Three Follow Ups
More on Claudia, Popo, and Corn
The last thing I want to do is leave you all hanging - so today I am focusing on follow-ups to some recent newsletters I've published.
1. Succession
A few weeks ago I wrote about Claudia Sheinbaum - the current mayor of Mexico City - and her prospects for becoming the next president of Mexico:
Earlier this month, Mexico held gubernatorial elections in the state of Coahuila and in the State of Mexico (which is home to Mexico's capital: Mexico City). Both states had governors from the PRI party; but after the elections only Coahuila retained PRI rule. The State of Mexico elected the Morena candidate (Morena is the party of current Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO, colloquially) and of Claudia Sheinbaum), which ended nearly a century of PRI rule in that state. On the Monday after this election, AMLO celebrated by inviting the Morena party's expected presidential candidates to a dinner at a restaurant in Mexico City, ostensibly to celebrate Morena's victory in the State of Mexico.
It has been reported, however, that in addition to that celebration, the process for choosing Morena's next presidential candidate was discussed. One of the leading contenders - Mexico's Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard - proposed that the contenders for the Morena party's nomination should resign their current posts immediately, so as to level the playing field somewhat. This makes sense for Ebrard (who is currently polling behind Sheinbaum) because Sheinbaum - as mayor of Mexico's capital city - enjoys a very large audience and presence. AMLO reportedly felt Ebrard's proposal was a good idea, and Ebrard has indeed resigned his Foreign Secretary post, effective June 12.
Earlier that Monday, Sheinbaum in a press conference stated that she had no plans to resign her position as mayor of Mexico City until/unless she won the Morena party's nomination for its presidential candidate. But given the events of later that evening, we'll have to see if Sheinbaum cooperates with AMLO's support of candidates resigning before the nomination process begins. And if she doesn't, whether that will hurt her hopes for becoming the nominee for Mexico's most popular political party.
2. Over the volcano
On May 29, I reported on Popocatépetl's recent volcanic activity and the threats to Puebla and other towns in the shadow of this volcano.
Fortunately, Popocatépetl has decided that increased eruption activities are not in its best interests. On June 6th, the National Coordinator of Civil Protection downgraded the volcanic warning from Phase 3 to Phase 2. This means that a warning is still in effect, but scientists believe that the volcano's activities are in remission.
3. Canada's corn consultants
Last week, I talked about Mexico's desire to phase out the use of GMO corn for human and animal consumption, and how the United States sees that as a violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The U.S. has requested "talks" - effectively, dispute settlement consultations - with Mexico over the dispute. And now Canada has issued a statement asserting that it wants to be a "third-party" (but not a "disputing" party) in those consultations. In the statement, Canada makes clear that they share the United States' concerns that Mexico's position on GMO are not scientifically supported. Furthermore, Canada - while not a large exporter of corn - exports a lot of GMO canola to Mexico.
It certainly seems like the U.S. and Canada want to team up against any opposition to the free trade of GMO products by the participants of the USMCA trade agreement.
Thanks for the updates! I would not have any idea about these developments otherwise. I really want to see Sheinbaum will the presidency nomination. Bummer to hear that AMLO is agreeing to this proposal that they resign. What the heck? Who steps down from office when they are trying to step up? What an odd thing to ask, as their performance in their role would seem related to their ability to perform in the next role. Ugh. And similarly, I am bummed to hear that Canada has jumped on the bandwagon with GMOs. I personally do not think they are healthy, as many of my trusted functional health practitioners I follow seem to feel strongly of this conviction and seems like you should not force supply on a country that does not have demand, but figure out how to produce something they actually want and can use! Ugh again.
I'm with Christy in that you shouldn't have to resign your office in order to have the possibility of a higher one. Let them win the nomination and later the election and then resign their current office to step up. Since they've made it to where they are now, I'm pretty sure they're can walk and chew gum at the same time, unless it's GMO gum in which case all bets are off.