Human Rights Elections

With the budget out of the way, the Senate can now take to the next piece of business: the election of the next human rights ombudsman. The Human Rights Commission will make its hearings on the successor to José Luis Soberanes open to the public, so as to reduce suspicion about the method in which he or she is elected. According to the article Emilio Álvarez Icaza remains one of the favorites, along with Patricia Olamendi, Guadalupe Morfin and Gerardo Laveaga. Álvarez, the outgoing commissioner of human rights in Mexico City, where he oversaw some important improvements during his term, is the only one of the four whose work I'm familiar with, and a wide range of analysts have come out convincingly in favor of his appointment. If it's not going to be Álvarez, I like the idea of the human rights czar sharing a name with a potent pain reliever, so I'm going with Guadalupe Morfin.