Irma Erendira Sandoval: Mexico on the Verge of Political Meltdown Irma Erendira Sandoval - Al Jazeera
go to original January 9, 2015

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (L) in the Oval Office of the White House January 6, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

This week’s White House meeting between President Barack Obama and Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto had much symbolism but little substance. The empty speeches, handshakes and promises of mutual support served two embattled leaders eager to use the meeting as a publicity stunt but left nothing in terms of concrete outcomes. Obama highlighted his halfhearted efforts to fix, as he put it, “our broken immigration system” and Peña Nieto desperately tried to appear statesmanlike amid the storm that has arisen from the Sept. 26 student massacre in the state of Guerrero and the accusations of conflicts of interest against him, his wife and his finance minister over homes purchased from a government contractor.

In fact, perhaps the only noteworthy part about the meeting was that it sparked dozens of protests throughout the United States against Washington’s blind support for Peña Nieto and the bloody drug war in Mexico. “USA puts the guns and consumes the drugs, Mexico puts the dead!” one protest sign read, summing up a growing sentiment on both sides of the border.

But as with so many issues, the U.S. government’s understanding is far behind that of the American people. The Obama administration has not budged on its strategy toward Mexico, despite its clear failure. During his meeting with Peña Nieto, Obama proclaimed that “our commitment is to be a friend and supporter of Mexico in its efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence and the drug cartels that are responsible for so much tragedy inside of Mexico.”

But Obama confuses Mexico with Peña Nieto and his government. The real allies in the struggle for peace and justice in Mexico are the families and the colleagues of the students from the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural teachers’ college of Ayotzinapa in Guerrero who were abducted and massacred. The school embodies both the utopian, democratic, liberationist ideals of the Mexican Revolution and the political commitment of the people of Guerrero. In fact, the bold, grass-roots leadership of the parents and classmates of the missing students is precisely what has enabled Mexico’s popular movement for peace and justice to grow so strong. Their demands should be supported by the U.S. and other nations.

Read the rest at Al Jazeera

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!