Apropos to the claims of the governments of the United States and Canada for violations of the USMCA, Mexico’s President uses the opportunity to put together a charade that allows him to sell himself, once again, as the hero saving the homeland from a gang of abusive foreign assailants with the complicity of some bad Mexicans -traitors to the motherland-, that are stealing the national treasure.
He is ready for the staging of a show where he is the hero wrapped in the flag, riding his white steed at full gallop to rescue the fragile and beautiful princess from the claws of the villains, just on the very day when the national independence is celebrated with a military parade.
It is not difficult to anticipate his message on the eve: Long live Mexico, Long live National Independence, Long live the heroes who gave us homeland and freedom, …, Long live the oil expropriation, Long live the nationalization of the electricity industry, Long live the Fourth Transformation, Long live National Sovereignty!
The concept of sovereignty is dressed up with unappealable ethical convictions such as love for the homeland, national pride, defense of the territory, respect for patriotic symbols, the right to defend oneself, and honoring traditions. It is mixed with blockbuster harangues such as putting the poor first, punishing the corrupt, and canceling privileges of public servants… . The cry of long live sovereignty becomes an illusion, a promise: “thanks to the fact that we demand respect for sovereignty, we are going to get out of poverty because we are not going to be swindled anymore”.
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose”. William Shakespeare
With great skill, he has sowed discord by dividing everyone into good and evil; the good ones are those who are with him, those who surround him, those who praise him and vote for him, the poor, his countrymen from the southeast, the businessmen who financed his campaigns and helped him launder “resources for the movement”, the friends of his children; the “bad ones”: everyone else, but in particular those who were part of previous governments, those who do not vote for him, those who do not praise him, the middle class, the rich who do not support his “movement’s” campaigns, those who question his decisions, those who criticize him. He repeats it frequently: “either they are with the movement or they are against the nation’s interests”. Let it be clear: if someone does not applaud him, it is because he is a wicked person and a traitor to the country that wants Mexico to do badly.
With equal skill, he has managed to link in the collective imagination those he considers the “bad guys”, “the traitors to the homeland”, with the foreigners, whom he calls “the exploiters who never tire of plundering, but not anymore, the looting is over, we are not the same”. And it is true. These are worse.
He repeats it frequently: “either they are with the movement or they are against the nation’s interests”.
Returning to the USMCA, the truth is that he promoted legal reforms contrary to what was agreed upon in the USMCA and to the Constitution. Based on this, his government applies discriminatory discretionary measures to favor state monopolies Pemex and CFE. It does not matter that over the last thirty years, NAFTA has boosted the economy whose trade with its partners represents close to 80% of GDP; that millions of workers have improved their qualifications and thus their salaries; that the country has been favorably qualified to receive investment not only in money but in technology and infrastructure that has stimulated the growth of the economy; that if there had been no treaty, perhaps instead of more than half of the population living in poverty, there would be a much higher percentage living in misery. None of that matters. Demanding respect for sovereignty is the main thing, even without knowing what it consists of or what sovereignty means in this 21st century.
The term sovereignty comes from the Latin superanus (super for above, beyond, over, and anus related to about), Sovereign, chief, ruler, lord, etc., etc. Sovereignty is the authority that defines a territory. It implies hierarchy within the state, the external autonomy of states, and legitimate control over a political entity. In international law, it is the exercise of power by a State. Sovereignty de iure defines the legal right to do so, while de facto sovereignty means its factual capability.
In medieval Europe, sovereignty existed de iure through the rights of nobility and royalty, as monarchs were limited by and shared power with their feudal aristocracy, the same as today, the Mexican government shares power and territories with organized crime organizations. Later, the Sovereign State emerged in response to changes in international trade, and once States were recognized as sovereign, they were no longer colonized, merged, or dissolved.
In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights circumscribed the powers of sovereign nations to impose themselves on other states. In 2005, the concept of sovereignty was revised and endorsed by all member states of the United Nations, making it explicit that if a state fails in its responsibility to protect its people, either by perpetrating massive injustice or by being unable to protect its citizens, then outsiders can assume that responsibility despite previous norms prohibiting such interference in a nation’s sovereignty.*
The current notion of state sovereignty implies territory, population, authority, and recognition. National sovereignty refers to the actual control over a state exercised by an organized authority within that state, while international sovereignty is the formal recognition by other sovereign states.
A concept of sovereignty suited to our times would be a State’s freedom to decide its National Project and its ability and capacity to implement it. This implies that such a State has a clearly defined National Project consisting of a set of policy objectives strategically combined that will yield specific results affecting the well-being of its people positively; that it has strong institutions and a healthy, modern, and efficient economy.
In this context, foreign investment should be conceived as an essential complement to domestic investment that contributes to the expansion of the productive apparatus and economic development, a foreign investment that not only does not infringe on sovereignty but helps to secure and enhance it.
…foreign investment that not only does not infringe on sovereignty but helps to secure and enhance it.
Needless to say, an oil refinery, a tourist train destroying the Maya jungle, uneducated youngsters planting trees in poverty-stricken areas, replacing a half-built major metropolitan airport with a military airbase transformed into a civilian airport, and showering with free money young people who don’t study nor work, same as to elders, hardly qualifies as a National Project, unless it consists on buying goodwill to be used at election time.
However, that gallant and courageous hero defender of sovereignty should be held responsible for the Mexican State losing control of numerous geographic areas and for protecting and thereby promoting and allowing sovereignty and governance in those areas to have passed into the hands of organized crime. No wonder the supreme commander of the armed forces misuses the concept of national security to hide corruption and ineptitude and to trample and bypass the compliance of the law. As things are, it would not be surprising if he labels baseball, his favorite sport, as national security. His goal is to win elections at any cost, and it is evident that his sights are not set on what he will leave to the next generations but on the next election.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect
SEPGRA Political Analysis Group.