I finally got to read through AMLO's
new book, La mafia que se adueñó de México… y el 2012.
It is neither excessively long nor a tough read - as all of AMLO's books it's highly accessible.
I also would recommend it for several reasons. The writing is passionate, with wonderful descriptions of his travels through Mexico - AMLO has visited every single one of Mexico's municipalities - every 2456 of them, - probably a first in Mexican history. His passion for Mexico is heartfelt. AMLO also visited every one of Oaxaxa's districts of
uso y costumbre, and his stories from Oaxaca are particularly stirring in their compassion for Mexico's poor.
Yet in my opinion one may also see glimpses of a darker side of López Obrador. He resolutely defends his rather extreme behavior during the 2008 petroleum reform, where he called upon thousands of his followers to literally seek to block the petroleum form, through keeping legislators out of congress, because the reform did not include 12 (or 17) words that he demanded to be inserted. In the book, he rather amazingly claims that had it not been for this mobilization, the entire petroleum industry would have been privatized, which defies belief. There is more than an element of delusions of grandeur here.
Other observations:
- He goes remarkably soft on Carlos Slim, despite being the richest man in Mexico.
(see Denise Dresser's excellent "
Open Letter to Carlos Slim" in
Proceso.)
- He says nothing of the highly reactionary Mexican Catholic Church, this caste of elites that for centuries has done so much to block social progress in Mexico
And the clincher: One chapter section is entitled, "Who will be the candidate?" where he repeats the deal made with Marcelo Ebrard that the PRD (and presumably PT and Convergencia) will rally behind whoever is ahead in voting intentions, be it AMLO or Ebrard.
Yet mere weeks after book's publication, in what appears a panicked response to his failed predictions of
carro completo for the PRI on July 4, he completely contradicted himself by stating that, no matter what, he's "
going for 2012."
While he appeared to backtrack days later, I remain personally convinced that there is a higher likelyhood that
hell will freeze over rather than AMLO declining in favor of Ebrard - or any other candidate of the left.
