When will Cecilia Romero be relived of the"duties" that she certainly has failed to perform as head of the National Institute of Migration? Very soon, it seems: Interior Minister Blake Mora refuses to confirm that she will remain in her post.
Proceso reports in this week's print edition that the National Human Rights Commission and the national ombudsman for years have asked that INM take preventive measures to stop the veritable industry of kidnapping immigrants. Romero has never even bothered to send them a reply, let alone take any serious measures. The slaughtered 72 immigrants, dramatic as it is on its own, is unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg. Yet while Romero has weathered scandals in the past, I am hard pressed to believe she'll survive this one.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Broad condemnation of Onésimo Cepeda's attack on the state
While so far only the PRD, represented most visibly by Mexico City Chief of Government Marcelo Ebrard's lawsuit, has taken on the responsibility of defending the Mexican constitution and democracy itself from vicious attacks by a highly reactionary church, more legislators from PAN and PRI finally step in the ring to answer bishop Onésimo Cepeda's outright rejection of the secular state.
PRI national deputy Rubén Moreira, head of the Human Rights Commission in the lower house, accuses the bishop of undermining the secular through his actions and declarations. Senator María de los Ángeles Moreno, also of the PRI, found the need to remind the bishop of the supremacy of the Mexican state over the church, while Gustavo Madero, PAN Senator and possibly its next party president, reminds the bishop of the separation of church and state.
As if he ever forgot it.
Juventino Castro y Castro, former Supreme Court minister (judge) and now president of the Commission of Constitutional Affairs, calls on the government to "put [Cepeda] in his place". One shouldn't hold one's breath: Shamelessly, Interior Minister José Francisco Blake Mora still refuses to do his job and defend the constitution and the institutions of the Mexican state by not uttering one word of criticism against the church.
Moreira gets the final word on Cepeda: "This little father is not going to heaven for being so vulgar"
PRI national deputy Rubén Moreira, head of the Human Rights Commission in the lower house, accuses the bishop of undermining the secular through his actions and declarations. Senator María de los Ángeles Moreno, also of the PRI, found the need to remind the bishop of the supremacy of the Mexican state over the church, while Gustavo Madero, PAN Senator and possibly its next party president, reminds the bishop of the separation of church and state.
As if he ever forgot it.
Juventino Castro y Castro, former Supreme Court minister (judge) and now president of the Commission of Constitutional Affairs, calls on the government to "put [Cepeda] in his place". One shouldn't hold one's breath: Shamelessly, Interior Minister José Francisco Blake Mora still refuses to do his job and defend the constitution and the institutions of the Mexican state by not uttering one word of criticism against the church.
Moreira gets the final word on Cepeda: "This little father is not going to heaven for being so vulgar"
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Cecilia Romero, the National Institute for Migration, and Amnesty International
Cecilia Romero, head of the National Institute for Migration (Instituto Nacional de Migración, INM), has much in common with other Calderón appointees: She is close personally to the president, yet appears highly ineffectual at her job. Following the recent discovery of the 72 migrants in Tamaulipas murdered by the Zetas, who are the main traffickers in immigrants, attention has again shone on the incompetent head of INM, an institute she has led for four years. Romero felt compelled to publicly reject that she was not leaving the INM - again hardly the first time - though reportedly she has lost the confidence of Interior Minister José Francisco Blake Mora. Given that Blake Mora is also very close to Calderón, things might be different this time.
On the subject of immigration, and particular in light of the gruesome events of the past week, I want to draw attention to a superb investigation by London-based Amnesty International, called "Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico." (direct PDF download here). It offers a tremendous amount of insights into the migrant situation in Mexico, as well as the role of Mexican state institutions. The INM certainly does not come across in too glowing a light, as it appears far more occupied deporting illegal immigrants rather than helping the victims of human trafficking, of rapes, of beatings, of abuse. INM comes across every bit as brutal and abusive as its U.S. counterpart.
Given the venomous poison spewed by the catholic clergy the past weeks (or years), it is worth pointing out, as the Amnesty report does, the tremendously important and good work carried out by local catholic priests in states such as Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Veracruz, where priest-run shelters, as well as those of private individuals, not only give rest and comfort to exhausted migrants, but very often protect their very lives.
While I personally believe most of these people are motivated by the kindness of their heart rather than by their faith, given the disconnect between these valiant individuals and their ultra reactionary high clergy leaders, the saying comes to mind that "christianity is that good, that even the catholic church has not managed to destroy it in two thousand years."
On the subject of immigration, and particular in light of the gruesome events of the past week, I want to draw attention to a superb investigation by London-based Amnesty International, called "Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico." (direct PDF download here). It offers a tremendous amount of insights into the migrant situation in Mexico, as well as the role of Mexican state institutions. The INM certainly does not come across in too glowing a light, as it appears far more occupied deporting illegal immigrants rather than helping the victims of human trafficking, of rapes, of beatings, of abuse. INM comes across every bit as brutal and abusive as its U.S. counterpart.
Given the venomous poison spewed by the catholic clergy the past weeks (or years), it is worth pointing out, as the Amnesty report does, the tremendously important and good work carried out by local catholic priests in states such as Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Veracruz, where priest-run shelters, as well as those of private individuals, not only give rest and comfort to exhausted migrants, but very often protect their very lives.
While I personally believe most of these people are motivated by the kindness of their heart rather than by their faith, given the disconnect between these valiant individuals and their ultra reactionary high clergy leaders, the saying comes to mind that "christianity is that good, that even the catholic church has not managed to destroy it in two thousand years."
From the horse's mouth: Bishop Onésimo Cepeda rejects the secular state
Onésimo Cepeda, bishop of Ecatepec in Mexico state and very close to Governor Enrique Peña Nieta, declared that he finds the secular state "a load of crap" (thanks to Gancho for etymological assistance).
In His Own Words:
I believe that the secular state does not exist. I am a lawyer. The State is composed of people, territory and power. The people are secular? No. The cornfields, that is, its territory, is it secular?, No. Is the government secular?, Yes. So, we are a state ruled by a secular government. This is the legal definition. The secular state, God forgive me, is a a load of crap."Can the catholic clergy make it any more clearer how little it respects the Mexican constitution, or the citizens of the Mexican state?
And lest we forget: Bishop Onésimo Cepeda is under investigation for money laundering and procedural fraud.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Se ve, se siente, De la Fuente Presidente
Juan Ramón de la Fuente penned an eloquent defense of the secular state in today's El Universal, in which he moreover used the occasion to throw a jab at Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
De la Fuente wisely bides his time, yet some postulation for a high political office appears increasingly likely in 2011-2012.
De la Fuente wisely bides his time, yet some postulation for a high political office appears increasingly likely in 2011-2012.
The capture of La Barbie a victory for Calderón, but a blow to Enrique Peña Nieto.
The apprehension of drug kingpin Edgar Valdéz Villarreal in Lerma, not far from the state capital Toluca in Mexico State, is not good news for all: Mexico State Governor Enrique Peña Nieto felt compelled to vehemently reject accusations that his state - a "factory of poverty," according to his critics - is a free haven for drug barons, yet the capture of La Barbia, as well as other lesser figures in recent weeks, clearly has made the "Golden Boy" nervous.
Governor Zeferino Torreblanca of Guerrero is a very, very angry man
Days after the PRD made official its expected postulation of Ángel Aguirre as its candidate for governor in Guerrero, outgoing governor Zeferino Torreblanca amply demonstrated that he is very angry with the postulation. Torreblanca has been a very controversial governor of Guerrero, and appointed very few PRD cadres to important government positions, yet now declared, ahead of the very likely declaration that PAN (of little presence in Guerrero) will also line up behind Ángel Aguirre, that a PRD-PAN alliance is "a corporation" formed by "bandits, mercenaries, poisoners and cynics that are leaving with bags full of money," and launches a long tirade against the PRD.
Why so angry? The real reason is that Torreblanca's anointed one, Armando Ríos Piter, failed to make the cut in the poll that the PRD arranged to measure support for its precandidates, and the party thus chose Ángel Aguirre Rivero, until now a PRI senataor, as its gubernatorial candidate. In Mexican politics, there is little that angers outgoing governors more than failing to install their chosen successor. Expect Torreblanca to back Manuel Añorve Baños, the PRI candidate, in retaliation.
Torreblanca is not the only one to criticize the PAN-PRD alliances. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas yet again noted his opposition, as he declared this and other possible alliances in 2011 a "failure" and "a step backward." This is a position he shares with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, his one-time political godson, and former president Vicente Fox.
Why so angry? The real reason is that Torreblanca's anointed one, Armando Ríos Piter, failed to make the cut in the poll that the PRD arranged to measure support for its precandidates, and the party thus chose Ángel Aguirre Rivero, until now a PRI senataor, as its gubernatorial candidate. In Mexican politics, there is little that angers outgoing governors more than failing to install their chosen successor. Expect Torreblanca to back Manuel Añorve Baños, the PRI candidate, in retaliation.
Torreblanca is not the only one to criticize the PAN-PRD alliances. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas yet again noted his opposition, as he declared this and other possible alliances in 2011 a "failure" and "a step backward." This is a position he shares with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, his one-time political godson, and former president Vicente Fox.
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