Vice President Joe Biden recently traveled to Mexico, which is another country in the midst of a heated presidential campaign. In an effort not to show favoritism toward the ruling party candidate, Mr. Biden met briefly with each of the candidates. In the event, political analyst Víctor Beltri, in this article from Mexico’s Excelsior, which amounts to a direct appeal to the vice president, pleads with him to pose some questions about the worrying state of governance, violence and corruption to the candidates, since in Beltri’s words, ‘You, they may answer; to us they only show campaign spots.’ Ironically, he seems to want Biden to help stop some of the same political practices that are so rampant in this country.
For Excelsior, Víctor Beltri writes in small part:
It is more than likely that U.S. diplomats have prepared in advance – and conscientiously – the subjects that Joe Biden will address at his meetings today with our presidential primary candidates López Obrador, Peña Nieto and Vázquez Mota. It is, nevertheless, interesting to consider some of the points that may have escaped their attention and offer a suggestion: question them, Mr. Biden.
Ask, first of all, if they are aware of the need to guarantee the governability of the county, both during the campaign period and in its immediate aftermath. In the situation we are living through today, in which one of the candidates has such a big advantage, the temptation to close the margin separating them at all costs is enormous. Smear campaigns in the form of rumors, the introduction of trending topics and through the politicization of the judicial process may lead society to a truly alarming state of tension. Will they be ready to give up the mudslinging in the name of the nation’s stability?
Ask them, please, if they are committed to respecting the outcome of the election, especially if it doesn’t favor them. Uncertainty is creating anxiety among the public; the rancor between supporters of particular candidates is growing and trust in our economy could be lost in an instant. In the game of democracy there are no absolute winners and losers, but the candidates don’t seem to understand that. Ask them, too, if they would be disposed to governing with the opposition, and if they would integrate into their governing agenda some of the positive policies of their opponents.
Ask how they would confront organized crime, despite the refusal of your administration to halt the sale of high-caliber firearms. What is their position on the drug problem and how would they go about reducing violence? These are two things that up to now we have tried to resolve with force alone. Will they attack the chain of supply – the way the criminals finance themselves?; or the businesses that reintegrate the illicit funds into the formal economy? Ask how they plan to restore calm to a society that needs to believe in itself again and up to now has received nothing but evasive answers.
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