On Tuesday, La Jornada published an interview by Angelica Enciso with biologist Julia Carabias on the disaster caused by storms Ingrid and Manuel, whose consequences have led to a broad effort of collective solidarity, but the dangers have not disappeared. As the former Secretary of Natural Resources [under President Ernesto Zedillo, 1994-2000] says, even though Mexico is located in an area of high vulnerability to extreme hydro-meteorological phenomena, the extent of the damage cannot be explained by the destructive force of nature. Behind the humanitarian tragedy, there are definitely omissions, erroneous decisions, rampant impunity, abuses. In other words, there is a political dimension and, therefore, specific callings to account are to be demanded.
However, the emergence of ecological awareness, i.e., a true culture of conservation of natural resources is sometimes limited to "green washing" of facades or outrageous advertising campaigns that hardly will change the habits and consumption patterns of a society oriented to manufacturing waste. This environmentalism "light" will have little influence in preventing the building of houses along rivers or curbing the corruption that dominates in the changes of land use promoted by real estate companies with the complicity of the authorities at all levels.
To start establishing the political dimensions of the problem, and not miss the forest for the trees, Carabias begins by highlighting the marginalization of environmental issues in all development plans and concludes with a discouraging statement:
"Nature isn't being given enough respect, that is a fact."She also warns that not only are the negative effects of climate change being ignored, but there is a refusal to apply environmental policy instruments that are available to prevent the consequences as much as possible. It seems incredible, but true. According to the National Climate Change Strategy, we should be keeping an eye on the ecological structure of the national territory and the risk atlas, implemented at local and regional scales, but they are not updated, nor are other preventive measures implemented.
She cites the case of Acapulco, ravaged by Hurricane Paulina in 1997, where
"the foundations for ecological management of the municipality were established, but neither local nor federal authorities continued with it and it was forgotten."Uncontrolled urbanization went wild for the exclusive benefit of the subdivision developers and real estate businesses that flourished by means of land conflicts caused by land grabbers. Nothing stopped them: wetlands that were part of the Tres Palos Lagoon and the coast
"were palm groves and overflow areas for the lagoon. Now are they are department stores, hotels, subdivisions, streets ..."The images from the storms leave little to the imagination: the vast majority of victims were already poor before the emergency: they lived in places that no one dared to occupy because of their obvious risks. It isn't a matter of chance. The fragility of society to deal with extreme situations such as the current one is directly related to the continuing degradation of the conditions of existence of large sectors of the population who are devoid of true representation and cornered by the impoverishment resulting from stalled economic development, which fails to prevent the worst scenarios.
The absence of a comprehensive policy capable of making the interchange between society and nature more rational goes along with the notion that inequality can be reduced by specific programs to combat poverty [the Peña Nieto government's Campaign Against Hunger]; in short, they do not change the general course of productive activities. Basically, the political uses of poverty have condemned millions to live at risk, while an absolute minority benefits from "progress" or modernity, even when the economic crisis impedes growth. Thus, while the environment is destroyed, the social fabric is weakened, as well as the responsiveness of the state.
If the prompt action of the president to the emergency is healthy, the weakness (or omission) of states and municipalities to meet their obligations before and after the passage of storms is also notorious. It is obvious that at this point things can't go on like this. A thorough reform at all levels of government is needed to bring it into line with present realities, but it is clear that no reflection will be useful while Mexico's problems are seen through a glass that fragments them into watertight compartments without an idea of the future that points to national objectives.
The catastrophe through which whole regions of the country are living should make us think about the urgency of advancing changes that can in no way be limited to the so-called "structural reforms" that are presented today as panaceas for reversing inequality. The fight against corruption cannot be only a matter of administrative court cases (which it also is). It implies a profound moral and political change that will not come if one insists on keeping the principles and values that have brought us to this point.
We must establish a new relationship with nature, giving citizens the means to protect themselves. And that means rebuilding institutions, reducing inequality, creating the rule of law, promoting growth with equity, i.e., what we used to call a new national project. Spanish original
*Adolfo Sánchez Rebolledo (b. 1942) is both an activist and journalist. A delegate to the First Latin American Youth Congress in Havana (1960), he took part in the solidarity movement with Vietnam and other leftist causes. As a correspondent for InterPress Service, he covered the 1968 student movement. A former communist and socialist, he was one of the founders of the PRD, but left shortly afterwards. A co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Democratic Transition (1989), he is a member of its governing board. Sánchez writes a weekly column for La Jornada.