AMLO documentary: "0.56% ¿Qué le pasó a México?"

The documentary "0.56% ¿Que le paso a México?" deals specifically with the 2006 elections, and was recently showed on Milenio TV. You can now see the the entire movie here on Youtube.

It's definitely more on the pro-AMLO side, but far less so than the ultra-propagandistic "Fraude," and therefore worth a watch. Quality is not superb, but more than decent.

PRD to choose 2012 Mexico City mayor candidate by poll - of sorts

The PRD will decide its 2012 candidate for Mexico City mayor by a poll, like it decided its 2012 presidential candidate. The poll will have efectos vinculantes or loosely "binding effects" on the PRD state council, which still holds the final word - which sounds a bit of a catch.

"External candidacies" will also be allowed - so as not to leave out Miguel Ángel Mancera, the attorney general and  increasingly rumored to be the favorite to succeed Ebrard, as well as the rather unlikely candidacy of Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, who left/was kicked out of the PRD more than a decade ago.

The candidate will be officially ratified Feb. 11 or 12, when the council is scheduled to meet to digest the result of the poll.


Now, off to filet migñon and copious amounts of tequila - happy christmas!

Unemployment in Mexico, 4.97 percent

President Calderón boasts on Twitter that unemployment in Mexico is 4.79 percent, "the lowest of the OECD countries." Well, as El Universal points out, and represented by this graph, that's still quite a bit more than when he came into power.

Enrique Krauze, by The Nation

Be sure to check out The Nation's take on Enrique Krauze and his new book in English, "Of Saints and Caudillos."

Love or hate him, or maybe somewhere just right in between, Krauze is one intellectual force to be reckoned with. The article, by Jorge Volpi, does an excellent job in explaining why.

Very recommended Economist 2011 Democracy Index report

A strongly recommended read is The Economist Intelligence Unit's report "Democracy Index 2011: Democracy under stress," which as its title indicates indexes the world's regime according to various factors (Electoral process and pluralism; Functioning of government; Political participation; Political culture; and Civil liberties) to determine, simply put, how democratic is each country in the world.

Download here.

Mexico's position is 50 - exactly the same as last year. It is immediately above such countries as Argentina, Bulgaria, and Croatia, and scores somewhat high in functioning of government, yet low in political culture. Mexico is also noted for deterioration in media freedom.

The report notes, for the region as a whole,

Flawed democracies are concentrated in Latin America and eastern Europe, and to a lesser extentin Asia. Despite progress in Latin American democratisation in recent decades, many countries in theregion remain fragile democracies. Levels of political participation are generally low and democraticcultures are weak. There has also been significant backsliding in recent years in some areas such asmedia freedoms.

The lowest score (167th place) of any country?
Hint: It is where Kim Jong went from ill to dead.

The highest score: Norway. Yes, I am proud.

PAN leaves the Clouthiers out in the cold

Manuel Clouthier, commonly known as "Maquío," was the PAN's 1988 presidential candidate, and a very decent man - he actively joined the possible yet defrauded winner Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas in denouncing the fraud, until his own party quieted him down and made deals with president-elect Carlos Salinas.

His family, from their stronghold in Sinaloa, has continued in politics (Maquio died in a mysterious car crash in 1989): Both his son Manuel and his daughter Tatiana have been active in the PAN.

Yet they have been highly critical of Calderón's armed onslaught against the drug cartels and the manner in which is being fought. That is likely the main cause why Manuel was recently rejected as a senate candidate for PAN for 2012, despite his very significant political weight in Sinaloa.

The fight has been long brewing with the PAN, and a break with this emblematic neopanista family with its party seems very imminent: Don't be surprised if in a few weeks we'll see Manuel Clouthier Carrillo as a candidate for AMLO's 2012 coalition. 

1.7 million houses left with dirt floors

As a recent editorial in El Universal points out, the Mexican government's program of piso firme, or hard floor, is of extreme importance: Where the program has implemented - that is, where the federal government has helped construct cement floors in poor houses - parasites have been reduced with 78 percent, diarrhea with 49, and anemia with 81 percent.

This as very real, and extremely important gains, as they particularly affect children.

There are 1.7 million houses left, and El Universal rightly calls for completing this project before the end of 2012. With Calderón increasingly eager to leave a "legacy" that goes beyond the utterly failed "drug war," here's at least one chance to leave a lasting mark.