Credit where Credit is due

The economist I quoted in The Mexico Problem is actually Antonio Castro of CAPEM. After apologizing to him for quoting our conversation without permission and without credit, he said he had no problem with the article because he agreed with it all. If you want to know what's going on economically in Mexico, he's the man.

He even said he'll keep me up to date on other developments down there. The latest is hard to translate, but I'll try:

Manuel Lopez Obrador, the governor of the D.F. (Federal District, essentially Mexico City), has just been relieved of his fuero, a kind of immunity from prosecution given to elected politicians there. This in response to a shady deal where he expropriated land for the benefit of a private hospital in clear violation of the law. "I'm the law," was his response. He's been considered a strong candidate for president of Mexico. (He's also been compared to the loco Chavez of Venezuela.) His nickname among those who are not his fans is El Peje, short for pejelagarto (LEPIDOSEUS VIRIDIS), a large freshwater fish with an alligator-like snout, common to Tabasco, from whence hails Lopez Obrador. Yesterday his case was presented to a judge. Under Mexican law, if he is criminally charged he is not eligible to run for president. It's a big brou-ha-ha. As Antonio said, "They yanked the tiger's tail but didn't count on his teeth."

Anyway, the latest saying for someone who says foolish things is Dice pejejadas. Roughly translated, "He says peje-isms". But pejejadas is a lot like an off-color Mexican expression for idiocy.