Due to technical difficulties …
To my loyal reader(s):
Sorry this blog has gone dark for nearly a week. I was experiencing technical difficulties. It took me four tries to post the item below on water shortages before I was successful. But I’m back.
I’m now in Mexico City, where things are hopping. President Bush is set to propose sending troops to the border, a move likely to rekindle emotions still raw from the hunt for Pancho Villa. And the countr
y is still reeling politically from an attack on the pueblo of San Salvador Atenco more than a week ago. Pictured here is some of the damage riot police inflicted when they carried out a dawn raid May 4 to round up rebels who -- the day before -- kidnapped and slashed local police officers with machetes in a dispute over where flower vendors could sell their goods. Only problem is that riot police took more than 200 people, when only 28 now face real charges. And the Mexico’s own National Human Rights Commission has confirmed sexual abuse and rape of some of the women detainees.
No one knows what the political impact will be. But so far, PAN, conservative party of President Vicente Fox, has succeeded in pulling a Karl Rove on liberal rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). Rather than feeling the heat because Fox ordered a raid that went awry, PAN presidential candidate Felipe Calderon has successfully turned the tables on AMLO, painting him as the presidential candidate who would tolerate violence by peasants armed with machetes.
The whole mess has suddenly raised the profile of masked man Subcommandante Marcos, who became famous in 1994 for the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, but who had been dubbed a has-been by the media of late. Now he’s making that talk show circuit, and yesterday appeared at a march of about 5,000 people on Los Pinos, the Mexican presidential residence (like the White House) demanding the unconditional release of the Atenco detainees.
If I were the Wonkette, I would digress here to start a conversation about whether women find the mask hot. Call it the burka effect. What you can’t see is more alluring. But I won’t stoop. There’s serious journalism going on here.
Sorry this blog has gone dark for nearly a week. I was experiencing technical difficulties. It took me four tries to post the item below on water shortages before I was successful. But I’m back.
I’m now in Mexico City, where things are hopping. President Bush is set to propose sending troops to the border, a move likely to rekindle emotions still raw from the hunt for Pancho Villa. And the countr
y is still reeling politically from an attack on the pueblo of San Salvador Atenco more than a week ago. Pictured here is some of the damage riot police inflicted when they carried out a dawn raid May 4 to round up rebels who -- the day before -- kidnapped and slashed local police officers with machetes in a dispute over where flower vendors could sell their goods. Only problem is that riot police took more than 200 people, when only 28 now face real charges. And the Mexico’s own National Human Rights Commission has confirmed sexual abuse and rape of some of the women detainees.No one knows what the political impact will be. But so far, PAN, conservative party of President Vicente Fox, has succeeded in pulling a Karl Rove on liberal rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). Rather than feeling the heat because Fox ordered a raid that went awry, PAN presidential candidate Felipe Calderon has successfully turned the tables on AMLO, painting him as the presidential candidate who would tolerate violence by peasants armed with machetes.
The whole mess has suddenly raised the profile of masked man Subcommandante Marcos, who became famous in 1994 for the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, but who had been dubbed a has-been by the media of late. Now he’s making that talk show circuit, and yesterday appeared at a march of about 5,000 people on Los Pinos, the Mexican presidential residence (like the White House) demanding the unconditional release of the Atenco detainees.If I were the Wonkette, I would digress here to start a conversation about whether women find the mask hot. Call it the burka effect. What you can’t see is more alluring. But I won’t stoop. There’s serious journalism going on here.
posted by Kathy Corcoran at 9:19 AM
2 Comments:
Wow, a lot going on -- and I suspect it will heat up further after Bush's speech Monday night. I know you have serious journalism to do, but can I ask you in a yes or no question, since you raised it: Do you find the mast hot?
These last two posts just reaffirm my admittedly limited perception (fears?) that Mexico is a no-doubt-about-it Third World country. Can't get drinking water, police gone crazy. As an American living in what appears to be the non-tourist areas of Mexico, do you feel safe? Or do you just accept the fact that you're living in Third World conditions and go on?
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