News Summary for 16th of July, 2008

Spy vs. spy…The director of the Intelligence Center and National Security (CISEN) Guillermo Valdés warned that there is a possibility that the drug cartels have infiltrated the campaigns of some legislators.. He stated during an interview with the Financial Times, Valdés added that the democratic institutions are being threatened by powerful cartels.

The President of the Senate, Santiago Creel demanded the CISEN present proof. However, the Secretary of Gobernación Juan Camilo Mouriño late Monday evening commented that there is no evidence of this infiltration and he underlined his respect for the legislative branch. (This does not bode well for Valdés. I agree with the Director of the CISEN that drug trafficking cartels have infiltrated political campaigns. Why would organized crime not attempt to do this!! However, to mention this to a foreign newspaper and not expect that the legislators would not demand evidence….well this is spraying gasoline to the fire..)

The national PAN leader, Germán Martínez, accepted the proposal presented by the PRD temporary president Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo, to sit down and discuss the possibility of a new energy reform packet. Acosta Naranjo stated a couple of days ago that President Calderon´s proposal will simply not pass, therefore the PAN, PRI and the PRD need to sit down and hash out a new proposal. German Martinez said that his party would not participate in any dialogue that is an excuse to postpone the passing of an energy reform bill.

Finally, based on a survey performed by the Ministry of Education, 12% of Mexico’s high school students tried drugs once in their lifetime. Of this figure, one third consume drugs on a regular basis.