From the July-August 2019 issue of News & Letters
by J.G.F. Héctor
The Mexican economy is a mess. This is not just due to sloppy policies applied by old or “new” governments, but by the objective movement of capitalism in a technologically backward land.
The disaster can be seen even in the official figures. This year, 196,000 rank-and-file public workers have been fired, without any new hires! This not only affects the internal market, but the health, educational and security services that these workers used to provide. Just 39% of the public budget scheduled for this year has been spent!
This decay in the public budget is in direct relationship to the fall of the rate of profit that is organic to capitalism. As companies—state or private—experience a decrease in such a rate, less money goes to the government. In the first three months of this year, Mexico’s GDP has diminished 0.2%. The “solution” posed by the new “Left” administration is “more capitalism,” thus deepening the problem. How can we open a new way forward?
THEIR ANSWER: MORE CAPITALISM
On June 14, President López Obrador joyfully announced a deal with the “biggest 60 (national) companies” to invest $32 million to create “jobs, wellness, peace and social tranquility.” This came one week after the infamous “agreement” with the U.S., in which Mexico accepted sending 6,000 troops to slow the flow of Central American migrants at its southern border, in order to not be punished with a 5% to 25% tariff on its exports to the U.S.
To whitewash this horrid “pact,” the administration is trying to push its developmentalist projects even further, especially in south Mexico. These are supposed to provide “jobs and prosperity” for Mexicans and Central Americans, magically solving the “migration crisis.”
Since these projects—like any capitalist project—are aimed at generating profits and not at solving human needs, they will just mean more exploitation and misery for the masses. “Economic growth” means the despoiling of lands and the assassination of Indigenous activists that is relentlessly taking place since the new administration came to office.
BEYOND CAPITALISM
The direction taken by this “Left” government leaves no room to think it is any different from previous neoliberal regimes. Despite their “good intentions,” it is not the people in office who actually run the country, it is the objective movement of world capitalism.
The administration is a mere pawn in this game, as was seen most clearly in the U.S.-Mexico “deal” on migration. The violent flow of capitalism, in which our country is but a weak vessel, will just make us sink into a deeper hole than the one we are already in.
No real solution will come from above. It is only the masses from below who can put an end to this exploitative system and open the door to a truly new human society. For this, a full-blown anti-capitalist view has to be brought to the fore. No negotiations with the government will do, even if they put a halt to some abuses, as it is not the government which is actually in charge of the country. At this crossroads of Mexican history, a whole philosophy of liberation is needed more than ever that can guide us past mere political reforms to full human freedom!