By Raul Romero. Peninsula 360 Press
When I was a child, I watched with fascination the military parades that are organized every year in Mexico to celebrate national independence on September 16. Seeing thousands of soldiers, in uniform, carrying their weapons and in perfect coordination, was something surprising for me. Looking at the tanks, the planes, the helicopters, the soldiers on horseback, the paratroopers, the boats and all that military arsenal undoubtedly made me feel proud to be Mexican. I didn't know it then, but the ideas of strength, discipline, courage, honor and loyalty that I learned those days as a patriot were the perfect complement to my patriarchal education that was beginning in those years.
My formation as a patriot, and that of millions of children, was reinforced at school every Monday morning, honoring the flag and singing the national anthem. Men were forced to cut their hair in the style of a "short cap" or "regular cap," which were the cuts required in public schools. Seeing Luis Miguel on public television, dressed as a soldier, singing "La incondicional," was part of the ideal that was imposed on us. The absurdity reached such a point that many young men were dressed as military cadets to participate as chamberlains for girls who turned fifteen.
The crowning of this patriotic-patriarchal formation came when you were about to turn 18 and it was time to do military service, to enlist to be the soldier that heaven gave to the country in each son. The military card was like the birth certificate of that new soldier.
Little, very little of all this has changed in our days.
My disenchantment with the military began in my adolescence, and then, more than a disenchantment, came an aversion that was born when I heard firsthand from several survivors of the events of October 2, or when I met some of the survivors of the Acteal massacre in Chiapas. Then the number of stories I heard in which the army massacred, disappeared, repressed, directly or indirectly, humble people and members of the people's organizations; it grew: Aguas Blancas, El Charco, El Halconazo, Tlatlaya, Ayotzinapa...
And what is this story about?
In Mexico, there has been talk lately of the great acceptance that the military has in Mexican society. This "argument" is even used to legitimize the continued militarization of security, of war. We must ask ourselves how this "acceptance" is constructed and who it benefits and has benefited. We must investigate whether it is not largely the result of the constant dissemination of these patriotic values, accompanied by a reinforced media strategy, and a repetitive discourse that appeals to reconciliation to hide impunity.
There are several ways to defend and understand the homeland, I learned later. Homeland is Humanity, José Martí told us. Anti-imperialism puts forward other reasons. There are even today women who fight that they propose to talk about motherland. Let everyone choose. In any case, what seems unacceptable to me is that in the name of the homeland those who have massacred our peoples and those who exploit impoverished peoples are protected.
Raul Romero
Sociologist.
Twitter: @RaulRomero_mx
More from the author: Against capitalist wars
