Mexico Escucha Las Voces Del Exterior

Anexo a continuacion la conversacion, con permiso de su autora entre una increible luchadora social como lo es Patricia Barba ciudadana y apartidista y la afamada Denise Dresser periodista y "experta" politica. Como nunca ciudadanos informados como Patricia Barba dan muestras de como a pesar de los medios y su camapana mediatica, nos nos dejamos llevar por "expertos" que piensan por nosostros, califican por nosotros, validan por nosotros.Al contrario entran frente a frente a discutir, argumentar solidamente. Es un deleite ver estas muestras de resistencia social.

From: Patricia Barba

Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 6:57
PM

To: Richard.Boudreaux@latimes.com;
richard.boudreaux@latimes.com; denise.dresser@attglobal.net;
luis.deuriarte@reforma.com; leonardo.valero@reforma.com;
roberto.castaneda@reforma.com

Cc: Mario Mendez-Acosta; Magda
Barba; aristegui@cnn.com; aristegui@wradio.com.mx; Claudia Jurado; Eva
Trigueros; alfjal@prodigy.net.mx; Paty-arcoiris; Julián Rodríguez; martha
rocha; blanca mendez; max fragoso; Patricia Barba

Subject: Mr. Boudreaux's report on
Sunday 16 assembly in Mexico City
and Mrs. Dresser's deplorable article

Dear Mr. Boudreaux

Dear Mr. De Uriarte, Mr. Castaneda and Mr. Valero
Dra. Dresser,

First, I would like to thank you, Mr. Boudreaux, for
your coverage of last Sunday's information assembly of 1,100,000 people at the Plaza de la Constitucion in Mexico City,who voluntarily decided
to oppose the outrageous fraudulent attempts to steal the election by the
PAN. On the other hand, I would like to briefly comment on your assertion of
"...Lopez Obrador hopes the crowds put pressure" on the TRIFE
(Federal Electoral Tribunal) to finally rule for the vote x vote recount.
I would rather say, Mr. Boudreaux, that the
crowd, namely all those citizens like myself (with no party
affiliation) who decided for Mr. Lopez Obrador's political project, are
the ones hoping to exert enough pressure so the TRIFE does what is lawfully and
legitimately expected: to respect us sufficiently to prevent Mr.
Calderon Hinojosa and all those behind him, to blatantly tample on our
electoral rights.

Now, I proceed to comment on the rather deplorable and disappointing
article by Professor Denise Dresser Mexico: Recount and Move on, published
by LA Times yesterday:

There are three fundamental
principles a commentator, political writer or any other intellectual must
possess: ethics, objectivity and responsibility in whatever texts,
opinions or viewpoints he or she conveys to the public. Less than that is
unacceptable as it may contribute to distort, confuse and increase the gravity of an already bad and undesirable situation.

I was literally dismayed by Mrs. Dresser's statement "...especially now that Lopez Obrador seems intent on destroying the country with the hope of governing it someday"
...Let's see, Mrs. Dresser: how on earth is Mr. Lopez Obrador attempting
to destroy our country? Don't you think that our country has been
undergoing a slow, painful and steady process of destruction under the
irresponsible, corrupt and abusive fiscal, educational, industrial,
agricultural, international policies implemented by Mr. Salinas de Gortari,
hugely despised by virtually every Mexican citizen --except, of course, his
minions who are going beyond imaginable criminal activities to cling to power.

So, according to you, Mrs. Dresser, none of these individuals:
Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, Vicente Fox Quesada, Luis Carlos Ugalde, and all his
supporters at CCE (Businessmen Coordination Council), along with Mr.
Azcarraga's powerful network - Televisa- are responsible for the past and
still ongoing deterioration of the country's economy and the well-being of the
great majority of its people. Namely, when in 1998 Felipe Calderon
instructed the PAN representatives to vote along with PRI's to approve FOBAPROA
(now IPAB) which has been dubbed The most infamous robbery in history, in detriment of millions of Mexican citizens, he did nothing wrong? Or when Mr. Calderon was the Secretary of Energy and favored his brother-in-law, Mr. Diego Hildebrando Zavala with millionaire contracts,breaking the law, he did nothing illegal? Or when Mr. Ugalde, head of IFE (Federal Electoral Institute) who, instead of complying with the law by immediately prohibiting Mr. Calderon's spots full of all lies,
distortions and defamations against Mr. Lopez Obrador, he fulfilled his
duty...or he was the first to immoraly cheat and lie to the public, in a
grievous attempt to declare Calderon the winner of the election? Who, then, have perpetrated all sorts of criminal and dirty machinations not only to destroy the country, but to trample on our right to decide who we consider the best (namely, the ONLY) eligible candidate? I dare ask: doesn't Mr. Calderon deserved to be stripped of his political rights for his crimes...let alone running for the presidency?

And despite all the above, it is unbelievable and even shocking that nobody even hinted that criminals like Mr. Calderon or Mr. Madrazo should NOT be allowed to aspire to be presidents of Mexico, furthermore, should be indicted, processed and incarcerated... nonetheless, some intellectuals have dared state that "we should respect our institutions..." like IFE? the Presidency held by Mr. Fox? why? how? on what moral grounds?

After reading your rather regrettable article, I can't help but
entertaining the sad and unwelcome conclusion that you, Mrs. Dresser,
along with some other prestigious academics, consider all of us a mass of ignorant, gullible illiterates who like sheep, blindly follow someone out of "adoration" as you disdainfully stated. It is pretty clear to me that to intellectuals like
yourself, we, the ones demanding of Mr. Lopez Obrador to defend our will, do not deserve your respect and are just material on which you can write elegant and sophisticated articles, nothing more.

To conclude I pay homage to Professor Olson, of Moravian University, who advised his lucky students to remain always healthily skeptic and rather be cantankerous
citizens who, for the first time, want to take the reins of their
destiny, than becoming "conveniently dutiful and neutral ones".

Sincerely,
Patricia Barba Avila
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From: "Denise Dresser"
To: "'Patricia Barba'" Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:21:26 -0500

Dear Ms. Barba,

Here are a couple of responses to your
note:
-
Believe
it or not, I actually voted for López Obrador. I don’t think the status
quo in Mexico is sustainable and feel deeply that the country’s deep inequalities need to be addressed. I share many of your negative thoughts on Televisa and Mexico’s business elites and the need to rein them in.
-
Throughout the election I defended AMLO from charges that he was dangerous; I urge you to read an Op-ed I published in the LA Times a week before the election as well as other pieces I have written to that effect.

That said, I do think that since July 2nd he has been behaving in ways
that could be dangerous to the country, because it seems that the only outcome
he will accept is a recognition of his victory. Are you absolutely sure he won? 65 percent of voters, as far as we know, chose another option. I am not convinced yet that there was massive fraud; he hasn’t provided enough hard evidence. But just in case, I do believe there should be a recount and a final decision by the TRIFE. AMLO has every right to question the election but I think he should do so through institutional channels. Most of Mexico’s institutions are a disgrace but I frankly don’t believe that the IFE is one of them; Mexico spent 10 billion dollars and 10 years setting up one of the few credible institutions Mexico has. I’m not willing at this point to simply toss out all that effort out the window.

-
Lopez Obrador has put, at least me, in a situation where there’s no one left to
believe in but him. I’m not willing to put the fate of the country in the
hands (good or bad) of a single individual. That’s not how the democracy
I aspire to should work.

Best,
dd
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Patricia Barba to denise.dresser, barba.patricia ...
More options Jul 18 (20 hours ago)

Dear Professor Dresser,

I appreciate your kind response to my comments on your article (and my apologies for the grammar mistakes...I should have reviewed it before sending it).

Of course that none of us --you, me, and all the millions that decided for a diferent socioeconomic project-- would like to accept that IFE, an arbiter whose main duty was to adhere to the letter and spirit of electoral law, would be the first one to violate it, trampling on our right to decide against the permanent and ever increasing corruption, abuse and unethical ways from the political elites (here and abroad).

I still remember the attempts a small and idealist group of citizens made to truthfully inform the public, through a modest publication and interviews in some radio stations --kind enough to open their doors to us- about facts and circumstances that should be discussed and analyzed broadly not only at school, but also with the help of the communication media. By those days, we had the opportunity to track the activities of Andrés Manuel, along with those of Felipe Calderon and Vicente Fox. That experience marked me forever, namely, after many years of never attending an election, in the year 2000 I voted for the first time for AMLO to become Mayor of Mexico City. Needless to say I have never regretted it.

On the other hand, we were educated by a rather strict and demanding father, to make sure of the facts we were reporting or communicating to others; to be thorough, objective and careful not to fall under spells of fanaticism. Thanks to that and to the reading of marvelous scientific authors such as Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Daniel Dennett, Jared Diamond, among other extraordinary writers and humanists, one gets even more careful at the moment of making decisions as trascendental to our quality of life as electing the person that better represents the interests of the majority, of course, based on that candidate's trajectory.

What profoundly worries me, Professor Dresser, is that nobody seems to notice or feel alarmed by the fact that individuals as immoral as Mr. Calderon were even allowed to contend! What kind of society have we become that we don't seem to be bothered in the least by Mr. Calderon's unlawful and ilegitimate activities such as agreeing with Mr. Zedillo the approval of the most infamous robbery in our history? What concerns me deeply is the fact that without any regard for the truth, Mr. Calderon insisted on telling lies and distortions, blatantly breaking electoral law and that IFE did absolutely nothing to immediately prohibit the screening by Televisa, of such falsehoods.

Of course I read and immensely enjoyed your marvelous article Fear of Mexico; I even conveyed to you my appreciation for your bright analysis, and you were gracious enough to acknowledge it with a note of thanks. On the other hand, I have rarely missed yours, Mr. Meyer's, Mr. Zarate's and Mr. Bastidas' sharp and intelligent comments on political topics. That is why, when I read your article in question, I felt such disappointment, as it told me that our will to oppose fraudulent maneuvers --which I witnessed myself! (I have photos and numerous reports), meant nothing to you and that you attributed Mr. Lopez Obrador such enormous power to mermerize all of us. How can we not feel outraged and violated after it became crystal clear that several unlawful activities were perpetrated? How can we forget what Prof. Elba Esther talked with the governor of Tamaulipas? or what Mr. Cerisola "requested" of Mr. Hernandez Flores? How can we overlook the illegal use of the electoral and social registers to benefit Mr. Calderon? And what about the CCE's spots to prompt the votes in favor of PAN's presidential candidate...or Vicente Fox open campaign? And yet, IFE remained quiet!

This is not paranoia, or a reaction resulting from a blind adoration of Mr. Lopez Obrador, whom by the way, I openly criticized when in a moment of weakness or exasperation, he shutted Vicente Fox up with his "cállate chachalaca!" I don't see Mr. Lopez Obrador as a savior or a magician who will rescue all of us from damnation. Not in the least. I view him as someone willing to initiate a fundamental change in politics, with the support and direct involvement of all of us. I have always contended that there are no perfect human beings, least politicians! There are individuals who by virtue of their education, their familial experiences and maybe indelible events that marked them, remain faithful to their convictions, while there are other politicians weak enough to surrender to the temptations of corruption and Machiavellian machinations to gain or keep privileges and power in detriment of huge social majorities.

But even if Andrés Manuel would yield to wrongful temptations, he would still have set the premises for a growing political participation of citizens, who will be vigilant of his and the actions of his cabinet. He did that while he was Mexico City's Mayor: he submitted his administration to our approval. Undoubtedly, a democratic state is something painfully achieved little by little, and by trial and error, and most likely, mistakes will be made; however, there is a huge difference between intended corruption and mistakes due to our fallible human condition, but there is no question in my mind that this is a historic moment, not because we fanatically worship a left-wing leader, but because an increasing number of Mexican people are behaving like true citizens, willing to take our destiny in our own hands.

My apologies for this lengthy response but it is so because I truly respect you as a bright, honest and of course, committed political expert.

Most sincerely,

Patricia Barba Avila

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# posted by Nancy T. @ 9:13 AM