Olegario Moguel Bernal: Let's get our act together

The murder of two high-ranking officials in the Mexico City government overshadowed other news stories of the week in the country, including some deliberately launched to divert attention, but unfortunately also those that lacerate the social fabric, such as the murder of seven young people in Guanajuato. Coverage of the news about the Cuauhtémoc boat crash on the Brooklyn Bridge, where two young sailors died, was also overshadowed by the news in Mexico City. Journalistic suspicion and the lack of public credibility in the political class make it impossible to ignore the fact that, the day after the murder of the officials, the CNTE conveniently blocked the entry of journalists, pseudo-journalists, and cronies who attend the president's daily morning press conference. The blockade led to a report without questions, without interrogations, without awkward questions, without explanations… It was also no coincidence that, when the news was at its peak and social media was ablaze with videos of the execution and conjectures of all kinds—many unfounded, most unsubstantiated, and many more malicious—Televisa dropped a journalistic bombshell against Julio Scherer Ibarra, former legal advisor to the presidency during AMLO's time. The bombshell reveals an extortion network led by the son of the late journalist Julio Scherer García, from his position as legal advisor to the Presidency of the Republic during the previous, unblemished administration. It's impossible for Televisa to drop a bombshell like that without the knowledge—without the consent—of the National Palace. It's impossible for AMLO to ignore what the journalistic piece denounces. What's behind this bombshell? Is it a distancing of Claudia Sheinbaum from her predecessor and mentor, whose image will gradually weaken with journalistic revelations? Revelations that, while not directly accusing him, lead even the most ignorant to conjecture that an extortion scheme like the one being reported couldn't exist without the Tabasco native's approval. After all, not a single leaf was turned in his administration without his knowledge. Perhaps this hypothesis is correct. If so, AMLO was behind the CNTE mobilizations, doing what they both know how to do: seize avenues and airport entrances, flexing their muscles to mobilize masses and set the doctor on fire should she attempt to renounce him. Does the accusation against Scherer have any connection with the approaching judicial election? It's likely. Everything fits together in the legal world. Or is it simply the old-fashioned Chinese box to divert attention from the extremely serious event of the cold-blooded murder of two officials, including the former right-hand woman of the head of government? It was no coincidence that the crime was committed right at the time of the morning press conference, so that the entire country could witness live—and then endlessly replayed on social media—the president's distraught reaction upon learning the news. Press conferences are commonplace, but the day's daily routine didn't mean it lacked any special character. The atrocity was committed when the entire security cabinet was in front of the cameras, an opportune moment to see everyone's reaction, especially the president and Security Secretary García Harfuch, whom the cameras followed until the phone call he made backstage. These elements indicate that the message was not directed against the head of government, Clara Brugada, or not only against her: it was directed at the entire federal government. After what happened, any triumphant announcement about security improvements, as the cabinet makes every week on the matter, would be completely invalid. The murder of Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz was a crime that shook Mexico City. It's striking how the capital's commentators are scandalized by the arrival of organized crime, because "it didn't exist in their city." True to Campoamor, we'll say that "everything depends on the color of the lens you look through." From these latitudes, we view these statements with surprise, because from the Mayab, Mexico City has been viewed for years as a powder keg, dominated by the Tláhuac cartel, the Unión Tepito cartel, disorganized crime, car thieves, van robbers—those of the famous "you know it..."—and other criminals who operate daily and with impunity in that city. That's why it's strange that what happened on the Calzada de Tlalpan is seen as something that "didn't happen here." Let's grant, however, that there were no murders of officials, at least not so obviously, nor in broad daylight, nor on one of the busiest, most open, and most visible avenues in the city. So the concern is valid. Something is happening in the criminal field that hasn't happened before in that chaotic city. Let's get our act together.—Mérida, Yucatán Email : [email protected] @olegariomoguel *Director of Traditional Media at Grupo Megamedia