Well, that scandal-laden post didn't drive up traffic, so I guess I'll get back to the serious stuff.
Jean Succar Kuri, the Lebanese-Mexican businessman at the heart of the Lydia Cacho affair (he ran a child prostitution network stretching all the way to Los Angeles, which journalist Cacho exposed in her book, Los Demonios del Eden), has been sentenced to 13 years on child pornography charges and corruption of minors.
Thirteen years is not enough, in my estimation, but lost in the newspaper stories about this case is just how big a step this is for the Mexican judicial system.
A few years ago, my guess is that this guy would have got off with little more than a slap on the wrist. He was so well connected – a resort owner in Cancun, he knew everyone there – and was backed by powerful political figures in the PRI.
But the PRI is now losing clout, even in the states (it lost in Puebla and Sinaloa in last year's gubernatorial elections; I'll get at whether the PRI overall is actually losing steam or reinventing itself tomorrow.) Mario Marin – the "gober precioso" whose claim to fame is basically fucking over his entire state and talking to businessman Kamel Nacif on the phone about jailing and harassing Cacho for her exposure of their buddy and mentioning Nacif – is no longer in power in Puebla. I believe that's why the sentencing took so long – now that Marin is out of office, there is likely less pressure coming from those PRI quarters to sway the judge in Quintana Roo.
What's next? Will Marin, who left office in January, face some sort of charges? Will the PAN, in the final days of the Calderon administration, put pressure on the authorities to nail the scumbag? Get the PRI dinosaurs and make them face justice, Mr. President, and well, you have another term for your party. I'd be willing to put money on it.
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