By Hedelberto López Blanch *
In the offensive being waged by the administration of convicted US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, against progressive governments in Latin America, they have now set their sights on Mexico and its president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
Not content with having seized half of Mexico’s territory in the last century, Washington is also attempting to bring this Latin American nation under its political and economic control.
The first thing Trump did just days after taking office in January of this year was to try to impose on the world that the Gulf of Mexico would henceforth be called the Gulf of America.
He then pressured Mexico by threatening to impose high tariffs on Mexican goods entering the United States, a measure that was discussed and skillfully negotiated by President Sheinbaum.
Subsequently, Trump threatened to attack alleged drug traffickers in the neighboring country, a threat that Sheinbaum categorically rejected. She told the American magnate that Mexico would not allow any intervention and that Mexicans are in charge there because it is an independent and sovereign nation.
On November 15, two demonstrations took place in Mexico City: one by Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2012) and another, called the “Hat Demonstration,” to demand security in the country in response to the assassination of the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo.
Hundreds of people participated in the march, which began at the Angel of Independence and proceeded to the Zócalo. Upon reaching the Plaza de la Constitución, several protesters attacked the metal barriers surrounding the National Palace, attempting to tear them down. This led to clashes with the police guarding the area.
The following day, the mayor questioned the involvement of Generation Z in this aggressive movement, stating, “Many have nothing to do with Generation Z; rather, it’s an impulse promoted, even from abroad, against the government.”
Sheinbaum revealed that the digital campaign in support of the march cost 90 million pesos (approximately 4.9 million dollars) and used at least eight million “bots”—that is, purchased fake accounts.
“The issue here,” she said, “is who is promoting the demonstration…it’s important to know how the call to action was constructed and who has been promoting it so that no one is being used.”
In recent months, the Mexican right wing has been waging a propaganda campaign against the Morena government and President Sheinbaum, and the most visible figure in this offensive is the billionaire businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego, whose fortune is estimated at $7.7 billion.
Salinas Pliego is president of Grupo Salinas and TV Azteca, which owns some of Mexico’s most prominent companies in sectors such as banking, specialty retail, electronic media, telecommunications, content production, insurance, and retirement fund management, among others.
This far-right figure recently used artificial intelligence to resurrect one of the “historical figures he most admires”: Porfirio Díaz, the dictator who remained in power for more than 26 years (1876 to 1880 and from 1884 to 1991).
Porfirio Díaz was the institutional precursor of the murky relationships between politicians and businesspeople; He amended Article 72 of the Constitution to grant all concessions to his friends and family. The judicial and legislative branches obeyed his orders; he prevented free elections; he eliminated political freedoms and censored the press.
As for Salinas Pliego, the Supreme Court has upheld nine tax evasion cases against him (some lasting up to 16 years).
On November 13, the Supreme Court unanimously approved rulings ordering his companies to pay tax debts totaling 48.326 billion pesos (approximately 4 billion dollars). He also faces lawsuits in the United States for non-payment of bonds issued by TV Azteca in 2017, amounting to approximately 600 million dollars. The litigation continues in the courts.
Since Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office, Salinas Pliego has emerged as one of the most active opposition figures. During Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, he has intensified his actions against her and the Morena party, launching the Anti-Crime and Anti-Corruption Movement (MACC), a platform with aspirations of becoming a political party and unseating the current government.
Thus, right-wing forces in Mexico, with the explicit support of the US administration, are seeking ways to oust the progressive and nationalist government of that Latin American nation.
President Sheinbaum and the Morena party have made it clear that the Mexican people rule in Mexico and will continue to defend their sovereignty and independence at all times.
(*) Hedelberto López Blanch is a Cuban journalist. He writes for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Histories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” and “Miami, Dirty Money,” among others.
Special thanks to Hedelberto López Blanch
IMAGE CREDIT: Adan Iglesias Toledo
[ SOURCE: RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL TERCER MUNDO
CUBA EN RESUMEN ]
