Ten days in Mexico

What the media industry calls “news” passes through three distinct filters in Mexico. The first, in Spanish… the second, in English… And then, because nearly every major Mexican news story reported in the United States press gets repeated and analyzed as itself being news in Mexico, the third filter consists of how the two versions are reconciled.

To live in the shadow of the United States is no fun even for countries halfway around the globe. For its next-door neighbor, Mexico, it is a special kind of hell.

It used to be that if the New York Times, or the Washington Post, or even Associated Press launched an attack on anyone in Mexico, that person’s days were numbered as a political or economic force. In recent decades, the narco-accusations have been seasonal with every election year. And whether they were true or not, they led to the fall of some players and the rise of others to take their places.

All that has changed with the growth of the Internet. There are, simply put, more holes in the filters now, and the information gatekeepers can’t stop the news from flowing, nor control its content as well as they once did. So when Narco News reported ten days ago that Mexico was on the verge of a social explosion in response to the attempted desafuero against the Mexico City governor’s political rights, foreign correspondents in Mexico City flooded [Mexico City Mayor] López Obrador’s press office with calls, questions, and requests to interview the man of the hour.

[...]

He spoke of the “peaceful civil resistance” he and his supporters would undertake if the State took away his political rights to be a [presidential] candidate. He explained why public opinion has turned against imposed free market policies. He called forcefully for Latin American nations to unify including to be able to stand tall against such impositions. He took questions from the foreign correspondents for two hours. And the conversation went way beyond what he called, tongue in cheek, the “small matter” of the desafuero.

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Demand for authentic democracy is on the rise in our neighbors to the south. I have posted comments on its rise in Venezuela numerous times. Now, it seems the bug has spread to our direct neighbor - Mexico. I used to say about Venezuela, "Maybe authentic democracy will one day make its way north to us." Perhaps it's getting very close. But don't imagine it will be easy to jump the border. The Powers have things tied down pretty tight - and getting tighter. And at least half of your fellow countrymen are asleep at the wheel. Still, it could happen.

This is especially interesting news to me at this particular time as I am in the process of switching gears for a move to Mexico in the fall. If things go as planned, YWA will be shut down then, and I'll be off on a new and mostly uncharted path.

But things never go as planned.

At any rate, watch Mexico. Presidential elections occur in 2006. And it is appearing that the Mexican people are trending away from Bush Buddy Fox's pick.

I think the rest of the world is getting tired of us.