[livius]

Also, Calderon’s party (the PAN, basically, the conservative party) has been able to accomplish very few reforms because the Congress has been controlled by the PRI (think Dems).

[NormsRevenge]

A sad state of affairs.. Calderon is the best of the lot ,, unfortunately, he faces an uphill battle against the Cartels and the entrenched rival opposition..

—

just saw this ..

3 headless bodies found in car in Mexico
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/05/international/i174354D04.DTL&tsp=1

[Seven plus One]

¿Plata O Plomo? That is the question today. What would you do when they make you an offer you can't refuse? It's gone way beyond mere politics.

[dufekin]

PRI used to be the hard-line communist party and ran Mexico as a one-party dictatorship for decades but ultimately devolved into the party of corruption. The Mexican people revolted against the worst excesses of communism and got a relatively weak, corrupt federal government.

PRD is the new, serious hard-line “Chavista”-style communist party, possibly partially aligned with the drug cartels, at least the Colombian narcoterrorist group FARC.

Elections in 2012 should prove interesting. Most worrisome, drug cartel violence suppressing turnout could lead to a surprise victory for some undesirable candidate. Meanwhile, Mexican federal treasury revenues likely will decline with declining oil production.