Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
2024 began this February 26 when the opposition gathered in rallies, gathering millions of people all over and outside the country. While the ruling party flutters around its three (or are there four?) corcholatas (Bottle caps) that do not discuss proposals -because the President decides that- but who is more “attractive”?
The difference between the ruling party and the opposition is abysmal. The opposition discusses proposals for the country’s future, immersed in its rich and deep diversity. The officialism is reduced to the flirtation of “corcholatas” (a term invented by AMLO that denigrates the subjects appointed in that capacity) with a supposed poll that will be nothing more than AMLO’s decision.
The ruling party is trapped in its discussion about three possible candidates. Its role is to show its loyalty to the outgoing President and its commitment to defend his legacy and his back when lawsuits against him for corruption and criminal association are filed. For that reason, AMLO moved the process of choosing his successor so far ahead of schedule. He wants to be absolutely sure that whoever is left on Morena’s side will assume as a fundamental responsibility the defense of his works, his actions, and omissions before any possibility of being forced to defend himself in criminal trials not only in Mexico but also abroad (he must have learned something from the García Luna trial).
The opposition is in a completely different place. While it is true that there are postulants for the presidential candidacy, the internal discussion goes through the elaboration of a national project to get out of the crisis that the 4T administration is sowing. Afterward, it must process a methodology to choose its presidential candidacy to allow relevant citizen participation in this definition. In this case, a “dedazo” (finger choosing) is no option.
The concentration in the Zócalo this February 26, 2023, numerically surpassed the mobilization of November 13, 2022. This experience teaches us that the opposition citizen mobilization is growing and advancing in terms of the number of attendees and the quality of its organization. Citizens’ confidence in their own strength is growing, even outside political parties. And this dynamic is pointing the way forward until the presidential elections of June 2, 2024.
Contrary to what might be assumed, the presidential threats work in favor of resistance and mobilization of the opposition. Instead of scaring the population, the presidential words tend to encourage the people to ignore their offenses and move forward to throw the deformed 4T stillborn into the historical trash.
The more presidential verbal aggressions, the greater the citizens’ decision to get rid of this government. This explains the quantitative and qualitative growth of the mobilization of free citizens from November to February. Three months helped convince more citizens that uniting and taking to the streets to defend the right to vote freely is everyone’s responsibility. And that it is the way forward to defend freedom in Mexico.
Coming together in a just, democratic cause and against a mediocre government that aspires to populist authoritarianism strengthens the conviction of millions of Mexicans that there is the strength and moral justice to advance relentlessly on the path to winning the elections in 2024. Never in the history of Mexico since the Revolution of 1910 has there been a social thrust of this magnitude.
This is the importance of the mobilization that millions of Mexicans experienced this Sunday. Because of the strength of the movement, its extraordinary diversity, and the convincing call for unity without haggling, it is possible to postulate that the election in one year and four months will be determined to a great extent by this irruption of democratic citizenship, determined to positively influence the election of the next government that represents the interests of all and not only of a few.
We are seeing libertarian democracy emerging from below and among millions for the good of all.
[email protected]
@rpascoep
Further Reading: