By Tlachinollan on May 26, 2015
Removing the electoral propaganda in the Mountains of Guerrero |
Two months ago, a committee of fathers and mothers of the 43
missing students of the Normal School Rural Raul Isidro Burgos, in the context
of the 10th global solidarity action for Ayotzinapa, entered the premises of
the National Electoral Institute (INE) and in strong terms called for President
Lorenzo Cordova (INE) to cancel the upcoming elections.
They delivered a document that describes the serious
problems that violate the public order and jeopardize the electoral process:
"Insecurity, lack of individual guarantees embodied in the Constitution, violations of human rights, murder and kidnapping of citizens and social activists, enforced disappearance of students and the strong penetration of organized crime in the government, where public institutions appear to be a nonexistent reality for the police and army, and where the all the ruling elites and the electoral parties themselves have done is worry about the next election, calling for the people of Mexico to participate in them although no true democracy is reflected ... The electoral parties act as if nothing has happened, with a cynicism that borders on audacity. These realities are evident in internal processes of distribution of the electoral positions, which is called an internal selection of candidates. They are only interested in achieving power to continue the exploitation of the national wealth, regardless of the social conflicts arising from their very own forms of corrupt government.
"The political and party system as well as the public authorities are primarily responsible for the situation (that exists) in the state of Guerrero, any attempt at elections in this in the state is a willful action which will not solve the social political crisis and address the lack of credibility in government, but instead to the contrary such elections would deepen further confrontation, violating the social fabric that upholds governance and public institutions, because there not exist neither shields nor controls to prevent illicit money from funding the campaigns for public office".
This brief scan that illustrates the social and political
decomposition that our state is experiencing, and is not only corroborated every
passing day, but the crisis deepens and makes life becomes impossible for
thousands of the people of Guerrero. This has led to a large part of the
population choosing to withdraw and leave for another time the public field of
social activism, as a simple and extreme measure of self-protection. There is
no sign in the short term that the situation will change, rather danger lurks
everywhere and criminal groups are overflowing jeopardizing not only the
population, but have brought into question the legitimacy of civil authorities
and the military, as recently happened in Chilapa.
The openly declared war by groups of organized crime does
not occur outside of the context of the electoral period, to the contrary, it
is part of the struggle for political power and territorial control. As player among the actors in this turbulent
scenario and amidst the troubled waters generated by such disparate interests,
the electoral process is plunging us into the quagmire of violence without
limits. In each region and electoral
district the situation is red hot due to the actions of the political players in
each location.
Nobody escapes the dangers imposed by those who have the real power, and no one can move freely about without getting approval beforehand. If these basic rules are violated, the result is to be put against the wall, because everything is under the control of those who know the terrain and have the strings of local power. There is no territory that is not controlled by the one or another of these factions, so the struggle is relentless and without any concession. No one can walk safely in this unfriendly geography if you are not willing to compromise and make agreements with the criminal business interests.
Nobody escapes the dangers imposed by those who have the real power, and no one can move freely about without getting approval beforehand. If these basic rules are violated, the result is to be put against the wall, because everything is under the control of those who know the terrain and have the strings of local power. There is no territory that is not controlled by the one or another of these factions, so the struggle is relentless and without any concession. No one can walk safely in this unfriendly geography if you are not willing to compromise and make agreements with the criminal business interests.
Lawlessness is rampant in the state and the consequences are
fatal because lives are being lost. The
shrinking realm of the current public authorities who have taken their turn in
the process, is rupturing the legal basis on which the platform of political
struggle is waged. As a countermove, the
criminal groups empower themselves as they have the ability to move, to take
over public spaces and barricade them against rival groups. In this struggle,
civil and military authorities have retreated. They have chosen to lower their
guard and have shown condescension towards the armed civilian self-defense
groups who accompany their patrols. Not only is confusion growing among the
population but distrust and fear, because there is no guarantee that security
will come with government forces.
Not only are the actors of public security who are called to
restore order participating in generating the crises and igniting the hot spots
of Guerrero, but the same political parties and their candidates in these
months of campaigning were also caught up because of the looming case of
Ayotzinapa. They did not know either what to do or say, and just evaded the issue
as they floated around it like a dead fish when addressing their captive party clientele.
They would not leave the bubble of the
party politics, and devoted themselves to tirades against political opponents,
so there would be something to talk about in the media.
The mediocrity of the political class and the emptiness of their speeches have caused anger and bitterness among the population because there are no projections of strength and with foundation, no serious proposals to reverse the spiral of violence and contain the atrocious impoverishment of public life. The same political opportunists continue only raising a helping hand to one another of the same litter and are those who cling to a state of affairs that the vast majority of the population refuses to continue endure.
The mediocrity of the political class and the emptiness of their speeches have caused anger and bitterness among the population because there are no projections of strength and with foundation, no serious proposals to reverse the spiral of violence and contain the atrocious impoverishment of public life. The same political opportunists continue only raising a helping hand to one another of the same litter and are those who cling to a state of affairs that the vast majority of the population refuses to continue endure.
Viewing the past performances of all candidates, none of
them managed to successfully face the remnants of the population that still
offered attendance, nor had the sensitivity to voice the most pressing demands
of the population. They ruled and legislated as always against the grain of
society. The test of transparency is something that they are not given to as candidates,
because none of them has yielded clear accountability for public resources that
they had to manage, but rather they always moved in the shadows, because they
needed to illicitly obtain funds to be contenders as candidates.
Another failed test for the candidates came as the state was being consumed by serious human rights violations. None of them came forward to defend the victims, rather they were to be found among the politicians and devious accomplices of the crimes of assassination of two students from Ayotzinapa at the Autopista del Sol and the murders of several social leaders.
Another failed test for the candidates came as the state was being consumed by serious human rights violations. None of them came forward to defend the victims, rather they were to be found among the politicians and devious accomplices of the crimes of assassination of two students from Ayotzinapa at the Autopista del Sol and the murders of several social leaders.
To make matters worse, in the midst of this serious crisis
of credibility and trust in the political process, the president of the
National Electoral Institute (INE), Lorenzo Córdova Vianello was heard in
public telling racist jokes in mockery of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico,
exposing his delight in white supremacist Latino verbiage. The purported champion
of democracy in Mexico openly exposed the vision he has of the Original Nations
of Anahuac. His halo as a great
intellectual trained in Italy did not hide his ethnic prejudices, rather it
highlighted the Latino narrative of racial and cultural supremacy. His
doctorate degree in Western academia, allowed him to feel justified to say in
private what he really thinks as a public official regarding the indigenous
peoples.
Spanish is not the mother tongue of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico,
therefore according to the deductions of Córdova, it is they who are ignorant. Hipólito Arriaga Pote, Governor of the Indigenous Otomí Peoples who spoke in Spanish to Córdova, a presumed lawyer of democracy, and
a public official whose responsibilities include the promotion of tolerance and
plurality, was mocked by the INE official in a conversation that stank of
pretensions of self-grandeur. In the
conversation with his colleague Dr. Lorenzo of INE, he went on to fine tune the
language of scorn, attempting to improve their racist jokes among friends whose
public job is to protect the political rights of all Mexican citizens. The
incident is an exemplary example of the ongoing dehumanization of the
Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, and the efforts of to depersonalize Hipólito
Arriaga in order to stigmatize his indigenous identity.
This insensitivity and lack of respect for people who are
carriers of the Indigenous cultural identity and languages of Mexico reveals the mood of a
public official who is very far from being able to empathize and engage with
parents of 43 young missing students of Ayotzinapa. The contempt shown by the
class of political elites of Mexico to the population that is not of their
social status, pronounces the sentence that these constituencies do not deserve
any attention, much less shall interest be awakened to echo its demands in the
public sphere, and take a stand to demonstrate a plural, tolerant and inclusive
society.
The same political class that has squandered the social
capital of the state, which they stripped away from a constituency that trusted
their promises, has ignited the red flags of democracy in Guerrero. This regime
of party elites has colluded with organized crime in the belief that in so
doing the resulting diabolical political alliances would continue to allow them
to politically control the population. Today it is the very fathers and mothers
of families of those most affected by the regime who truly have the moral
authority to redirect the citizen movement that is tired of so much abuse and
fight for a fundamental political transformation. This is the reason and force
that continues to inspire the fathers and mothers of Ayotzinapa to achieve
justice and find their children alive.
Translation: TONATIERRA
Links:
Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña
TLACHINOLLAN
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AYOTZINAPA: Petition of Concern to the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples
Links:
Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña
TLACHINOLLAN
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