by the El Reportero’s news services
On June 28, Rodolfo Torre Cantú, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate for governor of the border state of Tamaulipas, was ambushed and killed. This is the first time since the Revolution that a gubernatorial candidate has been murdered during a campaign.
The nearest parallel is the murder, in March 1994, of the PRI’s presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio: 1994 was a disastrous year for Mexico, opening with the Zapatista uprising in southern Mexico and ending with more political murders and eventually a catastrophic devaluation.
The victim, Rodolfo Torre Cantú, was the victim of an attack yesterday on his way to the international airport of Ciudad Victoria, in Ciudad Victoria-Soto la Marina road.
His nomination for governor in Tamaulipas was made by Alliance “All Tamaulipas”, formed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the Green Ecological Party of Mexico and New Alliance.
The head of the PRI has demanded a swift investigation of the incident and punishment to those responsible, as the incident also left several seriously injured people.
For the Mexican Government Secretary, Fernando Gómez Mont, who attended an emergency meeting of cabinet’s national security, the murder of Torres Cantu is a “completely reprehensible act that has aroused public indignation.
For his part, President Felipe Calderon contacted the national leader of the PRI and the governor of Tamaulipas, Eugenio Hernandez Flores, to express his condolences and offer support to the investigation.
Votes are set for the upcoming July 4 in 14 of the 31 states of the Union with the purpose of electing 1,633 public servants,including 12 governors, but as the date approaches, tensions and internal confrontations increase.
Argentine foreign minister resigns after spat with Fernández
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández swore in a new foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, this week after the previous incumbent, Jorge Taiana, unexpectedly resigned. Taiana was appointed as deputy foreign minister by the President’s husband and predecessor Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) in 2003 and had held the top job for five years. His departure comes just after a major breakthrough to improve ties with Uruguay, and just as a former Argentine ambassador to Caracas testified to congress about an alleged corruption scheme run by the federal planning ministry involving Argentine exports to Venezuela. Timerman had been serving as ambassador to the US
Arrest of Peruvian journalist is political persecution, son says
Peruvian-American journalist, Vicky Pelaez, arrested and accused of spying for Russia in the United States, is a victim of political persecution, says her son, Waldo Mariscal.
Mariscal’s position was reported on the Radioprogramas radio station in Lima by Manuel Avendaño, a journalist with the Spanish- language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa in New York and a colleague of Pelaez. Avedaño said he was surprised by Pelaez’s arrest.
According to news reports in Lima, Pelaez, a well-known veteran journalist, was arrested on Monday evening and accused by the FBI of working for Russian intelligence.
Mariscal considers the accusation to be an act of political persecution and an attempt to silence the column that Pelaez writes for El Diario/La Prensa, Avendaño said.
