Mexico vote-buying scandal threatens president's agenda of reforms

Los Angeles Times
By Tracy Wilkinson
April 23, 2013

Mexico City - Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Tuesday faced the most serious political crisis of his young government, an explosive dispute with rival parties over electoral dirty tricks that could imperil his ambitious reform plans.

Peña Nieto's highly touted Pact for Mexico, a kind of blueprint for his administration's agenda that had seemed to have won consensus from most major political groups, was on the verge of collapse after fresh reports of vote-buying by the president's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

The government was forced to cancel a series of public events under the auspices of the Pact for Mexico to avoid the embarrassment of a boycott by the main opposition factions.

The first casualty would appear to be a broad reform to overhaul Mexico's financial sector, which was scheduled to be unveiled Tuesday.  Read more. 

Analysis: Honeymoon wears off for Mexico president's reform push

Reuters
By Simon Gardner and Anahi Rama
MEXICO CITY,  Fri Feb 15, 2013

A political pact forged with rivals and a couple of key laws already under his belt, Mexico's new President Enrique Pena Nieto got off to a strong start, but he faces hurdles to push through deep economic reforms.

Armed with a wide-reaching agenda, the 46-year-old former state governor wants to overhaul Mexico's tax system, state oil monopoly Pemex, a telecoms sector dominated by the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, and competition regulations in a bid to modernize the economy and boost growth to 6 percent a year.

Despite lacking an outright majority in Congress, Pena Nieto managed to push the 2013 budget barely a week after taking office on December 1 and passed a landmark education bill after sealing a broad accord dubbed the "Pact for Mexico" with leftist and conservative opponents.

But his plans may be starting to slip.

"Some were far too quick to voice optimism during the typical honeymoon of a new government," said Gabriela Cuevas, a senator for the opposition conservative National Action Party (PAN). "It's not that simple."  Read more. 

Citizen organization denounces voting irregularities and coercion

CNN Mexico: Americas Program Original Translation
See Spanish Original.
28.4% of citizens were exposed to at least one experience of vote-buying, reported Civic Alliance 

The presidential election on July 1st in Mexico “was not a clean or fair one”, concluded the civil organization Civic Alliance after carrying out an observational study of the elections.

Observers detected that 28.4% of citizens were exposed to at least one experience of vote-buying and vote coercion.

After processing 91% of the information collected in 21 federal entities, the organization concluded that 71% of the pressure to vote for a party was in favor of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) coalition and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM); following with 17% in favor of the National Action Party (PAN), 9% in favor of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) and 3% for the New Alliance.

“This election is unsatisfactory, when we see these reports that give evidence that there were commissions of crimes, irregular practices, enormous secret spending. The fairness in this election is broken,” said Eduadro Huchim, member of the organization and former electoral councilor of Mexico City.

After taking 3,158 surveys, Civic Alliance announced on Tuesday that in 21% of the voting stations the principal of exercising a free and confidential vote was violated by different causes such as: people observing inside the partitions, that the voters were supposed to show their vote to someone to receive gifts, citizens exercising some type of pressure on the voters and that “it was detected that one or various children accompanied different citizens on different occasions to vote.”

This last practice, that the Civic Alliance named the use of “children as hawks,” was detected in the State of Mexico, Jalisco, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, when under-age minors received pay for accompanying voters on different occasions to vote and leave the voting station; they were informed that this had been seen.

Mexico election: Economy matters as much as security

BBC: As Mexico's presidential race enters its home stretch towards the vote on 1 July, the issue of drug-related violence has not, as widely expected, dominated the campaign.

Many analysts believed that the drug war that has resulted in more than 50,000 deaths since 2006 would be the issue of the election.

Although the candidates have made frequent reference to the need to improve public safety and to reduce violence levels, it has been one issue among many. Read more. 

Ex-Governor Calls Charges He Worked with Drug Cartels a 'Desperate' Campaign Stunt

(WorldMeets.US Translation) El Universal: Tomás Yarrington, the former governor of Tamaulipas [map below], says that the Attorney General's Office is acting to further the electoral interests of the presidency and the National Action Party [PRI] by attempting to link him and two other former Tamaulipas governors with organized crime.

[Editor’s Note: All the accused governors were, as the Mexicans say, priísta – members of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party. One of the other men accused is former Tamaulipas Governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores. The “third” former governor has yet to be named. The Mexican presidential election is scheduled for June 1].

Yarrington has been mentioned in investigations of both Mexico and the United States for having received millions in bribes from drug cartels [chiefly the Gulf Cartel] and for having laundered those assets in the financial systems of both nations. Read more.

Will the Ruling Party Get a Benedict Blessing or Backlash?

TIME Magazine: "If you were Mexico’s ruling party, and your presidential candidate was down by double digits in the polls three months before the election, you’d be looking for some divine help too. So President Felipe Calderón’s conservative National Action Party (PAN) is hoping the visit from Pope Benedict XVI, who arrives in Mexico today, March 23, will help resurrect the chances of its prez contender, Josefina Vázquez.

The PAN is the Roman Catholic standard-bearer of Mexican politics, and the Pope’s three-day itinerary is confined to one of Mexico’s most Catholic and PAN-ista states, Guanajuato." read more

Mexico Politics: Understanding Benedict XVI’s visit to Mexico

Before presidential elections, everything that happens in Mexico has electoral connotations. The upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI is far from being an exception. The following is our translation of the first part of an opinion piece from La Jornada.


La Jornada: The Pope is coming to Mexico, not just to pray and offer comfort and hope to a people wounded by daily violence and insecurity. There is an undeniable political dimension to the visit that those involved in his visit see to mask. Here we break down some of the key points of Benedict XVI’s first and probably only visit to Mexico.

1. It will be a pastoral and political visit.
The Pope’s visit comes in the middle of the electoral process; it’s no accident, much less an innocent coincidence. Interests are intertwined to create a win-win situation--the government of Felipe Calderon seek the pontifical blessing and legitimacy for his controversial strategy to combat crime to quell questions just as his term comes to an end, to be less vulnerable to electoral positions and speeches. The Catholic hierarchy, on the other hand, benefits from the visit: it will strengthen its attempt to politicize its morality campaigns, not only against abortion, new kinds of couples and defense of the family, but also regarding the debate over freedom of religion where it seeks more room for institutional intervention in society. Nor is an accident that the rush-- to the point of violating procedures—of legislators to pass Article 24 of the Constitution. This legislative fast-track proves there were behind-the-scenes deals. Why the hurry and what were the conditions of this agreement?

2. Electoral battle over Catholic political influence
Clearly, Josefina Vázquez Mota and the PAN would benefit due to their ideological discourses similar to the Pope’s. However, in the face of the political class’s pragmatism, one can expect anything. Peña Nieto’s PRI has been shown to be as conservative when it comes to religious matters as the PAN, even separating itself from its liberal, secular past. It could well claim part of the Pope’s doctrinal legacy. The political calculus dominates as candidates scramble to gain the limelight. In that vein, even Andrés Manuel López, with his “loving republic,” has requested a meeting with Benedict XVI. Is there a Catholic vote, and how much weight does the Catholic hierarchy have to influence voters? In any case, we hope that the politicians who are so excited by the Pope’s visit take note of the references between ethics and power, values and politics, which Benedict XVI will undoubtedly address... Spanish original

By Bernardo Barranco V.

Drug War: Mexico drug lord's fate is focus of election year speculation

Chicago Tribune: "Reporting from Mexico City— A tantalizing question is spicing up talk shows and opinion columns as Mexican voters prepare to elect a new president: Will the government spring a "June surprise" by finally nabbing Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman?

Guzman, you might recall, is the world's most wanted drug suspect — on the lam since escaping a Mexican federal prison in a laundry cart in 2001. He allegedly sits atop a vast crime network reaching into the United States and across much of the globe, and is ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the world's richest men."

In other words, Guzman would be a sweet trophy for President Felipe Calderon, who could use a big score before voters head to the polls July 1.

Calderon's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, and its presidential candidate, Josefina Vazquez Mota, trail in the polls, even though formal campaigning hasn't begun yet. Far ahead is Enrique Peña Nieto, a former governor who hopes to guide the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, back into power after 12 years on the sidelines." read more

Mexico Politics: Josefina Vazquez Mota is the PAN candidate for president

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Josefina Vazquez Mota

Enrique Peña Nieto

With Josefina Vazquez Mota's election, by her party, the three candidates for the Mexican Presidency are set. The other two are Enrique Peña Nieto for PRI (Institutional Revolutionay Party) and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known by his initials as AMLO) for PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution).


CNN Mexico: "On Sunday, Josefina Vazquez Mota became the virtual presidential candidate in the National Action Party (PAN), after winning the primary election. Jose Espina, president of the National Elections Commission of the party, announced that Vazquez Mota has 55% of the votes cast by members and adherents with 86.7% of polling stations counted.

Enrique Peña Nieto and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) are the real adversaries, said Josefina Vazquez Mota after the results become known. "I have no doubt that, next July 1, together we will win the presidency of the Republic (...) I'll be the first female president of the country."" Spanish original

Mexico Politics: PAN official asks for investigation of possible links to the election in the transfer of 25 million pesos

The National Action Party (PAN), the party of President Calderón, chimes in on the Veracruz money case.

Milenio: "The secretary for Goverment Action of PAN (National Action Party), Juan Molinar asked for an investigation into possible links between the (presidential) election and the transfer of 25 million pesos from the government of Veracruz to the state of Mexico. The PAN spokesman said there must be a thorough and specific investigation regarding the resources of the Veracruz administration that were seized.

"When there are 25 million pesos in two suitcases in a capital that has a PRI government, coming from the capital of another PRI government, one has the right to think that maybe something should be investigated there," he said. However, he admitted that, so far, the National Action Party has no specific facts on which to make a formal complaint, and he requested that the audit unit of IFE (Independent Election Commission) make the appropriate investigation of the case." Spanish original