Politics: Chihuahua rattles presidential contest

MEXICO - Report 22 Jan 2018 by Guillermo Valdes and Esteban Manteca

The investigations being pursued by the Chihuahua state government (PAN) against PRI politicians, and its protest against the federal ministry of finance for allegedly withholding funds in an act of political leverage or retaliation in relation to those criminal investigations, is having a major impact on this year’s election campaign. For several months now, the Chihuahua state attorney general has been conducting investigations into alleged acts of corruption during the previous administration of César Duarte. It was bad enough for the incumbent PRI to have to deal with mounting evidence of widespread corruption by yet another of its former state governors and his subordinates, but the media coverage has extended to allegations that top officials – including then-National Party Chairman Manlio Fabio Beltrones, and then-minister of finance and current Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray – may have been involved in a scheme through which the federal government illegally channeled public funds into its party’s election campaigns in 2016.
Meanwhile, State Governor Javier Corral complained repeatedly that federal officials have been failing to do their job of requesting that US authorities extradite Duarte to face the charges that await him in Chihuahua; the acting attorney general only announced he was making that extradition request this past Wednesday, well after the latest scandal emerged.
Corral has at times overplayed his hand, and the protest activities he has announced for the coming days may fizzle. But there is no doubt his efforts have already paid off politically not only by keeping corruption investigations in the national spotlight, but also by raising questions about the discretionary management of federal funds. He has landed a direct hit against the PRI, the finance ministry, and hence José Antonio Meade, who was thrown onto the defensive while campaigning for the PRI presidential nomination as an agent of change. In the process he has challenged Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s claim to be the country’s champion in the fight against corruption, and provided a cause around which, at least momentarily, to solidify support for the PAN-led electoral front and its broader coalition of sympathizers in intellectual and academic circles.

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