Mexico: The Story of A (flawed) Democracy and How to Move Forward.
(Testing new title)

Mexico is the 15th economy,¹ the 46th most happy country,² and one of the most insecure nations in the world. The latter reflects Mexico’s current government, which democracy is declining. However, first, let us define democracy. Democracy: A political system that allows the citizens to participate in political decision‐making, or to elect representatives to government bodies.³ In Mexico, it is inexistent as elected officials, elected by fraud, take decisions that affect the people’s wellbeing.

Corruption is one of the many problems that Mexico suffers today. However, it is the most important one, and from it, many other problems are intertwined. The government’s lack of transparency has created a non-trustworthy State with abundant corruption. Additionally, it created a State with an absence of authority in the justice system. These have created the perfect environment for certain groups to participate in illicit activities such as narcotics, homicide, kidnap, etc.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has a new policy that states, “Hugs not Bullets.” That policy implies that he has no intentions of putting a firm stance against organized crime. Mexico is not in the position of not fighting criminals. Mexico needs a strong government that prosecutes criminals and takes them before the law. By reforming Mexico into a more democratic nation, it will achieve social and economic progress.

• • Impact the current state of the Government has on people.
  • How the Merida initiative works to fight drug cartels.
  • Actions needed to make this change (establishing more democracy in Mexico). (I still do not know the path I am going to take to tackle this).
  • Add specific examples of corrupt leaders
  • Add Statistics to support my claims.
  • Drug dealers are important but not the main topic of my paper anymore

• A Lacking Democracy
  • Perfect Dictatorship by the PRI
  • Consequences of the 70-years-long dictatorship
  • Mexico has not been a real democracy.
  • Before the electoral reforms in the 1990s, the government used to control elections
  • The creation of regulating institutions charged with the elections (IFE and INE)
  • In the 2000s, the first change of political party in power (from PRI to PAN)
  • Vicente Fox Quezada first president in power after the dictatorship
  • Institutes: CNDH, “Instituto Nacional de la Transparencia”, COFESE, IFT, Banco de Mexico, COFETEL,
  • Progress made with certain presidents. Creation of many autonomous institutes.
  • President Fox promised to fight corruption, but he did not deliver.
  • The next government, Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, did not fight corruption either.
  • Growth in organized crime related to narcotics.
  • Calderon declared war on drugs
  • Governments after Calderon brought corruption back and crime increased, causing a great mortality rate among Mexicans due to crime-related assassinations.
  • Mexico has not achieved full democracy yet. Progress has been hindered by corruption and impunity.

• Failed promises by current President
  • Promised to fight corruption.
  • Instead, he has been involved in many acts of corruption.
  • Offered democracy and economic growth
  • When assuming power, betrayed Mexico. Promised in the campaign, but not delivered
• Political regression
  • Dismantle autonomous institutions established in the past, Supreme Court included.
  • The current government wants people they can control in power.
  • Dismantlement  of Federal Trusts
• Corruption
  • Ramón Lopez Beltran
  • Crony capitalism
• Impunity
  • Promised to bring before the law corrupt officials from past administrations
• Organized Crime
• Hugs not Bullets
• NAIM: the failed promise to Mexico’s economy
• The destruction of the popular security
• Country militarization
  • Formation of a new national guard
• Private Investment in decline
• Government investing
  • Not spending or creating policies to promote economic growth.
• Eco-friendly energies are being changed for fossil fuels
• How to move forward
  • Autonomous justice system
  • Merida initiative to fight organized crime
  • Better public education
  • The United States could help promote Mexico’s democracy
    • USMCA
    • Develop treaties with Mexico regarding liberties and rights
  • Strengthening of democratic institutions
  • Formation of citizenship
  • Formation of civil associations

Endnotes:

¹ Investopedia, The Top 25 Economies in the World, https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/ (Feb. 3, 2022)

² Helliwell et al. Statistical Appendix for “Happiness, benevolence, and trust during COVID-19 and beyond,” Chapter 2 of World Happiness Report 2022, https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2022/Appendix_1_StatiscalAppendix_Ch2.pdf (Mar. 9, 2022)

³ Oxford Reference, Democracy, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095709688

Mexico, a (flawed) Democracy Impaired by the Narco-State

Mexico is the 15th economy,¹ the 46th most happy country,² and one of the most insecure nations in the world. The latter reflects Mexico’s current government, which democracy is declining. However, first, let us define democracy. Democracy: A political system that allows the citizens to participate in political decision‐making, or to elect representatives to government bodies.³ In Mexico, Democracy is inexistent as elected officials, elected by fraud, take decisions that affect the people’s wellbeing.

Corruption is one of the many problems that Mexico suffers today. However, it is the most important one, and from it, many other problems are intertwined. The government’s lack of transparency has created a non-trustworthy State with abundant corruption. Additionally, it created a State with an absence of authority in the justice system. These have created the perfect environment for certain groups to participate in illicit activities such as narcotics, homicide, kidnap, etc.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has a new policy that states, “Hugs not Bullets.” That policy implies that he has no intentions of putting a firm stance against organized crime. Mexico is not in the position of not fighting criminals. Mexico needs a strong government that prosecutes criminals and takes them before the law. By reforming Mexico into a more democratic nation, it will achieve social and economic progress.

Endnotes:

¹ Investopedia, The Top 25 Economies in the World, https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/ (Feb. 3, 2022)

² Helliwell et al. Statistical Appendix for “Happiness, benevolence, and trust during COVID-19 and beyond,” Chapter 2 of World Happiness Report 2022, https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2022/Appendix_1_StatiscalAppendix_Ch2.pdf (Mar. 9, 2022)

³ Oxford Reference, Democracy, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095709688

Passion Blog: I decided to do it about places I would like to visit around the world.

Civic Issues Blog: I’m going to talk about U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Wait…why does my stomach hurt? I’m just eating, nothing else. Those were my words before I had one of the most eye-opening experiences. At that time, I didn’t know the meaning of balance and why it is so important in my life. It all started the day I turned 18. I was in high school. I cared little and feared nothing. Turning 18 in Mexico is like turning 21 in the United States. You’re legally an adult and you get all the benefits of being one. So, as soon as I turned 18, the first thing I did was go to the bars. I think that’s how it works in Mexico; you start drinking alcohol since, sometimes, middle school – that’s crazy – then, you go to bars with a fake ID before turning 18. That wasn’t my case. Before turning 18, I had drunk alcohol a few times. But to go to the bars and clubs, I waited until I was 18.

My first weekend being 18, I partied in bars and clubs. I liked it. It was something new and I was feeling it. What I was doing was well seen in my surroundings. Some would say, I was late for this. A lot of my friends used to go to clubs since they were 16. You could say that I wanted to catch up. So, every weekend you could see me at the bars. I used to hang out with friends and cousins. Bars and clubs seemed like places to be when you’re 18. To be honest, I enjoyed getting drunk in clubs, listening to my favorite tracks. However, things didn’t go right for me. I started going out on the weekdays, telling my parents I was out doing a project and I wouldn’t be back home to sleep. It started to affect my performance in school. And I wasn’t aware of this.

After some time of being in this harmful behavior something happened that made me open my eyes. One day I woke up just like any other day. I went to the kitchen to have breakfast, and everything was normal. A few minutes after finishing, I started to feel awful: my stomach hurt. The pain was unbearable, I was feeling really bad. My blood pressure dropped. I didn’t know what was happening to me. My mom took me to the doctor, and he told me that my intestine was not moving. I was not digesting, and nothing was functioning. It was not clear why this was happening to me, but the doctor attributed it to my drinking behavior. I was scared. He gave me medicine that consisted of one pill after waking up, one before eating, one while eating, one after eating, and one before going to sleep. That for two months. For the first 3 weeks, the treatment was not working properly. So, I still had pain after eating. I vividly remember the pain and the thought that I would never take for granted the simple fact of eating without pain. Those months were rough, I lost 20 pounds. However, I’m grateful for the eye-opening experience.

To overcome that, I went to a nutritionist who gave me a diet easy to digest. And after following the diet and going through my treatment, I started to feel so much better. I remember that after finishing my treatment, I was scared of eating and feeling the pain. But thanks to the diet and the treatment, I never suffered from that pain again. For me, the balance was realizing that my behavior was bad and taking action to fix it. Balance was going to the doctor and going through my treatment. Balance was following a diet. Since then, I’ve been following a diet with my nutritionist, and I’ve been feeling great. Balance is different for everyone else, but the way to find it is by living and learning from your own experiences. I believe that every person needs to live and to learn from their own mistakes to find their balance.

This I believe:

1. Love life. Throughout my life, I’ve been involved in many accidents that have made me change my perspective on life. Contrary to YOLO, I would say that you need to live life carefully but in a balanced way. As Alanis Morissette would say, “you live, you learn.” 
2. Resilience and the path to self-improvement. Before coming to Penn State, I was in Mexico. My entire education was in Spanish and, I only had a class of English as a second language. My English proficiency was okay, but I needed to improve it on my own. Now, being here at Penn State is proof that the work that I put in was well worth it. And I continue to challenge myself to become my better self.

Passion Blog:

1. Last semester I presented my perspective on some places in Mexico that I’ve visited. Now, I would like to talk about places I would like to visit around the world and why.
2. I like drag races, but especially from a British youtube channel called CarWow. So, I may write reviews about the drag races.

Civic Issues:

1. Sustainability. This idea spurs from my experience at the Penn State dining commons. I’ve seen so many people filling their trays with food that they end taking to the trash.
2. U.S. foreign policy. I would like to talk about last century’s U.S. policies in the Middle East, and how these helped shape the region.

My Reflection:

In my TED talk, I felt more confident about my topic, I guess it helped a lot to choose a topic I have some prior knowledge of. As the Evolving Ideas Keyboard said, “To make it personal”. I feel my delivery was more natural than my last speech, and my memory improved a lot. I also tried to keep in mind the pace of my voice which was another area to improve from my last speech. Overall, I felt more confident and tried to improve from my last speech. Also, I worked on my slides and used Keynote so I could change slides from my iPhone.

For the controversies project, I don’t still have a clear idea, but I think that Health insurance and Artificial intelligence would make a great fit for the project. I chose Health insurance mainly because of what I have learned in Econ 102 and the idea of it being a sunk cost and for the increasing premiums. And Artificial Intelligence because I think it is something so unique to the time we are leaving because we have been seeing so many amazing technological advances and the idea of having an inanimate object, in some way, coming to life is extraordinary.