FRESH LOOK
nalism Award for a February 2009
article about Carlos Slim—to punc-
ture Mexico’s pretentious and corrupt
elite. Her precise one-liners embellish
every paragraph. One tart example:
“[Mexico] is a country of goats graz-
ing through the hallways of power,
devouring everything in their path.”
Dresser’s critique—some may call
it a screed—spares neither the polit-
ical nor the economic elite. “Party
doesn’t matter; political affiliation
doesn’t matter; and neither does ideo-
logical affinity,” she writes. “Whoever
reaches power in Mexico—either PAN
[Partido Acción Nacional], PRI, PRD
[Partido de la Revolución Democrática],
Green Party or PANAL [Partido Nueva
Alianza]—they all seem to think the
same way: how, when and for whom
do we obtain something.”
Dresser traces the origins of such
selfishness to the bad habits devel-
oped over decades of one-party rule.
Her analysis of the old guard of the
PRI—sometimes referred to as the “di-
nosaurs”—settles on the group of po-
litical operators who paved the way
for one of Mexico’s most controver-
sial modern presidents, Carlos Sali-
nas de Gortari (1998–1994). Although a
reformer and innovator in economic
policy, Salinas failed to see the need
for political reform to sustain his free-
market agenda and build a transpar-
ent and accountable government.
“[Salinas] was an enlightened des-
pot, but a despot nonetheless,” writes
Dresser in a section titled La Famiglia
Salinas. Perhaps more disturbing is
her suggestion that the architects of
the Salinas era—and maybe Salinas
himself—are now working behind
the scenes in support of the front-
runner in the 2012 presidential elec-
tion, former PRI Governor Enrique
Peña Nieto. For what it’s worth, the
governor has denied this repeatedly.
134 Americas Quarterly WINTER 2012
that would pry open Mexico’s po-
litical system. Dresser believes they
have done little to change the under-
lying forces that have rendered Mex-
ico’s democracy weak and economic
potential limited: “Party rotation in
power does not combat corruption,
it merely expands [corruption’s] ide-
ological spectrum.”
Dresser finds the economic elite
equally irresponsible, accusing them
of undermining the nation’s potential
and future for their own gain. She de-
scribes “buddy capitalism” (capitalism
de cuates) in which the lines between
the entrepreneurial and political class
are blurred by favoritism and protec-
tionism under the thinnest veneer of
the market. Consumers, as a result,
have been left vulnerable.
The plundering of the nation’s
riches, the sacking of its resources and
the hollowing out of institutions to
serve personal interests have, according to Dresser, left Mexico a “
slumbering,” “poorly educated,” “conformist,”
and “corrupt” country where petro-riches have lulled politicians into
making consistently bad decisions.
The final chapter turns to the challenges of rebuilding her country.
“The only hope, given the diagnosis
contained in this book, is found in
those Mexicans—dedicated, brave,
and combative—who refuse to participate in the moral collapse of their
country,” she writes—and then proceeds to list a “citizenship agenda”
that would restore citizens to their
rightful place at the center of the
democracy and bring about a more
transparent and accountable government and economy.
The agenda would be aimed at developing an informed citizenry who
can demand accountability from
elected officials and the entrepreneurial class. Dresser believes this
is a practical goal, involving fundamental changes in attitudes and
outlooks that will lead to a truly democratic and more equitable society.
The agenda lists 10 critical points,
each beginning with the refrain, “
beginning today....” For example, “Be-
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