The former president who came back to say “I told you so” (but with more drama)
Ah, how nice it is to see how former presidents come out of their golden retirement to drop pearls of political wisdom. Ernesto Zedillo, that man who governed Mexico in the 90s (yes, when the internet sounded like science fiction), has decided that his mission in life is to become the Cassandra of Mexican democracy. And boy is he achieving it.
In an article that could be titled “How to lose a democracy and gain enemies in the attempt“, the former president accuses Morena of playing a dangerous game of constitutional chess where, surprise, all the pieces end up being the same color. According to Zedillo, the so-called Fourth Transformation is rather a “Fourth Deformation” of everything that smacks of independent institutions.
The manual of the perfect authoritarian (21st century version)
Zedillo, with the elegance of someone who no longer has anything to lose, describes how the current government has turned constitutional reforms into something as common as kitten memes: frequent, adorable to some, and absolutely lacking in substance. “Make way! Democracy is coming… but only for those who think alike!” seems to be the unwritten motto.
The former president does not mess around: he accuses Morena of having set up an electoral circus where the independent judges are the trained animals, the autonomous organizations are the sad clowns, and the Supreme Court… well, that is now simply the monkey that dances to the rhythm they play. Exaggerated? Maybe. Fun to read? Absolutely.
And the jewel in the crown could not be missing: according to Zedillo, even the INE has been a victim of what we could call an “institutional kidnapping.” But don’t worry, citizens, because according to the government this is not authoritarianism, it’s just… express democracy. With delivery in 15 minutes or less!
The icing on the cake comes when Zedillo describes how they obtained their qualified majority: “There was one vote missing in the Senate… and they achieved it by offering impunity to a corrupt opponent!” What a nice detail, right? As they say in soap operas: “Power corrupts… but absolute power corrupts absolutely (and at a discount).”
“Our young democracy has been murdered,” Zedillo declares with the drama of someone announcing the end of a soap opera. And one can’t help but wonder: could this be the first case of democide in modern history?
Meanwhile, President Sheinbaum continues to repeat that Mexico will be “the most democratic country in the world.” Of course, because nothing says “democracy” like eliminating checks and balances, controlling the judiciary and turning elections into a popularity contest where only one team has the ball.
Is Zedillo exaggerating? Or are we really watching in slow motion how a party turns institutions into its backyard? You decide, dear reader. But if this were a movie, we’d definitely be in that scene where the villain explains his master plan… right before everything goes wrong.
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PS: Zedillo did not approve this message… but he would probably subscribe to it with tears in his eyes.
