Mexican elections are slated for July of this year, but thanks to a new electoral reform package, we are being inundated by insipid ads by the government's autonomous election agency IFE. Radio and TV stations are coerced to devote up to 6 ads or more an hour to ridiculous ads promoting the fact that people can get a new elector's credential through the end of this month in order to vote in July. By law, these damn ads will continue to bother the hell out of all us in Mexico and serve absolutely no legitimate purpose. There are other ads for each individual party as well, but they too say NOTHING! My favorite (or least favorite) is that of the PAN, which has a cheer leader like shout at the end "PAN! PAN! PAN!" Worthless! And all of this months away from the elections. While I concur that stations have a responsibility to serve their markets wherever they might be, this is out of control and Mexico's Senate just gave IFE (Instituto Federal Electoral) new enforcement powers to crack down and fine those who don't comply. These ads are a burden to the listener, the station and the country. Imagine having 6 stop sets an hour just to satisfy government redtape? Look, I'm not anti-Mexico, I live here, my wife is Mexican, but this is insane! If you want some good background, go to Youtube and look up "Pedro Ferriz de Con" who gave some fantastic tongue lashing to Mexican legislators considering this law some 2 years ago. He is the host of "Imagen Informativa," a nation-wide news program which I listen to every day on 105.9 in San Miguel de Allende.
