The new demonstration called for next Sunday the 18th will be a key barometer to reflect the citizen mood against the López Obrador government and, in particular, against its “Plan C” of constitutional reforms. The imminent start of the campaigns will also allow us to estimate to what extent the mood adverse to the ruling party may be translated into votes for the opposition front and its candidates.
Two previous marches, that of November 13, 2022 and that of February 27, 2023, targeted not the National Palace, but the federal Congress – which was holding sessions at both times. A similar approach will now undoubtedly highlight the call for Morena and his allies to lose weight in the national and local legislative powers – which will be renewed in all states, except Coahuila.
On those occasions the response of interest came from López Obrador himself. Now the scenario will be different, since important attention will be directed towards the presidential candidates Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez. His position, whatever it may be, will influence the public mood when the polls are already in sight. There will be plenty of those who foresee an incendiary condemnation by Sheinbaum, but perhaps she would add more to it with a serene attitude, with an open hand even for those who do not agree with her movement.
As for Mrs. Gálvez, her risk will not be less, perhaps on the contrary. A successful march – even if posters with her name are displayed – would be an excellent opportunity to relaunch her cause, but appropriating a massive impulse that will not necessarily have her at the center of it, can impose a harmful opportunistic tinge. . Urged for greater projection, Xóchitl faces more dangerous temptations.
The same can be said for the electoral dispute for the government of Mexico City. The march will have the capital as a sounding board, so many eyes will focus on what both Clara Brugada, the ruling party’s standard-bearer, and the opposition candidate, Santiago Taboada, do and say that Sunday and the following days, who until now They seem to be close in voting intentions. What happens in the political center of the country will mark the electoral balance of 2024. It will be better for both of them to show relevance to the 18F.
The organizers of this new mobilization assure that the commitment sealed with civic, business and political organizations is notably greater than on the two previous occasions. The planning scheme that was shown to this columnist a few days ago already projected mobilizations that day in more than 80 cities in the country and in at least half a dozen metropolises abroad.
The various organizations that support Xóchitl Gálvez’s campaign called themselves “The Pink Tide” for months, in reference to the color used in previous mobilizations that was identified with that of the INE, whose defense brought together those hundreds of thousands of people. Xóchitl herself has asked them to change the concept to “Fuerza Rosa”, but what is really important is that it is a structure that operates in parallel to the leadership of the PAN-PRI-PRD bloc that nominates the Hidalgo activist.
In the organizational meetings, figures such as Ernesto Ruffo, Emilio Álvarez Icaza, Cecilia Soto, Santiago Creel, Amado Avendaño and Guadalupe Acosta Naranjo stand out. The presence at these tables of Claudio The testimonies collected about such meetings suggest that González has diminished his influence profile. “He acts as a facilitator,” the consulted sources agreed.
However, it is clear that the dimension of the two previous mobilizations exceeded the real scope of the organizations that presented themselves as conveners. The voices that were expressed those times came from our crack as a nation. They will probably do it again. And when people express that crack, that wound, there is a route in sight, the supposed leaders must follow it. Or at least, listen carefully.