0:00 The situation in Mexico has been evolving in ways that most Americans probably do not have the bandwidth to keep up with. Okay, you know, we're all busy. We've got hurricane Milton that just went through. It's Thursday, October 10, and we're all busy. We have our own problems. You got people with student loans, health care costs, and you know, we got to keep up with Kardashians, even though we really don't want to. And it's well, it's worth taking a moment to look south of the border, where things are getting a little bit spicy. That's right. And we're not talking about like the good taco truck spicy kind of thing. Okay. Now this is the kind of spice that leaves a really bad aftertaste when one lingers long after a meal has over. It just kind of hangs around. Welcome to the Paul Truesdale podcast, rather than two Pauls in a pod, this episode features Paul the elder, and thus just one Paul in a pod. So what's the gig? Individually or collectively, Paul and Paul sit down and chat predominantly at the Truesdell professional building and record frequently. They explain a few things about how life works. Before time gets away, they connect the dots and plot the knots, spots and ops with a heavy dose of knocks, mocks, pots, rocks, socks and mops, confused, then welcome aboard. You see Paul the elder and Paul the younger enjoy telling complex stories that are always based on business, economics and forecasting, while having fun laughing and being among like minded men, women and children from Earth, Pluto, Jupiter and Neptune, individually and jointly, Paul the elder and Paul the younger, coupled with Team Truesdell, have been there and done it. If you enjoy front porch philosophers who take deep dives and connect the dots while drinking coffee during the day and a whiskey after five, welcome. It is a true pleasure to have you on board. This is the Paul Trousdale podcast.
2:08 Well, we've got a lady by name of Claudia. That's right, Claudia scheinbaum, and she's the newly elected president of Mexico. And, yeah, this is going to be really easy, because she is at the heart of it all. She is really the person that we need to start thinking about, talking about and really understanding. Okay, that is an important thing to always remember and never forget. Okay.
2:38 So what we talking about here, she officially took office on october 1, and while she may not be a household name, yet, her background does make her, Well, an interesting person. She's interesting because she kind of has a standout background. So she was born on June 24 1962
3:01 She's now in her 60s, and she brings a resume that's a little bit more impressive than most of the politicians that we're used to seeing. Look, let's be really blunt about it.
3:11 She isn't a former drama teacher, as in Justin Trudeau. She's not a TV reality star turned political marketer. That's Donald Trump. No, she's not, you know, a senator like Biden and Harris or Obama. No, she actually ran a government now. Now listen, sheinbaum is a scientist by training. She has a PhD in energy engineering, that's right. She spent several years running one of the most chaotic urban jungles in the world, place called Mexico City. I've been there more than a few times, going back into the 1960s I can tell you, it's a different place than it was back then, although many of the buildings are well, still the same, and that's no small feat. I mean, given the city has over 21 million residents, each with their own set of demands and complaints, so unlike some of the more, shall we say, performative leaders we've seen North America recently, okay? She Yeah, actually had to make the trains run on time. That's a phrase that goes back to Mussolini and Italy. By the way, she had to fix real problems, housing, crime, infrastructure, all while balancing a deeply fractured political landscape. You could almost say she was the adult in the room, except, well, we'll have to get to that. Oh. Now, despite her impressive qualification, the shine bum comes with some significant baggage. Okay, some real baggage. You see, her mentor is none other than Andreas Manuel Lopez Obrador, and they call him AMLO for short. You know you got we have AOC.
5:00 Well, that's AMLO for short. But we'll get to his full set of issues in just a moment. You see AMLO, now in his early 70s, left office with a surprisingly high approval rating.
5:15 He's considered a flaming mess
5:18 because of what he left behind. Now AMLO, I'm going to use that, okay? He was born November 13, 1953 he rose to power on a populist platform promising to fight corruption and give a voice to Mexico's disenfranchised. Yeah, when you hear what I have to say about this guy, you're going to go, Hmm, that's interesting. And to his credit, he did that well, sort of. He managed to dismantle key democratic institutions. There you go. He weakened the judiciary, there you go. And he turned a complete blind eye to drug cartels taking over large swaths of the country. Hey, buddy, that's all right. Shine, shine, shine. But hey, at least a poor got something financial right? They got some financial aid. So it's like setting your house on fire, but handing out marshmallows as you watch it burn. That is the truth. Okay? No, ifs no ands No, buts about it. So AMLO, one of his parting gifts to Mexico was his assault on the Judiciary. You see, in the last few months of his presidency, he basically rewrote the rule book, making it easier for his political party to control judicial appointments. Now picture this. I want you to get this in your mind. Imagine in the United States right? You have a president.
6:43 We can call him
6:46 zippity Duda. So Zippy Duda, he decides to bypass the Senate, and instead he's going to appoint judges based upon the approval of his party's caucuses. So political hacks that I have been around far too much lately, they'd all decide who's going to be the judge. The result is a judiciary that no longer serves as an independent check on power. Because, remember, you know, you can't have independent checks on power. You can have, you know, boards of directors or power the people to question things. No, it becomes a rubber stamp for the ruling party's agenda. That's right. That's the current state of affairs in Mexico. And when you have that in the public arena with publicly traded companies, fortunately here, the Securities and change commission will oftentimes step in and put a stomp to people like that. And this is where, well, shinebaum now has to decide what she's going to do. She can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Believe me, don't hold your breath.
7:50 Mr. Madison, what you just said
7:54 is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought? Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
8:19 Okay, a simple wrong. Would have done just fine. But if you think that's bad, you think that's bad, here's what we got. You know, forget the forget the judiciary. He blows that up. But then there's the military situation. Oh, boy. Where do we begin on this? Amlos government recently pushed through a reform that folded. I'll check this out. This, this is going to be kind of weird. Get a handle on here in the US, he folded the National Guard, which is Mexico's paramilitary force, into the military. Now I can see a lot of you are going, Yeah, that's what you need to do with National Guard states rights. You don't want that. We need to consolidate everything here in the United States into a federal and a federal forces. I got that now, you might be thinking, Hey, that sounds like a good idea, more coordination, right? Well, not exactly. The National Guard was originally set up because Mexico's military had become so notoriously corrupt they needed fresh a fresh approach, a semi legitimate force to take on the drug cartels? Yeah, seriously, it's the National Guard that helps Americans and international, you know, people who run around trying to control the drug cartels? Yeah, no, it's it's the National Guard that's doing it, not the military, because they're corrupt. But hey, now it's being rolled back into the very institution it was created to avoid. Why central control? You know, when a leader is a narcissistic pig like AMLO and other people, you know, that's all about the party. Don't question everything. And so which controls most of well, Mexico's.
10:00 State legislatures. It's his political party. So they control the state legislatures. So now we have security forces that are neatly consolidated under the watchful eye. And you see, since that political party controls, I believe it's like 17 of the 20 what you want to call a
10:19 state. The estate forces estates rather, yes, not gonna be any big deal because they need 13. They have 17. It's a done deal. So here's the thing. It's like, given the keys, giving the fox the keys to the hen house, and then acting all surprised when the chickens disappear. Oh, my, oh, my. Is that really the case? Yeah, that's really the case. So, you know, this stuff just doesn't it doesn't change. It's kind of like commercials from years ago. They just keep on, keeping on. Mexico is a problem and, well, it's a good way of saying how it has been around for a long time.
11:02 I
11:06 They'll know you've arrived when you drive up in the 1958 Edsel, the car that's truly new from nameplate to tail lights,
11:16 new from the front,
11:19 new from the side,
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11:26 only. Edsel has the sleek, clean line design that sets it apart from the look alike cars. And it combines new looks with the newest b8 engines in the world, the big new Edsel 400 and the power pack Edsel, 475,
11:43 it is unlikely you have ever driven a car with so much real usable power as the Edsel. And with Edsel's exclusive teletouch drive, you drive more safely, more easily than you ever have before, because both hands can stay at the wheel while the Edsel shifts electrically.
12:02 There's even the added luxury of new Edsel air suspension. That's just like riding on air because you are
12:14 and remember, of all the medium priced cars, car for car, across the board, the 1958 Edsel is the one that's new and the lowest price, too. So see your Edsel dealer.
12:27 So the point of running that commercial the 1958 Edsel not only to have a lot of experience with the name Edsel, another day, I'll talk about that I have in the past a little bit, but it really brings up the fact that, you know, that vehicle was way ahead of its time. But when we take a look at a place like Mexico, yeah, it's still, you know, donkey and cart in many areas. Now look, it's nowhere near back, you know, it's not backwaters. It's not, you know, it's not that way. But the reality is, in the political arena, the Edsel failed because it was ahead of his time. We still seem to have an overwhelming majority of the people in Mexico that, you know, it's just they've got to do something. So where does this leave Shannon bomb, well, for one thing, she's going to need all the managerial expertise she's ever learned and honed as Mayor of Mexico City, because she's got a situation. And here's it, here's where it goes. In technical terms, it's a total disaster. Okay, it's a total disaster. She got a populace that, you know, they have no problem getting along with the drug cartels, because if you get along, you're safe. She's got a military that's riddled with corruption, and the drug cartels, especially the shin Enola cartel
13:43 would they've been more or less taken over parts of the country and others, and they have a war going on right now with that. AMLO famously refused to go after the cartels. Instead, I kid did not. Instead, he had a policy of hugs, not bullets. Charming, right? Very charming. That's a quote, except it didn't work, unless you count the cartels expanding power base as a success. So yeah. I mean, sometimes we think they should be doing some things, but it's just way ahead of its time down there, and in many other places, it's pure brute force. Now Shannon Bam is walking into a storm where the cartels essentially control everyday life. And in some areas, including parts of Mexico City itself, there are no go zones. The big question is whether she'll have the guts, the intestinal forge suit to tackle the cartels head on, or if she'll continue amlo's passive approach, letting the cartels dig their claws even deeper into the fabric of Mexican society. And always remember this goes way back in time to the days of pancha via and a felibane blackjack Pershing. So considering she's closely aligned with amlos political, political ideology, I gotta tell you, it's pretty darn hard to be optimistic. But, you know, I.
15:00 Say this, sometimes miracles do happen. Sometimes they do. So we'll be right back.
15:12 You are listening to the Paul Truesdale podcast, two Pauls in a pod. It's time for a coffee break and a seventh inning stretch. You music,
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16:10 So let's zoom out for a second and ask the question, why should Americans care about all of this Mexico is, well, it's just a neighbor, right? No, it isn't just a neighbor. It's deeply intertwined in the United States, economically, socially and culturally. Look for millions and millions and millions of Americans of Mexican descent. This isn't just a distant news item, it's personal. They have family members, friends, loved ones, who are directly affected by the deteriorating security situation in Mexico. Period. There's no if ands or buts about it. And while many Americans of Mexican descent have built very, extremely successful lives here in the United States, the chaos in Mexico weighs heavily on their hearts, and we should be concerned about that. You see one day, these Americans of Mexican descent might find themselves needing to rally around the cause of saving Mexico from the criminals who have seized control. And remember, criminals of all types seize control over committees and clubs, groups and organizations. They dig their claws into people, and is hard to get them out. Now, think of this as a patriotic duty, not unlike when first generation immigrants helped liberate their homelands from dictators and oppressors. And if you know me, I can't stand some narcissistic dictator. Can't stand people like that. So here we go, Mexico, and our friends here in America of Mexican descent, I'm with you, man, Mexico has always been a problem. It's one that has waxed and waned over the decades, but the scale of its current crisis is unlike anything we've seen in recent memory. But again, are we hearing anything from from our political leaders? No. Are we having discussions and organized clubs and committees and groups hardly ever. Gomer, what do you think about that? Shame, shame, shame, yeah. Shame, shame, shame. So the oligarchs, the local power brokers, who have run parts of Mexico like a well, feudal lord since the 1800s ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, one and all, they're still in place, exerting control over their regions. A Lopez Obrador, who who attempted to break their grip just redistributing wealth from the states to the federal government, then would he do? He doled it out to the poorest citizens. Oh, that sounds really good. But one of the reasons why he remains so popular is that, despite the fact, they left the country on the brink of complete disaster, what did he do? He redistributed wealth. You know, when people have nothing and you give them something, they're going to follow you all day long, like lemmings following a pied piper. Okay, so with the people who are, you know, he's popular. He's popular with the poor, but it's only deepened the economic challenges of the wealthier parts of the country, further exacerbating the inequality that has plagued Mexico for centuries. So shiny, bomb's job is to fix this. Well, good luck with that. The question is whether she can step out of amlo's shadow and make really hard decisions needed to reform the military, tackle the cartels and restore the judiciary. And, you know, it's hard, because even you take little, tiny groups of people who have a narcissistic leader, having the intestinal fortitude. I'm not going to say balls, because that's I won't do that. I'm more I'm more classy than that, but people have the intestinal fortitude to stand up. Yeah, so many people are lemmings. The question is, will she stick with the playbook that's gotten Mexico into this mess in the first place? Wouldn't surprise me. Wouldn't surprise me, not one bit. So the reality is, when it comes to Mexico, US political leaders have perfected the art of playing lip service to the issue without actually doing.
20:00 Much about it? Yep, that's right. You see, you got President Biden, Vice President Harris, for instance. Well, they've made speeches about it. They've talked about the root causes of migration, promising to address the economic conditions driving the people across the border.
20:19 Come on, I hate negotiators. They talk to you like they're your best friend and they don't even know you. And Harris, you made a much publicized trip to Central America in 2021 and well, she had these lofty promises economic aid, but yeah, we have yet to see any real, tangible action that deals with the crux of the problem in Mexico, the cartels, the corruption, the crumbling institutions. It kind of sounds a lot like the United States, doesn't it? What do you think? Gomer, oh, so it sure hasn't been for a lot of vague commitments. Well, vague commitments. We got those coming out the Gazoo. We're going to cooperate with Mexico's government. Oh, we're always promising that. But when it comes to, you know, what have we actually accomplished? Compromise? Yeah, compromise. That's what we've accomplished. It feels more like window dressing any kind of a real strategy. Now, look, former President Trump took a different approach. He was definitely more bombastic in his approach, pushing for the infamous border wall, declaring that Mexico would pay for it. Spoiler alert, they didn't what listen. His rhetoric was tough on immigration. His focus was always, well, kind of symptom based, you know, illegal border crossings, rather than on the real disease, which is a failed state next door, and that's what's going on. You can catch them all you want. We got to fix the problem over there, and we have to stop them from ever getting to the damn border in the first place. So the wall was never going to stop cartels or stabilized regions where violence is rampant, and now Trump made waves when he briefly flowed the idea of designating cartels as terrorist organizations. Why that wasn't done? I don't know. I mean, think about it. Why wasn't it done? Does that surprise anybody?
22:05 No, it didn't surprise anybody. And he's got to follow the money. So again, he floated the idea. But you know, it might have been a move in the right direction. It would have justified US military action in Mexico. But unlike a lot of Trump's bold ideas, it fizzled out before anything concrete happened. Now here's the problem. I can guarantee you, without any doubt or hesitation, you're going to get a whole lot of people who are going to be so upset that anybody says anything negative about Donald Trump. If you say anything about a leader in any way, shape or form, you say, Hey, listen, we really would like you to do this. They lose their cookies. And that is just that's like being a fart in a frying pan. You hear that again?
22:49 So here's their thing. More recently, we've seen figures like Ohio Senator JD Vance and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Now they've ramped up the tough the tough talk on Mexico, and that's nice, good for them.
23:06 Vance has publicly suggested the United States should take a more aggressive stance against the cartels, even hinting at military intervention if necessary. That's a big deal. Imagine those helicopters coming in and taking these guys out, or the drones would be about time, clear and present danger, folks, clear and present danger. So if the United States should take a more aggressive stance against cartels, even hinting at the military intervention as being necessary, that's a step in the right direction. Abbott, on the other hand, has taken matters in his own own hand. He's been deploying Texas National Guard to the border, essentially bypassing federal authority to enforce what he sees as a necessary security measure. So think about this. Imagine if Harris comes in and says she's nationalizing all of the National Guards are now federal, and you have nobody to deploy. Say things like this can happen no ifs no ands No, buts about it. It can happen and it's not good, okay? Not good whatsoever, bingo. So let's continue on. One of the things that we do know is that both the taping tapping into the growing sentiment among certain segments of American population, there's a there's a frustration, folks, you know that, and I know it with the federal government's inability and unwillingness to address the deteriorating situation in Mexico. And again, I'm talking about this. I have to ask you, is anybody else talking about this? I don't think so, not a whole lot. Because what we have people doing is they're doing lip service for their own little causes. They're just, you know, when I hear these people talk, especially some of the locals around here, I hear just a lot of static. Nothing makes any sense. But here's a dirty little secret, no one in Washington.
25:00 10 on either side of the aisle seems to have the appetite for the kind of serious action that will be required to confront Mexico's deepening crisis. Look, politicians love to talk about securing the border, but that's always a code for what. It's always a code for more chit chat, more talking more well, not really doing anything at all. Period, I hate negotiators. They talk to you like they're your best friend and they don't even know you. So we are developing, I think, slowly over time, a very serious appetite that's going to be required to confront Mexico's deepening, well, crisis. And so while all these politicians of both sides love to talk about securing the border, again, that's always a code for more fences, more patrols, more drones, it does not address the root cause of why people are fleeing Mexico or why cartels have are grown into quasi governments in many of the regions in Mexico. So the United States is going to have to go after them, confront the hard truth. Either Mexico gets real, legitimate regimes, a regime of change, or it's going to descend into total chaos. It's already there, and we have to become, well, it's, it is. It hasn't become. It's not that it's going to become, it is a full blown security threat to the United States. And look, the day is coming when Americans, especially those in the border states, will demand real action. And one of the things I want to say is that there's a county commissioner here in the state of Florida, specifically in Marion County, who has said that, you know, you have these border states that they have issues. Every city and county in the United States has the same problem. We're all border state based because we have problems all across the country, and the band aid solutions that we've been slapping on for years simply aren't going to cut it. They're not we're going to have to deal with this problem head on sooner or later, and it has a lot of issues,
27:07 because, to be very blunt with you, it has to do with economics. As old as it is, it has to do with economics. Hi,
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28:41 surprise, surprise. So the truth is, if we want real change on issues in Mexico, it's going to take more than just some tough talk from politicians. It's going to require just regular people like you and I to get involved. Now imagine this, if men and women in churches political clubs, forget the political committees are just a waste, but your local political clubs, your community gatherings, get together some people to discuss seriously these issues. That's right, seriously discuss it. And you know what? It's okay. Don't let them shout you down. It's not just about complaining over dinner or or you got to organize in a meaningful way. Just, I want you to picture this. Imagine 100,000 citizens. That's all it's going to take from across the country. They very calmly and professionally, fly into Washington, DC, and they start visiting their members of Congress. I'm dead serious. Imagine if you have 50, 6070, people every day going to Congress, and they want to talk to their member of Congress. They want to get in. They go to the field offices. They go to their local offices. They dress well. They're well spoken. They're not like the angry morons I've seen recently who just shout everybody down. No. Don't wear your crazy hats. No crazy signs, no threats. Just be very professional, but clear in your.
30:00 Demands for action and accountability. They'll characterize you as a threat. They'll call you everything in the book, but take pictures of yourself, record but don't be confrontational. Say, I'd like to speak to my member of Congress, you know, Senator zippity Duda, and I want to express my concern that we have to do something about Mexico. And would you please leave this message? Okay, here's my name, leave me your business card and say I'm I'm done, and I will support whoever runs against him in the future or her, if they don't seriously start doing something here in Congress and demanding that the President do it. You know, when citizens show up in person. I'm not talking about the January 6 wackos that broke into the capitol that
30:47 don't even start me on that, but you know, if you you can't scream, you can't disrupt. You have to be rational, calm and have discussions. You have to ask your representatives why they have done so little to address the situation, and you have to say we've had enough. There's your slogan, we've had enough. Say that with me, we've had enough. It's kind of like that movie from years ago. It was called Network, where the guy told everybody to stand up and scream out their windows. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not taking anymore. Now, you'd be shocked at how quickly the gears and government will start turning when that happens again. It's not about yelling, it's not about grandstanding. That creates no change at all. Change occurs when you have rational, consistent pressure from well, organized, thoughtful citizens. You have to follow the money. You have to give people money, and then you have to say, I'm taking it back. I'm going to give it to somebody else. See, it's one thing to say you're going to do something. It's another thing to actually do it. So you give $500,000
31:48 to a political candidate, and then you have them, and you say, I want you to do something. This is what I want you to do. But see, not only you do that, but you just say, you have 20 other people. You each give $1,000 that's $20,000 and, you know, for congressional campaigns, that's a drop in the bucket. But if you're known for having a group of people that listen to you, especially if you use things like podcasts and other things, and you know, you have a pretty wide reach, you know, pretty soon you got influence, you've got votes that you can control, you got money and, well, they're going to start listening to you. So a well organized, thoughtful citizenry, you got a chance. Because if we want to save Mexico, we have to address the issues and finally, start tackling them in a meaningful way. It's going to take, well, exactly that kind of action, and it can't happen soon enough. So as Mexico teeters on the edge, I hope that a lot of its citizens, especially those in us and those who are Americans of Mexican descent, let me repeat that. I hope a lot of people here in the United States who are Americans of Mexican descent don't do that thing where I'm a Mexican American. I'm not going to say I'm a British American, a Viking American, a German American. No, say you're an American of Mexican descent. One day, if you can come together and demand change head to Washington, say that Mexico is beautiful. It's a vibrant country. Has a rich history, has resilient people, but it's time. It's time. You've got to use that phrase. We've had enough, and you got to back it up with votes and contributions. So it's a country that's desperate in need of saving, from the criminals, period, from the absolute criminals, no, ifs no ands No, buts about it. It's the corruption you make poor decisions by their leaders, and that day, okay? That day is coming when a call to action. It can't happen soon enough. It has to happen now, by you and I with that typical New toddler tube I'm out of here later. Bye,
34:00 that concludes the Paul Truesdell podcast, two Paul's in a pod. This has been a solo version, with Paul the elder helping each other understand with casual conversation, focusing on facts and figures and asking flamethrowers to move along. You.
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