Ladies and Gentleman, Choose Wisely.

Jessica Chapman, Ciencias de la Comunicación-UDLAP

The following critical opinion is based on the news article published by Milenio News where Andrés Manuel López Obrador, presidential candidate of Mexico says that he does not take into account the presidential candidate surveys that have been published, where it is pinpointed a tie between Josefina Vázquez Mota. AMLO pointed out how in Milenio´s recently published survey you can see its apparent favoritism towards his adversary Enrique Peña Nieto, putting him at the top of all candidates. As well, AMLO feels that several PAN and PRI supporters will vote for him, because they will not be sufficiently convinced by their candidates and will notice that critical issues are being played with than just wanting their political party to win the presidency. http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/38ee1db798599634019dba3985304346

In my opinion I do believe that certain surveys are being funded by institutions that are well known for supporting a specific political party, I’m not quite sure if Milenio is one of them, but I guess if I were AMLO I would also say what he said, just to make people notice how not everything that we see or read is real, and not just want they want you to believe. I guess this happens all the time in Mexican news, unless you understand how the system works, you really never learn to question yourself, to take the time and rethink everything you hear and see. I think that’s the biggest problem we face in Mexico, maybe it isn’t a problem for several powerful institutions that we have, but is a problem for the people, because the less we know, the more power THEY have over us. 

If I need to exemplify this communication problem that we have, lets take Enrique Peña Nieto for example, a perfect candidate for the uninformed, the uneducated, but especially for Televisa. We can see how such a huge conglomerate as Televisa collaborates with him, to make him powerful and them even more. It’s his image and the way it is portrayed that creates power, and takes over the minds of millions of Mexicans, who like a “pretty boy,” but don’t actually question themselves to think, “is this really who I want as a president? Will he actually know what to do?”  or is it, that he’s just a pretty face for  us to see on our television. When I see billboards of a woman hugging intensely Peña Nieto, and I read, “My commitment is with you and with Mexico,” I do not think for one second, what a nice guy, or what a nice woman, the only thing that comes to my mind is fanaticism. That woman is hugging him for one and only one reason, because she has a crush on him, not because he is a smart man, a loving man, a man of his word, but because he is hot, and that just saddens me.

Going back to what I wanted to express, I do have faith in AMLO, even though everybody says that Peña Nieto will officially be President of Mexico, I still have hope, that we as a country will make the right decision. Maybe I’m out my mind, and there is no chance that anyone else but Peña Nieto will win, maybe not. Maybe it is time for our generation to vote, and maybe that vote will be directed to AMLO. Have all of these recognized surveys taken into account college student votes? I don’t know, maybe they have or maybe they haven’t.  I don’t know what will happen in the next months, but I do hope that whatever it is will blow our minds for good.  Anything is possible.