The tricky longing 2023/11/21 | Excelsior

Longing is a beautiful word. Sometimes we are aware of it and evoke memories to alleviate absences. It is equated with nostalgia. They both have a very good reputation. But there may be unconscious longings that... betray.

The only possibility of saving Mexico from a disguised dictatorship is to remove the ruling group. We are experiencing a successive coup d'état, a concatenation of deliberate acts to destroy republican checks and balances and stifle freedoms. To begin with, there are the threats, something very serious in itself, those intimidating sayings that, for five years, have been brandished against journalists, writers, media outlets, businessmen or simple citizens, “aspirationists.” Threats against institutions, the INE, the Inai, the federal Judiciary, at all levels, ministers, magistrates, judges. He will go down in history because his hatred and resentments cause him that daily drive to instill fear.

When they feel fear, demographic figures become distorted. In 1989, the ruling party took it upon itself to equate the PRD with violence. Result: many polls were wrong. The citizens responded that they were going to vote for the PRI, but they were voting for the PRD. The common citizens, in Mexico, and also in other countries, do not enjoy politics or confrontation, in fact, they shy away from it. But thanks to the laborious democratization of Mexico today, that same frightened citizen believes in the power of secrecy, at the polls. Of Gortari Salt Flats It was said that he would win with around 22 million votes. Got –Bartlett dixit– less than 10. It is called “hidden vote” and it occurs when the population is afraid. This intimidation can explain everything from the presidential approval in the midst of the disapproval of most public policies, something schizophrenic, to some surprises such as the opposition vote in the State of Mexico or the opposition defeat in Coahuila, 57%.

They are threats and the facts: the brutal cuts to the INE, the Inai, the federal Judiciary, including the Electoral Tribunal. If they were so sure of their victory, the most convenient thing for the coup plotters in disguise would be a lubricated electoral apparatus to irrefutably prove their victory. If they are so sure of the power of the Fourth Transformation, why try to impose Morenoist wedges in the INE, in the Electoral Tribunal or the SCJN itself and others? Part of the strategy is to say "we already won!", but it is not clear.

Does the opposition coalition have a real chance of winning the Presidency and the majority in the chambers? The answer is yes, there are the electoral results for 2021 and 2023. Yes, because the switchers S1 and S2, as he calls them Gabriel Gonzalez Molina In their book, they are a mass capable of determining victory in 2024. Yes, because the candidate Galvez It has history, it has character, it excites, while being calculating and cold at the same time. Galvez is real, a requirement that the so-called campaigners –campaign strategists– put as the substance, a good product, it is easy to promote.

By contrast, Sheinbaum It is trapped in the dilemma of guaranteeing continuity by heart, in a society that wants change. Trapped, because her leader for life already ridiculed her, to ratify the only sign that really matters to her: I am in charge. Galvez It has other problems: increasing its name recognition, reviewing the negatives, showing off with faces a solid coalition, with the necessary distance from the parties.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is a deceitful nostalgia: cultural presidentialism. Faced with the authoritarian #ES… of the ruling party, she has to build a seremos: we will be the citizens and, thus, we can triumph. It is something unprecedented, although Fox He also managed to summon citizens. Despite all the tricks... they can lose.

For the citizens on this occasion, as the bullfighters say, there is no graceful escape, but rather passionate surrender.