Mexico News Roundup
By RICARDO CASTILLO
Joining Forces against Morena
The leaders of Mexico’s three largest minority parties met on Tuesday, Nov. 10, with two top entrepreneurs who recently formed a political front called Sí por México (Yes for Mexico) to compete against the ruling National Regeneration Movement in the upcoming 2021 midterm elections.
Marko Cortés of the National Action Party (PAN), Alejandro Moreno of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Jesús Zambrano of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) were summoned by Claudio X. González, Jr. and Gustavo de Hoyos Walther-
All three parties made a commitment to back the Sí por México electoral agenda in exchange of “support” for their political candidacies.
Both González and De Hoyos are well known for their opposition to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO),
They led the meeting called the National Citizenry Convention, which was attended by no more than 20 people in keeping with covid-19 social distancing protocols.
González, son of the Mexican tissue paper tycoon by the same name, has previously financed anti-AMLO campaigns, and De Hoyos, still (he will step down at the end of December) president of the Mexican Employers Confederation (Coparmex) tends to bash AMLO on a daily basis.
This, however, is their first alliance with bona fide political parties.
De Hoyos has also launched his bid for the presidency in the 2024 elections.
On Wednesday, Nov. 11, AMLO took time out of his daily press conference to blast the Sí por Mexico organization, claiming that what its members say “yes” to is corruption, poverty, class differences, having the government be at the service “of a rapacious minority” and not paying taxes.
The party leaders said they are joining the entrepreneurs in order to build a majority in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies through the 2021 elections.
Sí por México wants to push Morena out of power through legal electoral means.
Federal Budget Approved
After a long and heated debate, the Mexican Chamber of Deputies approved — with a vote of 297 in favor and 134 against (no abstentions) — AMLO’s proposed 2021 Federal Expenditures Budget, down 0.3 percent from the 2020 budget.
Deputy Erasmo González, president of the Budget and Public Account Committee, said the total budget amounts to 6.295 trillion pesos, pointing out that “the reduction to the budget is a lot less than the downfall of economic activity.”
González added that the budget reflects “the three pillars” proposed by López Obrador, which are to amplify and strengthen the health system, promote a rapid and sustained recovery of employment and economic activity, and reform the safety net to protect Mexico’s poorest populations.
AMLO Censors Censorship
Although AMLO has refused to congratulate the winner apparent of the U.S. presidential election, Joe Biden, “until all legal issues have been resolved,” this week the Mexican president took time to question the Nov. 5 cut away by U.S. media of a speech by President Donald Trump defending his electoral performance during a 5:30 p.m. primetime newscast.
The three big U.S. national networks, CBS, NBC and ABC, apparently made a joint decision that Trump was “lying” about the results of the election.
Network spokespersons later said that they sensed that Trump was going to speak for the rest of their ongoing half-hour evening newscasts, divided into 22 minutes for news and eight for commercials.
Last Monday, Nov. 9, during his daily press conference at the National Palace, AMLO said: “In the country of freedoms, of free press, suddenly the president (Trump) was censored. That’s not to be taken lightly. That has never been seen before. I’m talking about the United States, because in Mexico, we are used to having that done. The TV stations have censored us, a lot. But to see this happen in the United States is something special.”
AMLO went on to recall being cut out by a Mexican network – he did not say which one – during his 2006 presidential campaign, which he lost by a nose to his archrival Felipe Calderón.
Muñoz Ledo Loses Case
Mexico’s Electoral Tribunal tossed out of court a complaint filed by Federal Deputy Porfirio Muñoz Ledo challenging the victory of Mario Delgado for the presidency of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) political party.
Muñoz Ledo claimed that there had been inequality in the presidential renewal of Morena and questioned the use of the same polling companies to carry out a third poll that had conducted the two previous polls.
The judges considered Muñoz Ledo’s inequality arguments “unfounded,” as well as his charge that Delgado had illegally used public funds to promote his candidacy.
The judged decided that Muñoz Ledo had not presented solid evidence to prove that claim..
Case closed.
Tabasco Flooding
A major media rift has broken out between Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) Director Manuel Bartlett Díaz and Tabasco Governor Adán Augusto López Hernández over what or who caused the major floods beleaguering Mexico’s southern coastal state of Tabasco.
López Hernández blamed Bartlett and the CFE “for the mishandling of the Peñitas Dam,” which was filled to the brim by tropical storm Eta.
Reservoir operators were forced to release part of the water to salvage the dam.
The flooding on the lowlands was inevitable and its effects linger on since it displaced over 175,000 people in several townships.
When asked about the tragedy by reporters, Bartlett denied having had anything to do with the flooding, saying “those statements make me laugh because someone (López) is looking for a scapegoat to blame for their own clumsiness.”
AMLO intervened by saying that nobody was to blame because it was a natural disaster and that if anything, the real problem was that silt at the bottom of rivers Usumacinta and Grijalva has not been cleared in over 60years.
That is the real cause for yearly flooding in Tabasco, he said, adding that “the Navy is going to take care of that.”
Interest Rates Remain Steady
The board of directors of the central Banco de Mexico (Banxico) on Thursday, Nov. 12, opted to key the official interest rate at 4.25 percent.
In a press release, Banxico disclosed that members of its board were divided over the issue, but that, finally, the majority had voted to uphold the rate.
Those voting for keeping the rate stable at 4.25 percent said that Banxico would take “needed actions” to keep the rate level with inflation, which up until October was stipulated at a yearly 4.9 percent.
The opponents had sought to lower the rate down to 3 percent, which is the inflation forecast for 2020.
…Nov, 13, 2020