The thinker and comedian Diego Silverio Saavedra Lara warns that an eventual failure of the progressive left could lead to another Bolsonaro to the power in Mexico. We continue with Diego's weekly column in San Diego Red.

In 2006 Andres Manuel competed in his first election in Latin America, the so-called “pink tide” started developing. Basically, these were some of the progressive governments: Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Lula da Silva in Brazil, Cristina Kitchener in Argentina, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Jose Mujica in Uruguay and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

To complete the entelechy it was necessary for a Mexican to dive in the tide, but the 2006 Mexican history is well known.

After 12 years of that situation, Andres Manuel has arrived. However, the tide is already low. The tide is so low that Lula da Silva is in prison and the Brazilians are prepared to be governed by such a fascist figure that it even seems like a bad joke.

Far from playing the role of a futurologist, I would like to explore some concerns as a result of the rise to power of the “left in Mexico” and the ultra right in Brazil. I am not the first one to point out that the end of the progressive governments in Brazil and Argentina can provide real life lessons, for when the AMLO administration ends up in 2022 to the right party.

The popular spirit is undeniable after the defeat of the PRI and PAN political parties in the elections held on the first of July. This does not necessarily mean that “the people” has turned to the left. There are several situations like the migrant caravan and the consultation of the continuity of the NAIM (for its initials in Spanish), that have helped the typical classist and xenophobic statements of the right to invade the public space.

I do not intend to defend the decision to cancel the project of the new airport, but I find the tone used in the criticisms enlightening. These criticisms seemed angrier that the future of Public Works was subject to the mechanisms of popular decision. For example, the journalist Fernanda Familiar urged the businesses to intervene in the community to “put things in order”.

EMPRESARIOS MEXICANOS: Ustedes tienen la fuerza para detener este acto ilegal de AMLO y evitar que México inicie quebrado. Súmense y pongan orden. La democracia no puede ser trastocada y si frena el crecimiento del México, no podrá intentar dismininuir la desigualdad social.

— Fernanda Familiar (@qtf) October 29, 2018

In a less confrontational tone, some journalists made a remark about the economic risk of cancellation by choosing economic interests above the democratic. To support their argument, they used the rating agencies and the ups and downs in the exchange rate.

Abraham Mendieta, pointed out in his column last Sunday in San Diego Red, that the right is in a state of uncertainty between Calderonism and Anayism. It seems to me that even though this shows the outlook of the PAN political party, the prospect of the Mexican right spectrum is still not defined and leaves aside certain expressions started to emerge when the electoral campaigns started. I mean, that "libertarian" sensibility that surfaces today when the right calls to march in favor of the continuation of the airport.

This emerging new sensibility includes in its flags an unwavering stand for anticommunism, antifeminism, political incorrectness and the dogma of the free market, pages like Tumbaburros.

The fall of Lula was mainly due to the combination of the judicial branch and what is known as the 4th Power. In the Mexican setting, the electoral opposition continues to maintain an ideological affinity with many communicators such as "Fernanda Familiar".

The rise of Bolsonaro is not only due to Lula's imprisonment, but also to the cultural battle that the middle classes have begun to avoid. Issues such as abortion and sexual diversity are very profitable for the right.

The next administration has promised a progressive agenda whose success or failure is not only played by its permanence in power. An eventual failure could end up empowering this emerging crypto-fascist sensibility. If the liberal progressivism fails, it is almost always due to the inherent contradictions in capitalism. Or for its contempt.

For now, we will see how much strength the right can show in the "snob march" summoned for November 11.

"Somos libertarios, no de derecha"

-Los de derecha.

— Tyto Alba⚑ (@profeanarquista) November 1, 2018

Diego is co-author of the podcast and YouTube Channel Chalino Marx. He has a degree in History from the Autonomous University of Baja California and a teaching in Social Sciences. During his years of academic training he worked as a research assistant at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, in the Social Studies department. He has participated as a speaker in multiple conferences and conferences, as well as a researcher specialized in the Management of Research and Documentation of Arts at CECUT.