Power owes nothing – El Financiero

There is no one who receives more voluntary aid and support from their enthusiastic followers than national soccer coaches and political candidates for the Presidency, that is, as long as things are going in the right direction. It must be understood, both having a match in which our national team plays and the exercise of choosing who will be our next president, is a highly emotional issue that sometimes, rarely, is mixed with a space for reflection. We are in a new world. Everything is new. The issues that move people, their fears and the eclipse of the democratic system are not only placed on one part of the planet, but on the planet as a whole.

President López Obrador did not like his candidate's defense of his regime in the debate. It is normal. Never in history has any ruler been in complete agreement, convinced, grateful, or felt well treated by the person designated to succeed him. There is a structural original problem that makes the difference, what a ruler who believes he is at the zenith of his power is assigning who will succeed him and making him see or trying to impose the continuity of his own program. Many times it is done with the intention of finishing marking a legacy, but on many other occasions it is done simply because he did not give the time, resources or capabilities to do what was planned to be done during his administration. Commonly, those who leave power demand that they be treated with respect, with consideration, often with impunity, and normally expect that whoever succeeds them continues to implement their vision of the present and future of the nation.

No ruler puts himself in the shoes of the one who follows him, just as no ruler finds himself with the expected consideration and respect for the one who succeeds him. Since power truly is the holy grail of the human condition, it is normal to feel that betrayal lurks in those who dare to see – even just a millimeter – the world differently from how they knew it, designed it and how practical it is. is sitting in the chair. We must know and be completely aware that this year's election is a unique election in both the United States and Mexico. This is commonly said about all elections, but we have never seen an internal situation as delicate and volatile in both countries as the current one. We are coming from a crisis, we are in a crisis and we will probably continue to be in a crisis. They are internal crises, but also external ones that are affecting the relationship between both countries and, if the situation is not resolved, it could reach an inevitable turning point.

As for the rest of the world, the situation is not far from worrying. Much of our planet is at war, either directly or indirectly. Years after the 2008 crisis and before covid-19, the planet – with some exceptions – experienced a relative period of growth, peace and harmony. For a time we thought that economic organization and fiscal discipline would bring happiness, from the point of view of being able to have adequate remuneration to be able to buy a state of well-being, in a world in which time and again it appears again as a phantom threat the word war. That is what change consists of, although that is beyond the understanding of any ruler.

For rulers the only world that exists is their own. They believe that, since the power is in their hands, the truth is also in their hands. From the Romans to the present day there have been many discussions about authority and government or the ability to exercise power. But if we have learned anything, it is that a power without authority is a power condemned to disappear.

I understand the surprise and desolation of a person who always knew he was extraordinary. Given what has been seen, President López Obrador cannot be considered a great defender of feminism; there is no evidence that his family and personal situation allowed him to be a misogynist. But what is clear is that he in no sense makes differences between men and women. On the one hand, he asks, demands and grants absolute loyalty, at least as far as he is concerned towards his person and towards his movement. And it's not that there has been a tradition nor is it that he already sees himself traveling through the Fiji Islands. This is not a case similar to what happened to López Portillo, who spent the first two months being woken up in the early morning by his predecessor, Luis Echeverría, who called him first thing every day to plan what he had to do. be the action of the government, starting from that day. On one occasion, López Portillo mentioned this dynamic to his Secretary of the Interior, Don Jesús Reyes Heroles, and like a work of magic the calls came to an end. As time passed, one day López Portillo asked Reyes Heroles how he had gotten Echeverría to no longer call him and stop creating problems in the government. Reyes Heroles replied that he had simply cut off the phone.

This is human nature, this is how power is and works. I do not know to what extent the candidate Sheinbaum would be willing to change things and the dynamics, what I do know is that any change of look, comma or a single letter of the program – according to the President's mind – will be considered an act of treason. Meanwhile, all the faithful followers have a plan for the coach, for the President, they know how the aspirants and candidates should behave to become president. We all know how power is conquered, but in the end – by selection and by definition – power is a delicacy that very few can enjoy.

Now it's too late for everything. It is for a revocation or to be able to produce an earthquake in the electoral process. But what there is still time to do is to reflect on the fact that, no matter how much one was chosen directly by God, there is the possibility of having an alternative program to the one one designed. In that sense, the big question here is not how loyal a candidate is, but the big question is being able to answer what is the margin of play that a president can tolerate in relation to his program and with the proposals or policies that he makes. he chose himself to succeed him.

We are in a situation that has no precedent. One of the only measures that this presidency has taken before June 2 has been to lower the percentage in order to be able to cast a vote of no confidence against the president, whoever she may be, two years after the mandate was established. And now this change regarding pardons that I don't know about – since I don't know the exact content of what was approved – but that in some cases could even lead to that situation that Americans fear so much. That situation is that a scenario is possible in which any former president can perform an act of self-pardon, as Donald Trump could do in the future. Is that what could also happen in Mexico? In any case, we reach the final stretch and loyalties are showing how fragile they are when you are so close to obtaining power. The question here will be how President López Obrador will react while he remains in power and to what extent he will allow his candidate to have some notion of autonomy.

And finally, as planned and as Joe Biden announced, sooner rather than later “Iran will attack Israel.” One attack was enough for Iran to demonstrate that you cannot attack a consulate and kill generals of the revolution without having consequences and having to pay a price for it. The problem with wars, weapons and technology is that there is always room for errors. A miscalculation is enough for a catastrophe to occur from one moment to the next. It seems that the issue will stay here, as long as Israel remains silent. The crisis and tension grows with every passing moment. We are in a moment in which the Third World War is part of the statements and thoughts of societies. But, what is worse, it is a latent issue and even embedded in the minds of a large part of global leaders.