By MARK LORENZANA At least for the time being, the proposal to extend the presence of the Armed Forces on the streets for public security tasks until 2028 has been suspended by the Mexican Senate. During the discussion, Ricardo Monreal, leader of the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) majority bloc in the Senate, took the stand on Wednesday, Sept. 21,
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By MARK LORENZANA Raúl Paz Alonzo, a senator from the Mexican state of Yucatán and member of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), has defected to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena). On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Paz Alonzo was received with fanfare by his new Morena colleagues in the Mexican Senate, after accepting a position in
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By MARK LORENZANA On Wednesday, Sept. 14, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved a proposal to use the Armed Forces for public security tasks until 2028, but according to Ricardo Monreal, upper-house leader of the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena), the proposal might hit a snag in the Mexican Senate. The initiative has been moved to the Senate, and is scheduled
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By MARK LORENZANA The military has long been on the list of untouchables in Mexico. The Mexican National Guard (GN) might soon be added to that list. On Friday, Sept. 9, the Mexican Senate approved a legislation transferring control of the GN to the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), a contentious move that has sparked outrage from human rights groups
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OPINION By ALEJANDRO ENVILA FISHER Far more contested than the candidacy for the Mexican presidency is the upcoming battle to see who will become the next governor of Mexico City. Both elections will be determined in 2024, and while the results of the presidential poll are pretty much a given — current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) leftist National
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By MARK LORENZANA The plenary session of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, Aug. 31, ratified the appointment of Santiago Creel as president of the board of directors of the legislative precinct of San Lázaro, while Alejandro Armenta was elected as president of the Mexican Senate. Creel, of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), was elected unanimously as president of
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OPINION By MARK LORENZANA The word democracy is a combination of two Greek words: demos, which means “people” and kratos, which means “rule.” The ancient Greeks, after all, are credited with inventing democracy as a form of government. In Mexico, though, “the rule of the people” has been steadily replaced by the rule of one man — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
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OPINION By MARK LORENZANA Veteran Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos, in an article for the now-defunct U.S. political and opinion website Splinter, wrote about the curious Mexican political custom of “el dedazo,” which, when translated roughly, means “to point a finger.” “As a young man, I was obsessed with the political phenomenon of ‘el dedazo’ in Mexico. It didn’t make sense
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By MARK LORENZANA Mexico City Governor Claudia Sheinbaum should buckle down to work and stop the illegal early campaigning, demanded Kenia López Rabadán, deputy coordinator of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) caucus in the Mexican Senate. On Friday, July 1, Sheinbaum flew to the southeast Mexican state of Tabasco where her party mate, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador
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By MARK LORENZANA The Mexican Senate, which is currently headed by the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), has not disclosed its expenses for the years 2020 and 2021. Morena has been known to preach austerity and transparency, but in the Senate — where it chairs the Board of Directors, the governing body of the
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