Voices of Mexico no. 52

Our Voice

When this issue of Voices of Mexico goes into circulation, the results of the July 2 elections will already be known. Regardless of who wins the presidential race, the important thing for the country will be that the elections have been transparent, well organized and the results, rooted in democratic practices, accepted by everyone. These, the first elections of the new millennium, are a confirmation of the path Mexico has followed in recent years toward the consolidation of democracy. The changes have been slow and difficult, of course. That can be seen in the emergence of the Zapatista National Liberation Army in 1994 and other armed groups in later years and the political assassinations of hundreds of activists and sympathizers from different political parties, but particularly of Luis Donaldo Colosio and José Francisco Ruiz Massieu in 1994. Interpreting all this is not an easy task. What is clear is that Mexican society is moving toward greater political participation and a democratic culture.

Things have changed in the country since 1994. Although it is still unacceptable that 40 million Mexicans live in poverty and the country’s wealth is concentrated in very few hands, the economy may well now be able to change that. Unemployment is at its lowest in many years. However, increasing numbers of our countrymen and women continue to emigrate to the United States. One of the possible explanations is the enormous wage gap between Mexico and the U.S., the world’s leading power. Undoubtedly, an upward shift in wages will be one of the new president’s most important challenges.