It is sad that immigrants, regardless of the role they play abroad, support the system that expelled them from Mexico in recent years years.
It doesn’t matter how they left the country —for economic reasons, violence, work or pleasure—, the fact is that if you live in the United States it’s because what Mexico offered at that time was not enough or did not guarantee your stay in the nation.
So why do you continue to support today’s opposition parties: PRI, PAN, PRD?
It is not only a contradiction in itself, but a kind of personal and collective betrayal, especially now that these parties make up the “Va por México” alliance, in which politicians who were diametrically opposed at birth, such as the PRD , from the left, have joined the right-wing politicians who have favored the international corporation: the PAN and the PRI.
For the people of Mexico there is no valid, logical, moral or economic argument for support these political parties from abroad, especially if we consider the pain they have caused with the “war on drugs”, and the economic consequences that caused the departure of millions of people and generated poverty for some 60 millions of Mexicans, while only a few benefited from becoming part of the list of millionaires of Forbe magazine s.
Unfortunately that has not changed and, far from these parties trying to straighten out or at least repair some of all the damage they did —particularly with Enrique Peña Nieto’s energy reform approved in 2013—, continue to cling to prolonging the deterioration and have announced that they will NOT support President Andrés’s electricity reform Manuel López Obrador that is at stake.
The electrical reform that is decided today in the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico City, what it does is only return control of energy to Mexico; Otherwise, if it is left as it is, for the 2029 the foreign private initiative (Iberdrola) will control more than the 60% of the industry and Mexicans will remain at the mercy of what the private company decides, both in terms of prices and forms of use.
An important point to clarify is that this reform allows the private initiative to invest a 60% of the total of the industry, a market very similar to what representing the entire country of Argentina. This measure does not expropriate or monopolize electricity in the hands of the Mexican state, it only gives it control that guarantees supply and low prices for Mexicans.
Spain is a clear example of what happens when private initiative controls these vital resources of a nation: in 2021 this country ended up paying record and ridiculous figures that forced thousands of its inhabitants to wash clothes during at dawn or end the months by lighting with candles to reduce the cost of electricity. And that the Iberdrola company that controls that supply is Spanish. I wonder, what can Mexicans expect if total control is acquired by said company in the following years?
A clear example of the favoritism of the opposition towards the foreign corporation is its unsustainable support for Iberdrola instead of backing the measure that benefits Mexicans. The opposition in Mexico has already announced that it will NOT support the energy reform, which means that it is putting the supply of gas in private hands, a resource that should be a right and not a commodity, due to the usefulness it represents in the life of the human being.
Let’s clarify, this measure that was approved in 2013 with bribes and with modifications to the Constitution should be deleted; however, now that reform is being sought to avoid permanent damage, those same parties that approved it nine years ago continue to support it.
It is a shame that these politicians call themselves “defenders” and “ representatives” of the Mexicans, when in reality they are defenders and representatives of the foreign corporation. The worst thing is that there are still Mexicans who support them. Even sadder is that there are immigrants in the United States who defend them.
We know that the Fourth Transformation is not perfect, but it has taken the first steps in the right direction for the benefit of the majority of Mexicans . Although it is necessary to criticize it in order to point out and correct what is being done wrong, that criticism must be legitimate and not just be influenced by the mass media, which constantly lie, misinform and only seek to harm the current administration so that they recover their privileges in future administrations.
In other words, a media outlet that has lied for decades in Mexico will not report the truth now. It is impossible, because there are interests involved that have been woven over the years in order to maintain an insane level of privileges that have never benefited the nation. They have economic and not social interests, in such a way that they have never cared about helping the most vulnerable Mexicans. It is correct to fight to remove the undesirables from the current administration, but above all it is necessary to support the young people who are doing things well.
In a few hours we will know what the opposition vote was on the electrical reform in Mexico, and we will also know in that sense who betrayed the country. If what these parties have done in the past was not enough for Mexicans abroad to stop supporting them, a negative vote on the reform should be enough to stop supporting them.
Agustín Durán is editor of Metro de Real America News in the city of Los Angeles.