By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) presented a list on Monday, Feb. 11, of nine high-ranking former government officials – including former President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa — who he said either worked for or collaborated with foreign companies in the electricity sector and contributed to á gradual destruction of the state-owned National Electricity Commission (CFE) that led
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By RICARDO CASTILLO It was 30 years ago that Mexico took a veritable turn towards becoming a democratic system. At the time, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) still ruled the nation. Yet the man who became president on Dec. 1, 1988, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, noticed that the lights had changed and that the PRI had to let go of
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is not yet president of Mexico, but he’s already indirectly issued his first executive order through the Mexican Senate. On Monday, Nov. 6, his first fully fulfilled campaign promise to strip former presidents of their juicy pension went into effect as Senate President Martí Batres ordered the publication in the Official Gazette of the
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Here in Mexico, we have witnessed a lot more than a tempest in a teapot as President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) is claiming over the new airport debate. The cancellation of the construction of the New International Mexico Airport (NAIM) has unleashed the virulent “fifi” press against the future president of Mexico. It was, however, a
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By RICARDO CASTILLO It’s no big surprise in Mexico that a single word, taken out of context, can reek havoc nationwide. It is happening right now! Last Sunday, Sept. 16, President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) began his “thank you voters” tour (which he will extend over the next month to the rest of nation for awarding him with a landslide victory
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The new Chamber of Deputies president, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, is a master of political discourse and parliamentary procedures. During the “installation” (to use the Mexican term for inauguration) of the two houses of Congress last Saturday, Sept. 1, Porfirio, at age 85, presided over the inaugural process of the 64th Legislature. And in so doing, he showed his experience
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Nowadays, the big news in México is full of announcements about the shape of things to come for the 2018-2024 administration of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). But the one item that really grabbed public attention this past week as the future president appointed his cabinet was the place where their offices will be: the National Palace. “They will all have
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Keen insider observers consider that the first gathering of the disperse National Action Party (PAN) at its headquarters in Colonia Del Valle in Mexico City on Saturday, Aug. 10, looked more like a witches’ black sabbath than a political reunion. It became clear that “the spells” to bring “party unity” came from as many as six different
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Two events on Wednesday, Aug. 8, stood out on the Mexican political landscape. One was expected, but the second one was not. To clear things up quickly, the expected event was when Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) finally got the official recognition from the Federal Electoral Court as president-elect- No surprise there. The unexpected event happened at 1:30 a.m. – nearly 12 hours before
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Last Sunday, May 6, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate José Antonio Meade Kuribreña made a second launching of his floundering campaign. The change came perhaps too late, just 50 days before Mexico’s July 1 election. The fact is that until then, Meade – seen as an honest and indeed enthusiastic candidate – was one of a group of
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