By Edgar Alonso Angulo Rosas*
The year had not ended when we started with “bad news” for the president. It seems that tragedy is following her: the Rébsamen School, Line 12 and now the Interoceanic Train. These events will mark not only his management in each elected position he has held, but also his response to the victims.
Let us remember that, as Head of Government and after a human rights recommendation, she was forced to apologize for the school case. Subsequently, after hiring what he described as “the best company in the world” for the expert assessment of Line 12, the contract was canceled under an argument of alleged conflict of interest, just when the final opinion pointed to the lack of maintenance as the cause of the “incident”, a technical euphemism used by his government for the tragedy.
Today, the Interoceanic Train investigations are in the hands of the same figure who exonerated her in the previous cases. The doubt persists: how far does the technical, legal, political and moral responsibility of a leader in the event of a disaster extend? Furthermore, how can we understand the response of rulers who show less and less empathy for the pain of others? What should be the role of a president who is judged for lack of sensitivity on critical issues such as medication shortages, searching mothers, violence, freedom of the press and dialogue with the opposition?
Meanwhile, geopolitics is being redefined. The questioned fall and arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela announces a possible domino effect on regimes designated as totalitarian. Gustavo Petro in Colombia appears as the next on a list that also includes Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua, along with Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba.
President Donald Trump demonstrates a transactional view of power; He does not understand what he may consider “democratic romanticisms.” On the international stage, it operates with political and economic pragmatism. The lack of support for María Corina Machado is not surprising despite her long and heroic struggle in Venezuela that earned her the Nobel Peace Prize—an award that he considered he deserved. For Washington, there is no moral obligation to her; reigns the “Rome does not pay traitors”a maxim that was born when the consul Servilius Caepio despised the murderers of Viriatus, a rebel leader who humiliated the Roman legions in Hispania. Although betrayal was useful in eliminating his enemy, the Roman consul did not deliver the promised reward because the traitor is, by nature, disposable.
Totalitarianism is harmful regardless of the ideological spectrum. The main virtue of democracy is dialogue and healthy coexistence between opponents; When they are persecuted, silenced or sanctioned through the judicial, fiscal apparatus or public stigmatization, the democratic scaffolding is destroyed. How to demand respect for international law when there are serious violations of human rights? The non-intervention pact assumes that the self-determination of peoples does not justify political violence or persecution. The current question is heartbreaking: is nonintervention sovereign respect, or is it complicity and complacency? There are no simple answers.
The truth is that current tyrannies lack the moral strength and historical stature of yesteryear. Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez have died; Rafael Correa and Evo Morales are far from being able to actively participate.1 The legends of the great orators who could face the international stages and the press have disappeared. Today, his successors are minor figures in intellect, political ability and presence, but major in failures. The autumn of patriarchs is the winter of successors.
In Mexico, let us hope that the shadow of the great figure he represented Andrés Manuel López Obrador do not overshadow Claudia Sheinbaum’s decisions. It is not about shaking off the past or betraying mentors, but about defining a government with its own ideas. Hopefully the omen that López Obrador must come out of retirement to defend national sovereignty in the face of the lack of command and the questions of “narco government” does not come true.
In recent years, the Latin American left has lost dramatically at the polls; It is a symptom of exhaustion due to the failure of the proposed model. The pendulum swings strongly to the other extreme: 2025 closed with the defeat of the ruling party in Chilewhere the electorate delivered a 58% of the votes to the conservative José Antonio Kastburying Gabriel Boric’s project. In Boliviathe historic Movement towards Socialism (MAS) collapsed in its internal fractures; last October, the center-right Rodrigo Paz achieved the presidency with a 54.5%leaving the party of Evo Morales and Luis Arce out of everything, with a humiliating 3% of the votes.3
In Hondurasthe punishment was just as severe: Xiomara Castro’s party was relegated to a distant third place, allowing the victory of Nasry Asfura. Furthermore, one must take into account the debacle in Panamawhere the right-wing José Raúl Mulino swept in May 2024, while the traditional left of the PRD was reduced to an insignificant 5.8%. In EcuadorLuisa González’s Correismo lost again against the re-election of Daniel Noboawho won with more than 12 points advantage.
The map of Latin America has changed. In the absence of sustainable results, the left is losing its main asset—popular trust—; Playing with hope is cruelty that generates a vote of punishment. The “derailment” is not just a metaphor; It is a continental reality that the President should not ignore.
I hope the president listens to dissident voices and critical minds within her own movement. You should not let yourself be guided by the “siren song”, by the applause of sycophants, or by the Palenque red telephone; Absolute power is usually a bad advisor. She herself has called for humility; Today is the time to demonstrate it, listening to all the voices of Mexico. It is, more than ever, a time for unity, not closure.
About the author:
*Edgar Alonso Angulo Rosas He is a clinical psychologist and addictions expert with extensive experience in prevention and care of violence, addictions, mental health and human rights. He has held management positions in NGOs, public and private sectors.
Email: (email protected)
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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