A la mexicana. That’s exactly how the Presidential Airplane raffle ended up for thousands of compatriotas, waiting up to an hour to buy a ticket at the last minute. At the end, almost 80% of the tickets were sold, which accounted for more than USD $100 million. Not too shabby result considering the world is going through an economic crisis.
As announced by AMLO, all the money will go to public hospitals and health clinics, which are very much in need of staffing, repairing and updating. Among the winners of the 100 big prizes ($20 Million Pesos) are public schools and public hospitals, which received the billetes de lotería as a donation from unions and entrepreneurs.
The Presidential Airplane, purchased by Felipe Calderón and delivered at the beginning of the presidential term of Enrique Peña Nieto, is an insult and an affront to millions of Mexicans who live in poverty. That’s why this raffle isn’t only about the money for the healthcare system but a good reminder that, even if neoliberals return to power, they shouldn’t buy “un avión que no tiene ni Obama”. And if they do, the action won’t go neither unnoticed nor unpunished.
El pueblo se los reclamará.
La Piñata: 2.5 million signatures, León!
You’re reading that right. More than 2.5 million signatures claiming for el Juicio a Expresidentes were gathered by volunteers in only two weeks. Para asegurarlo, the president sent an official request to the Senate but León Krauze thinks AMLO’s action goes against the people’s mandate. We fully disagree and Renata Turrent explains why:
Lotería: Sowing a sustainable Mexico
Sowing a sustainable Mexico
Sembrando Vida is one of the central policies of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. It represents a radical shift of paradigm from an agrarian policy centered in large agribusiness, monoculture farming and toxic pesticides, to food sovereignty, reactivation of local markets and organic and sustainable agriculture. Rather than subsidizing Monsanto-like agribusiness, the program aims to support small landholders and local producers owning at least 6 acres of land.
The government supports producers and farmers with seedlings, monthly cash transfers of USD $235 and educational workshops. Participants will devote a minimum of 2.5 acres to the fruit-milpa system (corn, bean, squash and fruit trees), and the remaining 3.5 acres or more to forestry fields. An essential feature of the program is to encourage collective participation to expand the production potential through the formation of small local co-ops. For these reasons, critics have decried clientelism al más puro estilo priista.
However, the program’s goals are far more ambitious than winning the next electoral cycle through cash transfers and old-fashioned agrarian reform propaganda. First, Sembrando Vida’s mastermind, Secretary Maria Luisa Albores Gonzales, an experienced grass-roots organizer, worked for years with the largest and oldest Mexican indigenous co-op, Tosepan Titataniske, Puebla, where many of the models of the program were successfully tested. Second, discreetly and without any legal modification, the program in fact relaunches Mexican revolution’s agrarian reform by repurposing semi-abandoned ejidos in the poorest corners of Mexico.
The heart of the program is to ensure food sovereignty to those Mexicans that already have productive lands, but not access to capital! Local productions seek to foster the consumption of local, fresh and organically grown produce, while fostering local markets. And so far it is working great!
Avancemos!
Chew for the week
Here’s what else you need to know this week: