Mumia Abu-Jamal -- The Other Invasions!

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Suryu
April 30, 2007

The presidential elections are over, but the real battle over Mexico's future is being fought outside of electoral politics. Two powerful figures have launched other kinds of political campaigns here.

The multibillionaire Carlos Slim and the guerrilla leader Subcomandante Marcos are facing off in the struggle between the Mexico above and the Mexico below.

Carlos Slim is the richest man in Latin America and third richest man in the world. He made most of his fortune off of the controversial privatization of the national telephone monopoly, TELMEX. Slim has used his profits from TELMEX to build a massive economic empire that stretches across Latin America and into the US and Canada.

DENISE DRESSER: We have witnessed a massive transfer of wealth from the citizens of this country into his coffers. It's frequently said that Mexicans could not carry out an economic transaction on a daily basis without encountering one tentacle or other of Carlos Slim's multifaceted empire.

NARRATION: Slim is the symbol of Mexico's business class and is seen by some as the potential savior of Mexico's struggling economy.

CARLOS SLIM: Mexico can join the new world but public resources are insufficient for sustained development. The fundamental point is that private investment needs to be considered, even in public services.

NARRATION: Subcomandante Marcos is the ski-masked spokesperson for the Zapatistas, an indigenous guerrilla army.

The Zapatistas have fought off the Mexican military for 12 years and have built an independent territory outside of government control.

Marcos and the Zapatistas have become the inspiration for left-wing movements across Mexico.

SUBCOMANDATE MARCOS: We rose up against the national power, and we discovered that it did not exist. In reality we were up against big financial power which is what makes the decisions in Mexico.

NARRATION: Marcos and Slim are campaigning for competing visions of Mexico's future.

Slim's vision is articulated in 'The Chapultepec Pact' - a set of economic and political guidelines he drafted to create an environment favorable to investment in Mexico.

The Pact calls for greater private investment in the public sector, like the oil industry, deregulation, and government investment in infrastructure, social and health care projects.

Slim is traveling the country campaigning for the Pact...gathering support from 31 State governors, national politicians, business associations,religious figures including the Archbishop of Mexico and major media outlets.

Category: News & Politics

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War Iraq Vietnam 9/11 Empire Terrorism Imperialist NAFTA IMF Mexico Zapatista

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