HispanicVista Columnists
A Letter To AMLO
By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com
   May 23, 2005

   
    
     "AMLO" is the short name used for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the recently beleaguered mayor of México (City). After all of the doubtful charges against him have been dropped, the mayor has announced that he would resign his mayorship on 31 July in order to make a run for the presidency of México. Under Mexican law, you don't run for another office while holding another. It is felt that a candidate cannot devote the energy to the office that he was elected to while campaigning for another. If you want to run, resign and devote your full time to the campaign. Are you listening up there in the US?
 
     The following is an open letter to AMLO:
 
     Dear Mister Mayor:
 
     We congratulate you on your victory against the obvious phony charges leveled against you in order to eliminate you as a candidate, or to put it another way, to deny the people the choice to vote for or against you themselves. And, of course, that victory was given to you by a lot of people who wanted to make that choice themselves. So, another way of putting this is that you owe the people of México for their belief in you. So, let's take a look at where that support came from.
 
     Back in 2000, a majority of our people went to the polls in a democratic process for a change. They thought it was time to replace a party, in control for 71 years that had seemed to forget what the people really want. And the incumbent administration promised to change things in a big way. It would seem that the people are still looking for this, as the past 5 years have not seen the majority citizen's lot improve much. In fact, if anything, the middle and lower classes have been getting worse off rather than better over the last 10 years.
 
     Although you have stated that your detailed platform will be presented after your campaign starts, you do offer some hints. One of the first things that you speak of are changes in our laws, and you are probably one of the very few of our "elite" to feel the system of what I call Mexican Mickey Mouse law on a personal basis. It should be noted that early in the Fox administration, the president invited a thorough study by the UN Human Rights Commission for an analysis of the Mexican legal system. The report made more than 200 recommendations and the president proudly exclaimed that every one of these recommendations would be seriously considered and acted on. And then he turned it over to our congress to act on . . .  without any further push by the administration. Guess what happened? Nothing. One of the strongest recommendations was to change presumption of guilt to presumption of innocence, as most of the civilized world does. And, Mr. Mayor, you should remember that it was this quirk in our laws that gave the fuel for your recent persecution. In fact, one of the treaties México has signed recently specifically states that no one can be denied to run for political office until after they have been convicted of a crime. But, if you are presumed guilty under Mickey Mouse Law – what then?
 
     While most of the elite here have means to escape this situation, the average Mexican ends up in prison for years until he can prove that he is innocent. And once you are jailed, the courts here are in no hurry to even hear your case. We just had a case here of someone who had been in prison for over 2 years and when the case was finally heard, the judge ruled that there was no evidence against him. He didn't even get a five-dollar bill when he was released.
 
     Another sensitive matter is the continued use of torture to gain confessions in México. The courts routinely ignore claims of torture, no matter how valid the claim, even after México signed an international treaty to prohibit this widespread practice. Yet, after many promises, some federal prosecutors openly admit that nothing has been changed. Take a look at what has happened and continues on the Juárez scene.
 
     The point here is that nothing else will work without a legal system that is fair and efficient is installed. All of the badly needed economic reforms that you can propose will fail without law. It does no real good to offer the opportunity of success to people when they don't have the security of a fair legal system. And my opinion of the present legal system here will have changed as soon as someone gets real justice for the multibillion dollar thefts that occurred in our famous "financial crisis" of 1995. The only ones punished were the larger public that lost money and is condemned to pay the tax bill on the bank bail out for years to come. As it is, the legal system protects those who caused the problem. In other words, you have a better chance for real jail time by stealing a bottle of taquilla than to steal a few million dollars of people's savings.
 
     The Mexicans have been given many grand promises in the past, but few fulfillments of promises. You might want to consider what motivated many of those who marched in your cause; they want some real changes.
 
     And, if you are selected for the presidency, you should do something to replace our main export with something else. That, of course, is people looking for a better chance. We have to recognize this exodus for what it is . . .  our national disgrace.
 
     You are asking for a very difficult job. If you get it, I wish you well and good luck. You will need it.
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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com