Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
Trump’s aggressive actions against our country deserve a solid and intelligent response. These actions come at a time when Mexico is in a situation of great economic vulnerability. Recognizing the facts is better than burying our heads in the sand like ostriches.
The vulnerability exists because economic management has left large debts, low productivity, and state-owned companies on the verge of bankruptcy. Mexicana, Tren Maya, AIFA, and Pemex-Dos Bocas are all companies that consume large portions of the federal public budget due to their constant economic, credit, and financial losses. There is no sign of a solution to their overdue or upcoming debts.
Time is widening the hole that the permanent, universal, growing social benefits are digging. Furthermore, the health, education, and housing services that the state should be offering Mexicans are not only insufficient but are also deteriorating more and more every day.
Trump’s tariffs come at the worst possible time for Mexico. They will cause a recession just when the national economy has stalled at the doorstep of zero growth. Zero growth means fewer taxes and, therefore, less public revenue to meet the urgent needs of the population unless more debt is incurred.
What can be done about Mexico’s emergency? An emergency demands extraordinary measures and requires a paradigm shift in what the country’s “political routine” expects of its rulers.
It will be necessary to do something that has not been done for a long time: summoning all the country’s political and social forces to a fruitful dialogue to reach beneficial agreements and unify the country. There is no need for calls for unity, even if the government persists in not engaging in dialogue with the opposition. No. The emergency demands an even-handed, equidistant, and respectful dialogue between forces.
This situation implies a reorganization of the forces in Congress. To this end, the majority force has to recognize that it cannot solve national problems alone and without support but that the time has come for a new balance of forces, a 55-45 split in Congress, for decision-making based on consensus, not imposition. Imposition does not serve Mexico when faced with an existential emergency such as the current one. It is mainly obliged to agree, among all of us, on the policies and routes to follow.
In order to prevent national vulnerability from growing, generating unnecessary points of dissent, and making us weaker internally, it is necessary to agree on the cancellation of the Judicial Branch election process and avoid a confrontation that will probably give less legitimacy to the actions of the Mexican State in the face of a confusing, unclear process marked by manipulation and mistakes, together with very low participation. When one considers that, legally, for an electoral result to be legitimate, at least 40% of the electorate must participate, a turnout of less than 10% is expected in the judicial election. This 40% limit was legally established with the Recall Vote.
Determining the role of security forces in the fight against violence and drug trafficking is one issue that requires decisive action. Budgetary policies also address the priorities that will ensure that the economy starts to grow and stop the large outflows of resources to pharaonic and poorly designed projects that hinder the recovery of the growth path.
The crisis triggered by Trump’s aggressive policies can be seen as a window of opportunity to consider the change of direction that Mexico needs to get back on track toward a democratic state based on the principles of integration, dialogue, and solidarity, as well as to seek harmonious economic development for all. The basis for this change of direction is inclusion in the dialogue and the inclusive construction of the nation.
A call for national unity must be based on these principles to succeed in stopping external aggression and internal decomposition.
@rpascoep
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