The U.S. in world politics - nothing but a bunch of oil-sucking imperialistic hypocrites. Over the last two years, both sides have loyally held up their ends of the deal. In December 2013, Peña Nieto pushed through historic reforms to Article 27 of the constitution that broke up the state monopoly over the oil industry and opened the floodgates to speculation and vast private investment by international oil giants. The majority of Mexicans adamantly rejected these reforms, but they were steamrolled through the National Congress and passed by a majority of the state legislatures in only 10 days without debate and in flagrant violation of the democratic process. Such quick legal action authorizing the transfer of public oil rents to private hands fulfilled the wildest dreams of Washington. The U.S. has pushed for years without avail to achieve similar reforms in occupied Iraq without success. But in Mexico a loyal and corrupt president proved to be much more effective than direct military occupation. Since Peña Nieto took power, the U.S. government has not issued a single condemnation of corruption or human rights violations in Mexico. This in a context in which leading international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Article 19 and dozens of local NGOs have documented a scandalous increase in the repression of protest and violence against the press during the present administration. The muted response by the U.S. government to the Sept. 26 student massacre is part of a broader trend of looking the other away. Now that the legitimacy of the Peña Nieto administration has come tumbling down like a house of cards, starkly symbolized by the public burning of an enormous effigy of him in Mexico City’s central Zócalo Square last Thursday, the question on everyone’s minds is whether the United States government will fight to the end to defend Peña Nieto or if there is still any room in the U.S. political establishment to maneuver for peace and democracy south of the Rio Grande. If the situation continues along the present course, Mexico may soon follow the path of Peru during the auto-coup of Alberto Fujimori in 1992 — all while the Obama administration looks on. Unless the citizens of the United States rise up in support for and solidarity with their Mexican neighbors, the country could fall prey to a new U.S.-backed dirty war against students and activists similar to the repression during the 1970s and 1980s, which took hundreds of thousands of lives in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. There is still time to act before North America today becomes a copy of Central America 30 to 40 years ago.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 01:15:47 +0000
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