Why are we launching South of el Muro?
There’s an ongoing political revolution in México and the media isn't talking about it. Our weekly newsletter aims to bring you the most relevant content from Mexican politics straight into your inbox
For the first time since Lázaro Cárdenas’ presidency, México has a president with a popular and democratic agenda: Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Prior to the 2018 regime change, México was under a failed democratic system, designed by PRI and PAN parties (PRIAN) to limit popular participation and prevent real social transformation. All this by maintaining a sham pluralism which resulted into neoliberal and technocratic pragmatism that favored the ultra rich (the 1%!), increased inequality, and maintained poverty levels.
Under this false democratic regime, Mexicans witnessed in 2006 an electoral fraud manufactured by idiotic, Bush’s-amigo President Fox and a crew of old political ladrones operating altogether as la mafia del poder. This fraud, which prevented AMLO from becoming president, cleared the way to Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, an unltraconservative candidate of the PAN party, and his war on drugs. Weeks after his inauguration, Calderón pursued the legitimacy he didn’t get in the ballots through the arms, throwing México into the most violent period of its modern history.
After another rigged election in 2012, Mexican democratic farce reached its highest point with Enrique Peña Nieto’s presidency. One day after his inauguration, a set of bills known as “Pacto por México” were introduced to intensify the neoliberal reign. Again, it was clear that the party system of the PRIAN was in essence a single project meant to serve exclusively the economic elites. The only major political player that opposed this neoliberal scheme was AMLO, calling it “el Pacto Contra México”. Y tenía razón, because now Peña Nieto and his compadres are under investigation, in Mexico and overseas, for corruption and money laundering. Does Odebrecht sound familiar?
This failed Mexican neoliberal stretch that lasted three decades, wouldn’t have been possible without an artificial free, independent press. Televisa and TV Azteca, owned by two of the richest men in Latin America, controlled most of the local and national TV and radio stations. Both served the interests of Calderón to control damages and amplify the law and order message, even at the expense of bending the rule of law. Staged arrests and pre-approved interviews starred by Televisa rising star, Carlos Loret de Mola, and Calderón’s Chief Police, Genaro García Luna, now an inmate in the US accused of money laundering and drug trafficking, are a sneak peek of these nefarious tactics. And Loret de Mola wasn’t the only journalist supporting PRI and PAN’s regimes. Enrique and León Krauze, among others, received millions in government advertising during the Peña Nieto administration in exchange for favorable press and not rocking the boat.
All in all, it is well-documented that TV Azteca, Televisa, and many others, served as propaganda machines for the loud minority, perros guardianes del status quo that worked so well for the elites: ad hoc regulations and public money in exchange of good press and strategic neglect of the deep, structural issues of the country.
Of course, no todos fueron cómplices, honest men and women are everywhere. Several nation-wide and local newspapers, tv and radio stations strove to survive amid a state of constant attack by the government, drug cartels or both. Many journalists were threatened and attacked by politicians while reporting corruption and collusion or uncovering unspeakable crimes; others were fired after they raised questions of Presidents’ personal issues or cronyism. Sadly, since 2000, over 130 journalists have been killed in México and most of the time crimes remain unsolved, making Mexico one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist.
From an international perspective, the landscape is no less challenging. Major outlets welcomed PRIAN’s neoliberal reforms, while cautiously warned AMLO’s democratic triumph, and the hazards he could unleash if elected president. When Mexican news is reported in US media outlets, more often than not are drawn from the same Mexican mainstream journalistic voices with sketchy connections to the old political and economic powers.
In South of el Muro, we want to raise awareness on these issues and offer a different perspective, one that challenges the mainstream approach. Our goal is to bring our paisanas y paisanos honest, thorough information related to the political revolution our country is currently experiencing by analyzing and translating local news to you in a fun and interesting way. We hope you’ll join us by supporting this project.
The biggest thing you can do now to support South of el Muro is to subscribe to the newsletter. It’s free and easy to do. If you’ve already signed up, please share this with your friends. Muchas gracias y nos leemos pronto.
The Team of South of el Muro