Texcaltitlán: rebellion and succession
Diego Martín Velázquez Caballero
Extortion is a daily phenomenon in Mexico, as in many cases regarding the crime, those responsible are members of the immediate environment and family members; However, the greater presence of different drug trafficking cartels implies a greater siege on communities when the sources of criminal activity change. Michoacán, Guerrero, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Puebla and Chiapas are examples of the way in which organized crime has been an ally of neo-extractivism and voracious capitalism; undertakings that are marked by imperialism. The communities have known that they have been extorted since the time of the Aztecs and little has changed the situation.
Extortion is a crime that is rarely punished in the country because the authorities do not have the infrastructure that allows them to coerce individuals to inhibit such actions. The idea that local governments cannot do anything about crimes of this type sounds more like complicity than anything else. And, therefore, the communities know that only rebellion manages to mobilize the force to stop – temporarily – the abuse of criminal organizations. In the past it was the temporary guerrillas that were harshly repressed by the governments of the hegemonic party, then the appearance of the Zapatista National Liberation Army drew the world's attention to the abusive Mexican social structure and, now, lynchings are the form of struggle that communities encounter to survive. In short, little improves the vision of things. Extortioners are growing and communities are faced with the dilemma of emigrating or fighting to stay.
The informal economy is the ideal space for extortion. In our country this arena is untouchable, and it also involves a large number of savage liberals who fight against the law and any public authority; That is why the authorities prefer the collusion and corruption that comes with compacting with this type of actors.
Nobody knows how to control the power of the informal economy, the truth is that it takes influence in many areas and imposes itself, it does not request authorization nor is it interested in government protection. It is in the informal economy where we find true Latin American liberalism. This is probably why the informal sector constantly resorts to violence, such as lynchings and discretionary justice. In supply centers, the streets, agriculture or emigration, you can find these networks that get involved in different fields and even try to colonize the bureaucratic and formal sector. Corruption begins when informality is allowed as a dominant exercise.
The conflicts are incrementalist in the informal space and are seen as a fight against the government when there is no longer the possibility of regulating what happens there.
In the immediate past, the authority came to establish agreements with organized crime groups; However, with the arrival of feudalism in 2000, the governors made agreements with the informal economy and were not responsible for phenomena such as drug trafficking, fuel theft, femicides, kidnappings, robberies or fraud. The public ministry agencies simply do not even have photocopiers to understand what is happening and the state and municipal governments can only say that the federal government must respond to the different types of crimes that are being experienced.
The message is clear: the Federation must intervene in a more radical way in state and local governments if lynchings, revolutions and rebellions are to be avoided; which in many cases are fully justified. It is not about attacking the communities to violate them more, the Federation has to control the state chiefdoms, the governors and regional de facto powers that have become radically anarchic.
The message of the lynching is that the communities are no longer willing to tolerate organized crime, but what follows is that they stop believing in the political class and implies that, soon, they will rebel against the politicians they consider synonymous with the cartels, when not, allies. Texcaltitlán could be the Cuchillo Parado or Tomochic that begins to pose challenges to a Federation incapable of demanding its governors to take care of their communities and avoid agreeing with organized crime.
The candidates for the presidency of the republic must urgently design a more intelligent agenda for the fight against crime; before Donald Trump decides to bomb the rural areas of the country or intervene in Mexico to defeat the drug cartels. Above all, before the communities decide to rebel against politics and bet on violence that increases the low intensity war that the country has institutionalized. Applying the law can be a good start, and also stop tolerating politicians openly linked to violent, bossy or downright criminal groups.