Slandering Lopez Obrador over the Ayotzinapa/Iguala massacre

Right now in Mexico the media machinery is maligning with all they have main leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) charging him with the Iguala massacre while covering up President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Most of Mexican media as well as political pundits -organic intellectuals as Gramsci called them- are right wing leaning. Most of them clearly biased, and some other pretend they are not but when the Status quo is in trouble, they add up to support the Regime. One of these moments is happening now

This Organic Intellectuals and politicians of the right wing ruling parties say AMLO is accountable for the rise to power of Jose Luis Abarca, the Mayor of the Iguala, the city where the massacre took place. Their case rest upon 2 pieces of evidence: (1) pictures of AMLO and the former Mayor of Iguala City and (2) the testimonial of a Deputy who claims he tipped off AMLO about the law-breaking activities of the former Mayor and he did nothing about it.

During the first weeks after the massacre, the media was asking why AMLO had not reacted about former Mayor Jose Luis Abarca, indicted for the massacre. The complaint was AMLO's silence. On October 14, 2014 AMLO said during a speech at Columbia University he did not supported the campaign of Angel Aguirre to be Governor of the State of Guerrero, where the massacre took place. On October 26^th 20014 in front of thousands of supporters in the Zocalo, the main square of Mexico, AMLO restated he didn't supported Abarca in any way and requested the impeachment of President Enrique Peña Nieto for the Ayotzinapa/Iguala Massacre

Now let's take a look at the evidences pandered by the media

1. The pictures of AMLO and former Mayor Jose Luis Abarca. It's customary for politicians during campaign to take selfies with anyone who request it. AMLO is a tireless politician that has traveled across Mexico more than 4 or 5 times, which no one else have done. In one day he can travel 3 cities rallying crowds in every one. AMLO has allowed people to take pictures of him whenever requested. Because of his popularity many politicians ask for a selfie with AMLO as if a celebrity even if it's not time of elections.
   
   
   
    
   Former Major Jose Luis Abarca requested selfies with AMLO, that's what right wing media says, but what they hide is the selfie of the former Mayor with President Enrique Peña Nieto. However the Mexican media is portraying the selfies of AMLO as an extraordinary evidence which can only be explained by the complicit of AMLO
2. The alleged tip-off about the criminal activities of Mayor Jose Luis Abarca. The newspaper Reforma published a testimony of a Deputy who says he tipped -off AMLO about the allegiance of Mayor of Iguala and a drug cartel. This Deputy is Oscar Diaz Bello, he was interviewed by a well known right wing broadcaster Adela Micha a few days ago. This deputy said back in 2012, he was the front runner for the nomination of the PRD party for Iguala City, however the party chose Jose Luis Abarca and not him. He thought this was unfair, and wanted to share his dissatisfaction with AMLO who was then the Presidential candidate of the PRD party. He took the chance in one of the many times AMLO visited Iguala City, as usual rallying hundreds to the streets
   This deputy went on saying, he couldn't come near to him, however he managed to put himself in front of the AMLO's van while leaving the city and forced AMLO to roll down the window. AMLo was driving and the deputy talked to him for minutes. He told him he was the front runner and he deserved to be the PRD nominee, what was his main concern. AMLO replied he cannot do anything because nominations were decided by the new leaders of the PRD party. Deputy Diaz Bello acknowledges AMLO was right, the nominations were in the hands of the leaders of the PRD party, specifically he names: (Jesus)“Zambrano”
   Deputy Bello said he gave AMLO a newspaper article – just one. That article was from Proceso Magazine, where apparently linked Former Mayor Abarca with a drug cartel. The Deputy acknowledges the information contained in the newspaper article he gave to AMLO, have not been confirmed in any way. He didn't trust it either so as to put it in the hands of authorities to start and inquiry.
   Right wing written accounts state that AMLO shook hands with former mayor Jose Luis Abarca that day, however Deputy Bello says he can't remember if that happened, and it would be lying if he says so

AMLO was member of the PRD party till 2012, but he was at odds with the PRD leaders since 2006, when a faction -”Los Chuchos”- supported the right wing privatizing agenda, in a change considered by many, tantamount to betrayal of the principles of the PRD. Despite his huge popularity among PRD adherents, AMLO had little influence on decisions taken by PRD leaders after 2006. The PRD came to a brief truce with AMLO for the 2012 Presidential elections, this respite ended right after the election when AMLO left for good the PRD and decided to create a new party: MORENA. So its unlikely AMLO had anything to do with the local nominees of the PRD.

AMLO was and is a citizen, a very remarkable one, but he cannot take justice in his hands. He cannot dispatch a party to investigate allegations of corruption. It's not he don't want, it's he just can't. His resources are limited. What right media don't say is there are a Judicial branch of the Government who has the resources and the legal mandate to prosecute crimes and investigate this kind of tip-offs. Rene Bejarano another PRD politician also gave a tip off to the Atorney General of Mexico about crimes committed by former mayor Abarca, however this is silenced by right wing media which is concentrated on a barrage against AMLO.

Former Mayor of Iguala is a fugitive and at large at least that's what our government says. But I wouldn't be surprised if he were negotiating a lessened prison term in exchange for incriminating or smearing AMLO at least

Yes, Ayotzinapa/Iguala Massacre was a State Crime, but how deep runs the responsibility?

The wanton massacre of 6 and kidnapping of 43 young Mexican students of the rural teachers School of Ayotzinapa on September 26^th 2014, could be been foretold long enough to be averted if we look back to the late history of Mexico.

Throughout the past 2 years President Enrique Peña Nieto and right wing affiliates like “Mexicanos Primero” have advocated for a education Reform, which is strongly opposed by the left wing leaning teachers union: the CNTE. CNTE union convened massive rallies across the country and a sit-in in the center of Mexico: the Zocalo.

Media portrayed those teachers contending the Reform as lazy and bad teachers. The right leaning Government of the Estado de Mexico sent a bill to the local congress to jail all teachers taking part in public demonstrations and parades. The most visited online news site of Mexico “El Universal” posted on September 2013 a heading stating: “With full pockets the CNTE leaves Mexico City” hinting teacher's union just wanted money and after they got it they left. This was not true, until October 2013 teacher kept their sit-in in Mexico City, still awaiting for an answer from the Federal Government. Graco Ramirez Governor of the State of Morelos asked to have a “hard line” against teachers of the neighboring State of Guerrero. Business organizations requested a strong arm against teachers rallies. In Mexico as in any other Capitalist Latin American State the borders between economic and politic power are blurred

Early this year, when the think tank The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) issued a widely advertised bulletin claiming the average wage of Mexican teachers was 25 000 MXN a month and some of them earned more than the Mexican President or the President of the US. Mexican teachers rejected that was true, flawed data bases were used by the IMCO and lack of direct confirmation of the factuality of those data bases were exposed. Some officials in the Government disapproved IMCO's conclusions too, but the rebuttal was not hyped as much as the IMCO report.

Attacks on teachers had been physical too. In 2011, two students of the same rural teachers School of Ayotzinapa were killed by the State Police of Guerrero during a rally while asking for a meeting with the Governor. In 2013, three teachers were pelted with stones during a demonstration causing them serious head injuries. The attack was pinned on unknown residents of the Tepito neighborhood in Mexico City, but nobody was charged. Right wing commentators gloated on the class- conscious insults teachers suffered while being attacked.

Even the Major of the Mexico City dispatched the local police to avoid any demonstration of teachers in the Zocalo, the central square of Mexico city. This was an strange occurrence bearing in mind that himself ran for office supported by a left wing party (the PRD the same party of the Governor of Guerrero at the time of the massacre). The PRD had been sympathetic to teachers cause in previous years, but President Peña Nieto made an agreement with the leaders of the PRD called “Pact for Mexico” to carry out his economical and political Neoliberal Reforms

A more disturbing omen came on August 12^th 2014 just one month before the massacre, a journalist close related to the right wing, Carlos Loret the Mola quoted a phrase from a meeting of President Enrique Peña Nieto and his cabinet while discussing teachers boldness: “We are going to fuck them up”. Carlos Loret is known for being very well connected inside the Government even with the intelligence services. He didn't said who or how this came to his knowledge.

After a month from the massacre of Iguala, some journalistic accounts say the Mexican army helped the gunmen to flee the scene. At this moment there are still 43 missing students, even though several mass graves nearby have been unearthed, the prosecutors said the corpses do not belong to the missing students. However a local catholic priest known for helping migrants, Alejandro Solalinde said all 43 students were burned alive and are dead, and the Government knows this but for some reason they do not release any confirmation. He goes further stating that the motive of the massacre was political differences of the students and the government, unlike the official version that claims it was just a drug related crime and nothing else.

A lesson on Ethics from Gabriel Garcia Marquez to Excelsior and La Razon about the Lopez Obrador travel to Italy

On April 22, 2014 several respectable online websites: Excelsior, La Razon posted a picture of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador allegedly in Italy. Columnists wonder how much did the travel cost, where did the money come from, and why he didn't use that money to help the poor

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is the most important leftist leader in Mexico, 2 times presidential candidate and appointed candidate for next elections on 2018. Over last 14 years he had been slandered in Mexican media, treated with contemptuous rudeness by journalist like no one else.

The source of this picture is an otherwise unknown twitter user named: Jesus Soberon. He tweeted her niece "found" AMLO in Italy on April 18, 2014. He doesn't specify if her niece is on the picture. He doesn't say where exactly this picture was taken. This user Jesus Soberon is not available for questioning because his account is private. This single unconfirmed twitter report made the headlines.

The “news” of the travel of Lopez Obrador was broadcasted by TV too. Media says it's not on them to ask further questions but just spread the word. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel laureate writer and journalist wrote on a short essay called “Journalist: The best Job of the World”

“... investigation is not just an specialty of the job but all journalism must be investigative by definition, the consciousness that ethics is not an occasional condition, but must always accompany journalism like buzz to hornets..”

More than a week later neither La Razón nor Excelsior have made a breakthrough on the story, they could have asked for an official statement from Lopez Obrador, the Mexican Government and airline companies, but apparently they chose not. They stay just with the tweet, yet they make assumptions on where the money came from, as if the trip were a solid fact.

On May 18, 2010 Excelsior published on his editorial “Frentes Politicos” AMLO confused 19th century President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna with contemporary guitar player Carlos Santana. The next day Excelsior published an apology because after listening a recording was clear such mistake didn't happen. Excelsior put the blame on an unnamed news agency that didn't make an accurate transcript of AMLO speech.

Again the words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who passed away a few weeks ago:

“... this ethics abuses obey to a dauntless notion of the job, taken consciously and founded with pride on the enshrinement of the first news at any cost and over all. They are not moved by the foundation that the best news is not always the first published but many times that given better...”

 

Update. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed on July 8^th 2014 a trip to Italy, funded with the earnings of his last book. It was not the Mexican media, but AMLO himself who made the announcement in his Facebook account.

The blind eye of the celebrities: the case of Mexico

During last months we've seen several Mexican celebrities showing endorsement for “Venezuela” and the “people” of Venezuela. But where were this well-meaning TV Stars when police and the military killed students in Mexico?

Top talk show presenter Laura Bozzo took some time on February 17 to condemn “communist” like Maduro, live on TELEVISA. Her show is one of the most watched in Mexico and TELEVISA the biggest Spanish-spoken company of the world. Top folk singer Marco Antonio Solis “El Buki” said on February 20, he supported “Venezuela”. When celebrities say “the people” of Venezuela “is not alone”, the media take it like support for anti-Maduro protesters, as if no common citizens were supporting President Maduro. The web page of “El UNIVERSAL” -the most visited news site in Mexico- linked “El Buki” claims to the violence against “students peaceful protest”even when we know from the very beginning those protest were not peaceful. Top Mexican soccer player “Chicharito” Hernandez tweeted his support for “freedom” in Venezuela on February 24. He's not just the most famous soccer player but the most famous athlete of Mexico today -now playing for Manchester United- and till that moment he had never demonstrated support for any political cause. During a game in Honduras in 2013, alpinist Leonardo Fernandez carrying a sign of the left wing Mexican movement “MORENA” tried to greet “Chicharito” and he refused it.

Neither “Chicharito” Hernandez, nor “El Buki” said anything when 2 students of the Ayotzinapa Teachers School were killed by the Mexican police in 2009 when they were asking for scholarships. No one said anything when Juan Francisco Kuykendall was shot in the head while protesting during the sworn-in of President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2012. Kuykendall died on January this year after almost 2 years of agony as result of his wounds, all Mexican celebrities and TELEVISA remained silent, as if nothing happened.

Former Mexican president Felipe Calderon of the right wing party PAN was ready to condemn criminalization of protest in Venezuela, on February 14, even when he did not hesitate to use the Federal Police to arrest Oaxaca State social Leaders and to continue repression against APPO movement on 2007. Even more, on 2010 two young Mexican postgraduate students of the ITESM (Monterrey Institute of Technology) were killed by the Mexican army who took them for drug cartel hitmen. Mr Calderon government went by without solving these murders despite complains of Human Rights Watch. No Mexican celebrity has ever asked for the truth and justice for these victims.

Top TV-historian Enrique Krauze criticized Dilma Rousseff on February 25 for supporting “repressive regimen”. He has never called “repressive regime” to Peña Nieto government for the use of tear gas and a water cannon against Mexican teachers that were meeting at the Zocalo of Mexico City on 2013 demanding an agreed Educative Reform instead of an imposed one.

This is why recent burst of support to Venezuela from Mexican celebrities seems artificial. It makes no sense in the context of the recent history. Maybe some kind of never seen humanitarian enlightenment has come over our TV Stars at the same time or this amazing synchronous concert is driven from a more worldly pressure.

I'll go with second, just Occam's razor

Why Mexicans don't support Enrique Peña Nieto's Energy Reform?

1. Lack of trust on the private sector. According to a poll published by the newspaper El Universal, about 62% of the people is something/very against private investment in the national Mexican oil company (PEMEX). If we look at the recent past this is no surprise: in 1990 President Carlos Salinas amended Mexican Constitution to allow private investment in the banking system, and created a fund in case of contingency – the infamous FOBAPROA. In 1994 most of the banks had severe financial problems. Government needed 100 billion dollars plus interest to bailout its recently privatized banks and the FOBAPROA was not enough. During 1998, the private debt of the banks was converted to public debt. Today Mexicans are still paying.
   This is not an isolated case: Government had to bailout private Highways companies just 8 years after their privatization. Another case: Mexico spent 110 million dollars to expropriate sugar mills in 2001 because private owned companies were in bankruptcy.
   Even private investment in PEMEX has not done so well. Private companies extract oil under the multiple service contracts modality at the Chicontepec basin and the results is a steady decrease in oil production meanwhile oil production is increased at Tabasco's coastal region with PEMEX working alone.
2. Privatization will trigger tax raises. Mexican Oil Company handles 70% of its income to the Federal Government. This money is used to build infrastructure, to pay the wages of the bureaucracy and to pay the welfare. President Peña's proposal is to create profit-sharing contracts with foreign private oil companies. Any share has to come from the oil rent so it'll be less money to the government who is going have to find another source of income. José Angel Gurria Secretary-General of the OECD said Mexico must increase the VAT - shortly after meeting President Peña. Now Peña said he will send a Fiscal Reform to the Congress on early September.
3. PEMEX can do well without private investment. Two core ideas of the state campaign on Mexican media to promote the Energy Reform are: PEMEX has neither the money nor the technology to keep working, so needs private investment. The Senator and Economist Alejandro Encinas has challenged both ideas. First PEMEX is the fouth oil producer of the world and the thirteenth of the Americas in order of income. The problem is PEMEX has to pay 70% of this income to the government. PEMEX's fiscal burden can be relieved by eliminating tax exemptions and loopholes to biggest private companies. This loopholes are tantamount to 3.87% of the country GDP more than the 1% of GDP the Energy Reform allegedly will boost. PEMEX will have the money if some fiscal arrangements are made without changing the Constitution.
   Secondly it's said Mexico has no the technology to drill on deep-water. Mexicans engineers built the oil industry from scratch after its nationalization in 1938; an ensuing international boycott thwarted the new state-owned company to acquire technology from abroad, but today here is PEMEX 4^th oil producer of the world. The most recent achieving is drilling successfully the Supremus-1 oil well over 9000 feet on deep-water on 2012.
4. Reduced electricity bills seem unfeasible. President Peña is promising to lower electricity bills. Both right-leaning ruling parties -PRI and PAN- have tried to match the domestic gas prices to US prices by eliminating subsidies. It's logical to think they'll do the same about electricity bills. Currently the price of a kilowatt hour in Mexico varies from 2.1 to 2.9 MXN ( average 19 American cents). Meanwhile in the US prices go from 6.8 to 32.9 cents per kWh (average 19.85 American cents). There's not much room for improving the rates.
5. The Energy Reform is not environmentally friendly. Greenpeace stated this Energy Reform is not green, because it relies on fracking as a method to reach the shale gas. Also implies a risk of a new Gulf of Mexico oil spill accident while searching on deep-water. Television advertisements urge to do not leave the oil underground, but because oil is a non-renewable resource it makes more sense if it's carefully administered.
6. Increasing dependency on the US and loss of sovereignty. To Mexicans Globalization means to buy almost everything from abroad and export nothing but our brothers and sisters. Jobs must be created in Mexico to hold Mexicans from crossing to the US risking their lives and leaving a worried family behind. As show in a study of Tufts University the NAFTA affected negatively small Mexican farmers who cannot compete with the US subsidized corn, soy and wheat. Most stores bought cheap imported grains and seeds rather than expensive domestic production. So after NAFTA was signed a great wave of unemployed farmers rushed into the US looking for work. What will happen if the US can't sell us food and gasoline anymore?
   Back to oil: Mexico is importing more than 50% of the gasoline in spite of being the 4^th world oil producer. There's one refinery every 2,213 persons in the US and one refinery every 19,568 persons in México. The problem of sky rocketing prices of gasoline can be tackled by building more refineries thus generating jobs inside Mexico.
7. The lies about Lazaro Cárdenas. Lazaro Cárdenas was the Mexican president who expropriated private oil companies in 1938 because of their failure to abide by the law. Now President Enrique Peña Nieto is airing a heavy campaign on the 2 main TV networks presenting Cárdenas as favorable to foreign investment. Cuauhtemoc Cárdenas, son of Lazaro Cárdenas, regarded as “ofensive” the misuse the figure of Lazaro Cárdenas for something he did not stand for. Mexican Historians Pedro Salmerón, Luis Fernando Granados and Halina Gutierrez have also condemned the government lies.
   Cuauhtemoc Cardenas made a proposal to involve all society on the discussion of this Energy Reform and a popular consultation. To this day Government officials deny the possibility of direct democracy even though the fraction VIII of Article 35 of the Mexican Constitution allows referendums about national importance topics