Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
It has been a terrible week. Corruption is oozing from every pore of the Morena regime. Fuel theft and fiscal theft (tax evasion on fuel sales) have created a hole in public finances that is impossible to hide. Obviously, this is a business that involves hundreds or thousands of people, including public officials (from the offices of the President of the Republic to the lowest-ranking police officer in any municipality) as well as businesspeople. It would be impossible to hide a business of this size, magnitude, and regularity without the knowledge of a plethora of public and private actors.
But there is also the tragic explosion of a liquefied gas tanker that had an accident and overturned, spilling its dangerous cargo and causing deaths, injuries, and panic among the public. The image of the San Juanico explosion back in 1984 comes to mind. There is talk of a huge pothole that caused the truck and its cargo to overturn. The government quickly clarified that it was not a pothole and that the vehicle was traveling at full speed. Whether either version is true or not, the incident also reflects poorly on a government that apparently lacks the authority to enforce the proper conduct of businesses handling dangerous or highly flammable products.
The press captured the moment when, in a race for the disabled, a foreign competitor fell into a pothole, hit the ground, and was disqualified. The government quickly clarified that it was not a pothole, but a poorly placed drain cover. Does it really matter, in the end, whether it was a pothole or a poorly placed cover? The fact is that a wheelchair race competitor was disqualified due to a defect in the public thoroughfare.
The tragedy in Mexico City is the same one that plagues the health and education systems in Mexico. Corruption is eating away at the foundations of Mexican state institutions. There is not enough money to fill potholes, care for the sick, or adequately educate the students of the Republic.
Faced with a barrage of bad news for the government, involving key members of the regime in acts of corruption and pointing to the previous government as an accomplice in these many acts, businesses, and institutional designs for the diversion of resources, the current government has sought to divert attention to other phenomena.
With so much bad news about corruption, which began during AMLO’s six-year term, the president tried unsuccessfully to blame former presidents Calderón and Peña Nieto. Faced with the disastrous administration of the previous six-year term in the energy sector, especially at PEMEX and the construction of the Dos Bocas refinery, she said it was the fault of the “damned corrupt debt” of those two six-year terms. Like a robot, Luisa Alcalde, president of Morena, repeated the exact phrase about PEMEX’s “damned corrupt debt.” Neither of them dared to give the precise figures on the origin of the heavy debt of the world’s most indebted oil company. Between AMLO and Sheinbaum, they increased the company’s debt by 2 trillion pesos more than Peña Nieto and 2.7 trillion more than Calderón. And without resolving the company’s disastrous financial situation.
The phrase “the damn corrupt debt” is simply a smokescreen to cover up their own failure in the economic management of PEMEX and CFE. They are leaders who do not honestly acknowledge the actual situation. They live behind smokescreens that, like all such screens, disperse over time, leaving only the nakedness of failure.
Bombs and firecrackers are beginning to explode throughout the country. The issue of fuel theft is just beginning. The amount of money distributed is so enormous that it is impossible to know how far the money trail will go. For now, AMLO’s damning statement that all big business in Mexico has the knowledge and approval of the President of the Republic remains firm. Did President López Obrador knew about the massive customs fraud occurring under his command? I mean, apart from Segalmex and others? There are high-level Morenistas who claim that the oil shipment reported in March, as the first sign that something was wrong, was a business deal with Andy’s knowledge and approval. Is their claim true, or is it internal strife within Morena? They claim it is internal strife, but with full knowledge of the facts.
Everything points to large groups of officials and businesspeople being aware of these movements. Many of them are linked, in one way or another, to Morena-Tabasco. The rot that mixes government with party politics and organized crime is beginning to surface.
The reputation of the Mexican Navy is tarnished, perhaps beyond easy remedy. It sounds, incidentally, like a struggle between the Navy and the Army. They are two institutions of the Mexican State, but they have had, and continue to have, strong friction between them. And in society, they represent different sides. Do not be surprised if similar or worse allegations begin to emerge against elements of the Army, the commanders who responded to AMLO, and some current ones. AMLO’s strategy has always been to corrupt the Armed Forces to control them at will. He gave them access to unimaginable business opportunities and wealth under the guise of “national security.” This allowed them to avoid responding to demands for transparency or accountability to Congress, let alone Mexican society.
The new rich of Morena get along comfortably with the new rich of the Armed Forces. But when the corruption of some is uncovered and perceived as “friendly fire,” then we can anticipate the beginning of an era of denunciations, betrayals, attempts at cover-ups, various forms of espionage, and public complaints. The internal war has begun.
The head of the “Barredora” has already been caught in Paraguay. What will he say and reveal in his defense? Or will he also have to die? Because we are in times of reactive and violent mafias that we did not even know existed. Any analysis of the criminal world in Mexico has to start over. Morena has transformed and shifted the balance of power among the dominant criminal groups, encouraging new cartels, alliances, and mafias.
Should we start to forget about the Sinaloa Cartel and not rule out, but also not focus our attention on, the CJNG? Morena is increasingly behaving like a mafia of its own. Billions of pesos, if not trillions, have passed through the hands of Morena operators and leaders, with their knowledge and endorsement. The voracity of the new regime and its crew never ceases to amaze. In a single six-year term, a new breed of rich, mafia, and military figures determined to remain in power has taken hold in Mexico. The six-year cycle no longer satisfies them. To consolidate their momentum, they need more time. Therefore, the so-called “second floor” of the transformation is, in reality, continuity, not renewal or another plan. It is the plan drawn up by AMLO. The central idea is not to cede power to a scheme of democratic alternation. For them, that is over. Hence the electoral reform.
It represents a new emerging bourgeoisie and a new ruling bloc, where the military, criminals, businesspeople, and politicians find themselves in alliance, albeit an uncomfortable one. The war for the booty called Mexico promises to be cruel, violent, and ruthless.
@rpascoep
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