I Got a Thumb; Where's Ya Eye?

The biggest local political feud in Torreón over the last few years has been that of Mayor José Ángel Pérez and his predecessor, Senator Guillermo Anaya. Both are from the PAN, but Anaya is held in much higher regard than Pérez, and there's a sort of Carter-Clinton rivalry between them.

This weekend, the outgoing Pérez met with his successor, the PRI's Eduardo Olmos, whom Pérez defeated in 2005, and who'll be taking over shortly. Apparently, it was a very friendly lunch, and afterward Pérez summed up the differences between Anaya's turning over power to Pérez and the present mayoral transition: "[In 2005] there probably wasn't so much dialogue, so much availability." Anaya is one of the party's rising stars, so this won't help Pérez recover from a much-derided tenure. Of course, given the changing political dynamic here, maybe Pérez is considering a change in parties.