#DemocracyNotToca
My daughters They are educated for freedom. They like to decide for themselves. They have an opinion and they argue it. They are informed, sometimes better than others, but they appreciate having options to form a idea. They know how to listen and, even if they don't prefer it, they accept when they don't have the reason. It is extremely difficult for them to obey blindly. They are disciplined, but never submissive. They feel part of the whole, they appreciate the difference. They hate conforming to what is dictated to them, as much as the injustice. They recognize the worth of the TRUE and, however painful it may be, they prefer it over lies. He gives them hope.
Your opinion on the policy It is complex. One likes causes. Embrace the weakest. The other understands better the dynamics of the can. But he identifies it as a dehumanized world. When I observe the courage with which they defend their beliefs, often against the preference of their parents, I think that we did “something” right. Educate for the freedom demands responsibility. That is why I will march today, to assume my responsibility. And you, do you have any responsibility to defend?
Today's march in more than 100 cities is equivalent to the Plaza de Tlatelolco on October 2, 1968. Its historical significance has such a degree of similarity that today we defend the foundations of freedom that were laid there. The claim is for the country we inhabit. Yes, ours, everyone's, our children's and our grandparents'; It is not one man's country. Never more!
Defending democracy means defending our way of living together. “I may not agree with you, but I will defend your right to disagree with my life,” is how Voltaire said it.
Mexico is a very diverse country. Different cultures. Different regions. Different ways of thinking. Different ways of living. We only build community from difference. That is why the conflict, far from surprising us, let us recognize it as the most natural thing for democracy. It is normal that, being different, we have differences. The important thing is to respect disagreement. Why the insistence on “erasing from the map” anyone who thinks differently than who is in POWER?
The problem is not the conflict. The difficulty is not finding a way to agree and resolve it. Mexico resolved that “dilemma” decades ago. He made voting the instrument for change, and elections the only way to access power. Let people decide what they want, how they want and by whom they want, but without traps from the government. No blackmail. No threats. Without fear.
We had already agreed on the vote, the elections and the conditions for the competition. Today they want to take us back in time. Without autonomous bodies, without INE, with a “trained” Judiciary, without balance. With concentrated and closed power. Government, not citizen. That is why we came out to defend the INE, that November 13, 2022; That is why the defense of the vote and its guarantors, on February 26, 2023. Therefore, the appointment is today!
Defending democracy requires returning the value to words and their inseparable link with facts. There is nothing like the word at the service of a great political cause. Populism is fought with the truth. That is the political challenge of our time. I think about it every time I observe with admiration the character of my daughters. This is how we believe, those of us who DO NOT believe.
We see today. Rain, shine or lightning.
So be it.
Juan Alfonso Mejía is a Doctor in Political Science and a social activist in favor of education
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