One of Calderón's Unfortunate Traits, Revisited

Felipe Calderón sparked a minor uproar when he named Mony de Swaan (who sounds like an aristocratic French patron of the arts, but is in fact a Mexican bureaucrat) as the new boss of Cofetel, the nation's telecom regulator. De Swaan has worked in handful of federal government posts in recent years, most recently as the advisor to Juan Molinar Horcasitas, the secretary of communications and transportation. Congressmen from all parties have objected to the appointment, saying that de Swaan's close relationship to Molinar should disqualify him. Calderón has a habit of choosing a loyalists for posts where a bit of distance would be more appropriate. That's a presidential prerogative, but he would have done better to sprinkle some outsiders in among the foot soldiers.