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 The last lap of Mexico’s 2018 general elections begins today, Tuesday, June 12, with the four presidential candidates meeting in Mérida, Yucatán, for the third and final debates organize by the National Electoral Institute (INE.) As expected, unusual moves are happening. The most notorious is the turn of events stemming out of a stumping speech by the “For Mexico to
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Mexico’s top tycoons are slamming down the electoral panic button! One after another, the owners of the nation’s top fortunes are asking their employees to “weigh the balance” (sopesar, in Spanish) of their vote and vote for continuity and stability. What does that mean? Do not vote for the Together We’ll Make History three-party coalition candidate Andrés
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Mexican senate candidate Nestora Salgado has filed slander and defamation charges against Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate José Antonio Meade. During the May 20 presidential debate, Meade said that “criminal kidnapper” Nestora and Miners and Metal Workers’ Union leader Napoleón Gómez were “convicts” who did not have the right to become legislators. Fake news on the part of
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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 It’s been more than one month of presidential electoral campaign and about the only thing that is certain is that the political trend of the candidates has not budged. But now voters are busy again as the campaigns for Congress, nine state governors and municipal mayors officially kicked off on April 28, so expect that the publicity lambasting
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The good news is that more Mexicans are – at long last – interested in a presidential race. The figures for some foreign observers may not be impressive, but, locally, the audience participation results of last Sunday’s debate issued by the National Electoral Institute (INE) showed that 11.4 million Mexicans watched it and that two out of every
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By RICARDO CASTILLO The stage is set, and all of Mexico is listening. At the last minute, the country’s National Electoral Institute (INE) announced the format for the first debate among presidential hopefuls slated for the evening of this coming Sunday, April 22. The debate will be nationally broadcast on both radio and television. The INE was forced to make shifts in the
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By RICARDO CASTILLO Three issues are beleaguering the ongoing Mexican presidential election. One is the approval by the Electoral Court of the candidacy of now-fifth competitor Jaime “El Bronco” Rodríguez as an independent candidate on the presidential electoral ballot. Second is the 70th birthday party of former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari last week, and, finally, third, the apparent demise of
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