Chapter 18

As Jorge Guerrillero talked with one of his best students, he became more and more frustrated with the system as it existed in Mexico. Jorge was a very good teacher because he was able to instill an eagerness to learn in his students. He pushed his students and they responded. His frustration arose from the fact that too many of his students, including many of his best and brightest ones, were either unable to find jobs at all, or when they were lucky enough to find employment, were trapped in positions where their skills were wasted. His frustration only increased his already intense hostility toward the current regime.

During his four years teaching in the barrios with the O.A.P., Jorge's reputation, not only as an educator, but as a man of ideas and as a person who was always willing to help someone as much as he possibly could, continued to steadily grow. He became active in all phases of the foundation and was able to develop contacts through all levels of society, persuading merchants, contractors, doctors, medical technicians, teachers, and others to donate time, money and goods to help the poor.

Through his efforts, thousands of impoverished people found that life was a little easier, although it was still no picnic. But, for every person whose standard of living was improved through the O.A.P., six more people slid into the abyss of poverty. The steep decline in the price of oil following the breakup of OPEC caused a steep decline in Mexico's oil revenues. That, combined with the spiraling prime interest rate, to which Mexico's and other countries' loans were tied, caused another massive increase in Mexico's foreign debt. The International Monetary Fund and other international lenders were able to throw another makeshift rescue plan together, but in return for saving Mexico from the ignominy of default on its loans, even more severe restrictions were placed on public spending on behalf of the poor. The peso continued to plummet, reaching 500,000 to the embattled dollar the day before Jorge and his compadres would decide to act. The hyper inflation priced basic foodstuffs out of the reach of many of the poor, leading to a massive increase in hunger in the barrios.

The lower classes, facing the prospects of slow starvation because they were unable to afford the skyrocketing costs of food, felt that they were carrying the burden of repaying the foreign bankers while the rich continued to parasitically suck off the wealth and take it out of the country to safe havens. The people had reached the limits of their endurance, and most now felt that it was time for a change.

There is a saying that he who has nothing, has nothing to lose. When too many people feel that they have nothing to lose, anything can happen, and usually does. Looking back, what happened in Mexico could have been predicted, and in fact had been by several astute observers.

By early January, 1998, the Mexican government was in a crisis situation, although few realized it at the time. Riots broke out in Mexico City on January 10th to protest dramatically higher food prices. They were brutally put down, but at the cost of thirty two dead by the government's estimate, and about 340 dead from independent observers. The riots in Mexico City were temporarily stopped, but a great deal of tension lurked beneath the surface. The hostility broke through the surface in several other parts of the country, although the disturbances were not nearly as severe as they had been in Mexico City. These too were squelched, but not completely eradicated. All that was needed for everything to explode once again was one little spark. That spark, ironically, was struck less than twenty four hours after the Iranian terrorists had wreaked havoc on the United States government.

With all of the attention focused on developments in the United States, the Mexican government felt that it could bury the acquittal of Finance Minister Pedro Cohecho, a long time close aide to the Mexican President, on charges of bribery and corruption charges, despite seemingly incontrovertible evidence that he had taken almost $160 million out of the country and deposited it in foreign banks, several of which were among Mexico's largest creditors. That news was so sensitive and was played down so much that it did not appear on Mexican radio or television, and only appeared the day after the Capitol bombing, buried deep in the back pages of the newspapers most closely identified with the government, which presented the story as only unsubstantiated charges.