Why Mexico’s president shows disrespect for Panama

“Why would Andrés Manuel López Obrador send Pedro Salmerón – a history professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, accused by his students of being a sexual harasser – as Mexico’s ambassador to Panama?” asks La Prensa columnist Rolando Rodiguez  “In my opinion,”  he writes  “ It all boils down to what Panama inspires in him: disrespect.

“I doubt very much that such an embarrassing situation would have occurred with countries like Chile, Canada or the United States, because, contrary to Panama, surely the Mexican president treats them with greater respect.

“The election of Salmerón as representative of his government tells us what AMLO thinks of our country and that is why he dared to cross the line. His appointment was irresponsible, not only because knowing that Salmerón was accused of sexual harassment, AMLO insisted on warmly and publicly defending him. And in his eagerness, he crossed another border: Smiling and unconcerned, he offended the dignity of our chancellor, with which he accentuated his contempt for Panama.

“Why does AMLO insult us in such a stark way? It is at this point that we need to reflect. Does Panama inspire respect? Answering this question can be painful if we examine what we transmit. How many times have we not heard of ourselves that we make international fools of ourselves at every turn? AMLO’s decision to appoint that person –and another unpresentable person to replace him– may be the direct consequence of making an international fool of himself.

JUSTICE SUCKS
“That message seems to have caught on. Or is it that we forget that our justice sucks? That politicians are our greatest source of local and international shame? Who does not know that our officials sell themselves, collect bribes, traffic political and judicial influence? Do we forget that there are local lawyers who claim to have “contacts” to fix rulings or to modify and create custom laws; to stop paying taxes; or that they can hide fortunes –legitimate or illegitimate– in banks that look the other way?

“Does no one remember that a US judge found merits to extradite a former president accused of violating private communications and twice was released by our “neat” justice while his children pleaded guilty to corruption in the US? Didn’t Mexican companies come to build highways in Panama and while they were building them, they did whatever they wanted, and then they came out as millionaires without any consequences? Does no one remember that AMLO himself criticized a company from his country, singled out by his government for alleged tax fraud, but in Panama, the CSS welcomed him with a $168 million contract?

“Respect is earned…and also lost. It disgusts me how condescending we are with ourselves. We never analyze our behavior or do introspection. Quite simply, we always blame others for our bad image. We forget that we are the people who elect those scoundrels who manage —in their likeness— the image of the country. Hopefully, AMLO’s unforgivable and widespread offenses against the country also serve to look at ourselves in the mirror and answer, far from any self-condescension, what do we see.”