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Calderón won't resign to the PAN

Under Reserve features fact-checked news written by journalists and contributors to EL UNIVERSAL

Felipe Calderón, former President of the Mexican Republic – File photo/EL UNIVERSAL
11/10/2017 |09:00
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Calderón won't resign to the PAN

Five days after the resignation of Margarita Zavala to the National Action Party (PAN) , former Mexican President Felipe Calderón has stated he won't leave the ranks of the party to fight the personal and political plans of the current national leader, Ricardo Anaya, and support his wife. We're told the overview of the team and the inner circle of Mrs. Margarita is quite clear: the “rebel senators” and former governors will remain party members to fight from the inside. However, our sources say other players from Zavala's inner circle will indeed leave the party: Jorge Camacho, chief of the Presidential Candidate Office; Fernanda Caso, Project Coordinator, and Daniel Vázquez, Structure Coordinator. The others will stay with the white & blue members to pester those who have caused an irreversible and terrible damage to the PAN, we've been told.

The Senate, half-frozen

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The Senate is currently half-frozen. We're told that out of the 64 ordinary commissions and the 18 special commissions, only two or three are holding meetings to assess proposals and prepare decisions to be discussed during the plenary sessions and subject them to a vote. This half-paralysis is causing a lack of productivity right before we reach the half of the meetings scheduled. We're told the infighting between the National Action Party (PAN) – which has split the coordination among Fernando Herrera and Ernesto Cordero – is complicating the possibility of reaching agreements, without which it's pointless to hold meetings. On the other hand, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) coordinated by Emilio Gamboa, is more focused on its own political agenda, which should culminate in the election of the party's presidential candidate for 2018. And thus, the legislative agendas for this period are virtually unattended.

At last, good news

After a dark September, yesterday the administration of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has received some good news at last. We've been told in the last few hours, several announcements have been made which which can give Mexico a break – at least on the financial side. The rating agency Fitch Ratings increased its projection on Mexico's economic growth from 2.3 % for 2017 to 2.4% for 2018, and the International Monetary Fund revised up its forecast to 2.1%, according to the latest edition of the World's Economic Outlook. Moreover, the World Bank has considered the feasibility of paying Mexico 150 millions of USD for the reconstruction of the states affected by the September earthquakes.

The tennis shoes of Sandoval

Two day after the September 19 earthquake, it was said that former Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Governor of Nayarit , Roberto Sandoval , had put on his tennis shoes to flee the country. Mr. Roberto has been accused by opposing groups of illicit enrichment, and they even filed a formal complaint before the Mexican Office of the Attorney General. Some of the areas of the Institution, such as the Deputy Office of the Atorney General Specialized in Organized Crime have no open case against him, yet, we're told the Financial Intelligence Unit is tracking the movements of the Nayarit politicians, who , similarly to other cases of former governors, could be brought to justice for money laundering.

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