Tuesday, July 1, 2008

New caudillo in Latin America?

Patriot-journalist Georgie Anne Geyer wrote an interesting column last week about the possibility of Mexico falling under the control of a leftist Big Man of the sort that has resurged lately in the South. The chaos and economic inequalities in Mexico have left a large segment of the population with a legitimate grievance about life's unfairness. She discusses the possibility as put forward by eminent Mexican historian Enrique Krauze. Krauze's candidate as likely caudillo is Andres Manuel López Obrador, the defeated PRD candidate in the 2006 election that put Felipe Calderón in the presidential chair.
In short, what was being suggested -- for the first time since the election of 2006 when President Calderon defeated Mayor Lopez Obrador -- is that the Mexican state might actually come to be ruled by a caudillo-style leader. Would that be possible? A Fidel Castro of Mexico? A Juan Peron of the Rio Grande? A Hugo Chavez of Baja California?

AMLO has continued support of people who feel that he was robbed in '06. It's an interesting essay, properly damning U.S. inattention to events next door. Read Geyer's column here.

No comments: