Dante Delgado*
Andrés Manuel, the betrayal to the homeland that you are committing will not prosper, but we will never forget it.
Seventh public letter to the president:
It has been more than two years since I wrote the first letter. I did not expect you to answer, but I did wish, for the good of the country, that you would make a change in your government. Neither happened.
On the contrary, your outbursts lead you, once again, to try to break the rule of law. Your eagerness to militarize security, to hide the failure of your strategy, led you to the absurdity of wanting, by decree, to violate the Constitution. We will not permit you to do it.
Although at this point, it may seem useless to continue talking to you about a vision of greatness, dialogue, respect, of building consensus, of building a serious change, I will continue to do so because it is the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do and what the country needs.
You and the opposition that you have molded at your convenience are bent on confrontation, on division, on the struggle of power for power. You are obstinate in continuing along this path that strengthens you, makes them even smaller and is causing terrible damage to Mexico.
Despite everything, I continue writing; I continue writing to you because the truth has to be told, the truth has to be worked for, to denounce you, to contain you, to prevent you from continuing to prop up that old regime that you once swore to fight against. The contradiction became part of you.
Between continuing to be a social leader or becoming president, you decided on the applause in the public square, the numbers in the polls, the voices that flatter you in your ear, and the feeling of greatness felt by those who have the microphone in their hands. I would have hoped that the road traveled, the vicissitudes faced, and the eternal journeys through the country would have led a wise man to the presidency, not one with so many clashes and resentments.
You have strived to be popular and not the leader the country needs; I only hope you are aware that this popularity costs too much and that the people paying are the Mexicans.
I know you have an aversion to science, to academia, to thought, but today more than ever, it is necessary to return to knowledge. I recommend you read David Owen, one of many authors who have worked on the concept of hybris, the disease of power, to explain the unreasonableness with which some rulers act.
Owen says that the disease has these symptoms: narcissism, frivolity, vanity, grandiloquence, absolutism, self-praise, pedantry, omnipotence, megalomania, arrogance, impulsiveness, isolation, stubbornness, and incompetence. Just listening to you in the morning is enough to realize that you have all of them, that hybris had taken over you and killed the character you built when you were a candidate.
Sitting at the pinnacle of power, you refuse to listen to reason and take refuge in the blind faith of the people who still believe in you, but you forget that history will issue its judgment, and I am sure it will not be benevolent.
In the fourth letter, I warned you that what you were doing with justice was an act of national treason, that the onslaught against the judiciary that you were carrying out, in complicity with the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, was an act of treason.
Now, with the threat of handing over, by decree, the National Guard to the Sedena, in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution, you are committing a new treason. You are betraying yourself because you are doing the opposite of what you promised during years of campaigning, because you are doing what two presidents before you tried to do and because when they wanted to do it, you were a fierce opponent.
You betrayed the vote of confidence we gave you when in Congress we approved the National Guard; you betrayed your promise to return the army to the barracks, you betrayed the commitment to change the security strategy, you betrayed your promise to pacify the country, you betrayed the expectation of change that you provoked in millions of people. Still, today you crossed all limits; you betrayed the presidential oath to enforce the Constitution.
You called yourself a Juarezist because of your admiration for the thought and work of Juarez; you invoke him at the slightest opportunity, and you use him as an example. Unfortunately, you insist on acting as he would never have done. Juarez said that the law was his sword and shield; for you, it is a hindrance.
Juarez maintained that it was not possible to govern based on the “impulses of a capricious will, but subject to the laws”, while you exclaimed, with arrogance, irresponsibility, and superiority, “don’t come to me with that story that the law is the law”.
Juarez insisted that “the first ruler of a society should have no other flag than the law”, that his duty was “to enforce the law not only with measures of the spring of authority, but by example”, and that those who cannot bear the soft yoke of the law, are determined to destroy the federative system, replacing it with absolute power.
For this and more, Juarez was a giant, while you continue to administer the system’s decadence; instead of transforming it and relaunching the country with a vision of greatness, you became a champion of the old regime.
While you have everything of hybris, you have nothing left of Juarez.
The unfortunate events of violence that took place in different states of the country in recent days are a clear example that the chosen strategy is incorrect. The fact that violence has been directed at Oxxo stores, pharmacies, and other businesses is a consequence of not realizing the weight of the words, attacks, and disqualifications you have irresponsibly made for so long.
Your betrayal is in vain because breaking the constitutional order will not solve your security crisis. The failure of your strategy will not be hidden by violating the Constitution. The increase in insecurity and violence will not be stopped by further militarizing public security. You have had four years to provide the promised results, but you have not delivered and are far from doing so.
Even though in your speech you try to create culprits, shift the responsibility to others and evade yours, we are in this place because of the decisions you made, because you have given more relevance to inaugurating barracks than building a real public security policy. You have not supported the state and municipal police, which require purification, training, and sufficient resources to guarantee public security in the country.
The decree with which you are threatening is one more distraction, a desperate attempt to remove yourself from the consequences of your bad decisions and the failure of your strategy because crises are not solved by decree, mistakes are not corrected by decree, and your responsibility in the security crisis will not disappear by decree. This time your mistakes did not cost you elections; they cost lives.
Andrés Manuel, you betrayed your promise not to militarize security and your oath to defend the Constitution. It is not a minor thing because when you betray your oath, you betray the nation, you betray our history, you betray the democratic principles and justice on which this country was built, and you betray the trust, the faith that some still have in you, you betray the citizenry, you betray hope.
Do you know what other phrase is attributed to Juarez? “Cursed are those who with words defend the people and with their deeds betray them”.
Andrés Manuel, the betrayal of the homeland that you are committing will not prosper, but we will never forget it.
* Dante Delgado is a Senator and National Coordinator of Movimiento Ciudadano (political party).