Morena Activist Confronts Morena Realities

Agustin Arreola, a life-long political activist, has been an organizer and a go-to person for those in the Mexicano community needing help, whether in México or in San Diego, where he lived for several decades. He’s now living again in Jalisco, immersed in the politics of his hometown.

How did you first get politically involved?

México has always welcomed refugees from other countries. At the university I attended in Baja, I had the good fortune to meet and learn from political refugees from Argentina, Chile, and elsewhere. Their critical attitudes and experiences in so-called “democratic” capitalist countries turned me into an activist.

You lived many years in the United States. Did you leave México to pursue the “American dream”?

I went to the US when I was 29 because I needed to make some money — and planned to go home after I had saved enough. I was legal, and my US-born children were pushing me to become a citizen. But I never applied. I didn’t want to give up my Mexican citizenship, my Mexican identity, and I knew we Mexicanos would never be treated equal to white citizens. My dream was to go home! And I finally did.

You wanted to organize support for Morena. How did you find the local situation?

I became really excited in 2018 when AMLO and Morena were elected. I wanted to help them win again in the midterm elections on June 6. After 2018, the common people of Jamay, my town in the state of Jalisco, seemed more open to change, and I thought I could convince more people to become Morena supporters.

But it didn’t turn out that way. When AMLO ran for President, he was practical. He built a united front that included not just the left, but the center, and even some from the right. In Jalisco, a conservative state, the caciques — political bosses who had been PRI and PAN officials — agreed to support AMLO in 2018. They wanted a favor in return: control of their local area.

For this year’s elections, Morena was supposed to have elections to decide who the party’s candidates for federal, state, and local offices would be. That didn’t happen. A day before the deadline to choose, my group of organizers got a call from the Morena leadership, telling us that they had the candidates already chosen. That leadership now includes some local caciques, but the Morena state election committee was part of this decision too. Their candidate for deputado — member of Congress — had not been a Morenista and wasn’t anyone we knew. We were shocked! We said no, we can't go along with that. After that, we never heard from them again.

So did you quit doing electoral work?

The choice was to do nothing, or join the PT — Partido de Trabajadores, the Workers’ Party, which I did. I really don’t like the PT. On paper the party has good principles, but it doesn’t work among the people. Still, it’s part of the Morena coalition.

Sounds like “business as usual” in Jalisco’s elections.

Unfortunately, yes. And the politicians are using the old tools of corruption: bribes, extra ballots in the box.

And then there are the cartels. Local PRI officials had deals with them, sometimes getting the cartels to do their dirty work. Those who oppose the political bosses face intimidation and worse. I know I am going to have to watch my back.

After this experience, do you still support Morena? What is your “Mexican dream”?

Old habits and power structures never beak easy, especially when those habits and power structures have cartels enforcing their line. Our goal now: to recover Morena for the people. The party needs to improve its internal democracy and to encourage its members to participate. People are mad about what happened in Jalisco — and they’re ready to organize! I remain a Morena supporter. It is still our best hope to break the power of the elites and have a government for the little people.

But we don’t build people’s power just through elections. I’m helping start an organization to provide assistance to workers and small businesses and a program for youth to develop their political skills. The main thing? To seed hope, to provide tools for change.

My dream, and the dream of most Mexicans, remains a 4th transformation as promised by AMLO, where ordinary people can live comfortably and peacefully and not have to leave home to work in the US. The American dream is about individual success. The Mexican dream is about the success of the whole country. I want to add my grain of sand for México’s future.

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