Mexico news Mar. 28

Posted by The Generals on March 28, 2011, 9:13 pm, in reply to "Men's Breakfast Wednesday"
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Subject: Mexico News DAILY March 28, 2011 LatinNews Daily - 28 March 2011 PRI makes surprise choice Development: On 26 March, Mexico’s national opposition Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) nominated Eruviel Avila, the mayor of Ecatepec, as its candidate for the governorship of the Estado de México. Significance: The decision and the timing are both important. Avila was by no means the favourite and his proclamation came on the eve of an unprecedented state-wide vote, organised by the national ruling Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) and the left-wing Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), on whether to run an alliance candidate on a joint platform in the state election in July. Key points: • The big question is whether the disappointed PRI candidates will rally behind Avila. The gossip in Mexico City is that the influential leader of the teachers’ union, Elba Esther Gordillo, swung behind Avila, determining the result. Avila is close to the former governor of the Estado, Arturo Montiel (1999-2005). Montiel was humiliated in the PRI presidential primary in 2005 by Roberto Madrazo, an enemy of Gordillo’s. • Technically, Avila was nominated by the PRI in the Estado, but the current governor, Enrique Peña Nieto, must have had a big say. Peña Nieto is the PRI frontrunner for the presidency in 2012, but if the PRI fails to hold on to the Estado governorship in the July elections, his campaign will be over before it begins. • In the state-wide (non binding) vote organised by the PAN and PRD an overwhelming majority (70%) voted in favour of a joint candidate. The two parties said the exercise was a huge success and claimed that 350,000 people voted.

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