Gamboa, hole in one

Gamboa, hole in one

At the offices of several members of the Presidential cabinet, close to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto , the news of the resignation of the Attorney General, Raúl Cervantes , was delivered by the media. We're told a very reduced number of the inner circle of the President and a handful of others close to Mr. Raúl already knew what would become a headline later on. Among those privileged few was the coordinator of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) senators, Emilio Gamboa . He was given the heads up during a Sunday work meeting with the President, an exclusivity he took advantage of to play a golf game with Peña Nieto. No one doubts Gamboa is privy to classified information – he uncovered the four aspiring presidential candidates of the party, after all. Those who know him know he would've never said those names without some solid ground.

A citizen's touch to the Front

We're told that this week, the leaderships of the National Action Party (PAN), the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) , and the Citizen's Movement (MC) , led by Ricardo Anaya, Alejandra Barrales, and Dante Delgado, respectively, will launch their plan to add a citizen's touch to the Citizen's Front for Mexico . The idea, we're told, is to gather proposals from the civil society to include them in the project for the 2018 General Elections. We've been told that though civil associations they will organize forums to have the citizen's touch to justify the Front has the support of those who don't believe in political parties – although, perhaps, the national leaders need to listen to the voices of scholars and members of the civil society, who are claiming the true opportunity of the Front lies in the representation of a citizen who has never been member of a political party. Such an important decision, they argue, would help the people to see the Front in a different and innovative light, and may even set in on an unstoppable course.

Independents go back to school

Independent candidates will have to go back to school, in addition to receiving online tutorials and virtual guidance so their crew is capable gather the support signatures. The National Electoral Institute invited them to attend an express training course on their obligations. We're told the objective is to avoid irregularities during the signature gathering. In this course, the trainers will have to remind independent candidates have a limit of resources they need to comply with, and that mid-March the candidates will have to present a report on their expenditures, lest they aren't included on the ballot. So far, we ignore if Margarita Zavala, Governor Jaime “El Bronco” Rodríguez, and the other wistful aspirants will personally attend the invitation.

So long, SCT building

The 2,500 employees of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT) , led by Gerardo Ruíz Esparza, will never return to their office building – the headquarters of the Ministry, located in University Avenue, Xola, and Eje Central. We're told the earthquake of 1985, and now of 2017, have rendered it inhabitable for once and for all. At the moment, Mr. Gerardo's team is working on two main issues: relocating the public servants who worked at HQ, and restoring the murals of José Chávez, Juan O'Gorman, Arturo Estada, and Rosendo Soto. On the matter of the cultural heritage, experts have talked about carefully removing the six-square meter blocks to be relocated. At the moment, the idea is to keep the plot so the new offices of the SCT can be built there.

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