Civil War in Mexico

Civil War in Mexico

By: Erreh Svaia

“Popularity should be no scale for the election of politicians. If it would depend on popularity, Donald Duck and The Muppets would take seats in senate.”

Orson Welles

So yes, a Civil War is about to start in Mexico, now with the so called independent candidates in vogue, it seems that besides political parties, civilians, supposedly not affiliated to them will also contend for the presidential campaign, my opinion on this is quite reserved, I agree that we need more civil participation into politics in order to renew the political sphere, but not without parties, and also done keeping a strict form, otherwise it will only dilute the power of opposition.

Perhaps the best known of these four civilians is Jorge Castañeda, a long fixture on the political landscape since his days of youth on the radical left as part of the Mexican Communist Party, his move towards the center left and then a complete shift towards the right wing during the Vicente Fox administration, where he performed as Secretary of Foreign Affair, Jorge Castañeda might be the most experienced of the four potential candidates, a pioneer when it comes to independent candidates matters, Castañeda is undoubtedly one of the pioneers in the civil fight to be able to contend without the backing of a party, Castañeda might be "independent" up to certain point, but he isn't exactly a civilian, given the fact that he is a politician with decades of experience.

Jaime Rodríguez, current governor of the Northern state of Nuevo Leon, Jaime started his career as a 30-plus years member of the PRI, being a member of several Union staffs, Jaime rose to national popularity after he was attacked by mobsters while performing as major of Garcia, a small city part of the Monterrey metropolitan area, Jaime used the tragic event to his advantage and capitalized on an image of brave crime fighter nicknamed El Bronco, ore a cartoon character than a real efficient politician, Jaime stormed the elections for Nuevo Leon governor, quit the PRI and became a popular defender of the independent candidate movement, he gathered strong popular approval, capitalizing a moment of social discontent against predominant political parties PRI and PAN, Jaime became a symbol of people anger against politicians, although ironically Jaime was a professional politician for more than 30 years, using a strong social network campaign and an innovative marketing strategy, Jaime became govern of Nuevo Leon, signaled by many as a potential candidate even for the presidency, Jaime has lost momentum, as he hasn't been able to use his social capital in order to make true changes in the state, making people feeling betrayed accusing him of being no more than another traditional politician who used populism to achieve power.

Once a powerful voice on the radio, journalist Pedro Ferriz de Con became heavy critical of the government and the official Party, the PRI, ousted from TV in a controversial move, and then ousted from radio after an extra marital affair scandal, Pedro announced his comeback as a contender for the 2018 presidential race, Pedro hasn't been able to gain momentum as when he was on radio, even becoming a victim of his own temper when publicly asked about his affair, insulting his audience and then admitting to make a mistake, his hopes as potential independent candidate started to loose strength after that incident.

Last but not least, Denise Dresser, a political science professor, close collaborator of journalist Carmen Aristegui, Dresser is a clever political writer and a fierce critic of the government, she even campaigned for voting abstentionism after denouncing a lack of a good political offer for voters, causing her a bit of trouble when she announced her intentions to be a contender in the presidential race.

Although the so called independent candidate seem to be a political trend of the moment, it would be hard for any of these civilian candidates to launch a competitive career, as political barriers are set real high and too bureaucratic, I consider it a little bit over conceived as the political party system hasn’t really been exploited and although it make look trouble these days, it is still perhaps the best way to launch a candidate and prevent a loose cannon to emerge.