By Nov. 15, the PRD informs, the party will choose its presidential candidate, through various polls.
Ebrard repeats he will back AMLO should AMLO come on top, and says he hopes AMLO will do the same should Ebrard be ahead. Every inch of me refuses to believe he will: I hope I am wrong.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
PRI president Moreira hints at stepping down in February
Despite the growing scandal in Coahuila - an extreme amount of debt contracted that was, it seems, contracted partly illegally - former PRI governor and now national PRI president Humberto Moreira Valdés said he will remain PRI president - even though his former treasurer was again just ordered behind bars for fallegedly falsifying documents while Moreira was still governor.
Moreira did hint that there might be "changes" in February, after PRI picks its presidential candidate. He has continued a very ill-fitting "I am a victim" posture since this scandal first surfaced. PRD calls for his resignation as PRI president to face the accusations head-on. PAN is not calling for him to step down (and perhaps wisely, as this is bringing increasing bad publicity to the PRI), but to cooperate with the investigation.
Moreira did hint that there might be "changes" in February, after PRI picks its presidential candidate. He has continued a very ill-fitting "I am a victim" posture since this scandal first surfaced. PRD calls for his resignation as PRI president to face the accusations head-on. PAN is not calling for him to step down (and perhaps wisely, as this is bringing increasing bad publicity to the PRI), but to cooperate with the investigation.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Fox: Legalize it
Yet another call for legalization from former President Vicente Fox, in an opinion column in today's El Universal. Note that it comes ahead of a high-powered Cato institute conference, Nov. 15, entitled, Ending the War on Drugs, and the revelation of the "worst kept secret" in Latin America, namely that President Juan Manuel Santos is in favor of marijuana legalization.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Manuel Bartlett, now with... Morena!
Manuel Bartlett, former Puebla governor, is in many ways the epitomy of the old-style prinosaurio or PRI dinosaur. Many know him from the infamous fraud in 1988, when he doubled as both head of the interior secretariat and head of the federal electoral commission arranging the elections and producing the results, which were most likely drastically altered to favor Carlos Salinas.
I am working on a book and have been re-reading up on much recent political history, and found it interesting how Bartlett, who became Puebla governor 1993-1999, nearly derailed the crucial 1996 electoral reform in Mexico. When PAN won the Huejotzingo municipality in a state election in 1995, the state electoral commission, pushed by Bartlett, annulled the PAN's victory and handed it back to PRI. Due to this outrage, PAN left national negotiations over electoral reform, with the result that President Ernesto Zedillo himself had to intervene to push Bartlett to acknowledge PAN's victory.
Fast forward to the present. We now learn that this old PRI hack is now in negotiations to become a candidate for the senate in 2012.
Yet as whose candidate?
None other than that of AMLO's Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena).
In terms of political conversions and opportunism, this one is hard to beat.
I am working on a book and have been re-reading up on much recent political history, and found it interesting how Bartlett, who became Puebla governor 1993-1999, nearly derailed the crucial 1996 electoral reform in Mexico. When PAN won the Huejotzingo municipality in a state election in 1995, the state electoral commission, pushed by Bartlett, annulled the PAN's victory and handed it back to PRI. Due to this outrage, PAN left national negotiations over electoral reform, with the result that President Ernesto Zedillo himself had to intervene to push Bartlett to acknowledge PAN's victory.
Fast forward to the present. We now learn that this old PRI hack is now in negotiations to become a candidate for the senate in 2012.
Yet as whose candidate?
None other than that of AMLO's Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (Morena).
In terms of political conversions and opportunism, this one is hard to beat.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Humberto Moreira's Coahuila treasurer arrested
Bad news for PRI president and former Coahuila governor Humberto Moreira: Javier Villareal Hernández. who was the treasurer of his government, was arrested yesterday, accused of, among other acts, falsifying official state documents so as to obtain financial credit for the heavily indebted government led by Moreira.
Moreira has pathetically denounced this and related events as part of a "dirty war" against him, not giving any substantial answer or rebuttal to the charges. His situation as PRI president is becoming ever more untenable.
More details as well from El Universal
Moreira has pathetically denounced this and related events as part of a "dirty war" against him, not giving any substantial answer or rebuttal to the charges. His situation as PRI president is becoming ever more untenable.
More details as well from El Universal
Friday, October 28, 2011
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas gets Mexico's highest medal, call for army to barracks
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas finally received the Medalla Belisario Domínguez, and used the occasion to call, in his speech, for withdrawing the army in the fight against Mexico's drug cartels, and instead leave it to a civilian law enforcement body. Wise words.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Support for democracy sharply down in Mexico: The Economist/Latinobarómetro
Very worrisome figures from Mexico: In an Economist article, based on data from the Chilean Latinobarómetro, absolute support for democracy - "preferable to any other type of government" - is down to 40 percent, a whopping 9 percent drop from 2011. In fact, Only Honduras and Guatemala, with 43 and 36 percent respectively, score lower.
Here's the graphic, courtesy of The Economist:
Here's the graphic, courtesy of The Economist:
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| From The Economist |
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