P. Jorge Atilano González Candia sj
(Jesuit priest)
The protests of IBERO students in the presence of Peña Nieto has resulted in a student movement that aims to break the information blockade established by the major television networks and newspapers of the Mexican Publishing Organization (OEM). They seek to inform the public about the existing bias in the nation’s media and to raise awareness of the corruption that dwells in the current political system.
They demand to democratize the media in order to have an informed citizenry on national issues and the various national projects offered by the candidates. What happened on Friday, May 11th in IBERO? The awkwardness of Peña Nieto and his campaign team degenerated into a dissatisfaction of the students that revealed that there is no such renewal of the PRI sold by the media. That day the old practices of the PRI were highlighted: carrying, vote buying, authoritarianism, incompetence, manipulation of the information, control of the media, etc. The red tide that had been gaining ground since the 2009 federal election ran into a critical and intolerant of deception citizenry.
According to IBERO students, five events upset them before Peña Nieto’s arrival at the Good Citizen Forum:
1) the arrival of students from outside the university carrying Peña Nieto’s propaganda, who entered the auditorium and occupied the first rows,
2) the candidate’s safety guards were placed at the entrance of the auditorium to remove the signs carried by the youth,
3) the presence of a man in a black suit offering 250 pesos for not asking critical questions to the candidate,
4) the photos that the presidential staff took to whoever shouted or carried any slogans, and
5) the presence of a PRI leader who coordinated the followers of Peña Nieto to make invisible the protests.
In Peña Nieto’s presentation the students discovered a proud man, who even said “nothing happens if I don’t convince you”, a candidate who answered questions superficially, and using prefabricated speeches.
But the straw that broke the camel were his statements about Atenco at the end of the Forum, where Peña Nieto takes responsibility for the human rights violations that occurred in this event: two deaths (Alexis Benhumea and Javier Cortez Santiago), 253 people brutally arrested and 47 women raped by the police of the State of Mexico.
This sparked outrage among the youth, which was expressed with the cry Out! IBERO doesn’t want you! Atenco is not forgotten! To the point that he suspended an interview with Radio IBERO and left the university in an emergency.
The leader of the Green Party and the Institutional Revolutionary Party advanced the interpretation of the facts by saying four things: it was a small group, they were not IBERO students, they were Lopez Obrador’s followers and it was necessary to research them in order to punish them. This generated even more outrage among IBERO students and they manage to put together a video in the social networks to refute the accusations: 131 students responded.
The publication of the story with the headline “ Peña Nieto’s success in IBERO despite orchestrated boycott attempt” in the largest newspaper chain in the country (OEM) generated more outrage among the students who followed these events. This fact revealed the control of the media in the country and showed the practices of the PRI over the last century. Today, thanks to electronic networks this manipulation was unveiled and it unleashed popular anger at a PRI that is not wanted in office.
The screams Out! IBERO doesn’t want you! echoed in the hearts of many citizens who know that the country is being destroyed by corruption and hunger for power. These screams were connected with the desire for justice, the desire for freedom, the desire to restore peace in the country.
The sympathies awakened have been a catalyst for the dissatisfaction with traditional politics that ends up benefiting only a few. Out the hunger for power, out the deceiving image, out the pride that doesn’t listen.
The movement “I am 132” can be used as an opportunity to sow in the young the desire for a new way of doing politics. Beyond electoral contests, the spark that has lit is a good opportunity to coordinate efforts and create networks to conspire in favor of a wounded nation. The situation of the country needs politicians determined to make the cultural changes that reverse the spiral of violence in which we have sunk. We need to look into the past to recover the wisdom of our indigenous people and to look forward to imagine the Mexico that our heart claims. The great task of politics is to rebuild the social fabric, and thus the energy and creativity of young people have much to contribute.
