Erasing the Past

Erasing the Past

By: Erreh Svaia

Caprine Dispersion

It is often mentioned that history is written by the victors imposing their version of the facts and erasing forever the versions of the one who lost, in this way a few hundred Spaniards were supposedly able to conquer millions of natives in what we know today as Mexico during the Conquest, in this way the "Revolutionary Nationalism" brought welfare to all Mexicans, and in this way Lázaro Cárdenas, a populist and admirer of Stalin, has become one of the "best presidents" (along with Benito Juárez, who did not manage to become a dictator because death was ahead of him) in Mexican history despite been the creator of the hegemonic PRI as we know it today, and the creator of a cult of personality around him.  

Speaking of Stalinism and rewriting history, Cárdenas learned precisely from Stalin how to rewrite history, it is not surprising that today part of the Russian people have a "good memory" of the brutal dictator who ordered the death of millions of Russian citizens, that he gave the lives of thousands of soldiers to safeguard his empire while he was hiding in the tunnels of the Moscow metro, an "exemplary leader" some thought, one who poisoned the Russian people, one against the other, who enslaved neighboring countries, who made constant purges among his collaborators and sent those who differed from his way of thinking to the so-called "gulags", in such a way to rewrite the history and tradition of the Russian government, it is not strange that today many think of another authoritarian dictator, Vladimir Putin, as a new "savior of the fatherland".

We continue to hear more and more adverse reactions to the appointment of Manuel Bartlett as senior executive of the Federal Electricity Commission, the strong criticisms of the president-elect who named Bartlett, Andrés López have not been waiting, in his defense López points out that Bartlett is the person most qualified for the position because of his nationalist orientation, we should ask ourselves why this orientation was not manifested during his tenure in the governments of Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas, widely accused by Lopez supporters, as initiators of the "neoliberal" period that supposedly ended revolutionary nationalism, the pseudo leftwing  current pseudo within the PRI.

Starting with López, it is curious that for many of his supporters, the decadent period of the PRI began with his departure in 1988 from this party, a rewriting of history has been created in which that "old PRI" dictatorial, repressive, authoritarian, irresponsible , corrupt, statist and corporatist was the "guardian angel" of Mexicans, abusing the lack of knowledge about history, the period prior to the PRI's departure from power in 2000 has been hidden and emphasis has been placed on the later period of history as "the worst historical period in the country", for this we would have to inquire about the "democratic advances" prior to 1988, with a hegemonic party without any opposition in the 1976 elections, or the veto imposed on the historical left wing that had banned the Communist Party until 1977, after 60 years of existence, the disappearance of journalists and closure of news media critical of the government, the violent repression against students and its subsequent “dirty war” that included the disappearance of students, communists and guerrilla members, rampant corruption in the governments of Echeverría and López Portillo (portrayed on foreign magazine among the world´s billionaires of the time), and the economic bankruptcy of the country and its worst crisis in the period known as the "tragic dozen" (1970-1982).

A rewriting of history that now indicates that the PRI was good and beneficial for the country before 1988, a rewrite that now exonerates Manuel Bartlett from his machinations as the head of the then Federal Electoral Commission, in what is known as one of the most scandalous electoral frauds in the country, as well as their subsequent participation in "neoliberal" governments, a rewrite that absolves the participation and benefit of someone like Alfonso Romo, a close associate of Andrés López, in the so-called FOBAPROA, or in the government of Vicente Fox, memory has failed us as a society, and we have been victims of this dangerous and harmful rewriting, which prevent us to analyze and reason in depth about our history and what they have tried to instill in us, heroes where there were none, pending yet another chapter to be written when López will introduce us to Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, another close collaborator of him, and a member of the "old PRI", pretending that we forget that Muñoz Ledo was part of the governments of Diaz Ordaz and Echeverría and how he applauded the repression ordered by his bosses, in one of the most deplorable chapters of the PRI, "The October 2 is not forgotten," says a popular statement, you have to be careful, because just as it is intended to make us forget the historical fraud of 1988 with Bartlett at the head, so now they will want to make us forget the Massacre of Tlatelolco and the applause of Muñoz Ledo's approval.