Houston: The first three months of a new Mayoral term.

   The city of Houston has had a recent election marked with controversy, as a mayor who has had several run ins with the law, and his former wife has had a mark on Mayor Turners political life. According to the Houston Chronicle the leading newspaper of Houston the last term of Anisse Parker was filled with corruption and the inability to fight against some cases such as flooding and crime which went mostly unchecked under her term. 

   Mayor Turner has distanced himself from Parker’s political platform, as he sees it more damaging than helpful.  His platform was based on the pensions of the city workers payments, as some of the firefighters have been denied their pension and benefits. Also Turner has promised to keep his private life aside from his political goals, as the previous mayor pushed for several liberal agendas in an otherwise conservative city. Many see this as a move by the mayor to focus on the agenda of inclusion for everyone in a very diverse city.  But recently Turner is at odds with the governor of Texas, as he has welcomed many refugees from Syria and Iraq, but recently he governor has backlashed against what he calls sleeper cells infiltrated as refugees according to CNN. Also the conservative faction of the city, as many of his plans to simplify the budget has had a backlash.   

 

  So far Mayors Turner term in office has been a positive one, as many of the controversies affecting the city of Houston have been put on as a plan to be resolved. According to the Houston Chronicle the issue of transportation has been put on the agenda, as also has been the issue of flooding and crime. He has also implemented a plan in which he wants to repair several potholes a day, and has even created a pothole hotline for the people of Houston. 

Mexico: A clear example of the perfect dictatorship

Mexico has had some political transformations in the recent years, as hundreds of people have disappeared during recent years. But the inaction of the politicians have had consequences on the ruling party the PRI. The disappearances of the students in Iguala have tainted the reputation of the President Enrique Pena Nieto who even before being elected has caused controversy in the political sphere of Mexico. Many of the politicians who have been under the membership of the PRI have had a reputation of being corrupt such as the ex-governor of Coahuila Humberto Moreira.

Humberto Moreira 

The disappearances of the 43 students in Iguana has exposed the levels of corruption in the state of Guerrero, and the recent case of the first lady buying a million dollar home in an upscale neighborhood in Mexico City has caused the population to reject the current government. Another thing that has caused controversy in the silence of most media outlets especially the National Broadcaster Televisa who has just been a cheerleader of the National Government. 

                                    Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, and Enrique Pena Nieto
But during the last years election in the state of Nuevo Leon Jaime Rodriguez Calderon who jumped the Talanquera or political party from the PRI to running as an independent candidate. His campaign was very controversial, as the main media corporations were against the candidate platform, but to the surprise of the political spectators Rodriguez Calderon won by a very wide margin against the PAN candidate by 30 points. Many candidates have decided to follow Calderon's example, and are planning now to run as independent's and disdain the political groups that have hampered the North American nation.
  Still the media is influenced by the big politicians who pour a lot of money and intimidate anyone who rises up again the government. For example 30 journalists have been killed just in the current administration, and thousands have disappeared, and many live in exile, because of the drug cartels or the Mexican government.

Venezuela: A battle for the country's future.

Venezuela: In the cross paths of a regime change.

 The country of Venezuela has experienced a change of government in this year. The opposition has won the legislative camera, and have now been an obstacle for many of the presidential changes Nicolas Maduro has wanted to implement. He has ruled with absolute power, as the government controlled legislative assembly gave special powers to the President to fight against what the government supporters say is a foreign conspiracy against the country.

Venezuela for the last 17 years has been ruled by a socialist-democratic government, but as Hugo Chavez successor has leaned more to radical changes in the government, as he has imprisoned major opposition leaders, and closed the border with neighboring Colombia, something that seemed impossible under Chavez's term.But also Maduro's term has been hampered with high inflation, and a political crisis that has summoned many citizens to endure long lines to buy basic supplies, at very high prices. Also Maduro has tightened the selling of dollars to private companies, which have hampered production of many materials, thus increasing the market's dependence on foreign imports. 

                                 Nicolas Maduro and Henrique Capriles opposition leader.
   But as the tight elections in December 6 came to a close, many in Latin America were surprised to see how the opposition who have dealt with severe blows, and division within itself won by a very large margin. But some in the opposition have called openly for the revocation of the President, while others want to focus on the economy. This has caused a stagnation with the various presidential and legislative duties, which now have been dealing with a dead match between each other, thus hampering any type of reconciliation with the main two political powers.
 

Nicolas Maduro & Henry Ramos Allup

Recently the president of the legislative assembly has called for a revocation of the president which will start next month on April, He has admitted that the country's recovery will start when the government attitude changes towards the opposition, or the government will have to go.

Iowa: A new road map has just begun.

                Last Monday the first primary election for both the democrats and republicans was held in the state of Iowa. The results where surprising, as trump was expected to win by a large margin according to several polls made prior to the election. And on the democrat side Sanders and Hillary where Clinton lead him by only 3 delegates. The primary shows how much of an influence the platforms of the candidates influence the polls regarding the outreach the candidate has.
   In the republican side Donald Trump was expected to win as a majority of the polls made in the state gave him a margin of defeating Senator Ted Cruz, But many of the voters feel more connected to Cruz, as he hails from a conservative family, appealing to the mainly christian voters in the state.
Meanwhile the polls in New Hampshire point to a big win for the mogul. Trump leads in mostly all polls against Cruz but this will be proven on Tuesday if the polls tell the truth.

                                                        Trump and Cruz


                                                     Sanders and Clinton
     In the democratic side Sanders and Clinton both surprised voters when both ended tie to tie, surprising many, as Clinton was expected to lead in the primaries. Clinton and Sanders have both had very similar proposals, but Sanders have distanced himself form the Obama's administration subjects during his presidential term. Meanwhile Clinton has praised the Obama administration while failing to acknowledge his wrongdoings.
  For the polls in New Hampshire Sanders is leading by almost 20 points, and is expected to win in the primaries on Tuesday. Nationwide Sanders is winning by a slim margin over Clinton.