News Summary for October 17th

President-elect Felipe Calderon announced the appointment of Agustin Carstens as the coordinator of his economic plan to fight poverty. Carstens was previously the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He told a group of journalists earlier that designing a plan that focuses on the fight against poverty is of utmost importance – and a plan that encompasses the continuation of economic growth. The names of five coordinators who will work on Felipe Calderon´s Mexico 2030 project were also announced. They are: Francisco José Paoli Bolio; a journalist and political scientist, Arturo Fernández; the dean of the ITAM, Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, the former governor of Guanajuato, Mario Molina, A Nobel Peace prize winner in chemistry, and María Amparo Casar, a researcher and political scientist.
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More than 95 percent of polling stations have concluded counting in Tabasco state were the election for governor took place Sunday. Andrés Granier, the PRI candidate in Tabasco remains ahead with 10 points. Trailing behind him is César Raúl Ojeda Zubieta, the PRD candidate. Granier has 52.92 percent of the votes and Ojeda 42.85 percent.
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In Veracruz, President Fox spoke of the situation in Oaxaca. Fox said it was a local conflict and reiterated that the only viable democratic option to resolve it was through dialogue. The subcommittee of senators who traveled to Oaxaca to analyze the situation there has delivered its report. This report will be the basis for a ruling on the non-existence of powers that will be discussed at the Senate today.
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Teachers from the 22nd Section of the Union of Teachers who are camping outside the Senate started a hunger strike to demand the abolition of powers in Oaxaca. At least 15,000 teachers out of 70,000 teachers who make up the 22nd Section of the Union of Teachers are ready to join the 59th Section of this group, once the federal labor authority recognizes them.
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