On October 3 in the City of Mexico, an important meeting was held in which the progressive forces of the Mexican left formed a unitary space. The attendees agreed to name this space the Patriotic Union for the Rescue of the Nation (UPRN, Spanish acronym). Opened by Miguel Concha Malo, the founding assembly was attended by nearly a thousand participants representing 170 organizations from across the spectrum of movements, unions, socio-political groups and civil society and originating in at least fifteen states of the Republic of Mexico.
Convened by all organizations belonging to the Proclamation for the Rescue of the Nation, the participants agreed on the assessment that the country is going through a national emergency, which puts at risk the very existence of the people and the Mexican nation as sovereign and independent entities. It argues that the crisis of capitalism and the decline of the United States, together with transnational and neoliberal policies, have accelerated the old imperialist plans to occupy and dismantle our country, with the objective of stripping us of the sources of wealth [natural resources] that still remain.
Mexico suffers from a process of comprehensive neo-colonial occupation through free trade agreements, security and energy matters, while significant portions of the territory are being handed over to multinational corporations and organized crime. U.S. government interference in defining the direction of the country is now overwhelming. Just as it defines trade policies, mining, education and financial laws, it also imposes the cultivation of genetically modified [corn], consumption of junk foods and the use of banned drugs. Just as the U.S. government decides who is to occupy key positions in the armed forces and police, its agents control the airspace, the ports and local intelligence systems.
The Patriotic Union for the Rescue of the Nation spoke out against the so-called Pact for Mexico, signed by the three parties that make up a majority in the Congress, because the UPRN believes the Pact favors corporations and foreign governments, and that the Pact was decided by the leadership of the political class without either the support or participation of citizens. It is considered to be a pact by the traitorous political class in order to deepen neoliberal policies, dispossession [of land and natural resources] and authoritarianism. This pact determines the so-called "structural reforms": to the work environment, educational-labor-administrative and now for the energy, which will mean the total denationalization of oil revenues, the privatization not only of Pemex but of the entire energy and mining sectors, while increasing prices of services, of gasoline and charging more taxes and a greater proportion of the middle and popular [lower] "classes."
The Patriotic Union's founding document is against the so-called education reform because of its violation of the labor rights of teachers, because of its punitive character and for not taking into account the teachers themselves for putting it into practice. It is considered that there are elements that constitute the crime of treason by Enrique Peña Nieto, his officials and those responsible in previous governments. Consequently, there is agreement to initiate a complaint of facts and an impeachment.
It is believed that the sowing of chaos and fear, as well as the human catastrophe that Mexico is suffering, are phenomena derived from the criminal economy and from a strategy of war that under U.S. guidance makes media dictatorship and the supposed fight against organized crime their principal means for legitimizing the growing militarization and imposition of control over social movements, development of counterinsurgency efforts and the criminalization of resistance movements.
On October 7 the National Coordinating Committee of the Patriotic Union met and resolved to hold a press conference on October 9. Coming events are:
- Friday, October 11: With the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME ), the UPRN will conduct a symbolic toma [seizure] of four work centers of Luz y Fuerza del Centro [Central Light and Power] and the Department of Energy, along with the National Assembly of Electric Power Users.
- Saturday, October 12: In Mexico City, a march will be held of all the organizations that make up the Patriotic Union. The march will leave at noon from the Monument to the Boy Heroes and march to the Zócalo.
- October 17-20: The exodus will be carried out in defense of the oil, national sovereignty and the rights of the people, which will leave from the states headed for Mexico City. At the same time, media campaigns and information sessions will be carried out to publicize the political platform of the Patriotic Union. A "call" will be issued to all related civic, social and political organizations for the construction of the UPRN in all states of the Republic.
- Alberto Patishtán, Simitrio and all political prisoners in general;
- Community policing and the right to self-defense;
- Victims of Mexican State corruption in natural disasters;
- Native peoples and the San Andrés Accords; and
- End to the repression against the struggling people.
*Gilberto López y Rivas is an anthropologist and researcher for Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in the state of Morelos. He holds the doctorate in anthropology from the University of Utah. He was active in the 1968 student movement and has served in the federal Chamber of Deputies.