The Tropical Messiah (en esp.) doing his best Napoleonic impersonation crowned himself President of Mexico. This despite losing the election in July and his own home state of Tabasco rejecting his pick for governor. No surprise then that he scampered back to the DF to be inaugurated before his loving throng in the Zocalo, the central plaza in Mexico City. Both NYTimes and LATimes have stories with LAT doing a much better job filling in the gaps and providing background. No surprise there - those with a long memory may recall that the NYTimes went so far as to endorse AMLO's candidacy and kept pumping him up while he sought to scuttle the still nascent democratic institutions of Mexico and usurp the Constitution.
LAT went so far as to get a quote from Denise Dresser co-author of the Mexican version of Jon Stewart's best-selling America (The Book). I know I'm off on a tangent but I have to justify my L. American cred. Well that and her co-author is the brilliant novelist Jorge Volpi (bio's a little dated - he now has his own magazine) Since I am already off-topic I should mention that Volpi's latest, the conclusion of his 20th Century trilogy, No sera la tierra, is out now.
Back to Mexico - the papers therefrom the right, left and center gave the AMLO circus the front page but have already moved on to more pressing issues. Of greater import is the recent announcment of the Fox government to raise the price of milk and gas. Milk will go up a peso from 3.50 to 4.50. The Congress of Deputies backed a motion pleading with Los Pinos to reconsider. Don't count on it and considering the tradition of end of sexenio surprises this is nothing. Sexenio surprises were the inevitable byproduct of corrupt PRI governments artificially pumping up the economy to secure electoral victories. Once the election was over bills would come due and collapse would soon follow. Zedillo managed not to drop one on Fox, but Mexicans must remember that Salinas' mess lead to Zedillo's devaluation of the peso and a US bailout.
Last and far from least Calderon may be busy deflecting criticism that Fox is doing his bidding by raising milk and gas prices now but he hasn't been so busy that he can't announce his economic team. AgustÃn Carstens, who got his PhD at the U of Chicago, has been tapped to head the Finance Ministry. Somewhere Uncle Milty must be smiling. Kudos to the Dallas Morning Herald.
LAT went so far as to get a quote from Denise Dresser co-author of the Mexican version of Jon Stewart's best-selling America (The Book). I know I'm off on a tangent but I have to justify my L. American cred. Well that and her co-author is the brilliant novelist Jorge Volpi (bio's a little dated - he now has his own magazine) Since I am already off-topic I should mention that Volpi's latest, the conclusion of his 20th Century trilogy, No sera la tierra, is out now.
Back to Mexico - the papers therefrom the right, left and center gave the AMLO circus the front page but have already moved on to more pressing issues. Of greater import is the recent announcment of the Fox government to raise the price of milk and gas. Milk will go up a peso from 3.50 to 4.50. The Congress of Deputies backed a motion pleading with Los Pinos to reconsider. Don't count on it and considering the tradition of end of sexenio surprises this is nothing. Sexenio surprises were the inevitable byproduct of corrupt PRI governments artificially pumping up the economy to secure electoral victories. Once the election was over bills would come due and collapse would soon follow. Zedillo managed not to drop one on Fox, but Mexicans must remember that Salinas' mess lead to Zedillo's devaluation of the peso and a US bailout.
Last and far from least Calderon may be busy deflecting criticism that Fox is doing his bidding by raising milk and gas prices now but he hasn't been so busy that he can't announce his economic team. AgustÃn Carstens, who got his PhD at the U of Chicago, has been tapped to head the Finance Ministry. Somewhere Uncle Milty must be smiling. Kudos to the Dallas Morning Herald.
