The PRI fumbled
The PRI, in Mexico, dropped the ball and fumbled. Their "energy sector reform" is an anencephalic fetus that thankfully is stillborn. Let me explain.
The PRI has spent quite a good deal of time and money transmitting spotsand distributing flyers assuring the people of Mexico that their reform of the energy sectorwas good for them. And in turn theyassured US investors that there would be no opposition to these reforms, heck,not even a cuss word. After all, whowould oppose a reform that reduces education and public health spending inorder to cover the fiscal deficit caused by handing over PEMEX’s revenues tothe oil cartels?
Well, events have turned out different. You see, the PRI and PAN approved the reform in the federalcongress. But that has not beenenough. It had to be approved by amajority of the local or state congresses. And what did this entail? Forone, a “brief” (the record was ten minutes) reading of a thick documentfollowing by a quick vote in which the PRI and PAN reps followed orders from“above” and voted to approve it. Thisgoes against all parliamentary rules, even those of Mexico.
And outside these congresses there were mobs of people shouting inprotest. In some cases (Tlaxcala statehouse) these protesters even kept the local reps from being able to enter orreach quorum (not that those procedural niceties really matter to the PRI andPAN). In Quintana Roo they had to seekan alternate site for deliberation (a nearby brothel/cantina that catered tothe law makers proved quite convenient and there they approved thereform). In Jalisco things came to ahead, there were scuffles and sure enough, the state police proved they werebrave enough to beat women and children on the head with their batons. And in other cases (Queretaro) thelegislators, after approving the laws (in ten minutes) had to scurry outthrough holes cut by the local police lest the people outside lynched them.
Of course, the US has multiple listening posts throughout Mexico andmonitored all this. (No, forget whatTelevisa says; even the US analysts know it is all bogus.) And what they verified is that no, the PRI’spromises to the US that the people of Mexico would be cheering theprivatization of PEMEX proved false.
Worst, the result of this “PRIvatization” of the Mexican energy sectorwill not benefit the Mexicans at all and only increase poverty. And it all goes back to the fiscal deficitthat ensues from “sharing” PEMEX’s earnings with the oil cartels.
You see, PEMEX puts in 40% of the Mexican government’s spending. That is what is (supposed) to pay for alleducation and health care and infrastructure (of course most of it ends uplining PRI pockets). This money must befound somehow if it now is going to end in the pocketbooks of an oil cartel inHouston, right? This is the reason thePRI has raised taxes on just about everything it can stand still, even dog food(the last government of Santa Anna in the 1850’s collapsed when he imposed atax on all dogs and cats). And this isthe reason the PRI raised the value added tax to 16% for temporary imports themaquiladoras makes. So yes, the PRI isgood at spreading the misery at least. Border towns on the US side that rely on maquiladoras are likely to take a bad hit.
Of course, to cover that gaping hole in the government’s revenues thePRI will seek even more loans on the financial market. This means little investment will be left forjob creation. Most likely the PRIgovernment will follow the path of all prior PRI governments and finish its sixyears with another hideous devaluation.
One of the bright ideas of the PRI to cover that 40% fiscal gap PEMEXwould leave if its revenues went to the oil cartels was to cut spending ineducation. Nowadays parents in Mexico,who were used to receiving free schooling for their children in governmentschools are finding that it is no longer “free”. Yes, before the schools were lousy but at least they were freee; but now they are still lousy but cost an arm and a leg! Parents have to pay all kind of“contributions”…for the school lunch, for the kid’s toilet paper, to buycleaning supplies for the janitors, to keep the roof from collapsing, etc., etc., etc.
God forbid if you mess with the parents of school children in anycountry! And yes, the Mexican middleclass (an endangered and now rarely seen beastie) is amongst the mostconservative and submissive you can find in any country. But if even those poltroons are nowdiscontent with the PRI’s measures to cover the 40% gap to insure that moneygoes to the oil cartels then the regime is definitely in trouble. And that just after one year of returning topower!
Alas, things are not as they used to be. Before, the Mexican government controlled all media (they still do) andhad an absolute monopoly on what was “truth”. With the internet, that is no longer true. Yes, internet penetration is spotty, dismaleven in the small towns, but that is why many Mexican anti-PRI activists aretaking information the government wants to suppress and are disseminating it inthe streets, in the so-called “balconeos” (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YeZTteH0E). So even folks who only receive the government’s version of “truth”through Televisa are being exposed to an alternative view.
Therefore, the worst result (for the PRI) has ocurred. It is now evident, even to the most benightedMexican, that the “energy sector reform” was devised by the oil cartels, forthe oil cartels, and will only benefit the oil cartels. And that in order to make it the law of theland the PRI is willing to beat women and children and suppress allprotests. (Forbes magazine’s cheeringthat US investors and sharks had just had an early Christmas gift from the PRImade things worse.) And this “foreignplot” is becoming starkly evident in a country known for its xenophobia andnationalism! I ask you again, Mr. BigBucks, would you be stupid enough to plunk down your cash in such a country?
The common Mexican has come then to the realization that the presentgovernment is a Vichyite collaborator regime imposed to serve foreigninterests. There is only one way to dealwith that situation (I can imagine Pancho Villa saying): from now on there existsa de facto state of war between the people of Mexico and their foreign imposedgovernment. And the only way things willbe set right, a lot of Mexicans believe and are willing to carry out, is topull hard…on the rope…by which hangs a PRIista…and then use them aspiñatas. And once they are done with thePRIistas they would be looking for the gringos that thought of it all. Would you then, Mr. Big Bucks, invest yourmoney in this powder keg?
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| Chiapas - mug shots are being circulated of the legislators that voted for the reform; thus they will be more easily identified for lynching |
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| Nayarit - unarmed men and women against the imperial storm troopers |
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| Jalisco - the way the legislators' autos ended the day |
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| Morelos - in the land of Zapata himself the resistance is readying itself to make its stand |
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| Mexico City - in front of the US embassy the crowds gather; they know who is the author of the reform |
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| Acapulco - these motley Sargent Garcias were taken to the streets to suppress discontent |
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| Tlaxcala - believe or not the protesters won: the PRI legislators could not enter state congress |
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| Jalisco - no, it is not the Parisians taken the Bastille...the protesters stormed the local senate house |
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| Jalisco - these wild eyed, dangerous, radicals are the ones that insist on keeping PEMEX for the Mexicans |
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| Jalisco - more mug shots of these dangerous radicals |
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| Jalisco - young people are joining in droves, just like in Egypt and Lybia |
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| Jalisco - en avant citoyens! Abas le roi! |
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| Jalisco - the empire strikes back |
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| Jalisco - there is too much resentment; this is only beginning |
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| Jalisco - bravery is a common coin amongst the resistance |
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| Jalisco - the authorities have stirred up too much hatred and resentment; the people now see the government as their enemy |
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| Jalisco - viva Mexico! The people of Mexico are still fighting and will, if needed, die on their feet |
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| Jalisco - the robocops proved that they are great for beating defenseless women and children but everyone knows they are too chicken to go after the drug cartels |
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| Jalisco - are we beaten? No! We have not even begun to fight! |
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