The paradox of the 4T

I had five minutes in the lineup of speakers for the opening day of the Pan-American Congress. But the coordinator of advisors to the Mexican Presidency, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, had a message to convey, in addition to welcoming the distinguished visitors.

"We cannot be like what neoliberalism has presented to us, at least in the last 40 years, which created an elite: not only that 1% made up of the owners of money and banks, but also a falsely established political, economic, and media elite that legitimized them, endorsed them, and applauded their projects," promised the former spokesperson for Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

We are not equal. Facing us were nearly 100 international guests, including 50 parliamentarians from 12 countries in the region with progressive governments. However, Ramírez Cuéllar seemed to be alluding—that Friday afternoon, the 1st, in the legislative hall of Xicoténcatl—to Mexican deputies and senators, under public scrutiny for their opulence, and he criticized those "who legalized plunder in exchange for political transitions that integrated progressive sectors into governments, but never questioned the model..."

On the second floor of the Fourth Transformation, he asserted, there is no room for rumination. "Corruption must be banished from progressive forces, privileges must be banished, the idea of a political elite that lives behind the people's backs in government palaces, in congress halls, but very distant from the people."

Before the participants of the Pan-American Congress, the Mexican delegation boasted about the "democratic and popular revolution" that led to the Fourth Transformation, but also acknowledged its main challenges and limitations. Senate leader Gerardo Fernández Noroña and secretaries Alicia Bárcena (Semarnat) and Citlalli Hernández (Women) agreed with the presidential advisor in his condemnation of "the culture of privilege."

With the proposal to consolidate a new agenda for hemispheric cooperation, based on the principles of solidarity among peoples and sovereignty among nations, nearly 100 accredited delegates from a dozen countries responded to the invitation from the Mexican progressives.

English speakers included U.S. congressmen—notably Ilhan Omar and Radisha Tlaib—and Barbados, led by Transportation Minister Colin E. Jordan. Canadian speakers included Michael Coteau and Nathaniel Erskime-Smith. Portuguese speakers included Taliría Petrone, Fernanda Melchionna, and Henrique Dos Santos Vieira Lima.

Many participants attended the first edition of the Pan-American Congress, held in Bogotá a year ago. Among the organizers of this new parliamentary front is academic David Adler, general coordinator of the Progressive International, who has become a frequent visitor to Mexico.

The progressive visitors stayed in Mexico City for five days. The opening ceremony was lavish, on the evening of Thursday the 31st—at the National Palace, with President Claudia Sheinbaum—and the following day, two events open to the public at the Esperanza Iris Theater with presentations by Canadian intellectual Naime Klein; former Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García-Linera; Senator María José Pizarro, a presidential candidate in Colombia; and constitutionalist Gerardo Pisarello, of Argentine origin and a member of the Spanish parliament.

Honduran Luis Redondo, president of the National Assembly and the Forum of Congressmen of Central America, respectfully urged the Mexico City Declaration to be a turning point for leftists in the hemisphere and to condense "a roadmap with concrete commitments" in the face of the advance of fascism and the far right.