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

Link

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

Link

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

Link

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

Televisa to invest $1.6 billion in Iusacell

TV giant joins forces with Iusacell to fight Carlos Slim’s grip on the cell phone industry

Mexico Weekly / April 7, 2011

Grupo Televisa announced Thursday it will invest $1.6 billion in cell phone operator Grupo Iusacell.

The transaction means Televisa will own half the shares of Iusacell, allowing the television giant to enter the cell phone industry, dominated by Carlos Slim’s Telcel.

Iusacell, Mexico’s third-largest cell phone operator, has announced it will use $1.565 billion to pay off debts and the rest to expand its network.

Iusacell is part of Grupo Salinas, which also owns TV Azteca, Televisa’s main television competitor.

The two TV networks, along with 20 other cable TV operators, recently formed an alliance that has launched an aggressive media campaign against Slim’s telecoms empire.

Through its 51-percent participation in Cablevisión, Televisa has been able to offer triple play services (cable TV, fixed phone and broadband Internet).

Grupo Salinas, on the other hand, launched its Total Play service last year, which also offers triple play services.

“Carlos Slim is an enemy who's too strong for [Grupo Televisa and Grupo Salinas] to face on their own,” El Universal columnist Salvador García Soto wrote on Wednesday.

This is Televisa's second attempt to step into the cell phone industry. Last year, Televisa sought to acquire 30 percent of Nextel de México, but the bidding process was terminated after other operators – among them Iusacell – challenged the deal in courts.

MVS Also Wants A Piece

Also on Thursday, MVS Communications announced it had signed a partnership with Intel, Alestra and Clearwire to build and operate a national 4G Internet network.

MVS president Joaquín Vargas said the next-generation service would be up to 20 times faster and 50 percent cheaper than current broadband offerings.

The consortium does not yet have approval from the Federal Competition Commission, but it does have the support of some commissioners from the Telecommunications Commission, Excélsior reported Thursday.

“Joaquín Vargas has put something on the table that no one else [has]: ultra-high speed mobile Internet that is now possible for Mexico,” business commentator Carlos Mota wrote in his column in Milenio on Thursday.

Link

Mexicans march for an end to violence

Marches against violence have been planned for dozens of cities following the killing of Javier Sicilia's son

By Bronson Pettitt

Mexico Weekly / April 6, 2011

Marches will take place in dozens of cities on Wednesday to demand an end to violence and to call for peace amid escalating drug-related violence.

The mobilization in at least 32 cities and more than a dozen in other countries (http://marchaporlaseguridad6deabril.blogspot.com/ ) is believed to be the largest of its kind since late 2006, when President Calderón decided to launch an armed offensive against drug cartels that have left tens of thousands dead.

The movement, organized by the Network for Peace and Justice, was created in response to the torture and murder of five young people in Morelos last week.

Among the victims was Juan Francisco Sicilia, 24-year-old son of poet and columnist Javier Sicilia.

Sicilia met with Calderón Wednesday morning, but details of their meeting were not immediately known.

‘No More Poetry'

Wednesday's movement comes amid a widespread frustration of violence and homicides.

“The death of my son Juan Francisco has prompted solidarity and outrage of citizens and the media, which my family and I appreciate from the bottom of our hearts,” Sicilia wrote in a letter directed at politicians and criminals published in Proceso magazine Sunday.

The tragedy also prompted Sicilia to announce that he will no longer write poems.

He wrote his last poem, dedicated to his son, on the flight back to Mexico from the Philippines after he was informed of his son’s death.

The last half of the eight-line poem reads:

“And the pain does not leave me / There is only one world left / For the silence of the just / Only for your silence and my silence, Juanelo."

Failed Strategies

In his letter published in Proceso, Sicilia criticized politicians for their “poorly planned, poorly executed, poorly directed war” against drug traffickers that have left more than 35,000 people dead - 9,000 of whom have not been identified, according to the National Human Rights Commission.

“We are sick and tired, because the corruption of our justice system generates complicity with crime and impunity,” Sicilia wrote. “We are sick and tired because [as a result of violence] citizens have lost confidence in politicians, police officers and the Army.”

On Wednesday, Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna defended the federal government’s strategy against drug cartels, and said “protests should be directed against criminals,” not the government.

In a television interview with Carlos Loret de Mola, García Luna said the armed offensive against drug cartels was not “poorly planned” nor “poorly directed,” as Sicilia wrote.

“The strategy is dynamic, not static. I don’t share the opinion that the Mexican government should make deals with criminals,” he said, referring to reports that Sicilia had called on the government to negotiate with drug trafficking groups to put an end to violence.

However, in a press conference Tuesday Sicilia said his remarks were taken out of context.

‘Sick and Tired'

Mexican columnists have elaborated on the phrase Sicilia has popularized in recent days: “Estamos hasta la madre” (We are sick and tired).

In his Wednesday column in Excélsior, political commentator Ricardo Alemán said the phrase went from being a colloquial phrase of annoyance to a powerful call for street protests.

“The majority of Mexicans have adopted the poet’s call: ‘estamos hasta la madre’,” wrote Alemán.

One of Wednesday’s main protests will take place in Sicilia’s home city of Cuernavaca, where protesters will march to the main city square.

Other marches will be held in Mexico City, Cancún, Ciudad Juárez, and at least 21 other cities.

Elsewhere, marches will be held near Mexican embassies and consulates in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, The Hague, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Santiago.

Link

Mexico City government wants to protect 'mercados'

A new bill aims to ban supermarkets from operating near traditional markets in the city

By BRONSON PETTITT

Mexico Weekly / April 5, 2011

The Mexico City government says it wants to ban new supermarkets and department stores from opening near traditional markets.

City Hall will send a bill to the Federal District Legislative Assembly (ALDF) to impose rezoning regulations in areas near certain markets.

City officials say the bill, if passed, will only apply to new supermarkets and department stores, not those already operating near traditional markets.

The extent of the bill is unclear, since it does not define how close a supermarket or department store can open from a traditional market. It is also unclear how many of the 318 existing markets would be affected by the bill.

At a Monday press briefing, Leticia Bonifaz, the city's legal adviser, said supermarkets will not be allowed to be build in neighborhoods where traditional markets play an important role in the lives of residents.

Bonifaz cited the case of the southern Xochimilco and Tláhuac boroughs where residents prevented certain stores from setting up shop.

“The central areas of neighborhoods in each borough and their markets, parks, churches ... must be protected [from supermarkets],” Bonifaz said.

Curb Supermarket, Department Store Influence

The proposal comes as Wal-Mart has announced ambitious expansion plans. Last year, Walmart de México (Walmex) opened 267 stores in Mexico, 147 of which were Bodega Aurrerá Express stores (mini supermarkets).

Markets are an important part of daily life in some areas of the capital. La Merced, in central Mexico City, is one of the largest markets in Latin America and sells just about everything Mexican.

Nearby is the Sonora Market, famous for its herbal and witch remedies and even the sale of live, endangered animals. Also downtown is the San Juan Market that sells exotic meats, fruits, vegetables and other imported products.

Mercado Medellín, in the Roma neighborhood, offers South American products, while the extensive Mercado de Plantas Cuemanco in Xochimilco sells plants and flowers native to Mexico.

The proposed bill is meant to curb the influence of supermarkets and department stores in areas where traditional market culture thrives.

The bill would affect chains such as Waldo’s (similar to a dollar store), Wal-Mart and its subsidiaries (Sam's Club, the discount chain Bodega Aurrerá and Superama, which carries higher-quality products), Comercial Mexicana (and its subsidiaries Mega and Sumesa) and Soriana.

Critics of these chains say they unfairly compete with traditional markets.

According to its website, Walmex operates 134 stores in Mexico City. Soriana has 27 stores in the capital, and Comercial Mexicana (including Sumesa and Mega) has 42 stores. Waldo's has 27 locations.

Not A Ban

“We aren't going to ban [supermarkets]; it's important that they continue to operate in the city, but not next to neighborhood markets so as not to create unfair competition,” Assemblywoman Alejandra Barrales told reporters Monday during a tour of the Jamaica Market in central Mexico City.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard says he also supports the measures.

“We want markets to survive and prosper, because more than 80,000 families work in markets,” said Ebrard, who accompanied Barrales on Monday.

Barrales said the ALDF is also considering extending the measures to convenience stores.

Chains such as Oxxo, 7/11, Circle K and Extra are increasingly ubiquitous in Mexico City.

However, Bonifaz said convenience stores are not considered a direct threat to markets, since they offer fewer items and have longer operating hours.

For its part, the Association of Supermarkets and Department Stores (ANTAD) is preparing to aggressively lobby City Hall to reconsider parts of the bill, according to the business gossip column Desbalance in Tuesday's edition of El Universal.

According to the column, ANTAD argues the measures would harm growth of supermarkets.

Link

PAN wants public to have a say in Mexico City

A new bill would force City Hall to hold 'consultations' before starting construction projects

Mexico Weekly / April 4, 2011

A PAN assemblyman has proposed a bill that would force City Hall to hold public consultations before beginning construction on any public works project.

PAN lawmaker Federico Manzo has submitted a bill to the Federal District Legislative Assembly to modify the city's law on public projects, at a time when social movements claim City Hall has not maintained dialogue with residents near the sites of several major construction projects.

“We want the city government and the boroughs to be obliged, by law, to hold public consultations before beginning any project that implies alterations to the lives and habits of capital residents,” said Manzo, a member of the Transportation Committee, Reforma reported Monday.

Although the current law on public projects recommends that government officials “listen to and evaluate” the opinions of citizens, the provisions do not specify if the opinions are binding.

Bill Faces Hurdles

Manzo's bill would oblige the city government to hold such consultations in certain cases: when public areas would be affected; when streets would be closed permanently; when the project would impact the income of nearby businesses; and when the structure of nearby real estate would be affected.

The consultation would also need to take place six months before project bidding begins, the bill proposes.

Some residents and social groups say the capital government has lacked communication and transparency as several projects are underway: the Supervía (a bypass to connect the Santa Fe district with southern Mexico City); Line 12 of the Metro (in the southeastern-southern areas); an arena and stadium in Azcapotzalco; and the recently completed Line 3 of the Metrobús (in central Mexico City).

A common complaint among people living near project sites is that the extent of the impact on the environment, traffic, noise, pollution and aesthetics was never made clear before construction began, and was not made clear until after the project was well under way.

The bill faces several hurdles. Among them that the PAN only holds 14 seats in the 66-member Legislative Assembly. In contrast, the governing PRD holds 34 seats, with which they practically control the assembly.

Public works projects have been one of the shining points of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard.

Link