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Lomas de Chapultepec: As well as a number of residents and visitors, members of the UK diplomatic community filled Christ Church in Montes Escandinavos on Tuesday for a tribute to the dead and injured, writes Elizabeth Mistry.

While those present stood in silence, the sound of bagpipes echoed over the evening breeze and for a few moments we were all Londoners again.

El Fisgón, La Jornada – 9 July

Friday 10 June, 17:30
John Brooks Memorial Lecture
Mexico: A Political Transition Without Truth or Justice
Sergio Aguayo Quezada
at the Institute for the Study of the Americas

When in Mexico I try to tune into Canal Once’s cerebral weekly political analysis programme ‘Primer Plano’. The cable and satellite channel has been broadcast from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional since 1959, making it the oldest public service TV service in Latin America.

It’s Monday evening, 10 o’clock… Sergio, Carmen, Lorenzo, Leonardo, José Antonio, Francisco and Agustín, or some of them (a quorum is three to five) are ready to rise to the challenge. They begin to dissect the seemingly intractable problems that hold back this extraordinary country of 102 million souls.

“Hola, muy buenas noches, bienvenidos a una emisión más de Primer Plano”

The panellists are dressed in all black and their seated forms melt into an equally dark studio backdrop. Attention is focused on faces. A smile for a counter argument well put, a nod of agreement, a brow furrowed in protest. Debate is smart, direct and quick; the sparring considered and respectful. Ideas flow. Enriching for all. I’m left pondering why such able people do not govern Mexico.

Absorbing stuff; pity I’m one of only 70-80,000 watching. But then again, this is Mexico.

With little more than a year to go until the presidential election, there is no shortage of speculation about who will run for President in 2006. We already know many of the pre-candidatos – those bidding to win the right carry the banner for each of the three main political parties.

Observers predict that the result of next year’s vote may be even more important for democracy in Mexico than the landmark 2000 shift that saw an end to more than 70 years of PRI government.

Of all the Primer Plano panellists, arguably the most conciliatory is Sergio Aguayo Quezada, a noted academic and commentator, who is visiting Britain this week.

Aguayo was speaking about the transition to democracy in Mexico to an attentive audience at Canning House in central London this afternoon.

On Friday, he will address the Institute for the Study of the Americas, part of the University of London.

For a taster, you can read Aguayo’s essay – Mexican democracy in peril – published on the openDemocracy website (21 April).

The talk was the first such event held by Ex-a-Tec, the newly-formed group for UK-based graduates of ITESM, the private university known as ‘el Tec de Monterrey’. It is producing a new and exciting generation of would-be Mexican researchers and politicians.

UK-based ITESM graduates should email for more information about the society.

While I’m on the subject of human rights, I was heartened to read in The Christian Science Monitor today that Mexico’s national AIDS programme has launched an ad campaign against homophobia.

In one radio ad, a mother preparing dinner for her son and his date, whom he is bringing home for the first time, says: “You look so in love, my son. So what’s your date’s name?”

“Oscar,” her son says.

Listen to the radio ‘spot’ in full.

And finally…

Earlier this week, we learned of the tragic death of Adolfo Aguilar Zinser – one of the more progressive figures in Mexican politics.

Obituary: Adolfo Aguilar Zinser – The Guardian, UK

Bizarrely, on FIFA’s orders, the kick-off time for Mexico’s eagerly anticipated qualifier at home to rivals the United States has been put back by 7 minutes. The match at the Estadio Azteca will now start at the unusual time of 12:07 local time (18:07 GMT) on 27 March.

The US has a miserable Won 0- Drawn 1- Lost 21 -record south of the border in a series that stretches back to 1934 and the days of buttoned-down sleeves and baggy shorts.

However, while they may remain – just – the footballing superpower in the region, the Mexicans no longer have it all their own way. El Tri has only triumphed in 6 out of 19 meetings since the start of the 1990s and coach Ricardo Lavolpe is only too aware that the US has not lost to Mexico in the last 8 matches between the two rivals (all of them outside Mexico). More pertinently, the US has come out top dog in 4 of their last 5 games with Mexico and are on a 16-game unbeaten run, stretching back to a narrow 1-0 loss in Holland in February 2004.

Mexico see the match as their best chance to avenge their humiliating 2-0 defeat at the hands of their neighbours in the last competitive match between the two sides – the round of 16 at the last World Cup.

The winners of Sunday’s clash will move into pole position in the final hexagonal round of North, Central American and Caribbean qualifying.

Whatever happens, it would still be a major surprise if both national teams were not competing in Germany next year.

LiveStrong wristband

“From subways to schools, barrios to bars, yellow “LiveStrong” wristbands… are everywhere in the capital”, reports Dane Schiller in The Herald.

As the wristband craze spreads to Mexico, fakes selling for anything from 20 to 200 pesos have poured into the informal economy of street markets notorious for pirated CDs and counterfeit label clothing.

Six time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong launched the “LiveStrong” campaign in May 2004 with partners Nike in an effort to raise millions of dollars for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996 aged 25. Profits from the $1 bracelets go to support those diagnosed with cancer, providing them with the tools and information to “live strong.”

The only place to purchase the bracelets in the US is www.laf.org, wearyellow.com or official Nike retailers. Nike is considering distribution options in Mexico.

Flabbergasted. That was my reaction to George W Bush’s nomination of Paul Wolfowitz, US deputy secretary of defence, to replace James Wolfensohn as the president of the World Bank. Today I remain full of foreboding for the future direction of that already flawed institution.

I’m encouraged that a coalition of UK-based NGOs have written a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair regarding Wolfowitz’s nomination.

Oxfam’s name is not among them, which is disappointing – speaking as a past staffer (1988-91). An email I received last night from Oxfam spokesperson Caroline Green in Washington D.C. restated the need for urgent reform of the undemocratic appointment process.

The email quoted Bernice Romero, Oxfam International’s Advocacy Director:

“There is an urgent need to reform the selection process: governments should abolish the unspoken ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ whereby the US picks the Bank President, and the Europeans the Managing Director of the [International Monetary] Fund. The President should be chosen through an open and transparent selection process, strictly on the basis of their merits and their capacity to do the job.”

This lack of transparency is a recurring theme. See my friend Ron Mader’s excellent Reflections from the World Bank.

Only two weeks ago I was exchanging emails with David Steven of worldbankpresident.org on the suitability and likelihood of ex-President Ernesto Zedillo being tapped for the job.

You can best follow this developing story on David’s website.

The actors who dub the voices for The Simpsons in Mexico went on strike over pay on Wednesday. Last month I drew some comparisons with the fat pay cheques received by their neighbours in gringolandia

The union actors who dub “The Simpsons” into Spanish for Mexican TV are involved in a dispute over the use of non-union labour. Humberto Velez, who is the voice of the cartoon legend Homer Simpson in Mexico, says he only earns about 600 pesos (£28) per episode. Nevertheless, the actors who have been voicing the mustard-coloured citizens of Springfield for the past 15 years fear losing their jobs because the dubbing company is seeking cheaper actors. By comparison, Dan Castellaneta, the ‘original’ voice of Homer, picked up an EMMY-award in August for his work on the hugely successful animated series. He receives well in excess of US$100,000 dollars per episode.

Jon Clark has conveniently pulled onto one page all the links to his journal, photos and news stories from last week’s Caribbean Series of baseball in Mazatlán.

The union actors who dub “The Simpsons” into Spanish for Mexican TV are involved in a dispute over the use of non-union labour. Humberto Velez, who is the voice of the cartoon legend Homer Simpson in Mexico, says he only earns about 600 pesos (£28) per episode. Nevertheless, the actors who have been voicing the mustard-coloured citizens of Springfield for the past 15 years fear losing their jobs because the dubbing company is seeking cheaper actors. By comparison, Dan Castellaneta, the ‘original’ voice of Homer, picked up an EMMY-award in August for his work on the hugely successful animated series. He receives well in excess of US$100,000 dollars per episode.