The Mija Chronicles

Mexican food and culture, on both sides of the border

politics

Election day in Mexico: The PRI returns

by

Pri LogoI don’t know much about Mexican politics, but I’m puzzled by the PRI’s big win in yesterday’s elections. They won five of the six governorships up for grabs (the state of Sonora is still in dispute), and they now control the Chamber of Deputies, which is the lower house of Mexican Congress.

Does anyone else think this is weird?

The PRI ruled Mexico with an iron grip for 70 years. To keep themselves in power, they did some pretty atrocious things: stuff ballot boxes, create fake voter lists, ignore complaints from opposition parties… not to mention they were the party in power during the 1968 student massacre at Tlatelolco, in which armed soldiers killed hundreds of innocent people. Well, actually, no one knows the real number of people who were killed, because the PRI government at the time refused to release any numbers. And PRI-controlled newspapers refused to report the true story.

This is the party that, in 1988, pretty much stole the presidential election from Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and unplugged computers from the wall to prevent opposition parties from seeing the true election results, before the PRI had fiddled with them. How do I know all this? I’m reading Opening Mexico, a fascinating/depressing look at 20th century Mexican politics. It’s written by two Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporters who were former correspondents in Mexico City.

Really: How can this party have any type of majority power again? The NYT and BBC say the Mexican people were fed up with the drug war and shrinking economy and wanted a change. Maybe voters really believed the PRI’s new slogan — “The PRI of Today: Proven Experience. New attitude.”

On a sad note — sad in my opinion — nearly six percent of voters across the country cast a “null” vote, meaning they didn’t vote for anyone at all, in protest of Mexico’s political machine. In Mexico City, this figure was as high was 11 percent. This strikes me as crazy. In a country where the first true democratic election happened in 2000, people are now refusing to exercise their democratic right and choose a leader?

No entiendo.

Live blogging Obama’s visit to Mexico

by

Obama photo by Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images

Since I had to be home this afternoon to wait for the carpenter, I turned on the local news, prepared a steaming bowl of homemade sopa, and decided to live-blog Obama’s visit to Los Pinos from the confines of my family room. Here’s how it went down:

2:13 p.m. The Mexican national anthem is a surprisingly jolly song. Everyone is singing, even Felipe Calderón. Our national anthem sounds so mournful in comparison. When the band starts it up, complete with fluttery flute, Obama puts his hand over his heart and looks somber. He doesn’t sing, but does smile during the “land of the free” part. Oh god, I’m going to cry. That smile! Those ears! Where did this sudden burst of pride come from?

2:17: Calderón just name-dropped JFK.

2:19: The translators are taking forever. Calderón: “We’re a nation that believes in freedom.” Pause. Silence. Translator: “Somos una nación que cree en la libertad…” Or something like that. My Spanish note-taking isn’t so speedy yet.

2:23: Calderón: “We have before us the opportunity for a new era in trust in cooperation.”

2:24: Calderón, new era, blah blah blah. “In order to grow and prosper, we need American investment like America needs the strength of the Mexican labor force.” He adds that this new era will comprise a “shared responsibility” in the fight against organized crime.

2:28: As the translator rambles through Calderón’s pomp, Obama stands politely to the left. I wonder if Obama’s thinking: “I wonder what Michelle’s doing right now?” Because I wonder what Michelle’s doing right now. Maybe she’s watching this on CNN. But probably not the international version, because they’re not broadcasting it.

Calderón wraps up his speech by saying in heavily accented English: “Mr. President, let’s build a new era. Yes we can.” The translator translates the last sentence as “Sí podemos hacerlo.” Oh well.

2:29: Obama is called “El Excelentísimo Señor Barack Obama.” I love it. Love it. I want this on a bumper sticker. Or a T-shirt. To compliment my Michelle T-shirt. (Not joking on that one.)

2:30: Did they get a Puerto Rican to do the Spanish translation? What’s up with all the dropped s’s?

2:31: Obama says he wanted to visit Mexico so early in his presidency because “the bonds between the two countries cannot be broken.” Then he name-drops Chicago, and all of its great Mexican culture. As a nation, he adds, “we’ve benefited from the culture, energy, ambitions” of the Mexican people. “My hope is that the U.S. has had something to offer to Mexico as well.” Uh, yeah…. DOMINO’S???

2:34: Obama applauds Mexico for “courageously” taking on the drug cartels. It’s critical that the U.S. be a full partner in fighting drug trafficking, he says. He casually mentions the Mérida Initiative and stemming the flow of American guns into Mexico.

2:36: Awww. He called Mexico’s performance in the G-20 summit “outstanding.” Wrapping up his speech now. “It’s wonderfully fitting to see the children of Mexico–” [musical interlude in my head: I believe the children are our future…] –“because we are reminded that the reason we serve in government… is because it allows us to offer them a better future…”

He thanks Calderón and smiles a boyish, shy, embarrassed-fifth-grader smile.

So there you have it. Calderón on his tiptoes and Obama not saying much either. Although reinforcing the Mérida Initiative is kind of a big deal. Maybe this means it’ll get more funding.

Update: Obama, at press conference later this afternoon, vows to reduce the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico

*Photo via The LA Times

Mexican Obama fever!

by

obama mania

Everyone is talking about Obama’s visit to Mexico City. EVERYONE. Even in my Internet-less and TV news-less world, I’ve talked about it with the cleaning lady, the carpenter coming to fix my kitchen shelves, the architect of our building. The photo above shows today’s front-page of Reforma, where an artisan puts the finishing touches on one of the 5,000 latex Obama masks made especially for the president’s visit.

Yes, MASKS. I love Mexico.

“It’s as if the Pope was arriving, or a movie or rock star,” said Abraham Gómez, president of the mask company Morphix Group. He also offered: “Obama is more popular than Felipe Calderon. You don’t see anyone making reproductions of him.”

I wish I could get my hands on one of these masks, but no one knows how exactly they’ll be used. (A gift to the president? A carnival-style welcome from an exuberant crowd?) A city official in Yehualtepec, Puebla, asked for them to be made.

Here’s a peek at Obama’s itinerary, according to Reforma:

— 1 p.m.: President arrives at the Mexico City airport
— 1:30 p.m.: Official reception at Los Pinos
— 8 p.m.: Dinner honoring the president at the Anthropology Museum (where the president will hopefully take a quick tour and have a cocktail, but that’s not confirmed yet)
— Friday at 8:50 a.m.: President leaves for Trinidad and Tobago.

I’m dying to know if Michelle’s coming too — can’t you just see her in a Maria Pinto dress, walking off Air Force One? — but there’s no mention of her anywhere, so I’m guessing she stayed home. Boo.