Julio wrote: There's anger and frustration, lots, but all that will remain within very "tepid" bounds. Why? Because the political system in Mexico -- in spite of what some ultra-left nuts inside or outside of Mexico may think on the basis of mental inbreeding or intellectual onanism -- is not about to collapse.
The dynamics of class struggle following a victory of the "tepid" left in Mexico is the only thing that could allow those masses of people to test -- and adjust their minds accordingly -- the real possibilities offered by the current political system. Radical preaching won't do it. People don't change that way. Yoshie wrote:
I see two competing projects of Latin American political and economic integration: Chavez's and Lula's. It would be interesting what sort of alliance Obrador will make if he and his supporters win
.... Mexico doesn't have a lot of trade (as a share of GDP) with Brazil or Venezuela. That's a reality. Another (huge) reality is that Mexico's trade is overwhelmingly with the U.S. So, he would not pick fights with the U.S., but he'd be very assertive of Mexico's national sovereignty... =============================== And I suppose a third reality which has to be taken into account is that the Mexican PRD, like the Brazilian PT, may be able to elect their candidates as President, but their respective legislatures are still firmly controlled by their political opponents. They can't be expected to enact much progressive legislation unless this obstacle is removed. Unlike the hapless Venezuelan bourgeoisie, Lula and Obrador can't count on the voluntary abstention from the legislative arena of the Brazilian and Mexican bourgeoisies or for them to engage in recklessly unnecessary coups and other provocative actions which further antagonize the masses and shrink their support. Given the PRD's legislative status, what initiatives and alliances would be open to Obrador, if he were to succeed in his electoral challenge, which would propel the Mexican "dynamics of the class struggle" forward? I'd be surprised if the answers to this question bring any sharp differences to light between Julio, Yoshie, Doug, and Louis, but they might. It would, in any case, advance the discussion of what is realizable by the Mexican left in current circumstances.
