Videgaray to be unveiled today

Videgaray to be unveiled today

Today at the National Palace, Luis Videgaray will be unveiled.

The portrait of the former Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit will be hanged and unveiled at the National Palace. The oil-in-canvas depicting the face of Mr. Luis will hang from the wall of the portraits room, together with the rest of the former secretaries of the Treasury and Public Credit. It's possible you might remember Videgaray used to be the Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit, way back in 2012, at the beginning of the Peña Nieto administration, and after the polemic visit of Donald Trump – then the Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States – which Videgaray and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner organized, he left his position in September 2016. After four months away from the President's cabinet, he returned in January 2017 as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and, from this day and on, his portrait will remain on the walls of the Palace. The ceremony is expected to have the attendance of former secretaries, such as Ernesto Cordero and Agustín Carstens , and, of course, the host, José Antonio Meade , who has already been uncovered, since his own portrait was unveiled four years ago, when he held the position of Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit for the first time, during the previous administration.

The sinkhole and the moment of truth

Our sources say Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Esparza will appear today before the Senate with irrefutable proof that will allow the legislators to decide on the matter of the Express Passageway in Cuernavaca – where two people died when the road suddenly collapsed. It seems the definition of liabilities is close, as we're told only a few days remain before the Mexican Ministry of Public Administration makes the results of their audit known, naming all the people responsible. In the meantime, Mr. Gerardo and the Governor of the state of Morelos, Graco Ramírez, will make their statements separately before the Senate. Those who are oddly quiet are the construction companies in charge of the project, Aldesa and Epccor , who might find their voice again once the degree of liability they may have in the matter is disclosed.

AMLO and the hurdle of polls

The far- left National Regeneration Party ( MORENA ) is in quite a mess! Most of the polls published so far show Ricardo Monreal has a considerable advantage over the other three candidates aspiring to the candidacy for the government of Mexico City, but several party members are now wondering what will happen if the internal polls throw a different name to those of most public polls. And to spice things up, Monreal himself ordered an internal mirror poll last weekend, according to which he has also come out on top. Several MORENA members think the Tlalpan delegate, Claudia Sheinbaum , has the favor of the Party leader, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). Thus, if the official internal poll were to favor Sheinbaum, Martí Batres or Mario Delgado rather than Mr. Ricardo, two things will happen: the polls will be questioned and suspicions will arise whether or not AMLO had something to do with it, particularly if Ms. Claudia is the chosen one.

PRI members meet with EPN

According to our sources, next week ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party ( PRI ) legislators have a meeting of the utmost importance. The party will meet, we're told, with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) to listen to the main concerns of the current administration and thus prepare the legislative agenda of the PRI. We're told this agenda will have two main objectives: defend EPN's budget in what is to be his last year as President of the Mexican Republic , and express his formal support, to provide shelter to whoever turns out to be the PRI's presidential candidate. The meeting with the head of the State will take place one day before the ordinary meeting of the PRI deputies, scheduled for August 30 and 31, and will have the presence of, we've been told, the national leader of the party, Enrique Ochoa, during the opening day, while Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong is to close the event.

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