The Austerity of Cuarta that Flies on a Private Jet
In a twist that no one, absolutely no one, saw coming, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo decided that the best way to put out a fire of hypocrisy was to pour gasoline on it, but with style. The president, with enviable serenity, avoided getting into the swampy debate about the use of a private plane by the always subtle Morena senator, Gerardo Fernández Noroña. His argument was a gem of modern dialectics: “each of us is evaluated by people.” A phrase as deep as a puddle, which basically means “there you, dear citizens, with your bourgeois concerns about the use of resources.”
This whole aeronautical circus began when Senator Fernández Noroña, in an outburst of sincerity that must have left the foundations of the Fourth Transformation shaking, not only justified his jet ride for a tour in Coahuila, but also dropped the bomb: the President of the Republic herself has made use of non-commercial flights in certain circumstances. What a revelation! Who would have imagined that these things would happen in Mexican politics, famous for its transparency and modesty?
The Art of No Debair and Opaque Transparency
In response to an express question in his press conference at the National Palace, Sheinbaum, with the elegance of a cat getting off a wall, declared: “I am not going to enter into a debate with him. Since everyone is free to give their opinion… I am not going to enter into a debate.” Repeat it twice, just in case someone in the room hadn’t gotten the message that there is no message. Meanwhile, Noroña, from his four-seater vantage point, assured that he does not have to make anything transparent because he is going to continue touring the country. Of course, because what better symbol of connection with the town than a fairly small plane (but private, yes) flying over their heads?
The situation became so surreal that someone, with a glimmer of hope, reminded the senator that the president’s flights on Army planes are, technically, a different thing. Noroña’s reply was a masterpiece of flexible logic: “No, that’s why, but those are not used regularly by the presidency. In austerity policy… that’s why, that’s why.” Ah, so austerity is like a tasting menu: it is applied depending on the dish and the diner. When the journalists, determined to spoil the party, insisted: “Do you think it is austere to use private planes?”, the senator dropped the definitive pearl: “It seems to me that when a private flight is required, it must be done, period.” Full stop. Or full stop, because one suspects that this spectacle of double standards will last for a while.
This is where the wrong situation becomes a screwball comedy. On the one hand, the comrade president has been very clear that private planes should not be used. On the other hand, their star senator uses them and justifies it with “she has done it too, but in a different way.” It’s the political equivalent of “my dad let me do it.” The million-dollar question, which hangs in the air like the smell of jet fuel, is: who defines these certain circumstances? Is there an austerity committee that evaluates whether your trip to Coahuila is crucial enough to merit a jet, or is it more of an “I know when and how”?
As ordinary citizens evaluate, as the president has so kindly suggested, this display of coherence, one cannot help but wonder if the true Fourth Transformation is that of our concepts of what it means to be austere. Is it austerity to fly in a four-seat plane instead of one with a hundred? Is it transparency to refuse to give explanations because “people will evaluate”? It is as if the famous loving republic was transforming, before our eyes, into a “roll up into a ball” republic.
In the end, the message that remains is clearer than the air in the cabin of a private plane: the rules, like the seats, are adjustable. And people’s evaluation, that abstract court, is the perfect scapegoat to avoid having to show one’s face in an uncomfortable debate. A master lesson in the art of contemporary politics: when reality overtakes you, get on a jet and fly away from the problem.
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