!Viva Mexico!

[sabotabby]

I know better than to put too much hope in electoral politics, but you know what? I'm going to celebrate the fuck out of the fact that Amlo won, not just for it being an historic moment (a left-leaning party crushing the PRI—like, do you know how amazing that is?) but because Mexico is bucking the global trend towards authoritarian, anti-democratic, far-right politics. If you know anything about Latin American politics, you know that this is a brave and dangerous move, and there will be a long, probably deadly fight ahead if Morena is going to both institute the kinds of sweeping changes it's talking about and avoid a US-sponsored coup.

In related news, I really miss Mexico and want to go back.

Comments

[kore]

Mexico is bucking the global trend towards authoritarian, anti-democratic, far-right politics

YES, FUCKING YAY

If you know anything about Latin American politics, you know that this is a brave and dangerous move

It's such really amazing news. This is SO brave.

[sabotabby]

It's cheesy but I'm crying a bit at the level of defiance it must take.

[kore]

Aww it's not cheesy. It takes a lot to be brave in a time like this. Especially with Buttercup squatting on his dark throne in DC, ugh.

[franklanguage]

Buttercup…has a nice ring to it.

[sabotabby]

Cheeto Benito is my preferred term but Buttercup also works.

[dewline]

Some interesting possible NAFTA-related side effects:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-july-2-2018-1.4730871

[dewline]

Short version: Trudeau may have support for some of the changes he wants to make to NAFTA. Protections for women, Indigenous people, workers' rights, ecological concerns, etc..

[sabotabby]

The weird thing is, Trump is actually right about NAFTA. Just not in the way he thinks. Mexico got boned the hardest at the time, which was one of the contributing factors to the current refugee crisis.

[rdi]

It’s a ray of hope, that’s for sure.

[sabotabby]

Everyone Mexican I encountered today seemed in a good mood and it clearly was not because of the World Cup.

[rdi]

You encountered Mexicans? I need to get of the house more. On a typical day I encounter abigor and the cats.

[sabotabby]

Well, yeah, I was at a Mexican restaurant during the World Cup. :)

[mistersmearcase]

Mexico is my number one wish-I-flew-on-airplanes fantasy place to spend time. Please please please let our current government be too stupid to fuck things up there.

[sabotabby]

I have such huge affection for Mexico, tbh. I had fantasies of learning Spanish and retiring to Mexico City and eating tacos from the taco stand every day. It had a lot of the things that made me bond with Berlin but is a fuck of a lot easier to get to.

The result is cause for celebration, for sure

[ed_rex]

But (you knew there would be a "but", didn't you?) ... But what happens if Amlo's government turns into another Syriza? What happens at the next election?

It seems to me that (more or less) western (more or less) liberal democracies, have had quite a run lately of electing "outsiders". And more to the point, that the outsiders they first elect at least make left-like noises (Obama, Trudeau, for obvious examples) or, like Syriza, make positively radical noises en route to gaining power (or maybe, "power").

They then go ahead and renegue on all, or almost all, of their important campaign promises, while never letting up on the feel-good, left-populist rhetoric.

And then, conscious that they have been betrayed yet again, a significant portion of the desperate working class opts to support a right-wing faux-populist because — what the hell? — they were screwed by Obama/Wynne/Blair anyway, so why not take a flyer on Trump/Ford/May?

I want to see hope in the Mexican results, but almost the first thing Amlo did was rush out to "reassure the markets" that he wants to save NAFTA, so I fear the worst.

If the average Mexican voter is no better off, or even worse off, six years from now, who could blame them for trying on a right-wing strong-man instead?

Re: The result is cause for celebration, for sure

[sabotabby]

I hear you. To some extent, the anarchists and revolutionary Marxists are correct in that there's a hard limit to the good that can be achieved within the state apparatus (but no such limit to the harm that can be achieved by a right-wing government).

This said, in Mexico's entire living history, they have always been ruled by a right-wing strongman (the party that's ruled for most of a century is called the Institutional Revolutionary Party!) so it's not like they're unfamiliar with the option. Which is part of the reason why I feel a bit hopeful.

Re: The result is cause for celebration, for sure

[ed_rex]

... the anarchists and revolutionary Marxists are correct in that there's a hard limit to the good that can be achieved within the state apparatus (but no such limit to the harm that can be achieved by a right-wing government)

It really is so god damned much easier to kick something over than it is to destroy it.

This said, in Mexico's entire living history, they have always been ruled by a right-wing strongman [...] so it's not like they're unfamiliar with the option. Which is part of the reason why I feel a bit hopeful.

That's a good point, and one I hadn't considered. And all the more reason to hopehopehope that Amlo's government doesn't turn out to be another Syriza. If so, I hope he knows the kind of hell that's going to come down on Mexico and is ready for it.