Among his greatest cheerleaders has been Jacobin, a publication associated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which openly campaigned for Sheinbaum. Edwin Ackerman, a frequent contributor, recently celebrated Morena’s efforts “to relegitimize the state as a social actor and to reignite class politics.” He adds:
In sum, the return to class politics extends beyond Mexico’s polarized national discourse. It is also reflected in the stark political realignment underway. After six years of policies benefiting workers and the poor, Morena seems poised to continue its efforts at installing a reformed, post-neoliberal regime.
Only the most treacherous political forces would claim that Morena represents working class politics while celebrating the strengthening of the capitalist state, whose role is to subjugate workers to the bourgeoisie and imperialism. In order to do this, Ackerman gives an entirely one-sided balance of AMLO’s social policies.
Under his administration, the share of the population living below the official poverty line dropped from 43.9 percent to 36.3 percent in 2022. This was mainly the result of an increase in the monthly minimum wage from an extremely low starting point of 2,650 pesos per month to 7,468 (US$390), and limited social assistance programs. But this is only part of the story.
The average wage in the formal sector merely grew 14 percent in six years from 6,907 pesos to 7,878 pesos (US$407) per month, and to 4,680 (US$242) in the informal sector, which is not covered by the minimum wage. Informality did not budge and continues to affect over half of the workforce.
In other words, the average pay in the formal sector remains extremely low, at just US$2 per hour.
During his term, five million employed workers fell below the poverty line if measured by the basket of staple food and non-food goods and services, with the percentage growing from 65 to 68 percent since AMLO took power. Extreme poverty also increased.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, López Obrador implemented an austerity regime in the healthcare system, including mass layoffs. This resulted in an increase of those without access to healthcare from 20.1 million in 2018 to 50.4 million in 2022.
For the poor, the criminal response to the pandemic was probably AMLO’s most impactful policy. A recent report by an Independent Research Commission found that between 2020 and 2023, there were 808,619 excess deaths.
In public education, over six years, spending per student remained stagnant, which led to a massive fall in reading comprehension, math and science test results, and merely a one-year increase in schooling from nine to ten years for working age adults.
The vote by 36 million people for Sheinbaum and the supermajorities won by the ruling coalition in Congress have sent shivers up the spines of the ruling class. The vote reflected explosive popular expectations of major social improvements, even as imperialism demands greater incentives, above all cheap wages and social austerity. The result will be a growing reliance on open repression and the use of the armed forces to contain the class struggle and maintain supply chain security.
In other words, the Sheinbaum administration will be marked by a massive intensification of the class struggle.
The most urgent task is to build a political leadership that will help the working class break with all illusions in capitalist politics and instead turn to unite the coming class battles across the border and internationally. These must be consciously directed at halting imperialist war and the genocide in Gaza in their tracks by overthrowing the capitalist system that produces war, poverty and inequality. This means the building of sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International in Mexico, Latin America and beyond.
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Publish date : 2024-10-10 13:08:00
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