Will Independents Swing Mexico’s Presidential Vote?
Former Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala has resigned from the country’s opposition National Action Party, or PAN, and plans to run for president as an independent. Also this month, indigenous leader María de Jesús Patricio Martínez registered to run as an independent, backed by the Zapatista movement, and Nuevo León Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, who became Mexico’s first independent governor after leaving the PRI, is also considering a run for the nation’s top office. How will Zavala’s decision to run as an independent and the emergence of other independent candidates shape the dynamics among the country’s top political parties as they position themselves ahead of next year’s election? How badly has corruption eroded the PRI’s popularity? Will the ruling party be able to use fissures among the opposition parties to its advantage?
Andrés Rozental, member of the Advisor board, president of Rozental & Asociados in Mexico City and senior policy advisor at Chatham House: “The list of presumptive presidential candidates that have so far registered with the National Electoral Commission has reached an absurd figure of more than 80. These include a handful of serious contenders and many more that are either just taking advantage of the open registration or who are expressing frustration with their political parties that for one or another reason decided not to nominate them as official party candidates. Margarita Zavala is among the latter, having decided to part ways with the PAN party to which she belonged for more than 35 years because the head of the party, Ricardo Anaya, refused to include her early on in an open selection for…”
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Ecuador to Ask OPEC for Exemption on Production Limits
Ecuador cited fiscal problems because of low crude prices. It hopes to increase oil production by 50,000 barrels per day next year.
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Swiss Re Expects $3.6 Billion Hit From Disasters
SThe reinsurance company expects heavy claims following the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean and earthquakes in Mexico.
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New Governors Must Submit to Assembly: Maduro
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said governors who do not submit to the country’s powerful new “constituent assembly” will not be seated. Five opposition governors had refused to attend a swearing-in ceremony before the assembly.
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