La Doña Tortas

La doña Tortas te pregunta si las quieres con chilaquiles rojos o verdes. Llevas más de media hora esperando este momento, sufriendo ver cómo a la Doña le ha dado a más de una docena de gente ((novios crudos, católicos saliendo de misa, artistas con sus perros, guarros y polis)) sus tortas. La Doña es alta, con una panza grande que consta el consumo de años de exitosas y famosas tortas de chilaquil, las que traen una capa de frijol negro, chilaquil cremoso, salado y picosito, una crema blanca, queso (de petróleo probablemente), y una pechuga de pollo frita en grasa vegetal, esas que venden a granel en diez litros.

"chilaquiles verdes," le dices.

La Doña chifla a su hija de cinco años.

"¡PECHUGAAA!" grita, y en menos de un minuto sale la niña con una hielera

"hice check-in," comenta una chica a su novio. (este puesto tiene su propia ubicación en four square).

Ya por fin la Doña tiene las pechugas para hacer mi torta. Saca un bolillo de una cubeta, la corta a la mitad a lo largo y desgarra parte del contenido interno para hacer espacio. Tira el desperdicio en una bolsa. Los patos les encantaría esos pedacitos.

"¿Con verdes o rojos jóven?" te pregunta. La Doña anda muy distraída hoy, entre la falta de ingredientes vitales (("YA NO HAY DE COCHINITO" había anunciado hace poco)) y los clientes tercos que pagan con un billete de 200.

"Verdes, por fa, y sin el quesito."

"Vecino, nos llegó el recibo de luz, ahí luego hacemos las cuentas," me comenta la Doña.

"Ah, bien."

Doña Tortas suele traer una playera negra, "To be angel" dice. Por estar parada todos los días de 830 a 1300 tiene las piernas desproporcionadamente delgadas.

"¡MALAS NOTICIAS!" anuncia. "¡YA NO HAY PECHUGA," provocando a que algunos salgan de la fila, decepcionados hambrientosos. "Hay que preparar a los clientes para que ya no coman pechuga," dice a su hermana, que es casi igual pero güera, mas chaparra.

Ésta enrolla mi torta en una hoja de plástico.

Por fin, la maravillosa torta de chilaquil.

La amo, las amo.

AMLO aims to entice electrical workers

López Obrador says Alejandro Encinas would hire most SME electrical workers if elected governor of the State of Mexico

Mexico Weekly / April 15, 2011

Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday made a lofty promise to thousands of unemployed electrical workers in exchange for their electoral support.

During a political rally, the erstwhile presidential candidate said the 15,000-plus members of the SME electrical workers union who have refused severance payments would be rehired as state workers if López Obrador’s preferred candidate, Alejandro Encinas, is elected governor of the State of Mexico on July 3.
This campaign promise came only three days after 11 members of the SME were arrested during violent protests carried out by the union in Mexico City. Union leader Martín Esparza has been summoned by police for questioning in a related incident.
For those not rehired under an Encinas administration, López Obrador said that if elected president next year, he would restore the Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LFC) power company and restore them to their jobs.
President Calderón dissolved the LFC in October 2009, citing inefficiency and high operational costs. The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), the country's only remaining state-owned power company, absorbed LFC operations and now provides electricity to the capital and surrounding areas.

López Obrador did not explain if the promise to hire SME members was his own idea or Encinas’, nor did he specify if he had discussed the proposal with Encinas, Milenio reported.

Speaking On Behalf Of Encinas

This is not the first time López Obrador has spoken on behalf of Encinas, who will compete as the PRD, Labor Party and Convergencia candidate in the State of Mexico gubernatorial election.

In late March, López Obrador claimed Calderón personally had asked Encinas to accept the nomination of a PRD-PAN alliance.
Encinas partially denied the claim.

“I have had no direct interaction with [Calderón] or with any of his advisers,” Encinas said, according to the magazine La Revista Peninsular. “Members of my party … proposed that I lead the alliance, which I obviously rejected."
Although nearly a quarter million State of Mexico residents who participated in a referendum on March 27 voted in favor of a PRD-PAN alliance, the PRD National Committee voted against the alliance two weeks later.
The possible alliance was seen by some as a strategy to topple eight decades of PRI government in the State of Mexico.

—By Bronson Pettitt

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Encinas candidacy up in the air

Despite assurances he resides in Texcoco, local authorities doubt his assertion, refuse to grant him proof of residency certificate

Mexico Weekly / April 14, 2011

Ruling party members in the State of Mexico say Alejandro Encinas does not fulfill residency requirements to become a gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming July state election.

Amado Acosta García, the PRI mayor of the municipality of Texcoco, says Encinas, who plans to run for governor as a leftist coalition candidate, submitted an application for proof of residency in the state, El Universal reported Thursday.

However, municipal authorities have not answered Encinas’ request, citing doubts that he is really a resident of Texcoco. Local officials insist it should be state electoral officials, not municipal authorities, who determine Encinas’eligibility, El Universal reported.

Acosta says that along with Encinas’ application for proof of residency, the former Mexico City mayor also submitted a recently issued IFE electoral ID that includes an address in a small town near Texcoco.

According to the state Constitution, candidates must be residents of the State of Mexico for at least five years before Election Day.

Encinas was born in Mexico City in 1954 and studied economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Currently on a leave of absence as a federal deputy and the PRD Chamber of Deputies bloc leader, Encinas previously served two terms as deputy (1985-88 and 1991-94). He was also interim Mexico City mayor from August 2005 to December 2006, after Andrés Manuel López Obrador took a leave of absence to run for president.

Reforma reported Thursday that Encinas changed his place of residency to the State of Mexico on Dec. 4, 2006, but the elections are to take place on July 3, five months shy of the five-year requirement.

However, the law itself appears to be unclear. Article 68 of the State of Mexico constitution establishes that for a State of Mexico resident (born there or elsewhere) to be eligible for the office of governor, he or she must have lived in the state for at least three years and should have had a permanent address in the state for at least five years.

Encinas defends his eligibility, saying he meets the three-year provision since he has resided in Texcoco since 1979, Reforma reported Thursday.

When asked to show his electoral ID with the Texcoco address, Encinas said he did not have it with him at the time.

“I don’t carry it with me, [because] if I lose it, imagine what would happen!” he said, according to Reforma.

— By Bronson Pettitt

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New Senate building finally unveiled

After a seven-month delay and 50 percent cost overruns, the new site was inaugurated Wednesday

Mexico Weekly / April 13, 2011

After months of delays and hundreds of millions of pesos in cost overruns, senators on Wednesday inaugurated their new home in central Mexico City.

The building, located on touristy Paseo de la Reforma, was meant to be finished last September, yet construction is still going on. The building will not be fully completed until the end of April, El Universal reported.

The company in charge of the project – Mexican-based GAMI – will be fined 5 million pesos ($416,667) for the delay, according to El Universal.

The construction was also 50 percent over budget. Costs have reached 2.6 billion pesos ($213.58 million), when only 1.699 billion pesos ($141.6 million) was originally allocated for the project back in 2007, La Jornada reported.

The total cost of the new Senate building is twice this year's total budget for the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM).

New Building Excesses

Indeed, some lawmakers have criticized apparent excesses in the new building – marble and granite were imported from China, and furniture was brought in from Italy and Spain.

Spanish company Sutega won a 170 million-peso ($14.2 million) contract to provide furniture for lawmakers’ offices and work areas, La Jornada reported.

“Are we going to inaugurate these excesses – with Italian chairs so that senators are comfortable – while there are construction workers here [in Mexico] who are unemployed?” asked Labor Party Sen. Ricardo Monreal, according to La Jornada.

The new building also includes touch-screen computers for senators to vote on, to reduce paper consumption; a solar water-heating system; energy-saving light bulbs;

and a rainwater recycling system, El Economista reported.

Tuesday marked the senators’ last day at the building on Calle Xicoténcatl, also in the Centro Histórico.

On their last day there, senators rushed through 17 bills, most of them passed without debate, Milenio reported. Among them was a law that will allow the military to transfer desk personnel to combat areas in emergency situations.

The Xicoténcatl structure was used by the Senate for 80 years, and will continue to be used as an alternate Senate building. Parts of the building will be turned into a museum.

Lawmakers will continue to hold the presentation ceremony for the Belisario Domínguez Award (the top prize given by the Senate to distinguished citizens) at Xicoténcatl.

— By Bronson Pettitt

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Montiel says he was threatened in 2005

In a new book, the former State of Mexico governor says he ended presidential hopes after masked men broke into his parents’ home

Mexico Weekly / April 12, 2011

Norma Meraz, wife of former State of Mexico Gov. Arturo Montiel, writes in her new book, “Arturo Montiel from Atlacomulco,” of her husband's career and his presidential aspirations in late 2005. Meraz asserts that Montiel’s aspirations were effectively ended when Madrazo went on national television and accused Montiel of embezzling millions of pesos and corruption.

The claims damaged Montiel’s image and his hopes to be nominated as the PRI presidential candidate in 2006. The PRI president, Madrazo, eventually won the nomination but did poorly in the presidential election, and Montiel disappeared from public life.

In an interview published in Excélsior Tuesday, Meraz said her book responds to the efforts by Montiel’s opponents to sabotage his image and presidential aspirations.

Meraz spent hundreds of hours interviewing her husband for the book. In it, Montiel says he received death threats as the election approached. Masked men also broke into his parents’ home, though Montiel did not report this at the time.

In the book, Montiel says not reporting the threats and the break-in were among the biggest mistakes of his career.

Some politicians have interpreted the book as a possible return to politics for Montiel.

But Meraz said she hasn't given it too much thought. “He [Montiel] is a relevant politician, he keeps up on what’s going on in the country and is in contact with a lot of people. But for him to get back into politics … I would rather continue to enjoy spending time with my family.”

Meraz insists that the book's release was not originally planned for publication just a few months before the crucial gubernatorial elections in the State of Mexico, Excélsior reported.

— By Bronson Pettitt

Link

SME members clash with riot police

Protest by members of the electrical workers' union quickly escalates into anarchy

Mexico Weekly / April 11, 2011

Clashes between members of the electrical workers' union and riot police in central Mexico City on Monday left five cars incinerated and several people injured.

Television footage shot early Monday showed members of the SME electrical
 workers union (SME) confronting capital officers and riot police
 outside the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) headquarters. At least eight people were arrested.

The SME was holding demonstrations to mark the 18-month anniversary of the dissolution of the Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LFC) power company by President Calderón.

About 16,000 of the total 43,000 SME members have refused to accept severance payments. The CFE took over LFC operations to become the country's only state-owned power company.

In a nationally televised address on Oct. 11, 2009, President Calderón said the decree to disband the state-owned company was a result of its spiraling financial losses and its inefficiency.

However, the CFE might not be as efficient as the federal government claims.

According to a Chamber of Deputies study released earlier this year, the CFE generated less electricity in 2009 but spent more to purchase power from private companies.

'Vandalism Won’t Be Tolerated’

Following Monday’s clashes, SME members marched toward the Zócalo to demand that several members who were arrested in the incident be released.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said vandalism would not be tolerated.

“This was a very serious error and we aren’t going to allow this to happen in the city,” Ebrard said, according to El Universal.

City officials predict SME demonstrations will continue. SME-led protests and blockades in Mexico City have become a common occurrence since the LFC was dissolved, and are likely to continue indefinitely.

Electrical workers are not the only ones at odds with the federal government.

In 2007, the Miners and Metal Workers Union went on strike at the Cananea mine in Sonora allegedly over mine owner Grupo México’s refusal to remedy health and safety hazards. However, in June 2010 hundreds of federal and state police invaded the mine and ended the nearly three-year-long strike.

Both unions have been fractured amid internal power struggles.

SME members are fighting union leader Martín Esparza's grab for greater power, and the miners union is divided by Napoleon Gómez Urrutia’s leadership such that dissident unions have gained ground.

Link

Big business defends big-box stores

++ A group representing Mexico's business community says it is against a proposal by the Mexico City government to limit the distance supermarkets can open from traditional markets.

The Business Coordinating Council said in a full-page advertisement in Reforma Thursday that it “energetically rejects these types of controls because they violate basic liberties of businesses protected by our laws.”

Earlier this week, City Hall sent a bill to lawmakers to impose rezoning regulations in areas near traditional markets. The bill is meant to curb the influence of supermarkets and department stores in areas where traditional market culture thrives.

The bill does not specifically define the distance a supermarket or department store can open from traditional markets.

“Limits to economic activity affect free competition, inhibit private investment and employment, and negatively impact the interests of consumers in the capital,” the advertisement stated.

Mexico City has 318 traditional markets, officials say.

— Mexico Weekly