FRAGMENT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ROSS
The complete interview at::
http://www.democracynow.org/
SEARCH: Mexico
John Ross, author of many books about Mexico. His
latest is "Making Another World Possible: Zapatista
Chronicle 2000-2006." John's most recent article about
the Mexico elections is on the website
Counterpunch.org . He joins us on the line from Mexico
City.
Was the Mexican Election Stolen?
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, John Ross, the role of U.S.
companies in this election. You wrote an article in
2005, for example, about Wal-Mart.
JOHN ROSS: Well, Wal-Mart, Halliburton -- how about
that? -- Kraft, a whole list of U.S. transnationals in
this election are part of what is called a Council of
Communication that indeed were the people that
sponsored the spots, the hit spots against Lopez
Obrador over many months. And it was a clear
intermission in the Mexican election by transnational
corporations.
AMY GOODMAN: Were these spots that had, for example,
Hugo Chavez, Castro and Lopez Obrador together?
JOHN ROSS: Subcomandante Marcos, Hugo Chavez. We had
spots of the city falling down. You know, they were
scare spots and they always wound up with a big red
letters imprinted on the screen that said that Lopez
Obrador was a danger to Mexico. And it's been clear
from the beginning that the U.S. corporations backed
Felipe Calderon, that Calderon has promised in fact to
privatize Pemex, the national oil monopoly.
Halliburton is here, and they definitely want a piece
of that.
A lot of U.S. corporations want a bigger piece of what
used to belong to the Mexican people, what used to
belong to the Mexican state. And so, they are siding
with Calderon, and their actual financing of the
campaign was very obvious. Dick Morris, famous Dick
Morris, rightwing Fox commentator designed a lot of
those hit spots.
And it was clear that the White House and the State
Department were very quick to recognize Calderon in
the first days after the election. George Bush called
Calderon from Air Force One. We again yesterday had
the State Department reiterate that support of
Calderon. And they clearly from the beginning, the
ambassador, Tony Garza, here has made statements that
were definitely in support of a Felipe Calderon
presidency. They have got that now. And let's see what
they can do with it, because for the next six years,
it's going to be very difficult for Felipe Calderon to
run this country.
AMY GOODMAN: John Ross and Gilberto Lopez Rivas, I
want to thank you very much for joining us. Professor
Lopez Rivas, anthropologist, National Institute of
Anthropology in Mexico City; John Ross, regular
contributor to The Nation, CounterPunch, as well as
Mexican daily, La Jornada, and has written a number of
books in Mexico, among them Rebellion From the Roots,
The Annexation of Mexico, and also The War Against
Oblivion, just completed Making Another World
Possible: Zapatista Chronicle 2000-2006, that will be
published in October.
http://www.democracynow.org/
SEARCH: Mexico
John Ross, author of many books about Mexico. His
latest is "Making Another World Possible: Zapatista
Chronicle 2000-2006." John's most recent article about
the Mexico elections is on the website
Counterpunch.org . He joins us on the line from Mexico
City.
Was the Mexican Election Stolen?
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, John Ross, the role of U.S.
companies in this election. You wrote an article in
2005, for example, about Wal-Mart.
JOHN ROSS: Well, Wal-Mart, Halliburton -- how about
that? -- Kraft, a whole list of U.S. transnationals in
this election are part of what is called a Council of
Communication that indeed were the people that
sponsored the spots, the hit spots against Lopez
Obrador over many months. And it was a clear
intermission in the Mexican election by transnational
corporations.
AMY GOODMAN: Were these spots that had, for example,
Hugo Chavez, Castro and Lopez Obrador together?
JOHN ROSS: Subcomandante Marcos, Hugo Chavez. We had
spots of the city falling down. You know, they were
scare spots and they always wound up with a big red
letters imprinted on the screen that said that Lopez
Obrador was a danger to Mexico. And it's been clear
from the beginning that the U.S. corporations backed
Felipe Calderon, that Calderon has promised in fact to
privatize Pemex, the national oil monopoly.
Halliburton is here, and they definitely want a piece
of that.
A lot of U.S. corporations want a bigger piece of what
used to belong to the Mexican people, what used to
belong to the Mexican state. And so, they are siding
with Calderon, and their actual financing of the
campaign was very obvious. Dick Morris, famous Dick
Morris, rightwing Fox commentator designed a lot of
those hit spots.
And it was clear that the White House and the State
Department were very quick to recognize Calderon in
the first days after the election. George Bush called
Calderon from Air Force One. We again yesterday had
the State Department reiterate that support of
Calderon. And they clearly from the beginning, the
ambassador, Tony Garza, here has made statements that
were definitely in support of a Felipe Calderon
presidency. They have got that now. And let's see what
they can do with it, because for the next six years,
it's going to be very difficult for Felipe Calderon to
run this country.
AMY GOODMAN: John Ross and Gilberto Lopez Rivas, I
want to thank you very much for joining us. Professor
Lopez Rivas, anthropologist, National Institute of
Anthropology in Mexico City; John Ross, regular
contributor to The Nation, CounterPunch, as well as
Mexican daily, La Jornada, and has written a number of
books in Mexico, among them Rebellion From the Roots,
The Annexation of Mexico, and also The War Against
Oblivion, just completed Making Another World
Possible: Zapatista Chronicle 2000-2006, that will be
published in October.
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