Mexico voted Sunday to take a giant leap forward to its past.
For most of its post-colonial history since the Revolution in 1929, Mexico was dominated by one political party – the PRI. PRI was essentially a dictatorship, controlling every aspect of the government for 70 years, creating a huge patronage system driven by corruption and a dozen or so extremely rich families. Nationalization of the country’s oil resources in 1938 and the ever present illegal narcotics trade are two of the more important influences on the Mexican economy. Oil production has steadily declined due to mismanagement and alienation of the oil companies in the United States. Mexico is now about at the point that it will become a net oil importer.
In 2000, the PRI finally lost power to democratic reforms. For the past decade, Mexico has seen loss of control of significant parts of the country and widespread brutal murders by the drug gangs.
Sunday, the Mexican people gave a very large mandate to return control of the country to the PRI. Everyone is being assured that the PRI of today will not return to the repressive dictatorship of the past – that the democratic reforms are now too deeply rooted to be undone – but when a country begins to descend into anarchy, it is not unusual for people who long for the days of the past when a dictator kept law and order and made the trains run on time.
Good luck amigos y amigas! May your Hope for Change come true.
Loosers
Whew… For a moment there, I thought you were talking about El Conquistador Obama and his 4 amigo administration, What a relief you were talking about Mexico, no danger of the Hope and Change he promised.
If there’s any doubt as to the dominant status of the United States, here is an example of how another nation takes its cue from us. I wonder if the new (old) dictator in Mexico will bully their Highest Court.
France is another nation that is following our lead…they also elected a socialist leader.
Egalite, liberte, fraternite!
Mexico is plagued by corruption at all levels. Under the PRI, Mexico was “at peace” with drug lords and gangsters. A “peace” marked by how much money was flowing to the government. Under Calderon and at the behest of the USA war was declared on these gangsters, a war that is being lost by the government and has cost millions of dollars and countless lives. The new president offered peace and has spent the last few years in cahoots with Televisa in order to create a rock star image (sounds familiar?). People just bought the line and voted. Expect another few millions to cross the border as they did during the old regime.
So that suggests he is a puppet of Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire with more money than Mayor Bloomberg – the man who bailed out the New York Times and kept it out of bankruptcy.
It’s interesting that the man probably behind much of the Mexican national identity is not part of “La Raza”. his parents immigrated to Mexico from Lebanon. The people running Mexico (and much of Central and South America) are very ethnically aware and it is the people with non-Native roots that run the countries. Under even the most generous interpretation, Carlos Slim has no hereditary “claim” to the Southwest United States – any more than Barack Obama can claim to be a victim of American Slavery 400 years ago
I should probably add that I don’t have any strong opinion about Carlos Slim. He made a large part of his fortune by selling cell phone service. Whether any of his wealth is due to drug connections, I haven’t got a clue – but in the end, most wealth in Mexico comes from only a few places. A jeweler who sells gold chains to drug dealers isn’t in the “drug business” but benefits because it exists. The lines get very fuzzy
Good luck to them, I’m sure if this guy is as hard
on corruption as being portrayed he has a high chance
of being kennedy’d..
All is as it should be. Pay no attention – return to your televisions and fast food. No worries, all is well. All is well.