Mexico voted Sunday to take a giant leap forward to its past.<\/p>\n
For most of its post-colonial history since the Revolution in 1929, Mexico was dominated by one political party – the PRI. \u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0 Oil production has steadily declined due to mismanagement and alienation of the oil companies in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0 Mexico is now about at the point that it will become a net oil importer.<\/p>\n
In 2000, the PRI finally lost power to democratic reforms.\u00a0\u00a0 For the past decade, Mexico has seen loss of control of significant parts of the country and widespread brutal murders by the drug gangs.<\/p>\n
Sunday, the Mexican people gave a very large mandate to return control of the country to the PRI.\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Good luck amigos y amigas!\u00a0\u00a0 May your Hope for Change come true.<\/p>\n
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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. \u00a0 PRI was essentially a dictatorship, controlling … Continue reading