Protesters block the front entrance of the Public Education Ministry with signs that read in Spanish; "Closed due to repression. Peace" in Mexico City, June 2016. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte). All rights reserved
In the novel 1984, it sends a shiver down my spine when O'Brien asks Winston, who is begging for mercy, "how does one man assert his power over another?" After hours of torture in Room 101, Winston's answer might seem obvious to us: "by making him suffer." This is precisely the purpose of repression: to hurt, humiliate, frighten, demobilise, divide, and silence. If there were an Oscar award for repression, the Mexican government would win one for its 50 year trajectory. In the acceptance speech, the country could mention the repression which was executed against peasant leaders following the failed attack on the Madera Barracks in 1965, as a milestone achievement. Or perhaps the participation of the Mexican army to quell student riots in the University of Michoacán, San Nicolás Hidalgo, in 1966. The most recent feat achieved by the Mexican government would without doubt be the police's actions in Nochixtlán, 19 June 2016, in dispersing a road blocked by sympathisers of the National Organisation of Education Workers (CNTE), whereby 8 people were murdered and an additional 100 injured.
Such repression is almost synonymous with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party which governed Mexico for over 70 years and has recently returned to power. Interestingly, the party's colours are the same as those on the Mexican flag, such that the claim could be made that repression is inherent in Mexico. Nevertheless, it's must be made clear that repression is not used by just one party. After the so called democratic 'transition', it has been conveniently adopted by public officials from many different parties, irrespective of whether they belong to the left or the right. It might seem as though repression is written into the instructions of 'how to govern Mexico', and I'm not talking about the legitimate use of force, but rather the abuse of it. In Mexico, it seems easier to attack than to negotiate, to hide things rather than be transparent, to threat and kill rather than accept mistakes. As we will see, repression in Mexico is employed as the magical solution for everything: corruption scandals, closing down avenues for families searching for disappeared persons, or protests against educational reform, as was the case with the CNTE.
