PRI has a presidential nominee
Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled the country for most of the 20th century, has a presidential nominee -- by default. Most people had presumed that favorite Enrique Peña Nieto would be the party standard bearer in 2012, but the leader of Mexico's Senate, Manlio Fabio Beltrones, was also quite interested in running. Beltrones is a respected, experienced politician, with far more substance than Peña Nieto, in my opinion. But Beltrones, who could clearly read the political weather, announced yesterday that he was withdrawing as a candidate. It was probably a wise move, given the recent groundswell of support for Peña Nieto.
Peña Nieto will face off against Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) nominee Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the general election, which is scheduled for July 1, 2012. López Obrador is invariably referred to in the Mexican press as "the leftist candidate," a characterization which seems exaggerated if you compare him to traditional leftist politicians in Latin America. But his political agenda is very much of the socialist stripe. Mexico's National Action Party (PAN) has not yet chosen its nominee, and will not do so until next February. Three candidates are contending for the nomination, including the only woman in the race, Josefina Vázquez Mota. Mexico's current PAN president, Felipe Calderón, cannot run for office again.
The PRI nomniee has just published a book to promote his candidacy: "Mexico - The Great Hope." It's full of all the typical campaign rhetoric you'd see in a book by any U.S. candidate. Presumably, the "Great Hope" is none other than Enrique Peña Nieto himself.
Enrique Peña Nieto says PRI will regain Los Pinos in 2012: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/pena-nieto-predicts-pri-victory-in-2012.html.
Peña Nieto would pull Mexican army from drug war: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/pris-likley-presidential-candidate.html.
Andrés López Obrador will lead PRD in 2012: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/andres-lopez-obrador-is-prds-2012.html.
López Obrador offers bold "New Deal" employment plan for Mexico: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/11/lopez-obrador-begins-campaign-with-bold.html.
PAN's Josefina Vázquez Mota: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/josefina-vazquez-mota-likley-to-be-2012.html.
A Noble Prize Laureate speaks out on PRI and the 2012 presidential election: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/writer-excoriates-mexicos-pri-party.html.
Huge cash stash seized
Tijuana, Baja California -- The government has announced that Mexican security forces made their second largest ever cash seizure in the border city of Tijuana on November 18. They recovered $15,350,000 in U.S. currency from a vehicle, together with drugs, firearms and jewelry. Sources say the goods were undoubtedly property of the Sinaloa cartel, run by the world's most wanted man, El Chapo Guzmán. The largest cash haul to date was in September 2008, when $26.2 million was seized, also from the Sinaloa gang.
Did drug cartels affect Michoacán election results?
One of Mexico's major news services, the Milenio network, has been featuring a lengthy tape recorded telephone conversation in every one of its news updates over the past 24 hours, ad nauseam. The recording contains the voice of an alleged cartel operative -- El Perro ("The Dog") -- advising a woman to vote for the PRI rather than the PRD candidate in a municipal election held in Michoacán state on Nov. 13. El Perro, who allegedly works as a local boss for La Familia Michoacána, instructs her to call all of her family members and friends as well, and warn them to vote for the PRI candidate too, or their houses will be burned down and they and their families will be killed. The PRI candidate won the mayoral election.
Will Canadian visa restrictions be lifted?
It's generally much easier for a Mexican to visit Canada, or to stay there for an extended period, than it is for the same person to travel to or take up residency in the United States. It may get even easier, if pending negotiations between the two governments are consummated. Proposals are on the table, according to Mexico's ambassador to Canada, which would modify restrictions and generally expedite visa applications, possibly leading to their eventual elimination for most Mexican travelers. Don't look for the same approach in the United States anytime soon. If anything, the attitudes of most legislators, especially at the state level, are running in just the opposite direction.
Thousands of Mexicans languish in prison, at huge cost to government
Mexico is in the process of drastic legal reforms, mandated by amendments to its national constitution in 2008. Long story made short, an antiquated form of criminal investigation is being abandoned in favor of modern trials which will more closely resemble those used in the United States, Canada and other nations with British legal traditions. The new "oral" trials are already being used to administer criminal justice in 11 of Mexico's 32 states: Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Estado de México, Morelos, Baja California, Durango, Hidalgo, Puebla and Yucatán.
But thousands of persons who have never received formal judicial due process remain in preventive detention, as it's called here. They've not been tried, and no evidence has been presented against them in anything remotely resembling a formal hearing. A Mexican university researcher says there are about 227,000 persons being held in such legal limbo. He estimates that as many as 97,000 will eventually be exonerated and released. In the meantime, their detention costs Mexico two billion pesos annually, says the professor -- over $150 million a year.
Mexico does not allow bail in many types of cases, and some defendants must wait in jail for years pending a final determination of their cases, even though the law sets a two year deadline for adjudication and sentencing. The professor argues that Mexico is violating international norms in this respect. He also claims there has been considerable resistance among judicial authorities to the new trial system required by 2008 constitutional reforms.
Mexico gets major legal facelift: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-11-08T20:46:00-06:00&max-results=15.
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