Weekly Report - 24 June 2010 (WR-10-25)

Mexico's success in the World Cup appears to be the only bright point in a political and economic miasma. On 23 June, the editorial column in Reforma, the main Mexico City newspaper, ruminated on the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in 12 states. These elections matter because they are the antepenultimate test of public opinion before the 2012 presidential elections. Reforma's conclusion was that the scandals surrounding these gubernatorial elections may only be an overture to a truly vicious and dirty campaign in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections. Given that the country is already fighting, and apparently not winning, a war against organised crime, the prospect of politics and gangsterism becoming inextricably entwined is deeply gloomy.