Mexico Institute

Country’s problems, very big; its candidates, small: Carlos Fuentes [In Spanish]

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:52:18 +0000

In an interview with Colombian journal El Tiempo, Carlos Fuentes foresees a more complex political situation in Mexico, arguing that the current presidential candidates are “very small” while the national problems are of huge proportions. He also expresses concern over Peña Nieto’s “ignorance.”

In addition, Fuentes states that Mexico’s fight against drug trafficking is not lost, yet there is something missing out in the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship: both the consumption and distribution of drugs are known to occur in the United States and there is information on the Mexicans who act as drug traffickers; but there is no information on who exactly receives and utilizes those drugs in U.S. soil.

La Jornada, 1/29/2012

El escritor mexicano Carlos Fuentes advirtió que la situación política de su país va a complicarse porque “los problemas son muy grandes” y los candidatos para suceder al presidente Felipe Calderón son “muy pequeños”, en una entrevista publicada este domingo en la prensa colombiana.

“La situación política se va a complicar, porque los problemas son muy grandes y los candidatos muy pequeños”, aseveró Fuentes en entrevista con el diario El Tiempo de Bogotá.

Sobre la posibilidad de un regreso al poder del Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), que gobernó México durante más de 70 años antes del actual Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), el escritor mexicano dijo que de los candidatos de los tres principales partidos que se disputarán la presidencia en julio, “ninguno tiene la solución a los problemas”.

Mexico envoy Carlos Pujalte in Venezuela kidnap drama

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:16:19 +0000

BBC News, 1/30/12

The Mexican ambassador to Venezuela was briefly kidnapped on Sunday night before being released, diplomats say.

Carlos Pujalte and his wife were seized from their car in a wealthy area of Caracas, before being set free in a slum in the early hours. Both are said to be well and it is not clear if any ransom was paid.

The incident is the latest high profile kidnapping in Venezuela, where violent crime and insecurity have soared in recent years.

Obama’s Forgetfulness [In Spanish]

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:20:25 +0000

Andrés Oppenheimer questions why President Obama did not include in his last State of the Union address any mention of of the fight against drug cartels in Mexico and Central America.

According to the official report released on January 11^th by Mexico’s Office of the Attorney General, a total of 47,515 bodies were reported dead as a result of the Mexican fight against drug cartels in the last five years. This figure exceeds the death toll in Iraq during the same period, and is almost double the number of victims in Afghanistan.

El País, 1/30/2012

En su discurso sobre el estado de la Unión, el presidente Barack Obama se refirió a los conflictos armados de Irak, Siria y Afganistán, pero no dijo una palabra sobre una guerra que se está librando mucho más cerca de casa, y que está matando a más gente: la guerra contra —y entre— los carteles del narcotráfico en México y América Central.

¿Habrá sido un descuido? ¿O acaso Obama —y para ser justos, sus críticos del Partido Republicano también— está eludiendo deliberadamente referirse a una de las guerras más sangrientas del mundo, porque no tienen la menor idea de qué hacer al respecto?

¿Qué opinan? Firmas del día: 1/30/12

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:25:10 +0000

The Mexico Institute, AL DÍA: News and Analysis from the Mexico Institute, 1/30/12

Each morning, through the Mexico Portal feature, “¿Qué opinan? Firmas del día”, we will bring you an assortment of op-ed pieces from five major Mexican dailies: Reforma, El Universal, La Jornada, Excelsior and Milenio. Enjoy!

Cada día, por la entrada titulada, “¿Qué opinan? Firmas del día”, vamos a traerles un surtido de artículos de opinión de cinco periódicos populares de México: Reforma, El Universal, La Jornada, Excelsior y Milenio. ¡Que lo disfruten!

Reforma

Templo Mayor: Polls still indicate that Ernesto Cordero registers the lowest level of preference from voters. This Sunday, February 5^th, PAN’s electoral process will take place in order to choose its presidential candidate. However – and according to PAN’s electoral procedures – the final decision will rely on the vote by active and affiliate members. Governor of Coahuila, Rubén Moreira, continues to receive complaints from residents after his brother, Humberto Moreira, left behind a huge state debt after he left office. The PRI candidates for the Senate, Marcela Guerra and Ivonne Álvarez, presented Nuevo León as a success story in the fight against crime, suggesting it should be exported as a model to follow nationwide.

http://www.reforma.com/editoriales/nacional/643/1285845/

Jesús Silva-Herzog Márquez, “Voluntad de alternancia”: In today’s editorial, Silva-Herzog Márquez contends that PRI’s popularity is inversely proportional to the desire of the electorate to have PAN continue in the presidency. He argues that PRI has carried on with its old ways of not defining itself as a political party, which in the current context of elections might give this party a platform to victory.

http://www.reforma.com/editoriales/nacional/643/1285846/

El Universal

Bajo Reserva, “CFC confirma sentencia contra Televisa-Iusacell”: This week, the COFECO (the national governing body created to avoid monopolies) will confirm its sentence that forbids an alliance between Iusacell and Televisa. It has been confirmed that tomorrow’s debate between Josefina Vázquez Mota, Ernesto Cordero, and Santiago Creel will be moderated by journalist Leonardo Curzio. The initial challenge for Beatriz Paredes, who seeks to win the elections for Mexico City’s mayor, will consist of determining how to restore PRI’s leadership in the capital.

http://www.eluniversalmas.com.mx/columnas/2012/01/93846.php

Jornada

Clase Política, “Beltrones y las telecomunicaciones”: PRI senator Manlio Fabio Beltrones has affirmed that public interest must prevail in the matter of telecommunication in Mexico and that reforms must be accelerated to guarantee transparency. According to the senator, decisions in the sector are currently discretionary and disordered. Organs such as the Comisión Federal de Competencia (CFC) and the Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel) should secure the accessibility and competitiveness of the telecommunications market. Beltrones’ comments come immediately after the CFC has reviewed Televisa’s application to merge with Iusacell. It is rumored that the CFC has denied Televisa’s request.

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/01/30/opinion/006o2pol

Excelsior

Jorge Fernández Menéndez , “Una actividad frenética… sin candidato”: President Calderon has returned from Davos holding the presidency of the G20. While at Davos, President Calderon affirmed he was satisfied with many choices made during his term such as the choice to launch war against the country’s drug cartels. Now back in Mexico, the president has begun informally participating in the upcoming national election before law forbids him to do so, but without a PAN candidate to support, his efforts are null. The PRI candidate on the other hand, Enrique Peña Nieto, also attended Davos but without a press team the Mexican public was only privy to his activities through twitter. Peña Nieto claims that he presented an economic proposal while at Davos, yet said proposal was not divulged in Mexico.

http://www.excelsior.com.mx/index.php?m=nota&seccion=opinion&cat=11&id_nota=806313

Leo Zuckermann , “¿Por qué son tan malos los spots electorales?”: As parties in Mexico begin campaigning for the upcoming national election, they have produced many television ‘spots’ as part of their campaigns. However, many of the televisions spots they have produced have been, in the author’s opinion, terrible and detrimental to their electoral efforts. Carlos Alazraki affirms that many of the spots on television are easily forgettable and that most parties have so far ignored the quality of their own television ads. The PRI and the leftist coalition have produced some of the least memorable spots while the PAN, with the exception of Josefina Vazquez Mota, has not done much better. Only the Partido Verde has produced the most memorable ads containing direct political goals.

http://www.excelsior.com.mx/index.php?m=nota&seccion=opinion&cat=11&id_nota=806317

Milenio

Trascendió: Enrique Peña Nieto and his team have returned satisfied from a successful trip to the economic forum at Davos, a trip seen as a positive departure from Peña Nieto’s debacle at Guadalajara’s Book Fair in late 2011. Now back in Mexico, Peña Nieto has begun the production of new tv spots as part of his campaign. Ernesto Cordero has also begun preparing for his upcoming debate against the other two PAN contenders on Tuesday. In Mexico City, Miguel Ángel Mancera has named Joel Ortega as his campaign coordinator as Mancera prepares his campaign as the leftist coalition’s candidate for the governorship of the capital.

http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/impreso/9104058

Ciro Gómez Leyva, “Por qué Cordero no puede perder el domingo”: Ernesto Cordero’s team affirms that Cordero will win the candidacy of the PAN when the party’s members vote this upcoming Sunday. Both Josefina Vázquez Mota and Santiago Creel lead over Cordero in the polls and have always been ahead since Cordero entered the race in September. Despite the polls, Cordero remains optimistic. Gómez Leyva theorizes that Cordero may fare well on Sunday if the PAN’s structure and convoluted internal electoral system work out in his favor.

http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/impreso/9104049

OECD asks for competition in the telecom sector [In Spanish]

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:25:20 +0000

The OECD estimates that consumers in the Mexican telecom sector lose the equivalent of 1.8% of GDP (a percentage that represents a yearly loss of USD 25,800,000), due to lack of competition in the telecom sector, along with weak regulations and a legal framework that allows for businesses to evade decisions by authorities. The full OECD report on policy and regulation in telecommunications in Mexico will be released today.

El Universal, 1/30/2012

Debido a la falta de competencia, un regulador débil y un sistema jurídico-legal que permite a las empresas evadir decisiones de las autoridades, se estima que la pérdida de bienestar de los consumidores en el sector mexicano de las telecomunicaciones cada año equivale a 1.8% del PIB, un porcentaje que representa 25 mil 800 millones de dólares anuales.

De acuerdo con el estudio de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE) sobre políticas y regulación en telecomunicaciones en México, que se presentará el día de hoy, se estima que en el periodo que va de 2005 a 2009 los consumidores mexicanos perdieron 129 mil 200 millones de dólares debido a vicios y distorsiones que prevalecen en el mercado.

Op-ed: Tinker Tailor Soldier Kingpin

mexicoinstitute — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:38:26 +0000

Newsweek Magazine, 1/30/12

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán

There are usually just three ways for a trafficker to leave a Mexican drug cartel: go to prison, get killed, or become a government informant.

Two weeks ago, I had dinner at an expensive restaurant near the Mexican border with a man who got out by the third route. He was, until recently, an important figure in the Sinaloa cartel’s drug-running operations, working indirectly for the boss, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Casually dressed, he used a small fork to scrape the marrow from the shank bone on his platter of osso buco. He joked that he wished he had a soft tortilla on which to spread the marrow, the old Mexican way, the way his family did it with a butchered animal.

Justice Department changes inquiry response procedures to Congress after Fast and Furious

mexicoinstitute — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:00:22 +0000

Fox News, 1/29/12

The Justice Department is tightening procedures for responding to information requests from Congress in the aftermath of a troubled arms trafficking investigation. In Operation Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed hundreds of weapons to flow across the border into Mexico.

The Justice Department told three congressional committees in a letter Friday night that it has improved coordination between agents and their managers in carrying out arms trafficking investigations.

Attorney General Eric Holder probably will face questions about the changes when he testifies Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That committee has been investigating the department’s mistakes in the probe since early last year.

Writers condemn violence against Mexico journalists

mexicoinstitute — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:44:10 +0000

BBC News, 1/28/12

A host of international authors – including seven Nobel laureates – have called for an end to attacks on journalists in Mexico. The writers took out a full page advert in Mexican newspaper El Universal to defend the right of all journalists to be free from fear and censorship.

The statement by the PEN International writers group was signed by 170 of the world’s most acclaimed authors. PEN says 67 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000.

Among those signing the declaration “to the journalists and writers of Mexico” were Nobel laureates JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison, Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mario Vargas Llosa and Derek Walcott.

New bridge in Mexico loaded with big dreams

mexicoinstitute — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:43:33 +0000

The Washington Post, 1/28/12

High in the wicked folds of the western Sierra Madre, Mexican transportation officials have launched one of the most ambitious road-building projects in history — an experiment in social engineering as much as a structural one.

Across a landscape of yawning ravines and sheer-sided ridges so rugged that locals call it el Espinazo del Diablo — the Devil’s Backbone — the Mexican government is laying down a $1.5 billion “superhighway” that promises to exorcise centuries of isolation and bring an economic boom to one of the country’s poorest and most troubled regions.

When the 140-mile toll road opens as soon as late 2012, it will cut drive time between the interior city of Durango and the Pacific port at Mazatlan from seven hours to 2¹ / ₂, conquering the Sierra’s unholy topography with 62 tunnels and 135 bridges.

Law-Abiding Mexicans Taking Up Illegal Guns

mexicoinstitute — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:31:54 +0000

NPR, 1/28/12

In Mexico, where criminals are armed to the teeth with high-powered weapons smuggled from the United States, it may come as a surprise that the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.

Law-abiding Mexicans who want a gun to defend themselves have no good options. Either they fight government red tape to get a legal permit, or they buy one on the black market. After an outbreak of violence, one embattled community in northern Mexico called Colonia LeBaron has begun to ask if it’s time for the country to address its gun laws.

A farming town about 130 miles southwest of El Paso, Texas, in the border state of Chihuahua, Colonia LeBaron was founded by breakaway Mormons from the U.S. who wanted to practice polygamy. Today, most residents hold dual citizenship, speak English and retain close ties to the U.S. A few still practice plural marriage.