Roger Bartra - The Mexican Transition: Politics, Culture and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century

Roger Bartra, 2013

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ISBN 9780708325537
e-ISBN 9780708326855

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Translation by Gusti Gould

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Over recent decades the traditional languages and literatures model in Spanish departments in universities in the United Kingdom has been superseded by a contextual, interdisciplinary and area studies approach to the study of the culture, history, society and politics of the Hispanic and Lusophone worlds categories that extend far beyond the confines of the Iberian Peninsula, not only in Latin America but also to Spanish-speaking and Lusophone Africa.

In response to these dynamic trends in research priorities and curriculum development, this series is designed to present both disciplinary and interdisciplinary research within the general field of Iberian and Latin American Studies, particularly studies that explore all aspects of Cultural Production (inter alia literature, film, music, dance, sport) in Spanish, Portuguese, Basque, Catalan, Galician and indigenous languages of Latin America. The series also aims to publish research in the History and Politics of the Hispanic and Lusophone worlds, at the level of both the region and the nation-state, as well as on Cultural Studies that explore the shifting terrains of gender, sexual, racial and postcolonial identities in those same regions.

This book is a collection of essays on the Mexican transition to democracy that offers reflections on different aspects of civic culture, the political process, electoral struggles, and critical junctures. They were written at different points in time and even though they have been corrected and adapted, they have retained the tension and fervour with which they were originally created. They provide the reader with a vision of what goes on behind those horrifying images that depict Mexico as a country plagued by narcotrafficking groups and subjected to unbridled homicidal violence. These images hide the complex political reality of the country and the accidents and shocks, which democracy has suffered.

The transition was on the brink of disaster during the 2006 electoral process. Mexican politicians became entangled in an electoral war so rough and surly that it deeply wounded the countrys citizens. However, nearly one year after the great confrontation, Mexican society was tranquil, and it seemed unbelievable to many that the roaring motors of rancour had been turned off and barely hummed with indifference. What was the soothing balm that attenuated the offences and resentment? What was it that forced the politicians to abandon their aggressive attitudes and dangerous provocations?

The phantoms the politicians had invoked were suppressed by the unsuspected civility of a large part of Mexican society. Civil society managed to subdue the effect of political societys agitated tremors. No matter how much some shouted their heads off, warning that Mexico was on the verge of collapse, divided between two irreconcilable factions, the end result was that, in some strange way, the political class understood that the time had come to stop the confrontations. It was evident that the wells of society were not flooded with harmful humours civil society was not a treacherous minefield but rather a serene space. I cannot say what kind of communicating vessels carried this serenity to the political elite, but without a doubt they worked with amazing speed. Yellow bile did not spill out over society nor did the blue skies fall down upon everyones head.

I would like to believe that broad sectors of society demanded that politicians act rationally and let themselves be guided by ideas rather than accumulated hatred. I would like to think that a civil society totally fed up with the aggressiveness of the electoral campaign cried out: Politicians, sirs! Give us a break! Take a break! Think hard and read more! Television commentators and the press quieted down. When the polls revealed that public opinion did not endorse the threatening outbursts of the losing candidate or approve of President Foxs interference, calm began to settle over the scene. Lpez Obradors attempts to create an ungovernable situation were met with evident disgust. By the same token, the High Electoral Courts reprimands addressed to the executive office were well received.

The explosion of populist kitsch began to sicken leftists. Right-wingers were weary of a charlatan president driving along accident-strewn roads with his lights off. Society ran out of patience with the intellectuals in the Zcalo, who ridiculously handed out moral certificates of civilizing merit and burned their hearts on the pyramid of frustrated pride. Irritation grew with the threats of voracious and meddling businessmen. Disdain was spreading for an insulting Right, which although frightened, marred, and opaque, hid behind the good sense of the surprise candidate who won the presidency. Society had had enough of televised broadcasts fishing in dirty waters contaminated by the impertinence of their broadcasters. Obtuse, marginal leftists but hardened and ready for a fight were the motivation for writers who incessantly bombarded us with lessons in incongruence. So, was it civil societys general disgust with these excesses that put a stop to the political debacle? Not only that: strong doses of fear and apathy had to be added in order to gauge the strange ground we were treading. In any event, society protected the initial transition to democracy, and after enduring enormous tension allowed the political pulleys to start working again, although not without difficulties.