Today, Sunday, July 2nd, 2006 is the day of the Mexican presidential election, which happens every six years. It seems that with only four months in Mexico so far, I have witnessed some pretty big, and infrequent, events: both the World Cup and the presidential election. I'm feeling that "Wow, things sure are different in another culture, sometimes more ridiculous, and sometimes smarter than in the US" feeling that you're supposed to get when you live abroad. Here's why.
1) The election is always held on a Sunday. Makes sense, right? Most people don't work, so they don't have to get off work to get to the polls. None of this trying to get off a few hours from the job to vote (technically all employers are required by law to grant this in the US, am I right?). But still, with long lines and traffic and the million other things going on in a person's life, the likelihood of your average worker to fit voting in on any given Tuesday is not high. Sunday seems a bit more democratic to me.
2) It is prohibited to sell alcohol in the entire country from 2 am Saturday morning before the election until the following Monday. Crazy, huh? Not sure how I feel about this one, mostly I'm just really surprised by it. Is it illegal to actually drink alcohol or just sell it? Of that I'm not sure (and decided not to risk it). It is possible that everyone just buys a ton of beer on Friday and stays in for the weekend. But still, an interesting gesture by the government, even if solely symbolic. Frustrating, however, for one of my good friends, whose birthday was on Friday. When the security arrived at around 1 am, the waiters start to yank half full pitchers off the tables, and threatened to take our drinks right out of our hands if we did not finish them soon. Quite a sight.
3) When you vote, you stamp your thumb in dark black ink, which takes at least a few days to really go away. This prevents people from voting twice. Not so hard, huh? Why didn't Jeb Bush think of that? ;)
4) The candidates' campaigns were not always the most issue-centered things I've ever seen. It seems fashionable to rewrite a current pop song with lyrics supporting the candidate and their party, then to blare this song over a loudspeaker propped on top of a van, and drive around the neighborhood. Hmmm...
5) The presidential debates seem a little less, well, required. There are 5 major candidates here, and one of them failed to show up (well, actually just chose not to appear) for the first debate. No one seemed to mind, he's still one of the top two likely to actually win.
Anyway, it has been an interesting experience observing the process from the outside. I still can't quite stay objective though...go Lopez Obrador!
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If you think that a developing nation like Mexico needs less foreign investment, AMLO's your guy.
AMLO's not playing cards that haven't been used in third world elections before. There's always one candidate who panders to the poor by exploiting class envy, promoting a vision of solidarity that comes from making sure that everyone is, well, equally poor.
Half of Mexico's 100+ million people live on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank. Find me enough money in Mexico to make all of those people middle-class. You can only do that by growing the economy, not engaging in a bunch of confiscatory BS that makes what few rich people Mexico has go running for the hills.
Mexico, like other emerging democracies in Latin America, can't really afford large-scale social programs because it lacks the money to fund them. But it doesn't stop politicians from making the promises anyway.
It's rich people that create jobs and generate wealth for others - not the government. I can't see how anyone in Mexico is ultimately well-served in the long run by the second coming of Luis Echeverría or José López Portillo - no matter how appealing the superficial promises of AMLO's populist, nationalist campaign might be.
If he really thinks Mexico can achieve economic success on its own, it'll be interesting to see him try. Meanwhile, the rest of us up here should get back to building that fence on the border. When the Mexican economy tanks, it's not America's job to be the lifeboat.
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