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Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

PRD itself is split on AMLO's antics...some within the federal party and the DF governing party see him as being too divisive now and potentially causing harm to any possible presidential run in 2012.

delacosta · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 325 Location: zipolte beach

Wow! The circus comes to congress.
This before Calderon even gets sworn in as president
He and the PAN are already starting to feel to the effects of their election campaign that effectively divided Mexico, encouraging hatred and fear along the way.
And to think that all of this could have been avoided by simply agreeing to recount the votes and thus ensuring legitimacy. Oh, but then they wouldn�t be in power, now would they?

And his cabinet? Most of them all from the extreme right, which were definitely not what even those who voted for the PAN voted for. If Calderon were to have even the tiniest hope in hell of lasting the next 6 years he would have to show a remarkable diplomatic ability at reconciliation, which unfortunately his cabinet choices do not reflect.

Instead, as secretary of state (gobernaci�n): Francisco Ram�rez Acu�a, former governor of Guanajuato accused of promoting and allowing torture during his tenure, responsible for the brutal repression of the anti globalization protestors in Guadalajara in 2004. This man is hard right and is the subject of ongoing investigations of human rights abuses. This is not someone who understands what it is to neither dialogue, mediate nor negotiate. It appears that Calderon views his intrangience and propensity for violence as virtues necessary for him to reign in the next six years.

Secretary of health: Angel Cordoba, another hard right, not to mention nil experience in the health sector, on record as considering the morning after pill as being �an abortion� and openly anti homosexual. Member of el Yunque (catholic extremists �think KKK, Opus Dei, and Legionnaires of Christ).
And so on and so on�

The violence inside of congress is nothing less than what I fear Mexico will be facing in the near future. I don�t believe that Calderon has the political skills or experience, nor inclination- to govern amongst the current state of affairs that he�s facing, that which he and his backers during the last election, in large part, created. It appears that the decision has been taken that repression is the path to be taken.

While Calderon dashes in and out of public appearances, dropped off by helicopter and protected by hordes of riot police, Obrador calmly takes the subway accompanied by his sons, to his last public appearance in the zocalo, confident of his support and with a clear conscience.

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Who divided Mexico, eh? Shocked

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Lovely spin...you could've been on Clinton's staff.

thelmadatter · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject: appts

I read Calderon�s appointments as a reaction to the rioting in Oaxaca as well as AMLO's own antics. Whatever Calderon might have had to gain by including people outside his party in his government is now gone. AMLO embarasses Mexico with his antics (the lucha libre in the Congress the latest example - AMLO has his "inauguration" with no interference but won�t allow Calderon's) so including the PRD would make a mockery of his government at worst. The violence in Oaxaca fuels a need to restore order and shows that negociations do not work... certainly not at this point. Watch for a swift but brief sweep of Oaxaca City in the next two weeks. It will be decried but will also be left behind.

The left has nothing to offer Calderon, why should he reach out?

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

delacosta · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 325 Location: zipolte beach

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Get onto getting your citizenship and voting for the cause you feel so strongly about. Until then, anything we have to say about Mexican politics, as foreigners, is nuttin' but hot air! Sad

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

periodista-masajista · Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 54 Location: Texas, USA

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Gettin' there. It takes awhile once you qualify Very Happy

thelmadatter · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:49 pm Post subject: foreigners

Foreigners are only prohibited from participating in the political process. We can "blow all the hot air" we want, esp. with each other.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Speaking of blowing hot air...

Flatulence leads US jet to divert

delacosta · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 325 Location: zipolte beach

As the saying goes, in politics there are no coincidences.

Some of the events that unfolded this week:

1.At the first minute after midnight on December 1st Felipe Calderon is handed the presidential sash by a member of the military.
2. Next, he enters Congress by the back door, protected by the military, as is the building. Indeed the whole ceremony can only take place under protection by armed forces, over 3,000, including 3 meter barricades in a radius of 3 km, and snipers, just in case.
3. His first act as president is to reduce the salaries of high public servants while at the same time raising those of the armed forces.
4. This week in his budget announcements money destined to security is increased by 12%.
5. Flavio Sosa, one of the most visible �leaders� of the APPO is arrested and sent to a maximum security prison while he is on the way to a meeting to dialogue with the new government, at their invitation.

The message is clear: I may be a completely �spurious� president who arrived under questionable conditions, weak as you wish-but I am supported by the brute force of the military and the massive economic force of the ruling business class, and I shall apply the full force of the law over and above any political negotiation. And to emphasize the point Ramirez Acu�a, unbelievably, given his history or repression, torture, and human rights violations, is appointed as Secretary of State.

He can only succeed if, as it appears the objective is, the vast numbers of Mexicans hoping for any real change to occur become scared and retreat to cower in simmering discontent and resentment. This may be occurring, but it will be impossible to maintain, even over the short term.

If Oaxaca is a micro example of the macro that is to unfold then Mexico, or at least the south and parts of the center, will need an occupying army, a la PFP to ensure order. I�m not sure if that is possible, as the majority of the armed forces have repeatedly, over the last sexenio, refused to become involved in political disputes.