Mexico: Repercussions in Elections Fraud Case?

“Do you think the “Safe Veracruz” (federal and military intervention) plan is working?” No 80.4%. Source: Notiver Web survey, June 14, 2007.

Notiver | La noticia en el momento que sucede: The cheerfully sensational Veracruz tabloid — every headline ends in an exclamation point!! — notes legal fallout related to the infamous Manzana Azul case (PANdemonium in Veracruz: Blueprint for Election Fraud.)

A leaked memorandum indicated that the PAN state party chair was setting in motion a plan to guarantee a PAN victory in the September elections.

In this plan, signed and distributed on official party letterhead, block captains were directed to use election fraud complaints, phony or not — and, if necessary, violence — to annul the results of districts tilting away from PAN candidates.

The document was signed by Alejandro “Pipo” Vázquez Cuevas, PAN’s state party chairman.

In Guerrero, as you recall, the PAN state party chair was arrested and charged with ordering the assassination of a PAN state legislator who was investigating corruption in budget allocations. See PANdemonium in Guerrero.

I translate.

Se la revocan al Pipo…

Pipo borked!

El Tribunal Federal Electoral determinó este día dictaminar a favor del recurso de inconformidad presentado ante ese organismo por Rosa Isela García Cuevas en contra de la Comisión Electoral Interna del Comité Directivo Estatal del partido Acción Nacional en Veracruz, ello en referencia a la integración del listado de aspirantes a las diputaciones locales por la vía plurinominal, por lo que ese organismo deberá convocar a un nuevo proceso interno en ese sentido, ello según se diera a conocer hoy.

The Federal Elections Tribunal ruled today in favor of a protest lodged by Rosa Isela García Cuevas against the Internal Electoral Commission of the PAN state party organization in Veracruz, with respect to the composition of a list of candidates in proportional elections for local legislatures. PAN must hold a new internal process for this purpose, it was announced today.

A recent World Bank report singled out state elections as a poster-child for political reforms Mexico needs in order to stop being a Third World hellhole. See World Bank: “Mexico Needs Fundamental Political Reform

De acuerdo con el dictamen emitido en la sesión de este miércoles en el seno del tribunal Federal Electoral a cargo del Magistrado Presidente Flavio Galván Rivera, luego de analizar el expediente SUP-JDC-533/2007 en que se detalla el caso presentado por Rosa Isela García Cuevas en contra de la Comisión Electoral Interna del CDE del PAN en Veracruz, se habría determinado que existen suficientes elementos para dictaminar a favor de la demandante, por lo que el órgano demandado deberá convocar de nueva cuenta a su militancia para elegir los candidatos a diputados por la vía plurinominal ante los comicios del 2 de septiembre próximo en que habrá de renovarse el Congreso del Estado.

According to the opinion issued this Wednesday by TRIFE, under presiding magistrate Galván, after deliberating on Case No. SUP-JDC-533/2007, which details the case brought by García Cuevas against the PAN state committee in Veracruz, it found insufficient elements to rule in favor of the petitioner but ordered the party to conduct a new election among its members to elect candidates for the state legislature, on the proportional slate, before the elections in September in which the state legislature will be renewed.

There was an alleged effort by the Gordillo faction to influence the PRI internal elections recently as well — including ballot stuffing.

The Gordillo faction was roundly thumped. On Gordillo as alleged campaign financier, money launderer and mapache chieftainess, see also Mexico: The Teacher Reaches for the Golden Apple

Se estima que este mismo día, la dirigencia del partido albiceleste a cargo de Víctor Alejandro Vásquez Cuevas emita una declaración en torno a este revés que le propinara el TRIFE al grupo político encabezado por el líder panista, incluido entre los primeros cinco lugares del listado de aspirantes hoy anulado por el TRIFE.

It is expected that the party central committee will issue a statement today on the reverse it suffered at the hands of TRIFE by the group headed by “Pipo,” whose name figures in the top five candidates on the slate invalidated today by TRIFE.

That should be good.

PAN’s recent national congress featured a mediagenic demonstration against the alleged influence of the ultrarightist El Yunque in the party. See Mexico: “PAN, Yes; El Yunque, No”.

The “for dummies” PowerPoint bullet-point takeaway here: Some Mexican Christian Democrats are not happy to see their movement associated with anti-democratic, foreign-influenced mafioso thuggery.

And God bless ’em, too.

I have always found the ideals of Christian Democracy somewhat appealing — I think I did a term paper on it in college, in fact.

I, C&E Anglican that I am, quietly subscribe to the Sojourners project myself.