Elba Esther, destroyed but not defeated

La Maestra finally stepped down from her PRI post, saying that she could be destroyed but not defeated, to quote Hemingway. This article has a very good history of her conflict with Madrazo over the last 5 years. Madrazo is relieved. Other PRIistas are relieved. And the PRI leadership has already been reorganized.

Meanwhile, La Maestra has not ruled out her own presidential bid, though finding a registered party that doesn’t already have a candidate may be a challenge. She’s not ruling out a small party, however. She had much more to say, and most of her statement is reprinted by La Jornada.

If I were a Mexican politician, I think I would be more worried now that she’s untethered to any one party. At least if she’s in your party, you can try to reason with her. On her own, who knows what trouble she can cause.