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Juarez Chih., Mexico - Today is: November 30, 2006




Citizen Agenda: Fox, Machiavelli and deception
November 30, 2006
Updated: 3:52:30 AM Juarez when


political analyst Lorenzo Meyer

-Trial Federal District .- Al final The ruling party it is different but not the spirit nor the dominant project. In the end, it became clear that the priority of the government of Vicente Fox was to consolidate the dominance of the ideological right, not democracy.

Eight days after end of his term, Fox said he hoped confident "the implacable view of history." However, this view does not exist, so there are a variety of judgments made by observers and scholars, a plurality of opinions about him, his government and its historical role. In such expressions will start sharply controversial in nature, contradictory and tense, a natural reflection of administrative disorder, the great political confrontation and acute social division that has left Guanajuato at the end of its mandate. Even when the observer should be guided by objectivity, unfortunately, the study of social phenomena full objectivity is not possible, and less when it is so close to the events in time and space.

Perspective .- Fox and his work can be audited from multiple angles: personal, economic, administrative, legal, social, cultural, political, and so on. The attempt here is political will and sense proposed by Otto von Bismarck in 1867, defining politics as "the art of the possible." From this perspective, president was not bound to the impossible, but to make every effort to reach as far as possible, as promised: to consolidate hard-won democracy. Instead of spending the bulk of its energy to this purpose, she has employed to prevent, by whatever means, that the 2006 election opened the door of alternating left.

The historical juncture .- With the election of Mexican society did Fox not only a change of government but of political regime, because to end the monopoly of 71 years of PRI for the presidency, a transformation in the old rules governing the acquisition, exercise and loss of political power. Mexico moved from authoritarian to a pluralistic and democratic supposedly. The origins of this change was the combination of changes in the global environment-the end of the Cold War and the emergence of anti most of the "third wave of democracy" - structural changes in Mexican society, urbanization, education, access to information, increasing rejection of the abuses of the authoritarian PRI, etc .--, the effort of a number of collective and individual actors, the neopanism, the neocardenismo and neozapatismo, among others - and finally, the role of Fox as a conservative opposition leader but full of optimism, energy ... and simplicity.

The deceptive simplicity .- The former manager of Coca Cola become presidential candidate, led a wave of electoral insurgency with a strategy different from the immediately preceding "the 1988 - and very consistent with their experience and training in the art of marketing. Fox sold himself and the process of change as the easy answer to a difficult problem.

Much of the Mexican company bought the idea that if regime change was done by the right, the process would be simple, fast and secure. As a candidate, the Guanajuato project the image of the leader decided that no problems would take the PRI from Los Pinos without touching a hair of political or economic stability. A non-PRI president and "entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs" secure personal honesty, transparency of management, freedom of expression, economic growth, employment, war, corruption, real justice, new deal with the United States, improvements in the distribution of wealth, low poverty, quick fix to the conflict in Chiapas, effectively combat drug trafficking and other organized crime, would impose a high ecological deterioration and much more positive.

Machiavelli .- For nearly five centuries Machiavelli made it clear that in politics there was nothing difficult to ensure the entrenchment of a new regime. That company was always a high degree of difficulty because they have against all those displaced by the change but also to much of the original partners, dissatisfied at not receiving what they expected. Just why the new ruling also needed a new ethic. For Florence, at this juncture the target-stabilize the whole system - justified the means. And the latter were all condemned by the moral behavior but effective Christian in politics: lies, deceit, corruption, injustice, abuse of power and violence, then what in the city were flaws in the ruling that headed a new regime were virtues.

In the beginning, Fox seemed to be anything but a reader of Machiavelli. But someone had to convince him to ensure that change will continue for the right Mexican, he and his people should hear the advice of the great Renaissance theorist. For an observer with common sense was clear that the simplicity of their "marketing" led to an incorrect analysis of a complex reality, but finally the promised change was never made to begin with because they never tried. The goal was not only a change but much more limited objective: to make the right ideological shift to the right PRI. And that if they succeeded.

The great promise of the Fox administration policy was to devote all its efforts to consolidate the newly gained democracy. To achieve this would be actually willing to drive in 2006 a campaign dominated by the democratic spirit and respect the actual verdict of the polls, even if that meant ceding power to the opposition.

However, very early in the six years it became evident that the real effort by Los Pinos was directed less to deepen and consolidate change and more to build the presidential candidacy of the president's wife, ie to achieve the extension of his personal power beyond the administration. To carry out its efforts, built a political alliance with one of the most important forces of non-change: Elba Esther Gordillo and large corporate machine, the SNTE.

The president decided to concentrate what was no power to demolish the old vested interests but the candidacy of the left: Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). And it chose a path obviously cheating but apparently convincing in its outcome: to negotiate with the PRI AMLO outrage in Congress to override his candidacy and not have to confront at the polls. The formal reason for this action to be derided, allegedly failing to stop in time building a road to convey a hospital - did not matter to Fox or anti-democratic coalition had already armed to defend the "rule of law." In the end, Fox was able to keep the outrage and should be reversed, but its action resulted in a weakening of the institutional apparatus.

Finally, in 2006 Fox maintained its open efforts to prevent the triumph of an electoral left. The energy that the government did not use against drug trafficking, against the big corrupt past or to solve other problems accumulated, used it against AMLO. His conduct was so biased that the Electoral Tribunal of Judicial Power of the Federation, an institution that also erred on the part - was forced to declare that the president put at risk the election itself.

The end justifies the means .- At the end, Fox won and he himself acknowledged as much in a rare act of honesty by stating that among its achievements was to have won "two choices": their own and that of his successor. Under the old regime was the architect of the "victory" for his successor but it was assumed that this is not the case in new condition. To the extent that Vicente Fox triumphed in 2000, helped open the doors of electoral democracy, but as he "won" the presidency to his successor, he revived one of the worst aspects of the old regime and contributed to erode trust in a democracy which still needs consolidation.

By the end of The Prince, Machiavelli justifies the brutal of political ethics as old as humanity as the only way to get to Italy from his prostration and give the Italians a chance to live in peace and rebuilding the great nation that once was. In our case, what is the historical justification for Fox to be followed, perhaps without knowing it, the way suggested by Machiavelli?

Abstract .- Finally, in Mexico there was a change of party in power, but kept the spirit and design of the past. Http://diario.com.mx/nota.asp?notaid=3df153b35428bedd0d8a1cac6696eeae

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