Breathe
By Frida Mendoza
For as long as I can remember, one of the things that bothers me the most about electoral campaigns -because the truth is that I have a long list- is seeing so much propaganda in the streets.
A month before the June 2 elections took place, I went to see the Voto en México exhibit at the Museo del Objeto del Objeto. the Voto en México exhibit at the Museo del Objeto del Objeto in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. in the Roma neighborhood in Mexico City. I liked it very much because of how didactic it was, the amount of information so well processed and above all, the elements compiled to illustrate each six-year term since our country has been electing presidents.
Yes, in addition to seeing reprints of historical newspaper covers with the triumph of Francisco I. Madero, the first time women voted, the defeat of the PRI and other contemporary historical moments, in the exhibition there was a gigantic amount of lighters, pens, caps, tortilla holders, t-shirts, ashtrays, water bottles, backpacks, bags, umbrellas and an infinite amount of merchandise with the name of the candidate in question, from Porfirio Diaz to Claudia Sheinbaum.
It was very curious to see as museum pieces that tradition of which we all have memory no matter what corner of the country we are from: the electoral propaganda and its garbage continue against everything.
After that presentation, a doubt overwhelmed me: do the political parties really know the amount of garbage they generate?
Therefore, I took on the task of requesting via transparency to the political parties of Mexico City the number of banners, posters and tarpaulins that they printed during this campaign. The results were, unfortunately, expected, as evasions and vague figures reigned in their answers that bordered on what they would later tell me in Greenpeace: "an empty declaration of good intentions".
For example, Morena responded that they were not obliged to generate an ad hoc response to my request. That response, the most common for those of us who make information requests in the National Transparency Platform, was desperate but at the same time made it very clear that they had no idea how much printed propaganda was scattered on poles, streets and dumpsters in the capital.
The PAN, on the other hand, mentioned that 30 thousand banners and 30 thousand posters were printed for the campaign but did not disaggregate how many were for each candidacy, it assured that everything had been removed from the streets. In reality, yes, most of their banners are no longer visible in the streets, but the poles are still covered with their faces.
My doubt, I know, was that of many since at the time of publishing this report in Emeequis this report in Emeequisthe Electoral Institute of Mexico City responded to media such as Reforma and Expansion that, as of June 29, 48 tons of electoral garbage had already been removed from six municipalities. However, it is impressive how this happens election after election and it seems that there will be no change.
If we are honest: does the number of banners and posters really have an impact on electoral preferences? Doesn't it show us that campaigns are a fierce and frivolous battle of who shows the faces of their candidates the most? Doesn't it give us a sign of how little they care about the environment?
Although we cannot have an honest answer to these questions, Greenpeace told me that the parties' attitude is a way of turning their backs on the plastics crisis we are currently experiencing.
Researching and asking questions left me with a bitter certainty: there is no certainty about the fate of all those banners, posters and tarpaulins, nor if the plastic they were made with is biodegradable and even less if they will comply with any recycling plan. All this will not go to a museum, but if the trend continues, it will be part of the historical record of how the planet is increasingly damaged.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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