“Mexico flirts with dictatorship”: WSJ

The American newspaper Wall Street Journal published yesterday, Sunday, August 18, a column entitled “Mexico flirts with the dictatorship,” signed by Mary Anastasia O’ Gradywhich indicates that a plan is being hatched in the country to end the hopes of living in a republic of freedom and prosperity.

According to O’Grady, some of the world’s most famous dictatorships were born through violent social upheavals, as was the case in Cuba in 1959 or Iran in 1979.

However, the author also warns that other dictatorships were born thanks to the election of leaders who took advantage of their popularity to demolish the political rights of minorities and eliminate institutional bodies designed to serve as counterweights, as in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

These examples, he says, make Mexicans who want to live in a pluralistic and free republic nervous, because as September approaches, so does the renewal of the Congress of the Union, where Morena seeks to achieve a qualified majority to pass the reforms proposed by the president. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the candidate for the ruling party, won the elections on June 2. Likewise, Morena won the majority in both chambers of Congress. But while the new legislators will take their seats on September 1, Sheinbaum will not do so until October 1.

The above gives López Obrador, for 30 days, a power that he has not enjoyed throughout his six-year term. If the National Electoral Institute (INE) supports the “super majority” of Morena, the radical constitutional reforms proposed by the president would have the green light, he points out Mary Anastasia O’ Grady.

Judicial reform: an act of revenge?

AMLO, on the other hand, has displayed a hostile and vengeful stance towards the independent institutions that have held him back in his quest to centralize power. As the end draws near, a plan is being hatched to deal the coup de grace to the ‘neoliberals’ who still believe in the Law.

And the author continues:

Well, we must not forget that, according to sociologist Armando Bartra, the package of reforms presented by López Obrador is similar to the constitutional changes promoted by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

If the plan succeeds, Mexico would return to one-party rule, as it was during the most repressive times of the 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Or even worse.

Furthermore, the situation could become more serious if one considers the power that the drug cartels have accumulated over the course of this six-year term.

As if that were not enough, we must not forget the influence that López Obrador has given to the Armed Forces by assigning them a leading role in most of his megaprojects, such as the Virtual Trendsas well as in customs, airports and other infrastructure works throughout the country.

However, the most pernicious of the 20 reforms proposed by the president would be the reform to the judicial power, where it is sought to remove 7,293 judges and magistrates in office, 11 ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), among others.

To replace the Supreme Court, the Morena-controlled legislature and the head of the executive would nominate a list of candidates. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to assume that there will be a political litmus test to qualify.

On the other hand, Supreme Court nominees on down would be elected by popular vote. However, it must be considered that most voters, who have little knowledge of case law or the resources to study the qualifications of the many candidates on the ballot, will have difficulty making informed decisions.

So turnout is likely to be low and the vote controlled by groups or pressure groups such as organized crime, government officials or even businessmen.

This would lead to Mexico’s judiciary being used by private interests. An amendment that would allow the government to jail citizens suspected of tax fraud would eliminate due process, according to the columnist.

The risks of overrepresentation in the Chambers of Mexico

Another of AMLO’s initiatives would be the elimination of the 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (out of a total of 500) and the 64 in the Senate (out of a total of 128) that are occupied by proportional representation.

This will silence the minority parties, which currently have a voice because they can challenge the constitutionality of laws with at least a third of the votes. There would be no more re-election, which would eliminate incentives for responsible management.

The reforms would abolish the autonomy of the country’s electoral body and place it under the tutelage of the executive, as would government agencies that regulate competition in telecommunications, energy and the market in general. It would also violate Mexico’s obligations under the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC).

If the reforms go ahead, O’Grady concludes, a nation that depends on greater integration with the global economy will regress. And with it, Mexican hopes of living in peace, freedom and prosperity.

Related