BATRES GUARDARRAMA, MARTÍ

Mexican lawyer and politician, Mexico City, 1967 -

            I first became aware of Martí Batres during the late 90's when he was a nerdy kinda young guy rising up in the PRD (the real good left-wing party, of course) and I always liked what he said and how he came down on the issures.

            In the year 2000, he won a seat in the national legislature as federal deputy from Mexico City.  That's when I did a book for him.

            In the year 2002, he was elected head of the PRD faction in the national congress.  A rising star!

            The following year, he was appointed Subsecretary of Government of the Federal District of Mexico City.  (The D.F. of Mexico City is something like the D.C. of Washington; not a state but its own federal district, got it?)  Congratulation, Martí!

            Andrés Manuel López Obrador was then Mayor of Mexico City and the two formed a lasting relationship.

            In 2005, he campaigned for the position of national President of the PRD, this at the time that López Obrador was about to run for president.

            And he won!  Here he is with another of my favorites, Rosario Robles, the first woman Mayor of Mexico City (1998), as they enter the hall to take his oath of office.  That's my boy!

            He worked hard and was a popular figure in the city.

            Looking good, Martí.

            In good company, here he is with Marcel Ebrard, running for Mayor of Mexico City, and López Obrador, front-runner for president.

            On the road to the convention, the country was expecting a big win for López Obrador, far ahead in the polls.

            He's getting an earful from Rosario Robles, as usual.

            Marcel was the clear winner in Mexico City, where the votes were carefully counted.

            On the national level, the clear favorite López Obrador won a wide margin of the popular vote.  On the night of the election an enormous street party erupted across Mexico, as well as throughout Latin America.

            The government of the United States to the north stepped in.  They sent advisors to the electoral board that same night.  It was announced there would be no winner announced "at this time."  The country was stunned into silence.

            Over the following two weeks the ballots were sealed and taken to an undisclosed location.  Members of the election board were silenced.

            Then it was announced that the Supreme Court would decide the election (sound familiar?).  An enormous popular movement began throughout Mexico decrying the intervention of the United States.  The PRD refused to recognize the illegitimate presidency of Felipe Calderon.  The government of the United States demanded that Mexican federal troups be sent into seven states to quell the protest, including Oaxaca where four people were killed the first weekend.

            Felipe Calderon has not been recognized by the majority of the Congress nor of the states.  For the past year he has not been able to enter the National Congress to take his oath of office nor to deliver his State of the Union address.  He is referred to in the daily newspapers as President de facto.

            Meanwhile in Mexico City, Mayor Ebrard appopinted Martí Batres the important head of Social Development.  Congratulations again!  The little ribbon you see him wearing is a symbol of solidarity with López Obrador.

            The fist thing he did was ride a bicycle through the city, to great acclaim.

            And he visited the hospitals, here examining this guy's, er... leg.

            And just recently he announced a campaign against discrimination and homophobia.  Good work, Martí.

(NOTE: See also my hand-made book, "Martí," in BOOKS.)

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