By Eliane Portillo

The indigenous peoples are present at all levels of Mexican society, but are invisible in government structures, anthropologist Irene Nich Sanchez said on Thursday in the state of Chiapas.

Behind this asymmetric and unequal situation lies a problem linked to the absence of a coordinated and systematic public policy at the national level, the expert told to the news via e-mail on Thursday.

Discrimination of indigenous populations is institutionalized, and women especially are not included in the social environment, Sanchez said.

While being a resident in Chiapas, one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 states of Mexico, Irene has spent most of her life championing the cause of indigenous people, a social sector that represents 10 to 11 percent of the Mexican population, whose constitution recognizes 62 indigenous peoples throughout the country.

According to data from the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, states with the highest percentage of these groups are: Yucatan (59 percent), Oaxaca (48), Quintana Roo (39), Chiapas (28 ), Campeche (27), Hidalgo (24), Puebla (19), Guerrero (17), San Luis Potosi (15) and Veracruz (15).

By Eliane Portillo

The Secretary of Foreign Relations, Patricia Espinosa, said , in comparison to the rest of the world, Mexico is a nation with solid institutions, a vigorous private sector, a civil society,  and a formidable stock of natural resources, among other resources which it could contribute to the world.

On the eve of the presentation of the objectives of the fourth summit of G20 nations, Espinosa said that Mexico will participate in the summit on its own merit.

By Eliane Portillo

The National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry (CIRT) asked the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) to provide an official definition of debates so that the CIRT can have a legal definition of the word in order to avoid controversy.

Through a press release, the CIRT emphasized that the broadcasting of debates is even more important due to the order mandated on Jan. 18 by the High Court of the Federal Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) in which they called for an investigation into all local and national radio and television stations that held interviews with Michoacán gubernatorial candidates during the recent election cycle.

By Eliane Portillo

During a debate on Tuesday, the three aspiring National Action Party (PAN) presidential candidates, Ernesto Cordero, Josefina Vázquez Mota and Santiago Creel, said that the blue party’s main objective is to impede the Institutional Revolutionary Party’s (PRI) return to the presidential residence of Los Pinos.

In the Manuel Gómez Marín Auditorium, at the PAN’s facilities in Mexico City, the pre-candidates presented their political platforms and proposals. According to the PAN national leader, Gustavo Madero, the objective of the debate was to engage in discussion in an environment of peace and impartiality.

By Eliane Portillo

President Felipe Calderón said on Thursday that due to the strength and stability of the Mexican economy and public finances, Mexico has a sound system that will allow it to continue growing and to be better prepared to face a tough world economic situation.

During the closing of Grupo Santander’s 16th Annual Latin American Conference of CEOs in Cancún, Quintana Roo, Calderón said that the federal government was able to prevent irresponsible indebtedness, which has caused severe problems for Mexico and other Latin American nations in the past.

By Eliane Portillo

President Felipe Calderón said on Tuesday that the current labor law limits employment, and urged political parties to approve a labor reform that would allow the creation of more and better jobs.

It is necessary to stop hindering employment in Mexico. One of the biggest obstacles in creating more jobs is the current labor law, which is obsolete, Calderón added.

By Eliane Portillo

The thesis states that the Governors of the PRI, as well as former Governors of this party, have fared quite well as leaders of opposition. They don’t need to accept to the designs of the centre, as in dead presidentialism, but beyond, they manage their entities in Viceregal manner that for them the opportunity to power have been widely used.

The likely arrival of Enrique Peña Nieto to Los Pinos surely would not be so convenient for many, especially if the rules that have governed the relationship between the President of the Republic and the Governors of the PRI for twelve years would be changed.

By Eliane Portillo

National Action Party (PAN) presidential pre-candidate Ernesto Cordero Arroyo on Monday rejected the notion that he is President Felipe Calderón’s favorite for the presidential race in 2012. However, he said that if the President decides to back him, he will be more than honored. I’m not the President’s favorite, but if I manage to convince him to back me, it would be an honor, he noted.

He expressed his gratitude to former PAN gubernatorial candidate for the State of Michoacán, Luisa María Calderón, who has announced her unwavering support for his pre-campaign.

Regarding a statement released by the PAN’s National Elections Council (CNE) on the order in which the blue party’s pre-candidate’s names will appear on the ballot Santiago Creel, Ernesto Cordero and Josefina Vázquez Mota, the pre-candidate said that regardless of the order, he is confident he will win.

He took the opportunity to criticize the other two pre-candidates for campaigning before the official campaign period begins. It just proves that they are not prepared nor professional enough to wait.

By Eliane Portillo

On Thursday, the former Secretary of Treasury, Ernesto Cordero Arroyo, registered as a National Action Party (PAN) presidential pre-candidate with the PAN’s National Elections Commission (CNE) at the PAN headquarters in Mexico City.

José Espina, the President of the CNE, received Cordero’s registration and other requirements. Gustavo Madero, the PAN’s national leader, was the official witness of the registration.

By Eliane Portillo

Those which already seem that took to heart the competition for PAN candidate are former Secretary of Finance Ernesto Cordero and licensed Deputy Josefina Vazquez Mota.

Twice they have had conflicting views have recriminated their pronouncements about the economy and poverty. 

By Eliane Portillo

The new President of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, demanded that President Felipe Calderón abide by the law and not use security as an excuse to undermine the 2012 presidential election or the presidential candidates.

After being elected unanimously by the PRI’s National Political Council as the substitute PRI president, as he will complete Humberto Moreira’s term until 2015, Coldwell said that nobody must doubt the PRI’s position regarding the battle against organized crime.

By Eliane Portillo

Mexican President Felipe Calderon welcomed his Dominican counterpart, Leonel Fernandez Reyna, who is paying an official state visit to this country on Tuesday.

Calderon recognized the Dominican head of State, who also attended the 13th Summit of the Tuxtla Mechanism for Dialogue, a great friend of Mexico, adding that his visit will strengthen ties between the two nations.

By Eliane Portillo

Mexico is on its way to establish femicide as a federal crime, following the approval of a draft reform to the country's Penal Code in the House of Deputies.

The proposal, endorsed on Thursday, will be voted next week by the House before being submitted to the Senate for its eventual ratification, and it includes penalties of 40 to 60 years in prison and from 500 to 1,000 days of fine for offenders.

By Eliane Portillo

The three aspiring presidential candidates for the National Action Party (PAN), Josefina Vázquez Mota, Santiago Creel Miranda and Ernesto Cordero Arroyo participated in an informative debate. The event was broadcast on the Internet and the pre-candidates presented their political platforms.

They answered six questions that people had sent through social networks about their political aspirations and proposals in terms of education, security and the economy.The debate, which was moderated by Cecilia Soto, began with Creel Miranda’s presentation, followed by Cordero Arroyo and Vázquez Mota. As the debate progressed, the PAN pre-candidates presented their platforms and intentions for the presidential race of 2012.

By Eliane Portillo

Replying to the lawsuit that activists brought against Mexican President Felipe Calderon before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the federal government denied the existence of a warlike situation in the country and a generalized or systematic attack against the civil population.

There is no policy in the country that might lead to commit crimes against humanity, the Mexican Ministry of Interior said in a release. The official note responds to the lawsuit brought Friday in The Hague against the Mexican president, the army, and drug trafficking ringleaders by a group of lawyers, academicians, and social activists.

According to the Mexican Ministry of Interior, the security policy implemented in the last six years by no means constitutes an international crime, the release stressed.

The governments security strategy is intended to end with criminal organizations and protect all the citizens, the text sustains.

By Eliane Portillo

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Patricia Espinosa, rejected the notion that there are radical Islamic terrorist groups in Mexico, as stated by aspiring Republican presidential candidates in the United States.

The Secretary noted that although these statements were part of an electoral campaign, U.S. politicians have to be very careful in speaking about issues of a delicate nature that are important, not only to Mexico, but to the bilateral relationship between the two nations.

By Eliane Portillo

On Sunday, the National Action Party (PAN) Senatorial leader, José González Morfín, urged the Senate to pass several reforms that have been put on hold for a long time. “This has to happen before the presidential election,” he said.

He pointed out that the celebration of the Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution should be reason enough to force the federal government to analyze and study new ways to change Mexico.

By Eliane Portillo

The man who narrowly lost Mexico’s last presidential election will try again next year after winning an opinion poll the results of which were released Wednesday by the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).

Six thousand voters were polled, half by an agency picked by the winner, Andres Manuel López Obrador, and the other half by an agency chosen by his rival, Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. “The survey results are in my favor ... I will participate in the 2012 presidential election,” López Obrador said at a news conference.

By Eliane Portillo

Mexico’s Attorney General (PGR), Marisela Morales Ibáñez, reported Wednesday that she has asked the United States government to extradite six people suspected of providing guns to drug cartels.

Morales told Congress that three of the suspects are being held in Texas and three in California. She also said two U.S. citizens were being held in Mexico on similar charges.

By Eliane Portillo

The Standing Policy Committee of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) approved on Thursday a grand coalition with the Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) and the New Partnership for the elections of 2012.

With this alliance, the tricolor party will fight elections for the presidency of Mexico and seats in the Congress.