AMLO and PRD walking the walk on unity

It may be merely a facade, and a temporary one at that, but it nonetheless does raise an eyebrow to see this picture:

Milenio

That is AMLO with PRD President Jesús Zambrano, appearing together for a campaign event in Caborca, Sonora. It is remarkable, given the long animosity between AMLO and Zambrano's social-democratic party faction in the PRD, Nueva Izquierda. When it comes to AMLO's talk of a "loving republic," he seems to be not just talking the talk. If only for appearances, that's at least something.

(For the campaign events, AMLO also drew in two popular athletes, cyclist Ana Gabriela Guevar and boxer Hernán "Tyson" Márquez.)

Oscar-nominated movie on immigrants: A Better Life

In case you have not seen A Better Life, I strongly recommend that you do.

The movie on the plight of a Mexican (or any) immigrant in the US even had its lead actor, Demián Bichir, nominated for the Oscar, for Best Actor.

Bichir's performance is quite amazing, though he will have to fight off George Clooney in "The Descendants", Jean Dujardin in "The Artist", Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and Brad Pitt in "Moneyball" for the nomination.

I truly hope he wins, for many reasons - my main being political, as it will draw further attention to a movie that does a fantastic job in portraying undocumented immigrants' situation in the US without resorting to cliches or any cheap short cuts.

I finally got a chance to see  A Better Life, and hope you do as well. It truly deserves wide dissemination.

AMLO vs. Javier Sicilia

AMLO criticized Javier Sicilia's announcement that he would spoil his vote in the coming elections, stating that by doing so, Sicilia is "playing the game of the rightwing."

Beyond AMLO's obvious self interest - he is, after all, running as a candidate in 2012 - I fully agree with his point: Spoiling the battle will not do the least service to Mexico's progressive forces, quite the contrary, just like the foolish 2009 "voto nulo" campaign achieved absolutely nothing but effectively handing over more votes to the PRI. 

Sicilia is in every right to spoil his ballot, and call upon others to do the same. 

We are also all in our right to denounce this as reckless stupidity.

Now have you seen this man? Puebla functionary flees justice

Javier García Ramírez, a government secretary in the 2005-11 government of Mario Marín in Puebla, is now as well wanted by the Mexican police and Interpol, as he has likely fled the country. Here's a picture of the man:

http://www.contraparteinformativa.com

He is the second functionary sought arrested this year from the government of  Marín, a protector of pedophiles and rapists. García is accused of having ratted away at least 23 million pesos.

Here's another picture, of his car park, which was just confiscated: A Range Rover, a BMW X6, a Chevrolet Suburban, Audi 5 series, and a VW Touareg. Pretty nice sets of wheels for a state functionary, wouldn't one think?

El Universal

The spectacular fall of PRI in Mexico City

Ciro Gómez Leyva's column is following up on some very interesting polling in Mexico City: Just a couple of months ago, PRI's Beatriz Paredes Rangel was number one in the polls to be the next mayor of Mexico City, and in the process expected to pull a lot of votes for Enrique Peña Nieto as well.

Yet due to various factors - some extremely ugly infighting and fighting (literally) in the Mexico City PRI, which has some of the worst scoundrels in Mexican politics in its ranks, the ability of the left to pull together and present a great candidate, etc - PRI is plummeting again in Mexico City.

A recent poll gives Mancera 43, with only 16 percent (!) for Paredes. This is quite spectacular, and as Gómez Leyva points out, very, very bad news for PRI and Peña Nieto.

Have you seen this man? Interpol would like to know

Vanguardia

Yes, that's Miguel Moisés Sacal Smeke, the businessman who likes to beat the hell out his employees and shout pinche indio! at them.

He is now wanted by the Interpol, having seemingly fled Mexico. Readers in Miami, FLA should be on the lookout.

Barrales: Make a fuss, and ye shall receive

Here is an example of a practice I abhor but that seems to be ever more utilized these days:

Alejandra Barrales was just presented as a senator candidate for the left for Mexico City, by Marcelo Ebrard himself. Independent of Barrales' qualifications, this leaves me with a bad taste in the mouth.

Why? Because this is simply rewarding Barrales for not having been a democrat and accepted her loss in the poll that decided the left's mayor candidate for Mexico city 2012. She clearly, utterly lost the poll, but threw a fit about it, and according to some rumors even threatened a separate run on the PANAL label, refusing to accept the validity of the poll and insinuating, without offering any shred of evidence, that she was the victim of foul play. To make her shut up and prevent a break on the left, it now appears, she was simply awarded a senate seat - which I am far from certain she is particularly well prepared for.

In short: It pays to act not only like a stubborn child but even anti democratically and refuse to accept your loss, because the further you push your protests, the more likely it is you will be rewarded with a consolation price.

This is truly a logic of diminishing returns for political parties, as it will only encourage similar behavior in the future.