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dpa
Mexico City
Should former Mexican presidents be prosecuted for alleged crimes committed while in office? That is the question facing voters nationwide on Sunday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says.
It’s a query of considerable political and moral gravity in a country where de facto impunity has long shielded politicians, especially former chiefs of state, from facing justice for corruption and other misconduct.
Even before a single vote has been cast, the exercise has devolved into a polemical shouting match between the president and his detractors.
Lopez Obrador calls the vote a moral imperative. His critics call it a performative act of political theater and score-settling.
Moreover, the question facing the electorate is cloaked in so many ambiguities that it’s unclear what effect the vote will ultimately have.
Lopez Obrador has long championed the referendum - technically a consulta, or consultation - casting it as a transcendent moment of people power.
“The people must always have the reins of power in their hands,” Lopez Obrador told reporters on Friday.
“It’s very important that people realize that being in a representative democracy doesn’t mean that you only participate every three or every six years.”
Few disagree. But his opponents see the vote as a self-righteous ploy meant to exact revenge on longtime political adversaries and deflect attention from Lopez Obrador’s many deficiencies: botching the pandemic response, failing to curb spiraling crime and overseeing a lackluster economy.
Former President Vicente Fox has called the vote a “farce” and urged people not to participate.
“It’s a waste of time,” concurred Arturo Macias Lopez, 45, a geography teacher in the capital. “It’s all show ... one more distraction from Lopez Obrador and his terrible governing.” In fact, there is no current legal impediment barring prosecution of ex-presidents.
Luis Echeverria, who served as head of state from 1970 to 1976, was accused in 2006 of genocide stemming from a pair of massacres - one while he was president, the other when he was national security chief. Echeverria, now 99, was cleared in 2009.
Five other ex-presidents remain alive and could theoretically be subject to prosecution - as could Lopez Obrador in the future.
Posters of the five with red labels emblazoned across their faces reading “Fraud” and “Narco-government” have appeared across the country, though it is unclear who is financing the campaign.
Bombshell allegations tying three ex-presidents to corruption have emerged from Emilio Lozoya, a former chief of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the state energy behemoth, who was extradited to Mexico from Spain last year on bribery and other charges. But Lozoya’s allegations have yet to yield indictments against former leaders.
Sunday’s election is the latest plebiscite backed by Lopez Obrador since he was elected in 2018 on an anticorruption platform.
Other votes have sought citizen input on everything from a new airport to a tourist train megaproject to a new brewery. Turnout has been low, and critics have assailed the process as rigged.
Mexico City
Should former Mexican presidents be prosecuted for alleged crimes committed while in office? That is the question facing voters nationwide on Sunday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says.
It’s a query of considerable political and moral gravity in a country where de facto impunity has long shielded politicians, especially former chiefs of state, from facing justice for corruption and other misconduct.
Even before a single vote has been cast, the exercise has devolved into a polemical shouting match between the president and his detractors.
Lopez Obrador calls the vote a moral imperative. His critics call it a performative act of political theater and score-settling.
Moreover, the question facing the electorate is cloaked in so many ambiguities that it’s unclear what effect the vote will ultimately have.
Lopez Obrador has long championed the referendum - technically a consulta, or consultation - casting it as a transcendent moment of people power.
“The people must always have the reins of power in their hands,” Lopez Obrador told reporters on Friday.
“It’s very important that people realize that being in a representative democracy doesn’t mean that you only participate every three or every six years.”
Few disagree. But his opponents see the vote as a self-righteous ploy meant to exact revenge on longtime political adversaries and deflect attention from Lopez Obrador’s many deficiencies: botching the pandemic response, failing to curb spiraling crime and overseeing a lackluster economy.
Former President Vicente Fox has called the vote a “farce” and urged people not to participate.
“It’s a waste of time,” concurred Arturo Macias Lopez, 45, a geography teacher in the capital. “It’s all show ... one more distraction from Lopez Obrador and his terrible governing.” In fact, there is no current legal impediment barring prosecution of ex-presidents.
Luis Echeverria, who served as head of state from 1970 to 1976, was accused in 2006 of genocide stemming from a pair of massacres - one while he was president, the other when he was national security chief. Echeverria, now 99, was cleared in 2009.
Five other ex-presidents remain alive and could theoretically be subject to prosecution - as could Lopez Obrador in the future.
Posters of the five with red labels emblazoned across their faces reading “Fraud” and “Narco-government” have appeared across the country, though it is unclear who is financing the campaign.
Bombshell allegations tying three ex-presidents to corruption have emerged from Emilio Lozoya, a former chief of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the state energy behemoth, who was extradited to Mexico from Spain last year on bribery and other charges. But Lozoya’s allegations have yet to yield indictments against former leaders.
Sunday’s election is the latest plebiscite backed by Lopez Obrador since he was elected in 2018 on an anticorruption platform.
Other votes have sought citizen input on everything from a new airport to a tourist train megaproject to a new brewery. Turnout has been low, and critics have assailed the process as rigged.
