Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
Thousands of Mexican civic society organizations are calling on their millions of members across the country to gather next May 19 in the public squares of their neighborhoods, communities, towns, and cities for the launching of the last citizens’ march to the polls on June 2. The idea is to turn the citizen voters into the actual owners of the polling places and, therefore, of the electoral results.
On that day, it will not be the property of the officialism operators, such as the Servidores de la Nación disguised as Morena militants, nor of the shady drug-trafficking operators, who will seek to consolidate their local and state controls. Nor will it be the day the officials will try to hand out money hand over fist to buy the election for themselves or their relatives.
That day will be a citizens’ party. To achieve that goal, the May 19 rallies will be the trumpet call to start that march, making the day a massive exercise of freedom and democracy, with millions of attendees.
The concentration in the capital’s Zócalo and in hundreds of public squares throughout the Republic is the product of an extraordinary citizen awakening in Mexico. Faced with the advance of an authoritarian and anti-democratic project that attempts to “take over the palace” without admitting freedom, society has made the decision to oppose head-on this assault on public power and the institutions of the Republic.
The elections of 2021 taught something that had not been understood or noted. The importance of the Congress and its composition became present as a storm of civic awareness. When had the citizens been concerned about who their popular representatives were? What were the legislators’ positions on crucial issues such as the independence of the Powers of the State and the respect for constitutional order and legality as a rule?
The Morenista attempt to impose a constitutional order, giving the President absolute control over the Legislative and Judicial Branches, has faced society’s absolute and forceful rejection. Behind the supposed “democratic changes” proposed by AMLO lies the perverse idea of the concentration of power in one person and one party, eradicating the democratic practices that are taking root in the national culture.
Hence, the motivation for the intense social mobilization of the citizenry came from the provocations launched by the public authorities. The first major rally was held in defense of the independence and autonomy of the INE. It took place at the Monument to the Revolution. Its effect was electrifying. It led to the second rally to march and rally to the capital’s Zócalo and public squares in the rest of the country, now in defense of the independence and autonomy of the Judiciary. Twice as many citizens came to the meeting, and Mexicans living in other countries replicated it.
The third rally was a direct call to concentrate in the Zócalo and similar ones throughout the country and abroad, now demanding respect for the free vote and rejecting the government’s attempts to force the beneficiaries of social programs to vote for Morena’s candidates. Up to that moment, all the calls were made to free citizens. Political parties did not participate, although many party members participated as private citizens.
The final march, called for this May 19, will be attended by Xóchitl Gálvez, candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, and Santiago Taboada, candidate for Mayor of Mexico City. It is an essential change in the call because there was no partisan presence before. The Pink Tide, as the large group of citizens’ organizations is known, has decided that political-electoral neutrality has no place in the face of the authoritarian threat. It is time for definitions, and the Pink Tide opts for opposition candidacies capable of competing with the ruling party for the Presidency, the capital’s government, and the majority in Congress.
The Pink Tide begins this May 19, the last march of the electoral cycle. It will move all its forces to the polls to ensure respect for the vote, the victory of democracy, tolerance, constitutional order, and freedom for all Mexicans.
[email protected]
@rpascoep
Further Reading: