Translated from the blog Aurora Roja, voice of the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico, dated March 28, 2020.

Which Is Worth More, Lives or Money? The Mexican Government in Times of the Coronavirus

April 6, 2020 | revcom.us

 

Which is worth more, lives or money? For the Mexican government now, money is worth more.

Facing the world coronavirus pandemic, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has insisted over and over that the key is “testing, testing, testing,” the Mexican government has declared that massive application of testing is not necessary. Why?

A specialist from the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Medical and Nutrition Sciences explains to us that this is not necessary because “we have an efficient system of epidemiological detection and surveillance,” “it does not make much sense to identify 85 percent of the population who, if infected, will come down with little more than a flu, because we would have an enormous expenditure of resources.” (La Jornada, “Unnecessary, massive application of detection testing: specialist,” March 27, 2020)

When he speaks of an “efficient system of epidemiological detection and surveillance,” he means they are mainly relying on detecting symptoms to detect the virus. However, it has already been determined by the broad application of tests in various countries that a significant part of virus carriers don’t have symptoms. So, by not applying the test in a massive way, many of the virus carriers will not be identified or isolated, which will lead to its much broader propagation and more deaths, with those infected having a mortality rate now of as much as 4% on a world level.

This is the lesson from South Korea, where massive testing contributed greatly to reducing the virus propagation and the number of deaths. And it is the negative lesson of Italy, where the lack of the application of testing and other measures has lead to a horrific situation in which, in a much smaller population, the number of deaths has surpassed China, where the virus originated. Italian medical personnel are facing the terrible decision of who will and will not receive a ventilator, of who to help to survive and who they will not, with the medical system completely overcome, leaving people dead in their homes with nobody to pick them up.

It is true that the Mexican government has taken some sound measures, such as the Secretary of Education’s suspension of classes and the suspension of non-essential government activities. The hope is that these measures will reduce the speed of the spread of the virus, but, as the same government spokespersons tell us, with this the pandemic will be prolonged, it will not be stopped.

The quoted specialist explains to us that the reason for not carrying out massive testing is “because we would have an enormous expenditure of resources.” That is, it is better to save resources even if that would mean greater spread of the virus and a larger number of deaths. To say it straight up, for the Mexican government now, money is more important than the lives of human beings.

Why? So as to have funds available to boost their deadly capitalist projects and attract more imperialist investments. Projects such as the Mayan Train, which, if successful, will destroy even more of the environment and will dispossess even more of the indigenous peoples of Mexico’s southeast. Projects like the Dos Bocas oil refinery, which would increase Mexico’s emission of the gases that cause global warming by 20%. (And it should be mentioned that various experts point out that global warming caused by the use of fossil fuels by the current world capitalist-imperialist system has created more favorable conditions for the emergence of new microbes, such as the coronavirus, along with threatening life on the planet in many other ways.)

Though this involves sacrificing lives, this is the way this government has decided to handle the pandemic at this time in the face of the unavoidable need for business investments by the current capitalist system (not simply the government), which is governed by competition between big capitalists for maximum profits. In the real socialist system that we supporters of the new communism are fighting for, the lives and the needs of the people will be put before profits.

To makes matters worse, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador [AMLO] has used the context of the pandemic to promote more superstition and religious obscurantism, publicly boasting that he is “protected” by the “Jesus Sacred Heart Badge,” a talisman used (among other purposes) by the reactionary theocratic Cristero movement for supposed protection from the bullets of their rivals. Obviously it protects nobody from anything, but it is part of AMLO’s campaign, in spite of identifying himself as a follower of Benito Juárez [Mexican icon of the separation of Church and State], to undermine the secular state, open up means and resources for the evangelical churches, and preach a reactionary patriarchal religion with his “Guide to Morality” and his constant religious and patriarchal references from the presidential office.

Yes, we already know that by saying this, the followers who follow him uncritically label us, following AMLO’s example, as “conservatives,” “PRIAN” [PRI and PAN political parties] and less elegant things. Likewise they have labeled feminists, ecologists, Zapatistas, indigenous peoples, democratic teachers, and various other fighters and journalists who clearly have nothing to do with the PAN, PRI and others who are now competing with Morena [AMLO’s party]. (And this fight among the electoral parties, on both sides, is essentially contention to see who will remain in or get into the government to represent the indefensible interests of the capitalist system.)

We only have one question: Is money more important to you, or the lives of the people?

Healthcare workers in Mexico protest lack of protective gear against COVID-19. Photo: Aurora Rojas.blogspot