Mexico election council finds ruling party used $5.2 million in cash cards

The Washington Post 
Updated: Thursday, January 24, 6:22 PM

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute has confirmed that President Enrique Pena Nieto’s party spent about $5.2 million through electronic cash cards during last year’s presidential campaign.

While opposition parties had charged the money represented illicit campaign financing, the institute said it found no evidence of that.

Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party has said the money was used for normal party personnel expenses, but the funds aroused suspicion, because the money appeared to have been triangulated through several shadowy companies instead of being disbursed directly from party coffers. Opponents also said they suspected that corporations may have used the cards to make campaign donations, something that is prohibited under Mexican law.  Read more. 

Mexico City mayor seeks to unite left after split

Dave Graham and Anahi Rama

Reuters: September 13, 2012

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is trying to rally Mexico's left behind him after rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would break with the established parties following his defeat in July's presidential election.

Lopez Obrador led a three-party leftist alliance to second place in the election, but on Sunday he told a massive crowd in Mexico City he would form a new political group, potentially opening up a serious rift in the left.

In an interview with Reuters, Ebrard said on Thursday he aims to bring the left back together, contrasting himself with Lopez Obrador, who has strong support among the poor and came close to winning the last two elections but alienated centrist voters with his combative style.

Lopez Obrador staged massive, disruptive protests in the capital to contest his narrow presidential loss to Felipe Calderon in 2006 and this time around he is refusing to accept defeat to President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto.

By going solo with a new party, Lopez Obrador has laid bare tensions in the left between moderates ready to work in Congress and accept Pena Nieto's win, and those firmly opposed to cooperating with his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Lopez Obrador's decision was "utterly predictable" and had not helped the cause, Ebrard said, noting it would be "absurd" if the left did not run on a joint ticket in future elections.

"What we must avoid is having the left destroy itself, that we lose votes next year, that we're no longer second strongest force in 2015 (when legislative elections are held)," said Ebrard, 52, who plans to run for the presidency in 2018. Read more. 

Democrats to increase fight against drug trafficking

Americas Program Original Translation

Wednesday September 5, 2012

J. Jaime Hernandez  | The Universal

CHARLOTTE, NC. - The “dramatic expansion” in size and scope of transnational crime networks today draws its alliances with international terrorism, government officials and some state security services, "hurting people worldwide, posing a threat to stability and subverting government institutions through corruption,” according to the Democratic Party platform, approved here yesterday at the start of their national convention.

According to the document, this transnational threat is within the priorities and commitments of President Barack Obama in the fight against this global scourge. Highlighting the partnership with countries like Mexico in fighting drug cartels and gangs, the Democratic platform is a commitment to the continuation of this struggle.

"Transnational criminal organizations have accumulated wealth and unprecedented power over the drug trade, illegal arms trafficking, human trafficking and other illicit activities that have entered the financial system," says the program, which highlights Obama's priorities in security, international relations and future cooperation.

Highlighting the partnership the United States has with countries like Mexico in the fight against drug traffickers and gangs, the document advocates a greater strain on the finances of the cartels - including a look into the U.S. banking system - for Obama’s second term. According to the document, security and stability on both sides of the border depends on the continuity and improvement of the fight with Mexico against the criminal organizations. Thus, the Obama campaign is committing to the continuity and strengthening of the capacities of the two countries to hit the criminal organizations and their finances and to regionalize these efforts so that the cartels "have no place to hide."

UPDATE 1-Mexico's electoral court set to confirm Pena Nieto victory

Reuters:

* Leftist runner-up alleges vote buying, overspending

* Court ruling due by Thursday or Friday - electoral sources

* Evidence seen as weak, PRI victory likely to be upheld

* Charges underscore challenges facing Mexican democracy

Michael O'Boyle. MEXICO CITY, Aug 28 - Mexico's electoral court is poised to confirm President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto's victory in the July 1 ballot, despite allegations of vote buying and money laundering during the campaign, electoral officials and legal experts said.

Leftist runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the presidential election by 3.3 million votes, challenged the result, alleging that Pena Nieto's party used slush funds to buy votes and breached spending limits. Read more.

In Mexico, Yo Soy 132 ponders next step

LA Times: Yo Soy 132 ('I am 132'), a student movement disenchanted with Mexico's democracy, says it wants to keep the PRI on its toes, even if the election is over.

Richard Fausset. MEXICO CITY — Here they were again, marching through the dark and the rain — the preppies from private universities, the hipsters in fat-lace skater sneakers, the young intellectuals with faces framed in wispy Che Guevara beards, the regular kids with backpacks and smartphones. Read more.

Mexican retailer lashes out at losing presidential candidate

LA Times Blogs: Richard Fausset. MEXICO CITY -- One of Mexico's largest retailers has been unwillingly dragged into the hullabaloo over just how dirty the nation's recent presidential election was, and now it's yelling "ya basta!" -- enough already -- and accusing the runner-up of promoting protests at its stores that have been marked by "aggressiveness and violence."

The retail giant Soriana, which operates more than 500 grocery stores, quickie marts and Wal-Mart-style megastores, became entangled in the country's impassioned postelectoral narrative soon after the July 1 vote. At that time reports surfaced that supporters of the victorious Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, were jamming the outlets' aisles in the hopes of redeeming prepaid Soriana gift cards that the PRI had allegedly given them. Read more.

Mexico: The Campaign Continues

NACLA: Fred Rosen. Confusion reigns in the post-campaign. The months following Mexico’s presidential election are turning out to be as conflictive and as revelatory of Mexican politics as the election itself. One of the nasty debates of the post-campaign centers around the testimony of a Mexican-American public relations hustler named José Luis Ponce de Aquino.

The PR man claims to have been approached by campaign functionaries of the victorious (maybe) Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and hired to use his many media contacts and his own media/public relations firm, Frontera Televisión Network LLP, to promote a favorable image of PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto in the United States. For his services, says Ponce de Aquino, he was offered (in writing) the outsized sum of $56 million dollars, but was never paid. Read more.

Protesters blockade Mexico's biggest TV station

Reuters: Thousands of protesters on Thursday blockaded the studios of Mexico's most popular TV network, accusing it of biased coverage of the July 1 presidential election.

Shouting "Tell the truth," the demonstrators, including students and union workers, stopped employees entering the offices of the Televisa studios in Mexico City although they allowed others to leave. Read more.

Youth agree on a peaceful demonstration at Televisa

- In the event of any provocation, protestors will sit on the floor.
El Universal: Americas Program Original Translation  (See Spanish Original)
The People’s Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), the Mexican Electrician’s Union (SME), and the National Committee of Education Workers (CNTE), support the civil and peaceful demonstration that includes the “symbolic take” of Televisa by the #Iam132 movement, as part of their actions against what they call the "imposition" of Enrique Pena Nieto as president of Mexico.

This coming Friday, universities and organizations will set up a “human circle” around the Chapultepec Televisa that will last for 24 hours, in which they will prevent access to the company’s facilities, but will not obstruct the way out for staff.

In a press conference, the participants said that in the event of any provocation they will not respond with violence, instead, will only sit on the floor.

“No one will march with a hood or with their face concealed, nor will anyone carry objects or weapons…no one will be allowed to participate under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” they said.

With respect to the demonstrations planned for the Televisa facilities in the other Mexican states, the local assemblies called for avoiding any provocation.

The “human circle” will be formed from Thursday, the 26th, at 8:00 pm, congregating in the Revolution Monument, and from this point march toward the Televisa at Chapultepec.

Mexico's PRI says left violated campaign finance rules

Fox News Latino: Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's campaign should be investigated for using grassroots organizations as "parallel structures" to evade campaign finance rules, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, said.

Both the leftist Progressive Movement and its presidential candidate received funds that they hid from election officials, "triangulating them via grassroots organizations, such as Austeridad Republicana and Honestidad Valiente, among others," PRI leaders said in a press conference on Monday. Read more.

Thousands turn out to march against election results in Mexico

AP: MEXICO CITY – Thousands marched through Mexico City's center on Sunday to protest what they called the "imposition" of the candidate of the old ruling party as the country's new president.

Protesters carried signs accusing presumed President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto of electoral fraud and Mexico television giant Televisa of being a "factory of lies." Opponents say Pena Nieto's party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, won the July 1 election through vote-buying and overspending, including paying major media outlets such as Televisa for favorable coverage. Read more.

Mexico student movement plans more protests against Peña Nieto

latimes.com: MEXICO CITY -- The student-led movement that emerged in Mexico against president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto is planning another round of protests Sunday. The protests are part of a wave of demonstrations that began almost spontaneously during the presidential campaign and appear to still be drawing big crowds since the July 1 election.

The #YoSoy132 movement, or "I Am 132," said it will call demonstrations in "all public plazas" and at the presidential residence Los Pinos in Mexico City, in rejection of Peña Nieto's victory by more than 3 million votes over his nearest rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Read more.

Mexico presidential runner-up unveils plan to turn up heat on rival

Reuters: Mexico's presidential runner-up said on Friday he would launch a media offensive and stage rallies around Mexico to try to overturn the victory of Enrique Pena Nieto, whom he accuses of buying votes to win the presidency.

Unveiling his plan for a "defense of democracy," leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said television and radio spots would be used to inform the public of the vote buying and money laundering he said was behind Pena Nieto's win. Read more.

#IAm132 demands that the TEPJF give credibility to the election

La Jornada: Americas Program Original Translation by Ryan Gentzler

See Spanish Original.

- Presents action proposal “to protect democracy”
- If the authority ignores complaints, there will be a “risk of social unrest”

Emir Olivares and Laura Poy. The commission of citizen’s watch and the #IAm132 movement’s legal and human rights committees presented a plan of action to “protect democracy, demand a clean electoral process, demand the invalidation of the presidential election and prevent the imposition [of Enrique Peña Nieto],” which includes participation in this Sunday’s “megamarch.”

Representatives of both organizations clarified that several points of the plan must be approved by the interuniversity congress that will be held on July 28 and 29 in Morelia, Michoacán.

In the press conference, they called on the Electoral Tribunal of Judicial Power (TEPJF) to “give credibility” to the election and contribute to cleaning up the polls, and said that calling them clean, equitable and transparent “would send a very bad message to society. The assessment of the electoral process has already been given by the citizens and it doesn’t favor the PRI’s candidate.”

They warned that if the electoral authorities ignore “the thousands of citizen complaints (about alleged irregularities) documented up to this point, it would be a step towards a serious risk of social unrest.”

Mexico’s conservative party joins leftists in demanding probe of presidential winner’s funding

In the latest development of the ongoing legal challenge to this month's presidential election, runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Gustavo Madero, national chairman of the PAN, have jointly accused the victorious PRI of laundering millions of dollars through front organizations to fund Enrique Peña Nieto's campaign and are demanding that the election be annulled.

AP: MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s conservative National Action Party said Thursday it has “strong and conclusive evidence of the use of illicit funds” in the campaign of the winner of the July 1 presidential election, Enrique Pena Nieto.

National Action leader Gustavo Madero said his group is joining with the country’s leftist parties to demand that electoral authorities investigate the use of pre-paid debit cards purportedly used by Pena Nieto’s campaign to distribute an estimated 108 million pesos ($8.2 million). That would be about a third of all the money he was legally allowed to use in the race. Read more.

Posted by Ryan Gentzler. 

Plan to “take on and surround” Televisa and boycott Soriana and Wal-Mart

La Jornada: Americas Program Original Translation
See Spanish Original.
- National demonstration against fraud, meeting in Atenco

Laura Poy Solano and Javier Salinas Cesáreo. San Salvador Atenco, Méx., July 15th. On participating on the first National Convention Against the Imposition, representatives of at least 300 organizations achieved a national central focus of action that will bring together students, farmers, workers, unions and teachers, who will drive national demonstrations, boycott companies that participated in fraud, occupy public plazas and “take on and surround” the Televisa facilities throughout the country, with the objective of preventing Enrique Peña Nieto from assuming presidency.

Members of the #Iam132 movement, Villages in Defense of Land Front (FPDT), Mexican Electricians Union (SME) and the National Committee of Education Workers (CNTE), among others, approved of having a national march this July 22nd in the capital of the country, while on Friday the 27th, they will call for action against the television company, among other measures, even though they will postpone for the second convention, to be carried out the 22nd and 23rd of September in Oaxaca, the plan for action that will take place between November 20th to December 1st.

For more than five hours, the 2,600 delegates and representatives of 29 organizations, according to figures from the organizers, discussed more than 200 mobilization proposals. August 4th was the date agreed on to convene in Jalisco for the meeting for the provisional national committee to organize its second convention. Likewise, on Friday the 8th, they will call their first national community protest and test out a general strike.

Mexico sees start of election challenge process

AP: Mexico's highest electoral court has formally received the legal challenges filed by the second-place leftist candidate seeking to annul the July 1 presidential elections.

The challenges filed by leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appear to face an uphill struggle given the 6.6.-percent margin of victory for the winner of the race, Enrique Pena Nieto. Read more.

Women Secure a Third of Mexican Parliament

Comunicación e Información de la Mujer AC, Cimac: Re-published by Inter Press Service.

MEXICO CITY - Female candidates are poised to occupy an unprecedented third of the seats in Mexico’s bicameral parliament when preliminary results for the Jul.1 election are confirmed.

In the lower chamber, 95 women were elected through direct vote (in a relative majority system), according to the preliminary results from the Federal Electoral Institute.

That is 31.7 percent of the seats filled through direct vote in that chamber, almost doubling the 17.33 percent obtained in 2009 when 52 women were elected. In the previous elections, however, eight women had given up their places to a male alternate. Read more.

Mexico’s Congress presents the ‘unpresentable ones’

Washington Post: MEXICO CITY — While all eyeballs in Mexico were glued to the presidential election this month, the seats of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies were quietly being filled.

By the “unpresentable ones.”

As they are known in the Mexican news media, los impresentables are legislators whose names do not appear on ballots, who often do not campaign, who, in fact, may be kept out of sight. But based on how many overall votes their respective parties receive at the polls, they are named to the legislature.

They are some of the most powerful people in Mexico. Read more.

Mexico's Election: A Vote for Peace, a Plan for War

The Nation: Tom Hayden. The authorities were boasting that all flights were on time as I landed at Mexico City’s international airport on June 26 to cover the country’s national election. Terminal 2 bustled with travelers; the duty-free shops gleamed with jewelry and alcohol, and the food courts were in full service mode. Only twenty-four hours earlier, however, travelers were crawling on the same terminal floor during a shootout that killed three federal police. The shooters escaped in broad daylight. The dead officers were not shot by narcotraffickers but by other police who apparently were working for the narcos. It turned out that AeroMexico stewardesses were helping export cocaine on flights to Spain. Bienvenidos to the Mexican labyrinth, where nothing is transparent, including elections. Read more.