Today, no one can ignore that the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) is a winning project. As such, many people have joined us, individuals with firm ideas and convictions who are hoping to contribute to Mexico’s transformation. But others may join Morena simply because they are seeking government jobs, not knowing or caring that it’s primarily a left-wing project seeking deep and broad social change.
We’ve seen individuals who campaigned as candidates of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN) or the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD)— all neoliberal conservatives — register six months later to run as Morena candidates for elected offices!
I see several reasons for this: perhaps they quickly changed their ideology, or don’t know Morena is a left-wing project, or believe it’s an easy way to get a government position. Or, worse still, they are Trojan horses planning to undermine our project from within. This problem has generated many disagreements within Morena. The founding militants are highly suspicious of individuals who participated directly in consolidating neoliberal policies and plundering the nation, or who even now are openly right-wing and conservative.
Morena must do more to safeguard its left-wing principles if its intention is to transform history, not to repeat it.
The openness of Morena, the largest party in Mexico today, to accepting new members reflects well on its democratic and pluralist ideals. For people to join a winning movement can be positive; it’s not bad that the Party is growing. What’s bad is that some people are joining without assuming the responsibilities that come with a left-wing project. That is, a project that focuses more on collective efforts than individual ones and prioritizes the interests of the majority over those of the wealthy minority. Morena’s purpose is to govern for all people, but mainly for those who have been excluded and relegated to the bottom of the economic, political and social system. The left must always work to improve living conditions for the majority to build a more just, democratic and egalitarian society.
Morena’s influence has reached into most of Mexico, but the right wing still has power in some parts of the country. They almost always oppose urban planning and promote privatization of resources and services, whether it be the water supply, public sanitation or land use. They appropriate public space for private projects, leaving the public streets without trees, benches or garbage cans. And rarely do they support creating parks or recreational spaces. The right-wing vision never considers the good of the majority of the Mexican people.
Morena must do more to safeguard its left-wing principles if its intention is to transform history, not to repeat it.