Given the political and social panorama that has been created in recent weeks, it is important to critically reflect on the possible (or not) futures that come as a result of these institutional changes. It is true that theoretically, in a democracy, the people are the ones who decide how to govern themselves and how decisions are made, since the government is only a representation of the interests of the people. However, to what extent is the common good guaranteed when it is detrimental to human rights? How is a democratic environment fostered when the institutional counterweights for accountability and transparency of the government towards the people are being eliminated?
To reflect on these questions, let us remember the Zapatista principles that have given us some keys on how to sustain a good government: obey and not command; represent and not supplant; descend and not ascend; serve and not be served; convince and not conquer; build and not destroy; propose and not impose processes. Within these ideas we can take it that decisions to promote decent living conditions must be centered on the needs of the people, where the vocation of service to the community and the vision of balance and equality predominate. Also, that the actions must be directed towards the construction of community from solidarity and for the common good, where dialogue is encouraged for transformative action from the community and not through political campaigns that impose their desires. That is why the current reorganization of the (crisis of) institutions in the country is worrying, because although broad configurations were needed for the Mexican political system to protect human rights and focus on the needs of the victims, with these institutional modifications it seems that the responses are headed in the opposite direction.
On September 12th, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a statement expressing its concern about the approval of the judicial reform in terms of the impact it would have on the rights of access to justice and due process, as well as the rule of law, especially when it remains to encompass and transform other institutions in charge of administering justice where the first contacts to guarantee human rights occur. In addition, it mentions the risks of autonomy and conflicts of interest that could arise from the selection processes of those who occupy the positions. It is important to consider that this is framed in a political situation in which institutional checks and balances are almost non-existent, where most of the organizations have a defined governmental line and those that could provide balance are weakened. Therefore, the perspective should not focus only on whether or not there is judicial reform, whether or not there are autonomous bodies, whether institutions are renamed or created, but on how these configurations respond to the demands and needs of the victims of serious human rights violations, to the comprehensive reparation of damages for the hundreds of communities seeking truth and justice for themselves and their families, as well as to the resolution of the state crimes that remain pending as unresolved by this government.
Because when we talk about radicalism, we talk about radical transformations aimed at the how and not the what, not from the elimination or supplanting of bodies, but from the commitment to the structural and social transformation of the country. And after this, what is left for us to do? The changes are already here, but as Mercedes Sosa said: “Whoever said that all is lost, I come to offer my heart” and our heart is in the search for truth and justice, in the construction of peace and the reconstruction of the social fabric in the face of widespread violence, in the demand for the protection of our human rights and in the comprehensive reparation of the damage for the victims of our country.
So we have to inform ourselves, meet and organize ourselves from civil society, in every trench that we can act on to seek democratic conditions and a dignified life, where dialogue, political participation and collective influence are the pillars of social transformation and the construction of other possible worlds, our political horizon for moving forward.
Original article by Mariana Bermúdez, La Jornada, September 14th, 2024.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.
Original photo by Luis Castillo at La Jornada.