Antonio Navalón
There is nothing more human than power and the desire to obtain it. Of all our instincts – sexual, survival, love, or other – indeed, that of power is the most courageous. And this, among other reasons, is basically because – once the basic instinct to continue living has been guaranteed – human beings question themselves about the true reason for their existence and how far their desire to transcend can go. In the end, even the sexual instinct is also an instinct of power. Power motivates, transforms, and even rejuvenates the human being. Hence, many do the impossible to have it.
Being aware that power is the main engine of whoever holds it or pretends to hold it, it is a bit naive to think that, between the modification of the legal framework, the mañaneras, and the way things have been going on during the entire six-year term, we could end this by leaving a circle of fire that would protect and keep the wild beasts away from the presidential figure. This is not the case. Never before had a Mexican president obtained a concentration of power and popular support of the magnitude Andrés Manuel López Obrador achieved in 2018. However, so much power not only provokes that the enemies – which he invented, selected, and in a certain sense has contained during the last five years – did not remain inert and indifferent to what is happening in the country and decided to react.
At some point, it was thought that this overwhelming demonstration of power, taking away or trying to take away the enemy’s capacity and conviction of being able to win, would be enough to protect the succession, the family, and even his figure. This has not been the case. It could not be otherwise. The more power, the more enemies. The speed that light can reach is fantastic; however, the effects that can produce the Law of Gravity discovered by Isaac Newton are even more interesting. And it is so not only because of the historical milestone it represents but because despite the admirable that can be the implementation of the resources and forces to make it rise, what is truly shocking is the brutality that can cause an object when it falls. The fall always has another speed and has other allies. It is not only the fact that the wind can accelerate its process, but other factors of all kinds also intervene to make the fall faster, more painful, and, if possible, more definitive.
Politics has never been and never will be generous. Statesmen distinguish themselves because – either by mistake or because they wanted to – they managed to think and genuinely care about the majority and the country more than safeguarding their necks. Or at least that is what we were led to believe when they exercised their leadership. That being said, there is nothing to be astonished about what is happening, and at the end of the day, those who by now have not understood that for many years – long before telephones or tapping systems were invented – it was impossible to keep secret the fact that the only way not to be accused of something you have done is not to have perpetrated it. While it is true that “nulla poena sine lege“, that is, that there is no punishment without law, it is equally valid that justice always ends up catching those who seek to evade it or attempt against it.
If, in the game of politics, the invention of weaknesses, crimes, and mistakes against the enemy is a substantial part of winning, imagine if there are also elements that support that they have really committed – I do not know if mistakes, crimes or traditions – but things that clash head-on with the official discourse of not lying, not stealing or betraying.
What is a fact is that there was no way to attack this six-year term without attacking President López Obrador. What is more, after the elections, when the president is already part of the history books – or at least that is what our Constitution, so questioned and so little respected by the presidential figure, says – the attacks will continue, regardless of who wins the next elections.
The footprint and shadow of this six-year term will last and transcend beyond time since it is a footprint that, based on simplifications, we have done away with several of the myths that have accompanied us since the Mexican Revolution. We liked it. Correction, we like to think that the Mexico that triumphed was the one that magically managed to exchange bullets for books. We like to believe that our triumph against illiteracy and education also meant the triumph of some of the most essential social powers of the revolution. We are comforted to think that, despite everything, despite the innumerable human failures in politics, our policy was aimed at recovering the essences of a great people – which is what I believe ours to be – and that, in the end, what was not stolen or what fell by the wayside continued to leave the hope of reinventing the future through education. We were wrong, and reality proves it. Given the latest PISA test results – to give one of the many examples – it is clear that education has disappeared from our country’s catalog of strengths and areas of opportunity.
The lack of structure on the road to building a new history is part of the political objective to be achieved. Still, investments, weights, and renovation – not only of schools of political thought but of facilities and investment so Mexican children can attend school – have disappeared. Morally and psychologically, we are investing in inventing a new country, but we are not doing it either from a technical or historical point of view. And that ultimately has a bill to pay.
As we reach the final stretch of this stage of the electoral process, the first part of the lesson of the end of the pre-campaigns is that nothing and nobody will be able to isolate the deterioration. Today, Mexico is suffering crises it will face in different areas and fronts. Soon rather than later, it will be necessary to make an accurate and objective assessment of what happened during this six-year term. It was a six-year term in which every day, through mañaneras, it was demonstrated -based on other data- who was really in charge. The second part is that nothing will be respected, and no element will be exempt from judgment.
One of the current severe problems in world politics – also present in Mexico – is the death of truth. Truth has ceased to matter in the world, and if truth does not matter to anyone, does not exist, and is not necessary, you tell me why we will maintain a political system in charge of and based on spreading, consecrating, or defending truths. What we have to do is to guard what the people are capable of believing in, and usually, the first thing we, the people, buy are the most harmful lies. The fact is that it is written one day, we will achieve justice and be able to discern between a good and a bad performance. In the meantime, to live peacefully every day, we must console ourselves with the thought that we could be worse off than we are.
How lonely the candidates are, at least for the moment. We’ll see if, in the end, they are the ones competing. In any case, the presidency always represents the moment of a country and the collective sentiment of a nation, but, above all, it is the team that has to embody the solutions. However, it is still unclear whether the teams proposed by both parties are the right ones to face the challenge. As far as this is concerned, the battle is pitched in the right terms as there has been only one player and one fighter for the presidency here. Now, all attacks are focused on deciphering the perfect formula to take away the possibility of continuing to shape history.
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