Seriously Funny: Mexican Political Jokes as Social Resistance

Postscript

227 Postscript This book ends with the dozen years of PAN administrations—or whatever it is that they did. Even before the second Spanish edition was published, I was already being asked if I would deal with jokes about López Obrador (AMLO), maybe because people took for granted that he would win in 2006 and they assumed that he would have to be tested, which is what Catón did in his time—unfortunately for AMLO, who protested against him. Or maybe because some members of the economic elite, together with the PAN, displayed a nasty campaign against him and the political jokes could be a good complement—and that campaign did in fact did happen . It was natural that jokes were not made about Madrazo or Calderón, even though one joke did emerge that said that people in the United States were worried because Mexico was trying to recover the lost territories, with Madrazo and Montiel starting out by purchasing apartments one at a time.1 I resisted writing a chapter about the presidential candidates at the time near when I was finishing the book—though I did mention something in the conclusion—because it would not have been demonstrative of anything ; nevertheless, a short time after the book was published, I started to receive emails with political jokes that convinced me that I should at least include a reflection in this edition of the book about what happened in the country in 2006 and its projection regarding political humor; I did all this in chapter 5. The end of the 2006 presidential campaign turned into a great nightmare , primarily because, instead of having been an exercise to help define the future of the country, the election turned into a dirty game with negative side effects that endured for six years. The 2012 election was tainted with accusations of electoral fraud, the old PRI was back to buying votes and manipulating the hopes and dreams of the masses—and even so, the jokes started before the election day on July 5. Apparently, the transition from one president to the next in the last decade provides society with a different perspective regarding the former 228 • Postscript president, as we see reflected in the jokes, such as this one about Calderón and Peña Nieto: Peña Nieto and Calderón come to the barber shop at the same time. They sit side by, with a barber to each person’s side, but don’t speak a word. The barbers avoided any conversation, fearing it would end in an argument. Both finished shaving their customers at the same time; Peña’s barber reached for the aftershave, but his customer gently touched his arm: “No, thank you, when my wife smells it, she will think I was in a whorehouse.” The second barber asked Calderón, “Do you want aftershave?” “Of course! My wife doesn’t know what a whorehouse smells like.” Peña Nieto, just like his two predecessors, did not enjoy a honeymoon regarding political jokes. His predecessor in this sense was Carlos Salinas de Gortari, whose nomination was a long-announced candidacy, since he was the powerful secretary of planning and budgeting in charge of public expenditure and social programs. While the political part of his ascending career was secured, apparently society reacted with humor because the mysterious presidential succession disappeared and Salinas was not such a good idea. If the new sexenio was supposed to renew hopes with Salinas, this didn’t happen, and the undesired continuation of bad policies was in place and jokes evened the score. As we saw with Salinas, a typical announced candidacy triggers a strong social response. Peña’s candidacy was expected at least three years before his nomination; his activity as governor of the state of Mexico—with the support2 of the TV network Televisa—was promoted all over the country; he intervened in state elections supporting his party’s candidates for governor ; and his influence shaped Congress in 2009, giving him a strong influence over the legislative agenda. The PRI was a key actor governing the country from 2009 to 2012, and he was a strong actor behind the scenes. Regardless of this influence, jokes apparently started when he attended the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2012 to present his own book3 ; during a press conference, he was asked about the three books that influenced him the most, and he responded that he didn’t remember...