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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Anatomy of a Mexican Political Crisis: The Terminal Phase |
| 2011-03-01 |
| by Chris Covert Politically, "going there" is a dangerous proposition for Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) politicians. The Dirty War, prosecuted by Mexican national security forces and the military over nearly 30 years against a leftist insurgency, is still fresh in Mexican national memory. They are still finding where the bodies were buried, literally in Mexico. And aside from that, the Mexican left, such as the mainstream socialist Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD) and its allies in the Partido Trabajadore (PT), and other smaller parties, will not let it go. And who can blame them? It was their people who did the dying along with a number of other supporters and a few bystanders. They have everything to gain by keeping PRI off balance from this latest storm. They probably see strong parallels between the Dirty War and Calderon's war on the cartels, but they have yet to convince the electorate of a nexus. The Mexican Army, smeared with the task of brutally putting down demonstrations and revolts at the behest of PRI politicians in the 1960, 70s and 80s may have damaged the institution's image. Despite its recent history, the image of the Army and Mexican Naval Infantry have recovered the longer Calderon's campaign against the drug cartels has continued. Mexicans generally support the effort of the military in dealing with the cartels now. It is likely Mexican conservatives who wholly support the military, as well as the average middle class Mexican, do not want to return to the days of Zedillio and Salinas de Gortari. At least, that's the plan. And at least this time, there is a real bad guy: The Drug Cartels. So, when a former PRI governor basically states that, yeah, we colluded with criminals, but no one got hurt... much -- you get a clear notion of why PRI wants to distance itself from its recent past. And it is probably a good thing that their mortal and lifelong opponents, Partido Accion Nacional (PAN), were relatively gentle in their response to Rizzo Garcia's unfortunate admission. PAN needs PRI in the Chamber of Deputies and in local governor's houses to help prosecute their war, and the PRI, as well as other Mexican political parties have been forthcoming with votes in the Chamber of Deputies, such as those to reinforce the Mexican Army effort against the drug cartels with the addition of 18 more rifle battalions and increase of pay and benefits for soldiers. The first of the units raised were raised in Tamaulipas,announced in an Army Day ceremony in Reynosa, Tamaulipas last week which Felipe Calderon and his Secretary of Defense, General Guillermo Galvan Galvan attended. As the political crisis deepened, PRI politicians began to turn on Rizzo Garcia, but not before Rizzo Garcia turned on himself by trying to reframe his remarks. In an interview Friday evening with Ciro Gomez Leyva, a television and print journalist associated with Milenio, Rizzo Garcia recanted his contention that local and state politicians followed the lead of PRI presidents in making pacts with organized crime in exchange for social peace and a tamping down on violence. Rizzo Garcia said that what he meant by his remarks Wednesday was that a consensus at the time had developed that drug trade going to the United States would not create more social problems. "That means that for practical purposes we had a unified security policy, almost as a national police force.", said the 66 year old PRI politician. "To combat the side effects, and I mean to prevent car thefts, kidnappings, bank robberies, extortions... ...because that was due to coordinated action. ...PGR, state attorney and state police, all spoke with the same voice; that was the national agreement, not dealing with the crooks. " he added. In remarks prior to the interview, Garcia Rizzo also said: "First note that, to deal with insecurity, it requires a strong presidency supported by a national agreement between the political class and society, and second, that social peace prevailed during the PRI governments, and third, that the alternation of power relaxed shielding effectiveness of public safety." None of his attempts to redefine his comment address what he actually said in Saltillo, however. Despite that, former federal deputy Benjamin Clariond has warned Rizzo Garcia that he may be brought to court to prove his allegations. He also hinted Rizzo Garcia is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which he hinted may have been the real reason Rizzo Garcia was forced to resign the Nuevo Leon governorship in 1996. Clariond served as interim governor of Nuevo Leon from 1996, 1997, after Garcia Rizzo resigned his position. He said Rizzo Garcia's allegations "...gives concern to see that maybe Alzheimer's has come (to Rizzo Garcia) early. I do not know what it took or what went before." he added. Clariond said the drug violence increased when the payment system for drugs deliveries was changed in 1998 from cash to product, so that only way mules could be paid was to return to Mexico and sell product. Clariond, taking a swipe at America's' part in drug violence, suggested reduction of the availability of weapons from the US could be affected if the serial numbers were traced to the US and the persons buying them and selling them to drug traffickers were arrested. Good suggestions, for sure, except that Clariond also failed to address the base charge, that PRI was in league with drug criminals throughout Mexico before 2000 and the ascendancy of PAN. The suggestions are a diversion from the issue which has not been addressed so far. The distinction is critical for PRI because of the coming elections in Mexico state in July and the presidential elections in 2012. Inevitably one of the left parties will attempt to link PRI with PAN and Calderon's war on the cartels during the 2012 campaign. While not quite a taint, the Mexican left's offer to accommodate the cartels by shifting resources towards income supports for Mexico's poor, as Andres Manual Lopez Obrador, presidential contender against Calderon in 2006 has said. The political offer may have some traction with peasants and workers, PRI's main constituency. It would erode Moreria's image as a populist and would undo months of hard work his his predecessor, Paredes Rangel. Mexican politics, like the politics of its northern neighbor are not just the art of the possible, as Bismark once said. It is also the management of time and information. This issue may go away, but it probably won't, not with two critical elections coming up. Moreria should have hit the ground running in his new role as head of the PRI, but it appears the ground hit him, instead. |
| Posted by:badanov |