En los últimos años, se ha presentado en México un fenómeno social muy preocupante. En muchas de las regiones azotadas por la violencia del crimen organizado, las poblaciones se han unido para crear las llamadas “policías comunitarias”—grupos de autodefensa civil integrados por vecinos de las mismas comunidades que se dedican a realizar las labores de vigilancia y combate al crimen organizado que las autoridades responsables han dejado de hacer. Éste fenómeno se ha presentado principalmente en los estados de Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca y Morelos y ha provocado más de un enfrentamiento con los gobiernos estatales y municipales, así como con los cuerpos de policía oficiales.

El general Óscar Naranjo Trujillo, colombiano que funge como asesor externo de Enrique Peña Nieto para asuntos de seguridad, ha dicho últimamente  que el Estado debe asegurar el monopolio de la aplicación de la justicia y el monopolio legítimo del uso de la fuerza. Según él, “cuando a una autodefensa se le empieza a llamar policía, se produce una distorsión que realmente, lejos de invocar el deber ser, destruye el deber ser y es imaginario.”

Indudablemente, en condiciones normales, el Estado es el único que debe ostentar el monopolio del uso de la fuerza y la aplicación de la justicia. Eso ocurre en cualquier país medianamente civilizado. Sin embargo, el problema en México es mucho más complejo que eso.

Today, as U.S. President Barack Obama kicks off his sixth visit to Latin America, Americas Quarterly releases its Spring issue, Latin America Goes Global, in which, among other articles on the region’s increasing role in global affairs, Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Roberta Jacobson reveals 10 generally unknown initiatives that are advancing U.S-Latin American relations. 

In “10 Things You Didn’t Know about U.S.–Latin America Relations,” Jacobson looks at both long-standing and nascent efforts to promote many of the broader issues President Obama will discuss during his meetings with Latin American leaders in Mexico and Costa Rica. The president departs for Mexico this morning and will be visiting the two countries from May 2–4.

Economic and trade relations, security and cooperation will be top agenda items. And Jacobson points to local efforts already in place to connect small entrepreneurs and bolster education and opportunities in the region.  From bicultural centers throughout the region that offer education in English and technology, among other subjects, to the Small Business Network of the Americas (SBNA), the hemispheric collaboration Obama seeks to expand has firm roots in place, Jacobson notes.  On a larger scale, Jacobson notes multilateral alliances like the Tran-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—also explored in the Spring AQ—and its potential to deepen economic ties and opportunities.

President Obama has committed to discussing efforts to coordinate the hemispheric energy supply and demand and to launch new environmental partnerships, and Jacobson details existing efforts to collaborate on environment and energy issues.  Local initiatives are raising environmental awareness and furthering initiatives to connect Latin America’s private sector entrepreneurs to U.S. clean energy companies.

The Spring AQ explores many other aspects of Latin America’s increasing global presence that will, in part, guide the issues Obama discusses and the initiatives he puts forth.

In anticipation of his May 2-4 trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, U.S. President Barack Obama laid out his perspectives on how regional cooperation can help to advance growth and prosperity in the Americas. In an exclusive interview for Americas Quarterly, Obama said that his sixth trip to the region will be an opportunity to consolidate joint efforts on citizen security, increase trade and investment, launch clean energy partnerships, and expand exchanges between citizens across the hemisphere.

On Thursday, Obama will travel to Mexico, where he will discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. “Building on Mexico’s presidency of the G20 last year, we’ll continue working to sustain the global economic recovery, promote global development and address climate change,” Obama told AQ. The president also highlighted Mexico’s “growing leadership in the region and on the world stage," and praised Mexico’s role in the negotiations around the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which he expects to be completed by the end of this year. He emphasized that TPP would bring “rewards [that] would be substantial for all our countries.”

On Friday, Obama will travel to Costa Rica, where he will meet President Laura Chinchilla and other Centro American leaders at the Central American Integration System (Sistema de Integración Centroamericana—SICA) summit in San José. During this meeting, Obama will draw attention to the importance of finding new ways to involve governments, the private sector and civil society in reducing crime and violence, as well as encourage regional partners to address citizen security from a more holistic perspective. Energy security and cooperation to provide clean and affordable energy also will be on the agenda.

Immigration will be a backdrop to the president’s discussions given the large number of Central American and Mexican migrants in the United States. Here, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to pass bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible to take advantage of the significant contributions that immigrants make to the U.S. economy. “We need to fix our broken immigration system to make sure that every business and every worker in the United States is playing by the same set of rules,” he said.

Read President Obama’s exclusive interview for Americas Quarterly here.

YoSoy132 nació como un movimiento universitario en mayo de 2012, en oposición a la entonces candidatura presidencial del ahora presidente de México Enrique Peña Nieto.

Rápidamente se extendió, no sólo en el ámbito nacional, sino también en el ámbito internacional con la formación de grupos de mexicanos radicados en muchas ciudades del mundo. Los vimos organizar grandes manifestaciones en las que su poder de convocatoria—especialmente en la capital del país—llegó a reunir a miles de opositores al Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). Sin embargo, después de las elecciones de julio de ese mismo año, pudimos ver con tristeza cómo el movimiento comenzó a perder, poco a poco, su gran fuerza inicial.  Dejó de ser novedad y muchos simpatizantes perdieron el entusiasmo cuando vieron que no se pudo impedir que Peña Nieto se impusiera en los comicios presidenciales.

Y llegó el 1 de diciembre, fecha en que el nuevo presidente tomaría posesión de su cargo. Se preveían grandes manifestaciones de protesta por todo el país, que en muchos lugares terminaron en tragedia y represión, especialmente en la ciudad de México y en Guadalajara, donde hubo muchos heridos y detenidos. Mientras los medios de comunicación linchaban a los jóvenes, éstos denunciaban la presencia de policías y militares infiltrados en las marchas y a quienes acusaban de incitar a los disturbios. Pero aun así Peña Nieto tomó posesión de su cargo.

Y ahora cabe preguntarse ¿qué ocurre con Yosoy132? Ya casi no se habla de él en la televisión, la radio o los periódicos. ¿Dónde están? ¿Qué hacen?

The White House announced on Wednesday that U.S. President Barack Obama will travel to Mexico and Costa Rica in the first week of May to “reinforce the deep cultural, familial and economic ties that so many Americans share with Mexico and Central America.” Among other issues, Obama plans to discuss immigration, citizen security and  economic development.

Obama has not visited Mexico since Enrique Peña Nieto assumed the Mexican presidency on December 1, 2012; the president’s last visit to the country was to participate in the G20 summit in Los Cabos in June 2012. This trip presents an opportunity for Obama to continue the work he started with Mexico’s previous administration, particularly on border security issues. According to a statement from Obama on Wednesday, “There’s so much more to the relationship—in terms of commerce, in terms of trade, in terms of energy. And so we want to highlight some of the close cooperation that’s already been taking place and to continue to build on that, so that we’re creating more jobs and more opportunity on both sides of the border.”

In Costa Rica, Obama will meet with President Laura Chinchilla and other leaders of the Central American Integration System (SICA)—over which Costa Rica currently presides—to discuss collective efforts to promote economic development in Central America and collaborate on citizen security. This will be the first visit to Costa Rica by a sitting U.S. president since Bill Clinton’s visit in 1997.

Immigration reform is a top issue for Mexico and Central America. The Senate Gang of Eight is expected to share a draft immigration reform bill in early April, with the expectation that a bill could be passed by the end of the summer. Read AS/COA’s Get the Fact series for more on immigrants and the U.S. economy.

As the world grapples with generating employment, growth and innovation, a new club of countries has emerged as an engine of regional growth. Through improved governance, liberalized trade and stable macroeconomics, the economies of Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile have rallied in recent years.

Rather than following the lead of the increasingly protectionist and interventionist Mercosur countries, these Pacific economies have taken their cues from the Asian tigers of the 1980s, quietly becoming economic overachievers. Given the rise of China and the American pivot to the East, the Puma countries are poised to play a significant role in the emerging Pacific century. 

Statistically, the Pumas are growing by leaps and bounds. They have averaged 4.69 percent annual growth since 2005. The Colombian, Chilean and Peruvian middle classes expanded more than 10 percent between 2000 and 2010, while some estimate that the Mexican middle class already accounts for more than half the population. Inflation, a great scourge of Latin American economies, has been held within central-bank bands across the Puma economies. Puma sovereigns are investment grade, and their issuances are hot.

On paper, the Pumas roar. But what is driving these figures, and are they sustainable?

If there is one thing Mexico’s men are famous for, it is the celebration of being macho. We see this everywhere: In telenovelas, the butch and handsome male protagonist becomes the hero only after he conquers the lovely señorita by wooing her with his macho chivalry. It is common to hear traditional male fathers telling their sons “real men don’t cry.”  

A number of consumer products also cater to this very innate part of the Mexican heterosexual male’s existence through marketing, which might be considered as sexist in other cultures. The macho element also permeates humor; viewed through the optics of U.S. culture it no doubt be deemed much more than politically incorrect. This is not a matter of right or wrong, but rather a plain and simple recognition of who we are as a culture today.

On March 6, however, Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) took a decision that could lead to a shift in the way Mexican machos coexist with homosexuality, which today is regularly mocked. Mexican insults such as “maricón” or “puñal” (derogatory terms for “gay male”) are thrown around in colloquial talk with as much disdain as the word “pansy” in the English language. But the Supreme Court decided that such expressions are not protected by freedom of speech and can be subject to lawsuit on the basis of moral harm. 

The split 3-2 judicial decision is probably an accurate proportion of how Mexican society would view the subject. Some view this as a step toward inclusion and tolerance. Others see this as unnecessary ruling and censorship of what has traditionally been acceptable humor.

En los primeros días de su presidencia, Carlos Salinas de Gortari dio un golpe espectacular al conseguir la encarcelación del entonces todopoderoso líder del sindicato de los trabajadores petroleros, Joaquín Hernández Galicia, conocido como “La Quina”, a quien se acusó de diversos delitos del orden federal. Al asunto se le llamó popularmente “el quinazo”. Sin embargo, por todos era sabido que el líder sindical había apoyado abiertamente a Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas en las elecciones de 1988, por lo que se comenzó a especular sobre un posible ajuste de cuentas entre el presidente emanado del Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) y la disidencia sindical, pues debe recordarse que hasta ese momento la mayor parte de los sindicatos—incluyendo al petrolero—estaban subordinados a la voluntad presidencial.

Por otro lado, era sabido que Hernández Galicia desviaba dinero del sindicato a su cuenta personal y a las de sus allegados, que había ordenado la muerte de varios trabajadores petroleros que se habían opuesto a su liderazgo y que había cometido otros delitos más, por lo que su detención se percibió como un acto de justicia y de combate a la corrupción. Buena parte de la población lo vio entonces como el comienzo del fin de la impunidad. Pero no fue así. Después de “La Quina” no se detuvo a nadie más, a pesar de los múltiples señalamientos que existían contra diversos miembros de la clase política y sindical.

Años después, en el comienzo del sexenio de Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, se encarceló al hermano del expresidente Salinas, Raúl Salinas de Gortari, acusado de lavado de dinero y otros delitos más. Una vez más se manejó el asunto como el inicio formal del combate a la corrupción gubernamental, y como siempre, se dijo que no se iban a permitir actos delictivos de ningún tipo, sin importar quién los cometiera. Y una vez más, esto no ocurrió.

Ahora, tanto “La Quina” como Raúl Salinas están libres, exonerados por un juez. Es decir, se les declaró inocentes. Pero el 27 de febrero de 2013 nos despertamos con la noticia de que la Procuraduría General de la República había detenido a Elba Esther Gordillo, dirigente nacional de los maestros, acusada de diversos delitos como fraude y lavado de dinero. Una vez más, se habla en el ámbito gubernamental de combate directo a la corrupción, de cero tolerancia para con los funcionarios públicos y de fin de la impunidad. “El nuevo PRI no tolerará a los corruptos”, han dicho sus dirigentes.

Pero todo mundo sabe que en 2006, tras renunciar al PRI, la lideresa magisterial apoyó al entonces candidato del Partido de Acción Nacional (PAN) a la presidencia, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, y que incluso convenció a varios gobernadores priistas de que hicieran lo mismo, por lo que una vez más nos enfrentamos a un posible ajuste de cuentas.

Nadie niega que Elba Esther Gordillo sea culpable de todo lo que se le acusa desde hace treinta años. Nadie niega que su encarcelamiento sea un acto de justicia, pero si el gobierno realmente quiere mandar una señal positiva a los mexicanos, una señal de que realmente los tiempos han cambiado, debe proseguir con el encarcelamiento de otros líderes sindicales y de muchos funcionarios y exfuncionarios del gobierno—de todos los partidos—que siguen navegando en la impunidad a pesar de los múltiples señalamientos en su contra. Así podrá conseguir Peña Nieto la legitimidad que tanto busca, pues el combate a la corrupción gubernamental es uno de los asuntos que más interesan, hoy por hoy, a los mexicanos.

For generations, world leaders looked to the United States for consent before approaching Latin American leaders.  U.S. presidents James Monroe and Teddy Roosevelt threatened to make war if external powers sought to interfere in Latin America—and European powers, for the most part, followed the script.  The tradition continued after World War II and throughout the Cold War, but it changed the day Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) became president of Brazil.

Disinterest, followed by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and financial troubles everywhere, further removed the U.S. from Latin American affairs at the beginning of this century.  In a few short years, Silva managed to post the Brazilian colors atop the Latin America stage.  Mexico made a similar run, but its internal struggle with organized crime, corruption, dysfunctional politics and constant disputes with the U.S. over a number of political issues limited its chances.

However, today is another day, and Mexico has yet another opportunity to enter the big leagues. 

Unlike his predecessor Felipe Calderón, newly-minted Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has decided to place more emphasis on the economy and cross-party negotiation.  His leads on international affairs, José Antonio Meade and Eduardo Medina Mora, are experienced practitioners who understand commerce, power, diplomatic speak and international trends.  More importantly, these men have the ability to leverage Mexico’s existing relationship with the U.S. and its growing commercial relationship with Asia and Europe to project Mexico’s power and prestige.     

Meade was named secretary of state when Peña Nieto assumed office as president.  The lawyer and Yale-trained economist has held several positions in government since 1991 in which he developed and promoted national banking and savings policies at different commissions: his most recent public posts included secretary of energy and treasury under Calderón (2006-2012).  Most notably, from 2011-2012, Meade coordinated G-20 financial policy when Mexico held the group´s presidency.  He has been tested by public opinion and Congress, is well-versed in the Mexican economy and is popular in international circles.

En los últimos sexenios los políticos mexicanos han hablado constantemente de las “reformas estructurales” que el país necesita para modernizarse y progresar y que, por supuesto, casi nunca concretan. Hablan de la reforma política, la reforma educativa, la reforma laboral, la reforma electoral, la reforma energética y otras más igual de importantes. Y en efecto, el país está urgido de esas reformas, aunque éstas sean un poco distintas a las que plantean los miembros de la clase política. A continuación señalo algunas de las más importantes:

• Una reforma política que permita la reelección y una mayor participación ciudadana en el gobierno a través de figuras clave como la revocación de mandato y el plebiscito y que le quite el control del mismo a los partidos políticos a través de mecanismos como las candidaturas ciudadanas independientes.