SOBERANÍA 58: A WHOLE NEW WORLD
It’s bizarro world! In today’s episode, we kick off by discussing the recent summit between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), attended by President Xi Jinping and several Latin American heads of state of varying degrees of progressivism. With the threat of Trumpism and tariffs hanging in the air, the summit acquired both greater impetus and urgency. In section two: when does a big-tent political party become too big? Kurt and José Luis discuss this question in the context of the recent incorporation into MORENA of two former PRI members with checkered pasts: Adrián Ruvalcaba as head of Mexico City’s metro and Enrique Benítez in Durango ahead of elections there. Then…it’s back! The State Department liberates budgeted funding for the CIA cutout NED, known in Mexico for funding “civil-society” oppo organizations such as Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI). Finally, in a bizarro losers and haters, a rare thoughtful, analytical piece in the English-language press from Kate Aronoff at New Republic explores Mexico’s industrial policy.
Teachers In the Streets
All the teachers’ demands are justified, and repeal of the ISSSTE would not just benefit all public sector workers, but all workers, says teacher Ángel Custodio Guadarrama in this interview.
A NEW DEMOCRACY
As former Mexican Congressperson Alejandro Robles tells us, for far too long, judges at every level ruled for the rich and against the poor. That started to change in Mexico on June 1st when Mexicans began electing their entire judiciary.
CUT & RUN GARMENTS
Trade unionist Jeffrey Hermanson says that conditions in the maquiladoras that flooded Mexico since NAFTA have somewhat improved, but in this “new” USMCA period, multinational corporations still receive favorable treatment from the government to continue their exploitation of workers and land.