The State of Mexico is often abbreviated in
Spanish from “Estado de México” to be "Edomex" in order to
distinguish it from the nation as a whole. Edomex is in a horseshoe shape,
surrounding Mexico City (the former Federal District) on the west, north, and
east. Its capital is Toluca, a city to the west of Mexico City.
With a population of over 16 million, much
of Edomex functions as part of the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City. Edomex
is a stronghold of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The current president
of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, is a member of the PRI and was governor of
Edomex from 2005-2011.
The current governor of Edomex is the PRI’s
Alfredo del Mazo Maza. During his 2017 gubernatorial campaign he was accused of
breaking at least 16 election laws, receiving 619 official complaints.
Irregularities included vote buying and breaking campaign spending limits.
Edomex helps generate a lot of the economic
activity associated with Mexico City – its annual gross domestic product (GDP)
is estimated to be over US$ 71 billion. The growth rate in the state was more
than double the national average in 2017, at 4.22%, representing about 10% of
Mexico’s GDP. However, Edomex is also one of Mexico’s most violent states: it
ranked fourth in murders in the first four months of 2018, with 703 people
killed.
Edomex is also a dangerous place to be a
politician. Early in May Adiel Zermann Miguel, 39, the Morena party candidate
for mayor of Tenango del Aire, was found dead in Ixtapaluca. Zermann was not a political
neophyte, having served a term as mayor between 2013 and 2015. His murder was
particularly brutal, with investigators saying he’d been tortured and dumped in
the street.
It's also a dangerous place to be a journalist. From the late 19th century until the start of the modern drug war in December, 2006, an estimated ten journalists lost their lives, mostly int he 1980s and 1990s. However, since the beginning of the drug war in December, 2016, six journalists have been killed.
It's also a dangerous place to be a journalist. From the late 19th century until the start of the modern drug war in December, 2006, an estimated ten journalists lost their lives, mostly int he 1980s and 1990s. However, since the beginning of the drug war in December, 2016, six journalists have been killed.
Population pressure in Edomex can result in
conflict between residents, developers, and the government, even as efforts are
made to solve problems. From January to April of this year construction on the
57-kilometer Mexico City-Toluca intercity passenger train project was stalled
due to an injunction brought by residents of San Jerónimo Acazulco in the
Edomex municipality of Ocoyoacac. The new train service is intended to relieve
congestion on the Toluca-Mexico City corridor, cutting travel time between
Mexico City and Toluca to 39 minutes, with capacity of up to 230,000 passengers
daily.
A judge granted the injunction on January
19 after community land owners filed a complaint in a federal court in 2017.
The landowners argued that 42,000 square meters of land being used for the
project was not included in the right of way, and was not covered by a
compensation agreement.
The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) says that project completion is under risk due to such actions, further arguing that the land was expropriated by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in 1943, when the population of Edomex was only 1.2 million, and then ceded to the federal government.
Politically, as with other states, Edomex
has three federal senators. One of these is a member of the PRI, and another is
a member of the left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). The
third is a member of the fraudulent “Green” Party (PVEM), which largely
functions as a client of the PRI and tends not to run on environmental concerns,
preferring instead populist issues such as capital punishment for kidnappers
and expanded food banks.
As in other states, three senate seats are up for grabs in Edomex
this July 1, with two named "first past the post" candidates. The first PRI candidate
is César Camacho Quiroz, a PRI stalwart who was governor of Edomex between 1995
and 1999. The second candidate is Alejandra Del Moral Vela, a party stalwart – she was a deputy in
Mexico City (2012-2015) and the mayor of Cuautitlán Izcalli (2009-2012). Both candidates are relying on a solid base of activists and election observers.
 |
| The PRI has a strong presence at the polls |
Juan Manuel Zepeda
Hernández is running for the PRD. He is campaigning along with María Fernanda
Rivera Sánchez, the National Action Party (PAN) candidate who also has a track
record as a local deputy. This is an odd – and some think cynical – alliance
given that the PRD is left-of-center and the PAN is right-of-center.
The left-leaning Morena coalition is running Delfina Gómez, formerly
mayor of Texcoco (2013-2015), and Higinio Martínez, another mayor of Texcoco who
resigned to run for the federal senate.
The polls suggest that most senate votes will go to Morena. However, with regard to the federal senate seats, it’s possible that Morena will either be shut out or will take only one seat. This is due to the PRI’s ability to mobilize large numbers, and also the fact that it has activists at almost every poll. In those areas where the only observer is from the PRI, it’s highly likely that the party will attempt to orchestrate fraud, as it has in past elections.
When it comes to the federal vote, the plurality – if not the majority –
of votes will almost certainly go to Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and the
Morena-led coalition “Juntos Haremos Historia” (Together We’ll Make History).
Ricardo Anaya of the PAN-led “Por México al Frente” coalition, and José Antonio Meade of the PRI-led “Todos por México” (All for Mexico) coalition, are 20 to
30 points behind.
Below are the links to the posts for each state:
Below are the links to the posts for each state:
No comments:
Post a Comment