Ecuador and Mexico A Break in Relations and a Propaganda Strategy
Democracycast
Roberto Diaz &@ on X, reports about the break of international relations between Mexico and Ecuador, and the effect it had in the Latin American region and internal politics struggles in both countries. #LatinAmerica #Mexico #Ecuador #LatinAmerican #Democracy #DanielNoboa #AMLO #America #Geopolitics Recorded April 27th 2024.Duration 7:19 On the night of Friday, April 5th, the Mexican embassy in Quito was raided by the Ecuadorian police, after Mexico granted political asylum to former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas. This action by the...
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Mexican President Vs The Media
Democracycast
Roberto Díaz reports . On February 22, 2024, during the presidential morning conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, The New York Times. In the letter, the president was asked to respond to a series of questions sent by the newspaper's editor, Natalie Krittoef, with the intention of clarifying alleged illicit financing in his 2018 campaign. During the press conference, the Mexican president read the letter containing the editor's phone number, which could be considered a violation of Mexico's journalist data protection law. It is worth mentioning that...
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End Veteran Medical Debt
Democracycast
It is a misconception that our veterans receive free or affordable healthcare. As much as $6 Billion in veteran and military medical debt is burdening our bravest. is the parent initiative Jerry Ashton’s group of several campaigns to mitigate the harms that can impact veterans including risk of suicide, unemployment, addiction, and poor health. . One campaign that this report focuses on is the campaign to . Ways you can support this campaign are detailed. They include Signing a petition, contacting your congressperson, and following on Facebook and Twitter. Jerry’s group has...
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Genocide in Balochistan part 4 of 4
Democracycast
This concludes our four part report on the genocide in Balochistan. The Baloch problem started in 1833 when the British basically wanted to expand their imperial empire to Afghanistan. And there are two routes to Afghanistan. One is through Balochistan, one is through the Khyber Pass. And they tried it through that route, the other route, and they faced basically drastic humiliation. So the British played the game of basically, I want to lay a railway line, I want to lay a telegraph line along what is now the border between Pakistan and Iran, which was inside Balochistan. And...
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Genocide in Balochistan part 3 of 4
Democracycast
This part 3 of 4 begins with a recounting of threats for journalists. The Baloch problem started in 1833 when the British basically wanted to expand their imperial empire to Afghanistan. And there are two routes to Afghanistan. One is through Balochistan, one is through the Khyber Pass. And they tried it through that route, the other route, and they faced basically drastic humiliation. So the British played the game of basically, I want to lay a railway line, I want to lay a telegraph line along what is now the border between Pakistan and Iran, which was inside Balochistan. And then...
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Genocide in Balochistan part 2 of 4
Democracycast
Genocide, a term that evokes images of immense human suffering and the darkest chapters in history, has been an ongoing tragedy in the region of Balochistan. Balochistan, a vast and resource-rich province straddling the borders of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, has been plagued by a long-standing conflict marked by human rights violations and systematic targeting of its Baloch population. Several members of the Baloch community describe what is happening to people in Balochistan now. “Pakistan is currently engaged in a sinister war against killing Baloch people; that is...
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The First Female President of Mexico
Democracycast
I'm Roberto Diaz. I'm the coordinator editor for Democracy Watch News Latin America with a new report about the upcoming Mexican election on June 2nd of 2024 that will elect for the first time a female president of Mexico. This is something without precedent and can help to develop what is going to be the Mexican internal and external policy during the coming six years. So this is something great. This is something good. We have to understand that 2024 will be a definitive year for Mexico's political life. The first candidate comes from the Morena party. It...
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Abortion Decriminalization in Mexico
Democracycast
Roberto Diaz reports from Mexico City on the abortion decriminalization in Mexico. Since 2021, abortion has no longer been a federal crime in Mexico. The criminal law in Mexico varies by state. On 7 September 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court unanimously ruled that penalizing abortion is unconstitutional, setting an important precedent across the whole country. Before 2019, abortion had been severely restricted outside of Mexico City, where it was legalized on-request in 2007. As of August 2023, abortion is available on request to any woman during the first twelve weeks of a...
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Baluchistan Genocide Part 1 of 4
Democracycast
The moderator gives a brief introduction. You know, the Baluch problem started in 1833 when the British basically wanted to expand their imperial empire to Afghanistan. And there are two routes to Afghanistan. One is to Baluchistan, one is to NWFP. And they tried it through that route, the other route, and they faced basically drastic humiliation. When the army went in, basically one man was left alive to take the message, don't bother coming to Afghanistan, in a sense. But then they tried to come through Baluchistan and the Baluch people resisted. So the British played the game of...
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The 2023 Summit between the Latin American Community and the European Union Parliament
Democracycast
The 2023 Summit between the Latin American Community and the European Union Parliament Roberto Diaz reports (twitter: / . The third meeting between the Latin American Community and the European Union Parliament was held in Brussels on the 17th and 18th of July 2023. It was an historic occasion to bring together European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders to renew and strengthen relations between the two regions after almost a decade of absence of bi-regional dialogue at the highest political level. After eight years of postponing this meeting because of the isolationist...
info_outlineRoberto Diaz (Twitter @dieresis_u & @RRomanen) reports on the problematic democratic transition in Mexico and the problems with the Electoral Institute (National Electoral Institute) that has polarized the Mexican citizens. As well the reformations from the executive power: the “Electoral Reform'' and the “B Plan”.
#INE#democracy#MexicanDemocracy#LorenzoCordova#PlanB#ElectoralReformation#ReformaElectoral#Mexico#MexicoPolitics#Politica#AMLO#MexicanPolitics
Recorded 2023-03-18. Duration 16:48
Mexico City: March 18, 2023.
Roberto Diaz (Twitter @dieresis_u & @RRomanen) reports on the problematic democratic transition in Mexico and the problems with the Electoral Institute (National Electoral Institute) that has polarized the Mexican citizens. As well the reformations from the executive power: the “Electoral Reform'' and the “B Plan”.
#INE#democracy#MexicanDemocracy#LorenzoCordova#PlanB#ElectoralReformation#ReformaElectoral#Mexico#MexicoPolitics#Politica#AMLO#MexicanPolitics
Recorded 2023-03-18. Duration 16:48
Mexico City: March 18, 2023.
In Mexico only two autonomous electoral organizations exist that are authorized to validate elections in Mexico. The first one, the INE, The instituto Nacional Electoral, which takes care of logistics at the state and federal level for vote counting, and production of voting identification cards which also work as an ID card. The second one, is the Federation Judicial Power of the Electoral Court. The first one, takes care of the logistics and the second validates or impugn the INEs decisions.
IN 2014, the Electoral Federal Institute (IFE) after a reformation of the constitutional 41 article in which the two different standards of federal and local election institutes were homologated, the National Electoral Institute was born. This institute finally marked a major autonomy from the power in turn.
At the dawn of the upcoming resolution of the judicial power for the "B plan" of the Electoral reformation, to the secondary laws of the "National Electoral Institute" (INE). The autonomous institution of the federal government which is in charge of the logistics, vote counting and verification of electoral results in the country. Nonetheless, this odyssey for the reformation of the electoral system is still not easy.
This institution was under the presidency of Lorenzo Cordova, a professor and researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM. —the 14 years of Cordova's administration as the former IFE president and then INE's one, weren't easy. —His presidency suffered the backlash of Lorenzo's racist remarks against the Mexican indigenous organizations, which tainted the image of his presidency.
The 2018 presidential election complicated the situation as the government plan of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), sketched in this presidency “National Plan of Development '', foresaw a profound reformation of the electoral institution in his fifth year of government. His reasons were diverse, from a partiality of the INE counselors that stole elections in the country, and therefore lost the credibility to diverse sectors of the Mexican population, the high salaries for their workers and the opacity into their accounts. Made it mistrustful for the AMLO's administration. Especially after the "Austerity policy" was ratified in the congress. With a general salary to cut political parties, and public workers. These measures weren't accepted by the INE and the institution remained keeping the same level of expenses that inevitably were going to crush the federal budget for the upcoming year.
The second scandal that took the spotlight was in 2019, the close relationship of Cordova with former president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa. —Famously known for starting the war on drugs, and who had quit, a year prior, the Center-Right party "Accion Nacional" party (PAN) —At the time, he was looking for a ratification of his new political party "Mexico Libre". In the month of November, a journalist spotted him dining with Lorenzo Cordova, and from that moment, the INE's president was labeled as "one-sided" —Mexico Libre didn't get its registration later that year. —Unfortunately for Cordova, this was a difficult label to remove.
In 2021, the governor elections in 15 federal states, 4 candidates of the MORENA party —AMLO's left political party — in the states of Guerrero, Michoacán and San Luis Potosi, were taken down from these elections, for supposedly campaign expenses that weren't reported in the budget. —Some of them to the amount of 15,000 pesos or 800 USD. —The one sided decisions the INE counselors took, apparently ignoring MORENA supporters' allegations against the Mexican opposition candidates in 2021, filled the idea of a "one-sided" narrative of the electoral institution. And even after the results were ratified and MORENA victories were accepted. The transcendental event of the incorporation of the referendum figure, only showed the negligence of the counselors and organizers inside the electoral institution.
The two referendum celebrated in 2021 and 2022 were the first ones to be organized by the INE, the first one named "Political Trail to former presidents''; the first referendum celebrated in Mexican history, the advertisement of this transcendental event in Mexican democracy, was a direct responsibility of the INE, prohibiting any external person or organization to generate some kind of propaganda. Unfortunately, the lack of authorized publicity, the problems of low budget and the stubborn choice of not reducing the expenses inside the organization, resulted in a failure of the first Mexican referendum.
The second referendum celebrated in 2022, "Presidential Mandate Revocation", this time, even when the advertisement was going to be generated by the INE, the political parties and organizations entered in a propagandistic war, some against, some in favor of this referendum. For the INE, this referendum represented a challenge, the budget reduction of 2022, materialized in a reduction of voting booths, and resulted in a logistic failure.
That same year by instructions of the Electoral Court, the INE started a persecution of social media users under allegations of "Political gender violence" —Civilians that had insulted PRI's deputy Paloma Sanchez, were sanctioned with a bill" and with that, the first attack to freedom of speech began from outside the government.
At the same time, a series of legal processes of the PRD female deputies —Center Left political party allied with the PAN —against a group of MORENA male and female deputies for "Political gender violence" were approved by the Electoral Court. —One case that took the spotlight was the one against Andrea Chavez, feminist federal deputy of MORENA party, for a supposedly a prejudicial tweet of 2021, although the content of said tweet wasn't enough motive to classified as "gender violence" the first verdict was favorable for the PRD deputy, although after the public backlash, the court rectified its decision.
During the second part of 2022, the political landscape was divided by a propagandistic war against Alejandro Moreno Cardenas (The PRI party president) —This campaign was in charge of the new Campeche governess, Layda Sansores. She managed to hack Moreno's cellphone and leaked its content in a series of TV show segments, realized on a weekly basis, known as "Jaguar's Tuesday". The program showed a series of messages about private interactions of Moreno with Lorenzo Cordova. —Some of them gave evidence of PRI deputies support in INE's defense budget and in response, Cordova was supposed to accept Moreno's financial secretary inside the INE. — Lorenzo Cordova then, accepted that these conversations were legitimate.
At the end of 2022, the INE tried to hide a public poll in which the results showed that 60% of the Mexican citizens wanted a reformation of the Electoral Institute. Nonetheless, the spotlight was taken by the populous march of November, in which the Mexican opposition and their sympathizers took the streets around the Independence Angel Monument, to the Revolution Monument, under the motto. "I defend the INE" from the upcoming Electoral Reformation. Although some fantastic numbers had a participation of 800 thousand protesters, more realistic estimates place them with 70 thousand participants.
In 2023, the Electoral Reformation was voted and without a qualified majority, Morena couldn't pass this initiative. —Some of the most controversial points inside this initiative, were the INE's transformation with the responsibility of adding public consults or referendums into their electoral chores, the representatives and counselors were going to be elected by popular vote. The reduction of plurinominal deputies. —Nonetheless, the backup plan to modify the INE was already drafted and ready to be voted on. The "B Plan" was a reformation of the Electoral secondary laws in the constitution. For a minor reformation MORENA only needed its simple majority.
The B Plan contemplates the elimination of plurinominal deputies, the reduction of 500 federal deputies to 300 deputies, the possibility for citizens to pick their own counselors and magistrates in the Electoral Court and the INE. (As right now, the only method is a knowledge exam).
Using a misinformation campaign, the Mexican political opposition organization called "UNIDOS", together with other 50 Nonprofit Organizations, once again took the streets of Mexico City, this time gathering around 100 thousand people that marched to the Zocalo Plaza. This event was celebrated in the midst of a discussion for an unconstitutional controversy" in the Supreme Court, the judges are analyzing the B Plan, point by point.
Finally, the upcoming exit of the President counselor, Lorenzo Cordova, who is leaving the INE's presidency this year, the destitution of the executive secretary of the INE: Jacobo Molina, because the B Plan internal reforming, polarized the Mexican society, for one week, Jacobo Molina left the electoral institute, then he was rejoined by an order of the Supreme Court. This event could foresee a troubled scenario to the B Plan acceptance and favorable resolution in the supreme court.
More Resources:
Historia del Instituto Federal Electoral
the "B plan" of the Electoral reformation
Audioescándalo en el INE: Lorenzo Córdova se mofa de indígenas
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/opinion/bajo-reserva/la-comida-calderon-lorenzo-cordova/
INE retira candidatura a Salgado Macedonio y a 60 candidatos de Morena
Putting Justice to a Vote? Q&A on Mexico’s August 1 Referendum
https://mexicobusiness.news/policyandeconomy/news/revocation-mandate-referendumelectrical-reform
TEPJF multó a 15 tuiteros por violencia política de género; sancionados acusan censura
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicans-protest-presidents-electoral-reform-plan-2022-11-13/
Senado aprueba Plan B de Reforma Electoral, desechan cláusula de vida eterna
Más de 100.000 personas protestan en México contra las modificaciones al INE
Tribunal federal ordena restituir a Edmundo Jacobo en el INE
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