Wednesday, June 13, 2012

2012 Presidential Elections

I have been so insanely busy the past couple of months that I just haven’t had a chance to catch up here. I had a friend come and visit me here in Juarez, went to Phoenix for work a couple of times, got to catch my little sister’s graduation in Iowa and was training a new employee for our Albuquerque office for the better part of May. Plus, it’s definitely the busy season for the industry I work in so I’ve had a lot on my plate.

The presidential elections are coming up for Mexico on July 1st and you can definitely feel the buzz in the air, and in the media. I don’t think I ever fully realized the direct affect a president can have on a country. Well, I could imagine and do worse-case-scenarios, but I didn’t really know. I think the last presidential term in Mexico is a disgustingly, perfect example of what a government’s decisions can really do to its country. I should preface this blog by saying that I know little to nothing about politics in the US, much less in Mexico, so I really don’t know what I’m talking about here. I only know what I believe. From the bit that I’ve read, Mexico had been basically controlled by PRI for some 65 years until PAN took control in 2000. This kind of seems to be when all hell broke lose with the cartels, but that may have more to do with heightened drug addictions (thank you science) than with the actual decisions of the political parties.

I still can’t figure out which party would be considered Democratic and which would be considered Republican, if it can even be compared in that sense at all. I’m not really getting a good idea of anything when it comes to this election. I don’t have a grasp of what the candidates or parties represent. They do not seem to stand alone on any of their issues or ideas, but then again, I am not really spending a significant amount of time looking into any of this. I want to leave that in my husband’s hands and not stick my nose into it too much. He has been in the US since he could vote so this will be a first and I am doing my best to not scare him away from the process with my controlling tendencies.

I must say it’s beyond scary to sit back and watch the campaigning and the elections and just cross your fingers, hoping for the best as changes ensue in Mexico. When you think about what’s happened in the last 6 years, it’s just fucking scary. Since Calderon was elected as president in 2006 and decided to saturate the country with military troops in an attempt to fight this drug war, over 47,000 people have been murdered in Mexico.

A few weeks ago we had friends over and I was in the midst of one of my (seemingly more) frequent rages about the power of the vote when one of my girlfriends here kind of put me in my place, gently. I was speaking with our husbands about how powerful our vote is and both of the men seemed to share the sentiment that your vote doesn’t really count here in Mexico. I think a lot of people feel that way in the US as well, which is why so many people don’t vote. That is exactly why more people vote for American Idol than in the presidential elections! Even though I know that truth, I also know that when I go out and participate at the polls, I am taking my personal stand and my little step towards achieving the democracy that I believe in.

I have faith in the democratic system and although I don’t necessarily think it’s working the way it would ideally, it’s definitely better than the alternative. Anyway, that night I was going on and on about how I feel about democracy and blah, blah, blah and they gave me their take on it all. It was brought to my attention how frequent and common it is that candidates will actually give kilos of rice or beans or rice or flour or whatever to the people to literally purchase their vote. Not necessarily like in the US where they promise tax cuts, or immigration reform, or certain social services in order to win the vote of a particular demographic, but they literally give food or monetary incentives to people in exchange for their vote. Maybe I am being naïve to say that I don’t think this happens that often in the US? I’m always the first one to admit that I am young and I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about. I’m just feeling my way through life and learning along the journey, so forgive me if I am, as my mother would say, out to lunch. Regardless, the situation in Mexico is very sad and I can definitely see how an election could easily go corrupt here, even more so than in the US.

I’ve talked about this in depth with my husband I want him to understand that every journey begins with the first step and all that inspirational crap that you see on Facebook and Pintrest these days. Ignoring the corn factor, I can admit it. It’s true. Regardless of any corruption, we still need to vote and we still need to participate in the polls if we ever want to get to a point with our system where it really does work for the people and the results truly reflect what the people want. Forget about the candidates. Even if we have to sit here and decide who we hate the least, we still need to vote. If we do not participate, I believe that we are giving in and giving up and we are never going to get the system that we all long for. I am not living in La La Land people. Well, maybe a little…

I can’t imagine that the government will EVER be exactly what we want it to be, but I think it could be better than it is. This goes for any democratic nation. I’m not just talking about the US and Mexico. Again, I might be naïve and I might be young but I think if we lose faith in the system or we give up on the system and determine that the government is just corrupt so, fuck it, let just post a bunch of anti-man, anarchist shit on Facebook and do whatever we want, I think we are just taking a step backwards. Having that mentality and that attitude just hits the rewind button. A lot of people fought in all of these countries in order to have a democratic government. In my opinion, by not voting, it is a slap in the face to every soldier in Mexico, America and every other democratic nation that there is. Democracy has not always been a given and we should thank God that we have such a system in place now, regardless of how imperfectly it works. We need to vote.

I have no idea who the better candidate is in the Mexico election. I feel very lost. What I want for Mexico is the candidate who isn’t out for Chapo’s head. In my opinion, it makes much more sense to concentrate on social services within the country and bettering the economy and opportunities so that the people are not so likely (or dare I say obligated) to delve into a life of crime. To me, that is so much more important than head hunting for cartel members. Not only that, but I feel like an approach of that nature could significantly lessen the violence here by giving less attention and press time to particular gangs. I am not saying that the cartels should be ignored, but as long as Americans continue to pour billions of dollars into drug trade, Mexico will always supply the demand. Let’s concentrate on bettering the people of Mexico so that they are not so compelled to partake in all of the bullshit going on in the US.



If anyone knows of any websites or literature that could help my husband and I get a better idea of what these candidates represent, I would greatly appreciate it. The election is coming up very soon and this will be the first chance that Mr. Cruz will be in Mexico as an adult to vote in an election so he is pretty excited, and I am excited for him, but we are both a little lost. It’s hard to educate ourselves here. Even the presidential debates, which reek of sexico, have aired near midnight on Sunday evenings so we’ve missed them. If it weren’t for the cleavage, I would almost think they weren’t meant to be seen.

3 comments:

  1. Emily,
    I can't give you an unbiased view on Mexican politics. My husband is a member of Morena (movimiento regeneracion nacional)a grass-roots movement in favor of Lopez Obrador. We stand behind him because he is an honest man, which in Mexican politics is an oxymoron. Wikileaks and many other organizations cannot find "cola que le pisen". Peña Nieto has bought his own publicity from Televisa and is their favorite to win, so of course he gets more favorable coverage. Josefina is with a party that has killed of about 50,000 in the past six years. She also plans to privatize Pemex, as well as Quadri and EPN. The problem with privatizing Pemex is that it is a great industry for Mexico,if they can get rid of the corruption. Lopez Obrador plans to clean it up and build new refineries to make it more efficient and cheaper. Quadri is the puppet of Elba Esther...if he can just get two percent of the vote, the party Nueva Alianza will be able to continue as a party, receiving more national funds for her (she is the life-time president of the teachers union.) I will include an article about that.
    The PRI will pay even 1,000 pesos to "borrow" voters' cards. It is very difficult for all the votes to be counted because the polling observers also are planted to steal or change votes. They have already found duplicate ballots in Oaxaca, in preparation for copying voters' info and changing their vote. Even so, we are hopeful. Here are some links in English:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexicos-failing-schools-spell-defeat-for-ruling-party/2012/06/09/gJQAYvagPV_story.html?wprss=rss_world

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/07/mexico-presidency-tv-dirty-tricks

    I have seen a webite that shows the propuestas of each candidate. I just don't know where it is right now. Also the debates have been at 8 p.m. Here is a link for another one:

    http://www.infoeleccionesmexico.com/informacion-debate-candidatos-presidenciales-mexico-50.html

    Like I said we are 100% with Obrador.
    And usually we don't even care since it doesn't even seem to make a difference... all of them are corrupt! But now we see a candidate who really is different. He is an honest man who promises to lower the salaries of himself and the higher ups in the govt. Did you know that while minimum wage is 50 or so pesos a day, depending on the location, there are some govt officials that make 600,000 plus all the benefits of a driver, car, private health insurance, etc. No puede ser un gobierno justo con un pueblo pobre....thats what he says. He also says La paz es fruto de la justicia.

    Nobody else is even talking about corruption, wages, the poor! He also talks about job creation through the building of a renewed railroad system and public works. He wants to create jobs to help people not be drawn in to jobs with the cartels. If they have a job that pays what they need, he says they won't be so easily taken in with the carteles. It is a lot to take on but I believe he will try to do it.
    He says we have to combat the drug problem with education and jobs, not the army.

    I want JUSTICIA. Its not fair to see politician after politician make themselves rich while the people get poorer.

    Anyway. If I find the other page I'll send it.
    Karen

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  2. OMG, how come I'm just finding your blog now? I'll have to read some of your older posts to "get to know you" better!!

    Politics.... What a topic... I'm like you, I'm not really familiar this time around. Most of my friends like Nieto, but I'm not all too familiar why.

    I just hope that all the work Calderon has done is not reversed by some idiot. I mean, not that I like to see the number of ppl being killed, but he is the only person who has had the guts to try and do something about it. I also agree that the ppl buying the drugs is the number one issue, and that needs to be dealt with first. Supply and Demand.

    I've already said more than I wanted, as I really just don't go there! LOL!

    Happy I found your blog though - Oh, and I also believe in "every vote counts". If people start believing that, there will be a difference. Maybe not in our lifetime, but in our childrens.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, Elle--this isn't in reply to your comment, I just can't comment on the post without commenting on someone else's!

      Like you said, Emily, the important thing is that your husband goes out to vote--for anybody. Political parties have been known to take the ballots of those registered who didn't show up to vote, and then they vote for their own guy. (I think Karen alluded to this.) So even if he doesn't care for any of the candidates, better that he votes for Mickey Mouse than to let somebody else vote for him.

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