By RICARDO CASTILLO It’s been barely three weeks since Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) won the presidential election and now he has his first major brawl. If a two-and-a-half-week-long honeymoon is good enough, then let it be. Last week, the National Electoral Institute (INE) slapped AMLO’s political party, the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), with a $197 million peso fine for what
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Mexico’s third and final presidential electoral debates on Tuesday, June 12, only served to confirm the until-then prevailing trend shown in the polls all along, and they were a repeat of the previous two debates. In short, neither candidates Ricardo Anaya nor José Antonio Meade managed to impose themselves sufficiently to earn a not-so-glorious second place in voter preference, while frontrunner
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Sunday night television is never prime-time viewing in Mexico. But last Sunday, May 20, ratings were through the roof on a double-header featuring first the Mexican Soccer League championship game between the Torreón Saints and Toluca Red Devils, and, later, the second of three presidential debates, this time featuring the “Fantastic Four” hopefuls. In case you’re interested, the Saints became
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Independent presidential candidate Margarita Zavala finally gave up on her aspirations of becoming the first woman president of Mexico. Last Wednesday, May 16, she made the announcement during a TV talkshow where she was featured as the only interviewee. Her resignation caught nearly everyone off guard as the National Electoral Institute (INE) made it plain and clear
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By RICARDO CASTILLO A major theme among candidates in the ongoing Mexican presidential electoral campaign is the huge political squabble over education. And it seems only natural that education be the top topic of discussion since today Mexico celebrates the 100th anniversary of the declaration of Teachers’ Day or “Día del Maestro.” It was conceived during the drafting of the historic 1917
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By RICARDO CASTILLO A small incident provoked by a well-known journalist highlighted a problem that is beleaguering the current Mexican electoral process. Over the past weekend, the news that political columnist Ricardo Alemán had been fired by two television stations was news. Curiously enough, Alemán was not fired for any content in his two political programs. He was fired for forwarding
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