Several weeks ago, we had a meeting with a member of a group called the Diableros, workers who move cargo on dolly carts, integrated into the Ricardo Flores Magón Organization of Un-waged Workers. He told us that there was no democracy in Mexico, that the political parties don’t represent us nor can we form a political party, that “democracy is only possible through armed struggle.” He repeated this statement several time throughout his talk, but never explained it, just said it as though it were self-evident. We were baking in the sun, and unfortunately I never brought myself to ask him what exactly he meant when he said this.
The next week, we were talking with someone from the Francisco Villa Popular Independent Front (FPFVI), a movement that fights for and builds quality housing projects in Mexico City. He told as that he completely agreed. Yes, the FPFVI is a peaceful un-armed movement that doesn’t directly confront the government, but rather struggles to build autonomy from the state and political parties. But, there will come a day when the government no longer permits strong social movements to grow. There will come a day when the government confronts us with arms, and we are going to have to respond. I couldn´t agree with him more.
The Mexican government does not allow alternative political-proposals to manifest themselves at the polls, everything is very strictly limited to the PRI, PAN, and PRD. The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was, in the 1980s and beforehand, a party with ideas that had the potential to put Mexico on track for real-change and social justice. But, in order to qualify for the ballot, they had to make themselves more traditional and similar to the PRI. Additionally, the Mexican government is extremely repressive, and has no reservations against using tactics as extreme as rape in order to repress social movements. Many social movements in Mexico are growing, and growing rapidly, changing reality, changing public consciousness, eroding governmental ideological power. Do you think that they will allow this to happen, allow their power to collapse, without starting a war? I think not.
