Chamber approves 2010 expenditure law

The full Chamber of Deputies voted 425 to 25, with 4 abstentions to pass the 2010 expenditure law. The PRI, PAN, PVEM, PANAL, and Convergencia all voted unanimously in favor. The PRD voted 45-18 to support the budget, while the PT voted 4-7 against. The vote took place in the early morning hours of the 17th, with the clocked stopped, since the legal deadline for passing the budget was the 15th. (diputados.gob.mx)

Expenditure budget passes

The budget commission of the Chamber of Deputies unanimously passed the 2010 expenditure budget at 4:30 am, after failing to meet the midnight legal deadline. PRI coordinator Francisco Rojas postponed four times the meeting of the full Chamber of Deputies, as factions within the party negotiated the reallocation of funds between the states and to different programs. The full Chamber is expected to vote on the package today. The final compromise was reflected in a basket of Ps. 96.6 billion of resources to be reallocated, an increase from the original proposal of Ps. 85 billion. Total expenditures were pegged at Ps. 3,176 billion – only marginally higher than the proposed budget sent by the Government.  One of the items that emerged from the congressional negotiations was the requirement that the Ministry of Finance present to congress an austerity plan by March 15 for longer-term improvements in the use of public resources. PRI deputy Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada explained, “We can’t ask the citizen to tighten his belt and not demand that the … executive, judicial, and legislative authorities do the same.”

The Templo Mayor column observed: “Almost everyone is content with the slicing up of the budget pie. The priistas are congratulating themselves because they … tied the hands of the federal government and got millions and millions as a gift for their governors. The panistas are also jubiliant; despite the dark warnings, at they end of the day they salvaged the resources for the three [social] programs dear to Felipe Calderón: the leafless Proarból, the coveted Oportunidades, and the supercharged Seguro Popular. (Excelsior 11/16, Universal 11/16, Reforma 11/16)

Poll: Approval ratings for President, PAN fall to lowest levels since taking office

Mitofsky’s monthly national survey shows that support for President Calderón, while still high, declined 4 points from September to October to match the lowest levels of his administration. The President had a 58% approval rating, and 40% disapproval. At the same time, party identification with the PRI increased from 25% in May 2009 to 31% in October, while identification with the PAN fell from a recent high of 25% in January 2009 to 17% in October.  (www.consulta.com.mx)

Luz y Fuerza strikers disrupt city; buyout advances

The SME electrical workers union carried out protests across Mexico City, including blocking traffic on several expressways. There were scattered arrests and occasional use of teargas, but the demonstrations were largely peaceful. The Mexico City police estimated 100,000 marchers reached the Zocalo to hear defrocked union chief Martín Esparza speak. The Government’s offer of a special bonus payment to Luz y Fuerza workers who accepted the liquidation expired; more than 27,000, or 61% of those eligible, accepted the buyout. (Universal 11/12, 11/15)

President renews attack on private sector

In an interview aboard the presidential aircraft en route to Singapore for the APEC summit, President Felipe Calderón blamed the private sector for the failure of the government’s original tax proposal. “The business community acted with complete liberty: they were very critical of the government and broadly criticized the package. … This weakened the possibilities [for passage],” he said. Columnist Salvador García Soto noted: “The President’s verbal bombshells … confirm what we have been saying for several weeks: the relation between the Chief Executive and a good part of the private sector, above all the most influential names, has deteriorated to the point where it has become public. … A reflection of this distancing is that many of the principal captains of industry have started to build bridges to groups in the PRI.”  (Reforma 11/12, Universal 11/14)

Calderón booed

The President was booed by fans at the inauguration of the new soccer stadium in Torreón. The video was widely circulated on You Tube.  TV Azteca, which broadcast the game, lowered the volume on the crowd noise to minimize the rare public show of disrespect for a sitting president. “The lusty booing that President Calderón received … is revealing of the enormous black mark that the people have put as their response to the fiscal reform. It has not passed unnoticed by society that the incapacity of the Calderón administration to put the brakes on government spending and the ease with which it decided – once again — to lay on the people already hit by the recession a higher tax burden, considered unjust and disproportionate,” said columnist Manuel J. Jáuregui. (Reforma 11/12, 11/13)

Poll: Public supports tough anti-crime stance

A Mitofsky national telephone poll found a continued hardening of attitudes toward crime, with overwhelming support for tougher sentences and more resources for police and use of the military in fighting crime. The actions with the largest increases in support—though still at the lowest level of public acceptance—were to enable citizens to own guns to protect themselves (53%, up from 39% in February 2007) and to take justice into their own hands (45%, up from 26%). (consulta.com)

Gang violence and retribution in Nuevo León

Two days after Mauricio Fernández, the outspoken PAN mayor of the Monterrey suburb of San Pedro Garza García, implicitly took credit for the execution of a notorious kidnapper, the police chief of the neighboring town of García was ambushed and murdered along with four of his bodyguards. General (ret.) Juan Arturo Esparza García had only been on the job four days when he was gunned down while responding to a report that gunmen were approaching the mayor’s home. Over the weekend, the Nuevo León authorities arrested an alleged hitman for Los Zetas, the paramilitary wing of the Gulf Cartel, for the Esparza killing. (Universal 11/4, 11/9)

Luz y Fuerza worker buyouts enter final week

Labor Secretary Javier Lozano announced that more than 22,000 Luz y Fuerza workers—about half the total—have accepted the government’s buyout offer, at a cost of Ps. 12 billion. The buyout offer expires November 14. A judge granted the SME union an injunction to prevent declaring the labor contract between the SME and Luz y Fuerza terminated, but Lozano said the action was a technicality that would not stop the process from moving forward.  CFE, the other national electric utility, will start re-hiring Luz y Fuerza’s workers this week under its own labor agreement. Some 9,500 workers have asked to be rehired by CFE or get government assistance in setting up their own businesses. (Reforma 11/8)

Polemic on vigilante squads escalates

Mayor Mauricio Fernández further inflamed matters when he said he would not be like other (unnamed) officials, who stood by like “stupid oxen” in the face of criminal activity. In an interview in Reforma, he called on the private sector to finance his 20-man “cleaning crews” to get rid of gang activity in San Pedro. Government Secretary Fernando Gómez Mont condemned vigilante action: “Whoever does this is harming everyone; he is a criminal, and it is not acceptable to fight crime with crime.” (Reforma 11/6, 11/7)