TIJUANA.- Pedro Kumamoto, the twenty five year old independent state congressman elect from the state of Jalisco, packed the house at Tijuana's Cultural Center last night for a lecture put together by Tijuana's Jesuit university, IBERO. The ITESO (Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education) grad and former study body president of his university, is a rising star in Mexico. The event was attended by many of the who's who in local Tijuana politics, owners of media, private sector business leaders and a few hundred university students.

Kumamoto made national and international headlines earlier this summer, when he won a seat in Jalisco's local congress via an independent campaign and with his only funding being the minimum allowed by law in public money that is given to candidates. The distinguished gentleman from the great state of Jalisco has been on a celebrity-like tour, filling capacity crowds wherever he speaks. Although he has not served a day in congress yet, the millennial is a source of inspiration for a whole generation of Mexicans that have given up on civic engagement. Corruption, violence, impunity and a general lack of trust towards elected officials have not helped Mexico. Voter turnout is lower than ever due to the complete distrust the general population has for elected officials, whom we usually hear about from stories of corruption, scandals and misuse of public money for personal gain and not because of inspiring speeches or grassroots campaigns.

The newly elected congressman spoke of his movement, Wikipolitica, to the capacity crowd. The ''Wikipolitics'' movement was created by a group of 15 people in Zapopan, Jalisco. Their movement looks to bring back politics to the people, empower youth through information and transparency. He spoke of power being kidnapped by the ruling political class in Mexico, reminiscent of leftwing powerhouse Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Kumamoto mentioned that his campaign was difficult, first using the seven thousand pesos (about $500.00 USD) given to him by the State to fund a door to door grassroots campaign, collecting eight thousand signatures from friends, family and neighbors in Zapopan.

In the second phase, once he was an official candidate, his movement would respect the the campaign spending limits set by law, but which hardly any campaign respects, 222,000 pesos (Less than $20,000 USD) donated by 79 people, with none allowed to donate more than seven thousand pesos per person. Kumamoto joked that he would canvass neighborhoods, knocking hundreds of doors daily and smelling like it, telling people at the door "I'm stinky, I'm sweating, I'm young and I want to be your congressman."

Their work ethic and their grassroots movement prevailed, gaining more than fifty two thousand votes, crushing any other candidate from the traditional party system. The first independent campaign of it's kind to prevail in Mexico.

When speaking of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN, as he's is referred in the press sometimes) in Tijuana, Kumamoto compared him to "deodorant." The reference is a striking statement, while online chatter about the president of Mexico is harsh, it's rare to hear elected officials speak of him in this way.

Once a country of strict presidential rule, where the ever powerful Presidente had no opposition, and any vocal dissidents would be punished, Mexico now has a voice to fight it's past woes. Young Kumamoto is valiant in his stance to empower voters. His beliefs of making a transparent and functional rule of law differ from the traditions of the political class.

While the President has been criticized for a whole barrage of things, reading, writing and speaking have been some of the President's weak spots. Aside from all the narco and political violence, EPN is seen by many as a joke, someone who waves, looks good but it not not the sharpest tool in the shed. EPN is an airhead, or as Kumamoto puts it "deodorant" but the stink of political corruption, vote buying and political scandals is far from gone.

New approaches are needed, and Kumamoto's speeches and grassroots campaigning is only comparable to that of Obama 2008. He goes beyond the rhetoric of others trying to sway Mexico into a new political future because of his remarkably young age. He inspires youth and many times was cheered and applauded by the Tijuana crowd. The young congressman elect even dresses like the youth of today, sporting tennis shoes and jeans during the conference.

During the question and answer session with the crowd, things heated up. The first two rows of the venue were reserved and organizers denied seating to many students who saw the empty seats of the otherwise packed house. Later on, two of Tijuana's aspiring independent candidates for mayor in 2016 showed up along with their entourage and sat in the first two rows. Kumamoto expressed his concern for people without seats and urged them to sit in front in some of the empty seats. After the speech, during a question and answer session, some of the attendees expressed their discomfort for the VIP treatment these two aspiring independent candidates and their people received, saying it was that special treatment of the elite political class that has to change.

The crowd roared!

Another attendee asked Kumamoto if he would back some of these so called independent candidates, mentioning that one of them had been kicked out of a political party and sought being mayor because he was rich and would go independent. Kumamoto answered by saying he was not there to support any independent campaigns and urged the crowd to make up their own minds when it came to voting. Various times during his speech, Kumamoto negatively mentioned the way politicians move around in bulletproof SUV's and with bodyguards. One of the the aspiring "independent" candidates in attendance had both.

Kumamoto shines as an orator. His all inclusive plan of politics and campaigning is a true success story and a source of inspiration, unique in all of Mexico. During the Q&A session of the lecture, the elephant in the room was let out. The first question directed to the twenty five-year-old was about how he was actually going to govern once in office. The attendee who asked the question even compared Mexican politicians to a pack of wolves. Kumamoto was vague in his answers, repeating that his way was new and all inclusive with people from all walks of society. While he can fill venues with hopeful young students and is a breath of fresh air to a stagnant Mexican electoral process, the true test remains.

Can Kumamoto carry on his positive attitude and all inclusive way of ''wikipolitics'' once in office? The wolves are hungry for young blood, let's hope Kumamoto is a dragon.

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