Institutional change on state levels: 4-year mayor terms in Veracruz

With the Political Reform by Calderón stuck in Congress and unlikely to be dealt with before the 2012 elections, it is of interest to note some institutional change on the state levels, as in the case of Veracruz.

Many reform initiatives have proposed reelection of legislators and mayors, at federal and state levels, yet have invariably met the wall, under the exaggerated mantra of "no reelection!" (which referred to the quarter-century presidency dictator Porfirio Díaz and had nothing to do with legislators or mayors).

In Veracruz, however, the state congress, following its backing by a majority of the state's municipalities, recently declared as legal a reform that extends the mayoral term to four years. I don't think that is a bad initiative at all. On the top of my head I can't think of any other state that has implemented similar changes to the state constitution, but I might be wrong here. Could state governments similarly change the state laws to allow for reelection of local deputies and mayors, or do any federal laws prohibit such initiatives? Far too early to tell whether this particular initiative, long in planning, represents something new - state-level initiatives as responds to failure at passing significant reforms at the federal level - but the initiative is interesting nonetheless.

Fun fact check of AMLO

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) said that he is not an enemy of private investment, and that he has not ever called businessmen "white collar criminals." He went as far as to say that he never used the phrase, and would even resign as presidential candidate if it were ever proven that he had uttered these words.

Yes, step down from the presidential contest.

La Jornada, Michoacán edition, June 27, 2006:

"No son empresarios, son traficantes de influencias los que están impulsando esa campaña, nada más que no tiene ni caso mencionarlos, son los que han hecho jugosos negocios, son delincuentes de cuello blanco, traficantes de influencias, los que no quieren que las cosas cambien verdaderamente en nuestro país."

So...

PRI appoints Aristóteles Sandoval as Jalisco governor candidate

In a meeting of its national committee, the PRI, through its old-style mechanism of the dedazo, simply appointed Jorge Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz as its candidate to be governor of Jalisco. Why bother with primaries?

Sandoval is currently the PRI mayor of Guadalajara, and despite the state being a PAN stronghold, does stand a real chance of winning Jalisco.

Zedllo, accused of murder, claims immunity

Former President Ernesto Zedillo, facing a lawsuit in Hartford, Connecticut for the 1997 Acteal massacre in Chiapas, claims immunity from persecution as a former head of state.

The Acteal massacre was the worst singular violent act during his presidency - 45 civilians, including infants, were murdered by death squads. The indigenous were accused of backing the EZLN insurgency by a PRI-linked paramilitary group.

From what I gather, there is absolutely no evidence it was sanctioned by the national government, which, however, was strongly criticized for doing nothing while the massacre took place, and little to punish the perpetrators.

Mario Delgado steps down from Mexico City mayor contest

Long regarded the dauphin of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, education secretary Mario Delgado nonetheless stepped down from the contest yesterday, having failed to gain much traction, and in doing so, clearing the path further for Miguel Mancera, the city's popular attorney general-procurator.

I am currently in Mexico City and can't help but note how electoral law is being quite shamelessly flouted by pretty much every one of the many candidates to be the left's mayor, in spirit at the very least. It is unfortunately quite understandable, as the left coalition will decide its candidate by a poll - which is to a large extent about name recognition for many at this stage. What better way to get your name known than plastering your posters all over the city, "giving" interviews that will get you on the front cover of news magazines, or holding well-publicized informes or speeches on the results of your (secretariat, legislative, etc) work.

Also, a lot of exhortations to denounce illegal behavior of all sorts to "www.tuprocu.mx" or "your attorney general." Sure, it's a great idea to bring the office and services of the city's attorney general closer to the people; it is also an excellent way to publicize what you do.

Count on Mancera snapping the nomination, and to likely be the mayor of Mexico City 2012-2018.

Update: Mancera stepped down from the government to pursue the candidacy.

Gubernatorial elections in 2012

It's not only about electing Mexico's next president for six years on July 1, 2012: In addition, there are gubernatorial elections in the following states:

* Jalisco (PAN)
* Guanajuato (PAN)
* Morelos (PAN)
* Chiapas (PRD coalition)
* Tabasco (PRI)
* Yucatán (PRI)

And, of course, mayor of Mexico City - as close to a governor as one can get, until the Federal District gets its own constitution.

Here's a great rundown of the various hopefuls for the offices from the respective parties.

Come on baby, do the Morena

AMLO's campaign tune, so to speak: "Morena." It's heard everywhere on the campaign trail, and it's a quite catchy cumbia-esque ditty, with a semi-professional video production - and it gets, I'd venture to say, its points across. And yes, there is a beautiful morena in the video, with quite a low-cut dress (here's some background on the song from El Universal).