The weekly newsletter of the Mexico Solidarity Project

Every issue archived online at mexicosolidarityproject.org

June 12, 2024

Claudia Sheinbaum: Morena Comes of Age

Meizhu Lui, for the editorial team

Claudia Sheinbaum at various ages. Photo: Datanoticias

Ten years old. Morena, Mexico’s ruling party, born in 2014, is ten. You’ve had or known ten-year-olds, curious and energetic youngsters capping a decade of phenomenal growth in every dimension.

So with Morena. And Morenistas are as proud as parents about what’s been accomplished. At four, its candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, won the presidency and the majority of seats in Congress. But AMLO didn’t repeat the usual patterns of party growth, he didn’t immediately attend to the demands of the so-called experienced adults, those from the elite “fifi” class. The elite had ruled on their own behalf for far too long. Instead, he turned his attention to the common people. They soon felt the president’s respect and responded with affection.

The common people cheered AMLO and the young Morena for insisting on the nation’s right to determine its own path, without the meddling of arrogant strangers, quick to help themselves as if they owned the family store.

And now at ten, Morena enters its second stage, as Claudia Sheinbaum becomes its second president and promises to build the “second floor” of AMLO’s transformation. On June 2, Mexicans eagerly flocked to the polls, knowing that their ballot marks were making history. They found it worthwhile to wait in line in the blistering heat so as to protect their precious and precocious offspring.

No one doubts that Claudia will fulfill Mexico’s expectations as Morena matures. Honesty, humility, courage, resolve — and most of all, a deep love for the peoplei

For a deeper dive into current news and analysis in English, check out our media website. And definitely see the new English podcast ¡Soberanía! (Sovereignty) with José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth.  They entertain, while dismantling the lies and distortions about Mexico fed to us by the mainstream media.

Don’t miss an issue! Sign up for a free Mexico Solidarity Bulletin subscription.

June 2024: The Mexican People Take the Reins

Mexico has a new president! What does the final vote tell us about the balance of power between the conservatives and the progressives?

Because there was never doubt that Claudia would win, many worried that the turnout would be poor. What happened?

AMLO sparked a major change in the Mexican people. For the first time, everyone feels that they are a part of Mexico because their voices have been heard. That’s why millions tuned in to AMLO’s mañaneras (press conferences) every morning on TV. The presidential debates had the biggest audiences ever. Now, the whole nation follows politics and knows a lie when they hear one. On Sunday, the people flooded into polling places. They made their voices loud and clear. “We reject a government where the rich decide! Now, we, the people, will decide.”

Rarámuri Indigenous people wait to vote at a polling station in Norogachi, Chihuahua, on June 2.

Photo: REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Did sections of the left sit out the election? Why?

Many leftists complain about AMLO and his administration. As someone who was an immigrant to the US (and was deported), I’m angry myself that the situation of migrants living abroad hasn’t improved.

But we’re allowed to be angry! We have a right to be mad. A lot needs to be fixed. Yet, for me and many others, Morena is still the solution. I’m talking about Morena’s ideology, which I strongly believe in.

That’s not true for everyone. Some feminists, independent labor activists and the families of the disappeared are disappointed, frustrated, angry — and opposed to Morena. But I think Claudia knows their concerns are just and will do more to address them.

The other critically important race was for governor of Mexico City. The opposition focused their energies on that campaign, hoping to use it as a springboard for their comeback. What happened?

AMLO has proposed 20 constitutional reforms that require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. During his presidency, he had a simple majority and failed to amend the constitution. What now?

Morena just won that two-thirds majority in the House of Deputies and came close in the Senate. Because Congress convenes one month before AMLO leaves office, he can probably pass 15 of those amendments, making it nearly impossible in the future to reverse many of his social programs. For example, one amendment will guarantee that minimum wages will always be set above inflation, and another that will guarantee Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples will finally gain recognition and access to government programs and appointments.

The US media has engaged in a smear campaign against AMLO and Claudia, calling them authoritarians who threaten Mexico’s democracy.

Sometimes AMLO may sound authoritarian in his speeches. But he states — with authority — what the people want. The PRI and PAN complain that it’s not democratic that he didn’t consult with them. But rather than negotiate with parties of the elite, he chose to go to every little corner of Mexico and talk with the people.

The US fears that Mexico is heading in a direction where it will no longer be a US client. Since AMLO arrived in 2018, the US press has been talking shit about him!

How will Claudia handle this? She’s tough. She will not take the bait when provoked. In her dealings with the US, she’ll probably say something like, here’s what we require. If you can’t do it, we’ll find someone else to work with. Game over!

Claudia triumphed. But did people vote for her only because she will follow in AMLO’s footsteps? Has she won their hearts in her own right?

She’s the perfect person to be our president!

This Chicano is Inspired by Mexican Election

The Mexican people made history again on June 2^nd when they  overwhelmingly elected Claudia Sheinbaum as their next president. They  also gave the Morena Party huge victories at the local, state and federal  levels. Of all eligible Mexican voters, including those from the US, Canada  and other countries, 70% cast ballots.

The election results inspire me with hope that Mexico will come out from  the oppressive shadow of Yanqui imperialism and build a truly just,  equitable and democratic nation. And, Moreno’s victory also inspires me  to believe that Chicanos in the US — we are nearly 40 million people —  can achieve our own substantive democracy, justice and self-determination.

Since the US annexed Mexico’s northern territories in the 1840s and  1850s, the Chicano people have lived as an oppressed people subject to  the racist policies and practices the US ruling class first established over  Indigenous peoples and then African Americans.

My family, from what is now Colorado, knows that oppression intimately. By force and legal maneuver, the US stole my family’s land, our only  asset. We couldn’t speak our language in school, and we couldn’t read  the documents we needed to sign. Wages were called the “Mexican rate”  in the Colorado coal mines where my grandfather and uncles worked.

So I’m proud to be part of the Chicano liberation movement that rose up  in resistance in the 1960s. In the Southwest and California, our historic  homelands, we won the right to vote and gained political representation. We forced open the doors to higher education, changed US immigration  laws, and ended legal segregation in housing and schools. We supported  union movements in rural and urban areas and demanded national rights. But we still have a long way to go.

Claudia Sheinbaum and thousands of Morena Party activists have shown us  that when we’re organized and united by a pro-people political program  — we win. Morena stood up against the dark shadow of Yanqui imperialism and an entrenched and powerful oligarchy. On June 2, Morenistas gave new life to the powerful grito of our movement — "Sí, se  puede." 

Mexican citizens living in the US also flocked to the polls, excited to mark  their ballots. Here in LA, 85% of those voters chose Claudia Sheinbaum as  their new leader. And so, we too raise our voices in celebration with our  sisters and brothers in Mexico! We will continue to build solidarity with  their movements and apply the lessons of their struggles to our own  movement for self-determination and democracy.

Recent news reports and commentaries, from progressive and mainstream media,
on life and struggles on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Compiled by Jay Watts.

Ari Paul, Why Is Mexico’s Sheinbaum Framed as an AMLO Clone? FAIR. It remains to be seen how Sheinbaum will actually govern, but since, like AMLO, she does not promise to accede to every US demand, the US press corps has already settled comfortably into its time-worn tradition of casting the election of a leftist Latin American as undemocratic.

Pedro Iniesta, Suprema Corte suspende amparos contra la Ley Minera De Raíz. La SCJN debe velar por garantizar los derechos de las personas de acuerdo con el principio pro-persona que fue asumido por el máximo órgano judicial en 2008. Este principio indica que debe privilegiarse la vida y el bienestar de las personas sobre cualquier otro interés, ya sea político o económico.

David Raby, A Massive Triumph for the Left in Mexico Labour Outlook. Mexico’s triumph brings hope to Latin America and the world, and needs to be celebrated as an example for the demoralised left in the UK and Europe.

Carlos A. Pérez Ricart, El segundo triunfo del obradorismo, Sin Embargo. A diferencia de lo que se dijo en los últimos meses, en México la población no está polarizada políticamente. Lo contrario es cierto: hay un fuerte consenso en torno al proyecto de López Obrador en casi todas las capas de la sociedad.

Richard Grabman, Pundits say the dardnest things Mexfiles. Yes… things will be different. How the “cartels” are to be tamed, whether judges should be elected and how to get a handle on “corruption” may or may not be tackled in the same way under this administration as they have been by the outgoing one. But none of this means Sheinbaum IS AMLO-lite, only that we can expect more change for what one hopes is the better.

Alam Bernal Avendaño, Gerardo Fernández Noroña acusa a los “Chuchos” de lograr desaparecer al PRD Regeneración. El legislador señaló que desde 1989 hasta el 2008, el PRD “fue electoralmente el partido de izquierda más importante del país”. Sin embargo, indicó que luego del 2008, los llamados “Chuchos”, Jesús Zambrano y Jesús Ortega, hicieron todo por desaparecer a la organización política.

Nicolas Allen, How Will AMLO’s Presidency Be Remembered? The Nation. The parties that lost power during that period [early in AMLO’s administration] were drawn into the fold of the business community. In other words, the country witnessed the return of class politics under AMLO.

Ulises Rodríguez López, AMLO explica "nerviosismo" en los mercados por reforma judicial Polemon. Durante su conferencia mañanera, AMLO cuestionó a los presentes la razón por la que una Reforma Judicial, podría generar nerviosismo en las empresas y los mercados. Esto debido a que desde el pasado, los grandes intereses económicos y corporativos, cooptaron el funcionamiento del Poder Judicial y tiene de empelados a los ministros.

Michael Sainato, ‘Greed’: John Deere rolls out hundreds of US layoffs and sends work to Mexico The Guardian. US workers at John Deere plants have accused the company of acting on “greed” as America’s most famous agricultural equipment company plans to shift more production to Mexico.

Luis Enrique Bermúdez Cruz, Presenciar (ser parte) del cauce de la historia El Soberano. Lo ocurrido el 02 de junio fue que presenciamos la historia y acaso hemos sido parte de ella.

The Mexico Solidarity Project brings together activists from various socialist and left organizations and individuals committed to worker and global justice. We see the 2018 election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president of Mexico as a watershed moment. AMLO and his progressive Morena party aim to end generations of corruption, impoverishment, and subservience to US interests. Our Project supports not just Morena, but all Mexicans struggling for basic rights, and opposes US efforts to undermine organizing and Mexico’s national sovereignty.

Editorial committee: Meizhu Lui, Bruce Hobson, Agatha Hinman, Victoria Hamlin, Courtney Childs, Susan Weiss.  To give feedback or get involved yourself, please email us!

Web page and application support for the Mexico Solidarity Project from NOVA Web Development, a democratically run, worker-owned and operated cooperative focused on developing free software tools for progressive organizations.