Brad Will's killer caught?

Oaxaca police reported the arrest of a man known as Lenin N, presumed guilty of the killing of U.S independent journalist Brad Will on Oct. 23, 2006, while covering social protest in the state against then governor Ulises Ruiz.

He is accused of shooting the Indymedia journalist from a distance of 43 meter, from a height of 4 meters, with a 38 special revolver - in other words, cowardly gunning down Will from a long distance on top of a building.

Fantastic news if the true killer is indeed caught this time.

Source:

Presentan a presunto asesino de Brad Will. El Universal, May 24, 2012.

Ex PAN leader Espino, now with Peña Nieto

Manuel Espino Barrientos was president of PAN 2005-2007, and a key architect of the "dirty war" against AMLO that had Calderón elected in 2006. Yet he soon fought with the president, and was expelled from the PAN for backing PRI candidates in 2010, a decision he strongly opposed.

As if to prove his ex-party colleagues right, Espino, who belonged to the most arch-reactionary sectors of PAN and was close to the catholic secret extremist organization El Yunque, now came out in favor of Enrique Peña Nieto for the 2012 election. Here is the obligatory raising-the-arm-of-picture:

El Universal

One utterance by Espino was probably as honest an admission as one could expect for the reasons behind his support: "Perhaps you don't need it, because you are ahead by far, but we wanted to be part of your triumph." Indeed.

While Espino's opportunism explains itself, it is even more disturbing that Peña Nieto will appear on stage with such an unsavory character.

Source:

Varias veces Espino lo llamó “amigo Enrique...” El Universal, May 23, 2012

Poll shockers: AMLO single digits behind Peña Nieto

Two polls appear to demonstrate a dramatic turn in the 2012 presidential race in Mexico:

* According to pollster María de las Heras, Peña Nieto pulls 39 against 31 of AMLO
* According to pollster Covarrubias y Asociados, Peña Nieto pulls 36 to AMLO's 27.

This is truly stunning. With one month left of the race, the outcome is increasingly open.

Source:

AMLO acorta ventaja a Peña: Covarrubias y Asociados. El Financiero, May 21, 2012

Peña conserva ventaja; AMLO va segundo en sondeo. El Economista, May 21, 2012

A thug bishop retires

What is one to make of this picture?

La Jornada

Onésimo Cepeda Silva, from his 5,000+-invitees farewell dinner. A former boxer-turned priest, hardcore PRI backer, and a declared opponent of Mexico's secular state, retires after 17 extremely controversial years as  Bishop of Ecatepe in Mexico State.

Good riddance.

Source:
Tras su última misa como obispo, Onésimo Cepeda ofrece comida para 5 mil personas. La Jornada, May 19, 2012
Obispo Cepeda anuncia retiro. El Universal, May 8, 2012.

Pilot fired for greeting AMLO, colleagues force his return

Quite an amazing little story: An Aeroméxico pilot was fired for greeting, over the aircraft intercom, presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who was on the flight.

The story hardly stops there.

His colleagues, in a wonderful display of solidarity and in protest over the extreme reaction from the Aeroméxico management (privatized by PRI's Salinas in the late 1980s), refused to fly, which lead to the cancelling of several flights from Mexico City. After brief negotiations, the pilot, Miguel Pérez, was reinstated.

Source: Cesan a piloto que saludó a AMLO durante un vuelo. La Jornada, May 19, 2012.

Gay rights in Mexico: How far it has come

Call it blatant politicking if you may, but the picture below is in any regard quite a measure on how far (parts of) Mexico has come on gay rights. Contrast it with 1994, when then-PRI lackey in Veracruz, Miguel Angel Yunes, sent a squad of drag queens to "embarrass" the left's presidential candidate,  Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, to make him appear as backed by gay activists. It made the national news.

Here is Miguel Mancera, the PRD's candidate to be mayor in Mexico City, posing with activists from the LGTB community:

El Universal

Times have changed, and not all for the bad.

Source:  Mancera busca ampliar la lucha contra el sida. El Universal, May 18, 2012.

Happy birthday, PRD

Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), born Cinco de Mayo 1989: Happy 23rd.