Mexico poised to vote, amid heavy security

But how many will turn out?

*Update Sunday, July 1, 6:00 p.m.* - Polls throughout the nation have closed or are now in the process of doing so. Everybody's waiting for the first numbers and exit polls.

Mérida, Yucatán --
Mexicans go to the polls in less than 12 hours to select their next president. One of four contenders will replace outgoing PAN chief executive Felipe Calderón. The new leader will be sworn in Dec. 1, allowing five months for an orderly transfer of governmental power at the federal and state level.

Not only will Los Pinos, Mexico's White House, change hands, but governorships in 7 of 32 states are open for grab, as are senate and federal deputy seats. Mexico has a bicameral legislature, exactly like the United States, consisting of a Senate (Senado) and a House of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados). The entire national congress will be elected tomorrow.

Mexico offers $5 million pesos for "traitor agents" in slaying of three fellow officers

Wanted killer posed in Facebook with guns in hand



Two Mexican Federal Police agents who executed three fellow officers in the Mexico City International Airport on Monday morning (June 24) have been identified by the Secretary of Public Security (SSP) as Daniel Cruz García and Zeferino Morales Franco. Another agent, Bogard Lugo de León, was named as an accomplice. Their whereabouts are not known.

A five million peso reward (about $357,000 USD) has been offered for their capture. A high ranking SSP official told a press conference this afternoon that they were "traitors."

Mexico's campaign closes; final poll shows Enrique Peña Nieto up 18.4% on Manuel López Obrador; Josefina calls for Felipe Calderón to serve as next Attorney General

Mexicans head to the polls this Sunday, July 1

Mérida's Monumento a la Bandera, Monday, June 25, 2012

Mexico's long 2012 presidential campaign is over. Under federal election laws, campaign activity had to cease by midnight tonight. Voters will cast their ballots in just over 72 hours.

The so-called "period of electoral reflection" is designed to cool political tempers by prohibiting any form of overt campaigning from now through Sunday. Further polling is also forbidden to ensure that voters are not swayed by reported results. There are civil and criminal penalties for violators of either rule (Inicia periodo de veda electoral).

A reader and MGRR trade thoughts on a free press, independent journalism and who's NOT paying the tab

Opinion -

Mérida, Yucatán --
On May 31 I published this article: A "free press" in Mexico - but who's really paying the tab?. It only got about 100 reads, a very small number for MGRR. That's a shame, because it was and is a worthwhile piece . . . in my unbiased opinion.

Today an anonymous reader left a comment in response to that article which greatly moved me - perhaps "agitated" would be a more descriptive and accurate word. So I replied to his/her comment.

One of the nice things about having you own rag is that you can publish what you want. Nobody can fire you, cut your pay or demote you to traffic accident stories or the local police court docket. Nobody, even here in Mexico, can arrest you for writing. What you lack in a regular paycheck you gain in that which is priceless - freedom of expression.

The following is my exchange with the reader. And don't miss the Comments following this post, two of which were written by professionals with years of experience in journalism and publishing. One describes the state of the industry in Mexico - both Spanish and English journalism - as "pathetic."

"Narco Feds" operating out of Mexico City airport sent huge amount of drugs to U.S., Europe, aided by Mexican customs agents

Mexican federal police and customs agents implicated in Federal District trafficking ring

Corrupt federal law enforcement agents in this country were part of an elaborate drug smuggling network which imported "huge quantities" of narcotics from Colombia, Peru and Guatemala and shipped them on to the United States and Europe, news sources here say.

The agents worked with corrupt Aduana officials at Mexico City's International Airport (AICM). The Aduana is Mexico's customs enforcement department, similar to a U.S. agency known as ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

The smuggling ring did business on a "grand scale," according to sources which reviewed preliminary reports by the Secretary of SSP, a federal agency which supervises Mexico's Federal Police.

Suspects in murder of Mérida American expat indicted and ordered to stand trial

Court finds sufficient evidence for trial in brutal stabbing of Pennsylvania man

*Update below*
Mérida, Yucatán -
Four men who are suspects in the murder of former Arizona resident Robert Leon Wickard have been ordered to stand trial after a local criminal judge Monday found enough evidence to proceed with the case.

On May 29 the judge ordered that Martín Alejandro Gómez Gómez, 26, Gianri Lorenzo Matos Montalvo, 18, Edward Jesús Gamboa Salas, 36 and David Wilfrido Pérez Morán, 26, be held for 30 days while the case was investigated. Yesterday (June 25) he ruled there is "sufficient evidence of the commission of the crime of homicide" to warrant a trial. A fifth suspect, Angel Javier Segovia Domínguez, remains at large and is being sought. Monday's ruling is the functional equivalent of an indictment or probable cause finding in the U.S. legal system.

Josefina ends 2012 campaign in Mérida

"We have already won," candidate tells the PAN party faithful

Mérida, Yucatán --
Mexico's presidential election is next Sunday, July 1, and under federal law formal campaigning must terminate this week. The four candidates have been staging official "closure ceremonies," as they're called here, for several days, and PAN hopeful Josefina Vázquez Mota did so in this historic capital city last evening.

Twenty thousand came out to see the National Action Party nominee in Mérida's main plaza at 8:30 p.m. (an hour beyond the scheduled start time). Her voice was tired and hoarse from the arduous 12 week campaign, but the candidate sounded as determined as ever as she spoke of her vision for Mexico. Mérida's most famous landmark, the massive Cathedral of San Ildefonso built less than 100 years after Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, served as an impressive backdrop on a muggy Monday evening. A sea of blue and white PAN flags, banners and campaign placards ruled the jam-packed plaza.

Three dead in Mexico City International Airport shooting

Federal agents executed by corrupt fellow cops in the nation's capital

Mexico City, D.F.-
Three federal police officers were killed during a shooting at Mexico City's International Airport about 8:50 a.m. today.

An ongoing investigation into narcotics trafficking through the airport and the involvement of corrupt federal agents working with drug dealers is behind the events, sources say.

The shootings were in Terminal 2, which handles foreign arrivals and departures. Some disruptions in service were reported, as emergency personnel, criminal investigators and heavily armed police and military units rushed to the scene. A contingent of Mexican marines arrived within a half hour.

Playa del Carmen police officer executed, after hit men arrive by taxi

Grenades in a cab, along the luxurious Riviera Maya - the work of Los Pelones

*Updated June 23*
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo -
A 36 year old commander on the Playa del Carmen municipal police force was executed last night as he arrived home at the end of his shift. His brother-in-law, 30, was riding with him, and was also killed in the attack which occurred about 8:30 p.m.

The men had just parked in front of the nine year veteran's home in Solidaridad when two sicarios arrived in a taxi and opened fire with semi-automatic weapons. The victims were hit by .9 mm rounds, and both died at the scene.

Mexican drug cartels will likely morph into "super gangs," says U.S. security firm

Dire prognosis for Mexico's next government, with violence threatening Guadalajara

Mérida, Yucatán -
An American consulting firm which advises businesses and governments on security challenges predicts that Mexico's powerful drug cartels will evolve into a much larger number of superpandillas, or super gangs, within a few years.

A summary of a comprehensive analysis prepared by Southern Pulse (SP) was reported here yesterday (June 21) by the peninsula's largest newspaper, Diario de Yucatán.

Family of ICE agent murdered in Mexico by Los Zetas gives U.S. notice of intent to sue

$25 million claim for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress

Family members of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who was murdered in Mexico by Los Zetas gunmen today gave the United States government formal notice of their intent to file a lawsuit over his death.

The brutal attack occurred on Feb. 15, 2011. Today's notice was a legal prerequisite to the civil lawsuit, which will be filed under a law known as the Federal Tort Claims Act. The U.S. Justice Dept. had no comment.

ICE Agent Jaime Zapata was 32 at the time of his death, and had worked with the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit and the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. On the day of the attack Zapata and his partner Víctor Ávila were on official business, traveling from Laredo, Texas to Mexico City. They were riding in a government vehicle carrying U.S. diplomatic tags. As they passed through the north central state of San Luis Potosí, on a major four lane highway from Monterrey to Mexico City, two vehicles began following them and forced them off the road. According to Ávila, as many as 15 men dressed in military uniforms and carrying assault weapons circled their car. Zapata rolled down his window to confirm that they were federal agents, and the men began firing at point blank range. The assailants fled immediately.

As 2012 presidential campaign draws to a close, Mexico's inconvenienced children hope, and dream of better days

"Niños orgullosos hablan a los candidatos" - Mexico's proud and hopeful children speak one last time to three men and one woman who are vying for the right to lead the nation for the next 72 months

You don't have to understand a single word of Spanish to be moved by this very touching video called "Proud Children," which made its debut last week. Speaking directly to each of the four presidential candidates, these handsome kids share a glimpse of what they see - and expect - for Mexico, "in the shortest time possible." As the clip illustrates, prominent in their dream for a better day is a political house thoroughly cleansed from top to bottom.

Compare and contrast it to their organization's April release (below), which carried a much more sinister, and depressing, message. Click on the MGRR April 12 story for a detailed description of what happens in that video.

All about Mexico's presidential candidates

Selected MGRR articles on Mexico's 2012 candidates, and what the polls have said



Mexico's election is only 11 days away (Sunday, July 1). Below are selected articles about the candidates published by the Mexico Gulf Region Reporter since late 2011. Within most articles are multiple links to others. At the bottom is a list of posts dealing with the almost daily presidential preference polls which have been conducted here. Less than two weeks from today we´ll know how accurate they were.

All about Mexico's election, 2012

Selected MGRR articles on politics south of the border, with news analysis

Mexico's election is only 11 days away (Sunday, July 1). Below is a selected list of articles published by the Mexico Gulf Region Reporter since late 2011. The list does not include every post, but the majority of them, and within most articles are multiple links to others. For much of what you need to know about the impending election in the convenience of just one article, MGRR's base story of March 30 has been read by hundreds of readers, and has been relied upon or referred to by news blogs, services and publications in the United States and Mexico. Here it is: Mexico's presidential campaign begins.

Riviera Maya hotel owner refuses to pay the "rent," so extortionists execute him

*Updates below*

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo -
In this world-famous resort just minutes south of Cancún, a hotel owner bucked the odds and paid with his life.

Prominent businessman Juan Manuel Díaz Moguel, 48, was kidnapped from his establishment about 3:30 p.m. Friday (June 15), and was found dead on a quiet side street at 7:00 p.m. Police say his execution was almost surely the result of refusing to pay the obligatory derecho de piso, or "floor charge," assessed against virtually every business owner in town by organized crime. It might be described as a rent surcharge. And it's not optional.