Cristóbal Trasmiera
The creation of the National Revolutionary Party in 1929 consummated the triumph of the Mexican Revolution. It was a recognition on the part of the military leaders -who had control of their territories-of the rules of access to power after the chaos of the armed revolt. It was the creation of a sort of 2nd-degree Leviathan. Those who ruled in the States and regions decided to submit to the power of the President in turn, hoping to become Presidents themselves when the conditions and rules so provided. In the meantime, they could be sure that none of their neighbors would attack them; a top leader was in charge of keeping the peace. However, they had to abide by the rules and respect the will of the President: It was the centralization of power.
The army was the true guarantor of political power; consequently, the military held it at the beginning of the evolution from an armed movement to a regime based on institutions called the Institutionalized Revolution. From then until the Presidency of Miguel Alemán Valdés (1946-1952), army generals served as Presidents of Mexico, except for Emilio Portes Gil, interim from 1928 to 1930, and Pascual Ortiz Rubio from 1930 to 1932, who were under the influence, if not under the orders, of the then former President, General Plutarco Elias Calles, who was recognized as the Maximum Chief.
With the arrival of civilian Presidents to power, the Mexican Army always acted as a support to the population in times of emergency and as a guarantor of public peace, which is why it has earned since then and up to date recognition as the Institution -together with the Navy-, that generates more sympathy in public opinion polls.
But nothing lasts forever. One of the many campaign promises of the current President was to take the army off the streets and return it to the barracks. He fulfilled the first promise, but instead of returning them to the barracks, he put them in charge of the construction of the emblematic works of his government and to perform other types of tasks that were previously in order of civilians (Port Administration, Customs, the Benito Juarez Airport in Mexico City, plus whatever else accumulates). And this decision has two grave consequences for the historical prestige of the armed forces.
First, they were put in charge of tasks for which they were unprepared. The cost overruns in the public works are a scandal, the transparency in the execution of the budgets is null and void, and the quality of the results will be a significant issue in the near future. To this must be added that these works will not be economically profitable. Moreover, some will probably not be finished, and others will not be used…. A monumental waste intimately linked to the performance of the armed forces.
The second and even more serious problem is that by devoting themselves to doing what they were not prepared to do, they stopped defending the territory. The task for which they are trained, the mission that gives them their raison d’être, safeguarding the integrity of the territory, was abandoned for the sake of pursuing the discredit of being a lousy construction worker. And in today’s Mexico, if there is someone who is trained and with sufficient resources to take on the task of controlling the territory, it is organized crime.
And the balance worked until something lit the fuse. A few days after the supreme commander announced that the army would no longer repair works of the Mexico City Airport and that he would promote a Constitutional Reform to leave the military in the streets, organized crime gave a small simultaneous show of power in several cities of the country. Didn’t they like the change of strategy?
This de-revolution has returned power in several areas of the country to small or large private armies. The new feudal lords, those who rule the States, are upset. They are the ones who impose their law and collect their levies; even the democratically elected mayor of the fourth city of the Republic publicly asked them to attack only those who owe them their bills…. In other words, I was elected to enforce the law. Still, since I have neither the resources, nor the power, nor the will to force the criminals to comply with it, I kindly ask them not to attack the population, only those that do not want to comply with their demands, with the law that they have invented for themselves. We live in a country of laws, one law created by the legislature and another “law” created by crime. The application of the second one is undoubtedly much more effective.
And it is worth asking why we want a nation-state? Why do we constitute it, and why do we maintain it? The first and most important purpose is to keep us, our families, and our possessions safe. If that does not work, all other tasks become meaningless. Without citizens, there is no need for a State. And when that primary protection function is not fulfilled, we will have to look at who guarantees our security, the parallel State. Mexico is not a failed state; it is many de facto powers, not democratically elected -some are in complicity with the ruling group- exercising the tasks that should be the monopoly of the State. We are a multi-state in which an authoritarian regime coexists with several narco-dictatorships. The 4t has, in fact, subcontracted organized crime as a provider of security services. As a payment, it has allowed it, even in discourse, to collect duties directly from the population. The problem for the people is that it pays taxes to everyone.
Yes, they abandoned that population that considered in its top hierarchy of sympathy for the institutions, the Army, and the Navy. Was it worth trading it to become a construction worker, a customs agent, or an air traffic controller? The Country for a job? Did the Armed Forces not foresee this scenario, with all the resources they have, their historical experience, great human capital, and its intelligence area? Do they owe loyalty to a commander whose purpose is to entertain them in tasks that civilians can fulfill better or to the nation? Let us not forget the famous phrase “To hell with their Institutions”, they were included there!!!
And this is not a suggestion of a coup d’état. To act with loyalty to its history and with its preparation is simply to assume control of the territory and let the politicians do their own thing, but not to squander their prestige and neglect the integrity of the homeland.
It took many generations to get to have the Institutions we had in 2018, a lot of struggle, and many brilliant minds in their construction from all parties and all the political spectrum. But also the blood and blood of the ancestors of those who today make up the Armed Forces. Don’t they also owe loyalty to them?
