New trend in disturbing growth of Mexican poverty: Cities hit worse than countryside

Coneval, Mexico's national council for the evaluation of social policies, found that, not too surprising, poverty has grown a lot in Mexico the past years. While the El Universal article on the data clumsily does not provide any context for its measurements, the absolute figures speak for themselves:

Twenty-three million people, more 20 percent of Mexico's population, do not have sufficient economic resources to ensure basic daily food consumption.

And what is perhaps a surprise: Following the 2008-9 crisis, poverty has grown much more in the cities than in the countryside (see graphic below). That was certainly not the case before - the cities were almost always better off. I hope to get into the report the coming days for some summary findings.

From El Universal

Wikileaks 06VATICAN61: Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez pleaded with U.S. ambassador

No shocker to those well familar with Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, one of the absolute most ultra-reactionary and anti-democratic elements within the Mexican catholic church, but a revelation nonetheless:

According to Wikileaks cable 06VATICAN61, Sandoval met with U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Rooney, in 2006, and asked the U.S. for help in stopping the presidential ambitions of  Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who narrowly lost that year's election.

Given Mexican law, this type of political proselytizing is not allowed by the church.
The archdiocese of Guadalajara admitted that a meeting took place, but denies that the cardinal even mentioned AMLO.  Perhaps the U.S. embassy personnel are simply making the entire thing up?

As the Brits are fond of saying: Not bloody likely. 

(Here is a direct link to the cable, for your reading pleasure - "He asked whether President Bush could help")

Strangely, AMLO seems to think so - his response to the apparent revelation was very muted, saying only that it he doubted it. Is he still, like in 2006, holding out for good relations with the church? Given that Sandoval already in 2006 appeared to see him as a "danger," this seems a lost cause.

PAN and PRD reject 2012 - but much talk of a "citizen candidate."

President Felipe Calderón openly rejected the possibility of PAN backing a PRD candidate for 2012, such as Marcelo Ebrard.  Marcelo Ebrard essentially says the same thing - that an alliance with  PAN is "improbable." Yet Calderón pointedly left the door open for a "citizen candidate," or a person who doesn't belong to either - or any - party.

Two names that frequently appear in this regard are Juan Ramón de la Fuente, and to a lesser extent José Woldenberg - former UNAM and IFE president, respectively.

The PRD also notably contains what one may the "plague on both your houses" group, or a sector that rejects both Marcelo Ebrard and Andrés Manuel López Obrador above all in the ADN party faction. Should things get too nasty in the run-up o the election, this group might gain momentum. And their candidate could be, the aforementioned de la Fuente and Woldenberg.

All speculation, of course, but that is all the rage within all camps in these days of declinations and declarations.

Genovevo Figueroa seeks mayorship of Morelia. And La Tuta and Godoy?

Genovevo Figueroa Zamudio was governor of Michoacán for PRI, switched parties, and was until recently secretary of tourism in beautiful Morelia; he just announced he will seek the mayorship of the city in the upcoming November elections, for the PRD. Morelia is now run by the PRI; its mayor Fausto Vallejo Figueroa also stepped down a while ago to run on as PRI's candidate for governor. 


He is hardly an uncontroversial figure: As governor of Michoacán, 1988-1992, he was accused of repressing perredistas in the past.


National PRD leader Jesús Zambrano expressed worry for the upcoming election, given the level of violence in the state. Zambrano said that current Governor Leonel Gody was not informed of the recent massive surge of federal police sent to the state, ostensibly to catch the mafia leader Servando Gómez, "La Tuta." Zambrano earlier demanded the withdrawal of federal forces before the election. 

I suspected the real goal was to catch Godoy's half-brother Julio César Godoy Toscano, but according to SIEDO, the case is already closed. This appears quite unbelievable given that he went underground just half a year ago when he lost his immunity as federal legislator, after tapes surfaced of him chatting friendly with said La Tuta. 

It had to happen: AMLO backtracks on the poll to decide PRD candidacy

The news were buried in yet another AMLO story in La Jornada (which appears to cover every speech, every sneeze that me makes) but of no less significance:

Sure, he will respect a poll, as promised, to decide whether he or Ebrard will be the candidate of the left in 2012. BUT - yes, now there is a BUT,
"if the poll is carried out by the members of the mafia of power, and if they only ask their underlings or the employees of the medias of communication, I am going to lose by a landslide."

Step one: Start looking for a way to discredit the poll.
Step two: Have one of your own underlings, René Bejarano, planting the same seeds in public by using almost the very same words - "it's obvious if they only poll people from PAN or PRI, they don't want him"
(which lead Marcelo Ebrard to declare that AMLO doesn't need any spokespersons). He sure does not - just listen to words from the horse's mouth.

Gregorio "Greg" Sánchez released

While still under investigation for ties with drug gangs, money laundering, and human trafficking, Gregorio "Greg" Sánchez was released yesterday, though he is required to wear an electronic bracelet, monitored by satellite, and restricted to not leaving Mexico City - a measure strongly criticized by the PRD (The use of electronic bracelets appear to be a first).

If Sánchez is guilty, it is an amazing display of incompetence from the the prosecutors.

If he is innocent - well, all the worse.

Mexico's party leaders - gossip time!

El Universal had recently a very informal survey, one might say, of the heads of Mexico's political parties. For political junkies (whatever that expression really means), it is quite amusing reading. And not quite gossip either - as the information is actually true. Sadly.

We learn that:
- Jorge Kahwagi Macari, until recently PANAL leader, has a 10-million dollar yacht, and lives in a 5,500-meter square house. A true representative of the teachers that comprise the PANAL party, in other words.

- Jorge Emilio González Martínez, the "niño verde,"nominally head of the PVEM, the Mexican Green Party, which is anything but, just took his girlfriend who is half his age (she must be-according to the article, she just finished the preperatoria(!) to Disneyland. And that despite being a party leader, he did not attend or head any political event in 2010. Rather, he goes daily to play tennis in the wealthy Bosque de las Lomas area where he also lives, or to the Sport City in Santa Fe. And he proudly wears the most expensive designer clothes out there, including Brioni Suits. What a genuine representative of the post-materialist Green agenda!-

- Luis Walton Aburto, leader of the nominally left party Convergencia, which all of a sudden threw its lot with AMLO to become a "radical" party, is ultra rich, from owning gas stations and private schools. He also proudly tells us that he gains tons of money. What a great representative of los de abajo, of the downtrodden and poor!

There are those who come significantly better off. Humberto Moreira at least has a good sense of humor; PAN's Gustavo Madero is quite the wine connoisseur, PT's Alberto Anaya is as unpretentious as one can get,  with crooked glasses and worn shoes, and PRD's Jesús Zambrano still shops at the corner store in Culhuacán, a very modest zone where he still lives, and likes to drink and play guitar with Carlos Navarrete and Guadalupe Acosta.

What more info does one need? To the polls!