The First 24 hours of Duarte in Prison

The First 24 hours of Duarte in Prison

Inside the prison, they swear Javier Duarte has no privileges, that he is treated just like the other seven thousand prisoners held at the Northern Prison (Reclusorio Norte). Yet, how did the former governor of Veracruz spend his first 24 hours in a Mexican cell? On Monday night he underwent the mandatory physical examination, according to which the inmate has suffered no injuries. However, we are told that the man looks like a walking pharmacy – with medications against depression, anxiety and fatty liver.

Duarte, according to the diagnosis, suffers from a “chronic anxiety disorder.” The inmate – accursed of committing federal crimes, and recently arrived from Guatemala – will continue taking his medications. Allegedly, during his first day in prison, he was visited by his brother, Cecil Ochoa, who arrived from Cordoba (Veracruz). On Tuesday night, the once powerful politician from Veracruz had a dinner consisting of boiled potatoes, bread and tea. This is how Duarte spent his first 24 hours in Reno, as this prison in Mexico City is known.

The Senate & the Corruption

The Senate is almost empty of legislators. Allegedly, the quietness of the place is a striking contrast to the urgency with which the citizens expect the National Anti-corruption System to come into full force and effect. Everything is idle at the State Congress, chaired by Pablo Escudero Morales , of the Green Party (PVEM), and at the Political Coordination Board, headed by Fernando Herrera Ávila , of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), and, specially, at the Anti-corruption Commission, led by the Veracruz native, Héctor Yunes Landa , of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). No one takes the blame for the lack of decisions that had to be taken prior to their implementation this Wednesday: appoint the anti-corruption prosecutor and magistrates. The PRI Coordinator, Emilio Gamboa Patrón , hasn't been around for a while either. They all seem to have vanished at the turning point of the birth of the system that seeks to fight one of the greatest banes of Mexico's existence: corruption.

Important Matters of the Legislators

There seems to be time and will at the Senate; however, to ratify the appointment of ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Senator Blanca Alcalá Ruíz as the new Mexican ambassador to Colombia . It is claimed that the procedure will be overseen by the Permanent Commission, due to the baffling haste to replace the current ambassador to the South American diplomatic office. The scenario painted by the PRI legislators is that no legislator will vote “no” to the ratification, and neither will they stonewall consensus. There are truly important matters...for them.

PAN Secret Weapon in Coahuila

Germán Martínez Cázares

– who in 2009 step down as the party president of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) due to the electoral setback of his party – is now quite active in defending the blue vote. In fact, Martínez had all but left party politics as he settled into suing from his private practice and teaching at a private university. Nevertheless, today he is the main headache of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the state of Coahuila, especially because he has experience in matters of election annulments : Colima in 2015. Some wonder if he wants to go back into politics and whose team will he join – after being a prominent defender of former Mexican president Felipe Calderón. In the meantime, he is the PAN secret weapon to seek the annulment of the elections in Coahuila.

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