Mexico is... Mexico. Everything political is larger than life. In Europe we have demonstrations: last week, as we were there, there was a protest of flower sellers (the government wanted them out of the place where they had been traditionally doing their trade) in a village called San Salvador Atenco that led to two field battles between demonstrator and police. The first one led to the death of a 14-year old boy and 12 policemen being detained by the protesters; for the second one the police brought 3,000 men in and beat up everyone in sight, including sexual humiliations for the women and a lot of fairly obvious lying by the media (see the report on Indymedia). But again, in Europe we would sort of swallow all of these lies, with a sort of we-know-it's-rubbish-but-it's-the-only-game-in-town attidude; in Mexico Subcomandante Marcos (who now styles himself "Delegado Cero") gave the press bullets used on the battle site, that obviously come from policemen's guns, and therefore disproved the declaration of the police force that thay had gone into Atenco unarmed.
Yes, Mexico has a lot of energy and a lot of potential for positive change... a lot more than us, in fact. But I am quite sad by the division I saw between the EZLN and the political left (the left-wing candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, looks like he might win the presidential elections on 2nd July ). Basically Marcos is saying that there is no difference between presidential candidates. Well, I am not Mexican, but it seems to me there is some kind of difference between Calderon and AMLO. It seems there is a hell of a lot more difference than between Berlusconi and Prodi: Prodi is certainly not a working class candidate. But there is a BIG difference, believe me, between being governed by Berlusconi and being governed by Prodi.
Seen with the eyes of a non-Mexican accordionist and occasional traveller, the Otra campana of the EZLN seems really good because it is trying to change the operating system of politics. But a victory of AMLO in the presidential elections might bring about changes in the right direction even within the existing operating system. He did well as mayor of Mexico City, and a change was obvious to its inhabitants.
And another question: Mexican media are full of Marcos. But what happened to the EZLN Comandancia?
1 commento:
Hola Ulises, claro que no conocimos toda la historia. Pero me parece que los dos, el acordeonista de paso y el mexicano verdadero, pensamos que ya hay distancia entre el EZLN y la izquierda de AMLO. Y esto no nos gusta nada.
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