By Andrea Moreno Herrero
Translation by Patricia Roxana Solórzano
Translation by Patricia Roxana Solórzano
Uncertainty originates in apathy and a lack of interest. This is a common state of mind in Mexico. Is the swine flu a government plot like the chupacabras- the blood-sucking beast that haunted farmlands in the mid nineties- or is the country victim of State terrorism?
According to the Political Culture and Citizen Trends Poll of 2008 (ENCUP)(http://www.encup.gob.mx/encup/index.php?page=encup) near half of the population has a negative opinion of the Mexican democracy and the percentage that trusts government institutions is quite low. It’s interesting that 60% said they had none or very little interest in politics and 42% was unable to determine their political orientation (rightwing or leftwing). Politics is not a priority when it comes to the Mexican’s interest; therefore the public is not notably informed. This reflects on the ideological polarization, and mistrust on the governments reports and institutions.
The fact that Mexico could have become a victim of State terrorism has been widely discussed and it has resulted in a concentration of the public in media coverage related to the outbreak, leaving all other affairs to the side. Attention wasn’t focused on the approval of several important laws related to the war on drugs, unemployment, migration to the United States and insecurity among others. The OMS and CDC were accused of forming a conspiracy along with the American, Mexican and Canadian governments. Information chaos has surpassed the disease itself and there are sectors that show a greater concern about the possible deceit than about the outbreak or even their own health.
Information published in Alexa (www.alexa.com) regarding the website traffic in certain websites revealed that American government websites increased their traffic. The most visited were: Secretaría de Salud (Health Secretariat), the U.S. government and the CDF while the Mexican government webpages did not register an increase of users, rather than that there was actually a decrease.
Lets not forget about Mexico’s information amnesia, events tend to be buried and forgotten. After the forced “lock in” the country returns to its routine, streets have a blue shade from the face masks that become trash, clot the pipelines and highlight the contradictions of the concerned citizens of this great country.
According to the Political Culture and Citizen Trends Poll of 2008 (ENCUP)(http://www.encup.gob.mx/encup/index.php?page=encup) near half of the population has a negative opinion of the Mexican democracy and the percentage that trusts government institutions is quite low. It’s interesting that 60% said they had none or very little interest in politics and 42% was unable to determine their political orientation (rightwing or leftwing). Politics is not a priority when it comes to the Mexican’s interest; therefore the public is not notably informed. This reflects on the ideological polarization, and mistrust on the governments reports and institutions.
The fact that Mexico could have become a victim of State terrorism has been widely discussed and it has resulted in a concentration of the public in media coverage related to the outbreak, leaving all other affairs to the side. Attention wasn’t focused on the approval of several important laws related to the war on drugs, unemployment, migration to the United States and insecurity among others. The OMS and CDC were accused of forming a conspiracy along with the American, Mexican and Canadian governments. Information chaos has surpassed the disease itself and there are sectors that show a greater concern about the possible deceit than about the outbreak or even their own health.
Information published in Alexa (www.alexa.com) regarding the website traffic in certain websites revealed that American government websites increased their traffic. The most visited were: Secretaría de Salud (Health Secretariat), the U.S. government and the CDF while the Mexican government webpages did not register an increase of users, rather than that there was actually a decrease.
Lets not forget about Mexico’s information amnesia, events tend to be buried and forgotten. After the forced “lock in” the country returns to its routine, streets have a blue shade from the face masks that become trash, clot the pipelines and highlight the contradictions of the concerned citizens of this great country.
Nowadays our country is victim of histeria there is nothing to change it. The population tends to be suspicious, they do not believe in their institutions. Actually I think that it´s a lie, the influenza does not exist. Mexico was facing an economical crisis, our government needed money to achieve an economic equilibrium. They could not afford money from the IMF if they do not face a contigency. I think the Mexican government choose an innocent disease to disguise the real problem. Always ask for everyhting, do not trust nothing !
ReplyDeletePaulina A. Salvador Ceja n_n