- by Tim Pelzer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2207
The social democratic government of Claudia Sheinbaum is continuing the same failed neo-liberal policies of the previous administration, said Angel Chávez, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Mexico (PCM).
Instead of diversifying export markets and strengthening national production, the Sheinbaum National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) government is trying to save and extend the US, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA) a free trade pact that replaced NAFTA in 2020.
“The deal primarily benefits the monopolies in the 3 member countries and has limited the country’s independence. The agreement tells each country what they can buy and sell. In the past Mexico was self-sufficient in corn – an important component of the diet – now it must import genetically modified corn from the US, Chávez says.
When the free trade agreement was first signed in 1994, it ruined Mexican agriculture by allowing the US to flood the market with cheap corn, wheat and other products, bankrupting many farmers and impoverishing the countryside.
The USMCA has halted the country’s economic development and turned Mexico into a low wage workshop, dominated by foreign companies that import raw materials or components duty free and then re-exports finished products to the US and Canada. These plants, which employ millions of Mexicans and form a major part of the country’s manufacturing sector, take advantage of low wages and a six day work week in Mexico.
In the past the Mexican left opposed free trade with the US but now MORENA supports it, he said.
Chávez complained the Sheinbaum government has also caved into US demands to keep Chinese investment out of Mexico.
“The USMCA even allows north American inspectors into factories to decide if a union meeting is legal,” he claimed.
The PCM opposes the Sheinbaum governments attempts to save the USMCA and wants Mexico to pull out of the agreement.
“MORENA does not want to overthrow capitalism but instead promised that it wanted to reform it and make it more beautiful through reforms. Now it does not want to even do that,” complained Chávez.
During the 1980s and 90s, former right wing Mexican governments privatised hundreds of companies for well below their market value. “The first MORENA government of Lopez Obrador never re-nationalised these companies. Sheinbaum continues with his program.”
MORENA’s approach to mass youth unemployment is a program called “Young people constructing the future.”
Chávez laments that “the government pays the wages of 3.5 million young people each year who work for private companies, providing free labour to capitalists at tax payers expense. “Workers are paid the minimum wage of $9,500 pesos (AU$781) per month and employers are not obligated to continue employing them after a year.
He also challenged MORENA’s claim it has raised the minimum salary by 250% since 2019. “This is only a decree and has not been enforced. In many cases the government does not even obligate employers to pay the minimum wage.”
When asked if MORENA governments have reduced poverty through the introduction of new social programs, Chávez said that high inflation has been undermining these programs. He said that monopolies have been raising prices for basic goods, making it impossible to reduce poverty levels in the country. “These social programs were introduced primarily to win votes and buy social peace and stability.”
He said the country still has 50 million poor people and suffers from mass unemployment, compelling 55% of the labour force to work in the informal sector such as selling goods or food on the street because there is no unemployment insurance or welfare. “These conditions have forced many Mexicans to migrate to the US and Canada,” he said.
He is also critical of Sheinbaum for not protecting the 10 million Mexican immigrants living in the US. Recently it was reported that 18 Mexicans have died in ICE detention centres. “The government has not protested or done anything to help migrants. Instead it is helping the US deport immigrants back to Mexico.”
The MORENA party government also stopped shipping oil to Cuba, helping to worsen the US blockade.
Chávez said the PCM was not able to get its electoral registration back this year because of rules designed to keep opposition parties off the ballot. Mexican electoral authorities require a new party to submit 350 thousand signatures and hold costly assemblies in all 31 states, which proved impossible for the PCM to meet. MORENA has not expressed any intention to change these rules.
Denied ballot access for the 2024 elections, the PCM ran Marco Vinicio Davila for president as well as several candidates for state governor as write in candidates – including Chávez in Mexico City – which is allowed by the Mexican constitution. PCM candidates received 85,000 write in votes and probably more since the party has evidence that many votes were marked as null.
Chávez characterised the party’s electoral campaign as successful, especially the presidential race, despite a media blackout by the national television networks. Davila travelled the country speaking at meetings, distributing tens of thousands of leaflets with volunteers, door knocking and giving interviews. “Marco became well know across the country,” remarked Chávez. “While I was campaigning with Marco in Mexico City where I was the candidate for governor, I remember people constantly approaching Marco on the street to speak with him.”
Until the party can get back its electoral registration, Chávez said the PCM will continue running write in candidates to offer a socialist alternative to the working class.
