Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
The Zócalo event was what it was supposed to be: massive mobilization leaving the plaza before the beginning and hatred, a lot of hatred. There was an accumulation of promises and a blurring of responsibility for criminality, violence, lack of medical attention, and the educational crisis. Everything bad is Calderón’s fault. But there was a novelty.
AMLO warned of the existence of a “Supreme Conservative Power” directed and controlled by Claudio X. Gonzalez, who is the new evil figure that serves to contrast with his own angelic, pristine presence, full of goodness and grace. He called the opposition “racist, classist, corrupt, oligarchic, shameless, and even ridiculous”. That “Supreme Conservative Power” led by Claudio X. Gonzalez is supported by “influence peddlers and corrupt politicians at the highest level of the old regime, and those in charge of the parties who obey him, many shady lawyers of the Judiciary, accommodating intellectuals and rented or sold journalists”. No one is spared.
In 1996-97, AMLO allied with Zedillo against Salinas, claiming that a coup d’état was being prepared against the President of the Republic. That was the beginning of the demonization of Salinas, first as Zedillo’s political project and later taken up by AMLO, perceiving the political profitability of accusing possible coups d’état.
Already installed in the Mexico City government, AMLO faced another “coup conspiracy” of Salinas, Diego Fernandez de Ceballos, Carlos Ahumada, Rosario Robles, and others, qualifying them as the Mafia of Power. After the results of the 2006 presidential elections, the new ” subject of hatred” would be Felipe Calderón and all those who, according to AMLO, helped him to orchestrate the fraud that stole the Presidency of the Republic from him. He highlighted the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) and its President, Luis Carlos Ugalde, among many culprits. For AMLO, the official election results were a “coup d’état” against him, even though he could never prove fraud, having lost by a few hundred thousand votes.
To appease AMLO’s anger, the federal government agreed to remove Ugalde and put in someone acceptable to him, thinking this would solve the problem. Serious mistake. Not only was it not solved, but it got bigger because AMLO perceived weakness by the opposing forces.
Despite having lost the 2012 election, once again, AMLO did not accept his defeat, broke with the PRD, and formed Morena, a party made to his needs and likeness. The subjects of hatred were defined according to AMLO’s interests. Salinas, Mafia of Power, Calderón, IFE-INE and its President, whoever. All these targets of hate serve as fuses to accuse of past situations and as an excuse to blame for his own mistakes in the present.
His recent war against the National Electoral Institute (INE) and Lorenzo Cordova was simply part of a usual pattern of behavior in López Obrador’s political life. During the mañaneras, AMLO frequently talks about the threat of a “coup d’état” against him. A recurring theme throughout his public life confirms the perception of a paranoid personality.
How does the intention to turn Claudio X. Gonzalez into the new subject of hatred fit in? Claudio’s situation is radically different from the other targets of hate. When former Presidents, former presidential candidates, or federal electoral body officials are accused of some questionable or dishonest conduct, chances are that there is a broad public that might have some knowledge about the accusation, either for or against. His previous victims of hate have been public political actors and have expressed their opinions against AMLO in various ways.
Claudio X. Gonzalez is undoubtedly a perfect stranger to most of the attendees at the Obradorista event in the Zocalo itself. His role in the opposition has been as a promoter of unity, along with others. What, then, is the purpose of making a relatively unknown person the new hate target elevated to that status at an event in the Zócalo? Consider the possibility that AMLO is inventing the “Supreme Conservative Power” as the beginning of a narrative about an alleged coup attempt against him, either before, during, or after the 2024 elections. It would be consistent with everything he has done in his political life. The coup accusation has been his leitmotiv for years.
The difference now is that he has the conditions and the power to face a “coup d’état” declaring a state of exception in the country, canceling the elections, imprisoning opposition leaders, accusing businessmen (read Claudio X. González) of financing the coup and, with the support of the Army (not the Navy), changing the history of Mexico with a Fujimori-style self-coup d’état, similar to what Pedro Castillo wanted to do in Peru.
The only explanation for such a constitutional rupture would be that he does not see it viable for his candidates (corcholatas) to win the elections next year. Their mediocrity and lack of popular support have alarmed the National Palace, leading it to contemplate the coup route planned by the President himself.
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