The 1980s were marked by exponential growth of the maquiladora plants in Ciudad Juárez, which brought with it a shortage of labor for the industry. To reverse this, the Human Resources departments of the maquiladoras employed a strategy to retain and avoid the turnover of personnel (mainly male and female workers) by giving out various incentives such as punctuality, transportation and cafeteria bonuses. At first, the plant managers believed that these benefits would only generate losses for the companies and it was difficult for the top executives of the corporations to accept them. However, it was all a matter of socializing the idea among the owners of the maquiladoras by the local executives to make them see the convenience of the incentives. Something similar occurred with salaries; there were decades of an erroneous paradigm that held that the less workers were paid, the more and better investments would come to the border. This paradigm was broken with the arrival of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who implemented a salary policy on the border that substantially improved the income of workers. Contrary to what local managers and the owners of the land where the maquiladoras have been installed (I am referring to the Juarez oligarchy) feared: that the maquiladoras would be driven away, that unemployment would grow and that great calamities would come to our border, none of that happened. On the contrary, the border economy has had a very noticeable takeoff, workers have done much better, Juárez is a good place to invest and merchants at all levels, from the street vendor to the real estate market, have done good business, also supported by a fiscal policy in line with our border. What can be said about the phrase “danger to Mexico” that for years was coined by some sectors associated with the business chambers and handled the ominous idea of disaster if AMLO came to the Presidency; that we would become communists, that we would be like Cuba or Venezuela, that our currency would no longer be worth anything, etc. None of that happened. On the contrary, despite having to face a large-scale pandemic, combined with having received a public health system in deplorable conditions, we moved forward and with a country led by honesty, republican austerity, the well-being of the most unprotected, the reduction of poverty and inequalities, the disconnection of political power from economic power, our country, for the first time in a long time, will have a smooth transition, without devaluations or economic crises and with a continuity of the great transformations that have benefited millions of Mexicans. In the presidential campaign, “fake news” once again echoed among some business sectors and part of the “aspiring to be fifi” society, spreading the word that there would be reforms that would not allow anyone to have more than one house, that if Claudia Sheinbaum won, the houses would be confiscated by the government, that churches would be closed and even that she was linked to drug trafficking. Right now, about to be sworn in as the first female president of Mexico, the myths have been collapsed one by one. In the last days of the López Obrador government and the formal start of the transition work, as well as the arrival of a new legislature composed mainly thanks to the mandate of the People by the coalition “Let’s Continue Making History” the main topic of debate is the reform of the Judicial Branch; The fatalistic predictions from the same sectors that took advantage of low wages and inequality, that supported electoral fraud, that launched a media campaign sponsored with large amounts of money against AMLO full of lies and false arguments, that were also participants or at least believed the falsehoods against our president during the campaign, are now “very concerned” about the supposedly negative consequences of the reform. They say that there will be authoritarianism from the executive to the judicial branch, that the requirements to be a minister, magistrate or judge are very lax and that “whoever wants to” or “anyone” (that is how they contemptuously handle it) could become a judge; that the rule of law will disappear and “the donkey will return to the corn” with which investments will be scared away, the currency will be devalued and even that it is a risk for democracy. Of course, all these versions and fears do not originate from foreign investors who, as I gave the example of the maquiladora and the bonuses to the workers, are always willing to create the best conditions for their businesses, which often (not always) coincide with favorable conditions for the workers, but who are not always well informed by their Mexican connections (called managers, partners or promoters) who, in a distorted vision of business, for a long time auctioned off the efforts of the workers as “cheap labor,” as it was called by the same people who benefited from the expansion of the maquiladora, often the owners of the land and industrial parks where the industrial buildings are installed; that is, the intermediaries, who are also linked to the same chambers and business organizations which have participated (along with the PRIAN) in the intense media campaigns to unfairly disqualify most of the transformative proposals, from welfare programs to infrastructure works. Given the will of the People, which was unquestionably demonstrated on June 2, by supporting with their vote the proposals of the Morena, PT and Verde candidates, which were very clear, and we always spoke of “Plan C”, which consists of achieving those reforms proposed by AMLO and which did not proceed either due to not having a qualified majority and/or due to obstruction by the ministers of the Court. With “Plan C” underway and after a series of open forums and discussions in the Chamber of Deputies, the reform of the Judicial Branch is on the right track. With the anti-patriotism that characterizes conservative politicians (demonstrated since they brought back to Mexico the dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna from his exile in Colombia), they have now extended their catastrophic version (without solid arguments) to the United States government against the reform, which without any conclusive element and also intervening in purely internal issues of our country, takes sides, I suppose without malice, but deceived by the same intermediaries and their political parties, trying to generate animosity towards the reform. The reality is that the judiciary is one of the last bastions of the old regime. The work of the ministers of the Court, magistrates and judges (not all) in Mexico has been tainted by protecting the interests of a few in decisions associated with corruption. From structural proposals such as the Electric Reform that sought to reverse the damage caused to the country in the neoliberal era, to administrative issues such as the high salaries of ministers and magistrates have been stopped by the Court, with the ministers being the first to violate the Constitution in regards to republican austerity. In other words, the gilded bureaucracy in the Judiciary is maintained. The political motives of the ministers have been conceived from the moment of their designation, and the current model requires a presidential proposal and then a political consensus between the parties to be a minister. What democracy and what separation of powers? That is what is intended to be transformed, that it is the People who choose from among candidates who meet the requirements of experience, knowledge and career necessary to fulfill a high level of responsibility. How does that affect investments and business? In no way, on the contrary, it strengthens a true separation of powers and eliminates the “perpetual gratitude” that the ministers have towards the president or political party in turn that proposed them. This model truly puts democracy at risk, contradicting the position of the United States ambassador. Now, Chihuahua is the living example of the manipulation of Justice and the lack of separation of powers with a judicial system closely linked to the political power of the Executive. We must remember how César Duarte appointed the magistrates and judges of the local Judicial Branch, most of them without a judicial career, some of them had never even litigated, he made his friends and associates judges, the same ones who now denounce the federal reform arguing that “anyone” can be a judge or magistrate; the height of shamelessness. In Chihuahua we cannot forget that the current governor saved her candidacy and jail thanks to the very questionable intervention of federal judges who granted her protection to continue her campaign instead of facing justice for her participation in the secret payroll of former governor Duarte Jáquez. Once in office she promoted a judicial reform so that, in the Duarte style, the presidency and majority of the Superior Court of Justice would be her way, but not before ousting the previous president of the same Court so that everything would be her way. What is happening in Chihuahua with the Justice system is the best example of what should not continue and should be reformed. To the workers of the Judiciary, I confirm that it is very clear that the reform does not contain any fraud or violation of their rights, on the contrary, the Judiciary will be stronger and more autonomous, it will finally shake off the political-party interests that have influenced (for the worse) its management for so long. To businessmen and investors: Just as the economic bonuses for workers, as well as the salary increases were initially handled negatively from a financial point of view, but once addressed from the productivity and competitiveness point of view it was concluded that it has been for the benefit of all, something similar occurs with the reform to the Judiciary, unfounded rumors are unleashed, but at the end of the day much better conditions will be established for our society, of which they are a fundamental part.
#Progress #fruit #justice