

Is it of any significance for the country that the bible is the primary book for Peña Nieto and the other candidates for President of the Republic? Of course it is, and in my opinion in a negative sense.

I understand that for someone who aspires to be a minister, any theological text is certainly indispensable for their vocational education and training and morale. or any rabbi, deep knowledge of the Torah is essential, for the ayatollahs the full knowledge and even memorization of the Qur'an is essential and, in the same way, to Catholic bishops or ministers Christians, the bible must be the essential text for preaching. 

Yet for the head of state of a secular, democratic republic of law, while the study of the Bible (or other dogmatic books) may be useful and even necessary, but not the primary and basic sustenance of one's knowledge and learning in order exercise one's political responsibilities. 

For Peña Nieto, for López Obrador or whoever is the PAN candidate, it is more recommended and required to know Rousseau's Social Contract, Machiavelli's The Prince, and The Declaration of the Rights of Man, and if they want to know something of caciques and and caudillos, it is pertinent to read Pedro Páramo, The Tyrant Banderas, or the Shadow of the Tyrant.

PRI sector seek to give Moreira immunity - a telling sign

The PRI's Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Populares (CNOP), a corporatist leftover from its golden days and headed by party hack Emilio Gamboa Patrón, expressed support for an elected office for disgraced ex party leader Humberto Moreira, who may well be facing legal prosecution soon.

So to reiterate: Rather than letting Moreira face the accusations and prove himself innocent and clear his name, PRI wants to have Moreira elected federal deputy or senator, which offers legal immunity for persecution - admitting, ipso facto, that there is hardly no smoke without fire, and that Moreira truly has much to hide.

New Cardinal of Guadalajara, Francisco Robles Ortega

Francisco Robles Ortega was appointed new cardinal of Guadalajara, following the retirement of Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, who has held the position since Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo was infamously murdered at the Guadalajara airport in 1994, under still murky circumstances.

Robles has been archbishop of Monterrey for the past 12 years. I might have to eat my own words, but he cannot possibly be a worse appointment than Sandoval - one of the meanest, darkest, most extreme fanatics the church has seen in recent times, who held the position since