 Welcome to what the F is going on in Latin America and the Caribbean. CodePink's weekly YouTube program of hot news out of the region. In partnership with Friends of Latin America, Massachusetts Peace Action, and Task Force on the Americas, we broadcast every Wednesday at 4.30 p.m. Pacific, 7.30 p.m. Eastern on CodePink YouTube Live. Today's episode is titled Challenging the U.S. Narrative Against Mexico. On Sunday, April 10, Mexicans went to the polls to determine whether sitting President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador should or should not remain in office to finish the remaining three years of his six-year term. Of the approximately 16 million citizens that participated, over 90% voted yes. Yes, on low, should continue his presidency. Several of the energy reforms envisioned for his remaining three years are not supported by Washington, as suggested in a series of anti-energy reform articles published by Bloomberg beginning last year. The most recent article titled Mexican Opposition Party to Vote Against AMLO's Power Bill was published April 4, just six days prior to the April 10 referendum. And then on April 22, published in the Washington Post, an opinion piece titled, AMLO has already lost half of the people who brought him to power. It is clear what Washington wants, but what do the Mexican people want? To give us some context as to the April 10 vote and the ramifications of the results is journalist Alina Duarte joining us live from Mexico City. Her words for Scene Sensora has a Sunday 1pm Eastern program live on Scene Sensora. She's also a journalist with Canal Catorce here in Mexico City. Welcome Alina. So happy to have you back on our program. Thanks for inviting me once again, Terry. It's my pleasure. So why don't we start with you giving us some background as to what led up to the April 10 referendum, where all that started, and why it was so important that it was actually carried out. Well, there's a lot going on now in Mexico. Definitely there is, I think, the most important part of this administration. In the last three years, we've seen a lot of like improving the social programs about this campaign of the media, the corporate media against AMLO's administration. And now we're seeing now the fight, the struggle, it's more visible than ever. So what we saw the last Sunday, we had a recall referendum and it's amazing because if we go back to the history of Latin America, we'll remember the referendum against Chavez in 2015. No, 2005, 2005, yeah, after the coup in 2002. And we remember that was the opposition, the one that was inviting to vote in that moment, and Chavez won with 60% of the 70% of the participation of the population at that time. It was amazing. It was incredible. He was pretty sure that he was going to win. And what we saw last Sunday here in Mexico was a total different. We saw a president calling for their supporters to participate in this referendum. This is the first time here in Mexico that we participated in something like this. This is the first time also during this administration that we participate in a consulta popular popular referendum to last year in August, calling for a trial for the former president. So we are transitioning to participate in democracy in our country, I'm sure about that. And last Sunday, we needed the 40% of the total of the population that can vote to participate in this referendum, only participated 20% the opposition in this country didn't want to participate. They said that it was only to legitimate Amlos administration. And of course they were right. Amlo was pretty sure that he was going to win. He is one of the most of the presidents more with more with most of the support like in general in planet in the globe. He is I think the second one and with this support is around in the even in conservative polls. He has around 60% of the support of the population, but we're pretty sure that it's around 70% and it's a lot considering that we are, we're still like at the end, but we're still in the pandemic under a pandemic, and he has a lot of support so a around 20, and it was 27 million people participated last Sunday, and more than 90% said yes today to the president to continue the his mandate. And it was amazing simply amazing because we had an electoral Institute against the population against the operator ismo against the president and against these so called for transformation, the fourth transformation here in our country. So even when we had everything against this referendum people participated. It was, it was not a surprise Amlo has a lot of support, specifically, he has more support after the elections in 2018. We were under neoliberal almost dictatorship under pre and after with the pan in this country. So people were really, really tired of this kind of government so they decided even when they weren't supporting Amlo, they were really, really tired of this government, tired of repression of persecution. So that's why I'm the one with more than 60% of the votes in 2018. So now it's more important though so it is what we saw this last Sunday, because we are in the middle of an approval of an electrical reform. And I think it's the most important action that Amlo has done during his mandate. And it is not, it's not looking for the nationalization of lithium, but it is looking for the control of exploration and exploitation of this mineral one of the most important nowadays in the whole planet. The so called wide gold. It is used for technology for cell phones for laptops for technology in general. And we remember that was, that was one of the main issues why Evo Morales was defeated in a coup in 2019, the lithium. So we are in the middle of a big battle here in Mexico. It was planned to be approved this reform yesterday, but now it's going to be approved this Sunday is the discussion. So we're expecting for thousands of people to participate in this demonstration trying to put some pressure on our legislative legislators this Sunday. You know this is Well, there's two things. First, can you explain to the audience what 4 transformations 44 trans transformation. Yeah, I think this is something that it's part of this national governments nationalist governments in the region for the last decade. We've seen how in Bolivia, they call their change process and process of the cambio to this government of them and now with Lucho Arce in Venezuela, under the neoliberal governments, they called the quarter Republic, the four Republic, and then Chavez change it, not only to rebel to the Bolivarian Revolution, but also to the fifth Republic. And now when we're seeing here in Mexico is this narrative that we are under a big, big, big, big transformation. The first one is that I'm always considering to say that this is the fourth transformation. It's the independence, the process of independence. The second one is the revolution in 1910 in here in Mexico, and then the reform. There were a lot of reforms here in Mexico to separate for example the charge from the state to to keep forward against the conservatives here in our country, and this I'm really saying all the time that this is the fourth transformation. So we're expecting and I insist that what that's why it's so important what we've seen not only last Sunday, but also what we're going to see next Sunday with this discussion. I mean, this is one of the most not only symbolic, but really like the most important initiatives that I'm law has going forward against a transnational interest against the, I wouldn't say the only article in this in this in this case of this reform, but it's, it's about the identity of this country so it's not a little conversation about energy. It's a whole battle what we're going to see next Sunday and I'm sure that it's this is the battle that it's not only about what's going to happen about with the votes in the Congress. It's a battle that we are going to fight in the streets that we're gonna that we are as we are already fighting in the media in the independent media, we are fighting every single day against the New York Times about against the Washington against a force and Los Angeles Times and all of this media that all the time are saying that that I'm law is a risk to Mexico as you know this narrative in the whole Latin America that we are going to be Venezuela. And that the South Paulo forum it's gonna be like our, I don't know, I don't know how to say it but you know it's the same narrative in the whole processes against Xiomara Castro and Honduras against Lucho Arsene in Bolivia, and the media has been fighting with this narrative that this reform that a referendum that every single thing that I'm those dots and it's against the democracy is against the human rights it's against you know the same narrative so this is going to be a big battle next Sunday and we're expecting for like being a huge demonstration in the streets. Well, you know this is all the narrative from the US what you're describing is, you know, the template. The cookie cutter narrative from the United States when a nation dares to proclaim national sovereignty its own independent foreign policy its own economic policy its own military policy, if it has a military. But also, you know you bring up the lithium so this for Mexico is also what is about natural resource sovereignty petroleum lithium and we saw this and I think you would agree throughout the elections. In Bolivia fall of 2020 you were there, all the way through December of 2021 there was a theme throughout Latin America and the Caribbean where the where populations voted for governments that were focused on preserving national sovereignty, preserving their natural resource sovereignty which is basically an anti colonial statement. People voted for governments of people voted for governments that were had an economic program focused on uplifting a wide swath of the population and those economic programs were anywhere from one step to the left to revolutionary leftist but they were economic programs focused on uplifting a broad segment of society so this to me what you're describing to us is is just a continuation of this theme of this process happening throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. And I would be led by Mexico in many ways. Yeah, actually, this is something I'm really, really fun because it all the time I'm saying like, I'm real sure that the audience that is following me all the time is a little bit higher that I keep talking about Latin America. It's the same, the same what we've seen in Latin America for the last decades and I won't say only for the last 20 years. But for the last, I don't know, maybe five or six decades. What we saw in the coup against Salvador Allende in 1976 was precisely because they wanted the natural resources of Chile. Really, really he has to say that Salvador Allende, you know, you know so what we saw also in Honduras in the coup against a manual Salaya in 2009. What we saw is because they wanted the oil they wanted the natural resources of Honduras and also in Colombia, or in any single country in Latin America. It has been the control, this Monroe doctrine of the U.S. in Latin America trying to control all the nations, and Mexico is not a deception, you know? I might say that a lot of my leftist and revolutionary friends all the time are saying that maybe Ambrose administration is not a socialist one or not an anti-capitalist, but also it's not that easy being the neighbor of the U.S. No. You cannot wake up and say like, okay, we are going to extirpate or we're going to take control of the trans nationals, you know? Ambrose might be assassinated next day. So even when it's not that easy, Ambrose has been radicalized, not only in his speeches, but also in his actions. And remember, we've been talking about this, Terry, you and I all the time, every time that we say each other, we're talking about this amazing speech that Ambrose gave last year during the anniversary of Simone Boliver. How do you say it? Well, it is the 238th anniversary of Simone Boliver's birth, and that was, he gave that talk on discursal on 24 July, and I think you and I both agree and many of our friends that it was probably the most important speech in the Americas last year. Yeah, definitely. We listened to an Ambrose defending Cuba talking about another organization that might substitute the OAS when we've seen the role of the OAS during the last years, not only in the two last years, but also in the last 20 years or more in this country. And this wouldn't have happened two years ago with Ambrose. Ambrose has radicalized his vision of Latin America, all the time he was saying that his best foreign policy was the interim policy. And now we're going to see next month, he's going to travel to Cuba, to Central America, to Argentina. You know, he knows already the role of the FMA, the IMF, the role of the OAS, the role of the US in parallelism in the region. And I think he's doing a great, great job. I might say I have a lot of critics on his migration policy, of course. It's something that has been like this, I don't know how to say it, but when the US is asking Ambrose to do something, the government is always asking to do something about migration policy. And Ambrose has been clear that it's not the most progressive policy, what the Cuatro Té, the Fort Transformation has, about when it comes about migration. So, even with these things about migration, he has been near to someone like Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France. In France, yeah, I confuse my question. This is a Spanglish episode. It's okay. So, it's part of that 3,000 mile shared border with the United States. The cross-cultural. It's wonderful. Yeah. And we've seen also an Ambrose near to Diaz Canal from Cuba, you know, and this. And making sure Maduro was invited to the SELAC summit last September, as the democratically elected president of Venezuela, if not the US appointed president. Yeah, exactly. Even when the US is asking to the colonel needs to detain Maduro in Europe or even the US, Ambrose invited him to the SELAC meeting here in Mexico City. So I think it's something really important what is going on. Remember, three years ago, Mexico was in the front of the first line attacking Venezuela all the time in this group of line. And after Ambrose to power in 2018, we saw Mexico in the way, yes, and everywhere, like just respecting the democratically elected government of Venezuela and things like that. So, returning to the lithium. I think that this is maybe the most important battle of Ambrose administration in this last three years, even when we were even when he's not talking about nationalization of the lithium. And only about the control of exploration and exploitation of these resources. It's pretty important. It's also a talking about the control of electrical energy. It's not talking about the like the whole control, the Mexican state it's not going to control the whole electrical energy in this country. It's going to take control of 52% of the industry. And it's enough to make this transnational these oligarchies really really pissed really angry, and they're attacking yesterday it was just amazing in the Congress we see we saw this lobbyist acting during the session actually the president of the Congress has to stop the the session because he said like okay, we can continue we have people that it's not they're not member of the Congress, it just hanging around here in the Congress, and it was an Italian lobbyist, you know, representing a transnational is sitting next to the parade of this party that used to be from the left here in just sitting next to this Congress woman, you know, like talking about the electrical reform. So, I think it's huge. I think it's pretty important what we're going to see. We're expecting an aggressive attack of the corporate media during the next day. That's already happening in the north. Yeah, exactly what is happening. And we've seen this specifically this media outlet created with Mexican quotes and quotes journalists that are based on a Delaware. It's not a coincidence. They created a company, a media outlet called Latinos, that they're attacking every single day from the US with, you know, with, with, with a fun, yeah, with a fun, financiation, and I don't know how to say it. The funding of funding of a not only Mexican polly politicians, but also from enterprises, you know, they have been attacking the Mexican administrations for the last year, year and a half. It was created, if I remember, in 2019, as I said in Delaware, and they have been attacking all the time. For example, they try to create this expectation of this expectation about the, the House of Amlos son in Texas, if I remember, it's okay, saying that it was an energy company that was, you know, like with this, that it was a problem, a whole problem that it was this enterprise was funding the Amlos son. I at the end they can't they couldn't prove anything, but they've been in these campaigns in the last three years, specifically this media outlet only for the last two. But, you know, we have been every single day actually one of these first of these people of these journalists quotes and quotes of Latinos. Yesterday, there was an article of the federal memory in the New York Times was okay. Well, there was an article there was an opinion piece, a couple days after the referendum on the, on the time in the Washington Post I mean it's, it's very, very clear since. Oh, consistent I mean since his inauguration, there's been you know once he laid out in his inaugural address what his vision was particularly wanting to be able to make sovereign decisions about natural resources and energy production. That's when we saw and I think this is really important for the audience to understand is that's when the anti Amlo narrative from the US began, and it's not unique to Mexico. It's unique to any country but specifically those in the hemisphere of the Americas that have any notion of saw sovereign national sovereignty, which also includes having, you know the right to recapture their sovereignty and what they do with their natural resources and, and that's going to that is playing out very much so here, I think it's really fascinating, regarding last week's or Sundays referendum Sunday the 10th, April 10 that the vote was on Sunday, which is how elections happen in Mexico and that allows for everyone to participate, or makes it much easier for registered voters to participate well but what was fascinating to me was this particular Sunday Sunday the 10th was Palm Sunday. In the majority Catholic country. That's a pretty significant day for the INE or in a as we say here in Mexico to select for the date of the referendum. It wasn't a date chosen by the president and it wasn't a date chosen by his party more than it was a date chosen by the president and that was, you know, there's no way they didn't know what that's what Sunday April 10 was. So definitely was not a coincidence and returning to the journalist I was talking about this journalist from Latinos, and the one who wrote in Washington post yesterday or last Monday I remember when it was, it was also not a kind of coincidence that the father of the Lobo Lopez you remember this leader of the Venezuelan oppositions of the radical right wing and father of Lobo Lopez is a member of the European Parliament and he has a parliament. He was saying that the president and was attacking these journalists. So everything is united you know the international right to wing are collaborating collaborating in every single way, not only in the European Parliament in the media in the corporate media here in Mexico, in the US, the right wing in Latin America is also pretty connected to the pan, the right wing party here in Mexico. So we are going to find a big battle this Sunday so we call to the audience to be really, really aware that can help to spread this kind of measures to see to keep it looking I'm really, I'm really surprised well not surprised I don't know what's what's the word, the exit word, but I would like to, to, to create in the US audience, this expectation of what's going to happen because, because we were going to need you as the, as the Venezuelans, as the Bolivians needed all the US citizens during the last years specifically when the US tried to create this civilization, this is, I can't always, I can't pronounce that word. The stabilization, destabilization. Oh my God, destabilization. That's okay. I think that we're going to need the US to be aware of what's, what's going to happen next Sunday and I mean in the rest of this administration, we're going to have only three years, and we're just in the middle. And 2024 are the elections so we are just around the corner. And I think this is going to be a, I won't say that we are under like a cool strategy or something but I might say that something similar of what happened in Brazil with Lula we deal Well, they're discrediting. Yeah, there was a overt attempt to discredit what what this present what the Mexican president was doing and what the Mexican people elected him to do. Discrediting at the very, I mean that's probably a, so I was probably a two politically kind word to use but Yeah, and that's why I said like millions of people voted last Sunday, you know, and the middle of a term after a pandemic after everything after a media campaign in Mexico and in the US and international media campaign. And we have a president, democratically elected with more than 60% of approval in this country, and they're trying to create this image of an approval of a, you know, like people, we don't like the president or whatever. So we've seen this before, specifically during the last three years in Latin America. So I will say that we need every single person that is watching this to keep looking of Mexican politics to watch what's going to happen to see what's going to happen next Sunday here. And I mean in the rest of the administration, we're going to expecting to fight more bottles, not only with the electrical reform, not only about lithium. So, yeah, it's going to it's going to be interesting what's going to happen. Well, it's our job to keep the people in the States informed about all of this and I hope that we can have you come back in another week or two and talk about the results of this coming Sundays. And we're going to have a electoral reform vote because that is going to be so significant and there's going to set the tone for the next, the next three years and beyond for Mexico. So, thank you Alina I want to remind our audience that you've been watching what the F is going on in Latin America and the Caribbean code pinks weekly YouTube program we broadcast live on code pink YouTube every Wednesday night. It's 11am Eastern and also don't forget to catch code pink radio every Thursday morning, 11am Eastern on WBAI New York City, and WPFW out of Washington DC, and please be sure to follow what's happening in Mexico and we at code pink will do our very best to keep all of you in the States informed as to how things continue to progress here. Thank you so much everyone.