I'm cautiously optimistic about Obrador. I have been following events in Mexico and it seemed that he struck a chord with many Mexicans, especially the poor and marginalised, fed up of the institutional corruption and violence. Being Irish, I have always had a soft spot for Mexico given the historical links between Ireland and Mexico (San Patricios) and having met Mexican people and dated a Mexican girl. Mexicans are some of the soundest people I have met.
Mexico has some very pressing issues to solve and Obrador must waste no time. Obviously there is the friction between Mexico and its more powerful northern neighbour, Trump's US. Many on here are saying "build the wall", but will that stop the mass migration northwards? I'm afraid it won't as desperate people will resort to desperate measures in order to better their lives to escape their "shitholes". Why are they shitholes? Well in order to get to the crux of the issue, we must look at underlying causes. Just pick up a history book to find out why. The US has for decades, directly interfered both overt and covert not to mention plunder many Latin American countries in order to keep them weak and onside. Any ruler who bucked the neo-liberal, neo-imperial trend - Allende, Arbenz, Ortega, Castro, Chavez, Sandino etc. either got taken out by a coup, assassinated or got sanctions slapped on them.
Another factor that led to the mass influx was NAFTA. NAFTA, the brainchild of war criminal Bill Clinton utterly destroyed many Central American economies, Mexico included. Cheap US products flooded the markets forcing many Mexicans and others from the central American states to abandon their livelihoods, especially many peasant farmers and head north in search of work. These factors have been driving the mass migration north. The same can be said with North Africa and Europe, except the wars of aggression against Libya, Syria and Iraq which have destabalised the Middle East.
If we are to halt this mass movement of people, we need to tackle the underlying problems and that means a complete sea change of policy and group-think north of the Rio Grande. Spending billions on a wall won't hold back those who are desperate to make a better life. Scrapping NAFTA will be a route in the right direction. Obrador's election is a good start to making that happen and making Mexico great again in order to stem the human tide. I wish him the best of luck. He's gonna need it, a lot of it.
Mexico has some very pressing issues to solve and Obrador must waste no time. Obviously there is the friction between Mexico and its more powerful northern neighbour, Trump's US. Many on here are saying "build the wall", but will that stop the mass migration northwards? I'm afraid it won't as desperate people will resort to desperate measures in order to better their lives to escape their "shitholes". Why are they shitholes? Well in order to get to the crux of the issue, we must look at underlying causes. Just pick up a history book to find out why. The US has for decades, directly interfered both overt and covert not to mention plunder many Latin American countries in order to keep them weak and onside. Any ruler who bucked the neo-liberal, neo-imperial trend - Allende, Arbenz, Ortega, Castro, Chavez, Sandino etc. either got taken out by a coup, assassinated or got sanctions slapped on them.
Another factor that led to the mass influx was NAFTA. NAFTA, the brainchild of war criminal Bill Clinton utterly destroyed many Central American economies, Mexico included. Cheap US products flooded the markets forcing many Mexicans and others from the central American states to abandon their livelihoods, especially many peasant farmers and head north in search of work. These factors have been driving the mass migration north. The same can be said with North Africa and Europe, except the wars of aggression against Libya, Syria and Iraq which have destabalised the Middle East.
If we are to halt this mass movement of people, we need to tackle the underlying problems and that means a complete sea change of policy and group-think north of the Rio Grande. Spending billions on a wall won't hold back those who are desperate to make a better life. Scrapping NAFTA will be a route in the right direction. Obrador's election is a good start to making that happen and making Mexico great again in order to stem the human tide. I wish him the best of luck. He's gonna need it, a lot of it.