The Caravan of Acute Cuentitis
It seems that President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has discovered the map of Mexico and has decided that, instead of governing from a comfortable presidential chair, it is much more fun to start a national tour that rivals those of any rock star. But instead of throwing guitars at the public, he throws promises of accountability. How innovative!
This Friday, September 5, marked the beginning of this traveling show, where the president, in a burst of originality, assured that the fundamental thing is to work for the good of the people. What a revolutionary concept! Who would have thought it: governing for the people. Someone should patent the idea.
The Snake Charmer… Panistas
On her first stop in Aguascalientes, the president met with PAN governor Teresa Jiménez. Imagine the scene: two powerful women from different political parties, smiling for the cameras while, surely, their teams of advisors rack their brains in the back room. Sheinbaum, with the elegance of a master of ceremonies, declared: “Everyone knows that the governor comes from one political party and your servant won for another political party, right? But they know that they have to work together.”
Ah, the classic momentary truce. Because nothing unites more than an opportunistic photo and the responsibility to serve the population, just before they throw things at each other’s heads again in the next electoral contest. She insists that respect is the basis of governance. Of course, because after the elections, that respect usually evaporates faster than a puddle of water in the Sonoran desert.
The pearl of the day was this rhetorical gem: “she is governor of Aguascalientes and I am the president of Mexico. So for the good of the people of Aguascalientes we have to come to an agreement between the two of us”. Translation: “We could say goodbye with a kind gesture or we could fight each other right here, in front of everyone. Which do you prefer?”
The Transparency Tour (2025 Version)
In a show of detachment from the most boring traditions, Sheinbaum reminded the audience that the very boring presidential reports of yesteryear were limited to a formal event in the National Palace. How depressing! Now, accountability must be done on territory, as if it were a government reality show. “I made a decision: to go to all the states of the Republic to report. To govern is to be accountable, you cannot govern away from the people, you have to govern close to the people,” he stated.
Of course, this is not just any tour. It is nothing less than his fourth tour of the country, and he has promised to conquer the 32 states in just three weeks. It sounds more like an extreme marathon than public administration. “You can be in the office, but you have to walk with people to know what they think.” Or, put another way: “What good are hard data and reports when you can smell popular discontent firsthand?”
To round off the speech, the sacred invocation to the guiding principles could not be missed: the poor first, honesty and governing with the citizens. And, as it could not be otherwise, the obligatory quote from Benito Juárez: “There can be no rich government with poor people.” A phrase so profound that, ironically, it has survived decades of governments that seem to have interpreted it in their own way.
Finally, the president maintained that public resources should be allocated to basic rights and to strengthen social programs. He concluded with a slogan that resonated in everyone’s hearts: “With the people everything, without the people nothing.” A truth like a temple, so obvious that it hurts, and so hackneyed that it is no longer surprising. The real challenge, dear president, is not to say it, but to live it day by day without falling into the same old practices.
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