Resistent Marcelo

Alberto Aziz Nassif and Jorge Zepeda Patterson both comment on the exemplary performance of the Mexico City Human Rights Commission in the wake of the New's Divine disaster, contrasting it with the accommodating attitude you see from the National Human Rights Commission. Without the report from Emilio Álvarez Icaza, the affair would have been swept under the rug rather pulled out from it. Hopefully, future ombudsmen, on the national and local level, will take some inspiration from Álvarez Icaza's conduct.

This affair remains a stain on Marcelo Ebrard's record, but after some dallying, I think he handled the aftermath perfectly, in respect to both his political and moral obligations. Politicians often forget that their constituents will forgive a major mistake, as long as they feel like they are getting an honest accounting of the facts, and that the government is committed to exposing the truth. Case in point: 75 percent of respondents in a recent poll (taken just after release of Álvarez Icaza's report, and the subsequent resignations of police chief Joel Ortega and district attorney Rodolfo Félix) said that their opinion of Ebrard either didn't change or improved because of the scandal.