What has happened this week might be the start of a Netflix series that might be called “The Crazy Race of the Corcholatas”, or “The Two Stooges and the Stooges”. Perhaps this series should deserve a more serious title because of the impact that the presidential race will have on Mexican democracy. I suggest a title like “Succession and Betrayal” or “Game of Thrones and Pejelagartos”, a reflection of television series where the program ends with the destruction of all, except the winner of the crown (or the presidential sash).
It must be said: Claudia Sheinbaum, Marcelo Ebrard and Adán Augusto López are in the middle of a succession game, where one will be president and two face their political destruction. Those who are not candidates lose and will face a murder of their political career. The bottle caps do not have the teflon factor, nor the charisma of the Viceroy of López Obrador. But in the midst of insomnia, the candidates are surely speculating who is the next “Scapegoat” and what was the negotiation with each of the bottle caps.
“You step aside and we will not publish the details of your file”, surely it is the threat that Sheinbaum, López and Ebrard face. With so many long tails militant in the Fourth, the strategy of threatening total destruction with real and fabricated accusations is a pretty effective strategy of political control. The question is whether the “Corcholatas” are willing to blindly obey when making decisions.
When the “results” of the polls that are disguised as fingers are announced, will they accept them and disappear into the mist of Andrés Manuel’s legacy? At least, Corcholata Ebrard has sent quite clear messages that she will not go quietly to the cemetery of the followers betrayed by the President. When Sheinbaum cynically offered to include Marcelo Ebrard in her cabinet when she is President, he sarcastically replied “how cute”, basically clarifying that he is not willing to accept a bone, he wants to be the “rooster”, even if he is plucked. Adán Augusto López, in an interview with Joaquín López Dóriga, with unprecedented cynicism, would seem to attribute responsibility for the immigration issue to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, therefore, possibly responsible for the death of 40 migrants in Ciudad Juárez. While the Chancellor also behaved as the ignorant of the massacre with few comments and traveling to Nuevo Elon, sorry Nuevo León, to hide from the questions, the Secretary of the Interior went to Coatzacoalcos, representing President López Workshop.
When the candidates start publicly disrespecting each other with cynical and sarcastic responses, it is a clear sign that the civil war has started and that the president is losing control over the selection of his successor. But in this “Game of Thrones” series, the winner this week was Adán Augusto, the person in charge and responsible for the implementation of the immigration strategy, and the president’s favorite, since the president consented to his appearance in Veracruz, hours following the tragedy, and avoiding answering questions. Adán Augusto is not only the weakest candidate in terms of experience, ability to govern, and knowledge by the voter. The polls so far reflect a lack of personality. But even so, instead of using the secretary of the interior as a shield from the attacks on the president, he allowed the range of attacks to open up to Ebrard, who would seem to be the big loser so far in this Netflix series.
Although the President does not recognize it, he made the same mistake as former President Enrique Peña Nieto, who from the beginning of his administration allowed two of his key advisors to campaign: the Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, and his Secretary of Treasury and Foreign Relations, Luis Videgaray. Both campaigned for years, exercising their official functions seeking the candidacy. And neither of them survived the process and the candidate was José Antonio Meade.
Now López Obrador has to think regarding plan B and plan C given the possibility that the crisis of the 40 deaths will increase exponentially. Who will be the political shield that will defend López Obrador? None of the bottle caps is willing to sacrifice themselves for the President. The bets start, the civil war began in Morena and the corcholatas unleash a dirty war between them. Buy your popcorn, find the most comfortable chair in your house and enjoy (horrify) the Corcholatas series.
