A New Hope For Mexico: Saying No to Corruption, Violence, and Trump's Wall

by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Natascha Uhlmann (Translator)

Overview

“THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS WE CAN’T ADDRESS . . . WHOEVER MAY OCCUPY THE WHITE HOUSE.”

“I’m not going to limit myself to condemning corruption and calling for its eradication; I also want to set out . . . a new politics, a different economic model, and the strengthening of cultural, moral, and spiritual values that can revitalize our nation.”

Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) stunning victory in the Mexican presidential election signals the end of decades of conservative government and the promise of fairer, more honest politics south of the Rio Grande.

AMLO’s landslide success was built on a campaign that pledged to tackle corruption, halt privatization of the energy industry, invest in education and infrastructure, open a dialogue with the country’s drug cartels, and oppose Trump’s border wall.

Mexicans have responded to this platform with a resounding “¡Sí!” Now, AMLO will make a reality of the bold vision set out in A New Hope for Mexico.

“We will strive tirelessly to convince the US government that fellowship, without walls or borders, is the best approach . . . we want no more families separated and no more bones in the Arizona desert.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944869854
Publisher:	OR Books
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR, widely known as AMLO, was head of government of the Federal District (Mexico City) from 2000 to 2005, before resigning to run as a candidate in the 2006 and 2012 presidential elections, representing a coalition led by the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). He is today the leader and founder of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

I open with a categorical assertion: Mexico’s crisis cannot be confronted without first addressing corruption and impunity, which requires regime change and the establishment of a new political order--one that is democratic, that promotes rule of law, that is humanist, and distinctively honest. There exists today a false republic, not a government by the pueblo and for the pueblo. The State has come to serve a rapacious minority and, as Tolstoy said, a state that does not procure justice is no more than a pack of miscreants. This writerly definition, not that of a pundit or philosopher, conceived with clarity and simplicity, is the closest one to our present political reality. In Mexico the governing class constitutes a gang of plunderers that operate throughout the country. This may seem like an exaggeration, and one might argue that it’s always been this way, but the astounding dishonesty of the neoliberal period (from 1983 to present) was wholly unprecedented. It constitutes a qualitative shift in institutional decomposition.

The system has been utterly corrupted. The political and economic powers feed off each other, and the theft of public goods has become their modus operandi. Corruption is no longer a matter of a few isolated instances, but a systematic and systemic practice. In the so called stabilizing development period (1930’s-80’s), governing forces dared not privatize communal lands, forests, beaches, railroads, mines, electricity, and petroleum above all; in this bitter period of neoliberalism, they have dedicated themselves, as in the Porfiriato, to conceding our firms and territory and public goods, and even functions of the State, to domestic and foreign entities. It’s no longer about individual acts of delinquency, nor a web of complicity at the expense of the public; now corruption has become the principal function of the State.

The politics of pillage, that is to say, the neoliberal model, is a set of dogmas and mantras asserting that privatization is the cure-all; the sole and perfect fix to the country’s economic and social issues. Though it may seem redundant, the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy states that privatization means to make what is public private. Quite literally, “Transferring a business or public good to the private sector.” Regardless, the heralds of neoliberalism call upon all sorts of falsehoods to justify this sacking; they exalt the myth of market supremacy, they assert that sovereignty is irrelevant in the face of globalization, that the State need not promote development or redistribute wealth, because wealth spreads when the elites prosper. But this is sophistry, because wealth isn’t water and doesn’t trickle down. Neoliberal propagandists have gone so far as to resurrect the old Porfirista wisdom that there will always be a wealthy elite, living in stark contrast to the vast majority—with every absurd justification at their disposal they shirk responsibility for the State’s failure to provide for the people. Denying any right to justice, they condemn those born into poverty to die in poverty.

As neoliberalism spreads across the globe, this supposed “new paradigm” has been used as armor behind which to plunder the country on a scale never before seen. As has been stated before, the Washington Consensus took shape under Miguel de la Madrid’s administration (1982-88) but its grasp was strengthened during Carlos Salinas de Gortari’s term (1988-94). Therein we saw the beginnings of a new legal framework, one that legalized pillage behind rhetoric of “divestment of nonstrategic parastatal entities”. Though a formal bid took place under the guise of fairness and transparency, it was clear from the start who the winners would be. One need only recall that Salinas, his brother Raúl, and secretary of Finance Pedro Aspe made off with the spoils of this distribution of banks and assets that had previously belonged to Mexico.

Thus, in 13 months—from June 14th, 1991 to July 13th of 1992—and with an average of 20 business days total per bank, 18 lending institutions were shuttered. In a mere five years—December 31st 1988 to December 31st of 1993— 251 businesses were privatized, including Telmex, Mexicana de Aviación, Televisión Azteca, Siderúrgica Lázaro Cárdenas, Altos Hornos de México, Astilleros Unidos de Veracruz, Fertilizantes Mexicanos, as well as insurance providers, sugar mills, mines, and factories. The transfer of public goods to a select few wasn’t limited to banks. Communal lands were also privatized, as were highways, ports, and airports. And with that, domestic and foreign business opportunities increased significantly for PEMEX and the Federal Electricity Commission.

The economic system imposed under Salinas was perpetuated under Zedillo, Fox, and Calderón, and the beneficiaries of Salinas’ spoils continued to accumulate not only wealth but political influence. Before long they became a political power in and of themselves, a power that operated beyond the reach of constitutionally-bound institutions. It is these figures who determine the fate of our most pressing political questions of the day—the questions fiercely debated in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate; in the Supreme Court, the National Electoral Institute and Electoral Tribune; the Attorney General; Homeland Security, and our political parties. What's more, they enjoy uncontested control of the media.

These tycoons, quite understandably, are betting on the continuation of this state of affairs and have forestalled regime change through bribes and manipulation. A fruit of these efforts: the installment of Enrique Peña Nieto as President of Mexico. He's one more puppet for the elite, a frivolous and irrelevant character. And yet, this spineless, immoral, unpredictable sycophant has lead the deterioration of the country in every facet of public life. Not only are we plagued by impoverishment and unemployment, but instability and insecurity plague our lives. Decadence prospered because a new collective politics was not pursued; the regime instead intensified the grasp of neoliberal, neoporfirista politics. In a mere 2 years Peña Nieto managed to impose a foreign agenda on a compliant populace. As Mexico's elites conspired, so-called "reforms" were enacted in the spheres of labor, education, economic policy and energy. The country's sovereignty and the pueblo's integrity were violated, leaving frustration, chaos, and violence in their wake.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for A New Hope For Mexico

"López Obrador gets down to cases with table-heavy pieces showing how former presidents soak the system with fat pensions and protections, how net migration flows have operated in the last 50 years, and the like. A book of promises and projections that, now that López Obrador has proved victorious, becomes a checklist for action." —Kirkus Reviews

“Exceptionally well written . . . An inherently interesting and ultimately inspiring contribution.” —Midwest Book Review

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