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MEXICO: THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE

MEXICO: THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE. Osvaldo Jordan June 14, 2007. AFTER THE 2000 ELECTIONS. The election of Vicente Fox seemed to confirm Mexican adhesion to NAFTA and the “Washington Consensus”.

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MEXICO: THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE

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  1. MEXICO: THE POLITICAL STRUGGLE Osvaldo Jordan June 14, 2007

  2. AFTER THE 2000 ELECTIONS The election of Vicente Fox seemed to confirm Mexican adhesion to NAFTA and the “Washington Consensus”. Although President Fox sent to Congress the 1996 agreements with the EZLN, the Zapatistas denounced that they had been betrayed by all the political parties, including the PRD. The ten year anniversary of NAFTA represented an ideal occasion for examining the results of free trade policies and regional integration.

  3. NAFTA (1994-2004) • According to Cameron and Wise, the agreement has produced considerable economic growth in Mexico, especially in the border states. • Yet, Mexican poverty and inequality still persist, and immigration to the US has continued. • The elimination of ejidos has dispossessed Mexican peasants, and the new industries in the North have not produced enough jobs. • Criminal organizations, like the Tijuana Cartel, have grown out of control, escalating into what is currently known as the Mexican Drug War.

  4. THE RETURN OF THE LEFT? In 2005, the Head of Government of Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced his candidacy to the Mexican Presidency by the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD). That same year he was accused of betrayal and collusion with the PRI, by Sub-Comandante Marcos of the EZLN. After the diplomatic crisis at Mar del Plata, the PRI-candidate Roberto Madrazo and Jorge Castaneda accused Hugo Chavez of interfering into the Mexican elections by promoting the candidacy of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

  5. THE 2006 ELECTIONS Mexico, For or Against the Washington Consensus? The main contenders were Felipe Calderon (PAN), who vowed to continue the implementation of NAFTA and the Neoliberal Economic Model, and Manuel Lopez Obrador (PRD), who was expected to turn Mexico away from Neoliberalism and throw the country into the Pink Tide. Has PRI ceased to be a relevant contender in Mexican politics?

  6. THE POST-ELECTORAL CRISIS Lopez Obrador appealed the final vote count of the Federal Electoral Institute that gave an advantage of 0.58% to Felipe Calderon (around 243,000 votes). He called for massive rallies in Mexico City, demanding a “vote for vote” general recount. After the Electoral Tribunal gave a final decision on September 5, he convened a National Democratic Convention eleven days later, that declared him the “Legitimate President.”

  7. AN ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL PROJECT After the Democratic Convention, Lopez Obrador created a “Cabinet of Denunciation” that would be critical to the policies of Felipe Calderon. On January 1, 2006, the Zapatistas launched “The Other Campaign”, a tour of all Mexican states “to listen and speak directly with the simple and humble people of Mexico”. And, on June 20, 2006, a union of teachers organized the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). Although they have been violently repressed by state authorities, they continue struggling to create an alternative space for political participation.

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