Felipe Calderón has a brace. And he is the evil twin of that double. I will dedicate all these lines to verify this.
Three weeks ago, the former president declared on a morning radio show his quiet intention to return to public life. He chose the verb go backas if he had ever left: not just because he was stubborn, but because of the reiteration of consequences that remind us that he passed through here.
The most worn-out hero of the sanctuary where the fallen rest wants to return to politics: the one who, in 2006 – uncomfortable with the fragility of his stolen investiture – improvised an impromptu crusade that was never an electoral proposal. The job candidate left us a legacy of war.
This is his work and that will be his epitaph. Kneeling on the prie-dieu, he begs us to forget him.
Perhaps it was that announcement of the planned resurrection that led me to think that, last weekend, the Free School of Law lawyer had taken advantage of the ABECEB forum in Buenos Aires – supported by the conservative former presidents of Argentina and Chile – to prove his return.
His speech seemed routine: the man looked like Felipe Calderón and spoke like him. If I had listened exclusively to the inductive reasoning that teaches us to identify a duck, I would have inevitably concluded that it was that one.
But something was strange. The statements of the alleged Calderón have raised alarm. In the following lines I will present the evidence collected that supports my statement: undoubted clues that led me to conclude that the speaker of that meeting was not Felipe Calderón, but his naive lookalike. That double of which the real Calderón is the evil twin.
The first time I raised an eyebrow during the forum was when, without blushing, the so-called Calderón described the current government as Maximum. Not for the lack of evidence, which is now customary, but because his own wife had aspired to the presidency after he had handed over – I take charge of the verb – the country to Peña Nieto.
The second sign appeared when the alleged former president declared that his administration had succeeded in expelling criminal organizations from the country. Poor man, I thought. The speaker seemed unaware that it was during the tenure of the real Calderón – his evil twin – that massive militarization began and violence intensified in each intervening region. Where the original Calderón intervened, crime became deadlier, more ruthless.
All it takes is a look in the rearview mirror: despite the lethality of Calderon’s data – between 2007 and 2010, murders tripled – his government found a way to justify it. More: from celebrating it. The war we were WIN. That shameless use of the plural.
Call me naive, but the last demonstration of substitution wasn’t enough for me either. I was already used to the falsehoods of those who claim to have reduced poverty by 25% when in reality they have increased it; boasting historic infrastructure when what was being delivered was less; who proclaimed universal health coverage simply by handing out cards.
I remained attentive.
The third sign must have been conclusive. The speaker regretted that the six years since his mandate have abandoned the offensive against crime and called for the return of the rule of law. I felt sorry for that double. I was saddened by the idea that no one had warned the copy that the real Calderón government authorized extrajudicial executions. Collateral victimshe called them.
The naive lookalike’s speech continued. I was still determined to decipher his identity as he shouted that criminals had taken over the state. He did it with the confidence of someone who had never heard the name Genaro García Luna.
His ignorance about organized crime, his ignorance about extortion and the faith with which he offered miraculous remedies ended up tipping my balance.
That man spoke with the authority of someone who believes he is innocent of his actions. He preached as if he had not governed – for six long years – the same country he is now trying to save.
The person who spoke in Buenos Aires was not the former president of Mexico. What appeared was his uninformed double.
