Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Is Enrique Peña Nieto moving from Salinas to Zedillo?

Much has been written of the close relations between likely PRI presidential contender Enrique Peña Nieto and former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari. A quite interesting investigation in two parts (here and here) by Jenaro Villamil offers much circumstantial evidence that Peña Nieto is actually moving away from the Salinas camp to that of former president Ernesto Zedillo, where a lot of advisers, political connections, businessmen etc connected to the last PRI president (94-2000) have seemingly established ever closer relations with the outgoing governor, to the detriment of people connected to the Salinas group.

Has Peña Nieto finally realized how potentially toxic his relations with the discredited former president may be in a general election? Or, that Zedillo's policies and programs are closer to his heart than those of Salinas?

Unable to hold election, PRI appoints party head in Mexico City

Given that its attempt at an internal election was deemed invalid by the Federal district electoral court, the PRI announced it would appoint a delegate to head the Mexico City branch of the party, without a president for years, and dominated by Cuauhtémoc Gutiérrez de la Torre, the "King of Garbage" in Mexico City.

This could endanger PRI´s ability to present its own candidate for Mexico City mayor, though the Green Party, PRI's electoral allies, has already offered their registry to Beatriz Paredes Rangel, should she decide to run, though one can rest assure they will demand plenty in return.

It is up to Mexico City voters whether they will actually will vote for a candidate whose party is not even capable of holding a democratic election for the head of its own party branch.

Did Gregorio "Greg" Sánchez meet twice with El Chapo?

The story of Gregorio "Greg" Sánchez is getting ever more bizarre. Now, the Mexican Procuraduría General de la República or Attorney general's office claims that the former Cancún mayor and PRD gubernatorial candidate of Quintana Roo actually met with drug kingpin El Chapo Guzmán, and even on two occasions to boot. PGR says it has evidence of this, and a "protected witness" claims that Greg received copious amounts of money.

Lest we forget, he has in the past as well been accused of consorting with 1) the Beltrán Leyva brothers, 2) the Zetas, and now 3) El Chapo, implying either utter stupidity or a suicidal death wish.

Until the PGR coughs up the evidence, I take this with a pail of salt, no less.

More on Antorcha Campesina, a movement of terror

El Universal has an exceptionally interesting background article on Movimiento Antorchista in their Monday paper, tracking the roots and the extent of this organization, which appears a paramilitary organization of terror more than anything else. I did not know, for instance, that it was Raúl Salinas de Gortari, brother of the hugely discredited President Carlos Salinas, who in particular tied the Antorchistas to the PRI in the late 1980s. The organization remains exceptionally close to outgoing Mexico State Governor Enrique Peña Nieto, the face of the so-called "new PRI."