The answer is: Female bodyguards.
I've been on 5-6 AMLO meetings the past years and I've always noted now little security apparently surrounded him. For instance, one evening I was outside the PRD's national headquarters waiting for a ride and all of a sudden AMLO just walked up, alone. In my surprise I didn't get a chance to say or ask much beyond a a few pleasantries. No body guards in sights.
Here's a fascinating story from today's Milenio that addressed exactly the issue of AMLO's security. Turns out that Polimnia Romana Sierra, a personal assistant of sorts, has also been much in charge of protecting him wherever he has gone the past years (which are many places - he has toured every single municipality in Mexico at least twice now, unlike any other human being in Mexican history).
Polimnia offers quite a few interesting anecdotes. Did you know that he never sleeps in the hotel room assigned to him? Read more here.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
"Focos rojos" or danger zones for 2012 local elections
A story from El Universal, with an accompanying graphic (click here for hi-resolution PDF) on municipalities particularly in the states of Guerrero, Colima, Jalisco, Sonora, Tabasco that are considered focos rojos given the level of violence and presence of organized crime.
 |
| El Universal |
Miguel Mancera: Background information
Here's an article from Milenio that gives some background information on Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa, who is very likely to become the left's 2012 mayoral candidate for Mexico City, and quite likely to win that election.
One fun fact: Why did he take a law degree (he excelled at school), when he was already a medicine student?
A traffic accident where he got hurt and thoroughly screwed over - he was made to sign, half-conscious, a waiver where the rich kid whose Mustang ran into his VW Beatle was released from any responsibility.
One fun fact: Why did he take a law degree (he excelled at school), when he was already a medicine student?
A traffic accident where he got hurt and thoroughly screwed over - he was made to sign, half-conscious, a waiver where the rich kid whose Mustang ran into his VW Beatle was released from any responsibility.
Guerrero: First stage of human rights investigation
Mexico's national human rights commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) published its first and preliminary report on the killing of two students and an employee in Guerrero past December 12.
The report first and foremost strongly criticizes the police for having brought and used heavy weapons to the student protest in the first place, and suggests that its final report is likely to show state police as responsible for firing the lethal shots.
Yet Raúl Plascencia Villanueva, head of the commission, notably also criticized the students and said their actions as well would be investigated - they have repeatedly stolen vehicles, blocked the Autopista del Sol demanding "contributions" from drivers, and most notoriously, threw Molotov cocktails on a PEMEX gas station which resulted in the death of an employee.
Most recently, students from Ayotzinapa took over 19 buses, threw out the passengers, and drove to Mexico City where they protested outside the Chamber of Deputies. Earlier they broke into four radio stations in Guerrero to broadcast their protests and demand information on the investigations. They then again blocked the Autopista.
These acts may increasingly be counter productive, as there are indications the Guerrero population is getting weary of their ways of protesting: At several occasions the past days, there have been marches in Guerrero protesting their actions, and backing the Guerrero governor.
As one of the students declared during the taking of the radio stations:
The report first and foremost strongly criticizes the police for having brought and used heavy weapons to the student protest in the first place, and suggests that its final report is likely to show state police as responsible for firing the lethal shots.
Yet Raúl Plascencia Villanueva, head of the commission, notably also criticized the students and said their actions as well would be investigated - they have repeatedly stolen vehicles, blocked the Autopista del Sol demanding "contributions" from drivers, and most notoriously, threw Molotov cocktails on a PEMEX gas station which resulted in the death of an employee.
Most recently, students from Ayotzinapa took over 19 buses, threw out the passengers, and drove to Mexico City where they protested outside the Chamber of Deputies. Earlier they broke into four radio stations in Guerrero to broadcast their protests and demand information on the investigations. They then again blocked the Autopista.
These acts may increasingly be counter productive, as there are indications the Guerrero population is getting weary of their ways of protesting: At several occasions the past days, there have been marches in Guerrero protesting their actions, and backing the Guerrero governor.
As one of the students declared during the taking of the radio stations:
It is true that some sectors of society have asked us to change the methods of struggle. We agree, but what we will do this when there is no longer corruption in the political parties, be it the PRI, PAN and PRD.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
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.
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:
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.
Sandoval is currently the PRI mayor of Guadalajara, and despite the state being a PAN stronghold, does stand a real chance of winning Jalisco.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)