Peña Nieto on Moreira, more

Here's the response of Enrique Peña Nieto to the recent and growing criticism of Humberto Moreira Valdés:

The topic of his state is very distinct and different from what he is responsible for in the party leadership; there (Moreira) has the backing, the support of the national PRI, and obviously, these issues that have been identified, I am certain the leader himself is going to clarify, point out, and be giving explanations."

So while Moreira seemingly contracted an amazing amount of debt and his government sought to cover it up by falsifying documents, that is completely irrelevant to Moreira's work as president of the country's largest party, according to the PRI front runner (!)

So what does he actually think of the specific issue, Coahuila's debt situation, then?
"I have no elements of assessment to discuss what happened in another state."

Hard to come up with a less substantial answer even if one tried. 

Unable to elect leader in Mexico City, PRI appoints Jesús Murillo Karam

Unable to carry out an election for the head of its party branch in Mexico City, national PRI president Humberto Moreira appointed Senatr Murillo Karam the "delegate" or de facto party president instead.

It appears a compromise candidate, of sorts: Murillo Karam has good relations with both Beltrones and Peña Nieto - as well as Beatriz Paredes, PRI´s likely mayoral candidate.

He is, in my opinion, at least one of the more reasonable priístas out there, especially compared with the thugs who control most of the Mexico City party branch.

(Some more background from Proceso here)

Demócratas de Izquierda Web page

Here's the Web page for Demócratas de Izquierdai, or Democrats of the Left, the center-left alliance behind Marcelo Ebrard's candidacy for president in 2012.

It's quite spiffy.

Like brother, like brother: Rubén Moreira's response to Coahuila debt scandal

Humberto Moreira's ingenuous response to the debt scandal of his tenure as governor was essentially to play the victim and try to change the topic, along the lines of: "let's rather talk about the debt we have to the dead in the war against crime."

Now his brother Rubén Moreira, soon-to-be governor of Coahuila himself, offered and equally inane response: The criticism is unwarranted because it is only "partial" (not comparing to other states), and, mind you, the scandal-ridden Estela de Luz bicentennial monument of the federal government also cost a lot - actually, 10 percent of the Coahuila debt, he informs. So there you have it!

Thankfully, today El Universal does indeed avoid "partial" criticism by duly comparing the debt of other states: Coahuila's debt is four times the national average. That's right, 4 times:

11,633 pesos vs. national average of 2819 pesos per inhabitant. No state is even close to Coahuila's figures.
Still "partial criticism"?

(Here is a great graphic of the most indebted states, according to Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI))

More scandal in Coahuila: Did Moreira hold back funds for security?

More trouble still: Ex-Governor Humberto Moreira Valdés of Coahuila was now also denounced by the Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP), an organ of the Interior Ministry, to the Superior Auditor for allegedly having held back federal funds for security destined for several Coahuila mayors.

The mayors of Torreón, Acuña and Monclova denied yesterday that they had ever complained of this, though according to SESNSP they had earlier complained of just that.

Esthela Damián, PRD federal deputy and head of the chamber's  Comisión de Vigilancia de la Auditoría Superior de la Federación is demanding an extraordinary audit. The head of PRI's parliamentary group Francisco Rojas said the Moreira's opponents were "putting together a barrage of attacks with half-truths," not exactly a forceful response.

Even the influential Joaquín López-Dóriga, ever close to power and usually well in the know, asks in today's column, entitled "Falsifying Documents," "How will everyone come out of this?"

26 mayors murdered in three years

Twenty-six mayors were murdered in the past three years in Mexico.
Here's a graphic from El Universal that details who they were, and where it happened.

Quintana Roo: PRI governor left with a 600 percent increase in debt

The PRI's Roberto Borge Angulo won the 2010 gubernatorial elections in Quintana Roo, and given the explosion of the state's debt under the previous government, it should hardly be a surprise: Félix González Canto, the former governor, left the state with a debt 600 percent higher than when he came to power in 2005.

(González Canto, to recall, is the one with a just extraordinary luck in state lotteries)

According to PAN, who is conducting an investigation in the local legislature, most of the debt stems from a massive expansion of the state bureaucracy. The known debt so far went from 1.2 to 8 billion pesos.