Salinas, a difficult step to modernity
Diego Martin Velazquez Caballero
The Spanish nationalization of Carlos Salinas de Gortari is a sign of severe conflicts in the ideological vision of the former president of Mexico, although it is true that some time ago he had pointed out the detachment from the strict neoliberal model, by adopting the Iberian nationality of the Mother Country, to the fret with an important cluster of ideas regarding Mexican modernization. As ruler, Salinas generated one of the prominent philosophies to catalyze the development of Mexico and bring it closer to the United States of America, as a former president and person, the option for Spanish naturalization ends up demonstrating that Mexican modernization, like the Spanish, is simply impossible .
The first question generated by the adoption of the new nationality of Salinas, was why Spain? In a strict sense, Hispanidad denies neoliberalism. Carlos Salinas, like Mario Vargas Llosa, aspire to liberalism in a utopian sense, since the concrete decisions that represent them end up accommodating the anti-liberal European Middle Ages. If Salinas, like Lorenzo Zavala, had adopted North American nationality; Despite also being described as a traitor to Mexico, at least he would have been consistent with the political economic thinking that he defended throughout his six-year term. The technocratic thought of Salinism was forged at Harvard, not on the Camino de Santiago; but anyway.
Salinas's decision to trace his Spanish ancestry and promote the adoption of the Iberian identity makes him very similar to José López Portillo. By the way, one of the administrations where he participated and the project of the Group of the Programming and Budget Secretariat was taking shape; And if Jolopo, being the most cultured president the country has ever had, ended up being one of the craziest administrations in the history of the Mexican political system, will CSG end up being a numerary Francoist technocrat of Opus Dei? Being Spanish is synonymous with failure, and perhaps for this reason neither the most nationalistic president nor the most prepared were of any use.
The adoption of Spanishness by Salinas de Gortari mistakenly baptizes the neoliberal project, recognizes that Mexican modernization is impossible and endorses the ideas of Samuel Huntington regarding the useless Mexican assimilation to Western culture. Salinas recognizes the inertia and power of the Spanish camorra to belong to the oligarchic impunity.
Spain, like Latin America, is essentially illiberal. That then the facade that was neoliberalism can be evidenced. The great Mexican tragedy has been the inability to build an intermediate route between Spain and the United States, the two development references that have historically been offered. Mexico will never be like the United States, but it is a gross mistake to follow the path of Spanish failure.