What do we do with the march on November 13?

Like children with a new toy, this is how we are with the march on Sunday, November 13. Without a doubt, it was a success in every way. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of various cities in Mexico and abroad. People who were not hauled in, threatened to lose a job, or paid to attend. It is true that there were people who behaved with despicable excesses, like the woman dressed in white who called the president a “nonsense Indian”. It is true that several questionable characters joined the call, such as Roberto Madrazo or Alejandro Moreno, but the bulk of the walkers went with the idea of ​​making clear our defense of the National Electoral Institute (INE). We were average citizens.

Is an electoral reform necessary? Let’s say yes, but not the one that López Obrador proposes that would ruin, through the facts, the autonomy of the Institute. But the point is not an electoral reform, AMLO seeks to ensure the 2024 election in favor of his candidate, even his own in case he decides that “he lacked time.” So there is a fight between those of us who want an impartial referee and a dangerous demagogue who is on the edge, on the verge of taking his excesses to a point of no return. He has already broken several laws and threatened those he considers his enemies, but he can still go further. Several facts point to this, I highlight two: on the morning of November 16, he slipped the idea that the president should control Congress to carry out his plans. Is there anything less democratic than thinking about nullifying the diversity of opinions? The second is his call for a march because “the people asked for it.”

The march of resentment or ardor, as it has been called with an exact occurrence, is stillborn. It is not even an event whose initiative arose among its supporters, by the way, always attentive to go beyond the wishes of their leader. It was a call from the summit of a factious power, which does not govern for everyone. The same president is asking, as if he were a political underdog, to be supported, to be loved, to be told that he continues to be the leader that Mexico expected. A six-year term that is more interested in the image of López than in solving the many problems that exist in our country.

Without much effort, we can assume that the governors and legislators of MORENA and its satellite parties are already doing the financial and political calculations to compel or buy the assistance of “the people.” We will see the long line of rented buses or minibuses parked in the surrounding streets, the cakes and soft drinks, the entertainers setting slogans and all the paraphernalia of authoritarian power. Any event organized from power to honor the leader is an authoritarian act.

The verbal, legal and political excesses of President López are reaching levels not seen in a long time. Surely the radicals who accompany him are more than happy, but where are the moderates in his government? Those who come from the left and who realize that this is not a government of the left? Why are they still in an authoritarian government those people who have been trained in institutional life? Several people have given up going forward in key positions, they have even denounced what is happening within a government that is generally adrift and is only concerned about AMLO’s image. In other historical moments we have seen that excesses lead to catastrophic results and that men and women have been carried away by the tide.

Let’s go back to the march on November 13. What’s next for those of us who were and are willing to continue the support to achieve, beyond the differences, have fair elections? This is the crucial question right now. We must congratulate ourselves and then leave complacency behind. The return blow comes from power and it will not only be the march of ardor on November 27. Harassment is coming to the parties, the organizers and key politicians. New toys don’t last long.

Everything seems to indicate that the attack on the INE and the Electoral Tribunal will come from the budget side, changes to secondary electoral laws and the substitution of electoral advisers. walk in defense of INE. The way is long.

#YoDefiendoAlINE.